如何克服害羞：英语精读讲义

Because shyness can grip us in such powerful ways, 習語

因为害羞会如此强烈地攫住我们，

it's tempting to think of it as an immutable part of our emotional makeup, 講解

很容易让人觉得它是我们情感构成中不可改变的一部分，

with roots that extend far into our personalities,

其根源深深扎根于我们的性格，

and perhaps biology,

甚至可能是生理机制中，

and that we would be incapable of ever extirpating.

并且是我们永远无法根除的。

But in truth, shyness is based on a set of ideas

但实际上，害羞是基于一套

about the world

关于这个世界的观点，

that are eminently amenable to change 短語搭配

而这些观点是完全可以改变的，

through a process of reason,

通过理性的过程，

because they are founded on some touchingly malleable errors of thought.

因为它们建立在一些极易被改变的、令人触动的思想误区上。

Shyness is rooted in a distinctive way of interpreting strangers.

害羞的根源在于一种诠释陌生人的独特方式。

The shy aren't awkward around everyone.

害羞的人并不是在所有人面前都显得笨拙。

They're tongue-tied around those who seem most unlike them 習語

他们在那些看起来和自己最不像的人面前会结巴，

on the basis of a range of surface markers, 短語搭配

这种不同是基于一系列表面特征，

age, class, tastes, habits, beliefs, backgrounds, or religions.

年龄、阶级、品味、习惯、信仰、背景或宗教。

With no unkindness meant, 語氣意圖

没有冒犯的意思，

we could define shyness as a form of provincialism of the mind, 習語

我们可以把害羞定义为一种思想上的乡巴佬作风，

an over-attachment to the incidentals of one's own life and experience

过度拘泥于自己生活和经历中的偶然因素，

that unfairly casts others into the role of daunting, 習語

不公平地把别人当作令人生畏的、

unfathomable, unknowable foreigners.

高深莫测、不可了解的异乡人。

On contact with a person from another world or province,

在接触另一个世界或领域的人时，

the shy allow their minds to be dominated

害羞的人任由自己的思想被

by a forbidding aura of difference. 習語

令人望而生畏的差异感所支配。

They may silently and awkwardly say to themselves

他们可能会在心里笨拙地对自己说，

that there's nothing to be said or done 短語搭配

没什么好说或好做的，

because the other is famous,

因为对方很有名，

while they belong to the province of the obscure,

而自己属于默默无闻的领域；

or because the other is very old,

或者因为对方很老，

while their province is firmly that of 20-somethings,

而自己的领域是二十多岁的年轻人；

or because the other is very clever,

或者因为对方非常聪明，

while their province is that of the non-intellectual,

而自己的领域是非知识分子；

or because the other is from the land of very beautiful girls,

或者因为对方来自美女如云的地方，

while they hail from the province of average-looking boys. 短語搭配

而自己来自相貌平平的男孩之乡。

This is why there can be no grounds to laugh, 表達脈絡

这就是为什么根本没有理由去笑，

hazard a playful remark, 短語搭配

试探性地开个玩笑，

or feel at ease. 短語搭配

或者感到轻松自在。

The shy person doesn't intend to be unpleasant or unfriendly,

害羞的人并不打算让人不快或显得不友好，

they simply experience all otherness as an insurmountable barrier 習語

他们只是把所有的差异体验成一道难以逾越的障碍，

to making their own goodwill and personality apparent.

阻碍了他们展现自己的善意和个性。

We can imagine that in the history of humanity,

我们可以想象，在人类历史上，

shyness was always the first response.

害羞总是最初的反应。

The people over the hill would have triggered the feeling

山那边的人可能会引发这种感觉，

because they were farmers,

因为他们是农民，

while you were fishermen,

而你们是渔民，

or they spoke with a lilt in their vowels, 用詞

或者他们说话时元音带有口音，

while your diction was monotone and flat.

而你们的语调单调平缓。

Yet gradually, 表達脈絡

然而渐渐地，

there emerged a more worldly,

出现了一种更世故、

less exclusive way of relating to strangers,

较少排他性的对待陌生人的方式，

what we might call a psychological cosmopolitanism. 用詞

我们不妨称之为心理层面的世界主义。

In the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome,

在古希腊和古罗马文明中，

prompted by ever-increasing encounters between peoples 短語搭配

在各国人民交往日益频繁的推动下，

who lived very different and mutually unfamiliar lives,

那些生活方式迥异且彼此陌生的人们，

thanks to developments in trade and shipping,

凭借贸易和航运的发展，

an alternative to shyness developed.

发展出了害羞之外的替代方案。

Greek travelers who worshiped human-like divinities

崇拜人形神明的希腊旅行者

learnt that Egyptians revered cats and certain birds.

了解到埃及人尊崇猫和某些鸟类。

Romans who shaved their chins

刮下巴的罗马人

met barbarians who did not.

遇到了不刮下巴的野蛮人。

Senators who lived in colonnaded houses

住在带柱廊且

with underfloor heating

有地暖房子的参议员

encountered chieftains who lived in drafty wooden huts.

遇到了住在透风木屋里的部落首领。

And among certain thinkers,

在某些思想家之中，

an approach developed that proposed that all these humans,

发展出了一种观点，认为所有这些人类，

whatever their surface variations, 語法

无论表面差异如何，

shared a common core, 習語

都拥有一个共同的核心，

and that it was to this that the mature mind should turn 語法

成熟的心智在接触到明显的异类时，

in contact with apparent otherness.

应该关注的正是这一点。

It was to this cosmopolitan mindset

正是对于这种世界主义的心态，

that the Roman playwright and poet Terence

罗马剧作家和诗人泰伦提乌斯（Terence）

gave voice when he wrote, 短語搭配

表达了他的心声，他写道：

"I am human,

“我是人，

so nothing human is foreign to me." 文化背景

故我认为人类的一切皆与我息息相关。”

And that Christianity made use of

基督教也利用了这一点，

in rendering universal sympathy a cornerstone of its view of existence. 語法

将普世同情作为其存在观的基石。

Someone becomes a cosmopolitan,

一个人成为世界主义者，

not on the basis of having a buoyant or gregarious nature, 講解

不是因为生性乐观或合群，

but because they are in touch with a fundamental truth about humanity, 習語

而是因为他们触及了关于人性的基本真理，

because they know that irrespective of appearance, 用詞

因为他们知道，无论外表如何，

we are the same species beneath,

我们的内在是同一物种，

an insight that the tongue-tied guest at the party

这个洞见正是派对上结巴的客人

or the awkward seducer in the restaurant

或餐厅里笨拙的勾引者

are guilty of implicitly refusing. 語法

在暗中拒绝承认而犯下的过错。

Traditionally,

传统上，

rank or status have been major sources of shy provincialism.

等级或地位是害羞的乡巴佬作风的主要来源。

The peasant felt he couldn't approach the lord,

农民觉得自己无法接近领主，

the young milkmaid stammered when the earl's son visited the stable.

年轻的挤奶女工在伯爵的儿子参观马厩时会结巴。

Today,

如今，

in an echo of such inhibitions,

这种抑制感依然存在，

the boy of average looks

相貌平平的男孩

feels he could never hang out with the beautiful girl, 短語動詞

觉得他永远无法和那个漂亮的女孩一起玩，

or the modestly off will lose any ability to talk to the very wealthy.

经济条件一般的人会丧失和富豪交谈的能力。

The mind just fixates on the gulfs. 習語

大脑只会盯着这些鸿沟。

My nose looks like a child modeled it out of Plasticine,

我的鼻子看起来像是小孩用橡皮泥捏出来的，

yours as if it had been carved out by Michelangelo. 語法

你的鼻子就像是米开朗基罗雕刻的。

I fear losing my job,

我担心失去工作，

while you fear that the expansion of your business into Mexico

而你担心把业务扩展到墨西哥

won't be as profitable as you'd forecast.

利润不会像你预测的那样高。

The cosmopolitan is well aware of differences, 短語搭配

世界主义者很清楚彼此的差异，

they just refuse to be cowed or dominated by them. 用詞

他们只是拒绝被差异吓倒或支配。

They look beyond them to perceive, 短語動詞

他们看透差异，从而察觉到，

or in practical terms simply to guess at, 短語搭配

或者在实践中简单地猜测到，

a collective species unity.

物种集体的统一性。

Shyness does have its insightful dimensions. 語法

害羞确实有其充满洞察力的一面。

It's infused with an awareness

它充满了这样一种意识：

that we might be bothering someone with our presence.

我们的出现可能会打扰到别人。

It's based upon an acute sense

它是建立在一种敏锐的感觉之上：

that a stranger could be dissatisfied or discomfited by us.

陌生人可能会对我们感到不满或不适。

The shy person is touchingly alive to the dangers of being a nuisance. 習語

害羞的人对成为累赘的危险十分敏感，令人动容。

Yet in most cases,

然而在大多数情况下，

we simply pay an unnecessarily heavy price for our reserve around people 習語

我们在人们面前的矜持却付出了不必要的高昂代价，

who might well have opened their hearts to us 講解

那些人很可能原本会对我们敞开心扉，

if only we'd known how to manifest our own benevolence. 語法

只要我们懂得如何展现自己的善意。

We cling too jealously to our province. 習語

我们太过谨慎地固守自己的领地。

The pimply boy doesn't discover that he and the high school beauty

长满青春痘的男孩没有发现，他和高中的校花

share a taste in humor and a similarly painful relationship with their father.

在幽默感上志趣相投，和父亲的关系也同样痛苦。

Races and ages continue not to mingle

种族和年龄群体继续互不往来，

to their collective detriments.

对他们集体而言都是一种损失。

Shyness is a touching, 表達脈絡

害羞是一种令人动容，

yet ultimately excessive and unwarranted way

但最终过度且毫无根据的

of feeling special.

寻求特别感的方式。