高級英語 Advanced English(張漢熙) 第二冊 11.The Future of The English

The Future of The English

J . B. Priestley

1 To write about the English in standard and cosmopolitan political terms, the usual Left-Centre-Right stuff, is almost always wasting time and trouble. The English are different. The English are even more different than they think they are, though not more different than they feel they are. And what they feel — Englishness again - is more important than what they think. It is instinctive feeling and not rational thought that shapes and colours actual events in England.

2 For example, although the English seem to be so sharply divided, always indulging in plenty of loud political abuse, there are nothing like so many Communists or neo- or potential Fascists in England as there are in most other countries. Again, although the English seem to have more than their share of rallies, protest marches, confrontations with authority, what could begin to look like a murderous encounter in France or America, or might be a bloody street battle in Japan, would in England end at the worst in a few scuffles and arrests. This is because there are fewer fanatical believers among the English, and at the same time, below the noisy arguments, the abuse and the quarrels, there is a reservoir of instinctive fellow-feeling, not yet exhausted though it may not be filling up. Not everybody can draw on that reservoir. No doubt there are in England some snarling shop stewards who demand freedom for the workers when what they really want is to bring the whole system crashing down, together with every guarantee of liberty. No doubt there are wealthy employers who smile at the TV cameras and declare that all they desire is the friendliest relation with their work force, when at heart they would like to take a whip to the whole idle troublesome mob of them. But there are not many of these men, either on the board or the shop floor, and they are certainly not typical English. Some cancer in their character has eaten away their Englishness.

3 The real English, who are ‘different’, who have inherited Englishness and have not yet thrown away their inheritance, cannot feel at home in the contemporary world, representing the accelerated development of our whole age. It demands bigness, and they are suspicious of bigness. (And there is now not only Industrial bigness; there is also Scientific bigness, needing more and more to discover less and less.) Clearly everything cannot be done by smallish and reasonably human enterprises. No cosy shipyard can undertake to build a 150,000-ton ship, though we may not be in our right minds if we want such a ship. But it is safe to say that while Englishness may reluctantly accept bigness, its monsters are never heartily welcomed. They look all right in America, itself so large, but seem altogether out of scale in England. Along with the demand for bigness goes a demand for severe efficiency, often quite rational but not reasonable, therefore alien to Englishness. A further necessary demand, to feed the monster with higher and higher figures and larger and larger profits, is for enormous advertising campaigns and brigades of razor-keen salesmen. Finally, from the monster and all its spokesmen comes a message, endlessly repeated. It runs more or less as follows: ‘You ought to be happy. But you are not happy. You can be happy, though, if you buy what we are making for you.’ And a postscript might be added from Iago: ‘Put money in thy purse.’

4 I like to call this ‘Admass’ , and will do so from now on. I will also announce what the future of the English hangs upon, while at the same time, unlike almost everybody else, keeping well clear of economics. It hangs upon the final result of a battle that has been going on for some years now and that explains why the English seem so odd, eccentric, unsatisfactory, not only abroad but to many persons at home. It is a battle that is being fought in the minds of the English. It is between 'Admass', which has already conquered most of the Western world, and 'Englishness', ailing and impoverished , in no position to receive vast subsidies of dollars, francs, deutschmarks and the rest, for public relations and advertising campaigns. The triumphs of 'Admass' can be plainly seen. It operates in the outer visible world, where it offers more and more things - for more and more money of course - and creates the so-called ‘Good Life’. Against this, at least superficially, 'Englishness' seems a poor shadowy show - a faint pencil sketch beside a poster in full colour - belonging as it really does to the invisible inner world, merely offering states of mind in place of that rich variety of things. But then while things are important, states of mind are even more important.

5 It is easy to understand why there should be this conflict between 'Admass' and 'Englishness'. What is central to 'Admass' is the production and consumption of goods. If there is enough of this — though of course there never is, because dissatisfaction is built into 'Admass' - there will be sufficient money to pay for its ‘Good Life’. But it is worth noting along the way that while America has been for many years the chief advocate of 'Admass', America has shown us too many desperately worried executives dropping into early graves, too many exhausted salesmen taking refuge in bars and breaking up their homes, too many workmen suffering from monotony or time-and-motion studies and wondering how the hell they got into these traps. And America, to its credit, can also show us a lot of sensible men and women who have denounced all this and have walked out of it. But this book is about the English, not the Americans. Now 'Englishness', with its relation to the unconscious, its dependence upon instinct and intuition, cannot break its links with the past: it has deep long roots. Being itself a state of mind, it cannot ignore other states of mind and cannot help feeling that 'Admass', with its ruthless competitiveness, its idea of man simply as a producer and consumer, its dependence upon dissatisfaction, greed and envy, must be responsible for bad and not good states of mind. Furthermore, while 'Englishness' is not hostile to change, it is deeply suspicious of change for change’s sake, rejecting the idea that we are now committed to some inevitable mechanical progress. Here we might take a concrete example. 'Englishness' would support an immediate demand, at the expense of many other things, for more and better housing. Without adequate shelter and a decent place to call their own, people feel wretched. But people in England, not a big country, do not have to have more and more and larger and larger cars, with longer and wider motorways, wrecking the countryside, to take the cars. If they think they do, this is 'Admass' at work. People have wanted houses for centuries, and cars of their own only for a very short time. To put cars and motorways before houses seems to 'Englishness' a communal imbecility .

6 The battle that will decide the future of the English is going on all round us. At this time of writing, we in England are in the middle of it. I must add that while 'Englishness' can still fight on, 'Admass' could be winning. There are various reasons why this may be happening. To begin with, not all the English hold fast to 'Englishness'. Some important and influential men carefully train themselves out of it - politicians, academics, bureaucrats, ambitious financiers and industrialists, can be found among these men - and a horde of others, shallow and foolish, wander away from it, shrugging off their inheritance. 'Englishness' is not as strong as it was even thirty years ago. It needs to be nourished by a sense of the dignity and possible destiny of mankind. It must have some moral capital to draw upon, and soon it may be asking for an overdraft . The Zeitgeist seems to be working for 'Admass'. So does most of what we read and what we hear. Even our inflation, which keeps everybody nudging everybody for more money, is often seen not as a warning, not as an enemy of the genuine good life, but as a proof that we need more and not less 'Admass'.

7 Some battles have been won or lost because the commander of a large force, arriving late, decided almost at the last moment to change sides. I feel that a powerful section of English workers, together with their union bosses, is in the same situation as that commander just before he could make up his mind. These men believe that if there is a ‘Good Life’ going, then it’s high time they had their share of it. But some remaining 'Englishness' in them whispers that there may be a catch in it. Where’s this ‘Good Life’ in sweating your guts out, just because the managers are on the productivity-per-man-hour caper? It’s all a racket anyhow. If we don’t work like the old man used to do, we’re not turning out the honest stuff the old man was expected to turn out. It’s the profit now, not the product. Half the time, we cheat the foremen, the foremen cheat the management, the management cheats the customers. Okay, we want shorter hours, more holidays, bigger pay packets - then the ‘Good Life’ of the adverts for us. Or are we kidding ourselves?

8 Now I am not pretending that something like this is being said in every branch of English industry, and certainly not where there is a genuine - if rather old-fashioned - pride in the work on hand. But something like it is being said, thought or felt, in the very places where there is the most money, the most boredom, the most trouble and ‘industrial action’, and indeed the most 'Admass'. Behind the constant bickering , the sudden walk-outs and strikes, the ‘bloody-mindedness’, which bewilder so many foreign commentators, is the conflict between 'Admass', offering so much, and the 'Englishness' that instinctively recoils from 'Admassian' values and life-style. There are, of course, people on the management side who may be aware of this conflict in themselves, but it is probably nothing like so sharp, the 'Admass' spoils being greater for them and their instinctive feeling not being so strong. The common people have clung harder to tradition than any other class. In addition to this conflict, all the more worrying because it is hardly ever openly discussed, there is something else that must disturb many officials and members of the more powerful trade unions. This is the anomalous position of these huge organizations. What exactly are they? One day they describe themselves as existing simply to negotiate rates of pay, hours and conditions of work. Another day they talk and behave as if the country was moving towards syndicalism and they were in the van. A week later they will be back in their purely negotiating role. They make the rest of us feel that either they should be more important and if possible creative, or less important, just minding their own business. As it is they are like a hippopotamus blundering in and out of a pets’ tea party. Moreover, sooner or later they will have to put an end to this conflict between 'Admass' and what remains of their 'Englishness', coming down decisively on one side or the other, for they cannot enjoy both together. The future of the English may be shaped by this decision.

9 There are, of course, people belonging to all classes who do not want to be fascinated and then enslaved by 'Admass', and who if necessary are ready to make a few sacrifices, largely material, to achieve a satisfying state of mind. They probably believe, as I do, that the 'Admass Good Life’ is a fraud on all counts. Even the stuff it produces is mostly junk, meant to be replaced as soon as you can afford to keep on buying. Such people can be found among workers in smallish, well-managed and honest enterprises, in which everybody still cares about the product and does not assume the customers are idiots. They can be found, too - though not in large numbers because the breed is dying out - among crusty High Tories who avoid the City and directors’ fees. But they are strongest and, I fancy, on the increase in the professional classes, men and women who may or may not believe in my 'Englishness' but have rejected 'Admass'. They are usually articulate; they have many acquaintances, inside or outside their professions, ready to listen to them; and not a few of them have a chance to talk on TV and radio. If the battle can be won, it will probably be these men and women who will swing it.

10 But what about the young? Here we might remember that as soon as we consider even the fairly immediate future then our young will not be the young any more; some other young will have arrived. It is one difficulty the American counter-culture enthusiasts have to face - that while they are still praising the rebellious young, half those lads and girls may have already lost their youth and may be as busy conforming to Madison Avenue as they conformed earlier to Hippy California or the road to Katmandu. So far as the English young are concerned, I am dubious about the noisy types, whether they are shouting in the streets or joining the vast herds at pop festivals. Too many of them lack the individuality to stand up to 'Admass', which can provide them with another and even larger herd to join. I have far more faith in the quieter young, who never swaggered around in the youth racket , who may have come under the influence of one or two of those professional men and women, who have probably given some thought to what life may be like at forty or forty-five. They, too, might help to swing the battle.

11 What follows does not apply to old-age pensioners, to people still overworked and underpaid, to all the English who have some integrity, some individual judgment and real values. Far too many of the other English - though 1 don’t say a majority - are sloppy people. They are easy to get along with, rarely unkind, but they are not dependable; they are inept , shiftless, slovenly , messy . This is not entirely their own fault. Unlike their fathers or grandfathers, they have not been disciplined by grim circumstances. They are no longer facing starvation if they don’t work properly or go on strike, no longer told to clear out if they aren’t properly respectful and start answering back, no longer find themselves the victims of too many hard facts. And this, in my opinion, is how things should be in a civilized society. But people who have been liberated from the harsh discipline of circumstance should then move on to acquire some measure of self-discipline. Without self- discipline a man cannot play an adequate part in a civilized society: he will be just slopping around, accepting no responsibility, skimping the work he is supposed to be doing, cheating not only ‘the bosses’, the capitalists, but even his neighbours. And unless he is an unusual type, he will not even find much satisfaction in this scrounging messy existence, which does nothing for a man’s self-respect. (I am keeping this on the male side, if only because a woman’s problems are generally more personal, immediate, emotionally urgent, so that unless she is a hopeless case she has to face and deal with some of them.) And this is the situation that many of the English, decent at heart, find themselves in today. Bewildered, they grope and mess around because they have fallen between two stools, the old harsh discipline having vanished and the essential new self-discipline either not understood or thought to be out of reach.

12 Boredom is a menace, now and in the future. All heavily industrialized societies are in the boredom business. This is not simply because so much of the work they offer is boring. It is also because, after having shattered the slow rhythms, the traditional skills, the closely knit communities of rural societies, they crowd people together, excite them by large promises that cannot be kept, so drive them into boredom. Now the English - at least the contemporary English of my experience - can soon feel bored, which largely explains why they gamble and booze so much and enjoy any dramatic change in public life, any news that encourages excited talk: the urban English have always seemed to me a dramatic people. When boredom can’t be banished, there is always danger ahead. Teenagers, ‘who have not been able to use up enough energy during the day (they should be worked harder), turn at night to idiot vandalism . Later, if boredom hardens into frustration, some of them, too many of them, take to crime, all kinds, from petty shop-lifting to ferocious robbery with violence.

13 Life in fact was much rougher, harder, more superficially insecure, when I was young, but there seemed to be more honesty about, less constant cheating and pilfering and certainly far less vicious criminality. Other elements apart from boredom of course have been at work here. There is Iago’s ‘Put money in thy purse’; there is the false notion that the world owes you something while you owe it nothing; the other idea that so long as you are not found out, then all will be well - no final damnation threatening you any longer, and no understanding yet that there can be plenty of Hells on a do-it-yourself basis. Behind it all, whether people are sunk into almost mindless apathy or scream out of their frustration for violence, there is a feeling that everything is different now, that life has been ‘found out’ to be without meaning, without purpose, equally negative for all mankind or for your own nation. Naturally I am not saying all the English are down on this level. We still have some 'Englishness' left, keeping our minds open to the past and retaining some faith in our future, rejecting the logic-chopping rational for the widely if hazily reasonable, refusing to be cut off from instinct and intuition.

14 Yes, 'Englishness' is still with us. But it needs reinforcement, extra nourishment, especially now when our public life seems ready to starve it. There are English people of all ages, though far more under thirty than over sixty, who seem to regard politics as a game but not one of their games – polo , let us say. To them the 'House of Commons' is a remote squabbling-shop. Recognized political parties are repertory companies staging ghostly campaigns, and all that is real between them is the arrangement by which one set of chaps take their turn at ministerial jobs while the other set pretend to be astounded and shocked and bring in talk of ruin. The whole thing, in the eyes of these people, is an expensive and tedious farce. In my view they are mistaken, indeed quite dangerously wrong, and I can only hope that no young demagogue of genius and his friends are listening to them. Otherwise they could soon learn, in the worst way, that heavy hands can fall on the shoulders that have been shrugging away politics. You can ignore politics, taking what has been gained for granted, only to discover your cousins have vanished and you are being knocked up at three in the morning. Dictatorships have thrived on majorities that are apathetic and then frightened, and on minorities that are fanatically divided, brutally quarrelsome and stupid.

15 At this time of writing (1973) both the cynical or frivolous majority, which imagines itself to be outside politics, and the stubbornly divided minority, only agreeing in being myopic and entirely self-interested, exist in England. But I believe there must also still exist, if only on a hidden level, what remains of a characteristically English sense of community, decent fellow-feeling, fairness. (‘It isn’t fair’, children still cry.) In spite of the 'Admass' atmosphere, inflation, the all-round grab, all this must yet exist even now, for there are deep roots here. But those roots must be needing nourishment. 'Englishness' cannot be fed with the east wind of a narrow rationality, the latest figures of profit and loss, a constant appeal to self-interest. Politicians are always making such appeals, whereas statesmen, when they can be found, prefer to take themselves and their hearers out of the stock exchanges, shareholders’ meetings, counting-houses. They offer men the chance of behaving better and not as usual. They create an atmosphere in which the familiar greed and envy and resentment begin to seem small and contemptible. They restore to people their idea of themselves as a family. It has been done in England over and over again. But not lately. There has been little or no appeal from deep feeling to deep feeling, from imagination to imagination. Recent years have ‘robbed us of immortal things’. But we do not have to go on like that, to enter a 'Common Market of national character'. It is now many years since I first declared in public my belief that the English, despite so many appearances to the contrary, are at heart and at root an imaginative people immediately responsive to any suggestion of drama in their lives. Deprived of it, they drift towards boredom, sulks and foolish short-sighted quarrels. And this is true, whether they are wearing bowler hats or ungovernable mops of hair. To face the future properly they need both a direction and a great lift of the heart. A rather poorer and harder way of life will not defeat them so long as it is not harder and poorer in spirit, so long as it still refuses to reject 'Englishness' - for so many centuries the secret of the islanders’ oddity and irrationality, their many weaknesses, their creative strength.

The Final Chapter from ‘The English’ published by William Heinemann in 1973

第十一課英國人的未來

JB普里斯特利

若想用世界上流行的標準政治術(shù)語，即左、中、右三派這種毫無意義的陳腔老調(diào)來描述英國人的話，那多半是白費時間，徒耗精力。英國人可是與眾不同。他們甚至比自己想象中的英國人還要不同，倒是同他們自己感覺中的英國人差不多。而他們所感覺到的…這一點再次反映出英國人的特性--比他們想象到的更為重要。在英國，決定一切事物形式和色彩的不是人的理性思維，而是人的本能感覺。

舉例來說，盡管英國人表面上似乎存在著嚴重的意見分歧，彼此之間進行政治上的攻擊謾罵也是常有的事，但英國卻不像許多其他國家一樣有那么多的共產(chǎn)主義者以及新的或潛在的法西斯主義分子。再如，雖然英國人舉行的群眾集會、示威游行、與當局對抗的事件似乎比一般國家多，但有些在法國或美國有可能發(fā)展成生死搏斗，在日本有可能演變成街頭血戰(zhàn)的惡性事件，而在英國至多也不過以一陣扭打或幾個人被拘捕的結(jié)局了事。這是因為在英國人當中狂熱的盲從分子較少，同時，在他們那一片亂哄哄的爭論、謾罵和吵鬧的背后，還蘊藏著一股河海般深厚、純真的同胞之情。這種情誼雖然還不到充溢的程度，卻還沒有枯竭。當然，也不是每個人都能夠利用這種蘊藏的同胞之情。在英國，毫無疑問，還存在著那么一些喜歡大聲咆哮的工會代表，他們口口聲聲嚷著要為工人們爭自由，而事實上，其真正目的是想破壞現(xiàn)行的社會制度及一切保障自由的措施。毫無疑問，也有那么一些腰纏萬貫的資本家，他們面對著電視攝像機，笑容可掬地宣稱他們唯一的愿望是同自己的勞動隊伍建立起最親密友好的關(guān)系，而實際上他們心里只想拿起鞭子狠狠抽打那群專愛惹事生非的懶蟲。不過，像這樣的人，無論在管理者中間還是在勞動者中間，都不是很多，而且他們無疑也不是典型的英國人。他們性格上的腫瘤已經(jīng)吞噬了他們身上的英國人特性。

那些"與眾不同的"真正地道的英國人，由于繼承了英國人的特性而又尚未拋棄這一祖?zhèn)魈匦?，因而對于這個代表了整個時代日新月異的發(fā)展形勢的現(xiàn)代世界感到不很習(xí)慣?，F(xiàn)代世界事事求"大"，而英國人卻對此不以為然。(現(xiàn)在不僅工業(yè)上存在著大規(guī)模?？茖W(xué)上也存在著大規(guī)模，需要的投資越來越多，而研究出的成果越來越小。)顯然，不是一切工作都能由規(guī)模較小而又較富人情味的企業(yè)來完成的。一座能令人感受到溫情的小船廠就不可能造出一艘十五萬噸級的輪船，假如我們硬要造這樣的輪船，那或許就會造成我們的決策失誤。然而，可以有把握地說，盡管英國人也有可能勉勉強強地接受大規(guī)模的東西，但英國所出現(xiàn)的龐然大物卻決不會受到人們由衷的歡迎。那些龐然大物在美國看來好像倒沒什么不對，因為美國本身就有那么大，但在英國就顯得完全不相稱了。伴隨著對大規(guī)模的要求而出現(xiàn)的是對嚴格的高效率的要求，這種要求雖然常常是合乎理性的，但卻是不合情理的，因而與英國人特性格格不入。為了給那些龐然大物提供越來越高的投資，創(chuàng)造越來越多的利潤，還有一個必不可少的要求，這就是需要有聲勢浩大的廣告運動和大批精明強干的推銷員。最后，從這些龐然大物及其所有代言人那里不斷重復(fù)地傳來這樣的信息，其大意為："你本該快樂;但你并不快樂。不過，你仍有可能得到快樂，只要你購買我們?yōu)槟阒圃斓漠a(chǎn)品。"這里也許應(yīng)該加上一句伊阿古的名言："把錢都裝進你的口袋吧。"

我想將這種現(xiàn)象稱作"商業(yè)廣告推銷"，此后將一直采用這一名稱。我還要預(yù)告一下英國人的未來取決于什么，而同時又幾乎與所有的人背道而馳地避免談及經(jīng)濟問題。英國人的未來取決于一場已進行多年的戰(zhàn)斗的最終結(jié)局。這場戰(zhàn)斗說明了英國人不僅在外國人眼中，而且在國內(nèi)某些人眼中顯得如此稀奇古怪、不令人滿意的原因。這是一場發(fā)生在英國人思想領(lǐng)域的戰(zhàn)斗，它在商業(yè)廣告推銷和英國人特性之間展開。商業(yè)廣告推銷業(yè)已征服了大半個西方世界，而英國人特性則是貧病交加，無法取得大量美元、法郎、德國馬克之類的官方津貼來進行公關(guān)和廣告宣傳活動。商業(yè)廣告推銷的勝局已很明顯，它的活動在可見的外部世界進行，向世界提供越來越多的東西一一當然索取的錢也越來越多--從而創(chuàng)造了所謂的"美好生活"。相形之下，至少從表面上看，英國人特性似乎只是一場微不足道的影子戲--就像是五彩繽紛的廣告畫旁邊貼著的一幅淡色的鉛筆素描--它實際上屬于不可見的內(nèi)心世界，不能為人們提供那品類繁多的物質(zhì)用品，而只能提供精神上的境界。不過，物質(zhì)用品固然重要，精神境界則更加重要。

商業(yè)廣告推銷同英國人特性之間會發(fā)生這樣一場沖突，其原因也容易理解。商業(yè)廣告推銷的核心內(nèi)容是商品的生產(chǎn)和消費。如果這方面的條件充分具備--當然這是絕不可能的，因為商業(yè)廣告推銷本身就含著永不滿足的成分--人們就會有足夠的錢去換取它所宣傳的"美好生活"。然而，值得順便提一下的是，在多年來一直是商業(yè)廣告推銷的主要倡導(dǎo)者的美國，我們看到有太多太多的傷透了腦筋的經(jīng)理人員過早地跌進了墳?zāi)?有太多太多的筋疲力竭的推銷員躲進酒吧借酒澆愁，弄得家庭破裂;還有許許多多的工人成天忍受著單調(diào)乏味的時間一動作研究的苦楚，心中在納悶：不知自己究竟是怎樣陷入這些坑人的陷井的。足以令美國自豪的是，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)美國也有一些對這一切進行抨擊并從中擺脫出來的有識之士。不過，本書所要描寫的是英國人，不是美國人。再說英國人特性，因與潛意識相關(guān)聯(lián)，又依賴于本能和直覺而存在，故不能割斷與過去的聯(lián)系：它根深蒂固。源遠流長。英國人特性本身是一種精神境界，因而它不能不注意其他的精神境界。也就不能不覺得商業(yè)廣告推銷，由于其殘酷的競爭性，其將人僅僅看作生產(chǎn)者和消費者的思想觀念，其對不知足心理、貪婪和妒忌心理的依存性而必然會導(dǎo)致壞的而不是好的精神境界。而且，盡管英國人并不反對變革，但對于為變革而變革的做法卻深懷疑慮，對那種認為我們現(xiàn)在必須無條件地歡迎機械化的進步的觀點也拒不接受。在此我們可以舉一個具體的例子。英國人會不惜一切代價來支持人們對于更多更好的住房的刻不容緩的需求。如果沒有足夠的安身之處，沒有一個屬于自己的像樣的房子，人們會感到凄慘。但在英國這樣一個不太大的國家里，人們并不一定需要擁有越來越多、越來越大的轎車以及供這些轎車使用的越來越長、越來越寬的高速公路，因為這樣會破壞鄉(xiāng)村自然景色。假如他們認為需要這些，那便是商業(yè)廣告推銷在作祟。人們渴望擁有自己的房屋已經(jīng)有千百年的歷史了.而渴望擁有自己的汽車才只是很短時期的事。就英國人特性而言，把汽車和公路擺到住房之上的做法似乎是一種社會性的愚蠢之舉。

決定英國人的未來的戰(zhàn)斗正在我們周圍進行著。就在本人撰寫本文的時候，我們英國人正處于激戰(zhàn)之中。本人還要補充說明的是，盡管英國人特性目前尚能在戰(zhàn)斗中堅持下去，但最終取勝的可能還是商業(yè)廣告推銷。之所以會出現(xiàn)這種結(jié)果，其原因是多種多樣的。首先，并不是每一個英國人都牢固地保持著英國人特性。一些有權(quán)勢有影響的人物正處心積慮地設(shè)法使自己擺脫它--這些人中有政客、有文人、有官僚、有野心勃勃的金融家和企業(yè)家一一而另外還有一大群淺薄愚魯?shù)娜艘瞾G掉了它.隨隨便便地拋棄了自己的傳統(tǒng)。英國人特性的影響力連三十年前也比不上了。它需要用人們對于人類的尊嚴和命運的認識來培育和加強。它必須擁有一些可以支取的道德資本，而且不久以后就有可能要求透支。"時代精神"似乎在為商業(yè)廣告推銷推波助瀾，我們所讀到和聽到的東西，一多半都是如此。甚至連那使得大家為求多賺錢而你爭我奪的通貨膨脹，也往往不被視為一種危險的訊號，不被視為真正的美好生活的敵人，而往往倒是被視為我們需要更多而不是更少的商業(yè)廣告推銷的證明。

一支遲到戰(zhàn)場的大部隊的指揮官在差不多最后一刻決定倒戈，從而決定了某些戰(zhàn)役的勝敗。我覺得英國工人中很有勢力的一部分人和他們的工會頭頭們跟那個指揮官在下決心前的處境相同。這些人相信，如果"美好的生活"已經(jīng)到來，那么現(xiàn)在就是他們分享的時候了。但是他們身上殘存的一些英國人特性卻暗示了"這里面怕是有鬼"。僅僅因為老板們在搞"人時"生產(chǎn)力的把戲而把你們累得半死不活，這就算是什么"美好的生活"嗎?不論怎么說，這一切只不過是一場騙局。如果我們不像老一輩們過去那樣工作，就生產(chǎn)不出過去要求他們生產(chǎn)的那種貨真價實的東西來?，F(xiàn)在要緊的是利潤，而不是產(chǎn)品。有一半的時候我們在騙工頭，工頭在騙經(jīng)理，經(jīng)理在騙顧客。好吧，假如我們要的是工作時間短、假期長、工資高--那么我們所要的就是廣告里宣傳的"美好生活"。抑或我們是在自己騙自己?

我現(xiàn)在并不是在故弄玄虛地說，在英國所有的工業(yè)部門都有這種議論。可以肯定地說，在對自己現(xiàn)在從事的工作有一種真正的自豪一即使是如今已不時興的那種自豪～的部門，這種議論是沒有的。但恰恰就是在那種最賺錢、最單調(diào)乏味、麻煩最多、"工業(yè)行動"最多，老實說.即商業(yè)廣告推銷最厲害的地方，人們有類似這樣的議論、想法或感觸。在無休止的爭吵，突然的罷工，讓許多外國評論家迷惑不解的咄咄逼人的固執(zhí)背后是這樣一種矛盾：一方面是商業(yè)廣告推銷，向你提供眾多的東西;一方面是英國人特性，本能地對這種商業(yè)廣告推銷的價值觀和生活方式感到反感。當然，在經(jīng)理人員中也有人可能意識到這種矛盾在自己身上也存在，但大概不會那么尖銳，因為通過商業(yè)廣告推銷，他們得利較大，而他們的本能感覺又不那么強烈。除了這種矛盾外，還有別的東西在使比較有勢力的工會里的不少官員和會員感到不安。由于這種東西幾乎從來不公開討論，因此更令人擔心。這就是這些龐大組織的異常地位。這些組織到底是什么呢?一會兒他們說他們的存在就是為了談判工資額、工作時間和工作條件，一會兒他們的言論和行為似乎預(yù)示著這個國家正在走向工聯(lián)主義，而他們就是先鋒。過一個星期他們又會倒回去扮演他們那種純粹是談判的角色。他們使我們其余的人覺得要么他們應(yīng)該起更重要的作用，可能的話更有創(chuàng)新精神。要么起不那么重要的作用，只管他們自己的事。而現(xiàn)在，他們就像只河馬闖進闖出玩賞動物的茶會。不僅如此，他們遲早要解決這種商業(yè)廣告推銷和他們殘存的一些英國人特性之間的矛盾，下決心站到這一邊或那一邊，因為他們不能同時享有二者。英國人的未來也許要取決于這個決定。

當然，各個階層之中也還有一些不甘心被商業(yè)廣告推銷所迷惑然后任其擺布的人。如有必要的話，這些人還愿意做出一些犧牲，主要是物質(zhì)方面的犧牲，以求達到一種令人滿意的精神境界。他們也許像我一樣地相信，商業(yè)廣告推銷所宣傳的"美好生活"是徹頭徹尾的騙局。(就連它所生產(chǎn)出來的東西也多半是一些破爛貨，只要你有錢經(jīng)常購買就應(yīng)當不斷地予以替換。)這樣的人在那些規(guī)模較小、經(jīng)營有方、不搞欺詐的企業(yè)的工人中可以找到，因為在這樣的企業(yè)里，人們?nèi)匀话研乃加迷诋a(chǎn)品上，而不是把顧客都當成傻瓜。在那些不愿走進倫敦市商業(yè)區(qū)，不愿接受董事經(jīng)理的高薪厚俸的、頑固的高層保守黨成員中也可以找到此種人--盡管為數(shù)不會很多，因為這種人本就在日益減少。但是，這些人的力量最大，而且，據(jù)我看，在職業(yè)階層中他們的人數(shù)也在增長。這些男男女女也許相信我所說的英國人特性，也許不信，但他們拒絕接受商業(yè)廣告推銷。他們一般都是能言善辯的;在本職業(yè)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)外都有許多相識，而且都對他們言聽計從;他們當中還有不少人有機會在電視或廣播中發(fā)表演講。假如這場戰(zhàn)斗能勝利，很可能就是要靠這些男男女女去起推動作用。

那么，年輕一代又如何呢?說到這兒，我們不能忘記，只要我們考慮到未來，哪怕是不遠的未來，我們所說的年輕一代到那時也再不是年輕一代了，那時會出現(xiàn)又一個年輕一代。這是美國反主流文化運動的熱心支持者們必須面對的一個難題--當他們還正在頌揚那些敢于反潮流的年輕人的時候，那些被頌揚的年輕男女中恐怕有一半已喪失青春，而且可能正在忙著適應(yīng)麥迪遜大街的生活，正如他們過去忙著適應(yīng)加利福尼亞嬉皮士生活或加德滿都之路的神秘生活一樣。談到英國的年輕人，我對那愛鬧的類型，無論是在街頭狂呼亂叫，還是在流行音樂會上跟著起哄湊熱鬧的，都有些懷疑。他們之中有太多的人缺乏抵擋商業(yè)廣告推銷的個性，因為商業(yè)廣告推銷使他們可以加入更多更大的歡鬧的群伙。我對那些比較文靜的年輕人的信心要大得多，這類年輕人從不吵吵嚷嚷，高談闊論;他們可能受到一兩位職業(yè)男女的影響：他們也許曾思索過四十或四十五歲時的生活會是什么樣子。他們也有可能起到扭轉(zhuǎn)戰(zhàn)局的作用。

下面所說的情況不適用于上了年紀的退休人員，不適用于那些仍然在多勞少得的人，也不適用于所有那些具有正直的品格、獨立的判斷力和正確的價值觀的英國人。其余的英國人中有許多--雖不能說是大多數(shù)一一都是一些馬大哈式的人物。他們?nèi)菀紫嗵?，通常都是和和氣氣的，但就是不可信賴。他們平庸無能，懶懶散散，辦事草率，拖泥帶水。這也不完全是他們自己的過錯。和自己的父輩或祖輩們不一樣，他們沒有經(jīng)受過嚴峻環(huán)境的鍛煉。他們不再會因為干活馬虎或參加罷工而面臨挨餓的威脅，不再會因為對上司不恭或無禮頂撞而被攆出去，不再發(fā)現(xiàn)自己成為許多嚴酷事實的犧牲品了。在我看來，這正是文明社會中應(yīng)有的現(xiàn)象。但人們從嚴酷的環(huán)境約束中解放出來之后就應(yīng)該努力學(xué)會一些自我約束的方法。一個人沒有自我約束，便不能在文明社會中充分發(fā)揮作用，而只能無所事事地混日子，什么責(zé)任也不承擔，工作起來馬馬虎虎，敷衍塞責(zé)，不但欺騙老板、資本家，甚至連自己的左鄰右舍也一樣欺騙。除非他屬于某種不一般的類型，他甚至對自己這種有損于人的自尊的不勞而獲的混帳生活都不會感到太大的滿足。(我所說的這些都是指的男性，婦女的問題一般來說更帶個性，更直接，感情上更急切，所以，除非是一個不可救藥的典型，她一般都會去正視并解決自己所遇到的部分問題。)這就是許多內(nèi)心純潔的英國人今天所處的狀況。他們感到困惑、彷徨，開始四處摸索，虛耗光陰，因為他們兩頭都落了空：舊有的苛刻束縛已不復(fù)存在，而新的必要的自我約束要么不被人理解，要么被看作是不可企及的。

煩悶情緒是一種威脅，現(xiàn)在和將來都是如此。所有高度工業(yè)化的社會都在制造煩悶情緒。這不僅僅是因為工業(yè)化社會所提供的工作大多讓人厭煩，而且也是因為工業(yè)化社會打破了過去生活的慢節(jié)奏，消滅了各種傳統(tǒng)的勞動技藝，瓦解了農(nóng)村社會嚴密的群體結(jié)構(gòu)之后，又讓人們?nèi)杭谝黄穑靡恍┭赃^其實而又根本無法兌現(xiàn)的承諾來誘惑他們，因而使得他們產(chǎn)生厭煩情緒?，F(xiàn)在的英國人--至少那些生活經(jīng)歷與我相同的當代英國人--很容易感到厭煩，這在很大程度上有助于我們理解為什么他們那么喜歡酗酒賭博，愛看社會上的一切熱鬧場面，愛聽任何能激起熱烈議論的奇聞怪事。居住在都市中的英國人在我看來都是一些愛大驚小怪的人物。只要厭煩情緒不消除，危險便始終存在于我們面前。青少年在白天沒能用完自己的精力(本應(yīng)該讓他們多干點活兒)，到了晚上便就胡作非為，四處搗亂。日子一長，一旦厭煩發(fā)展成絕望，他們中的一些人(有可能很多人)便會走上犯罪道路，從到商店里小偷小摸到窮兇極惡的暴力搶劫，種種罪惡無所不為。

在我年輕的時候，生活其實比現(xiàn)在艱難困苦得多，表面上的安全感也少得多，但人們似乎比現(xiàn)在的人誠實，爾虞我詐、鼠竊狗偷的現(xiàn)象很少見，嚴重犯罪的現(xiàn)象自然就更是少得多了。看來·除了厭煩情緒之外，還有一些其他因素在起作用。其中包括伊阿古那句"把錢裝入你的腰包"的名言，以及那種認為社會有愧于你而你卻無愧于社會的錯誤觀念，還有一種思想認為做壞事只要不被人發(fā)現(xiàn)便一切都好--再沒有什么最后的審判來威脅你，也不會有人理解我行我素者也有可能受到各種形式的懲罰。不管人們是陷入徹底的麻木狀態(tài)，還是由于苦悶而發(fā)出暴力的呼喊，這一切的背后都隱藏著這樣一種感覺，認為一切事物都已今非昔比了，生活被"發(fā)現(xiàn)"為毫無意義，毫無目的，對全人類或祖國都沒有什么積極作用。自然，我并不是說所有英國人都已墮落到這種地步。我們依然保留著一些英國人特性，使我們對過去能保持清醒的認識，對未來也還保持著一些信心，排斥那些通過詭辯式邏輯得出的理性結(jié)論，而寧愿接受那些雖然不被完全理解但卻完全合乎情理的東西，拒絕拋棄自己原有的本能與直覺。

不錯，英國人特性依然與我們同在，但它急需增強活力，補充養(yǎng)分，在當今我們的公共生活看來正準備令其自生自滅的形勢下尤其如此。有些英國人似乎將政治看成一場比賽，而又不是他們自己所喜愛的比賽--比如說打馬球之類。這種人在各個年齡層次的人中都有，但三十歲以下的比六十歲以上的要多得多。對這些人來說，下議院只是離自己很遙遠的一個吵架斗嘴的場所。那些得勢掌權(quán)的政黨猶如一些定期換演劇目的劇團在上演一出出魔幻政治鬧劇，其中唯一真實的事情便是輪到一幫人擔任部長職務(wù)，而另一幫人則裝出一副驚駭不已的樣子，大發(fā)一通國家要從此遭殃的議論。所有這一切，在這些人眼中看來，不過是一場既費錢而又無聊的鬧劇。我認為，他們的這種思想是錯誤的，而且是極危險的錯誤。我只希望一切天才的青年煽動家及其朋友都不要聽信這種論調(diào)。否則，他們很快就會發(fā)現(xiàn)，而且是很痛苦地發(fā)現(xiàn)，嚴厲無情的鐵腕有可能壓到他們那一直想甩掉政治的肩膀上。你可以不問政治，對一切聽之任之，但結(jié)果你會發(fā)現(xiàn)你的親人們突然失蹤，你自己也會在凌晨三點鐘被秘密警察敲門叫醒。獨裁統(tǒng)治在先是漠不關(guān)心、繼而驚恐萬狀的多數(shù)人和四分五裂、酷愛爭吵而又愚昧無知的少數(shù)人中間盛行起來。

在我撰寫本文之時，英國既存在著那種自以為是超出于政治之外的、憤世嫉俗或舉止輕狂的多數(shù)派，又存在著那種各執(zhí)己見、四分五裂，只在目光短淺、自私自利兩方面有共同語言的少數(shù)派。但我相信，這里也必然存在著英國人特有的社會群體感、高尚的同胞之情和正義之感，盡管隱藏得很深。(孩子們?nèi)院敖兄?quot;這不公平"。)盡管到處彌漫著商業(yè)廣告氣氛，存在著通貨膨脹和猖狂的剝削行為，這些東西即使是今日也一定依然存在，因為它們深深植根于英國。但那些根一定正急需營養(yǎng)。要給英國人特性提供營養(yǎng)，卻不能靠狹隘的理性思維的東風(fēng)，最近的盈虧數(shù)字或?qū)λ嚼牟粩嗪魡?。政客們總是發(fā)出這樣的呼喚，而政治家--如果還能找到政治家的話--則寧愿將自己和聽眾帶出股票交易所、股東會議及帳房之類的場所。他們提供機會，使人們努力向上，而不是保持原樣。他們創(chuàng)造出一種良好的社會風(fēng)氣，使得貪婪、嫉妒和怨恨這些常見的行為顯得渺小、可鄙。他們使人們恢復(fù)原有的那種彼此親如一家的觀念。這種現(xiàn)象在英國曾一次又一次地發(fā)生過。但近來情形卻不一樣，那種以深情喚起深情，以想象激發(fā)想象的情況已經(jīng)很罕見，或者說根本沒有了。近年來"我們身上所有不朽的東西已被洗劫一空"。但我們沒必要再這樣繼續(xù)下去了，沒必要去加入一個具有民族特征的共同市場。許多年前，我就曾首次公開表示過我的一個觀點：英國人。盡管表面上給人以許多相反的印象，但在內(nèi)心深處卻是一個富于想象的民族，他們對生活中任何激動人心的事物能迅速作出反應(yīng)。這一點如果被剝奪了，他們便會變得煩悶、慍怒，與人發(fā)生愚蠢的、目光短淺的爭吵。不論是戴著圓頂禮帽的老成持重的生意人，還是那些頭發(fā)蓬亂的毛頭小伙子，全都是這樣。要正確地面對未來，他們需要有人來指明方向并給以精神上的巨大鼓舞。再貧困、再冷酷一些的生活也不能讓英國人低頭--只要他們在精神上不是更冷酷、更貧困，只要他們依然拒絕拋棄英國人特性--這就是千百年來這些島國居民的奇特氣質(zhì)和非理性特點以及他們的許多弱點和創(chuàng)造力的奧秘所在。

(選自《英國人》)

詞匯(Vocabulary)

cosmopolitan (adj.) : common to or representative of all or many parts of the world;not national or local世界性的;不限于國家或地區(qū)范圍的

rally (n.) : a gathering of people for a common purpose;mass meeting(群眾性)集會

scuffle (n.) : a rough，confused fight;close，haphazard struggle扭打;混戰(zhàn)

fanatical (adj.) : unreasonably enthusiastic;overly zealous狂熱的，過分熱衷的

snarl (v.) : speak harshly and sharply，as in anger，impatience，etc.怒吼，咆哮

shop steward : a person chosen by his fellow trade unionists in an industrial establishment to speak for them to the management and to watch over their interest(資本主義國家中工人選的)工人代表

accelerate (v.) : cause to develop or progress more quickly加快，促進

alien (adj.) : opposed or repugnant相反的;不相容的;格格不入的

cosy (adj.) : smallish but comfortable and relaxing舒適的，安逸的

razor-keen (adj.) : as sharp as a razor;[fig.]very smart and shrewd犀如剃刀的;[喻]伶俐能干的

impoverish (v.) : make poor;reduce to poverty使貧困，使處于貧困

subsidy (n.) : a grant of money from the government or society，etc.補助金;津貼

poster (n.) : a relatively large printed card or sheet of paper，often illustrated，posted to advertise or publicize something海報;張貼的大幅廣告

advocate (n.) : a person who speaks or writes in support of something提倡者;擁護者

overdraft (n.) : a withdrawal of money from a bank in excess of the amount credited to the drawer透支

caper (n.) : a wild，foolish action or prank嬉戲，玩笑，把戲

advert (n.) : advertisement的縮略

bicker (n.) : have a petty quarrel;squabble(為瑣事)爭吵，口角

recoil (v.) : draw back，stagger back;retreat撤退，后退，退回

anomalous (adj.) : deviating from the regular arrangement，general rule，or usual method;abnormal反常的，異常的;破格的，破例的

syndicalism (n.) : theory and movement of trade unionism in which all means of production and distribution would be brought under the control of federations of labor unions by the use of direct action，such as general strikes工團主義;工聯(lián)主義

hippopotamus (n.) : one of several large，plant-eating mammals，with a heavy，thick-skinned，almost hairless body and short legs，which lives chiefly in or near rivers in Africa河馬

fraud (n.) : deceit;trickery;cheating;a person who deceives欺騙，欺詐;騙子

crusty (adj.) : rudely abrupt or surly in speech and manner;bad-tempered(言行)粗魯?shù)?，粗暴?脾氣壞的

articulate (adj.) : expressing oneself easily and clearly表達力強的

counterculture (n.) : the culture of many young people of the 1 960's and 1 970's manifested by a life style that is opposed to the prevailing culture反主流文化

swagger (v.) : boast，brag，or show off in a loud，superior manner自夸，吹牛

integrity (n.) : uprightness，honesty，and sincerity正直，誠實，真誠

sloppy (adj.) : careless;slovenly or messy粗心的;不整潔的

inept (adj.) : incompetent;unfit;out 0f place不稱職的;不相宜的;不恰當?shù)?/p>

shiftless (adj.) : incapable，inefficient，lazy無能的;無效率的;懶惰的

slovenly (adj.) : careless in appearance, habits，work，etc.不整潔的;疏忽的;馬虎的

messy (adj.) : untidy，disorderly，dirty，etc.凌亂的; 混亂的;臟的

slop around : loaf around閑蕩，閑逛

skimp (v.) : do poorly or carelessly馬虎從事;草率從事

scrounge (n.) : take without permission;pilfer;beg擅取;偷竊;乞討

booze (v.) : drink too much alcoholic liquor狂飲，痛飲

vandalism (n.) : the actions or attitudes of the Vandals or of a vandal;malicious or ignorant destruction of public or private property，esp. of that which is beautiful or artistic 汪達爾人的行為或作風(fēng);破壞文化藝術(shù)品的行為

pilfer (v.) : steal(esp. small sums or petty objects);filch偷竊;尤指小偷小摸

damnation (n.) : a damning or being damned詛咒;譴責(zé)

apathy (n.) : 1ack of emotion;indifference無情，感情淡漠;冷漠，漠不關(guān)心

squabble (v.) : quarrel noisily over a small matter：wrangle(為瑣事)爭吵?？诮?/p>

repertory : a theatre in which a permanent acting company prepares several productions for a season and keeps alternating them in limited runs由固定劇團定期換演劇目的劇場;擁有大量常備劇目的戲院

farce (n.) : an exaggerated comedy based on broadly humorous，highly unlikely situations笑劇，鬧劇，滑稽戲

demagogue (n.) : a person who tries to stir up the people by appeals to emotion，prejudice，etc.，in order to win them over quickly and so gain power煽動者，鼓動者

frivolous (adj.) : not properly serious or sensible：silly and light-minded;giddy輕薄的;輕浮的;膚淺的

myopic (adj.) : short-sighted近視的;缺乏遠見的

sulks (n.) : a sulky mood or state慍怒的樣子(或狀態(tài))

bowler (n.) : a man's round hard hat，usually black圓頂硬呢帽(常為黑色)

短語(Expressions)

draw on : take or USe as a source利用，憑，靠

例：If newspapermen cannot get facts for their stories，they some-times draws on t11eir imaginations.如果記者們采訪不到事實真相來寫報道，他們有時就憑想像力去編造。

shop steward : a union member elected to represent coworkers in dealings with management工會管事，工人代表

safe to say : 英)If it is safe to say something，it may be said with-out exaggeration or falsehood.可以肯定地說，可以保險地說

例：Whether he call get a high score in the exam，it is safe to say that he will pass it.不管他在考試中能不能拿到高分，但是可以肯定地說他能通過這項考試。

out of scale : out of proportion不成比例，不相稱

例：The dog's head is out of scale in this painting.在這幅畫中這只狗的頭與它身體的其他部分不成比例。

keep clear of sth. : avoid or refrain from stll.避開，離著

例：Keep clear of that area!不要去那個地方!

state of mind : a particular mental or emotional condition such as be.ing in a state of bliss，in a state of depression，in a state of despair,etc.心境，思想(精神)狀態(tài)

例：This is just a state of mind，not a reality.這只是一種心情而不是現(xiàn)實。

shrug off : (英)dismiss something as not deserving one's attention聳肩對……表示不理，不屑一顧，一笑置之

例：Don't take it for granted that you can shrug off this responsi-bility!不要想當然地以為你可以置這個責(zé)任于不顧!

sweat one's guts out : work very hard拼命干

例：He sweated his guts out and bought himself a Car near the end of the summer.他拼命地工作，在夏天決結(jié)束時給自己買了一輛車。

pay packet : an envelope containing your wages：the amount of money someone earns(附工資及工資單的)工資袋，工資，薪水

fall between two stools : be neither one type of thing nor another.or be unable to choose between two ways of doing something兩頭落空，兩邊都不討好，由于猶豫而誤事

例：The movie fails between two stools--it's neither a thriller nor a comedy.這部影片兩頭都落了空--既不是驚險片也不是喜劇片。

chop logic : argue in a hairsplitting(吹毛求疵的)way強詞奪理

例：Don't chop logic!You are wrong anyway.不要強詞奪理了!不管怎么說，是你錯了。

repertory company : a company that presents and performs a number of different plays or other works during a season,usually in ahemation.定期換演劇目的劇團