郁金香Tulips（1/2）

约瑟夫·艾迪生/ JosephAddison

约瑟夫·艾迪生（1672—1719），英国著名作家，1672年生于英国一个乡村牧师家庭，后受教于牛津大学，并于1693年获得硕士学位。从1708年开始，艾迪生先后担任过议会议员，国务大臣助理，英国驻爱尔兰总督秘书等职。后曾为理查德，斯帝尔主编的《闲话报》撰写文章。1711年，他与斯帝尔合作创办报纸《旁观者》并担任主编。他的散文文风优美，文笔流畅，亲切通俗，主题明晰，对以后的散文作家有很大的影响。

Acethe Hole

Uand these new words before you read this article.

1. aidentally [,?ksidentli] adv.偶然地，意外地

2. e [,e] n.娱乐，款待，消遣

3. particur [p?tikjul?] adj.详细的，独有的

4. delightful [diitful] adj.令人愉快的，可爱的，可喜的

I ced to rise very early one particurthis sur, and took a walk to the untry to divert yself aong the fields andadows, while the green was new, and the flowerstheir bloo. As at this season of the year every ne is a beautiful walk, and every hedge full of nosegays, I lost yself, with a great deal of pleasure, aong several thickets and bhes that were filled with a great variety of birds, and an agreeable nfion of notes, which ford the pleasa sethe word to one who had passed a whole ternoise and soke. The freshness of the dews that y upohg about , with the ol breath of the , which spired the birds with so any delightful stcts, createdthe sa kd of anial pleasure, and ade y heart overflow with such secret eotions of joy and satisfa as are not to be described or aounted for. On this oasion I uld not but reflect upon a beautiful siileMilton:

As one who longpopulo city pent;

Where hoes thid sewers annoy the air;

Forth issug on a sur s orn, to breathe

Aong the pleasant vilges and fars

Adjo’d, fro each thg t nceived delight:

The sll of gra, or tended grass, or ke,

Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound.

Those who are nversantthe writgs of polite authors receive an additioertant fro the untry, as it revivestheir ories those charg descriptions, with which such authors do frequently abound.

I was thkg of the f beautiful siileMilton, and applyg it to yself, when I observed to the dward ofa bck cloud, fallg to the earthlong trails of ra, which adebetake yself for shelter to a hoe saw at a little distance fro the pce where I was walkg. As I satthe porch, I heard the voices of o or three persons, who seed very eardisurse. My curiosity was raised when I heard the nas of Alexahe Great and Artaxerxes; and as their talk seed to run on a heroes, I here uld not be ait; for which reason thought I ight very fairly listen to what they said.

After several parallels beee n, which appeared toaltogether groundless and chirical, I was surprised to hear one say, that he vaed the Bck Prce ore than the Duke of Venos. How the Duke of Vendos should bee a rival of Bck Prce, I uldn’t nceive; and was ore startled when I heard a send affir, with great vehehat if the Eperor of Gerany was not gog off, he should like hi better thaher of the. He added, that though the season was so geable, the Duke of Marlbh wasbloog beauty. I was w to yself fro whehey had received this odd telligence: especially when I heard the ntion the nas of several reat generals, as the Prce of Hess and the Kg of Sweden, who, they said, were b away. To which they added, what I entirely agreed with the , that theof France was very weak, but that the Marshal Vilrs still kept his lors. At st, one of the told the pany, if they would go along with hi, he would show the a ey-sweeper and a pated dythe sa bed, which he was sure would very uch please the. The shower which had driven the as well as yself to the hoe, was now over; and as they were passg byto the garden, I asked the to letbe one of their pany.

The gentlean of the hoe told , if I delightedflowers, it would be worth y while; for that he believed he uld showsuch a blow of tulips as was not to be atchedthe whole untry.

I aepted the offer, and idiately found that they had been talkgters of gardeng, and that the kgs and generals they had ntioned were only so any tulips, to which the gardeners, a to their ual cto, had given such high titles and appeltions of honor.

I was very uch pleased and asto the glorio show of these gay vegetables, that arosegreat profion on all the banks about . Sotis I nsidered every leaf as an eborate piece of tissue,which the threads and fibers were woven together to different nfigurations, which gave a different l to the light as it gnced on the several parts of the surface. Sotis I nsidered the whole bed of tulips, a to the notion of the greatest atheati and philosopher that ever lived, as a ultitude of optic strunts, designed for the separatg light to all those vario lors of which it is posed.

I was awakened out these y philosophical specutions, bythe pany ofteo ugh at . I aidentally praised a tulip as one of the fest ever saw; upon which they told , it was a on Fool s Coat. Upon that I praised another, which it sees was but another kd of Fool s Coat.

I had the sa fate with o or three ore, for which reason I desired the owner of the garden to letknow which were the fest of the flower; for that I was so unskillfulthe art, that I thought the ost beautiful were the ost vaable, and that those which had the gayest lours were the ost beautiful. The gentlean siled at y ignorance. He seed a very p ho an, and a person of good sense, had not his head been touched with that disteper which Hippocrates calls the Tulippoania;so uch that he would talk very rationally on any subjectthe world but a tulip.

He told , that he vaed the bed of flowers which y before , and was not above enty yardslength and obreadth, ore than he would the best hundred acres of ndEngnd, and added, that it would have been worth ice the o is, if a foolish ok, aid of his had not alost rued hithe st ter, by istakg a handful of tulip roots for a heap of onions, and“by that ans,”says he,“adea dish of pottage that stabove thoand pounds sterlg.”He then showedwhat he thought the fest of his tulips, which I found received all their vae fro their rarity, and oddness, and putd of reat fortunes, which are not always the greatest beauties.

I have often looked upon it as a piece of happess, that I have never fallen to any of these fantastical tastes, eed anythg the ore for its beg the unon and hard to be t with, For this reason I look upon the whole untrysprgti as a spacio garden, and ake as any visits to a spot of daisies or a bank of violets, as a florist does to his borders or parterres. There is not a bhblosso with a ile of , which I a not acquated with, nor scarce a daffodil of wslip that withers awayy neighborhood without y issg it, I walked hothis teper of d through several fields and adows wit hand unspeakable pleasure, not without reflectg on the bounty of Providence which has ade the ost pleasg and ost beautiful objects the ost ordary and ost on.

参考译文

今年夏天的一个清晨，我碰巧起得很早。于是，便跑去乡间散步，希望能在绿草丛中和田野间得到一份安逸。夏天，正是绿草芬芳、百花绽放的季节。每年一到这个时节，任何一条小路都是一片美妙的景色，任何一道篱笆上都点缀着鲜花。四周满是丛生的灌木，我快乐地沉浸在鸟儿委婉动听的歌唱声中。我已经在嘈杂和浓烟中熬过了整整一个冬天，眼前的景色可谓是人间仙境。清新的露水洒落在世间万物上（包括我），还有那清爽宜人的清晨空气，周围的一切不但让鸟儿焕发出欢快的本性，也让我感到丝丝喜悦，内心深处充溢着一种神秘的、无以言表的满足与快乐。在这样的情景下，我总是不由地想起弥尔顿诗行中那个精妙的比喻：

犹如长久禁锢于躁动的市井之人，

择夏日的一个清晨，步出城墙，

步出林立的房屋，步出水天污浊，

吐纳于宜人的田间村舍。

乡间万物孕育着乐趣，

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