讀點(diǎn)好英文:The Sorrows of Young Werther 少年維特的煩惱

The Sorrows of Young Werther 少年維特的煩惱

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Why do I not write to you? And you, a learned man, ask me this? You should be clever enough to guess that I am in a happy mood because in a word I have made an acquaintance who moves my heart in a strange way. I have... I do not know.

It is not easy for me to tell you, in chronological order just how it happened, how I met such a lovely being. I am contented and happy, and therefore not a good historian.

An angel! Nonsense! Everyone calls his loved one thus, does he not? And yet I cannot describe to you how perfect she is, or why she is so perfect; enough to say that she has captured me completely.

So much innocence combined with so much intelligence; such kindness with such firmness; such inner serenity in such an active life.

But all this is foolish talk pure abstract words which fail to describe one single feature of her real person. Another time no, not another time, right at this moment will tell you everything. If I do not do it now, it will never be done.

Because between you and me since I began this letter I have been three times on the point of laying down my pen, having my horse saddled and riding out to her. Although I swore to myself this morning not to do it, I am going every other moment to the window to see how high the sun has climbed. I could not bear it any longer; I had to see her. Here I am back, Wilhelm; I will now eat my supper and then go on writing to you. What a delight it was to see her among the dear lively children, her eight brothers and sisters!

少年維特的煩惱

［德］約翰·沃爾夫?qū)ゑT·歌德

為什么我沒(méi)有給你寫信？你，憑你的學(xué)識(shí)，居然會(huì)問(wèn)我這個(gè)問(wèn)題？你準(zhǔn)能猜到，我一切都很好，因?yàn)?，?jiǎn)單說(shuō)吧，我認(rèn)識(shí)了一個(gè)人，她緊緊地牽動(dòng)著我的心。我已經(jīng)……我也不知道自己怎么啦。

我很難把這事的經(jīng)過(guò)有條不紊地告訴你，我認(rèn)識(shí)了一位最最可愛的人。我現(xiàn)在感覺(jué)既快樂(lè)又幸福，所以不能把事情很客觀地寫出來(lái)。

一位天使！不用說(shuō)！誰(shuí)談起自己的意中人時(shí)都會(huì)這么說(shuō)，不是嗎？可是我卻無(wú)法向你描述她是多么完美，以及她為什么會(huì)那么完美；一句話，她已經(jīng)把我整個(gè)心都俘獲了。

她那么淳樸，又那么聰明；那么善良，又那么堅(jiān)定；那么辛苦，內(nèi)心又那么充滿寧?kù)o。

但所有這些全都是令人討厭的空泛之詞，絲毫反映不出她真實(shí)的樣子。下次，不，不是下次，我現(xiàn)在就要立即告訴你。要是現(xiàn)在不說(shuō)，那就永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)說(shuō)了。

因?yàn)?，說(shuō)心里話，從開始寫這封信到現(xiàn)在，我已經(jīng)有三次想擱下筆，打算讓人給馬備好鞍，騎馬出去找她了。今天早晨我還發(fā)誓不這樣做，可我還是時(shí)不時(shí)地跑到窗前，看看太陽(yáng)已經(jīng)爬到多高了。我無(wú)法控制自己，我還是去了她那兒?，F(xiàn)在我回來(lái)了，威廉，我要吃著夜宵繼續(xù)給你寫信?？吹剿蝗夯顫娍蓯鄣暮⒆?，她的八個(gè)弟妹，在一起，我是多么欣喜??！

實(shí)戰(zhàn)提升

Practising & Exercise

導(dǎo)讀

約翰·沃爾夫?qū)ゑT·歌德（Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe），18世紀(jì)中葉到19世紀(jì)初德國(guó)和歐洲最重要的劇作家、詩(shī)人、思想家，他所處的那個(gè)時(shí)代正是歐洲社會(huì)大動(dòng)蕩大變革的年代。由于當(dāng)時(shí)封建制度的日趨崩潰，革命力量的不斷高漲，促使歌德不斷接受先進(jìn)思潮的影響，從而加深了自己對(duì)于社會(huì)的認(rèn)識(shí)，創(chuàng)作出了當(dāng)代最優(yōu)秀的文藝作品。歌德除了詩(shī)歌、戲劇、小說(shuō)之外，在文藝?yán)碚摗⒄軐W(xué)、歷史學(xué)、造型設(shè)計(jì)等方面都取得了卓越的成就。

《少年維特的煩惱》是一部書信體小說(shuō)。主人公維特向往自由、平等的生活，希望從事有益的實(shí)際工作。但是，他所處的那個(gè)社會(huì)卻充滿著等級(jí)的偏見和鄙陋的習(xí)氣。保守腐敗的官場(chǎng)、庸俗屈從的市民，勢(shì)利傲慢的貴族使他和周圍的現(xiàn)實(shí)格格不入。而他自己又陷入毫無(wú)希望的愛情之中，最后走上了自殺的不歸路。通過(guò)維特的悲劇，小說(shuō)揭露和批判了當(dāng)時(shí)德國(guó)社會(huì)許多不合理的現(xiàn)實(shí)，表達(dá)了覺(jué)醒的德國(guó)青年一代的革命情緒。

核心單詞

acquaintance [??kweint?ns] n. 相識(shí)的人，熟人

capture [?k?pt??] v. 捕獲；俘虜

serenity [si?reniti] n. 平靜，沉著

abstract [??bstr?kt] adj. 難懂的，深?yuàn)W的

swear [sw??] v. 發(fā)誓；宣誓

翻譯

Why do I not write to you? And you, a learned man, ask me this?

But all this is foolish talk pure abstract words which fail to describe one single feature of her real person.