02 Beauty Is Meaningless 美是难以言传的
A young man sees a sunset and, unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him, concludes that it must be the gateway to a world that lies beyond. It is difficult for any of us in moments of intense aesthetic experience to resist the suggestion that we are catching a glimpse of a light that shines down to us from a different realm of existence, different and, because the experience is intensely moving, in some way higher. And though the gleams blind the eyes and dazzle, yet they do convey a hint of beauty and serenity greater than we have known or imagined. Greater too than we can describe, for language, which was invented to convey the meanings of this world, cannot readily be fitted to the uses of another.
年轻人看到日落，由于无法理解或表达心中激起的那种强烈感情，便断定日落处一定是通往遥远世界的大门。我们任何人在强烈感受到美的时刻都不禁联想到：我们似乎瞥见从一个不同世界射向我们的一线光芒，不仅不同，而且因为这种美具有强烈的感染力，所以在某种程度上更高级。还有，尽管这光芒使人眼花缭乱，但它确实传达了一种我们未曾经历的和无法想象的美和静谧的启示。这种美和静谧是我们所不能描述的，因为人们创造语言的目的是表达我们的世界的各种意义，无法轻易地运用于另一个世界。
That all great art has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable. In some moods, nature shares it. There is no sky in June so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer, no sunset so beautiful that it does not wake the vision of a greater beauty, a vision which passes before it is fully
不可否认，一切伟大的艺术都具有使人超尘脱俗的浮想的力量。在某种状态下，大自然就具有这种魅力。六月的天空不是蓝得不能再蓝，日落不是美得不能再唤起一个更美的景象，一个未被饱览就消失的而且在消失的时候留给人们一种莫名的渴望和遗憾的景象。但是，如果这个世界不只是一
glimpsed, and in passing leaves an indefinable longing and regret. But, if this world is not merely a bad joke, life a vulgar flare amid the cool radiance of the stars, and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries, if these intimations of a something behind and beyond are not evil humor born of indigestion, or whimsies sent by the devil to mock and madden us, if, in a word, beauty means something, yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning.
场恶作剧的话，如果生命不只是惨淡星光里的平凡的一闪的话，如果存在不只是神秘宗教发出的一阵空虚的笑声的话，如果对某种玄妙事物的暗示不是由于消化不良而引起的不好情绪，或者不是一种魔鬼送来嘲笑我们并使我们发狂的怪念头的话，一句话，如果美有某种意义的话，我们千万不要设法去阐明它的意义。
If we glimpse the unutterable things, it is not wise to try to utter it, nor should we seek to invest with significance which we cannot grasp. Beauty in the terms of human meanings is meaningless.
如果我们瞥见难以言传的东西，企图用语言把它表达出来是不明智的。我们也不应该设法给我们所不理解的事物赋予意义。从人生各种意义来看，美是难以言传的。
单词解析 Word Analysis
rouse[raʊz]v.唤醒；激起
例 He’s very hard to rouse in the morning.
他早晨很难被唤醒。
gateway[ˈɡeɪtweɪ]n.门；通路
例 We stood by the gateway watching the sunset.
我们站在门口看日落。
aesthetic[esˈθetɪk]adj.美学的；审美的；有美感的
例 From an aesthetic point of view it’s thetic.
从美学观点来说，这是个武断的看法。
realm[relm]n.领域；王国
例 The material realm is one area that everyone relates to.
物质领域是与每个人有联系的一个地方。
gleam[ɡliːm]n.微光；闪光；闪现
例 I could see the faint gleam of light in the distance.
我能看见远处微弱的灯光。
dazzle[ˈdæzl]v.使眼花；使赞许
例 His eyes dazzled before the strong light.
他面对强光头晕目眩。
hint[hɪnt]n.暗示
例 There were subtle hints in his letter.
他的信中有些微妙的暗示。
serenity[səˈrenəti]n.宁静；沉着
例 I enjoyed the serenity and the peacefulness when I was in the church.
当我身处大教堂时感到平和与宁静。
vulgar[ˈvʌlɡər]adj.通俗的；粗俗的；乡土的
例 Her taste in clothing is rather vulgar.
她的穿着相当俗气。
amid[əˈmɪd]prep.在其间；在其中
例 He sat down amid deafening applause.
他在震耳欲聋的掌声中就座。
radiance[ˈreɪdiəns]n.光辉；辐射
例 The radiance of electric lights radiates from the ceiling.
电灯的光芒从天花板上辐射下来。
whimsy[ˈwɪmzi]n.怪念头；异想天开；心情浮动；反复无常
例 Some show cars are pure whimsy, dreamed up by young designers at play.
展出的车型中有些纯属异想天开，只是年轻设计师们闲来无事的凭空想象。
madden[ˈmædn]v.使发狂；激怒
例 I cannot reconcile myself to this idea—it would madden me.
我不能接受这种想法，它会使我发疯的。
interpret[ɪnˈtɜːrprɪt]v.口译；解释；翻译；诠释
例 Not everybody agreed with the way she interpreted the violin concerts, but it was still a technically perfect performance.
并非每个人都同意她对那首小提琴协奏曲的诠释，但是她的演奏在技巧上仍是无懈可击。
语法知识点 Grammar Points
这是一个较为复杂的句子。句子的主干“A young man sees a sunset and concludes that it must be the gateway to a world that lies beyond.”中有两个that，其中第一个that引导的是宾语从句, that在从句中不充当成分；第二个that引导的是定语从句，先行词是world, that在从句中充当主语。另外，两个逗号中间的部分“unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him”做主语补语，是补充解释说明主语“A young man”的。
例 He arrived at home at ten p.m., tired and hungry.
他晚上十点才到家，又累又饿。
这个句子用了“It is+adj.+for sb.to do sth.”这一句型。其中, it做形式主语，真正的主语是后面的to do不定式。因为主语较长，为了避免头重脚轻，所以用了it来做形式主语。
例 It is very necessary for students to study hard.
对学生来说，用功读书是很必要的。
句中有两个that。其中，第一个that引导的是同位语从句, suggestion是先行词，从句是对suggestion的解释说明，从句是一个完整的句子, that在从句中不充当成分；第二个that引导的是定语从句，先行词是light, that在从句中充当主语。
例 The news that the team of our school won the game excited us.
我们学校的球队赢得比赛的消息令我们十分振奋。
后面的两个逗号之间的“because the experience is intensely moving”是插入语。分析句子结构时可忽略不看。
这个句子中有部分倒装结构“nor should we seek to ...”。以no, nor, only in this way, never, little, often, not only, not until, hardly, scarcely等词引起的句子，常用倒装语序。
例 Under no circumstances must a soldier leave his post.
无论在什么情况下，士兵都不会离开他的岗位。
I couldn’t answer the question. Nor could anyone else answer in our class.
我回答不出这个问题，我们班上的其他人也都回答不出来。
经典名句 Famous Classics
1. Make the best of a bad business（or job or bargain）.
身处山穷水尽，力争柳暗花明。
2. How often are we to die before we go quite off the stage? In every friend we lose a part of ourselves, and the best part.
在我们完全离开这个世界以前，我们是怎样慢慢死去的呢？每次失去一个朋友，我们就有一部分死去了，而且是最好的那一部分。
3. True mastery of any skill takes a lifetime.
对任何技能的掌握都需要一生的刻苦操练。
4. Sweat is the lubricant of success.
汗水是成功的润滑剂。
5. You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
通过对别人感兴趣来交朋友比试图让别人对你感兴趣来交朋友要快得多。
6. If you are doing your best, you will not have to worry about failure.
如果你竭尽全力，你就不用担心失败。
7. Energy and persistence conquer all things.
能量和坚持可以征服一切事情。