首页 精致阅读者套装(全5册)

Chapter Three人生最好的奖励

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适合的才是最好的Suit Is Best

威廉·黑兹利特/ William Hazlitt

威廉·黑兹利特(1778—1830),英国随笔作家。他清晰、直接、男子气概的风格极大地影响了一批随笔作家。他在《莎剧人物》《论英国喜剧作家》和《论伊丽莎白时代戏剧文学》中的评论研究因可读性和洞察力敏锐而分外知名,这些评论后来收集整理成的讲稿被收录到《席间闲谈》,又名《关于人物及风格的新评论》。

Ace in the Hole

Understand these new words before you listen to this article.

1. pretension [pri'ten??n] n. 自负;骄傲

2. clench [klent?] v. 紧握;确定

3. ornament ['?:n?m?nt] n. 装饰

4. cumbrous ['k?mbr?s] adj. 累赘的,成负担的

The proper force of words lies not in the words themselves, but in their application. A word may be a fine sounding word, of an unusual length, and very imposing from its learning and novelty, and yet in the connection in which it is introduced may be quite pointless and irrelevant. It is not pomp or pretension, but the adaptation of the expression to the idea, that clenches a writer’s meaning: as it is not the size or glossiness of the materials, but their being fitted each to its place, that gives strength to the arch; or as the pegs and nails are as necessary to the support of the building as the larger timbers, and more so than the mere showy, unsubstantial ornaments. I hate anything that occupies more space than it is worth. I hate to see a load of bandboxes go along the street, and I hate to see a parcel of big words without anything in them. A person who does not deliberately dimples of all his thoughts alike in cumbrous draperies and flimsy disguises—may strike out twenty varieties of familiar everyday language, each coming somewhat nearer to the feeling he wants to convey, and at last not hit upon that particular and only one which may be said to be identical with the exact impression in his mind. This would seem to show that Mr. Cobalt is hardly right in saying that the first word that occurs is always the best. It may be a very good one; and yet a better may present itself on reflection or from time to time. It may be suggested naturally, however, and spontaneously, from a fresh and lively conception of the subject.