在过激的世界中坚守礼仪

 　　As someone instilled¹ with the British habit of automatic apology, I have often wished to be freed from the tyranny of good manners.

　　作为一个被灌输了英式自动道歉习惯的人，我常常渴望逃脱这种礼仪的暴政。

　　The mildest kerfuffle tends to trigger in me an outburst of contrition², as uncontrollable as a sneezing fit.

　　最温和的摩擦也往往会促使我不由自主地表达一长串愧意，就像打喷嚏一样无法控制。

　　I find myself apologising in a forced high voice to the oaf who blunders into me in the street (Sorry!).

　　我发现自己用强迫发出的高声向那个在街口鲁莽撞上我的傻瓜道歉（对不起！）。

　　Strangers are addressed with extravagant³ levels of courtesy: Excuse me, I’m so sorry to interrupt, I wonder if you could possibly tell me the way to?.?.?.

　　我对陌生人开口说话的礼貌达到极其夸张的程度：不好意思，我非常抱歉地打扰您，我在揣测你有没有可能告诉我去……的路？

　　If hypocrisy⁴ is the English vice⁵, then manners are its public face.

　　如果说伪善是英国人的恶习，那么礼仪就是它的公开面孔。

　　The polite patter of pleases and thank-yous with which we embroider⁶ our speech is a ritual show of courtesy, an unthinking way of advertising⁸ solicitude⁹ for the feelings of someone doing something for one.

　　我们用请和谢谢这些唠唠叨叨的礼貌用语来点缀我们的言辞，这是一种仪式性的礼貌展示，一种对某人为我们做了什么事而表达好意的不假思索的方式。

　　The relentless¹⁰ gratitude¹¹ that I display in such settings — thanking shop assistants as though they have saved my life with the Heimlich manoeuvre¹², not simply handed me a chip-and-pin reader — is a salve for a guilty conscience.

　　我在这类情景下所表现的无尽感激之情——感谢店员就如同他/她用哈姆立克急救法(Heimlich Maneuver)救了我一命，而不仅仅是递给了我一部刷卡机——是对内疚良心的抚慰。

　　The same is true of the contrition.

　　对于道歉也是一样。

　　There is much in British history for which to be sorry — especially from those of us who are its beneficiaries — such as the slave trade and colonising large swaths of the world.

　　在不列颠历史上有那么多可道歉的——尤其是我们这些受益者——例如奴隶贸易和对世界大片领土的殖民。

　　For all the reasons to be patriotic¹³ — real ale, cricket, Shakespeare, Led Zeppelin — the debit¹⁴ side of the ledger¹⁵ carries some serious bad karma.

　　尽管我们有大把理由爱国——real ale啤酒、板球、莎士比亚、齐柏林飞船乐队(Led Zeppelin)——但账簿的借方带有严重的坏业力(Karma)。

　　It is my belief that, with every sorry a Briton utters when he or she is bumped into, a larger sorrow goes unaddressed.

　　我相信，英国人每一次因为被路人撞到而说对不起的背后，都有一个更大的悲哀没有得到抚慰。

　　To paraphrase¹⁶ the bard¹⁷, we doth apologise too much.

　　借用莎士比亚的话，我们道歉得太多了。

　　Or do we? I hope you, dear reader, will permit me to explain how my attitude towards manners has undergone a shift.

　　难道不是吗？亲爱的读者，我希望您能允许我向您解释我对待礼貌的态度是如何发生转变的。

　　Having children is one reason.

　　一个原因是有了孩子。

　　Barking rudely at my poor progeny¹⁸ in public to say please and thank you — behaving like precisely¹⁹ the brusque monster I am supposedly warning them off becoming — has brought home to me the need to live up to the sentiments being phrased.

　　在公共场合粗声敦促我的孩子们说请和谢谢——这行为恰恰就像我理应警告他们不要成为的那种无礼怪物——让我明白了情绪需要被如实表达。

　　So did a recent encounter on the London Underground.

　　另一个类似的原因是我最近在伦敦地铁上的一次遭遇。

　　I waved an older woman to go on the stairs ahead of me with an unctuous²⁰ gesture.

　　我用圆滑的手势向一名老妇挥了挥手，示意她在我之前上楼梯。

　　An onlooker²¹ thanked me so profusely²², as though I were Sir Walter Raleigh flinging his cloak over the puddle²³ for Elizabeth I to tread upon, that I was forced to interrogate²⁴ the meaning of my trivial act.

　　结果一名旁观者一个劲地向我表达感激，就好像我是沃尔特.罗利爵士(Sir Walter Raleigh)，把自己的斗篷脱下来盖在水坑上让伊丽莎白一世踩过去，以至于我不得不检讨自己这一琐碎行为的意义。

　　The woman I had waved ahead wore a hijab: she was evidently Muslim.

　　我挥手让她先过的那名妇女包着头巾，显然是穆斯林。

　　My very minor²⁵ display of goodwill²⁶ took place in a much larger context of ill will and intolerance, and had been noted²⁷ as such.

　　我展现的非常微小的善意发生在一个充满恶意和不宽容的大背景下，也在这个背景下被人注意到。

　　The public realm is full of spite and bile these days.

　　如今公共领域充满怨恨和敌意。

　　Debate descends²⁸ into shouting matches, with neither side prepared to concede an inch.

　　辩论降格为对骂，双方都不愿意退让一寸。

　　The opening up of forums²⁹ for voices to be heard on social media and the internet has had the consequence of making everyone think they are cleverer than everyone else, an illogical state of affairs.

　　社交媒体和互联网开启了让人们的声音被听到的论坛，其后果是让每个人都认为自己比别人更聪明，这是一种不合逻辑的状态。

　　One’s own ego³⁰ seems so incomparably more sensitive, more perceptive³¹, wiser and more profound than other people’s, the philosopher Bertrand Russell noted.

　　人的自我似乎无可比拟地比别人更加敏感、更加敏锐、更加睿智和更加深刻。

　　Yet there must be very few of whom this is true, and it is not likely that oneself is one of those few.

　　哲学家伯特兰.罗素(Bertrand Russell)曾指出，然而这一点必然只适用于极少数人，一般人不太可能是这少数人之一。

　　There is nothing like viewing oneself statistically³² as a means both to good manners and to good morals.

　　要同时达到良好的礼仪和道德境界，没有什么比从统计学视角观察自己更有效的手段了。

　　Properly deployed³³, politeness is a kind of activism.

　　若能正确使用，礼貌是一种能动性。

　　It insists that we should treat each other kindly³⁴, a word derived³⁵ from kin⁷.

　　它坚持要求我们友善地对待彼此，这是一个由亲人延伸而来的词。

　　Leonard Cohen’s death last week brought this home to me.

　　莱昂纳德.科恩(Leonard Cohen，见上图)最近去世提醒了我这一点。

　　In concerts, he serenaded his audience on bended knee and told self-deprecating jokes.

　　在音乐会上，他曾弯下双膝为观众吟唱，还开了些自嘲的玩笑。

　　Each one of the thousands observing him felt as though they were individually valued.

　　在成千上万的观众中，每一个人都感到自己得到个别的珍视。

　　In him, good manners and good morals were as one.

　　在他身上，良好的礼仪和道德浑然天成。

　　I shall do my best to follow his example.

　　我会尽力以他为榜样。

　　It is time to reclaim³⁶ politeness from hypocrisy in order to wield³⁷ it against rudeness.

　　是时候将礼貌从伪善中解放，以便用其对抗粗鲁。

1 instilled   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Nature has instilled in our minds an insatiable desire to see truth. 自然给我们心灵注入了永无休止的发现真理的欲望。 来自辞典例句
• I instilled the need for kindness into my children. 我不断向孩子们灌输仁慈的必要。 来自辞典例句

2 contrition   

n.悔罪，痛悔

参考例句：

• The next day he'd be full of contrition,weeping and begging forgiveness.第二天，他就会懊悔不已，哭着乞求原谅。
• She forgave him because his contrition was real.她原谅了他是由于他的懊悔是真心的。

3 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

4 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 embroider   

v.刺绣于(布)上；给…添枝加叶，润饰

参考例句：

• The editor would take a theme and embroider upon it with drollery.编辑会将一篇文章，以调侃式的幽默笔调加以渲染。
• She wants to embroider a coverlet with flowers and birds.她想给床罩绣上花鸟。

7 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

8 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。

9 solicitude   

n.焦虑

参考例句：

• Your solicitude was a great consolation to me.你对我的关怀给了我莫大的安慰。
• He is full of tender solicitude towards my sister.他对我妹妹满心牵挂。

10 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

11 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

12 manoeuvre   

n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动

参考例句：

• Her withdrawal from the contest was a tactical manoeuvre.她退出比赛是一个战术策略。
• The clutter of ships had little room to manoeuvre.船只橫七竖八地挤在一起，几乎没有多少移动的空间。

13 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

14 debit   

n.借方，借项，记人借方的款项

参考例句：

• To whom shall I debit this sum?此款应记入谁的账户的借方？
• We undercharge Mr.Smith and have to send him a debit note for the extra amount.我们少收了史密斯先生的钱，只得给他寄去一张借条所要欠款。

15 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

16 paraphrase   

vt.将…释义，改写；n.释义，意义

参考例句：

• You may read the prose paraphrase of this poem.你可以看一下这首诗的散文释义。
• Paraphrase the following sentences or parts of sentences using your own words.用你自己的话解释下面的句子或句子的一部分。

17 bard   

n.吟游诗人

参考例句：

• I'll use my bard song to help you concentrate!我会用我的吟游诗人歌曲帮你集中精神！
• I find him,the wandering grey bard.我发现了正在徘徊的衰老游唱诗人。

18 progeny   

n.后代，子孙；结果

参考例句：

• His numerous progeny are scattered all over the country.他为数众多的后代散布在全国各地。
• He was surrounded by his numerous progeny.众多的子孙簇拥着他。

19 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

20 unctuous   

adj.油腔滑调的，大胆的

参考例句：

• He speaks in unctuous tones.他说话油腔滑调。
• He made an unctuous assurance.他做了个虚请假意的承诺。

21 onlooker   

n.旁观者，观众

参考例句：

• A handful of onlookers stand in the field watching.少数几个旁观者站在现场观看。
• One onlooker had to be restrained by police.一个旁观者遭到了警察的制止。

22 profusely   

ad.abundantly

参考例句：

• We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture. 我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
• He had been working hard and was perspiring profusely. 他一直在努力干活，身上大汗淋漓的。

23 puddle   

n.(雨)水坑，泥潭

参考例句：

• The boy hopped the mud puddle and ran down the walk.这个男孩跳过泥坑，沿着人行道跑了。
• She tripped over and landed in a puddle.她绊了一下，跌在水坑里。

24 interrogate   

vt.讯问，审问，盘问

参考例句：

• The lawyer took a long time to interrogate the witness fully.律师花了很长时间仔细询问目击者。
• We will interrogate the two suspects separately.我们要对这两个嫌疑人单独进行审讯。

25 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

26 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

27 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

28 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

29 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

30 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

31 perceptive   

adj.知觉的，有洞察力的，感知的

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• He is very perceptive and nothing can be hidden from him.他耳聪目明，什么事都很难瞒住他。

32 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

33 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

34 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

35 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

36 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

37 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。