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Perhaps some of these Europeans are reassured by the sight, on the twin fashion avenues of Madison and Fifth, of all those familiar international names – the jewelers, shoe stores, and designer shops that exist to flatter and bilk the frivolous rich.
這些歐洲人中有些人也許是因為在麥迪遜大街和第五大街這兩條雙胞胎似的繁華大街上看到那些熟悉的國際名牌商號--那些專為迎合并蒙騙那些輕浮淺薄的有錢人而存在的珠寶店、鞋店和服裝設計店…而感到心頭踏實。
But no; what most excites Europeans is the city’s charged, nervous atmosphere, its vulgar dynamism.
然而事實并非如此，最令歐洲人激動不已的是這個城市的那種精神飽滿的緊張氣氛和它那種野性的活力。
New York is about energy, contention, and striving.
紐約充滿著活力、競爭和奮斗。
And since it contains its share of articulate losers, it is also about mockery, the put-down, the loser’s shrug (“whaddya gonna do?”).
同時，由于存在著一批能說會道的失意者，它也充滿著嘲笑、輕侮和失意者的心灰意冷("你說該咋辦?")。
It is about constant battles for subway seats, for a cabdriver’s or a clerk's or a waiter's attention, for a foothold, a chance, a better address, a larger billing.
它充滿著無休無止的斗爭一一為了地鐵上的座位，為了引起一個的士司機、一個辦事員或一個侍者的注意，為了有一個立足之地，為了一次成功的機會。為了一個較好的居住地方，為了讓自己名字出現在一張大一點的海報上。
To win in New York is to be uneasy; to lose is to live in jostling proximity to the frustrated majority.
在紐約，一個人若成功了，他會感到惶惶不安;如果失敗了，他就得和那灰心喪氣的大多數人一起苦熬歲月。
New York was never Mecca to me.
紐約從來都不是我心目中的麥加圣地。
And though I have lived there more than half my life, you won't find me wearing an “I Love New York” T-shirt.
盡管我在那兒生活了大半輩子，你卻休想看到我穿上一件印著"我愛紐約"的文化衫。
But all in all, I can't think of many places in the world I'd rather live. It's not easy to define why.
但總的說來，我倒還想不出這世界上有多少個地方我更愿意去居住。至于為什么，就很難說得清。
