名人认知系列 哲学思想家12：Ralph Waldo Emerson 拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生

Ralph Waldo Emerson

拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生

The United States had won its independence from Britain just twenty-two years before Ralph Waldo Emerson was born. But it had yet to win its cultural independence. It still took its traditions from other countries, mostly from western Europe. What the American Revolution did for the nation’s politics, Emerson did for its culture.

当美国从英国手里赢得独立的22年后，爱默生出生了。但是当时的美国还需要赢得文化上的独立。它的传统仍然来自其他国家，主要是来自西欧。美国革命在政治上为美国赢得独立，而爱默生在文化上为美国独立做出了贡献。

When he began writing and speaking in the eighteen thirties, conservatives¹ saw him as radical² — wild and dangerous. But to the young, he spoke³ words of self-dependence 一 a new language of freedom. He was the first to bring them a truly American spirit. He told America to demand its own laws and churches and works⁴. It is through his own works that we shall look at Ralph Waldo Emerson.

19世纪30年代，当爱默生开始写作和演讲时，保守派认为他太激进，野蛮而且危险。但是对于年轻人来说，爱默生宣扬自立——自由的新形式。他是为他们带来真正美国精神的第一人。他号召美国人民要有自己的法律、教堂和著作。正是通过他自己的作品，我们才了解了爱默生。

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s life was not as exciting as the lives of some other American writers — Herman Melville, Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway. Emerson traveled to Europe several times. And he made speeches at a number of places in the United States. But, except for those trips, he lived all his life in the small town of Concord⁵, Massachusetts. Emerson’s father, like many of the men in his family, was a minister of a Christian⁶ church. When Emerson was eight years old, his father died. His mother was left with very little money to raise her five sons.

爱默生的一生波澜不惊，并不像赫尔曼·梅尔维尔、马克·吐温和海明威等其他作家。爱默生曾几次到欧洲旅行，他还在美国数个地方演讲。但是除了以上这些旅行外，他一生都住在马萨诸塞州的小镇康科德。他的父亲，像家族中的许多男人一样，是基督教的牧师。爱默生8岁时，父亲去世了，给母亲留下了少得可怜的钱养育五个儿子。

After several more years in Boston, the family moved to the nearby town of Concord. There they joined Emerson’s aunt, Mary Moody⁷ Emerson. Emerson seemed to accept the life his mother and aunt wanted for him. As a boy, he attended Boston Latin⁸ School. Then he studied at Harvard University.

在波士顿住了几年之后，爱默生一家搬到了附近的康科德镇，和爱默生的姑姑玛丽·穆迪·爱默生住在一 起。爱默生似乎接受了他母亲和姑姑为他安排的生活。 他在波士顿拉丁语学校就读，然后进入哈佛大学。

For a few years, he taught in a girls’ school started by one of his brothers. But he did not enjoy this kind of teaching⁹. For a time, he wondered what he should do with his life. Finally, like his father, he became a religious minister. But he had questions about his beliefs and the purpose of his life.

有几年，他在他兄弟开办的一家女子学校任职，但是他并不喜欢那样教书。他曾一度思考一生应该做什么。最后，他像父亲一样成了一名牧师。但是他仍对其信仰以及生活的目的抱有疑问。

Later, his speech, “The American Scholar,” created great excitement among the students in Harvard. They
heard his words as a new declaration¹⁰ of independence — a declaration of the independence of the mind. Young people agreed with Emerson that a person had the power within himself to succeed at whatever he tried. The important truth seemed to be not what had been done, but what might be done.
 

后来，他的演讲“论美国学者”在哈佛大学中引起了轰动。学子们把他的演讲看作是一种新的独立宣言——思想的独立宣言。年轻人拥护爱默生，因为爱默生认为一个人只要努力就可以实现梦想。事实不在于已经做了多少，而在于还能够做多少。

1 conservatives   

保守的人( conservative的名词复数 )； （英国）保守党党员，保守党支持者

参考例句：

• The Conservatives were then the governing party . 那时是保守党当政。
• The Conservatives were once more in power. 保守党再次执政。

2 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

5 concord   

n.和谐；协调

参考例句：

• These states had lived in concord for centuries.这些国家几个世纪以来一直和睦相处。
• His speech did nothing for racial concord.他的讲话对种族和谐没有作用。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 moody   

adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的

参考例句：

• He relapsed into a moody silence.他又重新陷于忧郁的沉默中。
• I'd never marry that girl.She's so moody.我决不会和那女孩结婚的。她太易怒了。

8 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

9 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

10 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。