《瘋狂英語》精選輯: 浪漫紳士

所屬教程:《瘋狂英語》精選輯

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Masterpieces for the Gentleman

The Watch
A Swiss watch maker will tell you the only non-negotiable item in the world is time. It can't be bought, sold or traded, therefore its measurement is precious. It marks the joys, the 1)melancholy, the sadness and the great moments of our life, and to some that requires nothing less than the genuine article. Those 2)prestige watches include names like Piaget, Lockman and Chopard, manufacturers who like to use 18 carat gold bands, 3)studded with 4)mother-of-pearl and diamonds to create spectacular jewelry that 5)outshines a simple ability to tell time. Others like Rolex or Omega are famous for their solid dependability. Leading that field is no minor achievement. Swiss brands have dominated watch making since the early 16th century, but before that workforce could develop into the five-billion-dollar industry it is today, the watch had to evolve to being more than just a lady's 6)trinket. All watches tell time, but a good watchmaker wants to do far more than that. And that breeds a fierce sense of craftsmanship and competition which has led to some of the great treasures in watch-making.

Darym Schnipoer (International Director, Sotheby): One of those watches which is known as the "Henry Graves Supercomplication", this particular watch has the night time sky over New York city, giving the proper 7)longitude and 8)latitude of course, gives you sunrise, sunset, 9)equation of time which is the difference between 10)mean time and 11)sidereal time. On the other dial, we had the feature that 12)chimes the time like a clock. In this case it had 13)Westminster chimes, which means that is sounded just like 14)Big Ben.

Henry Graves’ watch sold at auction in 1999 at the highest price ever bid for a time piece, which is just as well because according to 15)Bill Prince, a man’s only legitimate piece of adornment is his time piece.

The Pen
It is that ability to convey character that makes a fountain pen so treasured. Part of that personality comes from the design of a fountain pen that has changed little since Louis Waterman's 1884 16)patent for the channeled feed. Fine pens like Cartier, Visconti and Crowe have been appreciated and collected for nearly a century. But one French manufacturer has captured the imagination and hearts of pen-lovers throughout the world.

John Frampton (Boutique Manager, Mont Blanc): We're not about being a 17)disposable item. It's about having an item and having it for years and years. And that's an important part of our culture at Mont Blanc.

18)Tipped with 19)iridium and 20)platinum for extra strength, Mont Blanc 21)nibs are cut, 22)grind and finished by hand in a process that has not changed over the last century. Why? So that no two pens are ever alike. It is both this uniqueness of character and 23)innate ability to convey emotion that defines your pen as your own. Some manufacturers specialize in placing a piece of history in your hand.

John: We go all the way up to the 24)Solitaire 25)Royale and this is a 26)phenomenal writing instrument. It's 27)encrusted with 4,810 diamonds. 4810 is actually the height of the mountain Mont Blanc in metres, so 4810 is a very important number to Mont Blanc. But this is not a writing instrument for everyone. It's perfect for the client who for a desk writing instrument or going out on a formal occasion, where we're using it as a piece of jewelry, putting it on a 28)lapel, withdrawing it from a handbag. It's probably more a piece of jewelry than a writing instrument.

Host: It's a 29)showstopper, isn't it?

John: It's a showstopper.

People who collect and use fine pens all say the same thing: it's one of the most practical luxuries they can imagine. And even if the reader never knows it, the writer has the satisfaction of using nothing less than the genuine article.

注釋:
1) melancholy n. 憂郁
2) prestige n. 聲望
3) stud v. 裝上飾釘、裝鈕或類似之物
4) mother-of-pearl n. 珍珠母，珍珠質
5) outshine v. 放光，照耀
6) trinket n. 小裝飾品
7) longitude n. 經度
8) latitude n. 緯度
9) equation n. 平衡，equation of time即時差
10) mean time 太陽時
11) sidereal a. 由星座決定的，sidereal time即恒星時
12) chime n. 類似鐘聲的聲音
13) Westminster 威斯敏斯特教堂（全稱是Westminster Abbey，又譯西敏寺），位于英國倫敦，英國所有國王和女王都是在此地加冕，死后也多半長眠于此。
14) Big Ben 英國倫敦的大笨鐘是著名的旅游景點，以它巨大的鐘面聞名，大鐘于1859年建成。
15) Bill Prince 《GQ》雜志副編輯（Deputy Editor of GQ magazine）
16) patent n. 專利
17) disposable adj. 用后即丟棄的
18) tip v. 覆蓋（或裝飾）……的頂端
19) iridium n. 銥
20) platinum n. 白金，鉑
21) nib n. （鋼）筆尖
22) grind v. 磨
23) innate a. 天生的
24) solitaire n. 單粒寶石
25) royale n. 蛋奶糕飾塊。Solitaire Royale是Mont Blanc的一款鋼筆。
26) phenomenal a. 杰出的，不尋常的
27) encrust v. （用貴重物品）裝飾外層
28) lapel n. 翻領
29) showstopper n. 因贏得掌聲而使演出中斷的臺詞、表演等

浪漫紳士

時光永恒　——　表

瑞士制表商會告訴你，這個世界上惟一不能討價還價的事物就是時間。時間無法買賣和交易，因此它的測定是寶貴的。它記錄了我們生命中的歡欣、痛苦、悲傷和每一個重要時刻; 對于某些人來說，他們需要真品來計時。全球極負盛名的表，如伯爵、洛克曼和蕭邦，其鐘表制造商都喜歡用18K金做表帶，再鑲嵌上珍珠母和鉆石，打造出一件光彩奪目的珠寶工藝品，使得指示時間這種簡單的功能退居次位。其它名表，如勞力士或歐米茄，都以穩(wěn)定可靠而著稱。在制表業(yè)要處于領先地位并不是一件容易的事。自16世紀初期起，瑞士生產的表一直統(tǒng)領著制表業(yè)。今天，制表業(yè)已經發(fā)展成了一個價值50億美元的行業(yè); 而在這之前，手表就得突破只能作為女士們的小飾物這種限制。
所有的手表都能顯示時間，但一個優(yōu)秀的制表商所想做到的絕不僅限于此。這就催生了一絲不茍的制作工藝和強烈的行業(yè)競爭意識，并使得制表業(yè)出現(xiàn)了一些不可多得的珍品。

達琳·施尼珀爾（蘇富比國際部經理）: 那些表中有一只名為“享利·格雷夫超級復雜計時器”，它的表盤是紐約城的夜空，顯示精確的經度、緯度，有日落、日出的時間，還有時差，即太陽時和恒星時的差異。在另一個表盤，設定了類似于時鐘一樣的報時功能，它會響起威斯敏斯特的鐘聲，聽起來就像英國大笨鐘敲出的聲音。

享利·格雷夫的這只表在1999年的拍賣會上賣出了計時器中的最高價，這也印證了比爾·普林斯的話：男人惟一真正的飾件就是表。

個性迷人 —— 筆

正是因為能體現(xiàn)個性，鋼筆才尤為珍貴。這種特性的一部分就來自于鋼筆的設計--自從1884年路易斯·沃特曼獲得了鋼筆墨水管的發(fā)明專利以來，鋼筆的設計變化不大。做工優(yōu)良的鋼筆，如卡地亞、維斯康提和克羅，為世人所欣賞和收藏已近一個世紀。但一名法國制造商滿足了全世界鋼筆熱愛者們對鋼筆的想象和熱衷。

約翰·弗蘭普頓（萬寶龍門市部經理）：我們要做的不是那些用完即丟的筆，而是適合多年收藏的一種物品，這是我們萬寶龍文化中很重要的一部分。

用銥和白金做筆尖使之更耐用，萬寶龍的整個工序，包括筆尖的削割、打磨至最后完成均為手工制作，這種工序從上世紀以來從未改變過。為什么？因為只有這樣你才不會找到兩支一模一樣的鋼筆。正是因為這種特性和特有的工藝才能傳達出情感，才能使你的鋼筆真正屬于你自己。某些制造商非常擅長將一段神奇的歷史融入你手中的筆。

約翰: 我們最花心思制造的是這支名為“Solitaire Royale”的鉆石鋼筆，這可是筆中極品。它的外殼嵌有4810顆鉆石。4810本是萬寶龍山的高度，所以4810對萬寶龍來說是一個非常重要的數字。而這支筆并不是適合所有人隨身攜帶以作書寫之用，最理想的是擺在桌上作書寫工具，或是攜以出席正式場合，把它當成一件珠寶，將筆別在翻領上，或從提包里取出來，這樣，與其說它是一件書寫工具，倒不如說它更像是一件珠寶。

主持人：十分搶鏡，是嗎？

約翰: 十分搶鏡。

收集和使用精致的筆的人都會說同樣一句話: 這是他們所能想象到的最實用的奢侈品之一了。即使閱讀者從不知道這是支好筆，但書寫者卻因使用這樣的真品而滿足。