美国语文第六册 第54期:我的演说经历(3)

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　　but the effect on me was decidedly unwholesome—discouraging, indeed, 不过，对我的作用却非常糟糕——实际上是沮丧，

　　until I was old enough to judge for myself, and to carry into operation a system of my own. 直到我年龄大到足以对自己做出判断，将这一活动融入到我自己的体系里。

　　On coming to the passage,— "Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts; Dash him to pieces!" 接下来是这段：“做好准备，诸神，用你们所有的雷电，将他碎尸万段！”

　　the elder of the boys gave it after the following fashion: "Be ready, godths, with all your thunderbolths,—dath him in pietheth!" 年长的哥哥按照下面的风格朗诵：“做好准备，诸神，用你们所有的雷电，将他碎尸万片！”

　　bringing his right fist down into his left palm with all his strength, and his lifted foot upon the platform, 他朗诵的时候身体所有的力量都集中到右拳上了，挥舞右拳猛地砸进左掌，他抬起的脚重重落在讲台上，

　　which was built like a sounding-board, so that the master himself, who had suggested the action and obliged the poor boy to rehearse it over and over again, 就像一个隔音板，以至于老师本人，本来他暗示要用动作来配合，要这可怜的孩子一遍一遍地排练，

　　appeared to be utterly¹ carried away by the magnificent demonstration²; 结果他完全被这华丽的表现给迷住了。

　　while to me—so deficient³ was I in rhetorical taste—it sounded like a crash of broken crockery, intermingled with chicken peeps. 在我看来——按照我的修辞品味来判断，这种表现方式存在严重缺陷——听上去就像陶器打碎了的声音，间杂着小鸡的吱吱叫声。

　　I never got over it; and to this day can not endure stamping, nor even tapping of the foot, 我从未真正掌握所谓的要领；时至今日，也不堪忍受踏足，

　　nor clapping the hands together, nor thumping⁴ the table for illustration; 哪怕是轻拍，也不会双手相抵，为了发挥感染力而拍桌子。

　　having an idea that such noises are not oratory⁵, and that untranslatable sounds are not language. 我一直抱有这种看法，即这种噪音与演说术相去甚远，那种不可翻译的声音不是语言。

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