美國語文第六冊 第54期:我的演說經(jīng)歷(3)
我不好說這對其他孩子以后的生活起了怎樣的作用，
but the effect on me was decidedly unwholesome—discouraging, indeed,
不過，對我的作用卻非常糟糕——實(shí)際上是沮喪，
until I was old enough to judge for myself, and to carry into operation a system of my own.
直到我年齡大到足以對自己做出判斷，將這一活動融入到我自己的體系里。
On coming to the passage,— "Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts; Dash him to pieces!"
接下來是這段：“做好準(zhǔn)備，諸神，用你們所有的雷電，將他碎尸萬段!”
the elder of the boys gave it after the following fashion: "Be ready, godths, with all your thunderbolths,—dath him in pietheth!"
年長的哥哥按照下面的風(fēng)格朗誦：“做好準(zhǔn)備，諸神，用你們所有的雷電，將他碎尸萬片!”
bringing his right fist down into his left palm with all his strength, and his lifted foot upon the platform,
他朗誦的時候身體所有的力量都集中到右拳上了，揮舞右拳猛地砸進(jìn)左掌，他抬起的腳重重落在講臺上，
which was built like a sounding-board, so that the master himself, who had suggested the action and obliged the poor boy to rehearse it over and over again,
就像一個隔音板，以至于老師本人，本來他暗示要用動作來配合，要這可憐的孩子一遍一遍地排練，
appeared to be utterly carried away by the magnificent demonstration;
結(jié)果他完全被這華麗的表現(xiàn)給迷住了。
while to me—so deficient was I in rhetorical taste—it sounded like a crash of broken crockery, intermingled with chicken peeps.
在我看來——按照我的修辭品味來判斷，這種表現(xiàn)方式存在嚴(yán)重缺陷——聽上去就像陶器打碎了的聲音，間雜著小雞的吱吱叫聲。
I never got over it; and to this day can not endure stamping, nor even tapping of the foot,
我從未真正掌握所謂的要領(lǐng);時至今日，也不堪忍受踏足，
nor clapping the hands together, nor thumping the table for illustration;
哪怕是輕拍，也不會雙手相抵，為了發(fā)揮感染力而拍桌子。
having an idea that such noises are not oratory, and that untranslatable sounds are not language.
我一直抱有這種看法，即這種噪音與演說術(shù)相去甚遠(yuǎn)，那種不可翻譯的聲音不是語言。
