[法国]阿尔伯特·卡缪/Albert Camus

　　阿尔伯特·卡缪（1913-1960），法国作家，生于阿尔及利亚的蒙多维，幼年丧父，生活贫困但学习刻苦并获哲学学士学位。1935年开始从事戏剧活动，一生钟爱戏剧创作。主要剧本有《误会》、《卡利古拉》等，除了剧本，卡缪还创作了很多著名小说，中篇小说《局外人》是他的成名作，也是荒诞小说的代表作。1957年获诺贝尔文学奖。这篇文章藉由小镇景物的刻画，对人类盲目追逐商业文明进行控诉。语调是卡缪擅长的戏谑与讽刺；语言简洁、深刻，而文章气脉自相贯连，是散文中之极品。

　　The town itself, let us admit, is ugly. It has a smug, placid air and you need time to discover what it is that makes it different from so many business centers in other parts of the world. How to conjure up a picture, for instance, of a town without pigeons, without any trees or gardens, where you never hear the beat of wings or the rustle of leaves-a thoroughly negative place, in short. The seasons are discriminated only in the sky. All that tells you of spring's coming is the feel of the air, or the baskets of flowers brought in from the suburbs by peddlers;it's a spring cried in the market-places. During the summer the sun bakes the houses bone-dry, sprinkles our walls with grayish dust, and you have no option but to survive those days of fire indoors, behind closed shutters. In autumn, on the other hand, we have deluges of mud. Only winter brings really pleasant weather.

　　Perhaps the easiest way of making a town's acquaintance is to ascertain how the people in it work, how they love, and how they die. In our little town（is this, one wonders, an effect of the climate?）all three are done on much the same lines, with the same feverish yet casual air. The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it,“doing business.”Naturally they don't eschew such simpler pleasures as sea-bathing, going to the pictures. But, very sensibly, they reserve these pastimes for Saturday afternoons and Sundays and employ the rest of the week in making money, as much as possible. In the evening, on leaving the office, they forgather, at an hour that never varies, in the cafes, stroll the same boulevard, or take the air on their balconies. The passion of the young are violent and short-lived;the vices of older men seldom range beyond an addiction to bowling, to banquets and socials, or clubs where large sums change hands on the fall of a card.

　　让我们承认那个小镇的丑陋吧。它的气氛做作、平静，而且，你需要花时间去发现，它为何与世界其他地方的许多商业中心有所不同。你如何能想象这样的一种景致，例如，一个没有鸽子，没有任何树木或花园的小镇，在这里，听不见鸟儿振翅或树叶的沙沙声——简而言之，这是一个完全相反的地方。在这里季节只能依靠天空来辨别。春天的来临也只能通过空气的感觉，或是由小贩从郊区带来的一篮篮花儿来感知，春天在市场被叫卖着。在夏天里，房子被太阳烘得干透，灰色的尘埃布满了墙壁，你别无选择，只有躲在拉上的百叶窗后，在室内逃避那些炙热的日子。秋天则泥沙泛滥。只有冬季带来真正愉悦的气候。

　　也许，了解一个城镇最简单的方法，是了解它的市民如何工作，如何恋爱和如何死亡。在我们的小镇上（不知是否受了天气的影响？）这三件事在同样灼热难耐却已司空见惯的空气中，以极为相同的方式完成。实际上，每个人都觉得无聊，便投入到各自爱好的培养中。我们的市民都努力工作，但唯一的目标是发财。他们最主要的兴趣是商业，而生活之首要目的，就如他们自己所说的，是“做生意”。自然，他们也免不了一些像海浴、看电影等简单的娱乐。但是，他们非常明智地把这些消遣留到周六下午与周日，而其他时间却尽可能地用来赚钱。黄昏，他们离开办公室后，会在固定的时间里聚集在咖啡馆，在相同的林荫大道上散步，或是在阳台上透透气。年轻人的热情强烈但为时不长，年长者的不良嗜好很少超出沉溺于保龄球、宴会和社交的范围，或者是沉湎于那种打出一张牌，就能赚大笔钱的俱乐部。

　　词汇笔记

　　smug[sm?g]adj.自满的；沾沾自喜的

　　We had been feeling pretty smug about drinking a glass of red wine with dinner.

　　在用餐的时候喝上一杯红酒，我们会觉得相当的满足。

　　placid['pl?sid]adj.温和的；安静的

　　The placid lake reflected the image of the old castle.

　　平静的湖面倒映着古堡的影像。

　　grayish['ɡreii?]adj.浅灰色的；微带灰色的

　　Sea salt is grayish, as it contains traces of minerals.

　　海盐是呈灰色的，因为它包含矿物。

　　eschew[es't?u:]v.（尤指为道德或实际理由而）习惯性避开；回避

　　Nappers often have better memories and remain more alert than people in their age group who eschew naps.

　　打盹的人通常比他们同年龄中少打盹的人记忆力更好，警惕性也更高。

　　小试身手

　　春天在市场被叫卖着。

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　　也许，了解一个城镇最简单的方法，是了解它的市民如何工作，如何恋爱和如何死亡。

　　_____________________________________

　　我们的市民都努力工作，但是唯一的目标就是发财。

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　　短语家族

　　How to conjure up a picture, for instance, of a town without pigeons, without any trees and gardens.

　　conjure up：用魔法召唤；想起；使在脑海中显现

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　　The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.

　　devote to：将……奉献给；把……专用于

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