为什么我们讨厌便宜货：英语精读讲义

We don't think we hate cheap things,

我们不认为自己讨厌便宜的东西，

but we frequently behave as if we rather do. 語法

但我们的行为却常常表现出我们确实讨厌。

Consider the pineapple. 表達脈絡

拿菠萝来说。

Columbus was the first European to be delighted by its physical grandeur and vibrant sweetness.

哥伦布是第一个被其外表的壮丽和充满活力的甜味所折服的欧洲人。

He brought some back to Europe, 短語動詞

他带了一些回欧洲，

but pineapples proved extremely difficult to transport and very costly to cultivate. 語法

但事实证明菠萝极难运输，且种植成本非常高。

For a long time,

很长一段时间，

only royalty could afford to eat them. 短語搭配

只有皇室才吃得起。

Russia's Catherine the Great was a huge fan,

俄罗斯的叶卡捷琳娜大帝就是它的超级粉丝，

as was Charles II of England. 語法

英国的查理二世也是。

A single fruit in the 17th century sold for today's equivalent of £5,000. 短語搭配

在17世纪，一个菠萝的售价相当于今天的5000英镑。

The pineapple was so exciting and so loved that in 1761, 語法

菠萝如此令人兴奋，如此受人喜爱，以至于在1761年，

the 4th Earl of Dunmore built a temple on his Scottish estate in its honor.

第四代邓莫尔伯爵在他的苏格兰庄园里建了一座神庙来纪念它。

And Christopher Wren had no hesitation in topping the south tower of St. Paul's in London 短語搭配

此外，克里斯托弗·雷恩毫不犹豫地将伦敦圣保罗大教堂南塔的顶部

with this evidently divine fruit.

装饰上了这种显然是神圣的水果。

Then,

然后，

at the very end of the 19th century,

到了19世纪末期，

two things changed.

两件事情发生了改变。

Large commercial plantations of pineapples were established in Hawaii,

夏威夷建立了大型商业菠萝种植园，

and there were huge advances in steamship technology.

蒸汽船技术也取得了巨大进步。

Transport costs plummeted and unwittingly transformed the psychology of pineapple eating. 短語搭配

运输成本骤降，并无意中改变了人们吃菠萝的心理。

Today,

如今，

you can get a pineapple for around £1.50 短語搭配

你花大概1.50英镑就能买到一个菠萝。

It still tastes exactly the same,

它的味道依然完全一样，

but now the pineapple is one of the world's least glamorous fruits.

但现在菠萝已成为世界上最不迷人的水果之一。

It's never served at smart dinner parties, 用詞

它从未出现在高级晚宴上，

and it would never be carved on top of a major civic building.

也绝不会被雕刻在主要市政建筑的顶部。

The pineapple itself hasn't changed,

菠萝本身并没有改变，

only our attitude to it has. 語法

改变的只是我们对它的态度。

Contemplation of history of the pineapple suggests a curious overlap between love and economics. 短語搭配

思考菠萝的历史可以发现，热爱和经济之间有一种奇妙的重叠。

When we have to pay a lot for something nice,

当我们需要为好东西付出高昂代价时，

we appreciate it to the full. 短語搭配

我们会充分欣赏它。

Yet,

然而，

as its price in the market falls,

随着它在市场上的价格下跌，

passion has a habit of fading away. 講解

热情往往就会渐渐消退。

Naturally,

自然，

if an object has no merit to begin with, 短語搭配

如果一个物品原本就毫无价值，

a high price won't be able to do anything for it.

高昂的价格也无济于事。

But if it has real virtue and yet a low price,

但如果它确实有美德，只是价格低廉，

then it's in severe danger of falling into neglect. 短語搭配

那它就有严重被冷落的危险。

It's a pattern that we see recurring in a range of areas. 表達脈絡

这是我们在众多领域反复看到的一种模式。

For example,

举个例子，

with a sight of clouds from above.

从高空俯瞰云层的景象。

In 1927,

在1927年，

a hitherto unknown airmail pilot called Charles Lindbergh 用詞

一位当时鲜为人知的航空邮件飞行员查尔斯·林德伯格

became the first man to complete a solo crossing of the Atlantic 短語搭配

成为第一个完成单人驾驶飞机飞越太西洋的人，

in his plane the Spirit of St. Louis.

他驾驶的是他的飞机“圣路易斯精神号”。

He was awestruck and felt he was becoming for a time almost godlike.

他心生敬畏，觉得自己一时间几乎像神一样。

For most of the 20th century,

在20世纪的大部分时间里，

his experience remained rare and extremely costly.

他的经历仍然十分罕见且极其昂贵。

There was therefore never any danger

因此，永远没有任何危险

that the human value of crossing an ocean by air would be overlooked.

会让人忽视乘飞机穿越大洋的人类价值。

But this lasted only until the arrival of the Boeing 747

但这一切仅仅持续到了波音747的出现

and the cheap plane ticket in the summer of 1970.

以及1970年夏天廉价机票的诞生。

Now,

如今，

almost no one looks out of the plane window anymore.

几乎再也没有人会看向飞机窗外了。

Why then do we associate cheap prices with a lack of value? 表達脈絡

那么，为什么我们会将便宜的价格与缺乏价值联系起来呢？

Our response seems a hangover from our long pre-industrial past. 習語

我们的反应似乎是漫长前工业化时代遗留的产物。

For most of human history,

在人类历史的大部分时间里，

there truly was a strong correlation between cost and value. 短語搭配

成本与价值之间确实存在着很强的相关性。

The higher the price, 語法

价格越高，

the better things tended to be,

东西往往就越好，

because there was simply no way both for prices to be low and quality high.

因为根本不可能做到价格低廉且质量上乘。

Everything had to be made by hand,

每样东西都必须靠手工制作，

by expensively trained artisans

由接受过昂贵培训的工匠

with raw materials that were immensely difficult to transport.

使用极难运输的原材料制造。

The expensive sword, jacket, window, or wheelbarrow were simply always the better ones.

昂贵的剑、夹克、窗户或手推车，肯定总是更好的。

This relationship between price and value held true in an uninterrupted way 短語搭配

这种价格与价值之间的关系一直不间断地存在着，

until the end of the 18th century,

直到18世纪末，

when,

当时，

thanks to the Industrial Revolution,

感谢工业革命，

something extremely unusual happened.

发生了一件极其不寻常的事情。

Human beings worked out how to make high-quality goods at cheap prices 短語動詞

人类想出了如何以低廉的价格制造高质量的商品，

because of technology and new methods of organizing the labor force.

这得益于技术和组织劳动力的全新方式。

However,

然而，

despite the greatness of these efforts, 表達脈絡

尽管这些努力很伟大，

instead of making wonderful experiences universally available,

工业化并没有让美妙的体验得到普及，

industrialization has inadvertently produced a different effect.

反而在无意中产生了另一种效果。

It seemed to rob certain experiences of their loveliness, 短語搭配

它似乎剥夺了某些体验的可爱之处、

interest, and worth.

趣味和价值。

It's not, 表達脈絡

这并不是说，

of course,

当然，

that we refuse to buy inexpensive or cheap things.

我们拒绝购买不贵或便宜的东西。

It's just that getting excited over cheap things has come to seem a little bizarre.

只是说，为便宜的东西感到兴奋似乎变得有些奇怪。

One is allowed to get very worked up over the eggs of the sturgeon, 習語

一个人可以为鲟鱼卵感到无比激动，

£100 for a small pot,

一小罐100英镑，

but we have to be very circumscribed about one's enthusiasm for the eggs of a chicken, 用詞

但我们却必须非常克制对鸡蛋的热情，

12 for £2.

12个才2英镑。

There is an intimidating hierarchy operating in the background, 習語

在背景中，存在着一个令人生畏的等级制度，

shaping what we're allowed to be grateful for 語氣意圖

塑造着我们被允许感激什么，

and feel that we lack and must have.

并让我们觉得缺乏且必须拥有什么。

The price tells us something very special is going on here.

价格告诉我们，这里有非常特别的事情。

But it may be going on in the cheaper thing too.

但它可能同样存在于更便宜的物品中。

How do we reverse this? 表達脈絡

我们如何扭转这种局面？

The answer lies in a slightly unexpected area,

答案在一个有点出人意料的领域，

the mind of a 4-year-old.

即一个4岁孩子的思想。

Here he is with a puddle.

这里有个小孩和一个水坑。

It started raining an hour ago.

一个小时前开始下雨。

Now the street is full of puddles,

现在街上满是水坑，

and there could be nothing better in the world. 語法

在世界上没有比这更好的事情了。

The riches of the Indies would be nothing 講解

即使是印度的财富，也会变得微不足道，

next to the pleasures of being able to see the rippling of the water

相比于能够看到穿着靴子跳进水中激起涟漪

created by a jump in one's boots.

所带来的纯粹快乐。

Eddies and whirlpools,

漩涡与回旋，

the minute waves, 用詞

微小的波浪，

the oceans beneath one.

脚下的海洋。

It's all fascinating.

这一切都很迷人。

Children have great advantages.

孩子们有着巨大的优势。

They don't know what they're supposed to like, 語法

他们不知道自己应该喜欢什么，

and they don't understand money.

他们也不懂金钱。

So price is never a guide of value for them.

因此，价格对他们来说从来不是价值的指南。

They'll spend an hour with one button.

他们可以花一个小时玩一颗纽扣。

One buys them the £49 wooden toy made by Swedish artisans

有人给他们买瑞典工匠制作的49英镑的木制玩具，

and finds that they prefer the cardboard box that it came in.

却发现他们更喜欢装玩具的那个硬纸盒。

They prefer the nail and screw section of a DIY shop to the fanciest toy department. 語法

相比于最豪华的玩具专柜，他们更喜欢五金店的钉子和螺丝区。

A child might be deeply surprised,

一个孩子可能会深感惊讶，

even shocked,

甚至震惊，

to learn that a USB stick can be had for just over £1. 用詞

得知一个U盘只要1英镑多一点就能买到。

Children would be right 語法

孩子们是对的，

if prices were determined by human worth and value,

如果价格是由人类的意义和价值决定的，

but they're not.

但事实并非如此。

They just reflect what things cost to make.

它们只反映了物品的制造成本。

The pity is therefore that we do treat them as a guide to what matters, 短語搭配

因此遗憾的是，我们确实将价格视作衡量重要事物的指南，

when this isn't what a financial price should ever be used for. 語法

而这根本不应该是财务价格的用途。

We can't directly go back to childhood,

我们无法直接回到童年，

but we have got people who can help us in this area,

但我们在这个领域有可以提供帮助的人，

artists.

艺术家。

They are the experts at recording and communicating their enthusiasms, 短語搭配

他们是记录和交流自身热情的专家，

which, like children,

这些热情，就像孩子们一样，

can take them in slightly unexpected directions. 習語

可以将他们引向有点出乎意料的方向。

The French artist Paul Cézanne spent a good deal of the late 19th century 語法

法国艺术家保罗·塞尚在19世纪末的大部分时间里，

painting groups of apples in his studio in Provence.

都在他普罗旺斯的工作室里画一组组的苹果。

He was thrilled by their texture, shapes, and colors.

他被它们的质地、形状和颜色所震撼。

He loved the transitions between the yellowy golds

他喜欢苹果表皮上黄色和金色

and the deep reds across their skins.

向深红色过渡的色彩变化。

Cézanne had all the awe, love, and excitement before the apple

塞尚在苹果面前拥有所有的敬畏、热爱与兴奋，

that aristocrats once had for the pineapple.

就像贵族们曾经对菠萝那般。

Cézanne in his studio was generating his own revolution,

塞尚在他的工作室里掀起了他自己的革命，

not an industrial revolution 語法

不是一场工业革命，

that would make once costly objects available to everyone,

去让曾经昂贵的物品普及给每个人，

but a revolution in appreciation,

而是一场关于欣赏的革命，

a far deeper process

一个更为深刻的过程，

that could get us to notice what we already have to hand. 講解

能够让我们注意到我们手边已有的东西。

Instead of reducing prices, 表達脈絡

他不是在降低价格，

he was raising levels of appreciation,

而是在提升欣赏水平，

which is a move that's perhaps more precious to us economically

在经济上，这或许对我们来说是一个更为宝贵的举动，

because it means that we can suddenly get a lot more great things 短語搭配

因为这意味着我们能突然以极少的钱

for very little money.

获得更多美好的事物。

We need to rethink our relationship to prices. 短語搭配

我们需要重新思考我们与价格的关系。

We've been looking at prices in the wrong way. 習語

我们看待价格的方式一直有误。

We fetishized them as tokens of intrinsic value. 用詞

我们把它们当作内在价值的象征来盲目崇拜。

We've allowed them to set how much excitement 習語

我们允许价格来决定在特定领域

we're allowed to have in given areas.

我们能获得多少兴奋感。

But prices were never meant to be like this.

但价格本不该如此。

We're breathing too much life into them 習語

我们赋予了它们太多的生命力，

and therefore dulling too many of our responses to the inexpensive world.

从而迟钝了我们对低价世界的太多反应。

We are astonishingly already a good deal richer 語法

令人惊讶的是，我们实际上已经比我们被引导去认为的

than we're encouraged to think we are.

要富有得多。