《时代》杂志阅读笔记 (1)
刚刚读完《时代》杂志上的一篇关于西欧与北美在工作与生活上的分歧的一个文章(ESSAY)。做了一些比较阅读，与各位一起分享。
Europeans Just Want to Have Fun
Long vocations. Lots of dancing. So why can’t we loosen up?
欧洲人有那么多假期和舞会，我们(美国人)为什么不能也放松一些呢？
文章主要是针对西欧和北美的生活方式作一比较。文章的作者首先提出一个问题，既然欧洲人可以那么想得开，(Just Want to Have
Fun)， 那我们(美国人)为什么就不能也放松一些呢(So why can’t we loosen up?)
下面我们来看文章的第一段：
Walking across Boulevard St. Michel, in Paris last week, on the
night before Bastille Day, I bumped into an old friend - an American
who has lived in the city for 25 years - who told me he was taking
up the tango. When I asked him why, he suggested I take a stroll
along the Left Bank of the Siege, opposite Ile St. Louis, and so of
curse I did.
一日该作者过巴黎密歇尔(St. Michel) 大道，遇到(bumped
into)一位在巴黎呆了25个年头的老友。寒暄过后，该老友告诉作者说自己迷上(taking
up)探戈了。困惑之余就照吩咐往Siege河西岸去一探究竟。
下面是文章的第二段。描写的是在西岸的所见所闻。
It was one big party. A drop-dead-gorgeous crowd was tangoing away
in a makeshift, open-air amphitheater. Nearby, a multiethnic group
was doing the merengue. Hundreds of others were tucking into picnics
by the river as a full moon rose in a cloudless sky. Much later that
night, after a perfect fish soup in the Place des Vosges, I walked
into the narrow passages of the Marais district and stumbled upon an
impromptu block party. Someone had set up a sound system on the
sidewalk, and the street was packed with people - straight and gay,
young and old, black and white - dancing to salsa.
一到河西岸，作者就被眼前的景像给愣住了。只见一大拨，一大茬的人群，煕煕 攘攘，随风起舞，如痴如梦。 drop-dead-gorgeous
表达的是的壮关的场面。文章里还有一些
近景描写：不同族裔的人群在跳merengue舞， 月光下，小河边，人们席地而坐，尽情享受(tucking
into)野炊的乐趣。作者无意之间(impromptu)又与另一拨的人群迎面相遇 (stumbled
upon)。老老少少，各色族群(black and white)，载歌载舞，这一次跳得是SALSA ， 源自非洲的一种舞蹈。
下
面我们来看第三段。讲得是欧洲人的午夜摇滚，饮酒派对。
Europe is enjoying itself. O.K., in late July, it always does. The
weekend I was in Paris, an estimated 500,000 kids descended on
Berlin for the annual Love Parade, a carnival of techno music, dope
and sex. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of families started their
treks from the damp north of the continent to their vacation homes
in the warm south. But even when the sun isn’t shining, Europeans
seem to be throwing themselves into fun and festivity with
unprecedented zeal. Each weekend, central London is one great
bacchanal. Cities that for reasons of politics or religion were once
gloomily repressive - Madrid, say, or Dublin - now rock to the small
hours. In Prague the foreign visitor who get talked about are not
the earnest young Americans who flocked there in the early 1990s,
but British partygoers who have flown in for the cheap beer and
pretty girls. The place that British historian Mark Mazower once
called the true dark continent - and from whose curdled soul the
horrors of fascism and communism sprang - has become Europa ludens,
a community at play.
看过载歌载舞的人群后，作者得出一个结论：欧洲人过得自在(
Europe is enjoying itself) 50万少年男女由天而降，来到柏林(descended on
Berlin)，参加一年一度的爱之旅(annual Love Parade)。此外，成千上万的家庭由潮湿的欧洲北部(the damp
north of the continent)，
来到温暖的南部，来到自己的度假屋。而后作者笔锋一转，进一步论证欧洲人生活得是如何的自由自在。周末的伦敦简直就是一个饮酒派对(one
great bacchanal)。昔日受宗教政治桎梏，郁郁寡欢的马得里，都柏林(Cities that for reasons of
politics or religion were once gloomily repressive - Madrid, say, or
Dublin)，而今是摇滚至午夜 (rock to the small hours)。
布拉格人谈论的不再是那些90年代初成群结队，接踵而至的年轻美国人了(the earnest young Americans who
flocked there )。取而代之的是来自英国的派对客(British partygoers)冲着廉价的啤酒，漂亮的妞慕名而至
(flown in for the cheap beer and pretty girls)。昔日被史学家称为绝对黑暗大陆(true
dark continent)的欧洲，如今成为了LUDENS - 一个快乐的都城(a community at play)。
下面我们来看看第四段。在这一段里，作者回顾了一下美国的昔日辉煌。
Funny. This is how the U.S was supposed to be. In a famous series of
essays collected in his 1976 book,
the Cultural Contradictions of
Capitalism, Daniel Bell noted how the decline of the Protestant
small-town ethic had unhinged American capitalism form its moral
foundation in the intrinsic value of work. By the 1960, Bell argues,
“the cultural justification of capitalism (had) become hedonism, the
idea of pleasure as a way of life. “This magazine agreed. In a 1969
cover story tilted “California: A State of Excitement,” Time
reported that, as most Americans saw it, “the good, godless,
gregarious pursiuit of pleasure is what California is all about… ‘I
have seen the future./ says the newly returned visitor to
California, ‘and it plays.’”
想来可笑 (Funny)，这本应该是美国的模样嘛 (. This is how the U.S was supposed to be.
This is how the U.S was supposed to be)。作者开始愤愤不平了。接下去，文章引用DANILAL
BELL在《资本主义的文化矛盾》(the Cultural Contradictions of
Capitalism)中有关基督新教狭隘的价值观(Protestant small-town ethic
)是如何的混淆了美国的资本主义的精髓的有关论述。DANILA 认为人们对于工作的真正价值(the intrinsic value of
work)，还有道德基础(moral foundation)出现混乱都归咎鱼新教(had unhinged American
capitalism )。所以文化层面上的对资本主义的拨乱反正(cultural justification of
capitalism)就是要让享受与生活划上等号。而后，作者又引用时代1969年的一期杂志封面报道，说明非宗教性的，绝对的快乐追寻(“the
good, godless, gregarious pursiuit of pleasure )就是当初加利尼亚州的一切之所在 (is
what California is all
about)。报道接下去说，每个刚从加州回来的人都认为说已经看到了未来。这些人得出的结论是：玩是行得通的。
以下是第五段：开始审视美国的现状。
But the American future didn''''t turn out as we expected. While
Europeans cut the hours they spend at the office or factory — in
France it is illegal to work more than 35 hours a week — and
lengthened their vacations, Americans were concluding that you could
be happy only if you work hard and play hard. So they began to stay
at their jobs longer than ever and then, in jam-packed weekends at
places like the Hamptons on Long Island, invented the uniquely
American concept of scheduled joy, filling a day off with one
appointment after another, as if it were no different from one at
the office. American conservatives, meanwhile, came to believe that
Europeans'''' desire to devote thems
elves to the pleasures of life
and — the shame of it!--six weeks annual vacation was evidence of a
lack of seriousness and would, in any event, end in economic tears.
美国的未来并不是我们所想象的呀(But the American future didn''''t turn out as we
expected)。作者这么说道。欧洲人现在把工作时间缩短为每周35小时(While Europeans cut the hours
they spend at the office or factory)，延长了假期( lengthened their
vacations)，美国人则是反其道而行之。许多认为只有拼命工作玩命的玩(work hard and play
hard)，才有幸福。于是，人们比任何时候都长时间的工作。之后就开始在人潮汹涌的度假地开始了美国式的塞得满满当当的快乐假期(scheduled
joy)。此外，一些保守的美国人对于欧洲人全身心的投入于生活的评价是“可耻之至！” the (shame of
it!)一年六个礼拜的假期证明了这些欧洲人是多么的不负责任啊。保守者们总结说，欧洲人最后是要付出代价的：为经济(衰退)而流泪的(end
in economic tears. )
下面一段是分析为什么美国人与欧洲人在工作与生活上有这么大的分歧(Why do Europeans and Americans
differ so much in their attitude toward work and leisure)
Why do Europeans and Americans differ so much in their attitude
toward work and leisure? I can think of two reasons. First, the
crowded confines of Western Europe and the expansive space of North
America have led to varied consumer preferences. Broadly speaking,
Americans value stuff — SUVs, 7,000-sq.-ft. houses — more than they
value time, while for Europeans it''''s the opposite. Second, as
Bell predicted, America''''s sense of itself as a religious nation
has revived. At least in the puritanical version of Christianity
that has always appealed to Americans, religion comes packaged with
the stern message that hard work is good for the soul. Modern Europe
has avoided so melancholy a lesson.
为什么有这么大的分歧呢？作者归结为以下两点：第一：西欧拥挤的环境与北美宽广的空间造就了不同的消费取向( the crowded
confines of Western Europe and the expansive space of North America
have led to varied consumer
preference)。美国人对于实在的玩艺比如房车，7000平尺的房子等等，的喜好要胜过欧洲人对于时间的喜好。(Broadly
speaking, Americans value stuff - SUVs, 7,000-sq.-ft. houses - more
than they value time, while for Europeans it''''s the opposite.)
第二：美国的宗教意识复苏(America''''s sense of itself as a
religious nation has
revived)。严厉的教条规劝人们说工作对于道德灵魂的作用是伟大的。(religion comes packaged with the
stern message that hard work is good for the soul. )
下面是最后一段：作者来了个总结：
Whatever the explanation, the idea of a work-life balance is a
staple of European discourse, studied in think tanks, mulled over by
policymakers. In the U.S., the term, when it''''s used at all, is
said with the sort of sneer reserved for those who eat quiche. But
it might still catch on. When Bill Keller was named executive editor
of the New York Times last week, he encouraged the staff to do "a
little more savoring" of life, spending time with their families or
viewing art.
Even better, they could take up the tango.
作者是这么开场的：不管人们的解释如何，工作与生活的平衡是欧洲的人心所向(a staple of European discourse)
。同时也是智库与决策人员观察与思考到的(studied in think tanks, mulled over by
policymakers)那么北美的情况又是如何呢？文章的回答是这种所谓的平衡只有发生在那些吃蛋奶火腿蛋糕人上。笔锋一转，作者又说：“说不准我们也这么做呢，这也不一定的哟(But
it might still catch on)。
为什么呢？就在上个星期，纽约时报总编走马上任的时候，该总编就鼓励手下人员给生活增加一些色彩，多陪陪家人。或者是去画廊看看画勋赏一些艺术。要不然就调探戈好了Even
better, they could take up the tango。
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