現(xiàn)代英文選評：Kant the Man 康德的日常生活

Kant the Man 康德的日常生活

W. Somerset Maugham (1874—1965)

毛姆的散文，清楚易讀，最宜初學模仿。下面所選幾段，很少費解之處，實在用不到什么注解。據(jù)毛姆在他的《寫作生活回憶》（The Summing Up）中說，他自己作文，有三個標準，按其重要性次序說來，第一是達（lucidity），第二是簡（simplicity），第三是順（euphony）。達者，就是把話說清楚了，使人一看就懂；簡者，要言不煩，少說廢話；順者，音調(diào)悅耳，便于上口。這三點——尤其是達——為毛姆一生致力所在，當代作家在這三點上的成就，能及得上毛姆的，實不多見。國內(nèi)有幾種英文選本都選用毛姆《中國游記》（On a Chinese Screen）里的文章，其實他那本書里的文字，既不達，又不簡，并不足以代表他的風格。

本文選自他的散文集《隨心所至》（The Vagrant Mood, Doubleday & Co. 1953）。原題《某書的讀后感》（“Reflections on a Certain Book”）。他所謂某書是康德的美學名著《判斷力之批判》（Critique of the Power of Judgment），這樣一個書名很可能把一個不學哲學的外行讀者嚇倒，但是毛姆自己承認對于哲學也是外行，只是對于藝術(shù)有興趣，所以他覺得他對于美學的問題也可以來發(fā)表意見。全文分六節(jié)，第一節(jié)是描寫康德的日常生活，就如下面所節(jié)錄介紹的。后五節(jié)是他讀康德美學名著后的雜感，都很平易近人，并不比第一節(jié)艱難多少。

Punctually at five minutes to five Lampe, his servant, waked Professor Kant and by five, in his slippers, dressing-gown and night-cap, over which he wore his three-cornered hat, he seated himself in his study ready for breakfast. This consisted of a cup of weak tea and a pipe of tobacco. The next two hours he spent thinking over the lecture he was to deliver that morning. Then he dressed. The lecture room was on the ground floor of his house. He lectured from seven till nine and so popular were his lectures that if you wanted a good seat you had to be there at six-thirty.

● Punctually：準時地。Lampe：仆人之名。slippers：拖鞋；dressing-gown：晨服（燕居時所穿之寬大袍服）；night-cap：睡帽。注意：穿（鞋或衣）和戴（帽）都可以用介詞in來表示。

● three-cornered hat：三角狀之帽；康德把它戴在睡帽的外面。study：書房。deliver：發(fā)表（演講）。

● 本段句法都很平順，只有第三句The next two hours he spent…中hours為賓語，放在動詞之前；末句so popular were his lectures中主語lectures放在動詞之后。此種次序之顛倒，大多為加強語氣之用；移放在一句前頭的字，往往是意義上應該著重的字。

Kant, seated behind a little desk, spoke in a conversational tone, in a low voice, and very rarely indulged in gesture, but he enlivened his discourse with humour and abundant illustrations. His aim was to teach his students to think for themselves and he did not like it when they busied themselves with their quills to write down his every word.

Gentlemen, do not scratch so, he said once. "I am no oracle."

● seated是過去分詞。conversational tone：普通談話式的語氣（不像在講學）。

● indulged in：任性而為。用了indulge in以后，所做的事情大約并不是一件好事；即使并不是壞事，至少也應該加以節(jié)制而少去做它的。照毛姆的意思，講學的時候多做手勢一事并不可取，但是康德很少有這個毛病。enlivened：使活潑有趣。discourse：講演。illustrations：實例，用以說明理論者。

● he did not like it之it指學生勤記筆記這種情形。quills：鳥羽筆。

● scratch原意是“扒，搔”，轉(zhuǎn)作“像扒搔似的寫字”：亂寫，急寫。

● oracle：代表天神發(fā)言之人。這種人的話才是值得一字不漏地記下來的。

It was his custom to fix his eyes on a student who sat close to him and judge by the look on his face whether or not he understood what he said. But a very small thing distracted him. On one occasion he lost the thread of his discourse because a button was wanting on the coat of one of the students, and on another, when a sleepy youth persistently yawned, he broke off to say:

If one cannot avoid yawning, good manners require that the hand should be placed before the mouth.

● custom：習慣。judge：判斷（前面的to省去），它的賓語是“whether”clause。

● distracted him：分他的心。

● thread：線索。lost the thread of his discourse：演講斷了線索，講不下去了。a button was wanting on the coat：上衣上面少了一個鈕扣。注意：中文說法用“上衣”做主語，英文常用“鈕扣”做主語。

● persistently：（堅持）不斷的。yawned：打呵欠。broke off to say：打斷了話鋒，改講另外一件事情。

● avoid：避免。good manners：禮貌?！凹偃绾乔贩谴虿豢傻脑?，照規(guī)矩手也得捂在嘴上的?！边@是一句幽默的話，幽默之所以為幽默，這里也不妨試一試探求其原因：一、康德看見那人不斷地打呵欠，心里也許很不高興，但是他寬恕他的打呵欠，只是批評他不該不把嘴捂上。他的寬容也許是勉強的，他的批評只是避重就輕。但是這種勉強的寬容精神和避重就輕的批評，假如表現(xiàn)得好的話，往往就成了幽默。二、這句話本來是專指某一個人說的，可是康德并不講明是誰，先用的是one（任何人），后面連one都不用了，只是說good manners require that the hand…根本沒有提什么人。這樣把“專指”化為“泛指”，就顯得更為氣度雍容。假如改說“…one should place one's hand…”，就似乎帶點聲色俱厲的樣子，還不足以言幽默也。

At nine o'clock Kant returned to his room, once more put on his dressing-gown, his night-cap, his three-cornered hat and his slippers and studied till exactly a quarter to one. Then he called down to his cook, told her the hour, dressed and went back to his study to await the guests he expected to dinner.

● called down to his cook：他的廚子可能在樓下。he expected to dinner是定語從句，關(guān)系代名詞whom省卻。dinner：一天中主要的一餐。

He could not bear to eat alone, and there were always guests, never less than two nor more than five. As soon as they were assembled Kant told his servant to bring the dinner and himself went to fetch the silver spoons which he kept locked up with his money in a bureau in the parlour.

● bear：忍受。

● assembled：到齊了。bureau：有抽屜之寫字臺（英國用法；此字在美國作“衣柜”解，毛姆為英人，故此外采用英國解釋）。parlour：普通住宅之起居室，兼作會客之用。（正式會客室為drawing room，大抵華麗住宅中始有之。）

The party seated themselves in the dining-room and with the words: "Now, gentlemen," Kant set to. The meal was substantial. It was the only one he ate in the day, and consisted of soup, dried pulse with fish, roast, cheese to end with and fruit when in season. Before each guest was placed a pint bottle of red wine and a pint bottle of white so that he could drink whichever he liked.

● set to：開始，發(fā)動。這里當然是開始用膳，相當于中文的“動筷”。

● the only one=the only meal：一天就吃這么一頓。早晨他單喝淡茶抽板煙，前面已經(jīng)說過了。

● pulse：豆類（黃豆、豌豆、蠶豆等，凡是可當飯菜吃的豆都可用這個字）。roast：烤肉。cheese to end with：末道菜是干酪。in season：時鮮的。pint bottle：可容一品脫之瓶。（按pint之i讀長音/ai/，為液體之容量，中國人飲牛奶常以“磅”為單位，其實所謂半磅牛奶即是半pint。）wine：葡萄酒?？腿嗣媲凹t白葡萄酒各置一瓶，聽憑自擇。

Kant was fond of talking, but preferred to talk alone, and if interrupted or contradicted was apt to show displeasure; his conversation, however, was so agreeable that none minded if he monopolized it. He would also tell humorous stories, of which he had a rich supply and which he told uncommonly well, so, he said, "that the repast may end with laughter, which is calculated to promote digestion."

● if interrupted or contradicted：他的話假如給人打斷了，或是給人駁回去了。was apt to的主語是句首的Kant。displeasure：不悅之色。

● agreeable：可喜，有趣。monopolized：獨占；后隨的it代表conversation。即使他一個人發(fā)言，不容別人插嘴，別人也不會見怪（minded）。

● of which he had a rich supply：他的笑話儲藏很多。

● so, he said, "that…"中之he said是插句，so跟著后面的that一起走。repast=meal。calculated：預計可以（有某種結(jié)果）。to promote digestion：幫助消化。

He liked to linger over dinner and the guests did not rise from table till late. He would not sit down after they had left in case he fell asleep, and this he would not permit himself to do since he was of opinion that sleep should be enjoyed sparingly, for thus time was saved and so life lengthened. He set out on his afternoon walk.

● linger：留戀不走。

● in case常作if解，這里解作lest（唯恐）。

● this he would not permit himself to do：他決不容許自己這樣做（午睡）。this是to do的賓語。was of opinion：主張。sparingly：儉省地。saved：節(jié)省，睡得少，時間就節(jié)省下來了；每天節(jié)省一個鐘頭，就好像多活了一個鐘頭，所以說生命也延長了。午飯后他出門散步。

He was a little man, barely five feet tall, with a narrow chest and one shoulder higher than the other, and he was thin almost to emaciation. He had a crooked nose, but a fine brow and his colour was fresh. His eyes, though small, were blue, lively and penetrating. He was natty in his dress. He wore a small blond wig, a black tie, and a shirt with ruffles round the throat and wrists; a coat, breeches and waistcoat of fine cloth, gray silk stockings and shoes with silver buckles. He carried his three-cornered hat under his arm and in his hand a goldheaded cane. He walked every day, rain or fine, for exactly one hour, but if the weather was threatening, his servant walked behind him with a big umbrella.

● barely：剛剛夠；只有。chest：胸膛。thin：瘦；emaciation：極瘦；介詞to表示瘦的程度；瘦得幾乎只剩皮包骨。

● crooked：曲的。brow：額；此字亦解作“眉”，但用作“眉”時，常作復數(shù)形式（加s）。colour：膚色，氣色。

● penetrating：銳利。

● natty：整潔。blond：金色（毛發(fā)）；wig：假發(fā)，十八世紀歐洲男人戴假發(fā)，為一時風尚。ruffles：衣服邊緣之成縐褶狀者。wrists：手腕。cloth：任何織物，不單指“布”一種。buckles：（用以拴帶子之）扣子。

● 本段前五句都是描寫康德的儀表，上一段不是剛說到他飯后出去散步嗎？怎么會插這幾句進去呢？看到第六句：“他把三角帽挾在脅下，手提金頭手杖”，才知道前面五句出現(xiàn)得并不突兀?？档碌纳⒉皆谒钠降?guī)律的生活中，是一件大事，所以作者亦極力描寫。與其單獨地描寫他的狀貌服飾，不如拿來同他的散步聯(lián)在一起寫。他飯后出去散步——康德在散步的時候是怎么樣的一個人呢？于是說到他的身材、儀容、身上腳下的打扮，脅下挾的是什么，手里拿的是什么等等。這么一來，文字就更生動。我們讀到的不是一個靜的康德，而是一個動的康德了。

● threatening：有雨意；風云變幻莫測。threaten原作“威脅”解，但請讀者注意英文threaten的用法比中文“威脅”來得廣。

The only occasion on which he is known to have omitted his walk is when he received Rousseau's Emile and then, unable to tear himself away from it, he remained indoors for three days. He walked very slowly because he thought it was bad for him to sweat, and alone because he had formed the habit of breathing through his nostrils, since thus he thought to avoid catching cold and, had he had a companion with whom courtesy would oblige him to speak, he would have been constrained to breathe through his mouth.

● 康德的散步，數(shù)十年如一日，風雨無間，寒暑不輟，據(jù)說只有一次，他收到了一本盧梭（Jean Jacques Rousseau，1712—1778）的《愛彌爾》（盧梭自敘教育理想的一部小說，1762年出版），讀得不忍釋手，三天沒有出門，因此破例沒有散步。tear：撕，扯；書把他吸引住了，撕都撕不開，其吸引力之強可想。

● 第二句稍長，但句法仍十分干凈。He walked后接副詞slowly（他怕出汗sweat，故步子很慢），又接形容詞alone（形容主詞是predicate adjective），該句主干實僅是He walked slowly and he walked alone而已。alone一字放在這里，可稱險絕，然而腳頭站得很穩(wěn)，絲毫搖撼不動，作者煉句，實見功夫。alone離開它所形容的主語He，已經(jīng)隔了十幾個字，后面又引起四十幾個字來說明何以alone，這樣一個字，假如用得不得法，很可能變得無靠無依，交代不清。但是這一句的層次依舊很清楚，我們讀到alone的時候，自然會大大地換一口氣，聚精會神地且看作者在because以后耍些什么花樣出來。

● 康德散步為什么不帶伴兒呢？原來他有用鼻孔（nostrils）呼吸的習慣，這樣他可以免傷風（catching cold）；假如（had he had=if he had had）有一個他非敷衍不可的人陪他一起走（替他帶傘的仆人，他是可以不必敷衍的），他不得不跟他說話，因此就不得不用嘴呼吸了。

● “with whom courtesy would oblige him to speak”中的with，在句法結(jié)構(gòu)上應放在speak之后。courtesy：禮貌。oblige：強使為之。此字與稍后的constrain略有不同：oblige大抵是道義上的約束，constrain則無論什么樣無可奈何的情形，使人不得不受制者，皆可適用之。所以對于朋友，他不得不說話，則宜用oblige；說話時不得不張嘴，則宜用constrain了。

He invariably took the same walk, along the Linden Allee, and this, according to Heine, he strolled up and down eight times. He issued from his house at precisely the same hour so that the people of the town could set their clocks by it. When he came home he returned to his study and read and wrote letters till the light failed. Then, as was his habit, fixing his eyes on the tower of a neighbouring church, he pondered over the problems that just then occupied him…. At a quarter to ten he suspended his arduous labour and by ten was safely tucked up in bed.

● walk：散步的地方，供人步行的道路。invariably：不變地。Linden：菩提樹。Allee：馬路，林蔭大道；此德文字與英文字alley同源而異義，相當于英文之a(chǎn)venue, boulevard。Heine即Heinrich Heine（1797—1856，中文普通譯作海涅），德國詩人、作家，曾著錄康德事跡。strolled：逍遙漫步，溜達?！癮nd this… he strolled up and down”此句句法與前段（見上文）有一句“and this he would not permit himself to do”相仿，this都是以賓語而置于句首者。up and down：來回。

● issued：出發(fā)。precisely：精確地，恰巧。set their docks：鐘上撥準時間，對時。

● the light failed：日色漸暮，不便工作。

● pondered over：思考，occupied本解作“占有”； the problems that occupied him：占有了他的腦筋的問題，他所專心研究的那些（哲學）問題。

● suspended：停止。arduous labour：費力的工作。was tucked up in bed：裹身被中；這樣的說法當比lay in bed更能使讀者覺得床上的安逸舒適。

Though he lived to be eighty, he never went more than sixty miles away from the town in which he was born. He suffered from frequent indispositions and was seldom free from pain, but he was able by the exertion of his will to turn his attention away from his feelings just as though they did not concern him.

● lived to be eighty：活到八十歲。the town in which he was born：指K?nigsberg，為東普魯士首府。

● indispositions：身體上的不舒服，小毛病。seldom free from pain：身上老是帶點病痛的。

● by the exertion of his will：運用其意志力量。此短語（phrase）插在able與to之間，其地位亦值得研究。當able出現(xiàn)之時，讀者自然會等著后面的to：能夠……，能夠什么呢？可是作者小弄玄虛，偏偏先來“by the exertion of his will”一個短語，再把to搬出來。這個用法至少有兩點好處：一、意義可以更豐富：多一個短語，當然多一層意義；二、氣勢可以較舒緩：able與to直接相隨，氣勢迫切，分開了語氣就較婉轉(zhuǎn)。然文章之道難有定規(guī)，有時文章意義要求單純，氣勢要求爽利，這種辦法就不合適了?？傊谧x者意料不到的地方，插進幾個字、一兩個短語或甚至一個從句（clause），這就是文章的“裝飾”，可以幫助文章的美。但是天下一切裝飾，都要小心，否則隨時都可能弄巧成拙的。如何運用得好，還得靠多讀名家著作，培養(yǎng)正確的taste也。

● to turn his attention away from his feelings：使心另有所屬，不去注意身上的痛癢。“As though they did not concern him”中之they指feelings：好像身上的不舒服同他沒有關(guān)系似的。

He was neither impulsive nor demonstrative, but he was kindly, within his scanty means generous, and obliging. His intelligence was great, his power of reasoning impressive, but his emotional nature was meagre. Twice he thought seriously of marrying, but he took so long to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the step he had in mind that in the interval one of the young women he had his eye on married somebody else and the other left K?nigsberg before he reached a decision.

● impulsive：憑感情沖動行事。demonstrative：喜怒哀樂，常形諸辭色的。康德為人穩(wěn)重，情感亦深藏不露。

● kindly：待人厚道。generous：用錢慷慨。此字之前又插了一個短語within his scanty means：在他菲薄的經(jīng)濟力量容許之下。君子固窮，然茍人有所需，康德亦必盡其微力，樂于周濟也。obliging：樂于助人；此字在本文中為第二次出現(xiàn)，前面的一個解作“強使人不得不做某一件事”，這里的一個解作“使人負恩，使人感激”。此字的被動形式，普通書信中常用，如云“I shall be much obliged if…”（如蒙……不勝感激）。它的主動形式，就是“樂于助人而使人感激”。又，此字約相當于中國的“古道熱腸，好行方便”，并無“故意市惠望人報答”之意。

● intelligence：智力。power of reasoning：推理的能力。impressive（動詞was省去）：給人很深的印象；非常可觀。emotional nature：情感的天性（天生的情感）。meagre：貧乏，薄弱。

● so long：那么長的時間。advantages and disadvantages：利弊。the step he had in mind：他心目中的計劃（步驟）；he had in mind是定語從句。that in the interval之that呼應so long之so；in the interval：在（他考慮的）這一段時間內(nèi)。he had his eye on：又是一個定語從句，“他所看中的”。本句內(nèi)這兩個定語從句運用得很是輕巧自然，隨隨便便放一個定語從句上去，句子一點不覺得累贅笨重，凡是喜歡把英文寫得流利的，在這種地方應該多加注意。