美國(guó)語(yǔ)文第六冊(cè) 第267期:英國(guó)人的性格(4)

The character of an Englishman, under its most refined aspect, has some disagreeable points which jar unpleasantly on the foreigner not accustomed to them.

一個(gè)英國(guó)人的性格，在最精致的外表下，有一些刺激外國(guó)人神經(jīng)的無(wú)法接受之處，令其無(wú)法適應(yīng)他們。

The consciousness of national superiority, combined with natural feelings of independence, gives him an air of arrogance,

對(duì)民族優(yōu)越感的意識(shí)，與獨(dú)立性這種自然流露出來(lái)的情感結(jié)合在一起，賦予其傲慢自大的神態(tài)，

though it must be owned that this is never betrayed in his own house, I may almost say in his own country. But abroad,

盡管必須承認(rèn)他絕對(duì)不會(huì)在自己的家里流露出來(lái)，我?guī)缀蹩梢哉f(shuō)在自己國(guó)家里也很少流露出來(lái)。但是在國(guó)外，

when he seems to institute a comparison between himself and the people he is thrown with,

當(dāng)他打算拿自己與所在國(guó)家的人進(jìn)行比較時(shí)，

it becomes so obvious that he is the most unpopular, not to say odious, person in the world.

再明顯不過(guò)的是，他是世界上最不受歡迎的人，這樣說(shuō)并無(wú)惡意。

Even the open hand with which he dispenses his bounty will not atone for the violence he offers to national vanity.

甚至連他為了施舍而張開的手，也不會(huì)彌補(bǔ)他展現(xiàn)民族虛榮時(shí)所帶來(lái)的傷害。

 

There are other defects, which are visible even in his most favored circumstances.

還有其他缺點(diǎn)，甚至在對(duì)他最友好的環(huán)境里也顯而易見。

Such is his bigotry, surpassing everything in a quiet passive form, that has been witnessed since the more active bigotry of the times of the Spanish Philips.

這就是他的頑固，以一種相當(dāng)被動(dòng)的形式漠視一切，已經(jīng)為西班牙菲利普斯統(tǒng)治時(shí)期以來(lái)所體現(xiàn)出的更頑固的性格所證實(shí)。

Such, too, is the exclusive, limited range of his knowledge and conceptions of all political and social topics and relations.

還有排外，限制了他對(duì)所有政治和社會(huì)話題以及相互關(guān)系的認(rèn)知與觀念。

The Englishman, the cultivated Englishman, has no standard of excellence borrowed from mankind.

英國(guó)人，尤其是有教養(yǎng)的英國(guó)人，沒有從人類借用的卓越這一標(biāo)準(zhǔn)規(guī)范。

His speculation never travels beyond his own little—great little—island.

他的思考從未超越過(guò)自己所在的那一相對(duì)而言狹小的英倫三島。