晨讀英語美文60篇45 The Influence of Literature

[00:00.00]The Influence of Literature [00:06.40]I will tell you what literature is! [00:08.89]No—I only wish I could. But I can’t. [00:13.18]Gleams can be thrown on the secret, inklings given, but no more. [00:18.00]I will try to give you an inkling. [00:20.94]And, to do so, I will take you back into your history, or forward onto it. [00:26.96]That evening when you went for a walk with your faithful friend, [00:31.11]the friend from whom you hid nothing—or almost nothing…! [00:34.71]You were, in truth, [00:36.80]somewhat inclined to hide from him the particular matter [00:40.07]which monopolized your mind that evening, [00:42.38]but somehow you contrived to get on to it, [00:45.76]drawn by an overpowering fascination. [00:48.73]And as your friend was sympathetic and discreet, [00:52.00]and flattered you by a respectful curiosity, [00:55.27]you proceeded further and further into the said matter, [00:58.79]growing more and more confidential, [01:01.30]until at last you cried out, [01:03.60]in a terrific whisper: “My boy, she is simply miraculous!” [01:08.41]At that moment you were in the domain of literature. [01:12.45]Let me explain. [01:14.32]Of course, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, [01:18.25]she was not miraculous. [01:20.10]She was just a girl. [01:21.74]If a girl is to be called a miracle, [01:24.38]then you might call pretty nearly everything a miracle… [01:27.66]That is just it: you might. [01:30.38]You can. You ought. [01:32.69]Amid all the miracles of the universe you had just wakened to one. [01:37.49]You were full of your discovery. [01:40.25]You were under a divine impulsion to impart that discovery. [01:44.29]You were drawn towards the whole of the rest of the human race. [01:48.88]Mark the effect of your mood and utterance on your faithful friend. [01:53.25]He knew that she was not a miracle. [01:56.10]But you, by the force and sincerity of your own vision of her, [02:00.91]and by the fervor of your desire to make him participate in your vision, [02:05.73]did for a quite long time cause him to feel [02:09.66]that he had been blind to the miracle of that girl! [02:13.15]You were producing literature. [02:16.01]You were alive. [02:17.86]Your eyes were unlidded, your ears were unstopped, [02:21.79]to some part of the beauty and the strangeness of the world; [02:25.86]and a strong instinct within you forced you to tell someone. [02:30.00]It was not enough for you that you saw and heard. [02:33.72]Others had to see and hear. [02:36.41]Other had to be wakened up. [02:38.94]And they were: It is quite possible— [02:42.09]I am not quite sure— [02:44.00]that your faithful friend the very next day, [02:47.06]or the next month, looked at some other girl, [02:50.79]and suddenly saw that she, too, was miraculous! [02:54.72]The influence of literature!

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