pubtalkandthekingsenglish中英对照.doc

Pub Talk and the King’s English(酒吧闲谈与标准英语) Henry Fairlie (亨利·费尔利) Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities. And it is an activity only of humans. However intricate the way in which animals communicate with each other, they do not indulge in anything that deserves the name of conversation. 人类的一切活动中，闲谈是最具交际性的，也是人类特有的。而动物之间的信息交流，无论其方式何等复杂，也是称不上交际的。 The charm of conversation is that it does not really start from anywhere, and no one has any idea where it will go as it meanders or leaps and sparkles or just glows. The enemy of good conversation is the person who has “something to say.” Conversation is not for making a point. Argument may often be a part of it, but the purpose of the argument is not to convince. There is no winning in conversation. In fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose. Suddenly they see the moment for one of their best anecdotes, but in a flash the conversation has moved on and the opportunity is lost. They are ready to let it go. 闲谈的引人入胜之处就在于它没有一个事先设定好的主题。它时而迂回前进，时而奔腾起伏，时而火花四射，时而热情洋溢，话题最终会扯到什么地方去谁也拿不准。感觉“有话想说”的人是一个“完美闲谈”的最大敌人。闲谈不是为了争论，尽管争论常常是闲聊的一部分，不过其目的并不是为了说服对方。闲谈之中是不存在什么输赢胜负的。事实上，真正的闲聊高手往往是随时准备让步的。他们也许会偶然间觉得该把自己最得意的奇闻轶事选出一件插进来讲一讲，但一转眼大家已谈到别处去了，插话的机会随之丧失，它们也就听之任之了。 Perhaps it is because of my upbringing in English pubs that I think bar conversation has a charm of its own. Bar friends are not deeply involved in each other’s lives. They are companions, not intimates. The fact that their marriages may be on the rock, or that their love affairs have broken or even that they got out of bed on the wrong side is simply not a concern. They are like the musketeers of Dumas who, although they lived side by side with each other, did not delve into each other’s lives or the recesses of their thoughts and feelings. 或许是从小混迹于英国小酒吧的缘故吧，我觉得酒馆里的闲聊是别有韵味的。酒馆里的朋友们对彼此的生活毫不了解，他们只是临时的伙伴，相互之间并无深交。这些人之中，也许有人的婚姻面临破裂，有人恋爱受挫，有人碰到别的什么不顺心的事儿，但这些都无关紧要。他们就像大仲马笔下的三个火枪手一样，虽然朝夕相处，却从来不过问彼此的私事，也不去打探别人内