The Sad Young Men Rod W. Horton and Herbert W. Edwards
1 No aspect of life in the Twenties has been more commented upon and nsationally （耸人听闻地）romanticized than the so-called Revolt of the Younger Generation. The slightest mention of the decade brings nostalgic（looking for something far away or long ago or for former happy circumstance对往事怀恋的；怀旧的；wistful，longing，obssive 萦绕于心的）recollections（回忆）to the middle-aged and curious questionings by the young: memories of the deliciously（愉快的；delectably，pleasurably，）illicit （not allowed by law，custom，rule，etc．违法的；违禁的；非法的；illegitimate，illegal，unlawful，prohibited）thrill （tremor of excitement一阵激动；frisson）of the first visit to a speakeasy（[slang]a place where alcoholic drinks are sold illegally，esp. such a place in the U．S．during Prohibition[俚]美国禁酒期的非法的酒店）, of the brave denunciation （the act of denouncing谴责；抨击；criticism，condemnation，blame）of Puritan（清教徒的）morality, and of the fashionable experimentations in amour（a love affair，esp. of an illicit or cret nature 恋情；尤指不正当的男女关系）in the parked dan（an enclod automobile with two or four doors．and two wide ats．front and rear两扇或四扇门、双排座的轿车；car，automobile）on a country road; questions about the naughty (不得体的；猥亵的；improper，obscene淫秽的，vulgar庸俗的，ribald 粗俗的), jazzy parties, the flask-toting （always carrying a small flask filled with whisky or other strong liquor身
带烈性酒的）"sheik," （a masterful man to whom women are suppod to be irresistably attracted能使女子倾心的美男子）and the moral and stylistic vagaries（an odd，eccentric，or unexpected action or bit of conduct 古怪行径；难以预测的行为）of the "flapper"（ a young woman considered bold and unconventional in actions and dress举止与衣着不受传统拘束的年轻女子，轻佻女郎）and the "drug-store cowboy." （a young man who hangs around drugstores and other public places trying to impress women在杂货店和其他公共场所徘徊试图打动女人的年轻男人）"Were young people really so wild?" prent-day students ask their parents and teachers. "Was there really a Younger Generation problem?" The answers to such inquiries must of necessity be "yes" and "no"--"Yes" becau the business of growing up is always accompanied by a Younger Generation Problem; "no" becau what emed so wild, irresponsible（不负责任的；careless，feckless，reckless), and immoral in social behavior at
the time can now be en in perspective （view or judge things in a way that show their true relations to one another以联系的观点正确地看待或判断事物）as being something considerably less nsational （耸人听闻的；startling，shocking，astounding）than the degeneration of our jazzmad（blindly and foolishly fond of jazz music爵士乐狂）youth.
二十年代社会生活的各个方面中，被人们评论得最多、渲染得最厉害的，莫过于青年一代的叛逆之行
了。只要有只言片语提到那个时期，就会勾起中年人怀旧的回忆和青年人好奇的提问。中年人会回忆起第一次光顾非法酒店时的那种既高兴又不安的违法犯罪的刺激感，回忆起对清教徒式的道德规范的勇猛抨击，回忆起停在乡间小路上的小轿车里颠鸾倒凤的时髦爱情试验方式；青年人则会问起有关那时的一些纵情狂欢的爵士舞会，问起那成天背着酒葫芦、勾引得女人团团转的“美男子”，问起那些“时髦少女”和“闲荡牛仔”的奇装异服和古怪行为等等的情况。“那时的青年果真这样狂放不羁吗?”今天的青年学生们不禁好奇地向他们的师长问起这样的问题。“那时真的有过青年一代的问题吗?”对这类问题的回答必然只能是既“对”又“不对”——说“对，，是因为人的成长过程中一贯就存在着所谓青年一代的问题；说“不对”是因为在当时的社会看来似乎是那么狂野。那么不负责任，那么不讲道德的行为，若是用今天的正确眼光去看的话，却远远没有今天的一些迷恋爵士乐的狂荡青年的堕落行为那么耸人听闻。
2 Actually, the revolt（叛逆；rebel）of the young people was a logical outcome of conditions in the age: First of all, it must be remembered that the rebellion was not confined to the United States, but affected the entire Western world as a result of the aftermath（a result or conquence，esp. an unpleasant one结果，尤指令人不愉快的后果；result，conquences，outcome，upshot）of the first rious war in a century. Second, in the United States it was reluctantly realized by some- subconsciously if not openly -- that our country was no longer isolated in either politics or tradition an
d that we had reached an international stature that would forever prevent us from retreating behind the artificial walls of a provincial（narrow，limited like that of rural provinces狭窄的；偏狭的；地方性的；local）morality or the geographical protection of our two bordering oceans.
实际上，青年一代的叛逆行为是当时的时代条件的必然结果。首先，值得记住的是，这种叛逆行为并不局限于美国，而是作为百年之中第一次惨烈的战争的后遗症影响到整个西方世界。其次，在美国，有一些人已经很不情愿地认识到——如果不是明明白白地认识到，至少是下
意识地认识到——无论在政治方面还是在传统方面，我们的国家已不再是与世隔绝的了；我们所取得的国际地位使我们永远也不能再退缩到狭隘道德规范的人造围墙之后，或是躲在相邻的两大洋的地理保护之中了。
3 The rejection of Victorian （维多利亚式的）gentility（the quality of being genteel；now，specifically，excessive or affected refinement and elegance有教养，斯文，温文尔雅；现尤指假装文雅，假装斯文；refinement，breeding，courtesy，civility，cultivation）was, in any ca, inevitable. The booming of American industry, with its gigantic, roaring factories, its corporate impersonality（非人格性）, and its large scale aggressiveness（bold and energetic pursuit of one‟s end，enterpri有进取心，进取精神；）, no longer left any room for the code（准则；规范；rule，system，ethics，
canon 总的规则、准则、原则）of polite behavior and well-bred（有教养的）morality fashioned in a quieter and less competitive age. War or no war, as the generations pasd, it became increasingly difficult for our young people to accept standards of behavior that bore no relationship to the bustling（hurry busily or with much fuss and bother繁忙，奔忙；busy，brisk）business medium（environment环境）in which they were expected to battle for success. The war acted merely as a catalytic（acting as the stimulus in bringing about or hastening a result起催化作用的；起刺激作用的）agent in this breakdown of the Victorian social structure, and by precipitating our young people into （thrust violently into a condition使突然陷入某种状态）a pattern of mass murder it relead their inhibited violent energies which, after the shooting was over, were turned in both Europe and America to the destruction of an obsolescent （in the process of becoming obsolete即将过时的；逐渐被废弃的；out of date，outmoded，antiquated）nineteenth-century society.
在当时的美国，摒弃维多利亚式的温文尔雅无论如何都已经是无可避免的了。美国工业的飞速发展及其所带来的庞大的、机器轰鸣的工厂的出现，社会化大生产的非人格性，以及争强好胜意识的空前高涨，使得在较为平静而少竞争的年代里所形成的温文尔雅的礼貌行为和谦谦忍让的道德风范完全没有半点栖身之地。不论是否发生战争，随着时代的变化．要我们的年轻一代接受与他们必须在其中拼搏求胜的这个喧嚣的商业化社会格格不入的行为准则已经变得越来越难了。战争只不过起了一种催化剂
的作用，加速了维多利亚式社会结构的崩溃。战争把年轻一代一下子推向一种大规模的屠杀战场，从而使他们体内潜藏的压抑已久的狂暴
力量得以释放出来，待到战争一结束，这些被释放出来的狂暴力量便在欧洲和美国掉转矛头，去摧毁那日渐衰朽的十九世纪的社会了。
4 Thus in a changing world youth was faced with the challenge of bringing our mores （customs，esp. the fixed or traditional customs of a society，often acquiring the force of law习俗）up to date. But at the same time it was tempted, in America at least, to escape its responsibilities and retreat behind an air of naughty alcoholic sophistication（the state of being artificial，worldly—wi，urbane，etc．老于世故）and a po（装腔作势）of Bohemian （波希米亚式的）immorality. The faddishness （the following of fads 赶时髦，赶时尚；fashionable）, the wild spending of money on transitory（短暂的；一时的；temporary，ephemeral，momentary）pleasures and momentary novelties , the hectic （characterized by excitement，rush，confusion，etc．兴奋的；忙乱的；混乱的；chaotic，frantic，feverish，excited，wild狂热的，疯狂的）air of gaiety（cheerfulness；the state of being gay高兴，快乐；fun，joviality，jauntiness，merriment）, the experimentation in nsation -- x, drugs, alcohol, perversions（a perverting or being perverted；corruption走入邪路；堕落；败坏；corruption，depravity，deterioration）-- were all part of the pattern of escape, an
escape made possible by a general prosperity and a post-war fatigue（劳累，厌倦）with politics, economic restrictions, and international responsibilities. Prohibition afforded the young the additional opportunity of making their pleasures illicit , and the much-publicized orgies（any wild riotous licentious
merry-making；debauchery纵酒饮乐；狂欢；spree，revel）and defiant（公然违抗的；挑衅的；disobedient）manifestoes of the intellectuals crowding into Greenwich Village gave them a pattern and a philosophic defen for their escapism. And like most escapist sprees（a lively，noisy frolic狂欢，纵乐；fling，bender，binge，orgy，revel）, this one lasted until the money ran out, until the crash of the world economic structure at the end of the decade called the party to a halt and forced the revelers（a person who makes merry or is noisily festive狂欢者，狂宴者）to sober up（make or become rious，solemn变清醒；变严肃）and face the problems of the new age.
这样一来，在一个千变万化的世界中，青年一代便面临着使我们的道德习惯与时代合拍这一挑战。而与此同时，青年人。——至少美国的青年人——又表现出这样一种倾向：他们试图逃避自己的责任。沉溺于一种老于世故、以酒自娱的生活作风之中，装出一副波希米亚式的
放荡不羁的样子。追求时尚，为了短暂的快乐和一时的新奇而大肆挥霍，纵情地狂欢，寻求各种各样
的感官刺激——性行为，吸毒，酗酒以及各种各样的堕落行为——这些都是他们逃避责任的表现形式，是一种由社会的普遍繁荣及战后人们对于政治、经济限制和国际义务所产生的厌烦情绪所造成的逃避方式。禁酒法令使青年人有了更多的机会寻求违禁取乐的刺激。文人墨客纷纷涌人格林威治村，他们那些被大肆渲染的放纵行为和挑战性言论也为青年人的逃避主义提供了一种表现形式和一套哲学辩护辞。这种逃避主义者的纵情狂欢，像大多数逃避主义者的纵情狂欢一样，一直要持续到狂欢者囊空如洗为止。到二十年代末世界经济结构总崩溃之时，这种狂欢宴会便告停歇，那些寻欢作乐者也只得从酣醉中清醒过来，去面对新时代的各种难题了。
5 The rebellion started with World War I. The prolonged（lengthen or extend in time or space旷日持久的；拖延的；drawn-out，extended，protracted，abiding，lasting，everlasting，durable，permanent）stalemate（any unresolved situation in which further action is impossible or uless；deadlock僵持；困境；impas，dead end）of 1915 -- 1916, the increasing insolence（being boldly disrespectful in speech—or behavior；impudence言行无礼，鲁莽；傲慢；arrogance，disrespect，impertinence，rudeness）of Germany toward the United States, and our official reluctance to declare our status as a belligerent （at war；of war处于交战状态的；战争的；warring）were intolerable to many of our idealistic citizens, and with typical American adventurousness enhanced somewhat by the strenuous （vigorous，arduous, zealous，etc．奋发的；使劲的）jingoism （chau
vinism characterized by an aggressive。threatening，warlike foreign policy 侵略主义，沙文主义）of Theodore Roovelt, our young men began to enlist（参军；入伍；enroll，join，recruit）under foreign flags. In the words of Joe Williams, in John Dos Passos' U. S. A., they "wanted to get into the fun before the whole thing turned belly up（破产；结束）." For military rvice, in 1916-- 1917, was still a romantic occupation. The young men of college age in 1917 knew nothing of modern warfare. The strife of 1861 --1865 had popularly become, in motion picture（电影；movie）and story, a magnolia-scented（有香味的；perfumed，fragrant，aromatic，fragranced）soap opera, while the one hundred-days' fracas（战争；battle，combat，fight）with Spain in 1898 had dissolved into（电影及电视画面渐渐化入）a one-sided victory at Manila and a cinematic charge up（跑上来）San Juan Hill. Furthermore, there were enough high school asmbly orators proclaiming the
