第26章 Short Selections in Prose 散文精选

I. DRYDEN AND POPE.

Dryden knew more of man in his general nature, and Pope in his local manners. The notions of Dryden were formed by comprehensive speculation, those of Pope by minute attention. There is more dignity in the knowledge of Dryden, more certainty in that of Pope. The style of Dryden is capricious and varied, that of Pope cautious and uniform. Dryden obeys the motions of his own mind; Pope constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden's page is a natural field, rising into inequalities, and diversified by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation; Pope's is the velvet lawn, shaven by the scythe, and leveled by the roller. If the flights of Dryden are higher, Pope continues longer on the wing. If, of Dryden's fire, the blaze is brighter, of Pope's the heat is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation, and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonishment, and Pope with perpetual delight.

—Samuel Johnson.

II. LAS CASAS DISSUADING FROM BATTLE.

Is then the dreadful measure of your cruelty not yet complete? Battle! against whom? Against a king, in whose mild bosom your atrocious injuries, even yet, have not excited hate; but who, insulted or victorious, still sues for peace. Against a people, who never wronged the living being their Creator formed; a people, who received you as cherished guests, with eager hospitality and confiding kindness. Generously and freely did they share with you their comforts, their treasures, and their homes; you repaid them by fraud, oppression, and dishonor.

Pizarro, hear me! Hear me, chieftains! And thou, All-powerful! whose thunder can shiver into sand the adamantine rock, whose lightnings can pierce the core of the riven and quaking earth, oh let thy power give effect to thy servant's words, as thy Spirit gives courage to his will! Do not, I implore you, chieftains, —do not, I implore, you, renew the foul barbarities your insatiate avarice has inflicted on this wretched, unoffending race. But hush, my sighs! fall not, ye drops of useless sorrow! heart-breaking anguish, choke not my utterance.

—E. B. Sheridan.

III. ACTION AND REPOSE.

John Ruskin, 1819 —, is a distinguished English art critic and author. From 1869 to 1884, he was Professor of the Fine Arts at Oxford University. His writings are very numerous, and are noted for their eloquent and brilliant style.

About the river of human life there is a wintry wind, though a heavenly sunshine; the iris colors its agitation, the frost fixes upon its repose. Let us beware that our rest become not the rest of stones, which, so long as they are tempest-tossed and thunderstricken, maintain their majesty; but when the stream is silent and the storm passed, suffer the grass to cover them, and are plowed into the dust.

IV. TIME AND CHANGE.

Sir Humphry Davy, 1778-1829, was an eminent chemist of England. He made many important chemical discoveries, and was the inventor of the miner's safety lamp.

Time is almost a human word, and Change entirely a human idea; in the system of nature, we should rather say progress than change. The sun appears to sink in the ocean in darkness, but it rises in another hemisphere; the ruins of a city fall, but they are often used to form more magnificent structures: even when they are destroyed so as to produce only dust, Nature asserts her empire over them; and the vegetable world rises in constant youth, in a period of annual successions, by the labors of man—providing food, vitality, and beauty—upon the wrecks of monuments which were raised for the purposes of glory, but which are now applied to objects of utility.

V. THE POET.

William Ellery Channing, 1780-1842, was a distinguished clergyman and orator. He took a leading part in the public affairs of his day, and wrote and lectured eloquently on several topics.

It is not true that the poet paints a life which does not exist. He only extracts and concentrates, as it were, life's ethereal essence, arrests and condenses its volatile fragrance, brings together its scattered beauties, and prolongs its more refined but evanescent joys;and in this he does well, for it is good to feel that life is not wholly usurped by cares for subsistence and physical gratifications, but admits, in measures which may be indefinitely enlarged, sentiments and delights worthy of a higher being.

VI. MOUNTAINS.

William Howitt, 1795-1879, was an English author. He published many books, and was associated with his wife, Mary Howitt, in the publication of many others.

There is a charm connected with mountains, so powerful that the merest mention of them, the merest sketch of their magnificent features, kindles the imagination, and carries the spirit at once into the bosom of their enchanted regions. How the mind is filled with their vast solitude! How the inward eye is fixed on their silent, their sublime, their everlasting peaks! How our hearts bound to the music of their solitary cries, to the tinkle of their gushing rills, to the sound of their cataracts! How inspiriting are the odors that breathe from the upland turf, from the rock-hung flower, from the hoary and solemn pine! How beautiful are those lights and shadows thrown abroad, and that fine, transparent haze which is diffused over the valleys and lower slopes, as over a vast, inimitable picture!

1．德莱登和蒲柏

德莱登对人的研究主要集中在人的性格方面，而蒲柏则集中在地域特征上。德莱登的观点是从详细的推测中得来的，而蒲柏主要通过细致入微的观察得出自己的观点。德莱登的认识体系逻辑性强，比蒲柏的认识更具有准确性。德莱登的风格变幻莫测，随时都在改变，你很难摸清他的想法，而蒲柏的风格则比较谨慎，具有一致性。德莱登会遵循自己的内心想法，不做出格的事情。蒲柏则会把自己的思想禁锢起来，绝不触碰自己规定的条条框框。德莱登的文学作品就像是一块尚未开发的美丽田野，不重视着墨均匀，喜欢用辞藻进行绚丽的文学渲染。蒲柏的作品则更像是天鹅绒般平滑的草坪，被用锋利的镰刀处理过，被压路机压得非常平整。如果把他们比喻成小鸟的话，那么德莱登会飞得很高，而蒲柏的翅膀则更长更宽。如果说德莱登的文学作品犹如熊熊燃烧的烈火，能够照亮读者内心的话，那么，蒲柏的文章所蕴含的热量则更持久，更有规则。德莱登的作品往往能够超乎人们的期望，给人们惊喜，而看过蒲柏文章的读者绝不会感到后悔。读德莱登的作品时，你随时都能发出惊叹，而当你阅读蒲柏作品的时候，却能够获得永恒的快乐。

塞缪尔·约翰逊

2．拉斯·卡萨斯的停战呼吁

对你的残忍的恐怖考量什么时候才结束？战斗吧！打谁呢？抵抗国王吧！你那残忍的刑讯还没有引起人们的仇恨，但是那些受到迫害或者幸免于难的人，却在祈祷和平的到来。是抵抗被造物主创造出来，从没做过错事的人，还是抵抗把你当作贵客来热情招待，向你展示自己的内心世界的人呢？他们慷慨、自由地和我们共同分享他们的快乐、他们的财富、他们的家园，而你作为交换，却给了他们欺骗、镇压和凌辱。

皮萨罗，你听得到我说话吗？听我说，酋长！你所向披靡，无所不能。谁的狂风闪电能够令沙子闻风丧胆，仓促地躲进金刚石里，谁的雷电能够击穿和撼动大地的核心？噢！当你把精神和勇气传给他的时候，请用你的神圣力量来影响你仆人的话吧！千万别！我恳求你，酋长——不要这样做，我恳求你，摒弃你那愚蠢的、永无止境的贪婪强加给这个可悲但无害的种族的陋习。嘘！天哪！不要显露你毫无价值的悲痛！令人伤心欲绝的痛苦，也不会令我哑口无言。

谢里丹

3．活动和休息

约翰·罗斯金（1819～），英国杰出的艺术评论家和作家。1869～1884年担任牛津大学艺术系教授。他是一位多产作家，他的文学作品具有通达流畅和语言华丽的特点。

在人类的生命长河中，存在一股和煦的微风，尽管太阳照耀苍穹，彩虹在摇曳中尽情地变幻色彩，冰霜定格了它的安宁。我们都知道，我们休息绝不是像石头那样，在原地一动不动，只要它们经受暴风雨和雷电的洗礼后，仍不失其威严。可是，当暴风过去，一起又都归于平静，翠绿的青草很快覆盖在它们身上，在农民的耕作下，它们转瞬化为尘土。

4．时间和改变

汉弗莱·戴维（1778～1829年），英国杰出的化学家。他在化学领域做出了诸多贡献和重大发现，他还是煤矿安全灯的发明者。

时间是一个人类天天挂在嘴边的字眼，而改变完全是人类的主观想法。对于大自然，我们说得更多的是进步，而不是改变。太阳似乎会沉入黑暗的海底，但它会从地球的另一端重新升起；一个城市的残垣断壁看似荒凉，但它却是构成更壮观建筑的根基。就算它们遭到破坏，除了灰烬没有留下任何有价值的东西，自然也会在这片满是灰尘的地方重新建立属于自己的帝国。在人们的辛勤开垦下，植物世界永远是一片生机勃勃、充满活力的景象——提供食物、活力和美景——在那些为了纪念的断墙上，为了光荣的使命而成长，可是现在，这些庄严的建筑都被用于公共事业。

5．诗人

威廉姆·埃勒里·钱宁（1780～1842年），是一位颇有才华的牧师和演说家。他在公共事业中扮演重要的角色，曾经就多个论题进行过文学创作和演说。

人们常说，诗人描绘完全不存在的生活。其实，这并不确切。从某一层面来看，诗人只是全神贯注于生命中难以捉摸的本质，捕捉和沉淀其中极易消失的芬芳，把四散的美结合在一起，延伸它给读者带来的极为短暂的欢乐。在这些方面，诗人能够做得天衣无缝，因为他们能全身心感受生活，而非全都被对物质的担心和生理上的满足所霸占。但是必须承认，对物质的担心和对生理上的满足的蔑视或许被无限放大了，情感和快乐的心境仍然是更高层次的精神形态。

6．山峰

威廉姆·休伊特（1795～1879年），杰出的英国作家，他和他的妻子玛丽·休伊特共同出版了很多作品。

山峰似乎总有那么一种魅力，它是如此的强大，如此具有震慑力，以至于只要稍微提及，或稍微描述一下它那巍峨壮丽的景象，就会立刻勾起我们无限的遐想，它几乎是在一瞬间把我们的精神带到那令人魂牵梦绕的梦境中去。我们的内心竟然被寂寞所填满！内心为它们的静谧、崇高和庄严所震撼！我们的心灵和它们孤独的呐喊声、小溪的潺潺流水声、瀑布的隆隆拍打声紧密联系在一起，产生不可思议的共鸣。在高地草场、岩石上盛开的鲜花和从古老、庄严的松树上飘来的香气，沁人心脾！那些尽情舒展的光线和影子是多么动人心魄啊！透明的雾霭在山谷和低矮的山坡上扩散，形成了一幅广阔而独特的美丽画卷！