爱之絮语(The Whispering Love)
-----阿杰英语随笔
古往今来,爱始终是一个普遍而永恒的话题(universal theme)。兴之所至,随笔如下:
一、 一见钟情
记得莎士比亚(William Shakespeare)在《罗密欧与朱丽叶》里写过:“Who ever loved that not loved at first sight?”有谁情钟,却不是一见钟情?
不管其外表如何,反正是情人眼里出西施。Beauty is the eyes of the beholder.
犹记研一下期,读过加拿大20世纪上半期的幽默作家斯蒂芬。里柯克(Stephen Leacock)的作品,里面有一句话, “Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl”(不少男人只因爱上了酒窝儿,就错把整个娘儿娶过来。) 说的也是这个道理。只因恋爱中的人,都会一叶障目。His admiration for her beauty blinded him to her faults.正所谓是爱屋及乌:“love me, love my dog!”
面对自己心爱的人,更得要有勇气表白:My love for you is no long a passion concealed in my blood; it’s Venus herself grasping her own prey!(对你的爱情,已不再是深藏在我血液里的热情,因为维纳斯早已抓住了她的猎物。)还有比这种爱的宣言,表明对自己的恋人死心塌地,忠贞不二的吗?be extremely devoted to the one you love.
如果你没有勇气,不用着急,因为:if men knew all that women think, they’d be twenty times more daring. 假使男人全知道女人在想什么,他们的胆子可能会大上二十倍。
此外,woman begins by resisting a man’s advances and ends by blocking his retreat.女人以抵抗男人的追求为开始,以截断其退路为终结。这也是奥斯卡。王尔德的隽语。
正所谓, 开始时:Don’t! Stop! 结尾时:Don’t stop!
二、男人和女人爱的哲学
Men always want to be a women’s first love; women have a more subtle instinct; what they like is to be man’s last romance.男人老想成为女人的初恋;而女人则有更微妙的本能,她们喜欢的,是成为男人追求的最后一个对象。这是奥斯卡。王尔德的理解。
对于那些攻击早恋的卫道士,一定不知道道格拉斯。杰罗尔德(Douglas Jerrold)的妙语: Love is like the measles, all the worse when it comes late in life.“恋爱有如麻疹,要是来的晚的话,更加一发不可收拾!”
金斯利Kingsley 写的love is sentimental measles 也是这个道理。看来为了保命,得加紧早恋了!留得青山在,不怕没柴烧。尤其是那些在理工科读书,平常基本上没吃过天鹅肉,也没见过天鹅跑的帅哥,得谨记。哈哈。
为啥呢?因为Men who do not make advances to women are apt to become victims to women who make advances to them.(不追求女人的男人,就容易成为接近他们女人的牺牲品。)
如果你无所事事,爱情绝对是灵丹妙药!Romance proves to be a cure-all for those idling.
有鉴于此,Ovid奥维德就写到:Let the man who does not wish to be idle fall in love. (让不愿游手好闲的男人陷入情网吧!)
不要问付出会否有回报。记住:No pains, no gains!
失意之时,记住本涅特Arnold Bennett的鼓励之语。Make love to every women you meet; if you get five percent on your outlay, it’s a good investment.(见了女人就追吧!即使收获仅及支出的百分之五,也是一个前途无限的投资。)
这又暗合中文里面的普遍撒网,重点打捞!用王尔德的话说,就是:The only way to behave to a woman is to make love to her if she is pretty and to someone else if she is plain.(对待女性的唯一办法就是:假使她长得漂亮就追,如果不怎么样,那就追别的) 。
有传统之士或曰:有心栽花花不开,无心插柳柳成荫!这又隐射了17世纪英国玄学派诗人约翰。多恩John Donne的妙语:If you chase the shadow, the shadow will leave you; if you leave the shadow, the shadow will follow you。 2001年好莱坞浪漫爱情片《缘分天注定》Serendipity 说的也是同样的道理。
三、情书种种
说到写情书a love letter, 不少文人墨客都是个中好手。18世纪法国大思想家卢梭Rousseau就写道:To write a love letter we must begin without knowing what we intend to say, and end without knowing what we have written.
19世纪初期英国的诗人约翰。济慈John Keats在身染重疾,回光返照之际,仍不忘写了一封缠绵悱恻的情书。(注:济慈后来在意大利疗养期间,因肺结核Tuberculosis, or consumptions,吐血而亡!成为阿杰所说的gusher, gushing himself to death!)
同时期的雪莱也是毫不手软, 先不说他与玛丽。雪莱(Mary Shelley)的婚外恋情,他写的那首《爱的哲学》The Love’s Philosophy 也是让人拍案叫绝,叹为观止!在该诗的末尾4行,雪莱写道:
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea;--
What is all this sweet work worth,
If thou kiss not me?
译成中文就是:
再说拜伦Lord Byron,他与英国数量众多ladies的romances, 阿杰就不再次赘述了!
行文至此,可能不少sensitive souls开始惊呼:阿杰不得了!这又是误解,阿杰只是书面知识渊博,理论功底扎实,而实践操作却极为生疏!马克思说过,实践乃检验真理的唯一标准!列为切不可搞个人崇拜!正所谓大智若愚,静水流深!Still water runs deep and strong! 因为:I am not young enough to know everything , old enough to know nothing 哈!