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Lord Chesterfield to His Son

切斯特菲尔德勋爵致儿子

London,
March 6, 1747
Dear boy,

亲爱的孩子:

Whatever you do, will always affect me, very sensibly, one way or another, and I am now most agreeably by two letters, which I have lately seen from Lausanne, upon your subject; the one from Madame St. Germain, the other from Monsieur Pampigny: they both give so good account of you, that I thought myself obliged, in justice both to them and to you, to let you know it.

无论你做什么，都会一直影响着我，在某种程度上会对我产生非常明显的影响最近我收到了两封洛桑的来信，信中他谈到了你，读完后我倍感喜悦;我还收到了一封圣·日耳曼夫人和一封庞比尼先生的信，他们都对你赞赏有加。因此，为了不辜负他们，也为了不辜负你，我觉得有必要写信让你知道。

Those who deserve a good character, ought to have the satisfaction of knowing that they have it, both as a reward and as an encouragement. They write, that you are not only decrotte, but well-bred; and that the English crust of awkward bashfulness,shyness, and roughness (of which, by the bye, you had your share) is pretty well rubbed off. I am most heartily¹ glad of it for, as I have often told you, those lesser² talents, of an engaging, insinuating³ manner, an easy good-breeding, a genteel behaviour and address,are of infinitely⁴ more advantage than they are generally thought to be, especially here in England.

那些享有美名的人，应该让他们知道自己的名望，从而得到心灵的满足。这不仅是一种奖赏，而且是一种激励。他们在信中夸你不仅彬彬有礼，而且教养有素;他们还说，你先前拘谨、害羞、胆怯和粗鲁的英国式的外表(在我看来.你以前的确有过这些毛病)，现在全都消失殆尽了。读到这些我满心欢喜，因为就像我经常告诫你的，和蔼可亲的风度、落落大方的仪表、温文尔雅的言行举止等次要的素养，比通常人们想象的还要重要许多，特别是在英国。

Virtue⁵ and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value: but if they are not polished they certainly lose a great deal of their luster;and even polished brass⁶ will pass upon more people than rough gold.

美德和学识就像黄金般具有自身珍贵的价值，然而，如果不加打磨，它们肯定会失去大量的光泽，甚至闪闪发亮的黄铜都会比未加修饰的黄金吸引更多人的视线。

What a number of sins does the cheerful,easy good-breeding of the French frequently cover! Many of them want common sense, many more common learning; but, in general,they make up so much, by their manner, for those defects, that frequently they pass undiscovered.

法国人那欢快的、平易近人的良好仪态不知掩盖了多少瑕疵啊!很多法国人都缺乏常识，甚至有更多的法国人非常孤陋寡闻。但是，他们总会用优美的仪态来弥补这些缺点.!而人们往往察觉不到。

I have often said, and do think, that a Frenchman, who, with a fund of virtue, learning and good-sense, has the manners and good-breeding of his country, is the perfection of human nature. This perfection you may, if you please, and I hope you will, arrive at.

我常常这样说，也这样想，个品德高尚、学识渊博、,理性健全的法国人，再加上国家教予他们的礼仪礼节和良好素养，便是完美人格的化身了。只要你愿意，你一样也能达到这种十全十美的境界，我也期望你达到。

You know what virtue is: you may have it if you will; it is in every man's power, and miserable⁷ is the man who has not it. Good sense God has given you. Learning you already possess enough of, to have, in a reasonable time, all that a man need have. With this, you are thrown out early into the world, where it will be your own fault, if you do not acquire all the other accomplishments⁸ necessary to complete and adorn⁹ your character.

你应该明白何为美德，只要你愿意，你就能得到它，而且人人都有能力得，不具备美德的人是不幸的。上天已经赋予你远见卓识，你的学问也已经足够，在不算太长的时间里你将具备人所需的一切。你在拥有这些之后，很早就被送到大千世界中去增长见识。你在外而如果吸取不到其他能使你的品格变得尽善尽美的修养，那就是你自己的过失了。

You will do well to make your compliments to Madame St. Germain and Monsieur Pampigny; and tell them how sensible you are of their partiality to you, in the advantageous¹⁰ testimonies¹¹ which, you are informed, they have given of you here.

你应该再去拜访圣·日耳曼夫人和庞比尼先生，告诉他们你从我这里了解到他们对你的偏爱和赞美，并向他们表示感谢。

Adieu! Continue to deserve such testimonies; and then you will not only deserve, but enjoy my truest affection.

再见!继续努力吧，孩子!你要让自己配得上这些溢美之词，这样的话，你将不仅值得享有，而且会真正享有我最真挚的爱。

                                                                                                                                                                                   Affectionately

                                                                                                                                    深受着你的父亲
                                                                                                                                  1747年3月6日于伦敦

课堂笔记：
1.此句省略了分词“affected¹²"，完整的句子应为“I am now most agreeably affected by two letters"。其中副词短语“most agreeably"用于修饰“affected"。
2."give an account of”表“描述”之意，"feel obliged to do sth.”表示“有责任做某事”,介词短语“in justice to both to them and to you'’用作目的状语。
3.连词“for"在此引导原因状语从句，从句中包含由连词“as”引导的定语从句，指代"for”引导的整个句子。“as”引导的定语从句在主句中的位置比较灵活，可放置于主句前，也可放置于主句后，表示“正如…”之意。
4.此处运用了明喻(simile)的修辞手法，“品德和学识”被比作“黄金”非常贴切，只有经过不断地修饰和打磨，人的品德和学识才能不断提升。
5.这是“that”引导的宾语从句，从句中包含由关系代词“Who”引导的非限制性定语从句，用于修饰先行词“Frenchman"，定语从句中的介词短语“with a fund of virtue,learning and good-sense”表示“具备某些特征”，用来修饰从句的主语.
6.此句的宾语“this perfection"置于句首，表示强调.句子的正常语序应为“You may, if you please, and I hope you will arrive at this perfection".动词“please”表示“愿意”的含义
7.这是一个倒装句，正常语序为“The man who has not it is miserable”.表语miserable被置于句首，用于突出强调.
8.此句的正常语序为:"You already possess enough of learning, in a reasonable time, to have all that a man need have.”不定式“to have all that a man need have"表示结果，其中从句"that a man need have”用作“all”的定语.
9.这是由关系代词“where”引导的定语从句。从句中的主语“it”代指“if从句的内容。
10."how”引导感叹句作动词“tell”的宾语。“be sensible of sth”意思为“知道，了解”。"which”引导的定语从句用于修饰“testimonies”。