分析英國人的性格特點《要英文的》

題目：

分析英國人的性格特點《要英文的》

解答：

quality of the British, and in particular of the English, is 「reserved.」 A reserved person is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person: he never tells you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives, how many children he has, and what his interests are. English people tend to be like that.
在其他的歐洲人看來,英國人,尤其是英格蘭人的最明顯的特點是「沉默寡言」.一個沉默寡言的人不大同陌生人說話,情感不大外露,也很少激動.要想了解一個沉默寡言的人很困難：他從不談及他的身世,即使你與他工作數年,也許你不知道他家住在哪裡,有幾個子女,有些什麼興趣愛好.英國人往往就是這樣.
If they are making a journey by bus they will do their best to find an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does start, personal questions like 「How old are you?」 or even 「What is your name?」 are not easily asked.
乘公共汽車旅行時,他們會儘量找到一個空座位；乘火車旅行時,他們會儘量找到一個空隔間.如果他們不得不與他人共坐一個隔間,火車開了數英里也許還不見他們開口說話.即使打開了話匣子,他們也不輕易問起「你多大了?」或者「你貴姓?」之類的個人問題.
This reluctance to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways since it tends to give the impression of coldness, and it is true that the English (except perhaps in the North) are not noted for their generosity and hospitality. On the other hands, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite pleased when a friendly strange or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier down. We may also mention at this point that the people of the North and West, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East.
從某些方面來說,這種不願與人交往的特點是件令人遺憾的事情,因爲這往往給人以冷漠的印象.除了北方人以外,英國人從不以他們的慷慨大方和熱情好客而著稱.另一方面,雖然他們表面上沉默寡言,但內心還是很有人情味.當友善的陌生人或外國人打破沉默時,他們也許會感到很高興.說到這裡,也許我們應該提一句,英國的北部和西部的人,特別是威爾斯人,遠不象南部和東部的人那樣緘默.
Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else, but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty. Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let us say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply 「Yes,」 because people will think him conceited. He will probably give an answer like, 「I’m not bad,」 or 「I think I’m very good,」 or 「Well, I’m very keen on tennis.」 (i.e. I’m very fond of it.) even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year’s local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck.
與英國人的緘默密切相關的是英國人的謙虛.在英國人的內心,他們的自負不亞於任何其他的民族.但在與別人交往時,他們注重謙虛,起碼要表現出一種謙虛的姿態.自誇被認爲是不禮貌的.比如說,一個人網球打得很好,當有人問他是不是一個網球好手時,他很少會回答說「是」,因爲如果他回答「是」,人們會認爲他很自負.他很可能會這樣回答：「還不錯.」或者「我覺得我還行.」或者「嗯,我挺喜歡打網球.」 即使他在去年當地的網球錦標賽上打入了決賽,他也許會說只是碰上了好運氣.
The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting-point is self-dispraise, and its great enemy is conceit. Its object is the ability to laugh at oneself---at one’s own faults, one’s own failure, even at one’s own ideals. The criticism, 「He has no sense of humor」 is very commonly heard in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of humor is an attitude to life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious. The English do not laugh at a cripple of a madman, or a tragedy or an honorable failure.
著名的英國式幽默感也與此相似.其出發點是自貶,其大敵是自負.其目的是能夠自嘲——嘲笑自己的錯誤,自己的失敗,甚至自己的理想.在英國,幽默感受到高度重視,經常聽到「他沒有幽默感」這樣的評論.幽默感是對生活的一種態度,而不僅僅是一聽到笑話就能夠開懷大笑.這種態度決不是冷酷,決不是無禮,決不是惡毒.英國人從不嘲笑殘疾人或精神病人,也從不會對一件悲慘的或雖敗猶榮的事情幸災樂禍.
Since reserve, a show of modesty and a sense of humor are part of his own nature, the typical Englishman tends to expect them in others. He secretly looks down on more excitable nations, and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they. He doesn’t trust big promises and open shows of feelings, especially if they are expressed in flowery language. He doesn’t trust self-praise of any kind. This applies not only to what other people may tell him about themselves orally, but to the letters they may write to him. To those who are fond of flowery expressions, the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.
因爲沉默寡言、謙虛的表現和幽默感是英國人天生性格的組成部分,典型的英國人總是期望別人也具有這種品質.他從心裡看不起那些容易激動的民族,總是認爲他們沒有自己可靠.他不相信信誓旦旦的諾言,也不相信感情的直接外露,尤其不相信用華麗的語言做出的承諾和表達的感情.他對任何的自誇之詞都不相信,不管是人們口頭告訴的,還是寫信書面表達的.在那些喜歡用華麗辭藻的人看來,英國人可能顯得冷漠,讓人感到很不舒服.
Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to. It must be realized that sport in this modern form is almost entirely a British invention. Boxing, rugby, football, hockey, tennis and cricket were all first organized and given rules in Britain. Rules are the essence of sport, and sportsmanship is the ability to practice a sport according to its rules, while also showing generosity to one’s opponent and good temper in defeat. The high pressure of modern international sport makes these ideals difficult to keep, but they are at least highly valued in Britain and are certainly achieved there more commonly than among more excitable peoples. Moreover, sportsmanship as an ideal is applied to life in general this is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech. Everybody talks of 「fair play」 and 「playing the game」 or 「playing fair.」 Borrowed from boxing, 「straight from the shoulder」 is used to describe a well-aimed, strong criticism and 「below the belt」 is used to describe an unfair one. One of the most elementary rules of life is 「never hit a man when he’s down」---in other words, never take advantage of a person’s misfortune. English schoolboys often show this sense of sportsmanship to a surprisingly high degree in their relations with each other.
最後再說說體育運動風範.就象幽默感一樣,這也是英國人的理想,儘管不是每個英國人都能做到這一點.我們應該認識到,現代形式的體育運動幾乎都是英國人的發明.拳擊、橄欖球、足球、曲棍球、網球和板球都是源於英國,並且首先在英國制訂出比賽規則.比賽規則反映了體育運動的本質,具有體育運動風範就是能夠按照體育運動規則進行比賽,同時又能對對手寬大爲懷,失敗時也能心平氣和.現代國際體育運動的巨大壓力使得這些理想目標很難保持,但在英國這些理想目標至少還能得到高度的重視,而且與那些容易激動的民族相比,英國人在達到這些理想目標方面做得更好.此外,體育運動風範作爲理想準則也適用於日常生活.這一點可以通過日常會話中用到的許多體育用語得到證實.每個人都會談到「公平比賽」、「遵守規則」或者「公平競爭」.成語「直接出擊」起源於拳擊運動,用來表示一針見血而又措辭嚴厲的批評.「擊打對方腰帶以下的部分」則用來表示不公正的批評.生活的基本規則之一是「決不打已經倒在地上的人」,也就是說,決不乘人之危.在英國,這種體育運動風範常常在中小學的男生相處時高度地表現出來.