2024年4月16日发(作者：)

Prison Studies

1 Many who today hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those

who read something I’ve said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth

grade. This impression is due entirely to my prison studies.

狱 中 学 习

今天，许多在什么地方直接听我讲话的人，或在电视上听我讲话的人，或读过我写的

东西的人，都会以为我上学远不止只读到8年级。这一印象完全归之于我在监狱里的学习。

2 It had really begun back in the Charlestown Prison, when Bimbi first made

me feel envy of his stock of knowledge. Bimbi had always taken charge of any

conversation he was in, and I had tried to emulate him. But every book I picked up

had few sentences which didn’t contain anywhere from one to nearly all of the

words that might as well have been in Chinese[2 … the words that might as well

have been in Chinese: … it would have made no difference if the English words had

been in Chinese, because I didn’t have the slightest knowledge of either.]2. When

I just skipped those words, of course, I really ended up with little idea of what the

book said. So I had come to the Norfolk Prison Colony still going through only

book-reading motions. Pretty soon, I would have quit even these motions, unless I

had received the motivation that I did.

其实这事要从查尔斯顿监狱说起，一开始宾比就让我对他的知识渊博羡慕不已。宾比

总是主宰谈话话题，我总想效仿他。可是，我随便打开一本书，几乎没有一个句子不是少

则一两个字，多则差不多所有的字都不认识。我只好跳过这些字，结果自然是对书上说的

几乎一无所知了。因此，我被解送到诺福克拘留所时，读书还只是为了摆摆样子而已。要

不是我真的获得了学习动力，我恐怕没多久就会连读书的样子也懒得去摆了。

3 I saw that the best thing I could do was get hold of a dictionary—to study,

to learn some words. I was lucky enough to reason also that I should try to

improve my penmanship. It was sad. I couldn’t even write in a straight line. It was

both ideas together that moved me to request a dictionary along with some

tablets and pencils from the Norfolk Prison Colony school.

我认识到，最要紧的是得到一本字典好认字学字。幸好我还认识到得好好练习写字。

说来悲伤，我写字都不能写得齐整成行。这两个想法促使我向诺福克拘留所学校要了字典，

还有本子和笔。

4 I spent two days just riffling uncertainly through the dictionary’s pages.

I’d never realized so many words existed! I didn’t know which words I needed to

learn. Finally, just to start some kind of action, I began copying.

整整两天，我把字典一页页翻了个遍，不知该怎么学。我压根儿没想过会有那么多字。

我不知道自己需要学哪些字。最后，总得有所行动吧，我便开始抄写。

5 In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet

everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.

我写字又慢又费劲，而且歪歪斜斜，但我在本子上抄写下了第一页上包括标点在内的

所有印刷符号。

6 I believe it took me a day. Then, aloud, I read back, to myself, everything

I’d written on the tablet. Over and over, aloud, to myself, I read my own

handwriting.

记得我抄写了一天。然后,我把本子上抄写下的所有字大声朗读给自己听。一遍又一

遍，我大声朗读自己抄写的字。

7 I woke up the next morning, thinking about those words—immensely

proud to realize that not only had I written so much at one time, but I’d written

words that I never knew were in the world. Moreover, with a little effort, I also

could remember what many of these words meant. I reviewed the words whose

meanings I didn’t remember. Funny thing, from the dictionary first page right

now, that “aardvark” springs to my mind. The dictionary had a picture of it, a

long-tailed, long-eared, burrowing African mammal, which lives off termites

caught by sticking out its tongue as an anteater does for ants.

我第二天早上醒来，仍想着那些字—— 想到自己不仅一次写了那么多字，而且还写

了以前根本不认识的字，不由得深感自豪。更何况，略加回想，我还能记住其中许多字的

意思。没记住的字我都复习了一遍。有趣的是，此时此刻，那本字典第一页上“aardvark”

这个字跃入了我的脑海。字典上有一幅画它的插图，那是一种长尾巴长耳朵会掘洞的非洲

哺乳动物，像食蚁兽捕食蚂蚁那样伸出舌头捕食白蚁。

8 I was so fascinated that I went on—I copied the dictionary’s next page.

And the same experience came when I studied that. With every succeeding page, I

also learned of people and places and events from history. Actually the dictionary

is like a miniature encyclopedia. Finally the dictionary’s A section had filled a

whole tablet—and I went on into the B’s. That was the way I started copying what

eventually became the entire dictionary. It went a lot faster after so much practice

helped me to pick up handwriting speed. Between what I wrote in my tablet, and

writing letters, during the rest of my time in prison I would guess I wrote a million

words.

我完全着迷了，于是继续抄—— 我又抄写了字典的第二页。我学这一页上的字时体

验到了同样的感受。每学一页字，我还学到了一点有关人物、地方和历史事件的知识。字

典实际上就像是一部小型百科全书。最后，字典上A那部分字的条目抄满了整整一个本子

—— 接着我抄写B字部。我就是这样开始抄写的，最后抄完了整本字典。大量的抄写帮

助我提高了书写速度，以后抄写起来就快了许多。从在本子上抄写，到后来在那段余下的

服刑时间里写信，我估计自己在监狱里写了一百万字。

9 I suppose it was inevitable that as my word-base broadened, I could for

the first time pick up a book and read and now begin to understand what the book

was saying. Anyone who has read a great deal can imagine the new world that

opened. Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free

moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You

couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad’s

teachings, my correspondence, my visitors—usually Ella and Reginald—and my

reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being

imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.

想来也是自然而然的，随着词汇的增加，我第一次能够拿起一本书读下去，开始明白

书上说的是什么。任何阅读广泛的人都想象得出在我面前展现的崭新世界。我不妨告诉你：

从那时起，直到我离开那座监狱，在任何可以自由支配的时间里，我不是在图书室里，就

是在自己的铺位上看书。真的是手不释卷。我的日常活动就是听穆罕默德先生传道，写写

信，会会客—— 来探视的一般都是埃拉和雷金纳德—— 加上读书，几个月一晃而过，我

甚至没想过自己是在坐牢。事实上，在这之前，我从来没觉得自己是如此自由。

10 The Norfolk Prison Colony’s library was in the school building. A variety

of classes were taught there by instructors who came from such places as Harvard

and Boston universities. The weekly debates between inmate teams were also held

in the school building. You would be astonished to know how worked up convict

debaters and audiences would get over subjects like “Should Babies Be Fed

Milk?”

诺福克拘留所的图书室在教学楼里。来自哈佛大学、波士顿大学等等院校的教员教授

不同的课程。每周还在教学楼里举行囚犯间的辩论会。想必你听了会大吃一惊，那些囚犯

辩手和听众会对诸如“该不该给婴儿喂牛奶”这类辩题争得面红耳赤。

11 Available on the prison library’s shelves were books on just about every

general subject. Much of the big private collection that Parkhurst had willed to the

prison[ Much of the big private collection that Parkhurst had willed to the prison:

Many of the books that had been bought and kept by Parkhusrt and later given to

the prison according to his will] was still in crates and boxes in the

library—thousands of old books. Some of them looked ancient: covers faded,

old-time parchment-looking binding. Parkhurst, I’ve mentioned, seemed to have

been principally interested in history and religion. He had the money and the

special interest to have a lot of books that you wouldn’t have in general

circulation. Any college library would have been lucky to get that collection.

拘留所图书室架子上书的种类几乎包罗万象。帕克赫斯特遗赠给拘留所的为数可观的

私人藏书中的大多数仍在图书室的板箱及盒子里搁着—— 成千上万本旧书。有些看上去年

代久远：封面褪了色，像是用旧式的羊皮纸装订的。我刚才说过，帕克赫斯特的兴趣似乎

主要在历史和宗教方面。他有财力，有与众不同的兴趣，得以收藏了许多外面一般见不到

的书。任何一家大学图书馆若能得到这批收藏，都不失为一桩幸事。

12 As you can imagine, especially in a prison where there was heavy

emphasis on rehabilitation, an inmate was smiled upon if he demonstrated an

unusually intense interest in books. There was a sizable number of well-read

inmates, especially the popular debaters. Some were said by many to be practically

walking encyclopedias. They were almost celebrities. No university would ask any

student to devour literature as I did when this new world opened to me, of being

able to read and understand.

你可以想象，在一座着重强调改造罪犯的监狱里，一个囚犯要是表现出对书本不同寻

常的强烈兴趣，自然会大受赞许。囚犯中有不少人读过许多书，尤其是那些最受欢迎的辩

手。在不少人看来，有些简直称得上是活的百科全书。他们差不多就是名人。我能读书能

读懂了，一个崭新的世界展现在我的面前；那时，我那么贪婪地阅读文学作品，没有一所

大学能让其学生这么做。

13 I read more in my room than in the library itself. An inmate who was

known to read a lot could check out more than the permitted maximum number of

books. I preferred reading in the total isolation of my own room.

我在自己囚室里读书比在图书室里更快。爱读书的囚犯可以借走超出最大规定数量的

图书。我更喜欢独自一人在自己囚室里读书。

14 When I had progressed to really serious reading, every night at about

I would be outraged with the “lights out.” It always seemed to catch me

right in the middle of something engrossing.

当我水平提高到能阅读真正的严肃读物之后，每天晚上10点左右听到喊“熄灯”，

我就非常气恼。似乎每次都是在我读得最入神的时候喊“熄灯”。

15 Fortunately, right outside my door was a corridor light that cast a glow

into my room. The glow was enough to read by, once my eyes adjusted to it. So

when “lights out” came, I would sit on the floor where I could continue reading

in that glow.

幸好我门外正好有个过道灯，囚室透进一点灯光。眼睛适应后，那光线看书还可凑和。

于是喊过“熄灯”后，我就坐在地板上借着微光继续阅读。

16 At one-hour intervals the night guards paced past every room. Each time

I heard the approaching footsteps, I jumped into bed and feigned sleep. And as

soon as the guard passed, I got back out of bed onto the floor area of that

light-glow, where I would read for another fifty-eight minutes—until the guard

approached again. That went on until three or four every morning. Three or four

hours of sleep a night was enough for me. Often in the years in the streets I had

slept less than that….

夜班看守每隔一小时在各个囚室外巡查。每次听到脚步声走近，我就跳到床上装睡。

等看守一走，我就下床，回到照到灯光的地板上，再读上58分钟——直到看守又来巡查。

这样一直持续到每天凌晨三四点钟。我晚上睡3、4个小时就够了。在流浪街头的岁月里，

我常常睡得还要少贩贩贩

17 I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading opened to me. I

knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life.

As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to

be mentally alive. I certainly wasn’t seeking any degree, the way a college confers

a status symbol upon its students. My homemade education gave me, with every

additional book that I read, a little bit more sensitivity to the deafness, dumbness,

and blindness that was afflicting the black race in America. Not long ago, an

English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, “What’s

your alma mater?” I told him, “Books.” You will never catch me with a free

fifteen minutes in which I’m not studying something I feel might be able to help

the black man.

我常常思忆阅读为我打开的新天地。还在狱中时，我就认识到阅读已经不可逆转地改

变了自己的人生历程。今天想来，阅读唤醒了自己内心蛰伏已久的对精神生活的渴望。当

然我不是想追求什么学位，像大学授予学生学位那样。我的自学经历使我每读一本书，就

加深一点对美国黑人深受其苦的那种聋、哑、盲的认识。不久前，一位英国作家从伦敦打

来电话问了一些问题。其中一个是：“你曾在哪所学校就读？”我回答说，“书本。”你

不会看到我有一刻钟空闲着，而不去用来学习我觉得对黑人或许有所帮助的知识。

18 Every time I catch a plane, I have with me a book that I want to

read—and that’s a lot of books these days. If I weren’t out here every day

battling the white man, I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my

curiosity—because you can hardly mention anything I’m not curious about. I

don’t think anybody ever got more out of going to prison than I did. In fact,

prison enabled me to study far more intensively than I would have if my life had

gone differently and I had attended some college. I imagine that one of the

biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much

panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola-boola and all of that. Where else but in

prison could I have attacked my ignorance by being able to study intensely

sometimes as much as fifteen hours a day?

每次坐飞机，我都随身携带一本要读的书—— 到今天已读了不少书。要不是我每天都

出来跟白人做斗争，我会在余生把时间都花在读书上，仅仅是为了满足自己的好奇心——

因为你几乎说不出有什么东西是我不感到好奇的。我想没有人像我那样在狱中获得如此多

的裨益。事实上，监禁使我得以一心读书，如果我有着不同的人生历程，如果我上过大学，

我未必能如此专心致志。我想，大学生活最大的弊端之一在于分心的事太多，“抢短衬裤”

闹个没完，联谊会活动太频繁，种种胡闹，不一而足。除了监狱，还有什么地方我能有时

一天专心攻读15小时之多，借以攻克自己的无知？

Let's Go Veggie!

1 If there was a single act that would improve your health, cut your risk of

food-borne illnesses, and help preserve the environment and the welfare of

millions of animals, would you do it?

咱们吃素吧!

如果有一件事，既能增进健康、减少患上食物引起的疾病的危险，又有助于保护环境、

保护千万动物安全生存，你做不做？

2 The act I'm referring to is the choice you make every time you sit down to

a meal.

我说的这件事就是每次坐下来就餐时挑选菜肴。

3 More than a million Canadians have already acted: They have chosen to

not eat meat. And the pace of change has been dramatic.

一百多万加拿大人已经行动起来：他们决定不吃肉。变化速度之快令人惊叹。

4 Vegetarian food sales are showing unparalleled growth. Especially

popular are meat-free burgers and hot dogs, and the plant-based cuisines of India,

China, Mexico, Italy and Japan.

素食品的销售额大大增加，前所未有。尤受欢迎的是无肉汉堡包和热狗，以及以蔬为

主的印度、中国、墨西哥、意大利和日本的菜肴。

5 Fuelling the shift toward vegetarianism have been the health

recommendations of medical research. Study after study has uncovered the same

basic truth: Plant foods lower your risk of chronic disease; animal foods increase it.

推动人们转向素食的是医学研究提出的关于如何增进健康的建议。一项又一项的研究

都揭示了同样的基本事实：果蔬降低患慢性病的危险；肉类食品则增加这种危险。

6 The American Dietetic Association says: "Scientific data suggest positive

relationships between a vegetarian diet and reduced risk for several chronic

degenerative diseases."

美国饮食学协会指出，“科学资料表明，素食与降低多种慢性变性疾病的患病危险肯

定有关系。”

7 This past fall, after reviewing 4,500 studies on diet and cancer, the World

Cancer Research Fund flatly stated: "We've been running the human biological

engine on the wrong fuel."

去年秋天，在检验了4500个饮食与癌症的研究报告之后，世界癌症研究基金会直截

了当地指出：“我们一向利用不合适的养料来维持人类生理引擎的运转。”

8 This "wrong fuel" has helped boost the cost of degenerative disease in

Canada to an estimated $400 billion a year, according to Bruce Holub, a professor

of nutritional science at the University of Guelph.

据威尔夫大学营养科学教授布鲁斯·霍拉勃称，这一“不合适的养料”致使加拿大每

年用于治疗变性疾病的费用高达4000亿（加）元。

9 Animal foods have serious nutritional drawbacks: They are devoid of fiber,

contain far too much saturated fat and cholesterol, and may even carry traces of

hormones, steroids and antibiotics. It makes little difference whether you eat beef,

pork, chicken or fish.

肉类食品存在严重的营养缺陷：它们不含纤维，含有过多的饱和脂肪和胆固醇，甚至

可能含有微量的激素、类固醇和抗菌素。牛肉、猪肉、鸡肉或鱼肉都一样。

10 Animal foods are also gaining notoriety as breeding grounds for E. coli,

campylobacter and other bacteria that cause illness. According to the Canadian

Food Inspection Agency, six out of ten chickens are infected with salmonella. It's

like playing Russian roulette with your health.

肉类食品也是越来越广为人知的大肠杆菌、弯曲菌以及其他致病细菌的孳生地。据加

拿大食品检验机构称，十分之六的鸡染有沙门氏菌。吃肉无异于玩俄式轮盘赌，拿你的健

康做赌资。

11 So why aren't governments doing anything about this? Unfortunately,

they have bowed to pressure from powerful lobby groups such as the Beef

Information Center, the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency and the Dairy Farmers of

Canada. According to documents retrieved through the Freedom of Information

Act, these groups forced changes to Canada's latest food guide before it was

released in 1993.

既然如此，政府为什么不采取任何措施？很遗憾，政府屈服于强有力的院外活动集团

的压力，如牛肉信息中心、加拿大禽蛋营销公司、加拿大乳牛场场主协会等。根据信息自

由法案获得的有关文件记载，这些集团迫使加拿大最新食品指南在1993年公布前作出修

改。

12 This should come as no surprise: Even a minor reduction in

recommended intakes of animal protein could cost these industries billions of

dollars a year.

这并不奇怪。即使建议动物蛋白质的摄入量减少一丁点儿都会给这些企业带来每年数

十亿元的损失。

13 While health and food safety are compelling reasons for choosing a

vegetarian lifestyle, there are also larger issues to consider. Animal-based

agriculture is one of the most environmentally destructive industries on the face of

the Earth.

健康和食品安全是选择素食生活方式令人信服的理由，但此外还有更为重大的因素要

考虑。以饲养动物为基础的农业是世界上对环境破坏最严重的产业之一。

14 Think for a moment about the vast resources required to raise, feed,

shelter, transport, process and package the 500 million Canadian farm animals

slaughtered each year. Water and energy are used at every step of the way. Alberta

Agriculture calculates that it takes 10 to 20 times more energy to produce meat

than to produce grain.

想一想培育、饲养、建牲畜栏、运输、加工和包装加拿大每年宰杀的5亿头牲畜所

需的巨大资源。其中的每一个环节都耗费水和能源。阿尔伯达农业署估计，生产肉耗费的

能源比生产谷物多10－20倍。

15 Less than a quarter of our agricultural land is used to feed people

directly. The rest is devoted to grazing and growing food for animals. Ecosystems

of forest, wetland and grassland have been decimated to fuel the demand for land.

Using so much land heightens topsoil loss, the use of harsh fertilizers and

pesticides, and the need for irrigation water from dammed rivers. If people can

shift away from meat, much of this land could be converted back to wilderness.

用于直接为人们提供食物的土地还不到农业用地的四分之一。其余的都用来放牧和种

饲料。森林、湿地和草原的生态系统遭受相当严重的破坏，以满足对土地的需求。土地的

大量利用加剧了表土的流失，增加了会带来负面作用的化肥和杀虫剂的施用，增加了从筑

有水坝的河流中引水灌溉的需求。如果人们能摒弃肉食，许多土地就能回复到未开垦状态。

16 The problem is that animals are inefficient at converting plants to edible

flesh. It takes, for example, 8.4 kilograms of grain to produce one kilogram of pork,

the U. S. government estimates.

问题在于，动物在把植物转化为可食用的肉类这方面的效率很低。举例来说，美国政

府估测，生产1公斤猪肉需要耗费8.4 公斤的谷物。

17 After putting so many resources into animals, what do we get out?

Manure — at a rate of over 10,000 kilograms per second in Canada alone,

according to the government. Environment Canada says cattle excrete 40

kilograms of manure for every kilogram of edible beef. A large egg factory can

produce 50 to 100 tonnes of waste per week, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture

estimates.

我们把这么多资源耗费在动物身上，又得到什么回报呢？粪肥—— 据官方资料，仅

加拿大，就以每秒10,000多公斤的速度排出。加拿大环境部称，牛每产1公斤可食牛肉

需排出40公斤粪便。安大略省农业部估测，一家大型禽蛋工厂每星期可产出50－100吨

禽粪。

18 And where does it go? In the 1992 Ontario Groundwater Survey, 43 per

cent of tested wells were contaminated with agricultural run-off containing fecal

coliform bacteria and nitrates. Earlier this month, charges were laid against a large

Alberta feedlot operator for dumping 30 million litres of cattle manure into the

Bow River, "killing everything in its path," as a news story described it.

这些粪便都到哪儿去了？1992年安大略省地下水调查发现， 43%的被测试水井都

受到含有粪便大肠杆菌和硝酸盐等农业生产排出的废物的污染。本月初，阿尔伯达一家大

型围栏肥育地经营者被指控将3千万升牛粪排入博河，“沿途生灵悉数被毁”，一则新闻

这么报道。

19 And then there is methane, a primary contributing gas in global

warming and ozone layer depletion. Excluding natural sources, 27 per cent of

Canada's and 20 per cent of the world's methane comes from livestock.

此外还有沼气，那是促使全球气候变暖和臭氧层减少的主要气体。不把天然沼气资源

包括在内，加拿大27%的沼气、全世界20%的沼气都来自牲畜。

20 John Robbins, author of the Pulitzer prize-nominated book

Diet for a

New America

(Group West), said it best when he stated: "Eating lower on the food

chain is perhaps the most potent single act we can take to halt the destruction of

our environment and preserve our natural resources."

获普利策提名奖的《新美洲饮食》一书作者约翰·罗宾斯说得好：“食用食物链较低

部分的食物或许是我们可用以阻止环境破坏、保护自然资源的最最有效的行动。”

21 Our environment also includes the animals killed for their meat. It has

become an accepted fact that today's factory-farmed animals live short, miserable,

unnatural lives.

我们的环境也包括为食其肉而被宰杀的动物。当今工厂化农场的牲畜寿命极短，过着

悲惨的、不正常的生活，这已是公认的事实。

22 As part of my research at the University of Waterloo, I toured some of

the country's largest "processing" plants. The experience has left me with recurring

nightmares.

作为我在沃特卢大学研究工作的一部分，我参观过一些全国最大的“加工”厂。这个

经历让我日后尽做噩梦。

23 I saw "stubborn" cows being beaten and squealing pigs chased around

the killing floor with electric calipers.

我见到“固执”的牛被打、尖叫着的猪在屠宰室被人用电卡钳追逐。

24 I looked on in utter shock as a cow missed the stun gun and was hoisted

fully conscious upside down by its hind leg and cut to pieces, thrashing until its

last breath.

我万分震惊地目睹一头牛躲过了眩晕枪，结果被缚住后腿倒挂起来，惨遭活剐，一直

挣扎到断气。

25 Noticing my shock, the foreman remarked: "Who cares? They're going to

die anyway."

工头见我惊骇不已，便说：“管它呢！它们反正得死。”

26 Because it can cost hundreds of dollars per minute to stop the conveyor

line, animal welfare comes second to profit. Over 150,000 animals are "processed"

every hour of every working day in Canada, according to Agriculture Canada.

由于传送线停转一分钟就要损失好几百元，家畜的利益就变得不如利润重要。据加拿

大农业署称，在加拿大，每个工作日，每小时有150,000多头家畜被“加工”。

27 The picture gets uglier still. En route to slaughter, farm animals may

legally spend anywhere from 36 to 72 hours without food, water or rest. They're

not even afforded the "luxury" of temperature controlled trucks in extreme

summer heat or sub-zero cold.

情况变得甚至更可怕。家畜在宰杀前的运输途中，法律允许在36－72小时内不给进

食、进水，不让休息。即使在炎夏或零度以下的严冬，它们连乘温控卡车的“奢侈”也不

让享受。

28 Agriculture Canada has estimated that more than 3 million Canadian

farm animals die slow and painful deaths en route to slaughter each year.

加拿大农业署估计，加拿大每年有3百多万头家畜在宰杀前的运输途中痛苦地慢慢

死去。

29 I've also visited typical Canadian farms. Gone are the days when piglets

snorted and roosters strutted their way about the barnyard. Most of today's

modernized farms have long, windowless sheds in which animals live like prisoners

their entire lives. I have seen chickens crammed four to a cage, nursing pigs

separated from their young by iron bars and veal calves confined to crates so

narrow they couldn't turn around. Few of these animals ever experience sunlight or

fresh air — and most of their natural urges are denied.

本人还参观过一些典型的加拿大农场。猪崽喷着鼻息、公鸡在粮仓的空场上昂首行走

的日子已经一去不复返。而今大多数的现代化农场都有一个个狭长的、没有窗户的牲畜棚，

牲畜一生关在棚里，如囚犯一般。我见到过四只鸡挤在一个笼里，喂奶的母猪与猪崽被铁

条隔开，肉用小牛关在狭窄得转不过身来的板条箱里。这些牲畜几乎都终年不见阳光，呼

吸不到新鲜空气—— 它们天生的欲望大都得不到满足。

30 Although it is difficult to face these harsh realities, it is even more

difficult to ignore them. Three times a day, you make a decision that not only

affects the quality of your life, but the rest of the living world. We hold in our

knives and forks the power to change this world.

面对这种严峻的现实固然困难，置之不理更是难上加难。一日三次，你要做出不仅影

响自身生活质量、更是事关整个有生命世界的决定。我们手里的餐刀餐叉拥有改变这个世

界的力量。

31 Consider the words of Albert Einstein: "Nothing will benefit human

health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as the Evolution to a

vegetarian diet."

让我们想一想阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦的话吧：“没有什么比转向素食更有益于人类健康，

更能增加世间万物的生存机会。”

32 Bon appetite.

祝君胃口好。

Where’s the Beef?

Alan Herscovici

1 With summer comes that most wonderful of North American traditions,

the backyard barbecue. The succulent aroma of fresh grilled steak, sausages,

chicken and fish draws family, friends and neighbours together for a communal

feast. Inevitably, in these politically correct times the conversation may drift to the

question of whether we really ought to be eating meat at all.

牛肉在哪里？

阿伦泛兆瓤宋?

随夏日而来的是北美传统习俗中最美妙的一件事，后院烤肉餐。刚下烤架的牛排、香

肠、鸡肉、鱼肉鲜美无比，引来了亲朋好友、左邻右舍，大家一起欢宴。不用说，在如今

这个讲求政治正确的时代，聊着聊着就可能聊到我们究竟该不该吃肉的问题。

2 The following guide should help see you through until the burgers are

done.

以下的指南想必会帮助你捱过等待汉堡牛排烤熟的那段时间。

3 Appealing to self-interest, a common opening line for proselytizing

vegetarians is to claim that “eating meat is bad for us.” They have trouble

explaining, however, why human health and longevity have improved steadily as

animal products became more readily available throughout this century. In fact,

meat is an excellent source of 12 essential nutrients, including protein, iron, zinc

and B vitamins.

出于人们往往考虑自身利益这一点，那些劝人茹素的素食者通常一开口就声称“肉食

有害健康”。然而，他们难以解释，为什么本世纪动物源性食品日益普及，人们的健康水

平和寿命却持续上升。事实上，肉类富含12种人体必需的营养成分，其中包括蛋白质、

铁、锌和各种维生素B。

4 It is true that excessive fats can be harmful, but today’s meats are lean.

Based on equal-size servings, tofu has more fat than a sirloin steak and only half

the protein. (Tofu also makes a mess of the grill.)

不错，过多的脂肪有害健康，但如今的肉都是瘦肉。以同样大小的一份计，豆腐比一

块后腿部牛排的脂肪含量多，而蛋白质含量仅是其一半。(何况豆腐会把烤架弄得一团糟。)

5 With the exception of certain religious sects, people have rarely been

vegetarian by choice. Most often, vegetarianism is the unfortunate result of

poverty. Yet the veggie crowd also claims that “humans are not natural

meat-eaters.” Our teeth are not as sharp and our intestinal tracts not as short as

those of cats and other pure carnivores. But we are not equipped to be herbivores,

either. Like other omnivores (such as bears or racoons), our digestive equipment

allows us to tackle a wide range of foods.

除了某些宗教派别，很少有人自愿吃素。素食主义往往是贫穷的不幸产物。然而，那

伙吃素的还说什么“人类并非天生的肉食者”。相比那些猫科动物及其他纯食肉动物，我

们的牙齿不够锋利，我们的肠道又过长。但人类也并非理想的食草动物。如同其他杂食动

物(如熊和浣熊)一样，我们的消化系统可以应付多种多样的食物。

6 If we were not designed to eat meat, why do we produce large quantities

of the enzymes required to break down such foods? Why is vitamin B12 (found

only in animal products) essential to human life? If we were not natural

meat-eaters, or at least bug and grub eaters, our species would have died out long

ago. If we did not develop as hunters, why are our eyes in the front to our heads

like those of other predators (tigers, wolves or owls)? Why does the mere smell of a

sizzling steak set my saliva glands watering?

如果我们生来不吃肉，那人体何以会产生大量分解肉食所必需的消化酶？为什么维生

素B12(仅含于动物源性食品中)为人体不可或缺？如果人类并非天生的肉食者—— 至少

要会吃昆虫—— 那人类这一物种早就灭绝了。如果人类不曾进化为猎食其他物种的动物，

那为什么如其他食肉动物(如虎、狼或猫头鹰)一样，我们的眼睛长在头的前部？为什么一

块烤得咝咝作响的牛排的香味就会让我的唾液分泌腺流出口水？

7 Shifting their ground, animal activists now charge that livestock threatens

the environment. But much of the world’s arable land is best suited to be used as

pasture. It is too hilly, fragile, dry or cold for cultivation. Cattle convert grass into

nutrients that can be digested by humans. Those who promote organic agriculture

understand that livestock completes the nutrient cycle by returning organic matter

to the soil with manure.

动物保护主义者换了个进攻方向，指责牲畜威胁环境。然而，世界上许多可耕地用作

牧场最适合。那些土地起伏不平，土质贫瘠，不是太干就是气候太冷，不宜耕种。牲畜把

牧草转化为人类能够消化的食物。那些提倡有机农业的人深知，牲畜通过粪肥把有机物质

返回土壤，以此完成食物循环的过程。

8 Other anti-meat myths can also be dismissed. For example: · Whatever

you may think about fast food hamburgers, eating them does not encourage the

destruction of Amazon rainforests. Because of disease-control measures, no

unprocessed South American beef products at all may be imported into

Canada. · Livestock do not use up grains that could otherwise feed starving people

in Third World countries. The main diet of cattle is grass and hay. Pigs, chickens

and other farm animals are generally fed corn and barley, while people eat mainly

wheat and rice. Animals also consume pest-and weather-damaged grains, crop

residues (corn stalks and leaves) and by-products from food processing, such as

unusable grains (or parts of grains) left over from producing breakfast cereals and

other human foods. Raising livestock in Canada does not prevent us from shipping

emergency supplies to people in need. Hunger today, however, is usually the result

of political, economic and distribution problems, not a lack of production

capacity. · The production of methane gas by livestock is not a major contributor to

global warming. Methane gas is only one of many possible “greenhouse” gases.

It is produced by all sorts of decomposition of organic matter, including normal

digestion (even by vegetarians). Main sources of greenhouse gases include

wetlands, forest fires, landfills, rice paddies, the extraction of gas, oil and

coal—and even termites. · Meat does not contain harmful pesticide, antibiotic or

other residues. This is assured by stringent Agriculture Canada and Health Canada

regulations and inspection. Concerns about dangerous bacteria are easily

addressed by cooking your meat well. (Fruit and raw vegetables, in fact, present a

more difficult problem.)

其他反对肉食的奇谈怪论也都不值一驳。如： l 无论你对快餐食品汉堡包好恶如何，

食用汉堡包并不会加快对亚马孙雨林的破坏。由于采取了各种控制疾病的措施，未经加工

的南美牛肉制品根本不能进入加拿大。 l 牲畜并不曾消耗掉原本可用于赈济第三世界饥民

的粮食。牲畜的主要饲料是青草和干草。猪、鸡和其他家畜通常用玉米和大麦饲养，而人

食用的主要是小麦和稻米。动物还吃遭受虫灾和灾害气候的粮食、庄稼的残留物(如玉米的

梗和叶)，还有食品加工的副产品，如加工早餐谷类食品和其他人类食品的剩下的不能用的

粮食(或部分粮食)。在加拿大，饲养牲畜毫不妨碍我们将紧急救援物资运送给急需的人。

事实上，当今的粮荒往往是政治、经济、分配不公造成的结果，而非生产力不足所致。 l 牲

畜产生的沼气并非全球气候变暖的祸首。沼气只是许多潜在的“温室”气体中的一种。沼

气由各种有机物在分解过程中生成，其中包括正常的(甚至包括素食者的)消化过程产生的

部分。温室气体的主要来源包括湿地、森林火灾、垃圾埋填地、水稻田以及气体、石油和

煤炭的开采，甚至包括白蚁。 l 食用肉并不含有于健康有害的杀虫剂、抗菌素或其他残留

物。这由加拿大农业部和加拿大卫生部严格的规定和检查制度所确保。至于对危险的细菌

的担心，只需将肉煮熟煮透即可轻易解决。(事实上，水果和生食蔬菜带来的问题更不易解

决。)

9 One study that is not often cited by animal activists is a recent report by

the Centre for Energy and the Environment at the University of Exeter in England.

David Coley and his associates analyzed how much fuel energy is used to produce

and process different foods. Burning fuel releases carbon into the atmosphere, the

major suspected cause of global warming.

动物保护主义者很少引用一项研究，那就是英格兰埃克塞特大学能源与环境中心最近

的一份报告。戴维房评捌浜献髡叻治隽松爰庸げ煌称匪姆训娜剂夏茉础H忌杖

加徒寂湃氪笃悖四巳蚱虮渑闹饕尚住?

10 To the dismay of the politically correct set, meat scores far better than

vegetables on this environmental-impact scale. It requires eight megajoules of fuel

energy to produce enough beef or burgers to provide one megajoule of food

energy. The fuel energy costs of chicken and lamb are seven megajoules and six

megajoules respectively. Typical salad vegetables, however, require as much as 45

megajoules of fuel energy for each energy unit of food intake provided.

令那些讲求政治正确的人感到沮丧的是，在对环境的影响方面，肉要比蔬菜得分高得

多。提供1兆焦耳食物能量的牛肉或汉堡牛排需耗费8兆焦耳的燃料能源。鸡肉和羊肉的

耗能分别为7和6兆焦耳。而常见的色拉蔬菜却需要耗费多达45兆焦耳的燃料能源才能

提供一个能量单位的食物摄入。

11 “Meat does well because it is not highly processed, provides a lot of

calories and is often produced locally.” Coley reported in New Scientist last

December.

“肉耗能少，因为肉加工程度不高，能提供大量的卡路里，而且常常是本地加工生

产。”科利在去年12月的《新科学家》上著文说。

12 It would require more ink than is available to us here to respond to all

the claims animal activists have made about the supposed evils of modern

livestock husbandry methods, what they misleadingly label “factory farming.”

For example, they criticize the caging of laying hens, while ignoring the fact that

such systems improve hygiene, preventing disease and reducing the need for

antibiotics.

我们在此无法花费过多的笔墨逐一反驳动物保护主义者指控现代家畜饲养方法，即他

们误导性地称作的“工厂化养殖”的种种莫须有的危害。例如，他们抨击蛋禽的笼养化，

却忽视了这样的事实，即此类系统能改善卫生，预防疾病，减少对抗生素的需求。

13 Detailed responses to animal-welfare concerns are provided in Food for

Thought: Facts about Food and Farming, published by the Ontario Farm Animal

Council.

安大略禽畜饲养会社发表的《应有的思考：食物与饲养业的基本情况》对有关动物生

存状况的关注作了详细解答。

14 For debate around the barbecue, suffice it to say that animals cannot be

productive unless they receive excellent nutrition and care. Farmers who do not

provide good care for their animals will not remain in business for long.

至于围绕烤肉餐的争论，只需这样说就够了：动物得不到精良的食物和精心的照料就

不长肉。饲养场主不精心饲养禽畜则无法长期经营。

15 Once fallacious claims about health, environment and animal welfare are

stripped away, the heart of the animal-rights argument is exposed. What right,

they ask, do we have to use animals at all?

一旦有关健康、环境以及动物生存状况的谬论被揭穿，有关动物权益的争论的核心便

一清二楚了。他们质问道：我们究竟有什么权利去吃禽畜？

16 The central fallacy of this argument is that it ignores basic principles of

biology and ecology. Every plant and animal species naturally produces far more

offspring than their environment can support to maturity. This “surplus”

provides food for other species. Aboriginal people called this “the cycle of life.”

We now usually call it “the food chain.” We are part of this cycle, like every other

living organism on the planet. The domestication of livestock has been a very

successful survival strategy, not only for humans, but also for the other species

involved.

这一论点的主要谬误在于忽视了生物学与生态学的基本原理。各类动植物物种自然而

然地繁衍出大量后代，远远超出环境允许其长到成熟的数量。“过剩部分”则为其他物种

提供了食物。土著人称其为“生命的循环”。我们现在通常名之曰“食物链”。如同地球

上其他各种有机生命体一样，我们人类是这一循环的一个组成部分。驯养动物向来就是一

种极为成功的生存策略，对人类如此，对有关的其他物种也如此。

17 The squeamishness some people now feel about eating animals does

not represent a more evolved sensitivity to nature. It is a symptom of how cut off

some people have become from nature.

如今有些人对吃肉觉得反感，这并不反映出他们对自然变得更加敏感。这表明了他们

离开自然已经何等之远。

18 Thanks to modern agriculture, many city people now take our abundant

food supply for granted. We forget that all our food must still be wrested from the

land. Even our vegetables must be protected from other creatures. Even a carrot

clings to the soil with all its strength. Like other animals, we kill to eat. But because

we are human, we can also give thanks and treat the animals that feed us with

respect.

多亏了现代农业，如今许多城镇居民对充足的食品供应习以为常，认为理当如此。我

们已经忘却，凡人所食仍得靠土地出产。即便人类所食的蔬菜也必须加以守护，以防其他

动物侵犯。即便生长中的胡萝卜也竭尽全力紧贴大地。一如其他动物，我们为吃肉而宰杀

禽畜。然而，我们有幸为人，因而还能为此感恩，还能慎重地对待给我们提供肉食的动物。

19 I think those burgers should be ready about now…

我看那些汉堡牛排这会儿该烤熟了……

The Truth About Lying

Judith Viorst

1. I've been wanting to write on a subject that intrigues and challenges me:

the subject of lying. I've found it very difficult to do. Everyone I've talked to has a

quite intense and personal but often rather intolerant point of view about what we

can — and can never

never

— tell lies about. I've finally reached the conclusion

that I can't present any ultimate conclusions, for too many people would promptly

disagree. Instead, I'd like to present a series of moral puzzles, all concerned with

lying. I'll tell you what I think about them. Do you agree?

关于说谎的真相

朱迪斯·维奥斯特

我一直想写一个令我深感兴趣的话题：关于说谎的问题。我觉得这个题目很难写。所

有我交谈过的人都对什么事情可以说谎—— 什么事情绝对不可以说谎—— 持有强烈的、

常常不容别人分说的个人意见。最后我得出结论，我不能下任何定论，因为这样做就会有

太多的人立即反对。我想我还是提出若干都与说谎有关的道义上的难题吧。我将向读者阐

明我对这些难题的个人看法。你们觉得对吗？

Social Lies

2. Most of the people I've talked with say that they find social lying

acceptable and necessary. They think it's the civilized way for folks to behave.

Without these little white lies, they say, our relationships would be short and

brutish and nasty. It's arrogant, they say, to insist on being so incorruptible and so

brave that you cause other people unnecessary embarrassment or pain by

compulsively assailing them with your honesty. I basically agree. What about you?

社交性谎言

和我交谈过的大多数人都说，他们认为旨在促进社会交际的谎言是可以接受的，也是

必要的。他们认为这是一种文明的行为。他们说，要不是这类无关紧要的谎言，人与人之

间的关系就会变得粗野不快，无法持久。他们说，如果你要做到十二分正直、十二分无畏，

不由自主地用你的诚实使他人陷入不必要的窘境或痛苦之中，这只能说你是傲慢自大。对

此，我基本赞同。你呢？

3. Will you say to people, when it simply isn't true, "I like your new hairdo,"

"You're looking much better," "it's so nice to see you," "I had a wonderful time"?

你会不会跟人说：“我喜欢你的新发型，”“你气色好多了，”“见到你真高

兴，”“我玩得很尽兴，”而实际上根本不是这么回事儿？

4. Will you praise hideous presents and homely kids?

你会不会对令人憎厌的礼物，或相貌平平的孩子称赞有加？

5. Will you decline invitations with "We're busy that night — so sorry we

can't come," when the truth is you'd rather stay home than dine with the

So-and-sos?

你婉辞邀请时会不会说“那天晚上我们正好没空—— 真对不起，我们不能来，”而

实际上你是宁肯呆在家里也不想跟某某夫妇一起进餐？

6. And even though, as I do, you may prefer the polite evasion of "You really

cooked up a storm "instead of "The soup" — which tastes like warmed-over

coffee — "is wonderful," will you, if you must, proclaim it wonderful?

虽然像我那样，你也想用 “太丰盛了”这种委婉的托辞，而不是盛赞“那汤味道好

极了”(其实味同重新热过的咖啡)，但如果你必须赞美那汤，你会说它鲜美吗?

7. There's one man I know who absolutely refuses to tell social lies. "I can't

play that game," he says; "I'm simply not made that way." And his answer to the

argument that saying nice things to someone doesn't cost anything is, "Yes, it does

— it destroys your credibility." Now, he won't, unsolicited, offer his views on the

painting you just bought, but you don't ask his frank opinion unless you want

frank

,

and his silence at those moments when the rest of us liars are muttering, "Isn't it

lovely?" is, for the most part, eloquent enough. My friend does not indulge in what

he calls "flattery, false praise and mellifluous comments." When others tell fibs he

will not go along. He says that social lying is lying, that little white lies are still lies.

And he feels that telling lies is morally wrong. What about you?

我认识一个人，他完全拒绝说这类社交性谎言。“我不会那一套，”他说，“我生来

就不会那一套。”讲到对人家说几句好听的话并不失去什么，他的回答是：“不对，当然

有损失—— 那会损害你的诚信度。”因此你不问他，他不会对你刚买来的画发表意见，但

除非你想听老实话，否则你也不会去问他的真实想法。当我们这些说谎者轻声称赞着“多

美啊”的时候，他的沉默往往是极能说明问题的。我的这位朋友从来不讲他所说的“奉承

话、虚假的赞美话和动听话”。别人说些无伤大雅的谎言，他则不。他说社交性谎言还是

谎言，无关紧要的小小谎言还是谎言。他认为说谎不合道德。你呢？

Peace-Keeping Lies

8. Many people tell peace-keeping lies: lies designed to avoid irritation or

argument, lies designed to shelter the liar from possible blame or pain; lies (or so it

is rationalized) designed to keep trouble at bay without hurting anyone.

息事宁人的谎言

不少人为了息事宁人而说谎：那种意在避免生气或争吵的谎言，意在使说谎者免受可

能的责备或烦恼的谎言；意在(或据认为理应)不伤害他人而又能帮助避免麻烦的谎言。

9. I tell these lies at times, and yet I always feel they're wrong. I understand

why we tell them, but still they feel wrong. And whenever I lie so that someone

won't disapprove of me or think less of me or holler at me, I feel I'm a bit of a

coward, I feel I'm dodging responsibility, uilty. What about you?

我有时也说这种谎，不过我总觉得不该说。我知道为什么要说这种谎，但说这种谎终

究不对。每当我为了不让别人讨厌自己、看轻自己、或冲着自己嚷嚷而说谎时，我总觉得

自己有点像个懦夫，觉得自己是在逃避责任，觉得……愧疚。你呢？

10. Do you, when you're late for a date because you overslept, say that

you're late because you got caught in a traffic jam?

你由于睡过头赴约会迟到了，会不会说是因为碰上堵车才晚到的？

11. Do you, when you forget to call a friend, say that you called several

times but the line was busy?

你忘了给朋友打电话，会不会谎称打过好几次，可电话老占线？

12. Do you, when you didn't remember that it was your father's birthday,

say that his present must be delayed in the mail?

你忘了父亲的生日，会不会说寄给他的礼物准是给耽搁了？

13. And when you're planning a weekend in New York City and you're not in

the mood to visit your mother, who lives there, do you conceal — with a lie, if you

must — the fact that you'll be in New York? Or do you have the courage — or is it

the cruelty? — to say, "I'll be in New York, but sorry — I don't plan on seeing you"?

你打算去纽约市度周末，但又不想去看望住在那里的母亲，你会——必要的话用谎

言——隐瞒你将到纽约的事实，还是会勇敢地——或者说狠心地——说：“我要来纽约，

可是抱歉，我不打算来看望你”？

14. (Dave and his wife Elaine have two quite different points of view on this

very subject. He calls her a coward. She says she's being wise. He says she must

assert her right to visit New York sometimes and not see her mother. To which she

always patiently replies: "Why should we have useless fights? My mother's too old

to change. We get along much better when I lie to her.")

(戴夫和妻子伊莱恩正是在这个问题上有两种颇不相同的观点。他称她为懦夫。她说

自己处理这事是明智的。他说她应该维护自己有的时候去纽约但不去看望母亲的权利。对

此她总是耐心地回答说：“我们何必无谓地争吵呢？我母亲年纪大了，不会改了。我对她

说个谎，我们相处得就更好。”)

15. Finally, do you keep the peace by telling your husband lies on the

subject of money? Do you reduce what you really paid for your shoes? And in

general do you find yourself ready, willing and able to lie to him when you make

absurd mistakes or lose or break things?

最后一点，你会不会在钱的问题上对丈夫说谎，以求太平？你会不会少报买鞋子的

钱？你出了什么荒唐的错误或丢失了物品打碎了器皿时是不是常常想对他撒谎，而且会对

他撒谎？

16. "I used to have a romantic idea that part of intimacy was confessing

every dumb thing that you did to your husband. But after a couple of years of

that," says Laura, "have I changed my mind!"

“过去我往往不切实际地以为亲密关系的一个组成部分就是把自己做的每件蠢事都

如实告诉丈夫。可这么过了几年之后，”劳拉说，“我就改了主意!”

17. And having changed her mind, she finds herself telling peacekeeping

lies. And yes, I tell them too. What about you?

改主意后，她在不知不觉中说谎话求太平了。没错，我也说这种谎。你呢？

Protective Lies

18. Protective lies are lies folks tell — often quite serious lies — because

they're convinced that the truth would be too damaging. They lie because they

feel there are certain human values that supersede the wrong of having lied. They

lie, not for personal gain, but because they believe it's for the good of the person

they're lying to. They lie to those they love, to those who trust them most of all, on

the grounds that breaking this trust is justified.

保护性谎言

保护性谎言就是因为人们认为事实真相危害性太大而说的谎言，这类谎言通常事关重

大。他们说谎，因为他们认为，人的某些价值观念压倒了说谎这一错误行为本身。他们说

谎不是为个人私利，而是因为他们相信，那是为他们对之说谎的人好。他们对自己所爱的

人撒谎，对最信任自己的人撒谎，就是因为他们认为这样做是有正当理由的。

19. They may lie to their children on money or marital matters.

他们会在金钱或婚姻问题上对子女说谎。

20. They may lie to the dying about the state of their health.

他们会对垂死者隐瞒真实病情。

21. They may lie to their closest friend because the truth about her talents

or son or psyche would be — or so they insist — utterly devastating.

他们会对密友说谎，因为关于其才能、其爱子或其精神状态的实话会——不妨说他

们坚持这么认为——使其身心受到极大伤害。

22. I sometimes tell such lies, but I'm aware that it's quite presumptuous to

claim I know what's best for others to know. That's called playing God . That's

called manipulation and control. And we never can be sure, once we start to juggle

lies, just where they'll land, exactly where they'll roll.

有时我也说这种谎，可我明白，声称自己懂得什么事他人应该知道，这未免太自以为

是了。这无异于充当上帝。这无异于操纵和控制他人。而我们一旦开始玩起谎言戏法，就

再也无法知道谎言何时会收场，究竟会滑向何方。

23. And furthermore, we may find ourselves lying in order to back up the

lies that are backing up the lie we initially told.

而且，我们会不知不觉地为了圆先前说的谎言而说谎。

24. And furthermore — let's be honest — if conditions were reversed, we

certainly wouldn't want anyone lying to us.

而且——我们不妨直说——如果情形倒过来，我们当然不愿意别人对自己说谎。

25. Yet, having said all that, I still believe that there are times when

protective lies must nonetheless be told. What about you?

不过，话虽如此，我还是觉得有时保护性谎言还非说不可。你呢？

Trust-Keeping Lies

26. Another group of lies are trust-keeping lies, lies that involve

triangulation, with

A

(that's you) telling lies to

B

on behalf of

C

(whose trust you'd

promised to keep). Most people concede that once you've agreed not to betray a

friend's confidence, you can't betray it, even if you must lie. But I've talked with

people who don't want you telling them anything that they might be called on to

lie about.

信守承诺的谎言

另一类谎言是信守承诺的谎言，涉及三方的谎言，即A（你）为了C（你答应为其信

守承诺者）而对B说谎。大多数人承认，一旦你答应不背叛朋友的信任，你就不能背叛，

哪怕你必须说谎。但我与之交谈过的人中也有人不想听那些他们也许得为之说谎的事。

27. "I don't tell lies for myself," says Fran, "and I don't want to have to tell

them for other people." Which means, she agrees, that if her best friend is having

an affair, she absolutely doesn't want to know about it.

“我不为自己说谎，”弗兰说，“我也不愿为别人说谎。”她承认，这就意味着如果

她最好的朋友有风流韵事的话，她绝对不想知道。

28. "Are you saying," her best friend asks, "that you'd betray me?"

“你是说，”她最好的朋友问，“你会出卖我？”

29. Fran is very pained but very adamant. "I wouldn't want to betray you,

so…don't tell me anything about it."

弗兰心里很为难，但态度十分坚决。“我不想出卖你，所以……别跟我说这事。”

30. Fran's best friend is shocked. What about you?

弗兰最好的朋友深感震惊。你呢？

31. Do you believe you can have close friends if you're not prepared to

receive their deepest secrets?

你是不是认为，如果你不愿意了解朋友最深的隐密，你仍会有好朋友？

32. Do you believe you must always lie for your friends?

你是不是认为你必须一直为朋友说谎？

33. Do you believe, if your friend tells a secret that turns out to be quite

immoral or illegal, that once you've promised to keep it, you must keep it?

你是不是认为，如果朋友透露的一个秘密是违反道德或法律的，而一旦你答应保密，

你就得真的保密？

34. And what if your friend were your boss — if you were perhaps one of

the President's men — would you betray or lie for him over, say, Watergate?

如果你的朋友正好是你的上司—— 如果你恰好就是总统班底的人—— 比如说在水

门事件这个问题上，你是背叛他还是为他说谎？

35. As you can see, these issues get terribly sticky.

可以想见这些问题非常棘手。

36. It's my belief that once we've promised to keep a trust, we must tell lies

to keep it. I also believe that we can't tell Watergate lies. And if these two

statements strike you as quite contradictory, you're right — they're quite

contradictory. But for now they're the best I can do. What about you?

我以为，一旦我们答应信守承诺，我们就是说谎也得信守承诺。同时我也认为，在水

门事件这类事情上我们不能说谎。如果你觉得这两点自相矛盾，那你就对了—— 这两者的

确自相矛盾。但目前我只能如此。你呢？

37. There are those who have no talent for lying.

有些人不擅说谎。

38. "Over the years, I tried to lie," a friend of mine explained, "but I always

got found out and I always got punished. I guess I gave myself away because I feel

guilty about any kind of lying. It looks as if I'm stuck with telling the truth."

“许多年来，我一直试图说谎，”一位朋友解释说，“可我总是露馅，总是为此受罚。

我想人家看出我说谎是因为我一说谎就觉得内疚。看来我只能说真话了。”

39. For those of us, however, who are good at telling lies, for those of us

who lie and don't get caught, the question of whether or not to lie can be a hard

and serious moral problem. I liked the remark of a friend of mine who said, "I'm

willing to lie. But just as a last resort — the truth's always better."

可是，对我们这种擅于说谎的人来说，对我们这种说谎又不露馅的人来说，说谎还是

不说谎会成为一个严肃的道德难题。我颇为赞同一位朋友的话，他说，“我愿意说谎。但

只把这作为最后一手—— 真话总比谎话好。”

40. "Because," he explained, "though others may completely accept the lie

I'm telling, I don't."

“因为，”他解释说，“哪怕别人对我的谎话完全信以为真，我自己可无法相信。”

41. I tend to feel that way too.

本人也有同感。

42. What about you?

你呢？

White Lies

Sissela Bok

1 White lies are at the other end of the spectrum of deception from lies in a

serious crisis. They are the most common and the most trivial forms that duplicity

can take. The fact that they are so common provides their protective coloring. And

their very triviality, when compared to more threatening lies, makes it seem

unnecessary or even absurd to condemn them. Some consider all well-intentioned

lies, however momentous, to be white; in this book, I shall adhere to the narrower

usage: a white lie, in this sense, is a falsehood not meant to injure anyone, and of

little moral import. I want to ask whether there are such lies; and if there are,

whether their cumulative consequences are still without harm; and, finally, whether

many lies are not defended as “white” which are in fact harmful in their own

right.

无伤大雅的小谎

西塞拉·博克

无伤大雅的小谎处于欺骗这个范畴的另一端，与重大时刻撒谎大不一样。它们是最常

见的、最轻微的欺骗行为。这类小谎经常听到，这一事实本身就使之披上一层保护色。相

比那些更具危害性的谎言，小谎的无关紧要使得对其进行谴责都显得没有必要甚至荒唐。

有人把所有用心良善的谎言，无论多么事关重大，都看作是无伤大雅的小谎。在本书中，

笔者取的是较为狭窄的意义：在这一意义上，无伤大雅的小谎指的是无意伤害他人的、没

有道德含义的谎言。我想问, 是否真有这类谎言；如果有的话，其日积月累的最终结果是

否果然不具有伤害性；最后，许多实际上原本就具有伤害性的谎言是否没有被说成“无伤

大雅”。

2 Many small subterfuges may not even be intended to mislead. They are

only “white lies” in the most marginal sense. Take, for example, the many social

exchanges: “How nice to see you!” or “Cordially yours.” These and a thousand

other polite expressions are so much taken for granted that if someone decided, in

the name of total honesty, not to employ them, he might well give the impression

of an indifference he did not possess. The justification for continuing to use such

accepted formulations is that they deceive no one, except possibly those

unfamiliar with the language.

许多无关紧要的遁词也许根本就无意误导他人。它们不过勉强算是无伤大雅的小谎。

如许多客套话：“见到你真高兴!”或信末写的“你至诚的”。这些和许许多多其他礼貌用

语并无不妥，理当使用。要是有人为了要绝对诚实决定不用的话，他很可能给人一种为人

冷漠的印象，而实际上此人并非如此。一直使用这些公众认可的套语的理由是它们骗不了

人，那些并不通晓这一语言的人或许是例外。

3 A social practice more clearly deceptive is that of giving a false excuse so

as not to hurt the feelings of someone making an invitation or request: to say one

“can’t” do what in reality one may not want to do. Once again, the false excuse

may prevent unwarranted inferences of greater hostility to the undertaking than

one may well feel. Merely to say that one can’t do something, moreover, is not

deceptive in the sense that an elaborately concocted story can be.

一种显然更具有欺骗性质的社会惯例是假造一个理由，以便不伤害邀请人或请求者的

感情：对自己其实不欲为的事推托说“不能为”。同样的，这一假造的理由或许会防止他

人莫须有地推断自己对所说之事抵触多多。再者，仅仅说一句自己不能做某事，不像煞费

苦心编造的一通谎话那样带有欺骗性。

4 Still other white lies are told in an effort to flatter, to throw a cheerful

interpretation on depressing circumstances, or to show gratitude for unwanted

gifts. In the eyes of many, such white lies do no harm, provide needed support and

cheer, and help dispel gloom and boredom. They preserve the equilibrium and

often the humaneness of social relationships, and are usually accepted as

excusable so long as they do not become excessive. Many argue, moreover, that

such deception is so helpful and at times so necessary that it must be tolerated as

an exception to a general policy against lying. Thus Bacon observed: Doth any

man doubt, that if there were taken out of men’s minds vain opinions, flattering

hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like, but it would leave

the minds of a number of men poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and

indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves?

还有一些无伤大雅的小谎旨在讨好他人、对令人沮丧的境况做出使人高兴的解释，或

者对别人赠送的无用礼物表示感谢。在许多人看来，这类无伤大雅的小谎没有害处，给人

以必要的支持和安慰，有助于驱除忧郁和厌烦。它们保障人际关系的平衡，而且常常帮助

人们在交往中保住人情味。只要不过分，这类谎话一般被看作是可以原谅的。更有甚者，

许多人认为，这类欺骗行为裨益良多，有时还必不可少，故应作为反对撒谎这一总原则的

例外加以容忍。培根曾这样说： 如果把自视过高的看法、奢望、不实的评价、一厢情愿的

想法等等都从人们的脑海里赶走，那会使一些人感到空虚、悲哀、不舒服、讨厌自己，对

此有人怀疑过吗？

5 Another kind of lie may actually be advocated as bringing a more

substantial benefit, or avoiding a real harm, while seeming quite innocuous to

those who tell the lies. Such are the placebos given for innumerable common

ailments, and the pervasive use of inflated grades and recommendations for

employment and promotion.

另一种谎言，实际上人们也许认为，既能带来更为实在的好处，或能避免真正的伤害，

而对那些撒谎者又看似无害。比如对无数常见疾病开的并无药效的安慰剂，以及为了求职

或提升而普遍拔高的成绩和多有溢美之词的推荐信。

6 A large number of lies without such redeeming features are nevertheless

often regarded as so trivial that they should be grouped with white lies. They are

the lies told on the spur of the moment, for want of reflection, or to get out of a

scrape, or even simply to pass the time. Such are the lies told to boast or

exaggerate, or on the contrary to deprecate and understate; the many lies told or

repeated in gossip; Rousseau’s lies[1 Rousseaus’ lies: Rousseau /ru:s/ 卢梭

（Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778），法国启蒙思想家、哲学家、 教育家和文学家. In

Reveries of the Solitary Stroller, Jean Jacques Rousseau says: “Never have I lied in

my own interest; but often I have lied through shame in order to draw myself from

embarrassment in indifferent matters…when, having to sustain discussion, the

slowness of my ideas and the dryness of my conversation forced me to have

recourse to fictions in order to say something.”]1 told simply “in order to say

something”; the embroidering on facts that seem too tedious in their own right;

and the substitution of a quick lie for the lengthy explanations one might

otherwise have to provide for something not worth spending time on.

然而，许多谎言并不像上述那样尚有好处可言，但人们常常认为它们无关紧要，所以

应归为无伤大雅的谎言一类。那都是些脱口而出、不假思索的谎言，或是为了摆脱窘境、

甚或仅仅是为了打发时间而说的谎言。这类谎言有的出于溢美夸大，有的则相反，出于有

意贬低或缩小事态；许多来自流言蜚语；而卢梭式的谎言仅仅是“为有话可说”；有的则

是对本身太乏味的事实添油加醋；还有的则是因为与其为了不足道的事情费过多口舌还不

如找个简短的托词了事。

7 Utilitarians often cite white lies as the kind of deception where their

theory shows the benefits of common sense and clear thinking. A white lie, they

hold, is trivial; it is either completely harmless, or so marginally harmful that the

cost of detecting and evaluating the harm is much greater than the minute harm

itself. In addition, the white lie can often actually be beneficial, thus further tipping

the scales of utility. In a world with so many difficult problems, utilitarians might

ask: Why take the time to weigh the minute pros and cons in telling someone that

his tie is attractive when it is an abomination, or of saying to a guest that a broken

vase was worthless? Why bother even to define such insignificant distortions or

make mountains out of molehills by seeking to justify them?

功利主义者常称，说无伤大雅的小谎说明你思维清晰、明白事理，他们的理论表明，

这样的欺骗有好处。他们认为，无伤大雅的小谎无关紧要；这种谎言没有丝毫害处，即使

有也是微乎其微，若去探究、估计它的害处，其代价比微小的害处本身要大得多。再者，

无伤大雅的小谎其实常常会有助益，这就使它的实用性显得更加突出。尘世间本已烦恼多

多，功利主义者或许会问：在恭维一个人领带很漂亮其实很难看时，或宽慰客人说那个打

破的花瓶并不值钱时，又何苦去耗费时间衡量这样做的微不足道的得失？何苦为了试图证

明说无伤大雅的小谎是合理的就费心去解释这类无关紧要的失实，去使并不重要的事显得

那么重要？

8 Triviality surely does set limits to when moral inquiry is reasonable. But

when we look more closely at practices such as placebo-giving, it becomes clear

that all lies defended as “white” cannot be so easily dismissed. In the first place,

the harmlessness of lies is notoriously disputable. What the liar perceives as

harmless or even beneficial may not be so in the eyes of the deceived. Second, the

failure to look at an entire practice rather than at their own isolated case often

blinds liars to cumulative harm and expanding deceptive activities. Those who

begin with white lies can come to resort to more frequent and more serious ones.

Where some tell a few white lies, others may tell more. Because lines are so hard to

draw, the indiscriminate use of such lies can lead to other deceptive practices. The

aggregate harm from a large number of marginally harmful instances may,

therefore, be highly undesirable in the end—for liars, those deceived, and honesty

and trust more generally.

事物的琐碎性质的确限制了什么时候作道德质询是理智的。但如果我们仔细观察说安

慰话这样的行为，很显然，不是所有被辩解为无伤大雅的小谎都能轻易开脱的。首先，众

所周知，谎言的无害性大可商榷。说谎者认为无害甚或有益的在被欺骗者看来未必如此。

第二，对某种行为不看整体效果，只看孤立的个案常常使说谎者对日积月累的伤害、日渐

加剧的欺骗行为视而不见。那些起初撒些无伤大雅的小谎的人渐渐地可能会经常说谎，谎

言越发出格。只要有人撒几个无伤大雅的小谎，其他人就可能说更多这类谎。由于界限如

此难以划分，随意撒这类谎能导致其他的欺骗行为。最终，大量微小伤害合在一起形成的

总的伤害会招致相当大的麻烦——对说谎者、被欺骗者是如此，更笼统地说，对诚实、信

任也是如此。

9 In the post-Watergate period, no one need regard a concern with the

combined and long-term effects of deception as far-fetched. But even apart from

political life, with its peculiar and engrossing temptations, lies tend to spread.

Disagreeable facts come to be sugar-coated, and sad news softened or denied

altogether. Many lie to children and to those who are ill about matters no longer

peripheral but quite central, such as birth, adoption, divorce, and death. Deceptive

propaganda and misleading advertising abound. All these lies are often dismissed

on the same grounds of harmlessness and triviality used for white lies in general.

在水门事件之后的年代里，谁也不会对欺骗行为造成的多方面的、长远的影响表示忧

虑看作很离奇。可是即使不把政治生活考虑在内，由于说谎具有独特的诱惑力，谎言也呈

现蔓延之势。令人不快的事实被裹上了糖衣，使人伤心的消息被粉饰，或干脆被掩盖。许

多人对孩子撒谎，对那些有疑难问题的人撒谎，且涉及的问题已并非无关紧要，而是关系

到出生、收养孩子、离婚等大事。骗人的宣传以及误导的广告比比皆是。所有这些谎言，

如同普通无伤大雅的小谎一样，往往以无害和不值一提为理由而听之任之了。

10 It is worth taking a close look at practices where lies believed trivial are

common. Triviality in an isolated lie can then be more clearly seen to differ

markedly from the costs of an entire practice—both to individuals and to

communities.

被认为无关紧要的谎言时常能够听到，这种说谎行为值得仔细研究一下。一经研究，

我们就可以更加清楚地看到，在一个孤立的谎话中看到的极轻微伤害，与整个欺骗行为付

出的代价之间有着明显的差异——对个人和对社会都如此。

Unforgettable Miss Bessie

Carl T. Rowan

1 She was only about five feet tall and probably never weighed more than

110 pounds, but Miss Bessie was a towering presence in the classroom. She was

the only woman tough enough to make me read Beowulf and think for a few

foolish days that I liked it. From 1938 to 1942, when I attended Bernard High

School in McMinnville, Tenn., she taught me English, history, civics—and a lot more

than I realized.

难忘恩师贝西小姐

卡尔·T·罗旺

她身高不过5英尺上下，体重可能从来不超过110磅，但贝西小姐在教室里形象极

其高大。她是个厉害女人，只有她能逼得我去读《贝奥武甫》，而且有那么几天，我还真傻

乎乎地觉得自己挺喜欢这首史诗。从1938年到1942年，我在田纳西州麦克敏维尔的伯

纳德高中上学，她教我英语、历史、公民学，还有许多当时我未能领悟的东西。

2 I shall never forget the day she scolded me into reading Beowulf.

我永远忘不了她训斥着要我读《贝奥武甫》的那一天。

3 "But Miss Bessie," I complained, "I ain't much interested in it."

"可是，贝西小姐，"我抱怨说，"我对它不怎么感兴趣。"

4 Her large brown eyes became daggerish slits. "Boy," she said, "how dare

you say 'ain't' to me! I've taught you better than that."

她那双褐色的眼睛眯成一条缝，射出的目光犀利如刀。"小伙子，"她说，"你竟敢对

我说'ain't'!我教过你该怎么说。"

5 "Miss Bessie," I pleaded, "I'm trying to make first-string end on the

football team. And if I go around saying 'it isn't' and 'they aren't,' the guys are

gonna laugh me off the squad."

"贝西小姐，"我恳求道，"我正在努力争取当上橄榄球队的正式边锋。要是我老是说'it

isn't'和'they aren't'，那帮人会嘲笑我，把我撵出球队的。"

6 "Boy," she responded, "you'll play football because you have guts. But do

you know what really takes guts? Refusing to lower your standards to those of the

crowd. It takes guts to say you've got to live and be somebody fifty years after all

the football games are over."

"小伙子，"她回答说，"你打橄榄球是因为你有勇气。可你是不是知道什么事情真正

需要勇气？那就是决不把你的做人标准降低到和那帮子人一样。你要鼓起勇气对他们说，

橄榄球比赛全部结束后你还想出人头地生活50年呢。"

7 I started saying "it isn't" and "they aren't," and I still made first-string

end—and class valedictorian—without losing my buddies' respect.

我开始说"it isn't"和"they aren't"了，而且照样当上了正式边锋—— 还成为班级里

致告别辞的毕业生代表—— 却一点也没有失去伙伴们的尊重。

8 During her remarkable 44-year career, Mrs. Bessie Taylor Gwynn taught

hundreds of economically deprived black youngsters—including my mother, my

brother, my sisters and me. I remember her now with gratitude and

affection—especially in this era when Americans are so wrought-up about a "rising

tide of mediocrity" in public education and the problems of finding competent,

caring teachers. Miss Bessie was an example of an informed, dedicated teacher, a

blessing to children and an asset to the nation.

在她44年不平凡的教学生涯中，贝西·泰勒·格温太太教过许多穷困的黑人孩子——

其中有我的母亲、兄弟、姐妹，还有我本人。今天，我怀着热爱和感激之情记住她——尤

其在今天这个时代，在国人对公共教育"日益平庸化"，对称职的、有爱心的教师难觅等问

题深感不安之时，我更是忘不了她。贝西小姐有见识、有奉献精神，堪称教师楷模，有她

这样的老师是孩子们的福分，对国家来说她是宝贵的人才。

9 Born in 1895, in poverty, she grew up in Athens, Ala., where there was no

public school for blacks. She attended Trinity School, a private institution for blacks

run by the American Missionary Association, and in 1911 graduated from the

Normal School (a "super" high school) at Fisk University in Nashville. Mrs. Gwynn,

the essence of pride and privacy, never talked about her years in Athens; only in

the months before her death did she reveal that she had never attended Fisk

University itself because she could not afford the four-year course.

她于1895年出生在贫苦人家，在亚拉巴马的阿森斯长大。当时那里没有黑人公立学

校。她上的是三一学堂，一所美国传教士协会为黑人开设的私立学校。1911年她毕业于纳

什维尔的菲斯克大学附属师范学校(一所"极棒的"高级中学)。格温太太是个自尊心很强、很

想维护隐私的人，从来不提她在阿森斯读过的岁月。直到她去世前几个月，她才透露说，

她从来没上过菲克斯大学本部，因为她付不起4年的学费。

10 At Normal School she learned a lot about Shakespeare, but most of all

about the profound importance of education—especially, for a people trying to

move up from slavery. "What you put in your head, boy," she once said, "can never

be pulled out by the Ku Klux Klan, the Congress or anybody."

在师范学校求学时，她学到许多关于莎士比亚的知识，但更重要的是她认识了教育的

极端重要性—— 对一个正试图摆脱奴隶地位的民族尤为重要。"你装进脑袋的东西，小伙

子，"她说过，"三K党夺不走，国会夺不走，谁都夺不走。"

11 Miss Bessie's bearing of dignity told anyone who met her that she was

"educated" in the best sense of the word. There was never a discipline problem in

her classes. We didn't dare to mess with a woman who knew about the Battle of

Hastings, Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights—and who could also play the piano.

见过贝西小姐的人都从她端庄的举止中看出她是绝对"有学识的"。她任课的班上从来

没有纪律问题。我们不敢跟一个知道黑斯廷斯战役、英国大宪章、权利法案——又能弹钢

琴的女教师捣乱。

12 This frail-looking woman could make sense of Shakespeare, Milton,

Voltaire, and bring to life Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. DuBois. Believing that

it was important to know who the officials were that spent taxpayers' money and

made public policy, she made us memorize the names of everyone on the

Supreme Court and in the President's Cabinet. It could be embarrassing to be

unprepared when Miss Bessie said, "Get up and tell the class who Frances Perkins

is and what you think about her."

这位看似弱不禁风的女子能读懂莎士比亚、弥尔顿、伏尔泰的作品，能把布克尔·T·华

盛顿和W·E·B·杜波伊斯说得栩栩如生。她深信了解花纳税人的钱并制定维护公共利益政策

的官员是非常重要的，因此她要我们记住最高法院全体法官以及总统内阁全体成员的名字。

要是贝西小姐说："站起来，告诉大家弗朗西丝·珀金斯是谁，你觉得她怎么样"，而你却毫

无准备，那真够窘的。

13 Miss Bessie knew that my family, like so many others during the

Depression, couldn't afford to subscribe to a newspaper. She knew we didn't even

own a radio. Still, she prodded me to "look out for your future and find some way

to keep up with what's going on in the world." So I became a delivery boy for the

Chattanooga Times. I rarely made a dollar a week, but I got to read a newspaper

every day.

贝西小姐知道，跟大萧条时期许多人家一样，我家订不起报纸。她知道我家连收音机

也没有。但她还是敦促我"要为自己的未来着想，设法了解天下大事。"于是我成了查塔努

加《时报》的送报员。我一星期挣不满1美金，但我每天都能读到报纸。

14 Miss Bessie noticed things that had nothing to do with schoolwork, but

were vital to a youngster's development. Once a few classmates made fun of my

frayed, hand-me-down overcoat, calling me "Strings." As I was leaving school, Miss

Bessie patted me on the back of that old overcoat and said, "Carl, never fret about

what you don't have. Just make the most of what you do have—a brain."

贝西小姐十分关注某些虽与功课无关，但对孩子的成长却至关重要的事。一次几个同

学拿我那件穿烂了的旧大衣开玩笑，叫我"破烂"。放学回家时，贝西小姐拍拍我穿着那件

旧大衣的背部说："卡尔，千万别为你没有的东西而烦恼。要充分利用你拥有的东西—— 脑

子。"

15 Among the things that I did not have was electricity in the little frame

house[ frame house: a house constructed from a wooden skeleton, typically

covered with timber boards 木板屋] that my father had built for $400 with his

World War I bonus. But because of her inspiration, I spent many hours squinting

beside a kerosene lamp reading Shakespeare and Thoreau, Samuel Pepys and

William Cullen Bryant.

我没有的东西包括我家小木板屋没有电，那屋是父亲从他一战退伍军人补助金里拿出

400美元盖的。但由于她的鼓励，我花了大量时间在煤油灯下眯着眼阅读莎士比亚、梭罗、

塞缪尔·佩皮斯和威廉·科伦·布赖恩特的作品。

16 No one in my family had ever graduated from high school, so there was

no tradition of commitment to learning for me to lean on. Like millions of

youngsters in today's ghettos and barrios, I needed the push and stimulation of a

teacher who truly cared. Miss Bessie gave plenty of both, as she immersed me in a

wonderful world of similes, metaphors and even onomatopoeia. She led me to

believe that I could write sonnets as well as Shakespeare, or iambic-pentameter

verse to put Alexander Pope to shame.

我家从来没有过高中毕业生，因此没有用功读书的先例供我学习。如同今天贫民窟里

和西裔聚居区里千百万的孩子一样，我需要一个真正关心人的老师的督促和激励。贝西小

姐既随时督促我，又经常激励我，她让我沉浸在一个由明喻、暗喻，甚至拟声词构成的奇

妙世界里。她使我相信，我能写出不比莎士比亚逊色的十四行诗，能写出让亚历山大·蒲柏

感到羞愧的抑扬格五音步诗。

17 In those days the McMinnville school system was rigidly "Jim Crow," and

poor black children had to struggle to put anything in their heads. Our high school

was only slightly larger than the once-typical little red schoolhouse, and its library

was outrageously inadequate—so small, I like to say, that if two students were in it

and one wanted to turn a page, the other one had to step outside.

在那个时代，麦克敏维尔所有的学校对黑人实行严格的种族歧视，穷苦的黑人小孩要

想学到一点东西得发奋努力。我们的高中只比南方曾经特有的那种红色小校舍稍大一点，

它的图书馆差透了——它是如此之小，我可以说，要是有两个学生在里面看书，一个学生

想翻一下书页，另一个学生就得让开。

18 Negroes, as we were called then, were not allowed in the town library,

except to mop floors or dust tables. But through one of those secret Old South[3

Old South: the South before the Civil War]3 arrangements between whites of

conscience and blacks of stature, Miss Bessie kept getting books smuggled out of

the white library. That is how she introduced me to the Bront?s, Byron, Coleridge,

Keats and Tennyson. "If you don't read, you can't write, and if you can't write, you

might as well stop dreaming," Miss Bessie once told me.

那时候，我们这些黑人(当时人们称我们"Negro")是不准进市图书馆的，除非是去拖

地板或擦桌子。但是，贝西小姐利用南北战争前有良知的白人和有影响的黑人之间所达成

的某种秘密安排，设法不断地将书从白人图书馆偷运过来。她用这个办法使我读到勃朗特

三姐妹、拜伦、科勒律治、济慈和丁尼生的作品。"你要是不读书，你就不会写，要是你不

会写，那你就不要再有什么梦想了，"贝西小姐曾经这样告诫我。

19 So I read whatever Miss Bessie told me to, and tried to remember the

things she insisted that I store away. Forty-five years later, I can still recite her

"truths to live by," such as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's lines from "The Ladder

of St. Augustine": The heights by great men reached and kept Were not attained by

sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the

night.

所以，贝西小姐要我读什么，我就读什么，并努力记住她要我一定要记住的东西。到

现在45年了，我仍背得出她推崇的"立身至理名言"，譬如亨利·沃兹华斯·朗费罗写的《圣

奥古斯丁的梯子》中的诗句： 伟人们登上高山之顶， 并非一蹴而就。 而是当同伴们酣睡

时， 他们仍不辞辛劳摸黑向上攀爬。

20 Years later, her inspiration, prodding, anger, cajoling and almost osmotic

infusion of learning finally led to that lovely day when Miss Bessie dropped me a

note saying, "I'm so proud to read your column in the Nashville Tennessean."

许多年之后，她的激励和敦促、她的发怒、她的劝诱，她那差不多是潜移默化式的知

识传授，终于化作一个美好的日子，那天贝西小姐给我写了封短信："我在纳什维尔出版的

《田纳西人》上读到你的专栏文章，我深感骄傲。"

21 Miss Bessie was a spry 80 when I went back to McMinnville and visited

her in a senior citizens' apartment building. Pointing out proudly that her building

was racially integrated, she reached for two glasses and a pint of bourbon. I was

momentarily shocked, because it would have been scandalous in the 1930s and

'40s for word to get out that a teacher drank, and nobody had ever raised a rumor

that Miss Bessie did.

我回到麦克敏维尔前往一个老年公寓看望她的时候，她已八十高龄了，但仍精神矍铄。

她自豪地告诉我，这个公寓里黑人白人都有，说着她取出两个杯子和一品脱波旁威士忌酒。

我顿时感到震惊，因为在二十世纪三、四十年代，要是有传言说当老师的喝酒，那就会成

为丑闻，那时候也从来没有谁说过贝西小姐会喝酒。

22 I felt a new sense of equality as she lifted her glass to mine. Then she

revealed a softness and compassion that I had never known as a student.

她和我碰杯，我不由产生一种从未有过的平等感。当时她流露出的温柔和怜爱是我当

学生时从未感受过的。

23 "I've never forgotten that examination day," she said, "when Buster

Martin held up seven fingers, obviously asking you for help with question number

seven, 'Name a common carrier,' I can still picture you looking at your exam paper

and humming a few bars of 'Chattanooga Choo Choo.' I was so tickled, I couldn't

punish either of you."

"我一直记得那天考试，"她说，"巴斯特·马丁伸出七根手指，显然是问你怎么回答第

七题，'说出一种常见的运输工具'，我现在还能想象，当时你看着自己的试卷，哼了《查塔

努加车--车》中的几节艺娓豪至耍懔┪夷母龆济环ǚ!!?

24 Miss Bessie was telling me, with bourbon-laced grace, that I never

fooled her for a moment.

贝西小姐是借着威士忌的酒力在告诉我，我什么事都没能蒙过她。

25 When Miss Bessie died in 1980, at age 85, hundreds of her former

students mourned. They knew the measure of a great teacher: love and motivation.

Her wisdom and influence had rippled out across generations.

1980年，贝西小姐以85岁高龄辞世时，她教过的许多学生前来哀悼。他们知道衡

量一位杰出教师的标准：爱与动力。她的智慧和影响惠及几代人。

26 Some of her students who might normally have been doomed to

poverty went on to become doctors, dentists and college professors. Many,

guided by Miss Bessie's example, became public-school teachers.

她的一些学生，原本也许注定要一生贫困，但后来成长为医生、牙医、大学教授。贝

西小姐的不少学生受她榜样的影响，都成为公立学校教师。

27 "The memory of Miss Bessie and how she conducted her classroom did

more for me than anything I learned in college," recalls Gladys Wood of Knoxville,

Tenn., a highly respected English teacher who spent 43 years in the state's school

system. "So many times, when I faced a difficult classroom problem, I asked myself,

How would Miss Bessie deal with this? And I'd remember that she would handle it

with laughter and love."

"对贝西小姐以及她的课堂教学方式的回忆，比我在大学里所学到的任何东西都更有

帮助，"在公立学校系统任教43年、备受尊敬的英语教师，来自田纳西州诺克斯维尔的格

拉迪斯·伍德回忆道。"多少次，当我在课堂上遇到难题时，我就自问，贝西小姐对这事会

怎么处理？我总记起她总是用笑声，用爱来解决问题。"

28 No child can get all the necessary support at home, and millions of poor

children get no support at all. This is what makes a wise, educated, warm-hearted

teacher like Miss Bessie so vital to the minds, hearts and souls of this country's

children.

孩子不可能从家里得到所有必要的帮助，千百万穷孩子根本得不到帮助。正因为如此，

像贝西小姐那样有智慧、有知识、有热情的教师对我国儿童智力、心灵的发展有着重大的

意义。

Why Marriages Fail

Anne Roiphe

1 These days so many marriages end in divorce that our most sacred vows

no longer ring with truth. “Happily ever after” and “Till death do us part” are

expressions that seem on the way to becoming obsolete. Why has it become so

hard for couples to stay together? What goes wrong? What has happened to us

that close to one-half of all marriages are destined for the divorce courts? How

could we have created a society in which 42 percent of out children will grow up in

single-parent homes? Even though each broken marriage is unique, we can still

find the common perils, the common causes for marital despair. Each marriage has

crisis points and each marriage tests endurance, the capacity for both intimacy and

change. Outside pressures such as job loss, illness, infertility, trouble with a child,

care of aging parents and all the other plagues of life hit marriage the way

hurricanes blast our shores. Some marriages survive these storms and others

don’t. Marriages fail, however, not simply because of the outside weather but

because the inner climate becomes too hot or too cold, too turbulent or too

stupefying.

婚姻何以失败

安妮·罗艾菲

如今，以离婚告终的婚姻如此之多，我们最神圣的誓约听上去都不再真实了。“婚后

永远幸福”和“直到死神将我们分开”这类话语似乎快过时了。夫妻长相守何以变得如此

困难？哪儿出了问题？我们到底怎么了，竟然有差不多半数的婚姻注定要为离婚走进法

庭？有42%的儿童将在单亲家庭中长大，我们怎么把社会弄成这样了呢？虽然破裂的婚姻

各有其独特的情况，但我们还是能找到致使婚姻无法维持下去的共同因素、共同原因。凡

婚姻都有其危机时刻，都要经受对持久力的考验，经受对既能亲密相处又善应对变化这种

能力的考验。外部压力，如失业、疾病、不育、抚育孩子、赡养年迈的父母，以及生活中

其他种种烦恼，都会如飓风横扫海岸那样对婚姻带来打击。有些婚姻经受住了这些风暴，

有些则不然。但婚姻失败并不是简单地由外部天气造成的，而是由于内部气候变得过热或

过冷，变得过于狂暴或过于麻木造成的。

2 When we look at how we choose our partners and what expectations

exist at the tender beginnings of romance, some of the reasons for disaster

become quite clear. We all select with unconscious accuracy a mate who will

recreate with us the emotional patterns of our first homes. Dr. Carl A. Whitaker, a

marital therapist and emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of

Wisconsin, explains, “From early childhood on, each of us carried models for

marriage, femininity, masculinity, motherhood, fatherhood and all the other family

roles.” Each of us falls in love with a mate who has qualities of our parents, who

will help us rediscover both the psychological happiness and miseries of our past

lives. We may think we have found a man unlike Dad, but then he turns to drink or

drugs, or loses his job over and over again or sits silently in front of the TV just the

way Dad did. A man may choose a woman who doesn’t like kids just like his

mother or who gambles away the family savings just like his mother. Or he may

choose a slender wife who seems unlike his obese mother but then turns out to

have other addictions that destroy their mutual happiness.

如果我们来看一下自己如何挑选配偶，看一下在爱情最初的甜蜜阶段有着怎样的期

待，婚姻触礁的一些原因便显而易见了。无意中我们都精确地选中了能和我们一起重建我

们第一个家庭的情感模式的伴侣。婚姻心理治疗专家、威斯康星大学精神病学荣誉教授卡

尔·A·威塔科尔解释说：“从幼年起，我们每一个人心里就对婚姻、女子气质、男子气质、

为人母、为人父，以及其他各种家庭角色有了自己的样板。”我们每一个人都爱上具有自

己父母气质的伴侣，能帮助我们在心理上重温以往生活中的欢乐与苦难的伴侣。我们或许

会以为自己找的男人与爸爸不同，可是到头来，就像爸爸那样，他酗酒，或者吸毒，或者

一次又一次失业，或者就像爸爸那样一言不发地坐在电视机前。男人或许会选择一个像自

己母亲一样不喜欢孩子的女人，一个像自己母亲一样把家里的钱全都赌光的女人。或者他

会选择一个苗条的妻子，与体态臃肿的母亲看上去似乎不一样，可结果发现那女子有其他

的嗜好，这就毁了双方的幸福。

3 A man and a woman bring to their marriage bed a blended concoction of

conscious and unconscious memories of their parents’ lives together. The human

way is to compulsively repeat and recreate the patterns of the past. Sigmund Freud

so well described the unhappy design that many of us get trapped in: the unmet

needs of childhood, the angry feelings left over from frustrations of long ago, the

limits of trust and the recurrence of old fears. Once an individual senses this

entrapment, there may follow a yearning to escape, and the result could be a

broken, splintered marriage.

男女双方都把意识到的和未意识到的对父母共同生活的混杂记忆带上婚床。人类总会

不由自主地去重复并再现过去的生活模式。西格蒙德·弗洛伊德入木三分地描述了我们许多

人所陷入的自设的不幸罗网：童年时期未能满足的欲望，多年前的挫折留下的愤怒情绪，

信任受到限制以及旧日恐惧的重现。一个人一旦意识到自己陷入这样的困境，就可能渴望

逃脱，其结果可能是婚姻破裂、分崩离析。

4 Of course people can overcome the habits and attitudes that developed

in childhood. We all have hidden strengths and amazing capacities for growth and

creative change. Change, however, requires work—observing your part in a rotten

pattern, bringing difficulties out into the open—and work runs counter to the

basic myth of marriage: “When I wed this person all my problems will be over. I

will have achieved success and I will become the center of life for this other person

and this person will be my center, and we will mean everything to each other

forever.” This myth, which every marriage relies on, is soon exposed. The coming

of children, the pulls and tugs of their demands on affection and time, place a

considerable strain on that basic myth of meaning everything to each other, or

merging together and solving all of life’s problems.

当然，人们能够改变童年时期养成的习惯和形成的看法。我们都有潜在的活力，都有

令人惊叹的能力使自己得以成长和创造性地变化。然而，变化需要有所行动——观察自己

在糟糕的模式中的作用，公开遇到的难处——而行动却有悖于关于婚姻的神话：“我与此

人结了婚，我所有的烦恼就会烟消云散。到了那时我算是获得成功了，我将成为此人生活

的中心，此人也将成为我生活的中心，我们将永远视对方为自己生活的全部。”这一维系

所有婚姻的神话不久就被打破。孩子降生了，需要有人爱、需要有人花时间照料，这些拖

累在相当程度上打击了那个说什么视对方为自己生活之全部，或者说什么夫妇融为一体解

决生活中所有问题的神话。

5 Concern and tension about money take each partner away from the other.

Obligations to demanding parents or still-depended-upon parents create further

strain. Couples today must also deal with all the cultural changes brought on in

recent years by the women’s movement and the sexual revolution. The altering of

roles and the shifting of responsibilities have been extremely trying[ trying:

difficult or annoying; hard to deal with] for many marriages.

对金钱的关心以及由金钱造成的紧张关系使夫妻产生隔阂。对苛求的父母或仍需赡养

的父母应尽的责任进一步加剧了紧张关系。如今，夫妻双方还必须应对近几年来妇女解放

运动和性革命所带来的各种文化变革。角色的改变、责任的变更对相当一部分婚姻都是极

其严峻的考验。

6 These and other realities of life erode the visions of marital bliss the way

sandstorms eat at rock and the ocean nibbles away at the dunes. Those euphoric,

grand feelings that accompany romantic love are really self-delusions,

self-hypnotic dreams that enable us to forge a relationship. Real life, failure at work,

disappointments, exhaustion, bad smells, bad colds and hard times all puncture

the dream and leave us stranded with our mate, with our childhood patterns

pushing us this way and that, with our unfulfilled expectations.

就像沙尘暴侵蚀岩石、海浪蚕食沙丘，这一切以及生活中其他现实问题逐渐毁灭对幸

福婚姻的幻想。那些伴随着浪漫爱情而来的欣喜若狂的美妙感觉实际上都是自我欺骗、自

我催眠的梦幻，而这种自欺、这种梦幻使我们得以去缔结良缘。现实生活、工作中的失败、

失望、劳累、体臭、重感冒以及艰难时世都会打破幻想，使我们与配偶间的关系陷入困境，

使我们面对以这种或那种方式左右我们的儿时行为方式时毫无办法，使我们面对无法实现

的种种期望时一筹莫展。

7 The struggle to survive in marriage requires adaptability, flexibility,

genuine love and kindness and an imagination strong enough to feel what the

other is feeling. Many marriages fall apart because either partner cannot imagine

what the other wants or cannot communicate what he or she needs or feels. Anger

builds until it erupts into a volcanic burst that buries the marriage in ash.

维系婚姻的努力要求有适应能力、灵活性、真挚的爱和亲切和善，还要有足够强的想

象力，去感受对方的感情。许多婚姻破裂是因为男女双方都不能想像对方需要什么，也不

会表达自己的需要和感情。于是怒气越积越多，最后如火山一样爆发出来，其灰烬终将婚

姻埋葬。

8 It is not hard to see, therefore, how essential communication is for a good

marriage. A man and a woman must be able to tell each other how they feel and

why they feel the way they do; otherwise they will impose on each other roles and

actions that lead to further unhappiness. In some cases, the communication

patterns of childhood—of not talking, of talking too much, of not listening, of

distrust and anger, or withdrawal—spill into the marriage and prevent a healthy

exchange of thoughts and feelings. The answer is to set up new patterns of

communication and intimacy.

所以，不难看出，婚姻要美满，交流是多么重要。不管是丈夫还是妻子，必须能告诉

对方他/她的感受，以及他/她为什么会有这种感受。不然的话，他们就会把导致进一步不

幸的角色和行为强加给对方。有时候，儿时的交流模式——不讲话、讲得太多、不听对方

讲话、不信任、生气、与对方相处时的冷漠等——会注入婚姻关系，阻止健康的思想和感

情交流。解决的办法是建立新的交流和亲近模式。

9 At the same time, however, we must see each other as individuals. “To

achieve a balance between separateness and closeness is one of the major

psychological tasks of all human beings at every stage of life,” says Dr. Stuart

Bartle, a psychiatrist at the New York University Medical Center.

然而与此同时，我们必须把对方看作是独立的个人。“在亲与疏之间取得平衡是所有

人在人生的每一个阶段都要遇到的主要心理任务之一，”纽约大学医学中心的精神病学家

斯图尔特·巴特尔博士如是说。

10 If we sense from our mate a need for too much intimacy, we tend to

push him or her away, fearing that we may lose our identities in the merging of

marriage. One partner may suffocate the other partner in a childlike dependency.

如果我们意识到配偶要求过多的亲密，我们往往会将他/她推开，担心自己会在融为

一体的婚姻中失去自身独立性。夫妻一方孩子般地依赖对方会使对方感到透不过气来。

11 A good marriage means growing as a couple but also growing as

individuals. This isn’t easy. Richard gives up his interest in carpentry because his

wife, Helen, is jealous of the time he spends away from her. Karen quits her choir

group because her husband dislikes the friends she makes there. Each pair clings

to each other and are angry with each other as life closes in on them. This kind of

marital balance is easily thrown as one or the other pulls away and divorce follows.

理想的婚姻意味着不但夫妻情感与日俱增，而且各自要作为独立的个人同时发展。这

不是件容易事。理查德放弃了对木工活的兴趣，因为妻子海伦对他撇下自己心生嫉妒。凯

伦不去歌唱队了，因为她丈夫不喜欢她在歌唱队里的那些朋友。每对夫妻都朝朝暮暮守在

一起，当他们感受到生活的压力时，彼此就生对方的气。当夫妻中任何一个不打算继续厮

守时，这种婚姻平衡就很容易被打破，紧接着便是离婚。

12 Sometimes people pretend that a new partner will solve the old

problems. Most often extramarital sex destroys a marriage because it allows an

artificial split between the good and the bad—the good is projected on the new

partner and the bad is dumped on the head of the old. Dishonesty, hiding and

cheating create walls between men and women. Infidelity is just a symptom of

trouble. It is a symbolic complaint, a weapon of revenge, as well as an unraveler of

closeness. Infidelity is often that proverbial last straw that sinks the camel to the

ground.

有时人们自以为找个新伴侣就能解决老问题。婚外性关系常常破坏婚姻，因为它使好

与坏人为地分裂开来—— 好的记在新人名下，坏的倒在旧人头上。不诚实、隐瞒、欺骗等

行为在夫妻之间筑起屏障。不忠乃婚姻出现问题的症状。不忠象征抗议，是复仇的武器，

也是拆散亲密关系的工具。不忠行为常常成为谚语中所说的把骆驼压垮的那最后一根稻草。

13 All right—marriage has always been difficult. Why then are we seeing so

many divorces at this time? Yes, our modern social fabric is thin, and yes, the

permissiveness of society has created unrealistic expectations and thrown the

family into chaos. But divorce is so common because people today are unwilling to

exercise the self-discipline that marriage requires. They expect easy joy, like the

entertainment on TV, the thrill of a good party.

确实—— 婚姻从来就很难处理。那为什么偏偏如今会发生如此之多的离婚呢？没

错，我们现代的社会结构相当薄弱；没错，社会的宽容放任使人们产生了不切实际的期望，

使家庭陷入混乱。但离婚如此普遍是因为今天的人们不愿意运用婚姻所需的自我约束力。

他们希望不花力气就能过上悠闲愉快的日子，就像看电视节目那么快乐，就像参加精彩的

晚会那么兴奋。

14 Marriage takes some kind of sacrifice, not dreadful self-sacrifice of the

soul, but some level of compromise. Some of one’s fantasies, some of one’s

legitimate desires have to be given up for the value of the marriage itself. “While

all marital partners feel shackled at times it is they who really choose to make the

marital ties into confining chains or supporting bonds,” says Dr. Whitaker.

Marriage requires sexual, financial and emotional discipline. A man and a woman

cannot follow every impulse, cannot allow themselves to stop growing or

changing.

婚姻需要某种牺牲，不是那种可怕的刻骨铭心的自我牺牲，而是某种程度上的妥协。

为了婚姻，一个人不得不放弃某些幻想、某些合理的欲望。“每对夫妻都会有时感到婚姻

的束缚，但恰恰正是他们自己决定把男婚女嫁变成束缚人的羁绊或相互扶持的纽带的，”

威塔科尔博士说。婚姻需要夫妻双方在性、经济、情感等方面自律。夫妻都不能一味凭冲

动行事，不能听任自己停滞不前或不思改变。

15 Divorce is not an evil act. Sometimes it provides salvation for people

who have grown hopelessly apart or were frozen in patterns of pain or mutual

unhappiness. Divorce can be, despite its initial devastation, like the first cut of the

surgeon’s knife, a step toward new health and a good life. On the other hand, if

the partners can stay past the breaking up of the romantic myths into the

development of real love and intimacy, they have achieved a work as amazing as

the greatest cathedrals of the world. Marriages that do not fail but improve, that

persist despite imperfections, are not only rare these days but offer a wondrous

shelter in which the face of our mutual humanity can safely show itself.

离婚并非邪恶的行动。有时离婚能解救那些已经没有希望重归于好的夫妻，解救那些

深深陷入凄楚痛苦之中的夫妻。如同外科医生动的第一刀，离婚最初固然带有破坏性，但

那可能就是走向健康走向美好生活的必要一步。从另一方面来说，如果夫妻双方能共同度

过那些爱情神话破灭的危机，进而培养真正的爱情与发展亲密关系，他们就完成了一项与

世界上最宏伟的大教堂一样神奇的伟业。没有破裂而是改善了的婚姻，不尽完美却长久维

持着的婚姻，如今不仅弥足珍贵，而且构筑成一个绝妙的庇护所，在其间夫妻双方可以安

全地展示共同的人性。

Going for Broke

Matea Gold and David Ferrell

1 Rex Coile's life is a narrow box, so dark and confining he wonders how he got

trapped inside, whether he'll ever get out.

孤注一掷

马泰娅·戈尔德 戴维·费雷尔

雷克斯·科勒好像生活在一个狭窄的箱子里，伸手不见五指，空间又狭小，他不知道自

己是怎么陷进去的，也不知道自己还能不能走出来。

2 He never goes to the movies, never sees concerts, never lies on a sunny

beach, never travels on vacation, never spends Christmas with his family. Instead,

Rex shares floor space in cheap motels with other compulsive gamblers,

comforting himself with delusional dreams of jackpots that will magically wipe

away three decades of wreckage. He has lost his marriage, his home, his Cadillac,

his clothes, his diamond ring. Not least of all, in the card clubs of Southern

California, he has lost his pride.

他从不看电影，从不听音乐会，从不躺在沙滩上晒太阳，从不在假日去旅游，从不和

家人一起过圣诞节。相反，雷克斯在廉价汽车旅馆和别的嗜赌成癖的赌徒一起住，幻想着

赢大钱，好魔术般地把30年的晦气厄运一扫而光。他失去了婚姻，失去了家，失去了卡

迪拉克牌轿车，失去了衣物和钻戒。尤其是，在南加州的纸牌俱乐部，他还失去了自尊心。

3 Rex no longer feels sorry for himself, not after a 29-year losing streak that

has left him scrounging for table scraps to feed his habit. Still, he agonizes over

what he has become at 54 and what he might have been.

雷克斯不再为自己哀叹，他都输了29年了，输到了在赌桌上偷零钱以满足自己嗜好

的地步。尽管如此，他还是对自己54岁时的境况深感痛苦，对自己未能成就可能会成就

的事业而深感痛苦。

4 Articulate, intellectual, he talks about existential philosophy, the writings of

Camus and Sartre. He was once aneditor at Random House. His mind is so jam

packed with tidbits about movies, television, baseball and history that card room

regulars call him " Rex Trivia," a name he cherishes for the remnant of self-respect

it gives him. "There's a lot of Rexes around these card rooms," he says in a whisper

of resignation and sadness.

他能说会道，善于思考，喜谈存在主义哲学，谈加缪和萨特的作品。他曾是兰登出版

社的编辑。他脑子里装满有关电影、电视、棒球和历史的趣闻，因此那些纸牌室的常客都

叫他“趣闻大王雷克斯”，他珍惜这个带给自己些许自尊的名字。“这些纸牌室里有不少雷

克斯，”他无奈而又悲伤地低声说道。

5 And their numbers are soaring as gambling explodes across America, from

the mega-resorts of Las Vegas to the gaming parlors of Indian reservations, from

the riverboats along the Mississippi to the corner mini-marts selling lottery tickets.

With nearly every state in the union now sanctioning some form of legalized

gambling to raise revenues, evidence is mounting that society is paying a steep

price, one that some researchers say must be confronted, if not reversed.

美国各地赌博盛行，从拉斯维加斯的特大型度假胜地，到印第安人居留地的小赌场，

从密西西比河上的内河船，到街角处出售彩票的便利店，赌博随处可见，因此赌徒人数正

在剧增。由于全国几乎每个州都批准某种合法化的赌博形式以增加税收，越来越多的事实

表明，整个社会正在付出巨大的代价，不少研究者指出，对此现象如果不能彻底改变，那

就必须严肃面对。

6 Never before have bettors blown so much money — a whopping $50.9

billion last year — five times the amount lost in 1980. That's more than the public

spent on movies, theme parks, recorded music and sporting events combined. A

substantial share of those gambling losses — an estimated 30% to 40% — pours

from the pockets and purses of chronic losers hooked on the adrenaline rush of

risking their money, intoxicated by the fast action of gambling's incandescent

world.

赌徒以前从来不曾花费如此多的赌金—— 去年的赌输金额高达509亿美元，是1980

年赌输金额的5倍，高出公众在电影、主题公园、唱片音乐以及运动项目等方面的消费总

额。输掉的赌金中有相当一部分—— 约占30%－40%—— 是从那些常输的赌徒的钱包

里掏出来的，赌博带来的兴奋令他们入迷，瞬息万变的赌博世界令他们如痴如醉。

7 Studies place the total number of compulsive gamblers at about 4.4 million,

about equal to the nation's ranks of hard-core drug addicts. Another 11 million,

known as problem gamblers, teeter on the verge. Since 1990, the number of

Gamblers Anonymous groups nationwide has doubled from about 600 to more

than 1,200.

据研究，嗜赌成瘾者的总数约有440万，与美国毒瘾大的瘾君子的人数大致相同。另

有1100万所谓有问题的赌徒，已濒临深渊摇摇欲坠。自1990年以来，全国戒赌组织的

总数翻了一番，从600个上升到1200多个。

8 Compulsive gambling has been linked to child abuse, domestic violence,

embezzlement, bogus insurance claims, bankruptcies, welfare fraud and a host of

other social and criminal ills. The advent of Internet gambling could lure new

legions into wagering beyond their means.

嗜赌成瘾总是与虐待儿童、家庭暴力、盗用钱款、伪造保险索赔、破产、福利救济欺

骗，以及其他许多社会问题与犯罪行为联系在一起。网上赌博的出现会诱使更多的人无节

制地狂赌。

9 Every once in a while, a case is so egregious it makes headlines: A 10-day-old

baby girl in South Carolina dies after being left for nearly seven hours in a hot car

while her mother plays video poker. A suburban Chicago woman is so desperate

for a bankroll to gamble that she allegedly suffocates her 7-week-old daughter 11

days after obtaining a $200,000 life-insurance policy on the baby.

每过一段时间，总有一则令人震惊的案子成为头条社会新闻：南卡罗来纳州一名出生

10天的女婴被放在闷热的汽车里几乎达7个小时后死去，其间女婴的母亲在电脑上打扑克。

芝加哥郊区一名妇女急于觅得赌资，据说，她在为她出生仅7周的女婴购买了20万美元

的人寿保险后11天将其窒息致死。

10 Science has begun to uncover clues to compulsive gambling — genetic

predispositions that involve chemical receptors in the brain, the same pleasure

pathways implicated in drug and alcohol addiction. But no amount of knowledge,

no amount of enlightenment, makes the illness any less confounding, any less

destructive. What the gamblers cannot understand about themselves is also well

beyond the comprehension of family members, who struggle for normality in a

world of deceit and madness.

科学研究开始揭示形成嗜赌成癖恶习的线索—— 与大脑中的化学感受器有关的，即与

嗜毒、嗜酒同一个快感途径有关的遗传特性。但无论对这一顽症有多少了解有多少认识，

人们对它的困惑一点也没有减少，它的破坏性也一点也没有减少。赌徒不明白自己的地方

也正是家人所难以理解的地方，他们在一个充满欺骗与疯狂的世界中苦苦追求正常生活。

11 Money starts vanishing: $500 here, $200 there, $800 a couple of weeks later.

Where is it? The answers come back vague, nonsensical. It's in the desk at work. A

friend borrowed it. It got spent on family dinners, car repairs, loans to in-laws.

Exasperated spouses play the sleuth, combing through pockets, wallets, purses,

searching the car. Sometimes the incriminating evidence turns up — a racing form,

lottery scratchers, a map to an Indian casino. Once the secret is uncovered,

spouses usually fight the problem alone, bleeding inside, because the stories are

too humiliating to share.

钱突然就不知去向：这里用了500美元，那儿花了200美元，两三个星期之后又少

了800美元。钱哪去了？回答很含糊，不知所云。在单位的办公桌抽屉里。朋友借去了。

家人聚餐花了，修车用了，借给姻亲了。怒不可遏的配偶充当起侦探，把衣袋、皮夹子、

钱包翻了个遍，还搜了汽车。有时犯罪证据会暴露—— 赛马小报、刮刮乐、去一家印第安

赌场的地图。秘密一旦被揭穿，配偶通常都单独面对问题，独自承受心头巨痛，因为这种

事太丢人，没法跟别人说。

12 "Anybody who is living with a compulsive gambler is totally overwhelmed,"

says Tom Tucker, president of the California Council on Problem Gambling.

"They're steeped in anger, resentment, depression, confusion. None of their

personal efforts will ever stop a person from their addiction. And they don't really

see any hope because compulsive gambling in general is such an

under-recognized illness."

“与嗜赌成瘾者一起生活的人都会陷入绝望，”加利福尼亚问题赌博委员会主任汤

姆·塔克说。“他们沉浸在愤怒、怨恨、沮丧、困惑之中。他们怎么苦心规劝也无法使浪子

回头。他们真的看不到丝毫希望，因为人们通常并不真正懂得嗜赌成瘾的严重性。”

13 One Los Angeles woman, whose husband's gambling was tearing at her

sanity, says she slept with her fists so tightly clenched that her nails sliced into her

palms. She had fantasies of death — first her own, thinking he'd feel sorry for her

and stop gambling. Later, she harbored thoughts of turning her rage on her

husband. She imagined getting a gun, hiding in the closet and blasting him out of

her life.

一个洛杉矶妇女，由于丈夫嗜赌成瘾，自己几乎神经崩溃。她说自己晚上睡觉时双手

紧紧握成拳头，指甲把手掌都掐破了。她常常想到死—— 起初是想自己去死，觉得他会为

自己伤心，会戒赌。后来，她又想到把怒气转到丈夫身上。她设想自己弄到一支枪，藏在

壁橱里，一枪把他从自己的生活中扫出去。

14 "The hurt was so bad I think I would have pulled the trigger," she says.

"There were times the pain was so much I thought being in jail, or being in the

electric chair, would be less than this."

“那种伤害太痛苦了，我想自己真的会扣动扳机，”她说。“有时真的痛苦不堪，觉得

哪怕坐牢、上电椅，也不至于那么痛苦。”

15 With drug or alcohol abusers, there is the hope of sobering up, an

accomplishment in itself, no matter what problems may have accompanied their

addictions. Compulsive gamblers often see no way to purge their urges when

suffocating debts suggest only one answer: a hot streak (suicide?). David Phillips, a

UC San Diego sociology professor, studied death records from 1982 to 1988 —

before legalized gambling exploded across America — and found that people in

Vegas, Atlantic City and other gambling meccas showed significantly higher

suicide rates than people in non-gambling cities.

吸毒者或酗酒者尚有清醒起来的希望，不管他们的毒瘾、酒瘾造成了什么麻烦，会清

醒起来本身就是一项成就。嗜赌成癖的赌徒高筑的债台意味着只有一条出路：赢大奖(或自

杀？)。这时，他们往往无法戒除赌瘾。加利福尼亚大学圣地亚哥分校社会学教授戴维·菲利

普斯研究了1982－1988年间—— 合法赌博在美国蔓延之前—— 的死亡档案，发现拉斯

维加斯、大西洋城和其他赌城的居民的自杀率明显高于没有赌场的城市的居民。

16 Rex Trivia is not about to kill himself, but like most compulsive gamblers, he

occasionally thinks about it. Looking at him, it's hard to imagine he once had a

promising future as a smart young New York book editor. His pale eyes are

expressionless, his hair yellowish and brittle. In his fifties, his health is failing:

emphysema, three lung collapses, a bad aorta, rotting teeth.

趣闻大王雷克斯尚未打算自杀，但和众多嗜赌成瘾的赌徒一样，偶尔他会闪过这个念

头。望着他，难以相信他曾经是一位前途无量、年轻聪颖的纽约书籍编辑。他那灰色的双

眸呆滞无神，淡黄的头发显得枯萎。才50多岁，健康状况已经每况愈下：肺气肿、3次肺

萎陷、主动脉有问题，牙齿也损坏了。

17 His plunge has been so dizzying that at one point he agreed to aid another

desperate gambler in a run of bank robberies — nine in all, throughout Los

Angeles and Orange counties. When the FBI busted him in 1980, he had $50,000 in

cash in a dresser drawer and $100,000 in traveler's checks in his refrigerator's

vegetable crisper. Rex, who ended up doing a short stint in prison, hasn't seen that

kind of money since.

他一直狂赌，结果走投无路，竟然答应协助另一个因绝望而不顾一切的赌徒实施银行

抢劫—— 在洛杉矶和桔县共抢了9家银行。1980年联邦调查局逮捕他时，他五斗橱抽屉

里有50,000美元现金，还有100,000美元的旅行支票藏在冰箱的蔬菜保鲜格内。结果雷

克斯在监狱服了一段时间刑，从此再也没见到过那么多的钱了。

18 At 11 P. M. on a Tuesday night, with a bankroll of $55 — all he has — he is at

a poker table in Gardena. With quick, nervous hands he stacks and unstacks his $1

chips. The stack dwindles. Down $30, he talks about leaving, getting some sleep.

Midnight comes and goes. Rex starts winning. Three aces. Four threes. Chips pile

up — $60, $70. "A shame to go when the cards are falling my way." He checks the

time: "I'll go at 2. Win, lose or draw."

一个星期二晚上11点，他揣着55美元——这是他的全部家产—— 坐在了加德纳的

一张牌桌前。他两手紧张地把那些1美元的筹码迅速地堆起又弄散。筹码渐渐少了。到剩

下30美元时，他说要走了，去睡一会儿。午夜稍纵即逝。雷克斯开始赢了。三张A牌，

四张3点。筹码多起来了—— 60美元，70美元。“我牌运那么好，怎么能走。”他看了看

时间：“到2点就走，不管是输是赢还是平。”

19 Fate, kismet, luck — the cards keep falling. At 2 A. M., Rex is up $97. He

stands, leaves his chips on the table and goes out for a smoke. In the darkness at

the edge of the parking lot, he loiters with other regulars, debating with himself

whether to grab a bus and quit.

命运，天命加牌运—— 一 路顺势。到了凌晨2点，雷克斯赢了97美元。他站起身，

把筹码留在桌上，出去抽烟。他在停车场边上黑暗的地方与别的常客闲站着，心里盘算着

要不要坐公共汽车回去算了。

20 "I should go back in there and cash in and get out of here," he says. "That's

what I should do."

“我该进去把筹码兑换成现金就离开这儿，”他说。“我该这么做。”

21 A long pause. Crushing out his cigarette, Rex turns and heads back inside.

He has made his decision.

一阵长长的沉默。雷克斯摁灭烟蒂，转身走了进去。他作出了决定。

22 "A few more hands."

“再玩几副。”

1. addiction

n. 痴；入迷；嗜好

e.g. I have an addiction to mystery stories

5. go for broke

(infml) risk everything in one determined attempt at sth. 孤注一掷

e.g. The cyclist went for broke at the end of the race

7. compulsive

a. (of people) forced to do sth. by an obsession 强迫性的，上了瘾的

e.g. Compulsive gambling is on the increase.

gamble away 赌下去

The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

赌博输掉钱

He has gambled away half his fortune.

他赌博输掉了他一半的财产。

8. gambler

n. person who gambles 赌博者

e.g. A compulsive gambler is someone who cannot stop risking and usually

losing their money in the hope of winning a lot more money.

D.J.[ˈweɪdʒə]

K.K.[ˈwedʒɚ]

n.赌注,用钱打赌

venture a small wager

下了一小笔赌注

A wager is a fool’s argument.

傻瓜一争论就打赌。

vt. & vi. 在(某物)上赌钱,打赌

I am ready to wager a package of cigarettes that he will come.

我敢打赌一盒香烟,他一定来。

vt.保证,担保

hazardous

[ˈhæzədəs]

adj.危险的,冒险的,凭运气的

a hazardous invest-ment

一项冒险的投资

handbookinger n.

赌马

15. run up

let (debts, bills, etc.) accumulate 积欠（帐款或债务）

e.g. He ran up a lot of debts while he was unemployed.

Parts Paragraphs Main Ideas

Part One Paras 1-4

The authors give a brief account of the life experience of a hard-core gambler

named Rex Coile.

Part Two Paras 5-15

Answer: The authors expound the problem of gambling addiction, its causes

and its attendant steep social price.

Part Three Paras 16-22

Answer: Through further discussion of the example of Rex, the authors

reinforce the essay's thesis that the life of compulsive gamblers is a narrow box.

Once trapped inside, they will never get out.