第109期:乡村和城市你选那一个

 　　Why are so many people so anxious to get away from the small town or village where they brought up, and to make for the big cities? They usually describe their hometown as "boring" or "dead", or the harshest criticism of all as "provincial¹".

　　If we examine the question from a distance, as if we were viewing the whole country from a long way off, we start to get a clue about what it is that lures² us into the big cities.

　　The main point to notice about big cities is that they are big: there are a lot of people, and there are a lot of things going on. If you look down on a city, literally³ from a great distance, from an airplane at night, you will be struck by the incredible brightness of a city: there are so many lights that you cannot help feeling that all the bright things of life are down there waiting for you. But a feeling of disappointment will set in shortly after you land, because you will discover as you drive into the city center from the airport that the lights are just that: lights, miles and miles of street lights and neon signs. They are not in themselves sources of joy and happiness: city lights are not friendly, they are merely lights. In fact, the effect will probably be to make you feel lonely and isolated⁴.

　　And yet the city lures us, because it is not provincial like the dead little town we have left behind us.“Provincial” is in fact our way of describing not the town but the attitude of the people. In our little town, we know (or think we know) everybody. And what we know about them is that they do not want to go anywhere, or to do anything outside to normal routine of their everyday lives. Unlike us, they have no sense of adventure, no longing⁵ for new experiences or new horizons.

　　So we look down on them, pity or despise them, pack our bags, and make for the big world which we know is out there, where the bright lights are. Then a curious thing happens. We find a job, make a small circle of friends and acquaintances, and move into some cramped⁶ accommodation. Gradually we get to know our section of the city, its shops and its people, and for a while, we begin to feel at home. It is small enough, our part of the city, for us not to feel lost or anonymous⁷. We, in effect, create another little village for ourselves within the big city. The ultimate irony⁸ comes when we rent a television set so that we can stay in at night and watch exactly the same programs that our despised country cousins watch. Soon we too become “provincial”, and others who live round us will be glad to get up and leave us behind.

　　为什么那么多人那么急切地想离开自己从小长大的小城镇或村庄，而奔向大都市呢？他们常称自己的家乡“枯燥乏味”，或者"死气沉沉”，甚或最为刺耳地评判为“偏狭”。

　　假如我们从更高的层面来审视这个问题，就像我们远距离地一览整个国家一样，我们就会对到底是什么诱使我们到大城市来这个问题有一点线索了。大城市值得注意的主要一点就是 “大”：人口众多，发生的亊情也多。假如你确实从一个很远的距离——如夜晚航行的飞机上——俯视一座城市,你会被一座城市难以置信的明亮所打动:那么多的灯光，以至于你会情不自禁地感觉五彩缤纷的生活正在那里等着你。然而，一旦你乘坐的飞机着陆，一股失望之情便会油然而生，因为当你驱车从机场驶向市中心的时候,你会发现那种光亮不过是绵延几英里的路灯和霓虹灯招牌。它们本身并非快乐与幸福的源泉：城市之光并不友善，它们仅仅是灯光而已。亊实上，其灯光效果很可能还 会让你感觉到孤独与落寞。

　　然而，大城市依旧诱惑着我们，因为它们不像我们背弃的那个死气沉沉的小城镇那样偏狭。实际上，“偏狭”一词是我们用来描述人们态度的方式而非城镇本身。在我们的小城镇，我们认识（或者我们以为认识）那里的每一个人。我们对他们的了解就是：他们不想到任何地方去，或者不想做任何与他们的日常生话相距甚远的事情。不像我们，他们没有冒险意识，没有寻求新体验或者新视野的渴望。

　　所以我们瞧不起他们,可怜或者鄙视他们。于是我们自己打点好行囊，来到这个我们知道确确实实存在着的、灯火通明的大千世界。随后却发生了令人感到不解的事情。我们找到了工作，结识了一小群朋友与熟人，又搬进了拥挤的住房。渐渐地， 我们了解了城市的这一区域，它的商店和它的居民。有一段时间，我们幵始有了一种家的感觉。这块地方很小，我们并不感到失落或被人遗忘。实际上，我们正是在一座大都市中营造了一个小村庄。当我们租来一台电视机，我们就能够在晚上待在家里，与曾被我们藐视的乡下亲戚收看同一套节目，而这真是一个绝大的讽刺。不久，我们也变得“偏狭”了，居住在我们周围的 人也会兴冲冲地准备行装而远走他乡。

1 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

2 lures   

吸引力，魅力（lure的复数形式）

参考例句：

• He left home because of the lures of life in the city. 他离家是由于都市生活的诱惑。
• Perhaps it is the desire for solitude or the chance of making an unexpected discovery that lures men down to the depths of the earth. 可能正是寻觅幽静的去处，或者找个猎奇的机会的欲望引诱着人们进入地球的深处。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

5 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。

6 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

7 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

8 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。