美国语文第六册 第63期:机智和才能(1)

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　　Talent is serious, sober, grave, and respectable: tact is all that, and more too. 天赋是庄重、严肃和受人尊敬的禀赋；机智则是兼而有之，有过之而无不及。

　　It is not a sixth sense, but it is the life of all the five. 它不是第六感觉，而是所有那五种感觉的生命。

　　It is the open eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lively touch; 它是开阔的视觉，敏感的听觉，分辨力强的味觉，敏锐的嗅觉和充满活力的触觉；

　　it is the interpreter of all riddles², the surmounter of all difficulties, the remover of all obstacles. 它能破解所有难解之谜，克服所有艰难困苦，移开眼前的所有障碍。

　　It is useful in all places, and at all times; it is useful in solitude³, for it shows a man into the world; 不论何时何地，它都应付裕如；孤独时它像良师益友那样，因为它能引导一个人入世；

　　it is useful in society, for it shows him his way through the world. 置身于社会之中也是如此，因为它能教会一个人处世之道。

　　Talent is power, tact is skill; 才能是一种力量，机智是一种技能。

　　talent is weight, tact is momentum⁴; talent knows what to do, tact knows how to do it;  才能赋予一个人以影响力，而机智则令他充满动力；才能能让一个人知其然，而机智则让他知其所以然。

　　talent makes a man respectable, tact will make him respected; 才能赋予一个人以尊严，而机智则令其备受尊敬。

　　talent is wealth, tact is ready money. 才能是财富，而机智是到手的钱财。

　　For all the practical purposes, tact carries it against talent ten to one. 基于所有实用的目的，机智与才能相比犹如大海之于小溪。

　　Take them to the theater, and put them against each other on the stage, 以剧场为例，让两者在舞台上一较高下，

　　and talent shall produce you a tragedy that shall scarcely live long enough to be condemned⁵, 才能产生不会长久让你陷于悲惨境地的悲剧感，

　　while tact keeps the house in a roar, night after night, with its successful farces⁶. 而机智则凭借精湛的笑剧本领会让整幢房子陷入狂欢，一夜复一夜。

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