第6章在微尘与浮梁之上(6)

第6章在微尘与浮梁之上(6)

萨拉和我礼貌地岔开了她哥哥的话题。我忽然记起，很多年前的报纸上曾有一篇文章，作者阐述了她对更新的看法。她用墙上的层层壁纸来比喻我们掩藏真实的自我，她说一层一层地剥掉那些伪装的外表，我们就看到了最里层的真我面目。我告诉聚精会神的小女儿：“我们经常需要‘蜕皮’，要脱掉身上那些装饰。当我们成熟之后，就发现某些东西不需要也不必要了。这条蛇不再需要这张皮，也许是蛇觉得它太僵硬、太多皱纹了；也许是它觉得，这张皮穿在身上不再像以前那么光滑了，蜕下一层皮就像买了一件新衣服一样。”

当然了，我确定这一解释不能得到真正的博物学家的认可，但萨拉理解了我的意思。在我们的交谈中，我知道萨拉开始领会“更新是进步的一部分”这个道理，即便只是细微地理解。她领会了：我们需要好好审视自我、房间、功课，注重创造性以及精神追求；明白了我们需要保留什么，摆脱什么。我小心地指出：这是自然过程，并非被迫的。

我解释说：“蛇喜欢自己的皮时，就不会蜕掉它。这是它们成长的自然结果。”

萨拉说：“爸爸，我明白了。”接着便从我腿上跳下去，拿着蛇皮跑开了。

我希望她能记住这个道理，那就是：我们长年累月地把自己层层包围在人情世故中，为了寻找掩藏在底下的真正自我，我们需要检验判断这些外衣，当认识到有些东西是没有价值的、不必要的或者是有缺陷的，就把它们剥去；或者，最好把那些剥去的东西保存下来，以提醒激励我们不断创新，精神上不断完善。

我们长年累月地把自己层层包围在人情世故中，为了寻找掩藏在底下的真正自我，我们需要检验判断这些外衣。

1.everythingtheyseeforthe_________timeiselementarytotheirsenseofbeautyandcreativity；theyseeonlymeritandexcellenceintheworld_________educatedotherwise.

2.“weoften_________toshedourskins，thosecoatingsandfacadesthatwecoverourselveswith.”isaidtomynowabsorbeddaughter.“weoutgrowsomethingsandfindotherstuffunwantedor_________.thissnakenolongerneedsthis_________.itisprobablytoostiffandcrinklyforhimandheprobablydoesn’tthinkhelooksassmartinitasheoncedid.like_________buyinganewsuit.”

3.“snakesdon’tpeelofftheirskirl_________theyfeellikeit.”iexplained.“it_________asanaturalconsequenceoftheir_________.”

1.事物往往不是表象所能掩盖的，除了我们所见的，还有一些更深层次的东西。

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2.正如往常一样，最初的话题会导致接二连三的新问题，直到我们所谈论的与起先的话题毫不相干。

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3.罗伯特诙谐地说：“因为它们不喜欢做自己，它们想要变成别人。”

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1.andsaidthatbypeelingawaythoselayersonebyone，weseetheunderlyingoriginalbeneath.

onebyone：一个接一个地

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2.andseewhatweneedtokeepandwhatweneedtocastoff.

castoff：丢弃；放开，使自由；脱下

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伟大与渺小

randomthoughts

约翰？博因顿？普里斯特利/johnboyntonpriestley

thismatterofotherpeople’slearningandaccom-plishments hasbeenworryingmeforsometime.ineverreadthelifeofanyimportantpersonwithoutdiscoveringthatheknewmoreandcoulddomorethanicouldeverhopetoknowortodoinhalfadozenlifetimes.tobeginwith，unlessthesepeoplechancetobeobviousinvalidslikestevensonorchehov，theyarealwaystremendousathletes，withsurprisingstrength，powersofendurance，andsoforth.

theycouldallwalkandrunandclimbourheadsoff，evenwhentheywere70.thentheyallhavethegiftoftongues.younevercatchaglimpseofthemsittingdowntolearnanewlanguage，notevenrunninganeyeoveritsirregularverbs，yetitisadmittedthattheyspeakanynumberwithanastonishingfluencyandpurityofaccent.theyneverconfinethemselvestoonescience，butareinevitablymastersofseveral.thebigbookofnaturetheyknowbyheart.onlytheotherdayiwasreadinganaccountofagreatnovelist，amostsophisticatedandsubtleperson，andwastoldthatheknewthenameandhabitsandhistoryofeverywildflowerandplantandtreeandbirdinthecountry.noristhatall.thereisnotoneofthesebigwigswhoisnot(iquotethecustomaryphrases)asensitiveandaccomplishedmusician，oranextraordinarilyfineamateurwater-colorist，orthepossessorofamagnificentprosestyle.wearealwaystoldthat，hadcircumstancebeendifferent，theirtalentsweresuchthattheyneedonlyhavegiventheirseriousattentiontooneorotheroftheseartstohaveprocuredforthemselveslastingandperhapsworldwidereputations.sorunsthelegendoftheeulogists.

iambaffled.howisitdone？iaskthequestionagain，myvoicerisestoascreamofenvyandvexation.considerwhatisinvolvedinthismatter(solightlytoucheduponanddismissed)ofmusicorwater-colorpaintingorfinewriting，whatyearsofseriousapplication，ofdrudgeryatthekeyboard，theeasel，orthewritingdesk.itisonethingtostrumonthepiano，asyouandido，fakingthelefthandpassagesaswegoalong，ortodaubafewpatchywatercolors，ortopasteontoclumsyprosesomeoldspanglesofrhetoric，anditisquiteanotherthingtobeanaccomplishedmusicianorartistorwriter.ifthefirstweremeant，icouldunderstandit；butthesecondandasamererecreation，too！andthentoaddtheathleticism，thesciences，thetongues，thenaturalhistory！iambewilderedandcrushed.theveryidlerumouroffellow-creaturessowonderfullygiftedmakesmedwindleinmyownestimationtothesizeofagnat.

一直以来，对别人的渊博学识及深厚造诣，我感到很忧虑。只要随便读一读某位重要人物的传记，我就总会发现，他的学问和才能就算我活六辈子也休想学到和做到。第一个理由是，除了像史蒂文森或契诃夫那样明显体弱多病的人以外，他们总是像卓越的运动员一样，有着惊人的气力和耐力。