考研英語閱讀:外國人眼中的孔子

Confucius in Foreigners'Eyes

外國人眼中的孔子

I first met Confucius in a friend's living room, nearly 10 years ago. OK, so it wasn't really the bearded Chinese philosopher.

大約 10 年前，我在一個(gè)朋友的起居室里第一次“見到”了孔子。當(dāng)然了，我見到的并不是那位蓄著胡子的中國古代哲學(xué)家本人，

It was a collection of his most famous lines, printed and bound and resting on a coffee table. As I scanned the pages, a vision of the man began to form in my mind.

而是一本收錄了他的名言警句的小冊子，裝訂得整整齊齊，放在茶幾上。隨手翻閱了幾頁之后，孔子的形象便在我的腦海中形成了。

It wasn't until last Saturday, though, that I finally had a chance to put a name to the face-that of Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat, who plays the sage in the new biopic Confucius.

直到上周六，我終于有機(jī)會(huì)把“孔子”這個(gè)名字和一張人臉對應(yīng)起來——香港明星周潤發(fā)在新影片《孔子》中出演這一圣人角色。

I went to see the film knowing very little of Confucius' personal story.

雖然對孔子的生平并不太了解，我還是去看了這部電影。

In the movie, we see a man who is all at once humble and wise and humorous and intelligent and disciplined and firm and clever.

影片中，我看到的是一個(gè)集謙恭、博學(xué)、幽默、智慧、守紀(jì)、嚴(yán)格于一身的圣人形象。

Even when Zhou's character all but throws herself on Confucius, the philosopher walks away with barely a trace of desire on his face.

即便是周迅所扮演的南子主動(dòng)投懷送抱的時(shí)候，他也平靜地走開了，臉上幾乎看不到一絲欲望。

If this is, indeed, the real man, meeting him would be, all at once, an incredibly exhilarating experience-and also a very depressing one.

如果孔子真是這樣一個(gè)人的話，那么與他見面將是一件十分令人興奮的事情—但同時(shí)也會(huì)讓人沮喪。

In the movie, Confucius talks of changing oneself from within. This is certainly a noble goal. Based upon my own experience, though, it is much easier said than done.

影片中，孔子教導(dǎo)人們要從內(nèi)心深處改變自己。這確實(shí)是個(gè)高尚的目標(biāo)，但從我的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷來看，這事說起來容易，做起來卻很難。

For example, I cannot imagine walking away from the temptress without the assistance of a supernatural power-no matter how many of the sage's proverbs I had internalize.

例如：我很難想象自己能夠在不借助任何超自然力量的前提下從這么一個(gè)性感女性身邊坦然地走過——就算記再多的圣人格言也無濟(jì)于事。

In this sense, I am more in awe of Confucius than ever before. A person's words take on far more significance when he or she actually lives them out.

從這點(diǎn)上來講，我對孔子的敬畏達(dá)到了從未有過的高度。一個(gè)人說道做到的人很值得尊敬。

If Confucius really was the man that Chow portrays, he was indeed one for the ages.

如果孔子真如周潤發(fā)所演繹的那樣，那他真是個(gè)名副其實(shí)的圣人。

 

 

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