1、Here is New York1. On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy.纽约将孤寂与独处当作赠礼，赐予所有向往这份奇特礼物的人们。It is this largess that accounts for the presence within the citys walls of a considerable section of the population; for the residents of
2、Manhattan are to a large extent strangers who have pulled up stakes somewhere and come to town, seeking sanctuary or fulfillment or some greater or lesser grail. 纽约城内数量庞大的居民中，冲着这份赠礼而来此落脚的绝不在少数；曼哈顿也因此聚集了众多异乡客，他们背井离乡到此闯荡，有的为了寻求庇护，有的为了一展抱负，还有的为了实现心中或大或小的愿望。The capacity to make such dubious gifts is a m
3、ysterious quality of New York.纽约之所以神秘，便在于它总能赐予这般扑朔迷离的馈赠It can destroy an individual, or it can fulfill him, depending a good deal on luck.能使人万劫不复，也能让人飞黄腾达，皆为运气使然。No one should come to New York to lice unless he is willing to be lucky.如果有谁打算碰碰运气，不妨到纽约来。2. NY is the concentrate of art and commerce and
4、 sport and religion and entertainment and finance, bringing to a single compact arena the gladiator, the evangelist, the promoter, the actor, the trader, and the merchant. 纽约集艺术、商业、体育、宗教、娱乐和金融于一城，城内拳击手、传教士、推销员、演员、经纪人、商人齐聚一堂，同场竞技。It carries on its lapel the unexpungeable odor of the long past, so tha
5、t no matter where you sit in NY you feel the vibrations of great times and tall deeds, of queer people and events and undertakings.纽约的领口上弥漫着绵延悠长、挥之不去的历史气息，不管坐在纽约城的哪个角落，你都能感受到那些辉煌时代和宏伟业绩的搏动，那些奇妙人物、事件和活动的余音。I am sitting at the moment in stifling hotel room in 90-degree heat, halfway down an air shaft,
6、 in midtown. 此时此刻，我正坐在市中心一问令人窒息的旅馆客房里，它位于通风井中部，屋内温度高达华氏 90 度。No air moves in or out of the room, yet I am curiously affected by emanations from the immediate surroundings.房间里没法子通风，但说来也怪，我还是捕捉到了周遭事物散发出来的讯息。I am 22 blocks from where Rudolph Valentine lay in state , 离这儿 22 个街区之外，鲁道夫瓦伦帝诺在长眠；eight blocks
7、 from where Nathan Hale was executed, 8 个街区之外，内森黑尔曾被处以极刑；five blocks from the publishers office where Ernest Hemingway hit Max Eastman on the nose, 5 个街区之外的出版社办公室中，欧内斯特海明威的拳头同马科斯 伊斯特曼的鼻子来了一次亲密接触；four miles from where Walt Whitman sat sweating out editorials for the Brooklyn Eagle,4 英里外，沃尔特惠特曼呕心沥血地为
8、布鲁克林之鹰 写作社论；34 blocks from the street Willa Cather lived in when she came to NY to write books about Nebraska,34 个街区之外，威拉凯瑟刚来纽约时曾居住于此，创作了许多以内布拉斯加州为题材的作品；one block from where Marceline used to clown on the boards of the hippodrome, 1 个街区之外，玛尔瑟琳在纽约剧院大楼里演出过丑角笑剧；36 blocks from the spot where the histori
9、an joe gould kicked a radio to pieces in full view of the public,36 个街区之外，历史学家乔古尔德在众目睽睽之下将一个收音机踢得粉碎；13 blocks from where Harry Thaw shot Stanford white,13 个街区之外，哈里索开枪击毙了斯坦福怀特；five blocks from where I used to usher at the Metropolitan opera 5 个街区之外是我曾做过领座员的大都会剧院；and only 112 blocks from the spot wher
10、e Clarence day the elder was washed of his sins in the church of the epiphany( I could continue this list indefinitely), 112 个街区之外则矗立着老克拉伦斯戴洗去罪恶的主显节教堂(类似的例子，我可以无限制地罗列下去) 。and for that matter probably occupying the very room that any number of exalted and somewise memorable characters sat in, 这样想来，或许
11、有一些显赫的大人物也曾在我现在栖身的屋子里住过，some of them on hot ,breathless afternoons, lonely and private and full of their own sense of emanations from without.有的也许就是在某个热得让人喘不过气来的下午安坐于此，形单影只，与世隔绝，脑子里却满是各自捕捉到的屋子外边散发出来的讯息。3. When I went down to lunch a few minutes ago I noticed that the man sitting next to me(about eig
12、ht inches away along the wall) was Fred Stone. 几分钟前，我下楼吃午饭，发现坐在我旁边的竟然是弗里德斯通(他靠墙坐着，离我大约 18 英寸远)。The 18 inches are both the connection and the separation that New York provides for its inhabitants. 18 英寸是纽约为其居民之间设定的既联系又分隔的距离。My only connection with Fred Stone was that I saw him in the Wizard of Oz aro
13、und the beginning of the century.我同弗里德斯通之间的唯一联系就是我有幸在本世纪初上演的绿野仙踪里看过他的表演。But our waiter felt the same stimulus from being close to a man from OZ, and after Mr. Stone left the room the waiter told me that when he was a young man just arrived in this country and before he could understand a word of Eng
14、lish, he had taken his girl for their first theater date to the wizard of oz. 没想到，招待我们的服务员竟也同我一样，为能同一个“绿野仙踪人士”如此亲密接触而兴奋不已；斯通离开后，他告诉我说，他(即服务员本人) 刚到美国时年纪轻轻，甚至听不懂英语，但他同女朋友的首次剧院约会就是去看绿野仙踪 。it was a wonderful show, the waiter recalled- a man of straw, a man of tin. Wonderful! 那是非常棒的演出，他回忆道稻草人啊，铁皮人啊。真是棒极了
15、!( And still only eighteen inches away.) (还是在 18 英寸之外)“Mr. Stone is a hearty eater,” said the waiter thoughtfully, content with his fragile participation in destiny, this link with Oz.“斯通先生的胃口总是那么好， ”他还不无体贴地感叹，似乎为同“绿野仙踪”分享些许命运交集而心满意足呢。4. New York blends the gift of privacy with the excitement of par
16、ticipation;纽约城赐予人们独处孤居之礼的同时，也奉上一份参与的兴奋；better than most dense communities it succeeds in insulating the individual (if he wants it, and almost everybody wants or needs it) against all enormous and violent and wonderful events that are taking place every minute. 同其他人口稠密的社区相比，纽约能更好地将个人与每时每劾在他周围发生的重大的、
17、猛烈的、奇妙的事件隔离开来(只要他需要，而几乎每个人都想要或需要这种隔离) 。I have been sitting in the miasmic air shaft, a good many rather splashy events have occurred in town. 自打我搬进这乌烟瘴气的通风井以来，城里已发生了好些惹人注目的事件。A man shot and killed his wife in a fit of jealous. It caused no stir outside his block and got only small mention in the pap
18、ers. I did not attend.妒火中烧之下，一个男人开枪打死了自己的妻子，但此事却并未在他所处街区以外的地方引起任何反响，报纸上也只是稍稍提到几笔。我当时并不在现场。Since my arrival, the greatest air show ever staged in all the world took place in town. 我来到城里以后，世界上规模空前的飞行表演恰好在纽约举行。I did not attend and neither did most of the eight million other inhabitants, although they s
19、ay there was quite a crowd. 当时我并没到场，城中 800 万居民也大多没有去观摩，尽管据宣称，到现场捧场的观众不在少数。I didnt even hear any planes except a couple of westbound commercial airliners that habitually use this air shaft to fly over. 我甚至没有听到飞机的轰鸣声，只是间或有几架西行的商业航班从通风井上空飞过。The biggest oceangoing ships on the North Atlantic arrived and
20、 departed. I didnt notice them neither did most other New Yorkers.北大西洋上最大的远洋轮船在纽约进进出出，可我并没有留意，大多数纽约人也没有注意到。I am told this is the greatest seaport in the world, within 650 miles of waterfront, and ships calling here from many exotic lands, 纽约港被称为世界上最大的港口，沿港码头绵延 650 英里，停泊着来自他乡异域的船只，but the only boat I
21、ve happened to notice since my arrival was a small sloop tacking out of the east river night before last on the ebb tide when I was walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. 但我来到纽约之后，只有在前天夜里经过布鲁克林大桥时看到过一艘单桅帆船罢了，其时，它正抢在退潮前急急驶出东河。I heard the Queen Mary blow one midnight, though, and the sound carried the wh
22、ole history of departure and longing and loss. 不过，一天半夜里我还听到了玛丽女王号的汽笛声，这一声长鸣传达了“离行-期许- 惘然”这一完整过程。The Lions have been in the convention. Ive seen not one lion.狮子会会员们齐聚集会，我却连他们的人影都没看到过。 A friend of mine saw one and told me about him. (He was lame, and was wearing a bolero.) 我的一位朋友倒是撞见一个，并告诉过我(据他描述，那人瘸着
23、脚，身穿一件短开衫 )。At the ball grounds and horse parks the greatest sporting spectacles have been enacted. I saw no ballplayer, no race horse.棒球场和赛马场上如火如荼的比赛也已拉开序幕，我却连一个球员、一匹赛马都没见着。The governor came to town. I heard the siren scream, but that was all there was to that-an 18-inch margin again.州长驾临城中，我听到警报尖鸣
24、，但仅此而已又是 18 英寸的距离使然。A man was killed by a falling cornice. I was not a party to the tragedy, and again the inches counted heavily.有人被从天而降的一截房檐砸中，死于非命。我却并未卷入这场惨剧，究其原因，还是这 18 英寸的距离使然。5. I mention these events merely to show that NY is peculiarly constructed to absorb almost anything that comes along(w
25、hether 1000-foot liner out of the east or 20000-man convention out of west) without inflicting the event on its inhabitants;我提到这些，仅仅为了表明纽约城是一座建构奇特的城市，这里发生的事件包罗万象(城东 1,000 英尺长的班轮也好，城西 2 万人的集会也罢 )，但种种事件却又未被强加到每个居民身上。so that every event is, in a sense, optional, and the inhabitant is in the happy posit
26、ion of being able to choose his spectacle and so conserve his soul.因此, 从某种意义上说，每个事件都有可供选择的余地，居民们大可随心所欲地选择心仪的场景来体味，保护其灵魂免受侵害。In most metropolises, small and large, the choice is often not with the individual at all. 在许多都市里，无论是大都会还是小城市，个人往往没有这种选择的自由。He is thrown to the lions. 他必然会同狮子会会员们狭路相逢。The lions
27、 are overwhelming; the event is unavoidable. 狮子会会员无处不在，各种事件避无可避。A cornice falls, that it hits every citizen on the head, every last man in town. 一截房檐从天而降，必然会砸到每个市民头上，无一幸免。I sometimes think that the only event that hits every NY on the head is the annual SPD parade, which is fairly penetrating-the Ir
28、ish are a hard race to tune out, there are 5000000 of them in residence, and they have the police force right in the family.我有时想，能够砸到每个纽约人头上的事件恐怕只有一年一度的圣帕特里克节游行，其影响之广，可谓无孔不入爱尔兰是一个不可小觑的民族，纽约城中居住的爱尔兰人有 50 万之众，他们还拥有自己的武装力量。6. The quality in NY that insulates its inhabitants from life may simply weaken
29、them as individuals. 在将居民同其周边生活隔离开来的同时，纽约也会弱化他们作为个体的存在。Perhaps it is healthier to live in a community where, when a cornice falls, you feel the blow; where when the governor passes, you see at any rate his hat.也许，生活在一个普通社区里，生活反而会健全些：在那里，当一截房檐从天而降时，你总会感受到疼痛；在那里，当州长经过时，至少他的帽子会映入你的眼帘。7. I am not defend
30、ing NY in this regard. 说到这点，我并不是在为纽约辩护。Many of its settles are probably here merely to escape, not face, reality. 很多人选择这里落脚也许只是为了逃避现实，而不是面对现实。But whatever it means, it is a rather rare gift, and I believe it has a positive effect on the creative capacities of NYs-for creation is in part merely the b
31、usiness of forgoing the great and small distractions.但无论如何，这都是非常希罕的礼物，而且我也相信这给纽约客的创造力带来了积极的影响因为在一定程度上，创造就是将大大小小令人分心的事物抛之脑后的过程。8. Although NY often imparts a feeling of great forlornness or forsakenness, it is seldom seems dead or unresourceful; 尽管纽约常常带给人一种强烈的失落感或被遗弃感，但她却很少显得死气沉沉或乏味无趣，and you always
32、feel that either by shifting your location 10 blocks or by reducing your fortune by five dollars you can experience rejuvenation.你总会生出如下想法：只需变换一下位置，搬到 10 个街区以外，或者稍稍破一下财，花掉 5 美元，你就能立刻重获生机，神采奕奕。Many people who have no real independence of spirit depend on the citys tremendous variety and sources of ex
33、citement for spiritual sustenance and maintenance of morale.许多缺乏自主精神的人纷纷从纽约城的多姿多彩及令人兴奋的活动中寻求支柱，支撑和维系他们的精神和信念。In the country there are a few chances of sudden rejuvenation-a shift in weather, perhaps, or something arriving in the mail. 在这个国家的其他地方，这种立竿见影的“重生”机会少之又少或许只有天气的变化或新到的邮件才能带来些许惊喜。But in new yo
34、rk the chances are endless.但在纽约，这种机会却是无穷无尽的。I think that although many persons are here from some excess of spirit ( which caused them to break away from their small town), some, too, are here from a deficiency of spirit, who find in NY a protection, or an easy substitution.在我看来，尽管有不少人来到纽约是因为他们活力过剩，无法宣泄(这促使他们背井离乡，来到纽约) ，同时，也不乏一些人是因为精神匮乏才来到纽约，在这里寻求庇护或某种轻而易举就能得到的替代品。
