評(píng)論
打印
In New York, like seeks like, and by economy of effort excludes the rest as stranger.
在紐約，人以群分，人們對(duì)于自己圈子以外的人一律視同路人，以免浪費(fèi)精力。
This distancing, this uncaring in ordinary encounters, has another side: in no other American city can the lonely be as lonely.
人們?cè)谌粘＝煌械倪@種保持距離、冷漠無(wú)情的態(tài)度還有一種影響：那些有孤獨(dú)感的人在紐約比在其他任何美國(guó)城市都更覺(jué)孤獨(dú)。
So much more needs to be said. New York is a wounded city, declining in its amenities. Overloaded by its tax burdens.
要說(shuō)的情況還有很多。總之，紐約是一個(gè)受了創(chuàng)傷的城市，它重稅壓身，不堪負(fù)擔(dān)，好景不再，江河日下。
But it is not dying city; the streets are safer than they were five years ago;
但紐約并不是一個(gè)就要死的城市;與五年前相比較，如今紐約的街道更安全了，
Broadway, which seemed to be succumbing to the tawdriness of its environment, is astir again.
曾一度似乎是在繁華旖旎的環(huán)境包圍之下一蹶不振的百老匯大街如今又呈現(xiàn)出勃勃的生機(jī)。
The trash-strewn streets, the unruly schools, the uneasy feeling or menace, the noise, the brusqueness
街道上布滿垃圾，學(xué)校里毫無(wú)秩序，市民們個(gè)個(gè)惶惶不安，到處噪聲不絕于耳，人人講話粗聲大氣
all confirm outsiders in their conviction that they wouldn’t live here if you gave them the place.
這一切都會(huì)使局外人更加堅(jiān)定決心：就算把紐約送給他們，他們也不愿意在這里居住。
Yet show a New Yorker a splendid home in Dallas, or a swimming pool and cabana in Beverly Hills, and he will be admiring but not envious.
然而，你如果讓一個(gè)紐約人去看達(dá)拉斯市的一所富麗堂皇的住宅，或是貝弗利希爾斯市的一個(gè)帶小屋的游泳池，他一定會(huì)表示贊賞，但卻不會(huì)眼紅。
So much of well-to-do America now lives antiseptically in enclaves, tranquil and luxurious, that shut out the world.
現(xiàn)在有許多美國(guó)有錢(qián)人在安靜、豪華、與世隔絕的小天地里過(guò)著世外桃源式的生活。
Too static, the New Yorker would say.
紐約人會(huì)說(shuō)，這太沉悶了。
Tell him about the vigor of your outdoor pleasures; he prefers the unhealthy hassle and the vitality of urban life.
可是，你如果對(duì)他講起戶(hù)外游山玩水的勁頭，他又會(huì)說(shuō)他更欣賞都市生活那種雖有害于健康但卻熱熱鬧鬧的活潑氣氛。
He is hopelessly provincial.
他有著無(wú)可改變的鄉(xiāng)土觀念。
To him New York- despite its faults, which her will impatiently concede (“so what else is new?”) — is the spoiler of all other American cities.
對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)，紐約--就算連他自己也無(wú)可奈何地承認(rèn)有一些缺點(diǎn)("還有什么新的嗎?")--使他對(duì)所有其他美國(guó)城市都不屑一顧。
