现代大学英语精读(第2版)第六册:U11 Beauty
Unit 11 Beauty
第十一单元美
教育政策法规Scott Rusll Sanders
斯科特·拉塞尔·桑德斯
In memory, I wait beside Eva in the vestibule of the church to play my part a s father of the bride. She hooks a hand on my elbow while three bridesmaids fuss over her, fixing the gauzy veil spreading the long ivory train of her go wn, tucking into her bun a loo strand of hair, which glows the color of hone y filled with sunlight. Clumsy in my rented patent leather shoes and stiff bl ack tuxedo, I stand among the gorgeous women like a crow among doves.
I realize that they're gorgeous not becau they carry bouquets or wear silk dress, but becau the festival of marriage has slowed time down until any fool can e their glory.
记忆中，教堂的门厅里，我等在伊娃的身旁准备担当新娘父亲的角色。她一只手挎着我的臂弯，同时，
三个伴娘手忙脚乱地在她身上忙着，或整理薄薄的面纱，或铺平象牙色长长的拖裙，或将一绺散落的头发卷塞到发髻里。她蜜糖色的头发在阳光下闪耀着。我穿着一双租来的专利皮革制成的鞋，身上是一件笔挺的黑色礼服，笨拙地站在一群漂亮的女士中间，就像一只被白鸽包围的乌鸦。我意识到她们是如此美丽并非因为她们手捧花束身着丝质裙装，而是因为婚礼使得时间的脚步放慢了下来，慢得即便是傻瓜也看得到她们的光彩。
Concerned that we might walk too fast, as we did in rehearsal, Eva tries in v ain to teach me a gliding ballet step to u as we process down the aisle.
打麻将顺口溜
伊娃担心我们可能会像在排练时那样走得太快，便徒劳地试图教我一种滑动的芭蕾舞步，以便在步入教堂时使用。
"It's really simple, Daddy, "she says, as I botch it over and over.
她说：“爸爸，真的很简单。”我却一遍又一遍地搞砸。
I fear that I will stagger along beside my elegant daughter like a veteran wo unded in foreign wars.
走在优雅的女儿身旁，我担心自己会像个从海外战场归来的受伤退伍兵，摇晃不稳。Eva, meanwhile, ems blissfully confident, not only of being able to walk gr acefully, as she could do in her sleep, but
of standing before this Congregati on and solemnly promising to share her life with Matthew Allen, the man wh o waits in thinly disguid turmoil at the far end of the aisle. Poid on the d ais, wearing a black ministerial robe and a white stole, is the good friend who m Eva and know best as our guide on canoe trips through the Boundary Wate rs. He grins so broadly that his full cheeks push up against he round rims of h is spectacles.
然而伊娃看起来兴高采烈，充满自信。一方面相信她自己会走得优雅，这一点她睡梦中都做得到。另一方面她对站在众人面前庄严允诺同马修·伦共度此生也信心百倍。那位男士正
远远地等在过道的另一头，紧张不安难以掩饰。我和伊娃都熟识的一位好朋友穿一件黑色教士袍、身披圣带泰然自若地站在礼台上。他曾在我们划独木舟穿越美加边界湖区时做我们的向导。他笑得很夸张，整个脸颊抵住眼镜的圆边。
"There's one appy preacher," Eva says.
“这是一位快乐的教士，”伊娃说。
He believes in marriage, " I reply.
“他相信婚姻，”我回答。
"So do I. Remember, Matt and I figured that between you and Mom and his fo lks, our parents have been married fifty-eight years."
广袤“我也相信。记得马特和我计算过，把你和妈妈及他的父母的婚龄加到一起，可以说我们的父母结婚已有58年了。”
Eva lets go of my arm to lift a hand to her throat, touching the string of pearl s she has borrowed from my own bride, Ruth, to whom I've been married thir ty years.
伊娃松开我的胳膊，抬手到颈边碰触那串珍珠项链——那是她从我30年前的新娘鲁思那儿借的。
Love may last, I want to say, but do not, feeling unsure of my voice. Eva retu rns her free hand to my arm and tightens her grip. The arm she holds is my l eft one, clo against my racing heart. In her own left arm she balances a gre at sheaf of flowers-daisies and lilies, marigolds, snapdragons-
and in her left hand she holds a Belgian lace handkerchief, also borrowed fro m Ruth, in ca she cries.
我想说，爱可以持久，却没说出来，害怕我的声音会颤抖。伊娃把空下来的手又放回到我的臂弯里握紧。她挎住的是我的左臂，紧贴着我紧张跳动心。在她自己的左臂中，稳稳地抱着一大束花、百
合、万寿菊、金鱼草。她左手拿一块比利时蕾丝手帕，也是从鲁思那儿借来的，以备擦眼泪时用。
The organ strikes up Bach's "Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring" for the bridesmaids ' entrance, and down the aisle they skim, tho gorgeous women in midnigh t blue. Overawed by the crowd, the flower girls hang back until their mother n udges them along, and then they dash and skip, carrying their fronds of flow ers like spears.
管风琴奏起巴赫的《基督，人们期望的快乐》，预示着伴娘即将进入大厅。这几个美丽的着深蓝色的女孩子轻快地穿过通道。花童们在人群面前畏缩着躲到了后边，在她们母亲的推搡下才蹦蹦跳跳地冲到前面，像抱幼苗一样抱着手中的花叶。
Finally, only the bride and the father of the bride remain in the vestibule. Eva whispers.
"Remember, now, don't walk too fast." But how can I walk slowly while my he art races? I've forgotten the ballet step she tried to show me. I want events t o pau so I can practice the step, so we can go canoeing once more in the w ilderness, so we can sit on a boulder by the a and talk over life's mysterie s, so I can make up to my darling for anything she may have lacked in her gir lhood. But events do not pau. The organ sounds the first few bars of Purcell
's "Trumpet Voluntary," our cue to show ourlves. We move into the open d oorway, and two hundred faces turn their lit eyes on us. Eva tilts her face up at me, quirks the corners of her lips into a tight smile, and says,
"Here we go, Daddy." And so, lifting our feet in unison, we go.
最后，门厅里只剩下新娘和她的父亲还在走廊的这头了。伊娃对我耳语道：“记住，不要走得太快。”可是，我心跳得这么快，怎么能走得慢？我已经忘记了她试图教我的芭蕾舞步。我想让仪式暂停下来，这样，我可以练习舞步，我们可以再次去野外划独木舟，我们还可以坐在海边平滑的岩石上谈论生命的奥秘，让我有机会为我亲爱的女儿弥补一切童年时的缺憾。可是，仪式不会暂停。管风琴奏出普塞尔的《志愿者号角》，示意我们该人场了。我们走到大厅入口，200多张面孔转过来，闪亮的目光盯住了我们。伊娃微微将脸侧向我，扬起嘴角带出一丝笑容说道：“爸爸，我们开始吧。”就这样，我们一起迈着步子向前。
The wedding took place in Bloomington, Indiana, hometown for Matthew as w ell as Eva, on a sizzling Saturday in July. Now in early September, I can sum mon up hundreds of details from that radiant day, but on the day itlf I wa s aware only of a urpassing joy. The glow of happiness had to cool before it w ould crystallize into memory.爸妈不在家
婚礼是在伊娃和马修的老家，印第安纳州布鲁明顿市举行的。那是七月的一个酷热的星期六。如今，在九月初，我仍能回忆起那闪亮一天中的诸多细节，而婚礼当天我只意识到自己在经历快乐。快乐的热烈只有在冷却后才能够在记忆中清晰定格。
Pardon my cosmic metaphor, but I can't help thinking of the physicists' clai m that, if we trace the univer back to its origins in the Big Bang, we find t he multip things fusing into greater and greater simplicity, until at the mom ent of creation itlf there is only pure undifferentiated energy. Without being able to check their equations, I think the physicists are right. I believe the e nergy they speak of is holy, by which I mean it is the clost we can come wit h our instruments to measuring the strength of God. I also believe this primal energy continues to feed us, directly through the goods of creation, and indi rectly through the experience of beauty. The thrill of beauty is what entrance d me as I stood with Eva's hand hooked over my arm while the wedding marc h played, as it entrances me on the September nights when I walk over de wy grass among the songs of crickets and stare at the Milky Way.
原谅我用宇宙来做比喻，但我不禁想起了物理学家的说法。如果我们追溯宇宙的起源到原始的大爆炸，我们就会发现众多复杂的事物逐渐合并成为越来越简单的事物，直到创世那一刻，只剩下那浑然一体的能量。虽无法检验他们的方程式，但我认为物理学家是正确的。我相信他们提到的能量是神圣
的，之所以这样说是因为这是我们用仪器所能测量到的最近似“上帝的力量”的事物。我还认为这种原始能源继续在给我们提供能量，直接地是通过上帝创造的万物，间接地是通过我们对美的感受。当礼进行曲响起，伊娃挎着我的臂弯，我们并肩站在一起时我感受到的喜悦，就是一种美所带来的兴奋，同我在九月的夜晚，倾听着蟋蟀的歌唱，仰望着银河，走过露珠点点的草地时，感受到的喜悦是一样的。We're eing the Milky Way, and every other denizen of the sky, far more cle arly the days thanks to the sharp eyes of the Hubble Space Telescope, as it
含有鸟字的诗句
orbits out beyond the blur of Earth's atmosphere. From data beamed down b y the telescope, for example, I summon onto my computer screen an image of Jupiter wrapped in its bands of cloud like a ball of heathery yarn. Then I c all up the Cat's Eye Nebula, incandescent swirls of red looped around the glea m of a helium star, for all the world like the burning iris of a tiger. This fierce glare began its journey toward earth 3,
000 years ago, about the time my Assyrian ancestors were in their prime. Pu shing back deeper in 18 time, I summon onto my screen the Eagle Nebula, 7, 000 light-
years away, a trio of dust clouds like rearing hors, their dark bodies scintill ating with the sparks of newborn stars.
由于哈勃太空望远镜的锐眼，我们今天观察到的银河及太空中的其他星体都更为清晰，甚至可以观察到它们在大气层外部的运行。譬如说，利用太空望远镜发回的信息，我在计算机屏幕上显示了一张被云团包围着的木星的图像，就像一个杂色的线团。然后，我又显示了猫眼星云，一颗闪烁的氦星被灼热的红色漩涡所包围，整个世界就像老虎身上闪耀的五彩斑纹。这种炙热的强光3000年前开始向地球进发，当时我的亚述祖先正处于全盛时期。在时间上追溯得更远一些，我又显示了距地球7000光年的老鹰星云，三股尘埃就如三匹后脚站立的黑马，身上闪烁着新星的光芒。
I study images of quasars giving birth to galaxies, galaxie whirling in the shap es of pinwheels, supernovas ringed by strands of luminous debris, and all th e while I'm delving back toward that utter g when you and I and my daughte r and her new husband and the bright heavenly host were joined in the origi nal burst of light.
我研究类星体产生星系的图像，这些星系如同玩具风车一样旋转，超新星周围是一条条由星体遗骸组成的闪闪发光的带状物。我在这中间一直不断地探索宇宙的开始，一直追溯到你，我，我的女儿，她的新婚丈夫，以及天空中大量闪闪发光的星星汇合成最初的原始大耀光。
On the cool September mornings, I've been poring over two ts of photogr aphs, tho from deep space and tho from Eva's wedding, trying to figure out why such different images-
of supernova and shining daughter, of spinning galaxies and trembling bouq uets-
t up in me the same hum of delight. The feeling is unusually inten for me just now, so soon after the nuptials, but it has never been rare. As far ba ck as I can remember, things en or heard or smelled, things tasted or touc hed, have provoked in me an answering vibration. The stimulus might be th e sheen of moonlight on the edles of a white pine, or the iridescent glimme r on a dragonfly's tail, or the lean silhouette of a ladder-
结肠癌的早期症状
back chair, or the glaze on a hand-
thrown pot. It might be bird song or a Bach sonata or the purl of water over stone. It might be a line of poetry, the outline of cheek, the savor of bread,
the sway of a bough or a bow. The provocation might be as grand as a mo untain sunri or as humble as an icicle's jeweled tip, yet in each ca a fami liar surge of gratitude and wonder wells up in me.
九月凉爽的早晨，我一直在研究两套照片：一套来自遥远的天际，一套来自伊娃的婚礼。我在试图弄清楚为什么这些不同的形象——超新星和闪亮的女儿，旋转的星系和颤动的花束——都在我心中激起
了同样喜悦的旋律。婚礼结束并没有多久，这种感觉在我心中异常强烈，事实上这种感觉常常会有。就我所能回想起的，无论是所见、所听、所闻，是所品尝或所触摸的事物，都曾激起我回应的共鸣。触动这种激情的，也许是倾泻在白松松针上的月色，是蜻蜓尾部变幻不定的彩虹色的闪光。它可能是小鸟的歌唱、巴赫的奏鸣曲，或流水淌过石头的潺潺声；它可能来自一行诗、面包的香味或者是树枝的摇曳和琴弓的拉动；它可能来自高山日出的壮观场面，也可能仅仅起自不起眼的冰锥儿头上晶莹的冰珠。但不管是何种起因，每次我心中都会涌起同样的感激和惊叹。
Now and again some voice raid on the stairs leading to my study, some pas sage of music, some noi from the street, will stir a sympathetic thrum fro m the strings of the guitar that tilts against the wall behind my door. Just so , over and over again, impuls from the world stir a responsive chord in m e-
not just any chord, but a particular one, combining notes of elegance, exh ilaration, simplicity, and awe. The feeling is as recognizable to me, as un mistakable, as the sound of Ruth's voice or the beating of my own heart.
通向我书房楼梯上响起的谈话声、飘过的乐声街道上的嘈杂声，都会不时激起那把倾斜着放在我的门后墙上的吉他的和弦共鸣。就这样一次又一次地，外部世界总会激起我回应的和弦——那不是一种任
游轮简笔画意的和弦，而是混合了优雅、振奋、简洁和敬畏各种音符的一种特别的和弦。这种感觉如辨别鲁思的声音或确定我的心跳一样清晰，准确无误。
A screech owl calls, a comet streaks the night sky, a story moves unerringly to a clo, a child lays an arrowhead in the palm of my hand, my daughter s miles at me through her bridal veil, and I feel for a moment at peace, in plac e, content. I n in tho momentary encounters a harmony between mys elf and whatever I behold. The word that ems to fit most exactly this feelin g of resonance, this sympathetic vibration between inside and outside is b eauty.
当乌鸦高声鸣叫，当流星划过夜空，当故事自然发展到结局，当孩子把一支箭头放到我的手掌，当女儿在婚纱后向我微笑，那一刻我感到平和、自在和满足。我在我自己和我所见到的事物间的短暂面对中感受到了和谐。最能准确恰当描述这种共鸣感和内外和谐的词，便是美。
平均值函数What am I to make of this resonant feeling? Do my nsory thrills tell me an ything about the world? Does beauty reveal a kinship between my small lf and the great cosmos, or does my desire for meaning only fool me into thin king so? Perhaps, as biologists maintain, in my respon to patterns I'm me rely obeying the old habits of evolution. Perhaps, like my guitar, I'm only di ng box played on by random forces.
