精美英文欣赏:独处

Part 4 Solitude¹

第四部分 独处

I find it wholesome² to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers³. A man thinking or working is always alone, let him be where he will. Solitude is not measured by the miles of space that intervene between a man and his fellows. The really diligent⁴ student in one of the crowded hives of Cambridge College is as solitary⁵ as a dervish in the desert. The farmer can work alone in the field or the woods all day, hoeing or chopping，and not feel lonesome because he is employed; but when he comes home at night he cannot sit down in a room alone, at the mercy of his thoughts, but must be where he can "see the folks," and recreate, and, as he thinks. remunerate himself for his day's solitude; and hence he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the daywithout ennui⁶ and "the blues"; but he does not realize that the student, though in the house, is still at work in his field, and chopping in his woods, as the farmer in his. and in turn seeks the same recreation and society that the latter does, though it may be a more condensed form of it.

大部分时候，我发现独处都是有益于健康的。有人陪伴，即使是最好的同伴，不久也会心生厌烦，兴致将消散。我爱独处。我没有遇见比孤独更好的伴侣了。我们置身国外，立行人群之中，通常比独处室内更加寂寞。一个思考着的或工作着的人总是孤独的，就让他去他想去的地方吧。孤独不是以和同伴之间的距离来衡量的。真正勤奋的学生，在剑桥学院一个拥挤的蜂房里，就像沙漠中的苦行僧一样孤单。农夫可以整日在田间或林中独自工作，耕地或者伐木，却并不感到寂寞，因为他有活儿干; 可是当他晚上回到家中，却不能在房间坐下独自思考，而必须去"能看到乡亲"的地方消遣娱乐，正如他所想的，去补偿他五天的孤寂; 因此他不明白学生如何可以整日整夜地独坐在家里，而不感到倦怠和"优郁"; 但他没有意识到，学生虽然身处室内，却依然在自己的田野上耕耘，在自己的森林中采伐.就像农夫在他的田地林间工作一样，之后学生也和农夫一样要去寻求消遣，也要去交朋结友，只是娱乐方式可能更加简明一些。

Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very short intervals⁷, not having had time to acquire any new value for each other. We meet at meals three times a day, and give each other a new taste of that old mushy cheese that we are. We have had to agree on a certain set of rules, called etiquette⁸ and politeness, to make this frequent meeting tolerable and that we need not come to open war. We meet at the post office, and at the sociable⁹, and about the fireside every night; we live thick and are in each other's way, and stumble over one another, and I think that we thus lose some respect for one another. Certainly less frequency would suffice for all important and hearty¹⁰ communications. Consider the girls in a factory-never alone, hardly in their dreams. It would be better if there were but one inhabitant to a square mile, as where I live. The value of a man is not in his skin.

社会交际往往极其廉价。我们相聚的时间十分短暂,没有足够的时间让彼此获得任何有价值的新事物。在一日三餐的时候见面的时候，我们就如陈腐的奶略，却让彼此相互品尝出新的味道。我们必须一致同意若干条规则，也就是我们所谓的礼节和礼貌，使这种经常的聚会相安无事，我们还要一致同意我们没有争吵的必要。我们在邮局碰面，在社交场合碰面，每天晚上在炉火边碰面; 我们生活得很拥挤，相互干扰，彼此牵绊，我想，我们因此失去了对彼此的尊重。当然，所有重要的、真诚的沟通，次数少一些就足够了。想一想工厂里的女工们--永远不会独处，甚至在梦中也难得是独自一人。如果一平方英里只有一个居民，就像我这样，那要好多了。一个人的价值不在于他的外在。

1 solitude   

n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方

参考例句：

• People need a chance to reflect on spiritual matters in solitude. 人们需要独处的机会来反思精神上的事情。
• They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。

2 wholesome   

adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的

参考例句：

• In actual fact the things I like doing are mostly wholesome.实际上我喜欢做的事大都是有助于增进身体健康的。
• It is not wholesome to eat without washing your hands.不洗手吃饭是不卫生的。

3 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

4 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

5 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

6 ennui   

n.怠倦，无聊

参考例句：

• Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来，常觉百无聊赖。
• Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。

7 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

8 etiquette   

n.礼仪，礼节；规矩

参考例句：

• The rules of etiquette are not so strict nowadays.如今的礼仪规则已不那么严格了。
• According to etiquette,you should stand up to meet a guest.按照礼节你应该站起来接待客人。

9 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

10 hearty   

adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的

参考例句：

• After work they made a hearty meal in the worker's canteen.工作完了，他们在工人食堂饱餐了一顿。
• We accorded him a hearty welcome.我们给他热忱的欢迎。