雙語有聲閱讀 | 恭維的藝術(shù)

下面的這段文字是瘋狂宅男拜讀完切斯特菲爾德寫給兒子菲利普.斯擔(dān)赫普的書信，從中摘錄下來的。從這段描寫女人對于外表的感觀文字，我不禁對這個老男人豐富的人生閱歷、深厚的文字功底和敏銳的洞察力佩服得五體投地。

Flattery on Women 恭維女人

?

Women have, in general, but one object, which is their beauty; upon which scares any flattery is too gross for them to follow. Nature has hardly formed a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person; if her face is so shocking that she must, in some degree, be conscious of it, her figure and air, she trusts, make ample amends for it. If her figure is deformed, her face, she thinks, counterbalances it. If they are both bad, she comforts herself that she has graces, a certain manner, a je ne sais quoi, still more engaging than beauty.

至于女人們，她們大體而言只有一個話題，那就是他們的美貌;在這方面，再露骨的諂媚之辭在她們聽來也不為過。大自然從來沒有造就過這樣一個女人：她是如此丑陋，以致對別人對其外貌的恭維話都無動于衷。假如她們的容貌非常難看，連她自己都在一定程度上意識到了這一點(diǎn)，那么她便會相信，自己的身材和氣質(zhì)定然充分地彌補(bǔ)了這一缺陷。假如她的身材十分糟糕，她則會認(rèn)為自己的容貌之美足以抵消身材之差。假如她的容貌和身材都不好，她就會相信自己具有魅力，具有某種難以描述的、比美貌還要迷人的風(fēng)度。

This truth is evident from the studied and elaborate dress of the ugliest woman in the world.

世上最丑的女人往往身著華麗考究的禮服，就充分地表明了這一點(diǎn)。

An undoubted, uncontested, unconscious beauty is of all women, the least sensible of flattery upon that head; she knows it is her due, and is therefore obliged to nobody for giving it her. She must be flattered upon her understanding, which though she may possibly not doubt of herself, yet she suspects that men may distrust.

在女人當(dāng)中，那些的確具有絕世之姿容并深知自己貌美的女子，是對外表方面的恭維話最不敏感的;她知道這些贊美之辭是她理所應(yīng)當(dāng)享有的，因而不會對別人的奉承懷有任何的感激之情。但是如果人們贊美她聰明機(jī)智，她必然大為得意，因?yàn)楸M管她自己或許對此并不懷疑，她卻擔(dān)心男人們不相信她具有這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)。

Do not mistake me, and think that I mean to recommend to you abject and criminal flattery: no, flatter nobody's vices or crimes: on the contrary, abhor and discourage them. But there is no living in the world without a complaisant indulgence for people's weaknesses, and innocent, though ridiculous vanities. If a man has a mind to be thought wiser, and a woman handsomer, than they really are, their error is a comfortable on to themselves, and an innocent one with regard to other people; and I would rather make them my friends by indulging them in it, than my enemies by endeavoring (and that to no purpose) to undeceive them.

請不要誤解，不要以為我是想讓你去學(xué)那種卑躬屈膝、厚顏無恥的阿諛奉承——不是這樣的。絕不可以吹捧別人的惡習(xí)或罪行，相反，對這些要深惡痛絕和盡心阻止。但世上的每個人都會因想要討好別人而遷就他的弱點(diǎn)，他們都有著雖然可笑卻無害的虛榮，如果一個男人想讓自己顯得更聰明，一個女人想讓自己看上去更漂亮，他們的錯誤想法令他們自己覺得欣慰，而對他人來說也沒有害處，我寧可寬容他們的這一錯誤與他們交朋友，而不愿意想方設(shè)法地揭穿真相而與他們?yōu)閿?mdash;—這樣做是毫無意義的。