英语沙龙：Motherly and Fatherly Love

Motherly love by its very nature is unconditional¹.

Mother loves the newborn infant because it is her child,

not because the child has fulfilled any specific condition,

or lived up to any specific expectation.

Unconditional love corresponds in one of the deepest longings⁵,

not only of the child, but of every human being;

on the other hand, to be loved because of one’s merit, because one deserves it, always leaves doubt;

maybe I did not please the person whom I want to love me,

maybe this or that—there is always a fear that love could disappear.

Furthermore,“deserved” love easily leaves a bitter feeling that one is not loved for oneself,

that one is loved only because one pleases,

that one is, in the last analysis, not loved at all but used.

No wonder that we all cling to the longing⁴ for motherly love,

as children and also as adults.

The relationship to father is quite different.

Mother is the home we come from, she is nature, soil, the ocean;

father does not represent any such natural home.

He has little connection with the child in the first years of its life,

and his importance for the child in this early period cannot be compared with that of mother.

But while father does not represent the natural world,

he represents the other pole of human existence;

the world of thought,of man-made things, of law and order, of discipline, of travel and adventure.

Father is the one who teaches the child, who shows him the road into the world.

Fatherly love is conditional² love.

Its principle is “I love you because you fulfill³ my expectations,

because you do your duty,because you are like me.”

In conditional fatherly love we find, as with unconditional motherly love,

a negative and a positive aspect.

The negative aspect is the very fact that fatherly love has to be deserved,

that it can be lost if one does not do to what is expected.

In the nature of fatherly love lies the fact that obedience⁶ becomes the main virtue⁷,

that disobedience is the main sin—and its punishment the withdrawal⁸ of fatherly love.

The positive side is equally important.

Since his love is conditional, I can do something to acquire it, I can work for it;

his love is not outside of my control as motherly love is.

1 unconditional   

adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的

参考例句：

• The victorious army demanded unconditional surrender.胜方要求敌人无条件投降。
• My love for all my children is unconditional.我对自己所有孩子的爱都是无条件的。

2 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

3 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

4 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

5 longings   

渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ah, those foolish days of noble longings and of noble strivings! 啊，那些充满高贵憧憬和高尚奋斗的傻乎乎的时光！
• I paint you and fashion you ever with my love longings. 我永远用爱恋的渴想来描画你。

6 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

7 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

8 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。