Dead Poets Society 死亡诗社 （精讲之三）

影片对白

KEATING: No gradesat stake, gentlemen. Just take a stroll. There it is.

KEATING: I don't know, but I've been told-

BOYS: I don't know, but I've been told-

KEATING: Doing poetry is old-

BOYS: Doing poetry is old-

KEATING: Left, left, left-right-left. Left, left, left-right-left. Left, halt! Thank you, gentlemen. If you noticed, everyone started off with their own stride, their own pace. Mr. Pitts,taking his time. He knew he'll get there one day. Mr. Cameron, you could see him thinking, "Is this right? It might be right. It might be right. I know that. Maybe not. I don't know." Mr. Overstreet, driven by deeper force. Yes. We know that. All right. Now, I didn't bring them up here to ridicule¹ them. I brought them up here to illustrate² the point of conformity³: the difficulty in maintaining your own beliefs in the face of others. Now, those of you -- I see the look in your eyes like, "I would've walked differently." Well, ask yourselves why you were clapping. Now, we all have a great need for acceptance. But you must trust that your beliefs are unique, your own, even though others may think them odd or unpopular, even though the herd⁴ may go, "That's baaaaad." Robert Frost said, "Two roads diverged⁵ in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." I want you to find your own walk right now. Your own way of striding, pacing. Any direction. Anything you want. Whether it's proud, whether it's silly, anything. Gentlemen, the courtyard is yours.

KEATING: You don't have to perform. Just make it for yourself. Mr. Dalton? You'll be joining us?

CHARLIE: Exercising the right not to walk. 

KEATING: Thank you, Mr. Dalton. You just illustrated⁶ the point.Swim against the stream.

妙词佳句，活学活用

1. at stake

If something is at stake, it is being risked and might be lost or damaged if you are not successful. 濒临危险，得失攸关。
e.g. The tension was naturally high for a game with so much at stake.
面对一场得失攸关的比赛，压力自然很大。
此外stake一词还有一些其它常用意思，比如作为动词的时候有“以金钱、生命等赌、下注”的意思：
e.g. I'll stake my all on it.
我用我的一切做赌注。

2. take your time

慢慢来，别着急。在日常生活里经常能用到这个句子，而且在一些听力考试的对话部分，我们也经常能听到这个表达。
e.g. Take your time. We still have half an hour before the movie begins.
别着急。电影还有半个小时才开始呢。

3. swim against the stream

逆流而上、反潮流。另一个短语go against the stream也是同样的意思。比如我们可以说一个特立独行的人：He always swims or goes against the stream to show how different he is from others.

文化面面观

Robert Frost(1874-1963)

Robert Frost is American poet, who drew his images from the New England countryside and his language from New England speech. Although Frost's images and voice often seem familiar and old, his observations have an edge of skepticism and irony⁷ that make his work, upon rereading, never as old-fashioned, easy, or carefree as it first appears. In being both traditional and skeptical⁸, Frost's poetry helped provide a link between the American poetry of the 19th century and that of the 20th century. 他的看似简单的作品常以新英格兰农村为背景，探究人与人及人与自然之间的关系。他的全集包括《少年的意志》（A Boy's Will）和《林间空地》（In the Clearing）。

 

      The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent⁹ in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy¹⁰ and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

                  byRobert Frost

思想火花

这个片段是Mr. Keating在激励学生独立思考的又一个体现。在校园里的漫步看似轻松娱乐，其实是在告诉学生要有自己的步伐，要倾听自己内心的声音，不要因为渴望被人接受或认可就去盲从。这些体会是学生们在他们自己的行为中获得的，因而也让他们记忆深刻。

考考你

翻译下面的句子。

1. 我们公司现在到了生死存亡的关键时刻。
2. 你不要总是那么拼命，人生还很长，要慢慢来。
3. 在20世纪五六十年代，反潮流的生活方式在青年人中间很流行。

《死亡诗社》（精讲之二）考考你 参考答案

1. I stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way.
我站在讲桌上就是想提醒自己我们必须经常用不同的方式看问题。

2. Just when you think you know something, you have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, you must try!
当你觉得你了解某个事实的时候，尝试用不同的方法去重新审视它，即使这样做看起来有点蠢甚至不正确，你也必需要去尝试。

1 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

2 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

3 conformity   

n.一致，遵从，顺从

参考例句：

• Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法？
• The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 diverged   

分开( diverge的过去式和过去分词 )； 偏离； 分歧； 分道扬镳

参考例句：

• Who knows when we'll meet again? 不知几时咱们能再见面！
• At what time do you get up? 你几时起床？

6 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

7 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

8 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

9 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

10 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。