经济学人77:手工劳动 Handy work

 　　Still in Books and Arts; Book Review; Joys of craftsmanship¹;Handy work

　　文艺；书评；手工技艺的乐趣；手工劳动；

　　Made By Hand: Searching For Meaning in a Throwaway World. By Mark Frauenfelder.

　　《手工制作：在被抛弃的世界中寻找意义》：马克·弗劳恩菲尔德著；

　　The Case for Working With Your Hands: or Why Office Work is Bad for Us and Fixing Things Feels Good. By Matthew Crawford.

　　《动手干活的理由：为什么办公室工作与人无益而修理东西却感觉良好》：马修·克劳弗德著；

　　Anyone who has taken an axe³ to a laptop battery and thrown the bits in a pond (they explode: wear goggles) will like Mark Frauenfelder's book. Those who haven't will find a tantalising whiff of what they are missing. The author takes a hands-on approach to suburban⁴ life in Los Angeles. He rewires his espresso machine to produce what he calls proper coffee, keeps bees and chickens, whittles⁵ spoons from scrap⁶ wood, makes a ukulele and a cigar box from toothpicks, grows his own vegetables and tries to teach his children maths at home.

　　任何一个曾用斧子砍破笔记本电脑的电池并把碎片扔进水塘里（爆炸物：请戴护目镜）的人都会喜欢马克·弗劳恩菲尔德的书。那些还没这么做的人则会对他们错过的事感到蠢蠢欲动。作者对洛杉矶的郊区生活采取的是一种亲自动手的方式。他改接了意式咖啡机的电路以制作出他所谓的好喝的咖啡，饲养蜜蜂和鸡，把废木料削成勺子，用牙签做成夏威夷四弦琴和雪茄烟盒，自己种菜，还试着在家里教他的孩子们学数学。

　　The lawn is the archetypal enemy. Why do Americans spend such huge amounts of time, money, water, fertiliser and fuel on growing a useless smooth expanse of grass? Much better to cultivate something useful, like tomatoes. But how to do it? Mr Frauenfelder considers using herbicide to kill his unwanted lawn, but settles for covering it thickly with newspaper and weeding any grass that grows through: as with many of his projects, it is fun to start with, but becomes laborious⁷.

　　草坪就是个典型的敌人。为什么美国人要把如此大量的时间、金钱、水、化肥和燃料花在一大片平整却毫无用处的草地上呢？还不如栽培些实用的东西，比如西红柿。可是该怎么做呢？弗劳恩菲尔德先生也考虑过用除草剂来消灭那些无用的草坪，但他最终决定用报纸把草坪层层覆盖，然后再除去从中长出的任何一根草：这和他的很多方案一样，开头都很有趣，可随后就变得既耗时又费力。

　　As the editor of Make, a magazine for American hobbyists, the author is well-placed to tap the nation's vein⁸ of frustrated⁹ creativity and fiddling¹⁰. Time was, he says nostalgically, when household equipment came with the expectation that the owner could and would wield¹¹ the tools required to fix it: a wrench¹², pliers, screwdriver¹³ and hammer were all that was needed to keep an early Ford² automobile¹⁴ on the road. That changed, he says, thanks to Sigmund Freud's nephew, Edward Louis Bernays, the pioneer of emotional advertising¹⁵. He sold dreams of perfection instead of a partnership¹⁶ between man and machine. Now domestic appliances come with forbidding labels, such as “no user-serviceable parts” and “disassembly voids warranty”.

　　本书作者作为美国业余爱好者杂志《动手做》的编辑，由他来开发这个国家未得施展的创造力和动手捣鼓东西的本事，正是再合适不过了。他怀旧地说道，曾几何时，家用设备的出现带着这样一种期望：其拥有者可以也愿意使用必要的工具对其进行修理。扳手、钳子、螺丝刀和锤子是保证一辆早期福特车在路上行使的必备物品。这种情况已经改变了，他说，这都要“归功”于西格蒙德·弗洛伊德的外甥——爱德华·路易斯·伯奈斯——这位情感广告的先驱者。他用出售完美的梦想取代了出售人与机器之间的伙伴关系。现在的家用电器都带上了禁止标签，比如“不含用户可维修零件”和“拆开产品保修无效”。

　　For the mechanically curious, that is no obstacle. And in some ways technology has made it much easier to fiddle¹⁷ and fix. You can find unofficial instruction manuals on the internet, and watch YouTube to see someone doing it properly. You may make mistakes, but that is the way you learn how things work and how to mend them. Doing so makes you a better person, Mr Frauenfelder argues: master, not prisoner, of your environment.

　　出于机械方面的好奇心，这根本算不上什么障碍。科学技术也在某些方式上使这种拆拆弄弄更容易了。你能在英特网上找到非官方的操作手册，还能通过YouTube看看别人是怎么做的。你可能会犯错，但这就是你了解事物的工作原理并学习如何修理它们的方法。弗劳恩菲尔德先生声称，这样做会让你变成一个更优秀的人：一个外界环境的主人，而不是俘虏。

　　The book echoes Matthew Crawford's masterly and reflective, “The Case for Working with Your Hands”, a bestseller in America which has just come out in Britain. Mr Crawford focuses on motorbikes, with doses of classical philosophy, rather than domestic gripes.

　　这本书回应了马修·克劳弗德精巧娴熟、深思熟虑的新书《动手干活的理由》，一本刚刚在英国出版的美国畅销书。克劳弗德先生的重点集中在摩托车上，又加上几剂古典哲学的良药，以代替做家务活的满腹牢骚。

　　Mr Frauenfelder rightly highlights the impotent fury aroused by tamper-proof tabs seals, and the joy of mastering recalcitrant¹⁸ gadgets¹⁹. But his own literary craftsmanship is irritating too. An ill-planned attempt to start a new life in the South Pacific is irrelevant²⁰ and tiresome²¹. His prose is tinny, and the mentions of his children dull and cutesy. The reader does feel sorry for his wife, though, when dead bees clog²² the light fittings and a coyote eats the favourite chickens. His motto is DIY. Hers is HAP²³ (Hire a Pro). One can see why.

　　弗劳恩菲尔德先生恰当地突出了被那些防止乱拆乱动的标签封条激起的无力的愤怒，以及自如地掌控那些难以驯服的装置的乐趣。可是他自己笔下的手工技艺却同样令人抓狂。一次打算在南太平洋开始新生活却计划不周的尝试脱离了主题，令人厌烦。他的文笔不算好，提到他的孩子们时既无趣又做作。不过，当死去的蜜蜂堵塞了照明装置，郊狼吞吃掉心爱的小鸡的时候，读者确实会为他的妻子感到难过。他的格言是DIY（自己动手），而她的是HAP（雇个专家）。你能明白这是为什么。

1 craftsmanship   

n.手艺

参考例句：

• The whole house is a monument to her craftsmanship. 那整座房子是她技艺的一座丰碑。
• We admired the superb craftsmanship of the furniture. 我们很欣赏这个家具的一流工艺。

2 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

3 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 whittles   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

6 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

7 laborious   

adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅

参考例句：

• They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作。
• Ants and bees are laborious insects.蚂蚁与蜜蜂是勤劳的昆虫。

8 vein   

n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络

参考例句：

• The girl is not in the vein for singing today.那女孩今天没有心情唱歌。
• The doctor injects glucose into the patient's vein.医生把葡萄糖注射入病人的静脉。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 fiddling   

微小的

参考例句：

• He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
• All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

11 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

12 wrench   

v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受

参考例句：

• He gave a wrench to his ankle when he jumped down.他跳下去的时候扭伤了足踝。
• It was a wrench to leave the old home.离开这个老家非常痛苦。

13 screwdriver   

n.螺丝起子；伏特加橙汁鸡尾酒

参考例句：

• He took a screwdriver and teased out the remaining screws.他拿出螺丝刀把其余的螺丝卸了下来。
• The electric drill can also be used as a screwdriver.这把电钻也可用作螺丝刀。

14 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

15 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

16 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

17 fiddle   

n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动

参考例句：

• She plays the fiddle well.她小提琴拉得好。
• Don't fiddle with the typewriter.不要摆弄那架打字机了。

18 recalcitrant   

adj.倔强的

参考例句：

• The University suspended the most recalcitrant demonstraters.这所大学把几个反抗性最强的示威者开除了。
• Donkeys are reputed to be the most recalcitrant animals.驴被认为是最倔强的牲畜。

19 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

20 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

21 tiresome   

adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的

参考例句：

• His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。

22 clog   

vt.塞满，阻塞；n.[常pl.]木屐

参考例句：

• In cotton and wool processing,short length fibers may clog sewers.在棉毛生产中，短纤维可能堵塞下水管道。
• These streets often clog during the rush hour.这几条大街在交通高峰时间常常发生交通堵塞。

23 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。