名篇背诵：The English Character 英国人的性格

The English Character 英国人的性格

奥利弗·哥尔德斯密斯(Oliver Goldsmith)

The English seem as silent as the Japanese, yet vainer than the inhabitants of Siam. I attributed that reserve to modesty, which, I now find, has its origin in pride. Condescend to address them first, and you are sure of their acquaintance; stoop to flattery, and you conciliate their friendship and esteem. They bear hunger, cold, fatigue, and all the miseries of life without shrinking; danger only calls forth their fortitude ; they even exult in calamity; but contempt is what they cannot bear. An Englishman fears contempt more than death; he often flies to death as a refuge from its pressure; and dies when he fancies the world has ceased to esteem him.

Pride seems the source not only of their national vices, but of their national virtues also. An Englishman is taught to love his king as his friend, but to acknowledge no other master than the laws which himself has contributed to enact. He despises those nations who, that one may be free, are all content to be slaves; who first lift a tyrant into terror, and then shrink under his power as if delegated from Heaven. Liberty is echoed in all their assemblies; and thousands might be found ready to offer up their lives for the sound, though perhaps not one of all the number understands its meaning. The lowest mechanic, however, looks upon it as his duty to be a watchful guardian of his country's freedom, and often uses a language that might seem haughty, even in the mouth of the Great Emperor who traces his ancestry to the moon.

- vain [veɪn] a. 自负的，爱虚荣的

- fortitude [ˈfɔːtɪtjuːd] n. 刚毅，坚忍

- exult [ɪɡˈzʌlt] v. 狂喜，欢呼雀跃

- tyrant [ˈtaɪərənt] n. 暴君，专制统治者

- delegate [ˈdelɪɡeɪt] v. 授权给……，委派……为代表

英国人似乎和日本人一样缄默，但是比暹罗人（今泰国人）更加虚荣。我曾把那种矜持归因于谦恭，不过现在发现它根在自傲。委屈一下自己先和他们打招呼，那么你肯定能结识他们；委身奉承他们几句，你就能博取他们的友好和尊重。他们毫不退缩地忍受着饥饿、寒冷、疲劳以及生活中各种各样的苦难；危险只能唤起他们坚忍的精神；在灾难面前他们甚至乐观而狂喜。但是他们受不了别人的蔑视。英国人害怕蔑视甚于死亡。他时常把死亡当作避难所，以摆脱死亡的压力；而当他想象着世界不再尊重他的时候，他宁愿去死。

自傲不只是英国民族的万恶之源，也是其美德的来由。英国人接受的教育就是要像爱自己的朋友那样爱国王，除了自己参与制定的法律，谁也不服。英国人藐视那些民族，他们为一人之自由，所有人都甘当奴隶；藐视那些民族，首先抬举一个暴君实行恐怖统治，然后颤巍巍地畏缩在他的权势之下，仿佛他是上帝的代表似的。他们在所有集会上大呼小叫自由，成千上万的人为自己的呼声随时可以捐躯，然而他们也许连什么是自由也搞不明白。然而，最底层的技工把时刻捍卫国家的自由视为自己的责任，时常使用着一种似乎是不着边际的高傲语言，就连帝王都可说其祖先可上溯至月球上。

奥利弗·哥尔德斯密斯(1730—1774)，英国作家。成名作《威克菲尔德牧师传》(The Vicar of Wakefield ，1766)为伤感主义典型作品，散文集《世界公民》(The Citizen of the World ，1760—1761)生动幽默，是小品文类型。喜剧有《好脾气的人》(Good Natur'd Man ，1768)和《屈身求爱》(She Stoops to Conquer ，1773)。长诗《荒村》(The Deserted Village ，1770)影响最大。