考研英語閱讀:外國人眼中的孔子

Confucius in Foreigners'Eyes

外國人眼中的孔子

I first met Confucius in a friend's living room, nearly 10 years ago. OK, so it wasn't really the bearded Chinese philosopher.

大約 10 年前，我在一個朋友的起居室里第一次“見到”了孔子。當(dāng)然了，我見到的并不是那位蓄著胡子的中國古代哲學(xué)家本人，

It was a collection of his most famous lines, printed and bound and resting on a coffee table. As I scanned the pages, a vision of the man began to form in my mind.

而是一本收錄了他的名言警句的小冊子，裝訂得整整齊齊，放在茶幾上。隨手翻閱了幾頁之后，孔子的形象便在我的腦海中形成了。

It wasn't until last Saturday, though, that I finally had a chance to put a name to the face-that of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, who plays the sage in the new biopic Confucius.

直到上周六，我終于有機會把“孔子”這個名字和一張人臉對應(yīng)起來——香港明星周潤發(fā)在新影片《孔子》中出演這一圣人角色。

I went to see the film knowing very little of Confucius' personal story.

雖然對孔子的生平并不太了解，我還是去看了這部電影。

In the movie, we see a man who is all at once humble and wise and humorous and intelligent and disciplined and firm and clever.

影片中，我看到的是一個集謙恭、博學(xué)、幽默、智慧、守紀(jì)、嚴(yán)格于一身的圣人形象。

Even when Zhou's character all but throws herself on Confucius, the philosopher walks away with barely a trace of desire on his face.

即便是周迅所扮演的南子主動投懷送抱的時候，他也平靜地走開了，臉上幾乎看不到一絲欲望。

If this is, indeed, the real man, meeting him would be, all at once, an incredibly exhilarating experience-and also a very depressing one.

如果孔子真是這樣一個人的話，那么與他見面將是一件十分令人興奮的事情—但同時也會讓人沮喪。

In the movie, Confucius talks of changing oneself from within. This is certainly a noble goal. Based upon my own experience, though, it is much easier said than done.

影片中，孔子教導(dǎo)人們要從內(nèi)心深處改變自己。這確實是個高尚的目標(biāo)，但從我的個人經(jīng)歷來看，這事說起來容易，做起來卻很難。

For example, I cannot imagine walking away from the temptress without the assistance of a supernatural power-no matter how many of the sage's proverbs I had internalize.

例如：我很難想象自己能夠在不借助任何超自然力量的前提下從這么一個性感女性身邊坦然地走過——就算記再多的圣人格言也無濟于事。

In this sense, I am more in awe of Confucius than ever before. A person's words take on far more significance when he or she actually lives them out.

從這點上來講，我對孔子的敬畏達到了從未有過的高度。一個人說道做到的人很值得尊敬。

If Confucius really was the man that Chow portrays, he was indeed one for the ages.

如果孔子真如周潤發(fā)所演繹的那樣，那他真是個名副其實的圣人。

 

 

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