《四季隨筆》節(jié)選 - 冬 20

《四季隨筆》是吉辛的散文代表作。其中對(duì)隱士賴(lài)克羅夫特醉心于書(shū)籍、自然景色與回憶過(guò)去生活的描述，其實(shí)是吉辛的自述，作者以此來(lái)抒發(fā)自己的情感，因而本書(shū)是一部富有自傳色彩的小品文集。

吉辛窮困的一生，對(duì)文學(xué)名著的愛(ài)好與追求，以及對(duì)大自然恬靜生活的向往，在書(shū)中均有充分的反映。本書(shū)分為春、夏、秋、冬四個(gè)部分，文筆優(yōu)美，行文流暢，是英國(guó)文學(xué)中小品文的珍品之一。

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Is it true that the English are deeply branded with the vice of hypocrisy? The accusation, of course, dates from the time of the Round-heads13; before that, nothing in the national character could have suggested it. The England of Chaucer, the England of Shakespeare, assuredly was not hypocrite. The change wrought by Puritanism introduced into the life of the people that new element which ever since, more or less notably, has suggested to the observer a habit of double-dealing in morality and religion. The scorn of the Cavalier14 is easily understood; it created a traditional Cromwell15, who, till Carlyle arose, figured before the world as our arch-dissembler. With the decline of genuine Puritanism came that peculiarly English manifestation of piety and virtue which is represented by Mr. Pecksniff16—a being so utterly different from Tartufe17, and perhaps impossible to be understood save by Englishmen themselves. But it is in our own time that the familiar reproach has been persistently levelled at us. It often sounds upon the lips of our emancipated youth; it is stereotyped for daily impression in the offices of Continental newspapers. And for the reason one has not far to look. When Napoleon called us a "nation of shop-keepers," we were nothing of the kind; since his day we have become so, in the strictest sense of the word; and consider the spectacle of a flourishing tradesman, anything but scrupulous in his methods of business, who loses no opportunity of bidding all mankind to regard him as a religious and moral exemplar. This is the actual show of things with us; this is the England seen by our bitterest censors. There is an excuse for those who charge us with "hypocrisy."

英國(guó)人骨子里有虛偽的惡習(xí)，這是真的嗎？這種指責(zé)當(dāng)然是始于圓顱黨的時(shí)代，在那之前，國(guó)民性格中沒(méi)有任何東西暗示了這一點(diǎn)。喬叟的英格蘭，莎士比亞的英格蘭，都肯定不是虛偽的。清教主義帶來(lái)的變化，在人們生活中引入了一種新要素，從此以后，它明顯地或多或少向觀察者暗示了一種道德和宗教上的兩面派習(xí)慣。對(duì)騎士黨的嘲諷很容易理解；它造就了一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)的克倫威爾，在卡萊爾出現(xiàn)之前，他作為我們的頭號(hào)偽君子在世界上出了名。在真正的清教主義衰落后，到來(lái)的是英國(guó)特有的虔敬和美德的表現(xiàn)，其代表人物是佩克斯列夫先生——他與達(dá)爾杜弗完全不同，也許除了英國(guó)人，沒(méi)有人能理解他。但直到我們這個(gè)時(shí)代，這種常見(jiàn)的虛偽指責(zé)才不斷地朝我們飛來(lái)。在英國(guó)自由的年輕人嘴里，也經(jīng)常能聽(tīng)到它；在歐洲大陸的報(bào)館里，它已經(jīng)每天都成為對(duì)英國(guó)人固定的印象了，其原因是不難探求的。當(dāng)拿破侖把我們稱(chēng)為“小商店主之國(guó)”時(shí)，我們和虛偽還沾不上邊；在他倒臺(tái)之后，我們才變成了最嚴(yán)格意義上的這樣的國(guó)家了。想想一個(gè)生意興隆的商人的那個(gè)樣子吧，他在做生意的方法上不擇手段，同時(shí)不肯錯(cuò)過(guò)一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)讓所有人將他視為宗教和道德的楷模。這就是我們的實(shí)際情形，這就是我們最刻薄的責(zé)難者眼中的英格蘭。這就是那些給我們安上“虛偽”罪名的人們的口實(shí)。

But the word is ill-chosen, and indicates a misconception. The characteristic of your true hypocrite is the assumption of a virtue which not only he has not, but which he is incapable of possessing, and in which he does not believe. The hypocrite may have, most likely has, (for he is a man of brains,) a conscious rule of life, but it is never that of the person to whom his hypocrisy is directed. Tartufe incarnates him once for all. Tartufe is by conviction an atheist and a sensualist; he despises all who regard life from the contrasted point of view. But among Englishmen such an attitude of mind has always been extremely rare; to presume it in our typical money-maker who has edifying sentiments on his lips is to fall into a grotesque error of judgment. No doubt that error is committed by the ordinary foreign journalist, a man who knows less than little of English civilization. More enlightened critics, if they use the word at all, do so carelessly; when speaking with more precision, they call the English "pharisaic"—and come nearer the truth.

但是這個(gè)詞選得并不恰當(dāng)，顯示出一種誤解。真正的虛偽，其特點(diǎn)是假裝有一種美德，而他不僅本身不具有，而且無(wú)力擁有，同時(shí)自己也不相信。偽君子也許有，也極可能有（因?yàn)樗锹斆魅耍┮惶鬃杂X(jué)的生活準(zhǔn)則，但這準(zhǔn)則絕不屬于其偽善所針對(duì)的人。達(dá)爾杜弗是這種人的最典型代表，他是一個(gè)堅(jiān)定的無(wú)神論者和享樂(lè)主義者，他鄙視所有從對(duì)立角度看待人生的人，但這種思想態(tài)度在英國(guó)人中一向是極少的。如果假定我們一位口頭帶著善意說(shuō)教的典型商人持有這種態(tài)度，那便是犯了荒唐的判斷錯(cuò)誤。無(wú)疑，對(duì)英國(guó)文明幾乎一無(wú)所知的普通外國(guó)記者會(huì)犯這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤。開(kāi)明一點(diǎn)的批評(píng)家如果使用了這個(gè)詞，那是不經(jīng)心；在嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)慕徽勚校麄儠?huì)說(shuō)英國(guó)人是“法利賽人式的”——這個(gè)詞更貼近事實(shí)。

Our vice is self-righteousness. We are essentially an Old Testament people; Christianity has never entered into our soul, we see ourselves as the Chosen, and by no effort of spiritual aspiration can attain unto humility. In this there is nothing hypocritic. The blatant upstart who builds a church, lays out his money in that way not merely to win social consideration; in his curious little soul he believes (so far as he can believe anything) that what he has done is pleasing to God and beneficial to mankind. He may have lied and cheated for every sovereign he possesses; he may have polluted his life with uncleanness; he may have perpetrated many kinds of cruelty and baseness—but all these things has he done against his conscience, and, as soon as the opportunity comes, he will make atonement for them in the way suggested by such faith as he has, the way approved by public opinion. His religion, strictly defined, is AN INER ADICABLE BELIEF IN HIS OWN RELIGIOUSNESS. As an Englishman, he holds as birthright the true Piety, the true Morals. That he has "gone wrong is, alas, undeniable, but never—even when leering most satirically—did he deny his creed. When, at public dinners and elsewhere, he tuned his voice to the note of edification, this man did not utter the lie of the hypocrite he MEANT EVERY WORD HE SAID. Uttering high sentiments, he spoke, not as an individual, but as an Englishman, and most thoroughly did he believe that all who heard him owed in their hearts allegiance to the same faith. He is, if you like, a Pharisee—but do not misunderstand; his Pharisaism has nothing personal. That would be quite another kind of man; existing, to be sure, in England, but not as a national type. No; he is a Pharisee in the minor degree with regard to those of his countrymen who differ from him in dogma; he is Pharisee absolute with regard to the foreigner. And there he stands, representing an Empire.

我們的惡習(xí)是自以為是。我們?cè)诒举|(zhì)上還是舊約時(shí)代的人，基督教從來(lái)沒(méi)有滲透我們的靈魂，我們自視為上帝的選民，精神上怎樣努力也學(xué)不會(huì)謙卑。這里沒(méi)有任何虛偽。張揚(yáng)的暴發(fā)戶拿出錢(qián)修建教堂，不僅僅是為了贏得社會(huì)的尊重；在他古怪的渺小靈魂中，他確實(shí)相信（只要他真的能相信任何東西）他所做的事是取悅上帝和有益人類(lèi)的。他手中的每一個(gè)金幣也許都是靠撒謊和欺騙得來(lái)的；他的不潔行為也許污染了自己的生活；他也許做過(guò)許多冷酷卑賤的壞事——但這些壞事都是他昧著良心做的，只要機(jī)會(huì)一來(lái)臨，他就會(huì)依照自身信仰的指引，用輿論認(rèn)可的方式來(lái)彌補(bǔ)過(guò)失。他的宗教嚴(yán)格定義來(lái)講是“對(duì)自身虔誠(chéng)的一種根深蒂固的信仰”。作為一名英國(guó)人，他將真正的虔敬和真正的道德視為與生俱來(lái)的權(quán)利。他“走上歧路”是不可否認(rèn)的，但他從沒(méi)否認(rèn)自己的信仰——即使他極為嘲諷地睥睨一切時(shí)。在公共宴會(huì)或其他場(chǎng)合，當(dāng)他的語(yǔ)氣帶著教誨意味時(shí)，他沒(méi)有像偽君子那樣撒謊，他“說(shuō)出的每個(gè)字都是真心的”。他在唱這些高調(diào)時(shí)，不是作為個(gè)人，而是作為一名英國(guó)人，他也徹頭徹尾地相信所有聆聽(tīng)他講話的人內(nèi)心都忠于同一個(gè)信仰。你可以說(shuō)，他是一個(gè)自以為是的法利賽人——但不要誤解，他的自以為是和個(gè)人沒(méi)有關(guān)系，那樣就會(huì)是另外一種人了。這種人當(dāng)然在英國(guó)也存在，但不是這個(gè)民族的典型代表。不，對(duì)于其他持不同信條的同胞，他自以為是的程度并不深；對(duì)于外國(guó)人而言，他則是絕對(duì)的自以為是的法利賽人。他站在那里，代表的是一個(gè)帝國(guó)。

The word hypocrisy is perhaps most of all applied to our behavior in matters of sexual morality, and here with specially flagrant misuse. Multitudes of Englishmen have thrown aside the national religious dogma, but very few indeed have abandoned the conviction that the rules of morality publicly upheld in England are the best known in the world. Any one interested in doing so can but too easily demonstrate that English social life is no purer than that of most other countries. Scandals of peculiar grossness, at no long intervals, give rich opportunity to the scoffer. The streets of our great towns nightly present an exhibition the like of which cannot be seen elsewhere in the world. Despite all this, your average Englishman takes for granted his country's moral superiority, and loses no chance of proclaiming it at the expense of other peoples. To call him hypocrite, is simply not to know the man. He may, for his own part, be gross-minded and lax of life; that has nothing to do with the matter; HE BELIEVES IN VIRTUE. Tell him that English morality is mere lip-service, and he will blaze with as honest anger as man ever felt. He is a monument of self-righteousness, again not personal but national.

虛偽這個(gè)詞用在我們性行為和道德上的時(shí)候可能最多，但這里它的誤用也最離譜。許多英國(guó)人已將民族宗教信條拋在一邊，但是幾乎沒(méi)有人真正放棄這一信念，即英格蘭普遍奉行的道德法則是世界上最好的。任何人有興趣一試都能輕而易舉地證明，英國(guó)社會(huì)生活并不比大多數(shù)國(guó)家更純潔。間隔不長(zhǎng)時(shí)間便會(huì)出現(xiàn)異常粗俗的丑聞，給嘲笑者提供了豐富的口實(shí)。我們大城市在夜晚上演的街景，是在世界其他地方看不到的。盡管如此，普通的英國(guó)人對(duì)本國(guó)在道德上的優(yōu)越視為理所當(dāng)然，從不放過(guò)一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)來(lái)貶斥其他民族以表明這一點(diǎn)。說(shuō)他虛偽，是根本不了解這個(gè)人。他本身也許思想粗俗，生活不羈，但和這件事毫無(wú)關(guān)系，他信仰道德。如果跟他說(shuō)英國(guó)道德只是口惠而實(shí)不至，他真的就會(huì)勃然大怒。他是自以為是的一座紀(jì)念碑，再次重申，這不是個(gè)人的而是民族的。