高级英语1 Unit4 Oxford翻译

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2024年1月6日发(作者：)

Unit4 牛津

There are certain things in the world that are so praiseworthy that it seems a needless, indeed

an almost laughable thing to praise them; such things are love and friendship, food and sleep,

spring and summer; such things, too, are the wisest books, the greatest pictures, the noblest

cities. But for all that I mean to try and make a little hymn in prose in honour of Oxford, a city I

have seen but seldom, and which yet appears to me one of the most beautiful things in the

world.

此世间确有诸多凡物，它们本身便是值得人们去品味和赞誉的，譬如说爱情和友谊、美食和睡梦、春色和夏日，还有如那些注满了智慧的书卷、注满了心血的画作和注满了圣意的城邦 。也许对于这些凡物而言，再多的赞誉已无非是陈词滥调，荒唐可笑的，但我之所以还是想要对上述这些事物品味、赞誉一番，都是为了向牛津城表示我的敬意。牛津城对我来说，就是这世间极其罕见，又最为美丽的地方之一。

I do not wish to single out particular buildings, but to praise the whole effect of the place,

such as it seemed to me on a day of bright sun and cool air, when I wandered hour after hour

among the streets, bewildered and almost intoxicated with beauty, feeling as a poor man might

who has pinched all his life, and made the most of single coins, and who is brought into the

presence of a heap of piled-up gold, and told that it is all his own.

我并不想单独从牛津城里遴选出一些建筑来赞誉；我想要赞誉的是这块土地上所映射出的一种整体效果。这种效果在我看来，就好比是在一个阳光明媚、天气清爽的日子里，一连花上几个小时，徜徉在牛津城的街道上，痴迷、甚至是沉醉于这番美景之中。这感觉就犹如是把一位穷得一辈子衣衫褴褛、靠一角一分过日子的人带到一堆金矿旁，然后告诉他，这些财富都已归他所有。

I have seen it said in foolish books that it is a misfortune to Oxford that so many of the

buildings have been built out of so perishable a vein of stone. It is indeed a misfortune in one

respect, that it tempts men of dull and precise minds to restore and replace buildings of

incomparable grace, because their outline is so exquisitely blurred by time and decay. I

remember myself, as a child, visiting Oxford, and thinking that some of the buildings were almost

shamefully ruinous of aspect; now that I am wiser I know that we have in these battered and

fretted palace-fronts a kind of beauty that fills the mind with almost despairing sense of

loveliness, till the heart aches with gratitude, and thrills with the desire to proclaim the glory of

the sight aloud.

我曾在一些荒谬、无理的书里读到说，牛津城里如此之多的建筑都用易被腐蚀、布满裂纹的砖石砌成，这简直就是一场灾难。从某种角度来说，这倒确实是一场灾难，因为随着时间的流逝，用这种砖石砌成的建筑会渐渐破败，建筑的轮廓会很明显地变得七零八落，这便会惹得那些脑袋不灵活的笨家伙们想着整修或重建这些与牛津城魅力格格不入的“破玩意儿”。记得在我儿时游访牛津城时，我也曾这么想——这些建筑如此破旧不堪，几乎都是见不得人了；可现在，随着我年数和阅历的增益，我才知道在那些破旧不堪、磨坏受损的殿堂式房子里，蕴藏着一种别样的魅力。这种魅力乍看上去真是令人几近绝望，直到人们对这壮观之景开始心生感激时，才会猛地萌发出一种要高声赞誉这股魅力的念头。

These black-fronted blistered facades, so threatening, so sombre, yet screening so bright and

clear a current of life; with the tender green of budding spring trees, chestnuts full of silvery

spires, glossy-leaved creepers clinging, with tiny hands, to cornice and parapet, give surely the

sharpest and most delicate sense that it is possible to conceive of the contrast on which the

essence of so much beauty depends. To pass through one of these dark and smoke-stained courts,

with every line mellowed and harmonised, as if it had grown up so out of the earth; to find

oneself in a sunny pleasaunce, carpeted with velvet turf, and set thick with flowers, makes the

spirit sigh with delight.

牛津大学城里这些满目苍夷、发黑起泡的建筑，乍看上去是如此地阴沉、昏暗，其实也映射出着一番光鲜、清新的生命力——树木在春天冒出了绿叶嫩枝，栗子树上窜满了毛茸茸的幼叶，叶面光亮的爬山虎将它无数细小的藤蔓吸在了建筑的檐口和挡墙上。这便无疑给了人们一种极为强烈又相当细腻的生命感，让人构想出一副融此美景于一体、反差鲜明的画面。随意穿过校园里的那些阴暗、黝黑的院子，院子的墙角线既沉稳又润和，就仿佛是从地下窜出来似的；再找个阳光明媚的日子，到那铺满绒草、缀满繁花的庭子里去，人的一呼一吸之间都能透射出内心中的愉悦之情。那些高大的门柱可是这世上其他地方看不到的，门柱的顶部嵌有一块纹章，细长的爬山虎藤蔓舒展地缠在门柱间的铁格栅上，真是惹人喜爱。

Nowhere in the world can one see such a thing as those great gate-piers, with a cognisance a-top,

with a grille of iron-work between them, all sweetly entwined with some slim vagrant creeper,

that give a glimpse and a hint—no more—of a fairy-land of shelter and fountains within. I have

seen such palaces stand in quiet and stately parks, as old, as majestic, as finely proportioned as

the buildings of Oxford; but the very blackness of the city air, and the drifting smoke of the town,

gives that added touch of grimness and mystery that the country airs cannot communicate.

透过那些铁格栅，便可略微瞥见——仅仅是可以略微瞥见——那里面如仙境般的屋舍和喷泉。这样的建筑，我倒是在一些庄重而寂静的庭院里看到过，那些建筑也是破旧不堪，但却相当高贵，和牛津大学城里的这些建筑就好像是一个模子里刻出来似的。但是，这儿校园里昏昏沉沉的气息，和镇上一屡一屡的炊烟，给这里增添了一股乡村庭院里找不到的敬畏感和神秘感。

And even fairer sights are contained within; those panelled, dark-roofed halls, with their array of

portraits gravely and intently regarding the strangers; the chapels, with their splendid classical

screens and stalls, rich and dim with ancient glass. The towers, domes, and steeples; and all set

not in a mere paradise of lawns and glades, but in the very heart of a city, itself full of quaint and

ancient houses, but busy with all the activity of a brisk and prosperous town; thereby again giving

the strong and satisfying sense of contrast, the sense of eager and every-day cares and pleasures,

side by side with these secluded havens of peace, the courts and cloister, where men may yet live

a life of gentle thought and quiet contemplation, untroubled, nay, even stimulated, by the

presence of a bustling life so near at hand, which yet may not intrude upon the older dream.

而牛津大学城里其实还蕴藏着更为悦目的景象——那些黑顶的豪华大厅里整齐地陈放着大量人像画，那画里的人似乎正认真又专心地打量着来客；小教堂的围屏和长凳精致而古雅，五彩的玻璃使里面看上去既昏暗又华丽。还有那塔楼、穹顶和教堂尖顶等，好像都不仅仅是矗立在这校园里天堂般的草坪和林地上，也矗立在整座牛津城的中心。牛津城里也全是些别致又古老的房屋，但忙忙碌碌的城里人，使这里多了一份生机勃勃、繁荣兴旺的景象，又给人们留下了一副强烈却美好的反差印象。那四处静谧的港湾、天井和修道院，可使来客热切地感受到人们日常生活中的忧虑和愉悦。在这儿过日子的居民，不受世俗的侵扰，他们常常会想着什么东西，静静地沉思，又亦或是受到那咫尺间喧嚣与繁华的启发，可那喧嚣和繁华却不会侵扰他们重温旧梦。

I do not know whether my taste is entirely trustworthy, but I confess that I find the Italianate

and classical buildings of Oxford finer than the Gothic buildings. The Gothic buildings are quainter,

perhaps, about the classical picturesque, but there is an air of solemn pomp and sober dignity

about the classical buildings that harmonises better with the sense of wealth and grave security

that is so characteristic of the place.

我不知道自己的鉴赏能力是不是完全地可靠，但坦白地说，我觉得牛津城里意大利风格和古典风格的建筑要比哥特式风格的建筑好看。哥特式建筑的样子看上去更古雅，或许还更别致，可是古典风格的建筑散发着一番庄重又壮丽的气质，这种气质与这片土地上特有的华贵和沉稳更好地融为了一体。

The Gothic buildings seem a survival, and have thus a more romantic interest, a more poetical

kind of association. But the classical porticos and facades seem to possess a nobler dignity, and to

provide a more appropriate setting for modern Oxford; because the spirit of Oxford is more the

spirit of the Renaissance than the spirit of the Schoolmen; and personally I prefer that

ecclesiasticism should be more of a flavour than a temper; Schoolmen I mean that though I

rejoice to think that sober ecclesiastical influences contribute a serious grace to the life of Oxford,

yet I am glad to feel that the spirit of the place is liberal rather than ecclesiastical.

哥特式建筑已所剩无几，故而透着一股更为传奇和诗意的色彩，而古典风格建筑的门廊和外立面却看似更为堂皇，为现代牛津创造了一副更为贴切的布景——因为相较于腐朽、封建的经院教条风气，现代的牛津精神更贴近于强调个人、精巧新奇的文艺复兴精神，而且即使是有教条主义，我也希望其对于牛津精神更多地是一种补充，而不是一种支配。我的意思是，尽管经院风气那源于基督教会的神圣影响力能给牛津带来上帝的恩典——这让我感到高兴，但我更乐意去感受牛津精神变得自由又开明，而不是严格恪守于教会。

Such traces as one sees in the chapels of the Oxford Movement, in the shape of paltry stained

glass, starred reredoses, modern Gothic woodwork, would be purely deplorable from the artistic

point of view, if they did not possess a historical interest. They speak of interrupted development,

an attempt to put back the shadow on the dial, to return to a narrower and more rigid tone, to

put old wine into new bottles, which betrays a want of confidence in the expansive power of God.

I hate with a deep-seated hatred all such attempts to bind and confine the rising tide of thought. I

want to see religion vital and not formal, elastic and not cramped by precedent and tradition. And

thus I love to see worship enshrined in noble classical buildings, which seem to me to speak of a

desire to infuse the intellectual spirit of Greece, the dignified imperialism of Rome into the more

timid and secluded ecclesiastical life, making it fuller, larger, more free, more deliberate.

牛津精神的这种发展特点，正是人们可以从十九世纪牛津运动时代留下的小教堂中，那小型的花窗玻璃、星星点点的供坛背壁和现代哥特式木工中体会得出的。如果这些玻璃、背壁和木工背后没有丁点文化历史可寻，单单是要从美术角度去品鉴，那可就是糟糕透顶的了——它们所渗透的正是一种断断续续的历史发展过程，这就好比是尝试将拨号转盘倒着转回去，或回归到前人一本正经的说话腔调，不过是使陈酒换上新瓶。这背叛了人类在上帝广泛支配下应当谦卑、恭顺的教会道义，可我压心底里痛恨一切限制与制约新兴思想萌发的企图，我所想要看见的宗教是那种富有生机而不拘泥、擅于变通而不受惯例和传统阻碍的宗教，所以，我希望看到宗教信仰仅仅是被放在那些堂皇的古典风格建筑中供人祀奉。这在我看来，才表达了一种要在那较收敛和隐蔽的经院风气中注入古希腊智慧文明和古罗马高贵势力的愿望，以使那经院风气更完整、更宏大、更自由、也更谨慎。

But even apart from the buildings, which are after all but the body of the place, the soul of

Oxford, its inner spirit, is what lends it its satisfying charm. On the one hand, it gives the sense of

the dignity of the intellect; one reflects that here can be lived lives of stately simplicity, of high

enthusiasm, apart from personal wealth, and yet surrounded by enough of seemly dignity to give

life the charm of grave order and quiet solemnity. Here are opportunities for peaceful and

congenial work, to the sound of mellodious bells; uninterrupted hours, as much society of a

simple kind as a man can desire, and the whole with a background of exquisite buildings and rich

gardens.

但建筑毕竟只是牛津的躯壳，除去这建筑，同样可令人心满意足的牛津魅力源于它的灵魂，或者说，是牛津内在的精神。这种精神在一方面使智者获得了一种被尊重的感受。在这里，人们会感到生活里所有的不仅仅是个人的财富，还有从容的简适和高涨的热情，以及处处都有的尊严感，这种得体的尊严感使这里秩序森严、氛围庄重。人们在此可以安安静静、愉快舒适地工作，听着美妙的钟声，看着远处精致典雅的建筑和姹紫嫣红的花园，一连几个小时都不会受到打扰——这正是人们所能向往的一种简简单单的人际社会。

And then, too, there is the tide of youthful life that floods every corner of the place. It is an

endless pleasure to see the troops of slim and alert young figures, full of enjoyment and life, with

all the best gifts of life, health, work, amusement, society, friendship, lying ready to their hand.

The sense of this beating and thrilling pulse of life circulating through these sombre and splendid

buildings is what gives the place its inner glow; this life full of hope, of sensation, of emotion, not

yet shadowed or disillusioned or weary, seems to be as the fire on the altar, throwing up its sharp

darting tongues of flame, its clouds of fragrant smoke, giving warmth and significance and a fiery

heart to a sombre shrine.

此外，牛津处处都充斥着青春的活力，看着那些身形矫健、风华正茂的年轻人，总能感到无限的喜悦。这些快活乐观、精神奕奕的年轻人身体棒、有事做、有乐找、有朋友，也有伴侣

——这可都是生活中的至礼。这些朝气澎湃、振奋人心的生命穿梭在牛津城暗淡却壮丽的建筑间，给牛津增添了一道内在的光辉。他们的生活尽有憧憬、有激奋、有情感；它没有疑虑，失望或是疲惫，就像是圣坛之火，吐着跳动的火舌，燃起芳香的烟雾，给这阴暗的圣祠增添了暖意和肃穆，惹得人心里便如火焰般炽热。

And so it is that Oxford is in a sort a magnetic pole for England; a pole not, perhaps, of

intellectual energy, or strenuous liberalism, or glamorous aims, or political ideas; few, perhaps, of

the sturdy forces that make England potently great, centre there. The greatness of England is, I

suppose, made up by her breezy, loud-voiced sailors, her lively, plucky soldiers, her ardent,

undefeated merchants, her tranquil administrators; by the stubborn adventurous spirit that

makes itself at home everywhere, and finds it natural to assume responsibilities.

而且，牛津也已成为整个英国的磁心，这或许不是智慧力量之心、顽强自由主义之心、高声喧嚣目标之心或是政治理想之心，也不太可能是坚韧力量之心，使英国变得强大有力、举足轻重。在我看来，英国的伟大之处源于她傲慢、粗犷的水手，她活泼、勇敢的战士，她热切、不败的商人和她镇定的官员，还有她顽固的进取精神，这种精神使英国在四面八方都有她的殖民地，使英国出自本性地担负起她应担的责任。

But to Oxford set the currents of what may be called intellectual emotion, the ideals that may not

make for immediate national greatness, but which, if delicately and faithfully nurtured, hold out

at least a hope of affecting the intellectual and spiritual life of the world. There is something

about Oxford which is not in the least typical of England, but typical of the larger brotherhood

that is independent of nationalities; that is akin to the spirit which in any land and in every age

has produced imperishable monuments of the ardent human soul. The tribe of Oxford is the tribe

from whose heart sprang the Psalms of David; Homer and Sophocles, Plato and Virgil, Dante and

Goethe are all of the same divine company.

然而，牛津掌控的是所谓的智慧的思潮。这样的理想并不能使英国在短期内变得强大，但是，只要能悉心、不渝地培育这股理想，就至少能有希望使它对全世界的智慧和精神生活产生影响。牛津的一些精神并不只是英国才有，这种精神可以脱离国界的限制，在更广、更远的地

方植根——这就和那使人类历史长河中在任何国度和任何年代都能产生不朽丰碑的精神很相像。牛津一族的内心里都刻着戴维之诗的烙印；荷马和苏格拉底、柏拉图和维吉尔、但丁和歌德——他们都是神圣的一族。

It may be said that John Bull, the sturdy angel of England, turns his back slightingly upon

such influences; that he regards Oxford as an incidental ornament of his person, like a seal that

jingles at his fob. But all generous and delicate spirits do her a secret homage, as a place where

the seeds of beauty and emotion, of wisdom and understanding, are sown, as in a secret garden.

Hearts such as these, even whirling past that celestial city, among her poor suburbs, feel an

inexpressible thrill at the sight of her towers and domes, her walls and groves. Quam dilecta sunt

tabernacula, they will say; and they will breathe a reverent prayer that there may be no leading

into captivity and no complaining in her streets.

也许有人会说英国忠志不渝的天使约翰•布尔会对这种影响不屑一顾，认为牛津就像是吊坠上的印章一样，只是他个人影响下的附带产物，但是，所有包容、细致的精神都会为牛津精神致以一份神秘的敬意。牛津就像是一个神秘的花园，美丽和情感、智慧和理解的种子在这里播种。如此般的心神，飘荡过那极其美丽的牛津城，在那破旧的郊野，眼看着她的塔楼、穹顶、城墙和树林，便会萌生出一股不可言喻的强烈感触。他们或许会说，“我的家园是多么地美丽啊”。他们那儿会有虔诚的祷告者，祷告不再会有占领他邦的野心，祷告牛津的街道上没有一丝怨声。

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