高级英语第二册听力 11.The Future of The English

　　11.The Future of The English

　　J . B. Priestley

　　1 To write about the English in standard and cosmopolitan political terms, the usual Left-Centre-Right stuff, is almost always wasting time and trouble. The English are different. The English are even more different than they think they are, though not more different than they feel they are. And what they feel — Englishness again - is more important than what they think. It is instinctive feeling and not rational thought that shapes and colours actual events in England.

　　2 For example, although the English seem to be so sharply divided, always indulging in plenty of loud political abuse, there are nothing like so many Communists or neo- or potential Fascists in England as there are in most other countries. Again, although the English seem to have more than their share of rallies, protest marches, confrontations with authority, what could begin to look like a murderous encounter in France or America, or might be a bloody street battle in Japan, would in England end at the worst in a few scuffles and arrests. This is because there are fewer fanatical believers among the English, and at the same time, below the noisy arguments, the abuse and the quarrels, there is a reservoir of instinctive fellow-feeling, not yet exhausted though it may not be filling up. Not everybody can draw on that reservoir. No doubt there are in England some snarling shop stewards who demand freedom for the workers when what they really want is to bring the whole system crashing down, together with every guarantee of liberty. No doubt there are wealthy employers who smile at the TV cameras and declare that all they desire is the friendliest relation with their work force, when at heart they would like to take a whip to the whole idle troublesome mob of them. But there are not many of these men, either on the board or the shop floor, and they are certainly not typical English. Some cancer in their character has eaten away their Englishness.

　　3 The real English, who are ‘different’, who have inherited Englishness and have not yet thrown away their inheritance, cannot feel at home in the contemporary world, representing the accelerated development of our whole age. It demands bigness, and they are suspicious of bigness. (And there is now not only Industrial bigness; there is also Scientific bigness, needing more and more to discover less and less.) Clearly everything cannot be done by smallish and reasonably human enterprises. No cosy shipyard can undertake to build a 150,000-ton ship, though we may not be in our right minds if we want such a ship. But it is safe to say that while Englishness may reluctantly accept bigness, its monsters are never heartily welcomed. They look all right in America, itself so large, but seem altogether out of scale in England. Along with the demand for bigness goes a demand for severe efficiency, often quite rational but not reasonable, therefore alien to Englishness. A further necessary demand, to feed the monster with higher and higher figures and larger and larger profits, is for enormous advertising campaigns and brigades of razor-keen salesmen. Finally, from the monster and all its spokesmen comes a message, endlessly repeated. It runs more or less as follows: ‘You ought to be happy. But you are not happy. You can be happy, though, if you buy what we are making for you.’ And a postscript might be added from Iago: ‘Put money in thy purse.’

　　4 I like to call this ‘Admass’ , and will do so from now on. I will also announce what the future of the English hangs upon, while at the same time, unlike almost everybody else, keeping well clear of economics. It hangs upon the final result of a battle that has been going on for some years now and that explains why the English seem so odd, eccentric, unsatisfactory, not only abroad but to many persons at home. It is a battle that is being fought in the minds of the English. It is between 'Admass', which has already conquered most of the Western world, and 'Englishness', ailing and impoverished , in no position to receive vast subsidies of dollars, francs, deutschmarks and the rest, for public relations and advertising campaigns. The triumphs of 'Admass' can be plainly seen. It operates in the outer visible world, where it offers more and more things - for more and more money of course - and creates the so-called ‘Good Life’. Against this, at least superficially, 'Englishness' seems a poor shadowy show - a faint pencil sketch beside a poster in full colour - belonging as it really does to the invisible inner world, merely offering states of mind in place of that rich variety of things. But then while things are important, states of mind are even more important.

　　5 It is easy to understand why there should be this conflict between 'Admass' and 'Englishness'. What is central to 'Admass' is the production and consumption of goods. If there is enough of this — though of course there never is, because dissatisfaction is built into 'Admass' - there will be sufficient money to pay for its ‘Good Life’. But it is worth noting along the way that while America has been for many years the chief advocate of 'Admass', America has shown us too many desperately worried executives dropping into early graves, too many exhausted salesmen taking refuge in bars and breaking up their homes, too many workmen suffering from monotony or time-and-motion studies and wondering how the hell they got into these traps. And America, to its credit, can also show us a lot of sensible men and women who have denounced all this and have walked out of it. But this book is about the English, not the Americans. Now 'Englishness', with its relation to the unconscious, its dependence upon instinct and intuition, cannot break its links with the past: it has deep long roots. Being itself a state of mind, it cannot ignore other states of mind and cannot help feeling that 'Admass', with its ruthless competitiveness, its idea of man simply as a producer and consumer, its dependence upon dissatisfaction, greed and envy, must be responsible for bad and not good states of mind. Furthermore, while 'Englishness' is not hostile to change, it is deeply suspicious of change for change’s sake, rejecting the idea that we are now committed to some inevitable mechanical progress. Here we might take a concrete example. 'Englishness' would support an immediate demand, at the expense of many other things, for more and better housing. Without adequate shelter and a decent place to call their own, people feel wretched. But people in England, not a big country, do not have to have more and more and larger and larger cars, with longer and wider motorways, wrecking the countryside, to take the cars. If they think they do, this is 'Admass' at work. People have wanted houses for centuries, and cars of their own only for a very short time. To put cars and motorways before houses seems to 'Englishness' a communal imbecility .

　　6 The battle that will decide the future of the English is going on all round us. At this time of writing, we in England are in the middle of it. I must add that while 'Englishness' can still fight on, 'Admass' could be winning. There are various reasons why this may be happening. To begin with, not all the English hold fast to 'Englishness'. Some important and influential men carefully train themselves out of it - politicians, academics, bureaucrats, ambitious financiers and industrialists, can be found among these men - and a horde of others, shallow and foolish, wander away from it, shrugging off their inheritance. 'Englishness' is not as strong as it was even thirty years ago. It needs to be nourished by a sense of the dignity and possible destiny of mankind. It must have some moral capital to draw upon, and soon it may be asking for an overdraft . The Zeitgeist seems to be working for 'Admass'. So does most of what we read and what we hear. Even our inflation, which keeps everybody nudging everybody for more money, is often seen not as a warning, not as an enemy of the genuine good life, but as a proof that we need more and not less 'Admass'.

　　7 Some battles have been won or lost because the commander of a large force, arriving late, decided almost at the last moment to change sides. I feel that a powerful section of English workers, together with their union bosses, is in the same situation as that commander just before he could make up his mind. These men believe that if there is a ‘Good Life’ going, then it’s high time they had their share of it. But some remaining 'Englishness' in them whispers that there may be a catch in it. Where’s this ‘Good Life’ in sweating your guts out, just because the managers are on the productivity-per-man-hour caper? It’s all a racket anyhow. If we don’t work like the old man used to do, we’re not turning out the honest stuff the old man was expected to turn out. It’s the profit now, not the product. Half the time, we cheat the foremen, the foremen cheat the management, the management cheats the customers. Okay, we want shorter hours, more holidays, bigger pay packets - then the ‘Good Life’ of the adverts for us. Or are we kidding ourselves?

　　8 Now I am not pretending that something like this is being said in every branch of English industry, and certainly not where there is a genuine - if rather old-fashioned - pride in the work on hand. But something like it is being said, thought or felt, in the very places where there is the most money, the most boredom, the most trouble and ‘industrial action’, and indeed the most 'Admass'. Behind the constant bickering , the sudden walk-outs and strikes, the ‘bloody-mindedness’, which bewilder so many foreign commentators, is the conflict between 'Admass', offering so much, and the 'Englishness' that instinctively recoils from 'Admassian' values and life-style. There are, of course, people on the management side who may be aware of this conflict in themselves, but it is probably nothing like so sharp, the 'Admass' spoils being greater for them and their instinctive feeling not being so strong. The common people have clung harder to tradition than any other class. In addition to this conflict, all the more worrying because it is hardly ever openly discussed, there is something else that must disturb many officials and members of the more powerful trade unions. This is the anomalous position of these huge organizations. What exactly are they? One day they describe themselves as existing simply to negotiate rates of pay, hours and conditions of work. Another day they talk and behave as if the country was moving towards syndicalism and they were in the van. A week later they will be back in their purely negotiating role. They make the rest of us feel that either they should be more important and if possible creative, or less important, just minding their own business. As it is they are like a hippopotamus blundering in and out of a pets’ tea party. Moreover, sooner or later they will have to put an end to this conflict between 'Admass' and what remains of their 'Englishness', coming down decisively on one side or the other, for they cannot enjoy both together. The future of the English may be shaped by this decision.

　　9 There are, of course, people belonging to all classes who do not want to be fascinated and then enslaved by 'Admass', and who if necessary are ready to make a few sacrifices, largely material, to achieve a satisfying state of mind. They probably believe, as I do, that the 'Admass Good Life’ is a fraud on all counts. Even the stuff it produces is mostly junk, meant to be replaced as soon as you can afford to keep on buying. Such people can be found among workers in smallish, well-managed and honest enterprises, in which everybody still cares about the product and does not assume the customers are idiots. They can be found, too - though not in large numbers because the breed is dying out - among crusty High Tories who avoid the City and directors’ fees. But they are strongest and, I fancy, on the increase in the professional classes, men and women who may or may not believe in my 'Englishness' but have rejected 'Admass'. They are usually articulate; they have many acquaintances, inside or outside their professions, ready to listen to them; and not a few of them have a chance to talk on TV and radio. If the battle can be won, it will probably be these men and women who will swing it.

　　10 But what about the young? Here we might remember that as soon as we consider even the fairly immediate future then our young will not be the young any more; some other young will have arrived. It is one difficulty the American counter-culture enthusiasts have to face - that while they are still praising the rebellious young, half those lads and girls may have already lost their youth and may be as busy conforming to Madison Avenue as they conformed earlier to Hippy California or the road to Katmandu. So far as the English young are concerned, I am dubious about the noisy types, whether they are shouting in the streets or joining the vast herds at pop festivals. Too many of them lack the individuality to stand up to 'Admass', which can provide them with another and even larger herd to join. I have far more faith in the quieter young, who never swaggered around in the youth racket , who may have come under the influence of one or two of those professional men and women, who have probably given some thought to what life may be like at forty or forty-five. They, too, might help to swing the battle.

　　11 What follows does not apply to old-age pensioners, to people still overworked and underpaid, to all the English who have some integrity, some individual judgment and real values. Far too many of the other English - though 1 don’t say a majority - are sloppy people. They are easy to get along with, rarely unkind, but they are not dependable; they are inept , shiftless, slovenly , messy . This is not entirely their own fault. Unlike their fathers or grandfathers, they have not been disciplined by grim circumstances. They are no longer facing starvation if they don’t work properly or go on strike, no longer told to clear out if they aren’t properly respectful and start answering back, no longer find themselves the victims of too many hard facts. And this, in my opinion, is how things should be in a civilized society. But people who have been liberated from the harsh discipline of circumstance should then move on to acquire some measure of self-discipline. Without self- discipline a man cannot play an adequate part in a civilized society: he will be just slopping around, accepting no responsibility, skimping the work he is supposed to be doing, cheating not only ‘the bosses’, the capitalists, but even his neighbours. And unless he is an unusual type, he will not even find much satisfaction in this scrounging messy existence, which does nothing for a man’s self-respect. (I am keeping this on the male side, if only because a woman’s problems are generally more personal, immediate, emotionally urgent, so that unless she is a hopeless case she has to face and deal with some of them.) And this is the situation that many of the English, decent at heart, find themselves in today. Bewildered, they grope and mess around because they have fallen between two stools, the old harsh discipline having vanished and the essential new self-discipline either not understood or thought to be out of reach.

　　12 Boredom is a menace, now and in the future. All heavily industrialized societies are in the boredom business. This is not simply because so much of the work they offer is boring. It is also because, after having shattered the slow rhythms, the traditional skills, the closely knit communities of rural societies, they crowd people together, excite them by large promises that cannot be kept, so drive them into boredom. Now the English - at least the contemporary English of my experience - can soon feel bored, which largely explains why they gamble and booze so much and enjoy any dramatic change in public life, any news that encourages excited talk: the urban English have always seemed to me a dramatic people. When boredom can’t be banished, there is always danger ahead. Teenagers, ‘who have not been able to use up enough energy during the day (they should be worked harder), turn at night to idiot vandalism . Later, if boredom hardens into frustration, some of them, too many of them, take to crime, all kinds, from petty shop-lifting to ferocious robbery with violence.

　　13 Life in fact was much rougher, harder, more superficially insecure, when I was young, but there seemed to be more honesty about, less constant cheating and pilfering and certainly far less vicious criminality. Other elements apart from boredom of course have been at work here. There is Iago’s ‘Put money in thy purse’; there is the false notion that the world owes you something while you owe it nothing; the other idea that so long as you are not found out, then all will be well - no final damnation threatening you any longer, and no understanding yet that there can be plenty of Hells on a do-it-yourself basis. Behind it all, whether people are sunk into almost mindless apathy or scream out of their frustration for violence, there is a feeling that everything is different now, that life has been ‘found out’ to be without meaning, without purpose, equally negative for all mankind or for your own nation. Naturally I am not saying all the English are down on this level. We still have some 'Englishness' left, keeping our minds open to the past and retaining some faith in our future, rejecting the logic-chopping rational for the widely if hazily reasonable, refusing to be cut off from instinct and intuition.

　　14 Yes, 'Englishness' is still with us. But it needs reinforcement, extra nourishment, especially now when our public life seems ready to starve it. There are English people of all ages, though far more under thirty than over sixty, who seem to regard politics as a game but not one of their games – polo , let us say. To them the 'House of Commons' is a remote squabbling-shop. Recognized political parties are repertory companies staging ghostly campaigns, and all that is real between them is the arrangement by which one set of chaps take their turn at ministerial jobs while the other set pretend to be astounded and shocked and bring in talk of ruin. The whole thing, in the eyes of these people, is an expensive and tedious farce. In my view they are mistaken, indeed quite dangerously wrong, and I can only hope that no young demagogue of genius and his friends are listening to them. Otherwise they could soon learn, in the worst way, that heavy hands can fall on the shoulders that have been shrugging away politics. You can ignore politics, taking what has been gained for granted, only to discover your cousins have vanished and you are being knocked up at three in the morning. Dictatorships have thrived on majorities that are apathetic and then frightened, and on minorities that are fanatically divided, brutally quarrelsome and stupid.

　　15 At this time of writing (1973) both the cynical or frivolous majority, which imagines itself to be outside politics, and the stubbornly divided minority, only agreeing in being myopic and entirely self-interested, exist in England. But I believe there must also still exist, if only on a hidden level, what remains of a characteristically English sense of community, decent fellow-feeling, fairness. (‘It isn’t fair’, children still cry.) In spite of the 'Admass' atmosphere, inflation, the all-round grab, all this must yet exist even now, for there are deep roots here. But those roots must be needing nourishment. 'Englishness' cannot be fed with the east wind of a narrow rationality, the latest figures of profit and loss, a constant appeal to self-interest. Politicians are always making such appeals, whereas statesmen, when they can be found, prefer to take themselves and their hearers out of the stock exchanges, shareholders’ meetings, counting-houses. They offer men the chance of behaving better and not as usual. They create an atmosphere in which the familiar greed and envy and resentment begin to seem small and contemptible. They restore to people their idea of themselves as a family. It has been done in England over and over again. But not lately. There has been little or no appeal from deep feeling to deep feeling, from imagination to imagination. Recent years have ‘robbed us of immortal things’. But we do not have to go on like that, to enter a 'Common Market of national character'. It is now many years since I first declared in public my belief that the English, despite so many appearances to the contrary, are at heart and at root an imaginative people immediately responsive to any suggestion of drama in their lives. Deprived of it, they drift towards boredom, sulks and foolish short-sighted quarrels. And this is true, whether they are wearing bowler hats or ungovernable mops of hair. To face the future properly they need both a direction and a great lift of the heart. A rather poorer and harder way of life will not defeat them so long as it is not harder and poorer in spirit, so long as it still refuses to reject 'Englishness' - for so many centuries the secret of the islanders’ oddity and irrationality, their many weaknesses, their creative strength.

　　The Final Chapter from ‘The English’ published by William Heinemann in 1973

　　第十一课英国人的未来

　　JB普里斯特利

　　若想用世界上流行的标准政治术语，即左、中、右三派这种毫无意义的陈腔老调来描述英国人的话，那多半是白费时间，徒耗精力。英国人可是与众不同。他们甚至比自己想象中的英国人还要不同，倒是同他们自己感觉中的英国人差不多。而他们所感觉到的…这一点再次反映出英国人的特性--比他们想象到的更为重要。在英国，决定一切事物形式和色彩的不是人的理性思维，而是人的本能感觉。

　　举例来说，尽管英国人表面上似乎存在着严重的意见分歧，彼此之间进行政治上的攻击谩骂也是常有的事，但英国却不像许多其他国家一样有那么多的共产主义者以及新的或潜在的法西斯主义分子。再如，虽然英国人举行的群众集会、示威游行、与当局对抗的事件似乎比一般国家多，但有些在法国或美国有可能发展成生死搏斗，在日本有可能演变成街头血战的恶性事件，而在英国至多也不过以一阵扭打或几个人被拘捕的结局了事。这是因为在英国人当中狂热的盲从分子较少，同时，在他们那一片乱哄哄的争论、谩骂和吵闹的背后，还蕴藏着一股河海般深厚、纯真的同胞之情。这种情谊虽然还不到充溢的程度，却还没有枯竭。当然，也不是每个人都能够利用这种蕴藏的同胞之情。在英国，毫无疑问，还存在着那么一些喜欢大声咆哮的工会代表，他们口口声声嚷着要为工人们争自由，而事实上，其真正目的是想破坏现行的社会制度及一切保障自由的措施。毫无疑问，也有那么一些腰缠万贯的资本家，他们面对着电视摄像机，笑容可掬地宣称他们唯一的愿望是同自己的劳动队伍建立起最亲密友好的关系，而实际上他们心里只想拿起鞭子狠狠抽打那群专爱惹事生非的懒虫。不过，像这样的人，无论在管理者中间还是在劳动者中间，都不是很多，而且他们无疑也不是典型的英国人。他们性格上的肿瘤已经吞噬了他们身上的英国人特性。

　　那些"与众不同的"真正地道的英国人，由于继承了英国人的特性而又尚未抛弃这一祖传特性，因而对于这个代表了整个时代日新月异的发展形势的现代世界感到不很习惯。现代世界事事求"大"，而英国人却对此不以为然。(现在不仅工业上存在着大规模。科学上也存在着大规模，需要的投资越来越多，而研究出的成果越来越小。)显然，不是一切工作都能由规模较小而又较富人情味的企业来完成的。一座能令人感受到温情的小船厂就不可能造出一艘十五万吨级的轮船，假如我们硬要造这样的轮船，那或许就会造成我们的决策失误。然而，可以有把握地说，尽管英国人也有可能勉勉强强地接受大规模的东西，但英国所出现的庞然大物却决不会受到人们由衷的欢迎。那些庞然大物在美国看来好像倒没什么不对，因为美国本身就有那么大，但在英国就显得完全不相称了。伴随着对大规模的要求而出现的是对严格的高效率的要求，这种要求虽然常常是合乎理性的，但却是不合情理的，因而与英国人特性格格不入。为了给那些庞然大物提供越来越高的投资，创造越来越多的利润，还有一个必不可少的要求，这就是需要有声势浩大的广告运动和大批精明强干的推销员。最后，从这些庞然大物及其所有代言人那里不断重复地传来这样的信息，其大意为："你本该快乐；但你并不快乐。不过，你仍有可能得到快乐，只要你购买我们为你制造的产品。"这里也许应该加上一句伊阿古的名言："把钱都装进你的口袋吧。"

　　我想将这种现象称作"商业广告推销"，此后将一直采用这一名称。我还要预告一下英国人的未来取决于什么，而同时又几乎与所有的人背道而驰地避免谈及经济问题。英国人的未来取决于一场已进行多年的战斗的最终结局。这场战斗说明了英国人不仅在外国人眼中，而且在国内某些人眼中显得如此稀奇古怪、不令人满意的原因。这是一场发生在英国人思想领域的战斗，它在商 业广告推销和英国人特性之间展开。商业广告推销业已征服了大 半个西方世界，而英国人特性则是贫病交加，无法取得大量美元、法郎、德国马克之类的官方津贴来进行公关和广告宣传活动。商 业广告推销的胜局已很明显，它的活动在可见的外部世界进行，向 世界提供越来越多的东西一一当然索取的钱也越来越多--从而 创造了所谓的"美好生活"。相形之下，至少从表面上看，英国人特性似乎只是一场微不足道的影子戏--就像是五彩缤纷的广告 画旁边贴着的一幅淡色的铅笔素描--它实际上属于不可见的内 心世界，不能为人们提供那品类繁多的物质用品，而只能提供精 神上的境界。不过，物质用品固然重要，精神境界则更加重要。

　　商业广告推销同英国人特性之间会发生这样一场冲突，其原 因也容易理解。商业广告推销的核心内容是商品的生产和消费。如 果这方面的条件充分具备--当然这是绝不可能的，因为商业广 告推销本身就含着永不满足的成分--人们就会有足够的钱去换 取它所宣传的"美好生活"。然而，值得顺便提一下的是，在多年 来一直是商业广告推销的主要倡导者的美国，我们看到有太多太 多的伤透了脑筋的经理人员过早地跌进了坟墓；有太多太多的筋疲力竭的推销员躲进酒吧借酒浇愁，弄得家庭破裂；还有许许多多的工人成天忍受着单调乏味的时间一动作研究的苦楚，心中在 纳闷：不知自己究竟是怎样陷入这些坑人的陷井的。足以令美国 自豪的是，我们发现美国也有一些对这一切进行抨击并从中摆脱 出来的有识之士。不过，本书所要描写的是英国人，不是美国人。 再说英国人特性，因与潜意识相关联，又依赖于本能和直觉而存 在，故不能割断与过去的联系：它根深蒂固。源远流长。英国人 特性本身是一种精神境界，因而它不能不注意其他的精神境界。也 就不能不觉得商业广告推销，由于其残酷的竞争性，其将人仅仅 看作生产者和消费者的思想观念，其对不知足心理、贪婪和妒忌 心理的依存性而必然会导致坏的而不是好的精神境界。而且，尽 管英国人并不反对变革，但对于为变革而变革的做法却深怀疑虑， 对那种认为我们现在必须无条件地欢迎机械化的进步的观点也拒 不接受。在此我们可以举一个具体的例子。英国人会不惜一切代价来支持人们对于更多更好的住房的刻不容缓的需求。如果没有足够的安身之处，没有一个属于自己的像样的房子，人们会感到凄惨。但在英国这样一个不太大的国家里，人们并不一定需要拥有越来越多、越来越大的轿车以及供这些轿车使用的越来越长、越来越宽的高速公路，因为这样会破坏乡村自然景色。假如他们认为需要这些，那便是商业广告推销在作祟。人们渴望拥有自己的房屋已经有千百年的历史了．而渴望拥有自己的汽车才只是很短时期的事。就英国人特性而言，把汽车和公路摆到住房之上的做法似乎是一种社会性的愚蠢之举。

　　决定英国人的未来的战斗正在我们周围进行着。就在本人撰写本文的时候，我们英国人正处于激战之中。本人还要补充说明的是，尽管英国人特性目前尚能在战斗中坚持下去，但最终取胜的可能还是商业广告推销。之所以会出现这种结果，其原因是多种多样的。首先，并不是每一个英国人都牢固地保持着英国人特性。一些有权势有影响的人物正处心积虑地设法使自己摆脱它--这些人中有政客、有文人、有官僚、有野心勃勃的金融家和企业家一一而另外还有一大群浅薄愚鲁的人也丢掉了它．随随便便地抛弃了自己的传统。英国人特性的影响力连三十年前也比不上了。它需要用人们对于人类的尊严和命运的认识来培育和加强。它必须拥有一些可以支取的道德资本，而且不久以后就有可能要求透支。"时代精神"似乎在为商业广告推销推波助澜，我们所读到和听到的东西，一多半都是如此。甚至连那使得大家为求多赚钱而你争我夺的通货膨胀，也往往不被视为一种危险的讯号，不被视为真正的美好生活的敌人，而往往倒是被视为我们需要更多而不是更少的商业广告推销的证明。

　　一支迟到战场的大部队的指挥官在差不多最后一刻决定倒戈，从而决定了某些战役的胜败。我觉得英国工人中很有势力的一部分人和他们的工会头头们跟那个指挥官在下决心前的处境相同。这些人相信，如果"美好的生活"已经到来，那么现在就是他们分享的时候了。但是他们身上残存的一些英国人特性却暗示了"这里面怕是有鬼"。仅仅因为老板们在搞"人时"生产力的把戏而把你们累得半死不活，这就算是什么"美好的生活"吗?不论怎么说，这一切只不过是一场骗局。如果我们不像老一辈们过去那样工作，就生产不出过去要求他们生产的那种货真价实的东西来。现在要紧的是利润，而不是产品。有一半的时候我们在骗工头，工头在骗经理，经理在骗顾客。好吧，假如我们要的是工作时间短、假期长、工资高--那么我们所要的就是广告里宣传的"美好生活"。抑或我们是在自己骗自己?

　　我现在并不是在故弄玄虚地说，在英国所有的工业部门都有这种议论。可以肯定地说，在对自己现在从事的工作有一种真正的自豪一即使是如今已不时兴的那种自豪～的部门，这种议论是没有的。但恰恰就是在那种最赚钱、最单调乏味、麻烦最多、"工业行动"最多，老实说．即商业广告推销最厉害的地方，人们有类似这样的议论、想法或感触。在无休止的争吵，突然的罢工，让许多外国评论家迷惑不解的咄咄逼人的固执背后是这样一种矛盾：一方面是商业广告推销，向你提供众多的东西；一方面是英国人特性，本能地对这种商业广告推销的价值观和生活方式感到反感。当然，在经理人员中也有人可能意识到这种矛盾在自己身上也存在，但大概不会那么尖锐，因为通过商业广告推销，他们得利较大，而他们的本能感觉又不那么强烈。除了这种矛盾外，还有别的东西在使比较有势力的工会里的不少官员和会员感到不安。由于这种东西几乎从来不公开讨论，因此更令人担心。这就是这些庞大组织的异常地位。这些组织到底是什么呢?一会儿他们说他们的存在就是为了谈判工资额、工作时间和工作条件，一会儿他们的言论和行为似乎预示着这个国家正在走向工联主义，而他们就是先锋。过一个星期他们又会倒回去扮演他们那种纯粹是谈判的角色。他们使我们其余的人觉得要么他们应该起更重要的作用，可能的话更有创新精神。要么起不那么重要的作用，只管他们自己的事。而现在，他们就像只河马闯进闯出玩赏动物的茶会。不仅如此，他们迟早要解决这种商业广告推销和他们残存的一些英国人特性之间的矛盾，下决心站到这一边或那一边，因为他们不能同时享有二者。英国人的未来也许要取决于这个决定。

　　当然，各个阶层之中也还有一些不甘心被商业广告推销所迷惑然后任其摆布的人。如有必要的话，这些人还愿意做出一些牺牲，主要是物质方面的牺牲，以求达到一种令人满意的精神境界。他们也许像我一样地相信，商业广告推销所宣传的"美好生活"是彻头彻尾的骗局。(就连它所生产出来的东西也多半是一些破烂货，只要你有钱经常购买就应当不断地予以替换。)这样的人在那些规模较小、经营有方、不搞欺诈的企业的工人中可以找到，因为在这样的企业里，人们仍然把心思用在产品上，而不是把顾客都当成傻瓜。在那些不愿走进伦敦市商业区，不愿接受董事经理的高薪厚俸的、顽固的高层保守党成员中也可以找到此种人--尽管为数不会很多，因为这种人本就在日益减少。但是，这些人的力量最大，而且，据我看，在职业阶层中他们的人数也在增长。这些男男女女也许相信我所说的英国人特性，也许不信，但他们拒绝接受商业广告推销。他们一般都是能言善辩的；在本职业领域内外都有许多相识，而且都对他们言听计从；他们当中还有不少人有机会在电视或广播中发表演讲。假如这场战斗能胜利，很可能就是要靠这些男男女女去起推动作用。

　　那么，年轻一代又如何呢?说到这儿，我们不能忘记，只要我们考虑到未来，哪怕是不远的未来，我们所说的年轻一代到那时也再不是年轻一代了，那时会出现又一个年轻一代。这是美国反主流文化运动的热心支持者们必须面对的一个难题--当他们还正在颂扬那些敢于反潮流的年轻人的时候，那些被颂扬的年轻男女中恐怕有一半已丧失青春，而且可能正在忙着适应麦迪逊大街的生活，正如他们过去忙着适应加利福尼亚嬉皮士生活或加德满都之路的神秘生活一样。谈到英国的年轻人，我对那爱闹的类型，无论是在街头狂呼乱叫，还是在流行音乐会上跟着起哄凑热闹的，都有些怀疑。他们之中有太多的人缺乏抵挡商业广告推销的个性，因为商业广告推销使他们可以加入更多更大的欢闹的群伙。我对那些比较文静的年轻人的信心要大得多，这类年轻人从不吵吵嚷嚷，高谈阔论；他们可能受到一两位职业男女的影响：他们也许曾思索过四十或四十五岁时的生活会是什么样子。他们也有可能起到扭转战局的作用。

　　下面所说的情况不适用于上了年纪的退休人员，不适用于那些仍然在多劳少得的人，也不适用于所有那些具有正直的品格、独立的判断力和正确的价值观的英国人。其余的英国人中有许多--虽不能说是大多数一一都是一些马大哈式的人物。他们容易相处，通常都是和和气气的，但就是不可信赖。他们平庸无能，懒懒散散，办事草率，拖泥带水。这也不完全是他们自己的过错。和自己的父辈或祖辈们不一样，他们没有经受过严峻环境的锻炼。他们不再会因为干活马虎或参加罢工而面临挨饿的威胁，不再会因为对上司不恭或无礼顶撞而被撵出去，不再发现自己成为许多严酷事实的牺牲品了。在我看来，这正是文明社会中应有的现象。但人们从严酷的环境约束中解放出来之后就应该努力学会一些自我约束的方法。一个人没有自我约束，便不能在文明社会中充分发挥作用，而只能无所事事地混日子，什么责任也不承担，工作起来马马虎虎，敷衍塞责，不但欺骗老板、资本家，甚至连自己的左邻右舍也一样欺骗。除非他属于某种不一般的类型，他甚至对自己这种有损于人的自尊的不劳而获的混帐生活都不会感到太大的满足。(我所说的这些都是指的男性，妇女的问题一般来说更带个性，更直接，感情上更急切，所以，除非是一个不可救药的典型，她一般都会去正视并解决自己所遇到的部分问题。)这就是许多内心纯洁的英国人今天所处的状况。他们感到困惑、彷徨，开始四处摸索，虚耗光阴，因为他们两头都落了空：旧有的苛刻束缚已不复存在，而新的必要的自我约束要么不被人理解，要么被看作是不可企及的。

　　烦闷情绪是一种威胁，现在和将来都是如此。所有高度工业化的社会都在制造烦闷情绪。这不仅仅是因为工业化社会所提供的工作大多让人厌烦，而且也是因为工业化社会打破了过去生活的慢节奏，消灭了各种传统的劳动技艺，瓦解了农村社会严密的群体结构之后，又让人们群集在一起，用一些言过其实而又根本无法兑现的承诺来诱惑他们，因而使得他们产生厌烦情绪。现在的英国人--至少那些生活经历与我相同的当代英国人--很容易感到厌烦，这在很大程度上有助于我们理解为什么他们那么喜欢酗酒赌博，爱看社会上的一切热闹场面，爱听任何能激起热烈议论的奇闻怪事。居住在都市中的英国人在我看来都是一些爱大惊小怪的人物。只要厌烦情绪不消除，危险便始终存在于我们面前。青少年在白天没能用完自己的精力(本应该让他们多干点活儿)，到了晚上便就胡作非为，四处捣乱。日子一长，一旦厌烦发展成绝望，他们中的一些人(有可能很多人)便会走上犯罪道路，从到商店里小偷小摸到穷凶极恶的暴力抢劫，种种罪恶无所不为。

　　在我年轻的时候，生活其实比现在艰难困苦得多，表面上的安全感也少得多，但人们似乎比现在的人诚实，尔虞我诈、鼠窃狗偷的现象很少见，严重犯罪的现象自然就更是少得多了。看来·除了厌烦情绪之外，还有一些其他因素在起作用。其中包括伊阿古那句"把钱装入你的腰包"的名言，以及那种认为社会有愧于你而你却无愧于社会的错误观念，还有一种思想认为做坏事只要不被人发现便一切都好--再没有什么最后的审判来威胁你，也不会有人理解我行我素者也有可能受到各种形式的惩罚。不管人们是陷入彻底的麻木状态，还是由于苦闷而发出暴力的呼喊，这一切的背后都隐藏着这样一种感觉，认为一切事物都已今非昔比了，生活被"发现"为毫无意义，毫无目的，对全人类或祖国都没有什么积极作用。自然，我并不是说所有英国人都已堕落到这种地步。我们依然保留着一些英国人特性，使我们对过去能保持清醒的认识，对未来也还保持着一些信心，排斥那些通过诡辩式逻辑得出的理性结论，而宁愿接受那些虽然不被完全理解但却完全合乎情理的东西，拒绝抛弃自己原有的本能与直觉。

　　不错，英国人特性依然与我们同在，但它急需增强活力，补充养分，在当今我们的公共生活看来正准备令其自生自灭的形势下尤其如此。有些英国人似乎将政治看成一场比赛，而又不是他们自己所喜爱的比赛--比如说打马球之类。这种人在各个年龄层次的人中都有，但三十岁以下的比六十岁以上的要多得多。对这些人来说，下议院只是离自己很遥远的一个吵架斗嘴的场所。那些得势掌权的政党犹如一些定期换演剧目的剧团在上演一出出魔幻政治闹剧，其中唯一真实的事情便是轮到一帮人担任部长职务，而另一帮人则装出一副惊骇不已的样子，大发一通国家要从此遭殃的议论。所有这一切，在这些人眼中看来，不过是一场既费钱而又无聊的闹剧。我认为，他们的这种思想是错误的，而且是极危险的错误。我只希望一切天才的青年煽动家及其朋友都不要听信这种论调。否则，他们很快就会发现，而且是很痛苦地发现，严厉无情的铁腕有可能压到他们那一直想甩掉政治的肩膀上。你可以不问政治，对一切听之任之，但结果你会发现你的亲人们突然失踪，你自己也会在凌晨三点钟被秘密警察敲门叫醒。独裁统治在先是漠不关心、继而惊恐万状的多数人和四分五裂、酷爱争吵而又愚昧无知的少数人中间盛行起来。

　　在我撰写本文之时，英国既存在着那种自以为是超出于政治之外的、愤世嫉俗或举止轻狂的多数派，又存在着那种各执己见、四分五裂，只在目光短浅、自私自利两方面有共同语言的少数派。但我相信，这里也必然存在着英国人特有的社会群体感、高尚的同胞之情和正义之感，尽管隐藏得很深。(孩子们仍喊叫着"这不公平"。)尽管到处弥漫着商业广告气氛，存在着通货膨胀和猖狂的剥削行为，这些东西即使是今日也一定依然存在，因为它们深深植根于英国。但那些根一定正急需营养。要给英国人特性提供营养，却不能靠狭隘的理性思维的东风，最近的盈亏数字或对私利的不断呼唤。政客们总是发出这样的呼唤，而政治家--如果还能找到政治家的话--则宁愿将自己和听众带出股票交易所、股东会议及帐房之类的场所。他们提供机会，使人们努力向上，而不是保持原样。他们创造出一种良好的社会风气，使得贪婪、嫉妒和怨恨这些常见的行为显得渺小、可鄙。他们使人们恢复原有的那种彼此亲如一家的观念。这种现象在英国曾一次又一次地发生过。但近来情形却不一样，那种以深情唤起深情，以想象激发想象的情况已经很罕见，或者说根本没有了。近年来"我们身上所有不朽的东西已被洗劫一空"。但我们没必要再这样继续下去了，没必要去加入一个具有民族特征的共同市场。许多年前，我就曾首次公开表示过我的一个观点：英国人。尽管表面上给人以许多相反的印象，但在内心深处却是一个富于想象的民族，他们对生活中任何激动人心的事物能迅速作出反应。这一点如果被剥夺了，他们便会变得烦闷、愠怒，与人发生愚蠢的、目光短浅的争吵。不论是戴着圆顶礼帽的老成持重的生意人，还是那些头发蓬乱的毛头小伙子，全都是这样。要正确地面对未来，他们需要有人来指明方向并给以精神上的巨大鼓舞。再贫困、再冷酷一些的生活也不能让英国人低头--只要他们在精神上不是更冷酷、更贫困，只要他们依然拒绝抛弃英国人特性--这就是千百年来这些岛国居民的奇特气质和非理性特点以及他们的许多弱点和创造力的奥秘所在。

　　(选自《英国人》)

　　词汇(Vocabulary)

　　cosmopolitan (adj.) : common to or representative of all or many parts of the world；not national or local世界性的；不限于国家或地区范围的

　　rally (n.) : a gathering of people for a common purpose；mass meeting(群众性)集会

　　scuffle (n.) : a rough，confused fight；close，haphazard struggle扭打；混战

　　fanatical (adj.) : unreasonably enthusiastic；overly zealous狂热的，过分热衷的

　　snarl (v.) : speak harshly and sharply，as in anger，impatience，etc．怒吼，咆哮

　　shop steward : a person chosen by his fellow trade unionists in an industrial establishment to speak for them to the management and to watch over their interest(资本主义国家中工人选的)工人代表

　　accelerate (v.) : cause to develop or progress more quickly加快，促进

　　alien (adj.) : opposed or repugnant相反的；不相容的；格格不入的

　　cosy (adj.) : smallish but comfortable and relaxing舒适的，安逸的

　　razor-keen (adj.) : as sharp as a razor；[fig．]very smart and shrewd犀如剃刀的；[喻]伶俐能干的

　　impoverish (v.) : make poor；reduce to poverty使贫困，使处于贫困

　　subsidy (n.) : a grant of money from the government or society，etc．补助金；津贴

　　poster (n.) : a relatively large printed card or sheet of paper，often illustrated，posted to advertise or publicize something海报；张贴的大幅广告

　　advocate (n.) : a person who speaks or writes in support of something提倡者；拥护者

　　overdraft (n.) : a withdrawal of money from a bank in excess of the amount credited to the drawer透支

　　caper (n.) : a wild，foolish action or prank嬉戏，玩笑，把戏

　　advert (n.) : advertisement的缩略

　　bicker (n.) : have a petty quarrel；squabble(为琐事)争吵，口角

　　recoil (v.) : draw back，stagger back；retreat撤退，后退，退回

　　anomalous (adj.) : deviating from the regular arrangement，general rule，or usual method；abnormal反常的，异常的；破格的，破例的

　　syndicalism (n.) : theory and movement of trade unionism in which all means of production and distribution would be brought under the control of federations of labor unions by the use of direct action，such as general strikes工团主义；工联主义

　　hippopotamus (n.) : one of several large，plant-eating mammals，with a heavy，thick-skinned，almost hairless body and short legs，which lives chiefly in or near rivers in Africa河马

　　fraud (n.) : deceit；trickery；cheating；a person who deceives欺骗，欺诈；骗子

　　crusty (adj.) : rudely abrupt or surly in speech and manner；bad-tempered(言行)粗鲁的，粗暴的；脾气坏的

　　articulate (adj.) : expressing oneself easily and clearly表达力强的

　　counterculture (n.) : the culture of many young people of the 1 960's and 1 970's manifested by a life style that is opposed to the prevailing culture反主流文化

　　swagger (v.) : boast，brag，or show off in a loud，superior manner自夸，吹牛

　　integrity (n.) : uprightness，honesty，and sincerity正直，诚实，真诚

　　sloppy (adj.) : careless；slovenly or messy粗心的；不整洁的

　　inept (adj.) : incompetent；unfit；out 0f place不称职的；不相宜的；不恰当的

　　shiftless (adj.) : incapable，inefficient，lazy无能的；无效率的；懒惰的

　　slovenly (adj.) : careless in appearance, habits，work，etc．不整洁的；疏忽的；马虎的

　　messy (adj.) : untidy，disorderly，dirty，etc．凌乱的； 混乱的；脏的

　　slop around : loaf around闲荡，闲逛

　　skimp (v.) : do poorly or carelessly马虎从事；草率从事

　　scrounge (n.) : take without permission；pilfer；beg擅取；偷窃；乞讨

　　booze (v.) : drink too much alcoholic liquor狂饮，痛饮

　　vandalism (n.) : the actions or attitudes of the Vandals or of a vandal；malicious or ignorant destruction of public or private property，esp. of that which is beautiful or artistic 汪达尔人的行为或作风；破坏文化艺术品的行为

　　pilfer (v.) : steal(esp. small sums or petty objects)；filch偷窃；尤指小偷小摸

　　damnation (n.) : a damning or being damned诅咒；谴责

　　apathy (n.) : 1ack of emotion；indifference无情，感情淡漠；冷漠，漠不关心

　　squabble (v.) : quarrel noisily over a small matter：wrangle(为琐事)争吵。口角

　　repertory : a theatre in which a permanent acting company prepares several productions for a season and keeps alternating them in limited runs由固定剧团定期换演剧目的剧场；拥有大量常备剧目的戏院

　　farce (n.) : an exaggerated comedy based on broadly humorous，highly unlikely situations笑剧，闹剧，滑稽戏

　　demagogue (n.) : a person who tries to stir up the people by appeals to emotion，prejudice，etc．，in order to win them over quickly and so gain power煽动者，鼓动者

　　frivolous (adj.) : not properly serious or sensible：silly and light-minded；giddy轻薄的；轻浮的；肤浅的

　　myopic (adj.) : short-sighted近视的；缺乏远见的

　　sulks (n.) : a sulky mood or state愠怒的样子(或状态)

　　bowler (n.) : a man's round hard hat，usually black圆顶硬呢帽(常为黑色)

　　短语 (Expressions)

　　draw on :   take or USe as a source利用，凭，靠

　　例： If newspapermen cannot get facts for their stories，they some-times draws on t11eir imaginations．如果记者们采访不到事实真相来写报道，他们有时就凭想像力去编造。

　　shop steward :   a union member elected to represent coworkers in dealings with management工会管事，工人代表

　　safe to say :   英)If it is safe to say something，it may be said with-out exaggeration or falsehood．可以肯定地说，可以保险地说

　　例： Whether he call get a high score in the exam，it is safe to say that he will pass it．不管他在考试中能不能拿到高分，但是可以肯定地说他能通过这项考试。

　　out of scale :   out of proportion不成比例，不相称

　　例： The dog's head is out of scale in this painting．在这幅画中这只狗的头与它身体的其他部分不成比例。

　　keep clear of sth． :   avoid or refrain from stll．避开，离着

　　例： Keep clear of that area!不要去那个地方!

　　state of mind :   a particular mental or emotional condition such as be．ing in a state of bliss，in a state of depression，in a state of despair,etc.心境，思想(精神)状态

　　例： This is just a state of mind，not a reality．这只是一种心情而不是现实。

　　shrug off :   (英)dismiss something as not deserving one's attention耸肩对……表示不理，不屑一顾，一笑置之

　　例： Don't take it for granted that you can shrug off this responsi-bility!不要想当然地以为你可以置这个责任于不顾!

　　sweat one's guts out :   work very hard拼命干

　　例： He sweated his guts out and bought himself a Car near the end of the summer．他拼命地工作，在夏天决结束时给自己买了一辆车。

　　pay packet :   an envelope containing your wages：the amount of money someone earns(附工资及工资单的)工资袋，工资，薪水

　　fall between two stools :   be neither one type of thing nor another．or be unable to choose between two ways of doing something两头落空，两边都不讨好，由于犹豫而误事

　　例： The movie fails between two stools--it's neither a thriller nor a comedy．这部影片两头都落了空--既不是惊险片也不是喜剧片。

　　chop logic :   argue in a hairsplitting(吹毛求疵的)way强词夺理

　　例： Don't chop logic!You are wrong anyway．不要强词夺理了!不管怎么说，是你错了。

　　repertory company :   a company that presents and performs a number of different plays or other works during a season,usually in ahemation．定期换演剧目的剧团