雙語閱讀：中國文化的危機(jī)
雙語閱讀：中國文化的危機(jī)
摘要：因?yàn)檫@個(gè)書名，我本以為這本《丑陋的中國人》是一種憤世嫉俗的激情演說，但實(shí)際上它是對(duì)中國文化弊病的極具說服力的譴責(zé)。可一個(gè)初學(xué)者不太可能會(huì)明白這些，在讀這本書之前，得花點(diǎn)時(shí)間在中國待上一段時(shí)間才行。
I read this book after seven or eight years of living inTaiwan. I had known about it for a while, butTaiwanese bookstores, usually well-stocked withEnglish language books about China and Taiwan, didnot carry it. No wonder. I finally found someone witha copy and then took it to a printer to get my owncopy - the Taiwanese way. The Taiwanese believe,not in copyright, but copyleft. Get it? I underlinedso many passages in the thin volume it looked like ithad been in the custody of a chop-wielding Chinesebank teller. Nearly every assertion and anecdoteresonated. Bo Yang said what I had been thinking, but was too afraid to say it, except to otherWesterners.
If a Westerner had penned this book, they would have been branded a racist, or been accusedof not understanding "the real China," a common Sinophile charge. But because Bo Yang wasChinese - born in China and later a resident of Taiwan - and because he was a well-knownhistorian, writer, journalist, etc. (he headed the Taiwan chapter of Amnesty International andwas an advisor to the Taiwanese government after he did a spell in prison as a dissident)nobody can say boo about this book, not least of all because every sentence is lethallyaccurate.
在臺(tái)灣居住了七八年以后我讀了這本書。對(duì)這本書我只是聽說過，臺(tái)灣的書店里經(jīng)常有大量的關(guān)于中國和臺(tái)灣的英文書籍，并沒有賣這本書。這不足為奇。我最終問別人拿了一本復(fù)印本去復(fù)印了一本----以臺(tái)灣人特有的方式。臺(tái)灣人沒版權(quán)意識(shí)，他們反版權(quán)，懂嗎? 我在這本薄薄的書中用線劃下了很多段落，他在書中所講述的內(nèi)容每每引起我的共鳴。柏楊所說的正是我之前所想的，但是我沒敢說出來，一般只對(duì)西方人說。
如果當(dāng)初是一個(gè)外國人寫下這本書，他們就會(huì)被冠以種族主義者的名號(hào)，或者被親華者指責(zé)為不理解“真實(shí)的中國”。但是因?yàn)榘貤钍侵袊?，生在中國，居住在臺(tái)灣，而且是一個(gè)廣為人知的歷史學(xué)家，作家，記者等等。(因異見在監(jiān)獄呆了一段時(shí)間后，柏楊成了國際特赦組織臺(tái)灣分區(qū)的負(fù)責(zé)人，并擔(dān)任臺(tái)灣政府的顧問)所以沒有人能對(duì)這本書喝倒彩，而且這本書中每句話都一針見血，句句屬實(shí)。
Because of the title, I had thought The Ugly Chinaman was a sort of angry tirade, but it is not.It is a well argued denunciation of the ills of Chinese culture. But a neophyte likely would notunderstand; it helps to live in Chinese society for a while before reading.
因?yàn)檫@個(gè)書名，我本以為這本《丑陋的中國人》是一種憤世嫉俗的激情演說，但實(shí)際上它是對(duì)中國文化弊病的極具說服力的譴責(zé)。可一個(gè)初學(xué)者不太可能會(huì)明白這些，在讀這本書之前，得花點(diǎn)時(shí)間在中國待上一段時(shí)間才行。
TUC begins with a dialogue between a doctor and TB patient. The patient accuses the doctor offabricating the diagnosis and says it is doctors like him who harm the motherland. The patientbarks, "It's people like you who are to blame for China's problems. You make foreigners lookdown on Chinese people because you give them the idea that we're all suffering from TB.Traitors like you suck the blood of the Chinese people and kiss the asses of the barbariandevils. God will strike you dead! Imperial court guards! (coughs) Take him away!"
這本書從一個(gè)醫(yī)生和肺結(jié)核病人的對(duì)話開始。這個(gè)病人譴責(zé)醫(yī)生編造了診斷書并說像他這樣的醫(yī)生正在毒害著我們的祖國母親。病人吼叫著：”你這樣的人應(yīng)該為中國出現(xiàn)的種種問題承擔(dān)責(zé)任。因?yàn)槭悄銈冏屚鈬擞X得我們中國人都感染了肺結(jié)核，他們開始看不起中國人。你這樣的叛徒吸干了中國人的血，然后去拍那些野蠻人的馬屁。上帝會(huì)賜你一死的!王朝護(hù)衛(wèi)們啊!(咳嗽)把他抓走吧!“
It's a reference to the lack of introspection and the proclivity to deny and ignore seriousproblems. We see examples of this all the time in the news. Villagers say their water has beencontaminated by a nearby factory, and local officials accuse them of treason. Recrimination iscommonplace. Problems snowball. No one wants to see them; others are afraid to speakup.The book ends with a series of refutations, too. Bo Yang published a series of angryresponses written by other "academics" in opposition to his thesis that Chinese culture is, andI quote, primitive, and that Chinese people need to Westernize for the benefit of all. Thebook's format, then, is very clever: an angry denial, a series of propositions and examples thatoutline a damning thesis, and more angry denials. Bo Yang knew that no matter how well-reasoned or well-supported his argument, Chinese culture is, to many, beyond reproach. Bycriticizing Chinese culture, you are only shaming your ancestors, who created it.The UglyChinaman is a very bold and interesting book. It is a brave man who can look at his own culturein the eye and say, "You're sick. You need help." Apparently, when this book was published, itsold hundreds of thousands of copies in East Asia. Anyone who has spent time in Chinesesociety ought to read it.Troy Parfitt is the author of Why China Will Never Rule the World
書中的這個(gè)例子是為了表明中國人缺乏內(nèi)省的精神以及否認(rèn)和忽視嚴(yán)重問題的傾向。我們每每看到類似新聞在發(fā)生。村民說，他們的水已經(jīng)被附近的工廠污染，當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T指責(zé)村民們叛國。反責(zé)是司空見慣的現(xiàn)象。但問題就像滾雪球一樣沒能得到解決。沒有人想面對(duì)這些問題;其他人則不敢說出來。本書也以一連串的反駁作結(jié)。他在書中末尾發(fā)表了一系列其他學(xué)者針對(duì)他的論點(diǎn)所作的反駁文章，而他的論點(diǎn)就是中國文化是原始的以及中國人需要進(jìn)行西化才能讓大眾受益。所以這本書的結(jié)構(gòu)就非常清晰了：先是人們對(duì)中國文化弊端的憤怒否認(rèn)，然后是柏楊所列出的表明中國文化弊端的主張和例子，最后這種主張和例子受到了更多憤怒的否認(rèn)。至此，柏楊明白了不論他的理論多正確，證據(jù)多有力，對(duì)于很多人來說，中國文化都是無可指責(zé)的，批判它相當(dāng)于是在侮辱創(chuàng)造它的祖先?！冻舐闹袊恕肥且槐敬竽懚腥さ臅@個(gè)勇敢的人用自己的視角觀察自己的文化，然后說：你病了，你需要幫助” ，當(dāng)它出版的時(shí)候這本書似乎在東亞賣出幾十萬本。在華人社會(huì)生活過的人都應(yīng)該讀讀。
New York City Culture
紐約文化
New York City, in the state of New York,is the largestcity in the United States.
位于紐約州的紐約市是全美最大的城市，
More than 8,000,000 people live there.
有著800多萬的人口，
That is more than 2 times the number of people inLos Angeles, California, America's second largest city.
這個(gè)數(shù)字是美國第二大城市洛杉磯的兩倍多。
New York City is the cultural capital of America.
紐約是美國的文化之都，
It is an important center for art,architecture,theater, music, dance and film.
它是藝術(shù)，建筑，戲劇，音樂，舞蹈和電影的重要中心。
New York is also known for its cultural diversity.
紐約也以其文化的多樣性而聞名。
About 36 percent of the people were born in a foreign country.
約有36%的居民來自國外。
If you asked those people where they are from,they would probably say: The DominicanRepublic,China, Jamaica, Guyana, Mexico, Ecuador, Haiti,Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia orRussia.
如果你問他們來自哪里，他們則可能這樣回答你:來自多米尼加共和國，中國，牙買加，圭亞那，墨西哥，厄瓜多爾，海地，特立尼達(dá)和多巴哥，哥倫比亞或俄羅斯。
Most new immigrants come from those 10 countries.
大多數(shù)新移民來自這10個(gè)國家。
However, about 170 languages are spoken in America's largest city.
然而，在美國第一大城市里的人們使用的語言竟達(dá)170種之多。
Many Europeans moved to New York about 100 years ago.
大約100年前，很多歐洲人遷移至紐約。
They came mostly from Italy, Ireland,Germany, Russia and Poland.
這些歐洲人主要來自意大利，愛爾蘭，德國，俄羅斯和波蘭。
Today, the New York City area has the largest number of Jews outside of Israel.
如今，除以色列外，紐約市已成為最多猶太人聚居之地;
It is also home to more African-Americans than any other American city.
它也是全美國內(nèi)最多非裔美國人居住的城市;
Except for Puerto Rico itself,more Puerto Ricans live in New York City than in any other place inthe world.
此外，除了波多黎各本地之外，紐約市就是世界上最多波多黎各人居住的地方了。
Immigrants often live in communities with other people from their countries.
移民通常居住在同鄉(xiāng)們聚居的社區(qū)里，
These include communities of Italians, Russians,Chinese, Koreans, Dominicans and PuertoRicans.
諸如意大利人社區(qū)，俄羅斯人社區(qū)，中國人社區(qū)，韓國人社區(qū)，多米尼加人社區(qū)和波多黎各人社區(qū)等。
About 44 percent of all New Yorkers are white.
紐約人中白人約占44%，
A little over one-fourth are African-American.
非裔美國人所占比例則略多與四分之一，
About one-fourth are Hispanic or Latino.
西班牙裔或拉美裔的美國人約占四分之一，
Nearly 12 percent have Asian ancestors.
而亞裔美國人則幾乎占了12%。
One thing that all New Yorkers have in common is the density of their city.
對(duì)美國居住在紐約的人來說，這個(gè)城市有個(gè)公認(rèn)的特點(diǎn)，那就是城市人口密集，
Millions of people live in a small place.
上百萬人住在一個(gè)小地方里。
New York City has 5 boroughs.
紐約市有5個(gè)區(qū)，
They are the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island,Queens, and Manhattan.
分別是:布朗克斯區(qū)，布魯克林區(qū)，斯丹登島，皇后區(qū)及曼哈頓島。
The island of Manhattan has almost 26,000 people per square kilometer of land.
曼哈頓島每平方公里有將近2.6萬人。
The streets of Manhattan are very crowded because so many people live and work in there.
由于很多人在曼哈頓生活和工作，所以那里的街道擁擠不堪。
Most people travel in buses, taxi cabs,or underground in the subway instead of owning cars.
大多數(shù)人出行時(shí)沒有開私家車，而是乘坐公交，出租車或地鐵，
Most live in tall apartment buildings.
而且他們都住在公寓大樓里。
Manhattan is home to some of the wealthiest as well as the poorest people in the city.
曼哈頓同時(shí)聚集著這個(gè)城市里最富有的人和最貧窮的人。