如何克服害羞：英語精讀講義

Because shyness can grip us in such powerful ways, 慣用語

因為害羞會如此強烈地攫住我們，

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

很容易讓人覺得它是我們情感構成中不可改變的一部分，

with roots that extend far into our personalities,

其根源深深紮根於我們的性格，

and perhaps biology,

甚至可能是生理機制中，

and that we would be incapable of ever extirpating.

並且是我們永遠無法根除的。

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

但實際上，害羞是基於一套

about the world

關於這個世界的觀點，

that are eminently amenable to change 片語搭配

而這些觀點是完全可以改變的，

through a process of reason,

透過理性的過程，

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

因為它們建立在一些極易被改變的、令人觸動的思想誤區上。

Shyness is rooted in a distinctive way of interpreting strangers.

害羞的根源在於一種詮釋陌生人的獨特方式。

The shy aren't awkward around everyone.

害羞的人並不是在所有人面前都顯得笨拙。

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

他們在那些看起來和自己最不像的人面前會結巴，

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

這種不同是基於一系列表面特徵，

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

年齡、階級、品味、習慣、信仰、背景或宗教。

With no unkindness meant, 語氣意圖

沒有冒犯的意思，

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

我們可以把害羞定義為一種思想上的鄉巴佬作風，

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

過度拘泥於自己生活和經歷中的偶然因素，

that unfairly casts others into the role of daunting, 慣用語

不公平地把別人當作令人生畏的、

unfathomable, unknowable foreigners.

高深莫測、不可了解的異鄉人。

On contact with a person from another world or province,

在接觸另一個世界或領域的人時，

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. 慣用語

令人望而生畏的差異感所支配。

They may silently and awkwardly say to themselves

他們可能會在心裡笨拙地對自己說，

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

沒什麼好說或好做的，

because the other is famous,

因為對方很有名，

while they belong to the province of the obscure,

而自己屬於默默無聞的領域；

or because the other is very old,

或者因為對方很老，

while their province is firmly that of 20-somethings,

而自己的領域是二十多歲的年輕人；

or because the other is very clever,

或者因為對方非常聰明，

while their province is that of the non-intellectual,

而自己的領域是非知識分子；

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

或者因為對方來自美女如雲的地方，

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

而自己來自相貌平平的男孩之鄉。

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

這就是為什麼根本沒有理由去笑，

hazard a playful remark, 片語搭配

試探性地開個玩笑，

or feel at ease. 片語搭配

或者感到輕鬆自在。

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

害羞的人並不打算讓人不快或顯得不友好，

they simply experience all otherness as an insurmountable barrier 慣用語

他們只是把所有的差異體驗成一道難以逾越的障礙，

to making their own goodwill and personality apparent.

阻礙了他們展現自己的善意和個性。

We can imagine that in the history of humanity,

我們可以想像，在人類歷史上，

shyness was always the first response.

害羞總是最初的反應。

The people over the hill would have triggered the feeling

山那邊的人可能會引發這種感覺，

because they were farmers,

因為他們是農民，

while you were fishermen,

而你們是漁民，

or they spoke with a lilt in their vowels, 用詞

或者他們說話時母音帶有口音，

while your diction was monotone and flat.

而你們的語調單調平緩。

Yet gradually, 表達脈絡

然而漸漸地，

there emerged a more worldly,

出現了一種更世故、

less exclusive way of relating to strangers,

較少排他性的對待陌生人的方式，

what we might call a psychological cosmopolitanism. 用詞

我們不妨稱之為心理層面的世界主義。

In the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome,

在古希臘和古羅馬文明中，

prompted by ever-increasing encounters between peoples 片語搭配

在各國人民交往日益頻繁的推動下，

who lived very different and mutually unfamiliar lives,

那些生活方式迥異且彼此陌生的人們，

thanks to developments in trade and shipping,

憑藉貿易和航運的發展，

an alternative to shyness developed.

發展出了害羞之外的替代方案。

Greek travelers who worshiped human-like divinities

崇拜人形神明的希臘旅行者

learnt that Egyptians revered cats and certain birds.

了解到埃及人尊崇貓和某些鳥類。

Romans who shaved their chins

刮下巴的羅馬人

met barbarians who did not.

遇到了不刮下巴的野蠻人。

Senators who lived in colonnaded houses

住在帶柱廊且

with underfloor heating

有地暖房子的參議員

encountered chieftains who lived in drafty wooden huts.

遇到了住在透風木屋裡的部落首領。

And among certain thinkers,

在某些思想家之中，

an approach developed that proposed that all these humans,

發展出了一種觀點，認為所有這些人類，

whatever their surface variations, 文法

無論表面差異如何，

shared a common core, 慣用語

都擁有一個共同的核心，

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

成熟的心智在接觸到明顯的異類時，

in contact with apparent otherness.

應該關注的正是這一點。

It was to this cosmopolitan mindset

正是對於這種世界主義的心態，

that the Roman playwright and poet Terence

羅馬劇作家和詩人泰倫提烏斯（Terence）

gave voice when he wrote, 片語搭配

表達了他的心聲，他寫道：

"I am human,

「我是人，

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

故我認為人類的一切皆與我息息相關。」

And that Christianity made use of

基督教也利用了這一點，

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

將普世同情作為其存在觀的基石。

Someone becomes a cosmopolitan,

一個人成為世界主義者，

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

不是因為生性樂觀或合群，

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

而是因為他們觸及了關於人性的基本真理，

because they know that irrespective of appearance, 用詞

因為他們知道，無論外表如何，

we are the same species beneath,

我們的內在是同一物種，

an insight that the tongue-tied guest at the party

這個洞見正是派對上結巴的客人

or the awkward seducer in the restaurant

或餐廳裡笨拙的勾引者

are guilty of implicitly refusing. 文法

在暗中拒絕承認而犯下的過錯。

Traditionally,

傳統上，

rank or status have been major sources of shy provincialism.

等級或地位是害羞的鄉巴佬作風的主要來源。

The peasant felt he couldn't approach the lord,

農民覺得自己無法接近領主，

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

年輕的擠奶女工在伯爵的兒子參觀馬廄時會結巴。

Today,

如今，

in an echo of such inhibitions,

這種抑制感依然存在，

the boy of average looks

相貌平平的男孩

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

覺得他永遠無法和那個漂亮的女孩一起玩，

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

經濟條件一般的人會喪失和富豪交談的能力。

The mind just fixates on the gulfs. 慣用語

大腦只會盯著這些鴻溝。

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

我的鼻子看起來像是小孩用黏土捏出來的，

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

你的鼻子就像是米開朗基羅雕刻的。

I fear losing my job,

我擔心失去工作，

while you fear that the expansion of your business into Mexico

而你擔心把業務擴展到墨西哥

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

利潤不會像你預測的那樣高。

The cosmopolitan is well aware of differences, 片語搭配

世界主義者很清楚彼此的差異，

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

他們只是拒絕被差異嚇倒或支配。

They look beyond them to perceive, 片語動詞

他們看透差異，從而察覺到，

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

或者在實踐中簡單地猜測到，

a collective species unity.

物種集體的統一性。

Shyness does have its insightful dimensions. 文法

害羞確實有其充滿洞察力的一面。

It's infused with an awareness

它充滿了這樣一種意識：

that we might be bothering someone with our presence.

我們的出現可能會打擾到別人。

It's based upon an acute sense

它是建立在一種敏銳的感覺之上：

that a stranger could be dissatisfied or discomfited by us.

陌生人可能會對我們感到不滿或不適。

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

害羞的人對成為累贅的危險十分敏感，令人動容。

Yet in most cases,

然而在大多數情況下，

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

我們在人們面前的矜持卻付出了不必要的高昂代價，

who might well have opened their hearts to us 講解

那些人很可能原本會對我們敞開心扉，

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

只要我們懂得如何展現自己的善意。

We cling too jealously to our province. 慣用語

我們太過謹慎地固守自己的領地。

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

長滿青春痘的男孩沒有發現，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，和父親的關係也同樣痛苦。

Races and ages continue not to mingle

種族和年齡群體繼續互不往來，

to their collective detriments.

對他們集體而言都是一種損失。

Shyness is a touching, 表達脈絡

害羞是一種令人動容，

yet ultimately excessive and unwarranted way

但最終過度且毫無根據的

of feeling special.

尋求特別感的方式。