評(píng)論
打印
Pub Talk and the King's English
酒肆閑聊與標(biāo)準(zhǔn)英語(yǔ)
Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities.And it is an activity only of humans.However intricate the ways in which animals communicate with each other, they do not indulge in anything that deserves the name of conversation.
人類的一切活動(dòng)中，只有閑談最宜于增進(jìn)友誼，而且是人類特有的一種活動(dòng)。動(dòng)物之間的信息交流，不論其方式何等復(fù)雜，也是稱不上交談的。
The charm of conversation is that it does not really start from anywhere, and no one has any idea where It will go as it meanders or leaps and sparkles or just glows.The enemy of good conversation is the person who has "something to say." Conversation is not for making a point.Argument may often be a part of it, but the purpose of the argument is not to convince.There is no winning in conversation.In fact, the best conversationalists are those who are prepared to lose.Suddenly they see the moment for one of their best anecdotes, but in a flash the conversation has moved on and the opportunity is lost.They are ready to let it go.
閑談的引人人勝之處就在于它沒(méi)有一個(gè)事先定好的話題。它時(shí)而迂回流淌，時(shí)而奔騰起伏，時(shí)而火花四射，時(shí)而熱情洋溢，話題最終會(huì)扯到什么地方去誰(shuí)也拿不準(zhǔn)。要是有人覺(jué)得"有些話要說(shuō)"，那定會(huì)大煞風(fēng)景，使閑聊無(wú)趣。閑聊不是為了進(jìn)行爭(zhēng)論。閑聊中常常會(huì)有爭(zhēng)論，不過(guò)其目的并不是為了說(shuō)服對(duì)方。閑聊之中是不存在什么輸贏勝負(fù)的。事實(shí)上，真正善于閑聊的人往往是隨時(shí)準(zhǔn)備讓步的。也許他們偶然間會(huì)覺(jué)得該把自己最得意的奇聞?shì)W事選出一件插進(jìn)來(lái)講一講，但一轉(zhuǎn)眼大家已談到別處去了，插話的機(jī)會(huì)隨之而失，他們也就聽(tīng)之任之。
Perhaps it is because of my up-bringing in English pubs that I think bar conversation has a charm of its own.Bar friends are not deeply involved in each other's lives.They are companions, not intimates.The fact that their marriages may be on the rocks, or that their love affairs have been broken or even that they got out of bed on the wrong side is simply not a concern.They are like the musketeers of Dumas who, although they lived side by side with each other, did not delve into each other's lives or the recesses of their thoughts and feelings.
或許是由于我從小混跡于英國(guó)小酒館的緣故吧，我覺(jué)得酒瞎里的閑聊別有韻味。酒館里的朋友對(duì)別人的生活毫無(wú)了解，他們只是臨時(shí)湊到一起來(lái)的，彼此并無(wú)深交。他們之中也許有人面臨婚因破裂，或戀愛(ài)失敗，或碰到別的什么不順心的事兒，但別人根本不管這些。他們就像大仲馬筆下的三個(gè)火槍手一樣，雖然日夕相處，卻從不過(guò)問(wèn)彼此的私事，也不去揣摸別人內(nèi)心的秘密。
