正文
英國人的性格 （美文賞析）
The English Character
To other Europeans, the best known quality of the British, and in particular of the English, is "reserved." A reserved peson is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person: he never tells you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives, how many children he has, and what his interests are. English people tend to be like that.
If they are making a journey by bus, they will do their best to find an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does start, personal questions like "How old are you? " or even "what is your name?" are not easily asked.
This reluctance to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways since it tends to give the impression of coldhess, and it is true that the English (except perhaps in the North) are not noted for their generosity and hospitality. On the other hand, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite pleased when a friendly stranger or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier down. We may also mention at this point that the people of the North and West, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East.
Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else, but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty. Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let us say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply "Yes," because people will think him conceited. He will probably give an answer like, "I'm not bad," or "I think I'm very good, " or "Well, I'm very keen on tennis." (i.e. I'm very fond of it.) Even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year's local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck.
The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting-point is self-dispraise, and its great enemy is conceit. Its object is the abili- ty to laugh at oneself--at one's own faults, one's own failure, even at one's own ideals. The criticism, " He has no sense of humor." is very commonly heard in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of humor is an attitude to life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious. The English do not laugh at a cripple or a madman, or a tragedy or an honorable failure.
Since reserve, a show of modesty, and a sense of humor are part of his own nature, the typical Englishman tends to expect them in others. He secretly looks down on more excitable nations, and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they. He doesn't trust big promises and open shows of feelings, esp. if they are expressed in flowery language. He doesn't trust self-praise of any kind. This applies not only to what other people may tell him about themselves
orally, but to the letters they may write to him. To those who are fond of flowery expressions, the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.
Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to. It must be realized that sport in its modern form is almost entirely a British invention. Boxing, rugby, football, hockey, tennis and cricket were all first organized and given rules in Britain. Rules are the essence of sport, and sportsmanship is the ability to practice a sport according to its rules, while also showing generosity to one's opponent and good temper in defeat. The high pressure of modern international sport makes these ideals difficult to keep, but they are at least highly valued in Britain and are certainly achieved there more commonly than among more excitable peoples. Moreover, sportsmanship as an ideal is applied to life in general. This is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech. Everybody talks of "fair play" and "playing the game" or "playing fair." Borrowed from boxing, "straight from the shoulder" is used to describe a well-aimed, strong criticism and "below the belt" is used to describe an unfair one. One of the most elementary rules of life is "never hit a man when he's down"—in other words, never take advantage of a person's misfortune. English schoolboys often show this sense of sportsmanship to a surprisingly high degree in their relations with each other.
參考譯文
在其他歐洲人看來，英國人，尤其是英格蘭人，最著稱的特點是其“緘默”。一個緘默的人不大與陌生人交談，感情不大外露，也很少情緒激昂。要了解一個緘默的人很難。他從不告訴你關於他自己的任何情況。你有可能和這樣一個人在一起工作多年，而不知他、住在哪裏，有幾個孩子，對什麽感興趣。英國人往往就是這樣。
他們乘公共汽車時，總是想方設法找一個空座；乘火車時，就盡量找個沒人的車廂。如果他們不得不與陌生人乘坐在列車上的同一車廂裏。兩人或許好久也不會開始交談。如果真的開始交談，有關個人情況的問題，如“您多大年紀?”甚至“您貴姓?”也不是輕易問的。
從某些方麵來說，這種不願與他人交往的特性是令人遺憾的事。因為這往往給人一種冷漠的印象。英國人(也許除北方的英國人之外)不以慷慨大方熱情好客著稱。不過話說回來，他們雖然外表難以接近：卻也很有人情味，要是一位友善的陌生人或外國人一時衝破了這一障礙，英國人可能也會十分高興。說到這裏，或許我們也該提一句，北部和西部的英國人，特別是威爾士人，遠不像南部和東部的英國人那樣緘默。
與英國人的緘默緊密相關的是英國人的謙遜。在內心深處英國人的高傲自負一點也不比別的民族少，但在與他人交往中，他們注重謙遜，起碼要表現出謙遜的姿態。自誇被認為是沒有禮貌的表現。比如說，有一個人網球打得很好，要是有人問他是不是個好手，他不大會回答說“是的，我很棒”，因為這樣一來，別人就會認為他自傲。他可能會回答說“馬馬虎虎”，或“我自己覺得還行”，或“哦，我挺喜歡打網球的”。(也就是說我愛好打網球。)即使他去年在當地的網球錦標賽中打入了決賽，他也會說得似乎隻是碰上了好運氣。
著名的英國式幽默感也與此相似。其出發點是自貶，其大敵是自負。其目的是能夠自嘲，嘲笑自身的缺點，自己的失敗，甚至自己的理想與追求。在高度評價幽默的英國，經常聽到一句批評別人的話，“他沒有幽默感。”幽默感其實是對生活的一種態度，而不是僅僅指聽到趣事能開懷大笑。這一態度決非冷酷，決非無禮，決非惡毒。英國人決不取笑殘疾人或瘋子，也不會對一件不幸或雖敗猶榮的事幸災樂禍。
由於緘默、謙虛的表現以及幽默感是其天性，典型的英國人往往期望別人也具有這些品質。他心底裏看不起那些很容易激動的民族，並認為自己比那些人更可靠。他不相信言過其實的允諾，過於外露的感情，對於用華麗的辭藻做出的承諾和表達出來的感情尤其不會相信。他對任何形式的自詡之詞均持懷疑態度，對當麵向他自誇的人是如此，對在信中向他自誇的人也是如此。在那些喜歡華麗辭藻的人看來，英格蘭人顯得過分冷漠，使人感到別扭。
最後一點是公平和寬容的風度。和幽默感一樣，這也是一種英國式的理想品質，盡管並非每個英格蘭人都能做到。我們應該認識到，現代體育運動幾乎全是英國人的發明。拳擊、橄欖球、足球、曲棍球、網球和板球等多種運動都是首先在英國開展起來的，並在英國製定出比賽規則。規則反映了體育運動的本質，而運動員的風度，就是能夠按照規則進行比賽，同時又能對對手寬大為懷，失敗時能心平氣和。現代國際體育競賽的巨大壓力使得這種體育風範難以保持，不過，在英國，至少還能予以高度的重視，而且英國人比那些容易激動的民族，在身體力行方麵，做得更好。此外，公平和寬容的風度作為理想準則也適用於日常生活。這一點已被在日常講話中所使用的若幹條體育準則所證明。每個人都談到了公平比賽、按規則進行比賽或公平地進行比賽。成語“直接出擊”起源於拳擊運動，用來表示一針見血措辭嚴厲的批評，“擊打腰帶以下”則用來表示不公正的批評。生活的最基本的準則之一是“決不打已經倒在地上的人”，也就是說，決不落井下石。英國中小學裏的男生相處時，常常極大地表現出這種運動員風度。
The English Character
To other Europeans, the best known quality of the British, and in particular of the English, is "reserved." A reserved peson is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person: he never tells you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives, how many children he has, and what his interests are. English people tend to be like that.
If they are making a journey by bus, they will do their best to find an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does start, personal questions like "How old are you? " or even "what is your name?" are not easily asked.
This reluctance to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways since it tends to give the impression of coldhess, and it is true that the English (except perhaps in the North) are not noted for their generosity and hospitality. On the other hand, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite pleased when a friendly stranger or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier down. We may also mention at this point that the people of the North and West, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East.
Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else, but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty. Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let us say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply "Yes," because people will think him conceited. He will probably give an answer like, "I'm not bad," or "I think I'm very good, " or "Well, I'm very keen on tennis." (i.e. I'm very fond of it.) Even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year's local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck.
The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting-point is self-dispraise, and its great enemy is conceit. Its object is the abili- ty to laugh at oneself--at one's own faults, one's own failure, even at one's own ideals. The criticism, " He has no sense of humor." is very commonly heard in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of humor is an attitude to life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious. The English do not laugh at a cripple or a madman, or a tragedy or an honorable failure.
Since reserve, a show of modesty, and a sense of humor are part of his own nature, the typical Englishman tends to expect them in others. He secretly looks down on more excitable nations, and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they. He doesn't trust big promises and open shows of feelings, esp. if they are expressed in flowery language. He doesn't trust self-praise of any kind. This applies not only to what other people may tell him about themselves
orally, but to the letters they may write to him. To those who are fond of flowery expressions, the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.
Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to. It must be realized that sport in its modern form is almost entirely a British invention. Boxing, rugby, football, hockey, tennis and cricket were all first organized and given rules in Britain. Rules are the essence of sport, and sportsmanship is the ability to practice a sport according to its rules, while also showing generosity to one's opponent and good temper in defeat. The high pressure of modern international sport makes these ideals difficult to keep, but they are at least highly valued in Britain and are certainly achieved there more commonly than among more excitable peoples. Moreover, sportsmanship as an ideal is applied to life in general. This is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech. Everybody talks of "fair play" and "playing the game" or "playing fair." Borrowed from boxing, "straight from the shoulder" is used to describe a well-aimed, strong criticism and "below the belt" is used to describe an unfair one. One of the most elementary rules of life is "never hit a man when he's down"—in other words, never take advantage of a person's misfortune. English schoolboys often show this sense of sportsmanship to a surprisingly high degree in their relations with each other.
參考譯文
在其他歐洲人看來，英國人，尤其是英格蘭人，最著稱的特點是其“緘默”。一個緘默的人不大與陌生人交談，感情不大外露，也很少情緒激昂。要了解一個緘默的人很難。他從不告訴你關於他自己的任何情況。你有可能和這樣一個人在一起工作多年，而不知他、住在哪裏，有幾個孩子，對什麽感興趣。英國人往往就是這樣。
他們乘公共汽車時，總是想方設法找一個空座；乘火車時，就盡量找個沒人的車廂。如果他們不得不與陌生人乘坐在列車上的同一車廂裏。兩人或許好久也不會開始交談。如果真的開始交談，有關個人情況的問題，如“您多大年紀?”甚至“您貴姓?”也不是輕易問的。
從某些方麵來說，這種不願與他人交往的特性是令人遺憾的事。因為這往往給人一種冷漠的印象。英國人(也許除北方的英國人之外)不以慷慨大方熱情好客著稱。不過話說回來，他們雖然外表難以接近：卻也很有人情味，要是一位友善的陌生人或外國人一時衝破了這一障礙，英國人可能也會十分高興。說到這裏，或許我們也該提一句，北部和西部的英國人，特別是威爾士人，遠不像南部和東部的英國人那樣緘默。
與英國人的緘默緊密相關的是英國人的謙遜。在內心深處英國人的高傲自負一點也不比別的民族少，但在與他人交往中，他們注重謙遜，起碼要表現出謙遜的姿態。自誇被認為是沒有禮貌的表現。比如說，有一個人網球打得很好，要是有人問他是不是個好手，他不大會回答說“是的，我很棒”，因為這樣一來，別人就會認為他自傲。他可能會回答說“馬馬虎虎”，或“我自己覺得還行”，或“哦，我挺喜歡打網球的”。(也就是說我愛好打網球。)即使他去年在當地的網球錦標賽中打入了決賽，他也會說得似乎隻是碰上了好運氣。
著名的英國式幽默感也與此相似。其出發點是自貶，其大敵是自負。其目的是能夠自嘲，嘲笑自身的缺點，自己的失敗，甚至自己的理想與追求。在高度評價幽默的英國，經常聽到一句批評別人的話，“他沒有幽默感。”幽默感其實是對生活的一種態度，而不是僅僅指聽到趣事能開懷大笑。這一態度決非冷酷，決非無禮，決非惡毒。英國人決不取笑殘疾人或瘋子，也不會對一件不幸或雖敗猶榮的事幸災樂禍。
由於緘默、謙虛的表現以及幽默感是其天性，典型的英國人往往期望別人也具有這些品質。他心底裏看不起那些很容易激動的民族，並認為自己比那些人更可靠。他不相信言過其實的允諾，過於外露的感情，對於用華麗的辭藻做出的承諾和表達出來的感情尤其不會相信。他對任何形式的自詡之詞均持懷疑態度，對當麵向他自誇的人是如此，對在信中向他自誇的人也是如此。在那些喜歡華麗辭藻的人看來，英格蘭人顯得過分冷漠，使人感到別扭。
最後一點是公平和寬容的風度。和幽默感一樣，這也是一種英國式的理想品質，盡管並非每個英格蘭人都能做到。我們應該認識到，現代體育運動幾乎全是英國人的發明。拳擊、橄欖球、足球、曲棍球、網球和板球等多種運動都是首先在英國開展起來的，並在英國製定出比賽規則。規則反映了體育運動的本質，而運動員的風度，就是能夠按照規則進行比賽，同時又能對對手寬大為懷，失敗時能心平氣和。現代國際體育競賽的巨大壓力使得這種體育風範難以保持，不過，在英國，至少還能予以高度的重視，而且英國人比那些容易激動的民族，在身體力行方麵，做得更好。此外，公平和寬容的風度作為理想準則也適用於日常生活。這一點已被在日常講話中所使用的若幹條體育準則所證明。每個人都談到了公平比賽、按規則進行比賽或公平地進行比賽。成語“直接出擊”起源於拳擊運動，用來表示一針見血措辭嚴厲的批評，“擊打腰帶以下”則用來表示不公正的批評。生活的最基本的準則之一是“決不打已經倒在地上的人”，也就是說，決不落井下石。英國中小學裏的男生相處時，常常極大地表現出這種運動員風度。
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