如何不無聊：英語精讀講義

One of our great fears, 文法

我們最大的恐懼之一，

which haunts us when we go out into the world and socialize with others, 片語搭配

當我們步入社會與他人交際時總是縈繞心頭，

is that we may in our hearts be really rather boring.

那就是在我們內心深處，自己可能真的挺無趣的。

But the good news,

但好消息是，

and a fundamental truth too,

也是一個基本的真理，

is that no one is ever truly boring.

那就是從來沒有人是真正無趣的。

They're only in danger of coming across as such 片語動詞

他們之所以會有顯得無趣的危險，

when they either fail to understand their deeper selves

僅僅是因為他們要麼無法理解更深層的自我，

or don't dare or know how to communicate them to others.

要麼不敢或不知道如何將自我傳達給他人。

That there is simply no such thing as an inherently boring person or thing 片語搭配

根本沒有天生無趣的人或事物，

is one of the great lessons of art.

這是藝術給我們的偉大啟示之一。

Many of the most satisfying artworks

許多最令人滿意的藝術作品，

don't feature exalted or rare elements.

並沒有高尚或罕見的元素。

They are about the ordinary 文法

它們講述的都是普通的事物，

looked at in a special way,

用一種特殊的眼光去看待，

with unusual sincerity and openness

帶著非凡的真誠與開放態度，

to unvarnished experience. 慣用語

面對未經粉飾的體驗。

Take for example some grasses 表達脈絡

比如一些草，

painted by the Danish artist Christen Købke

由丹麥藝術家克里斯汀·科布克所畫，

in a suburb of Copenhagen in 1833.

1833年在哥本哈根的一個郊區。

Outwardly, the scene is utterly unremarkable

表面上看，這個場景極其普通，

and could initially appear to be deeply unpromising material 用詞

起初可能顯得是非常缺乏潛力的題材，

for a painting.

難以作畫。

And yet, like any great artist,

然而，就像任何偉大的藝術家一樣，

Købke has known how to interrogate his own perceptions 慣用語

科布克懂得如何審視自己的感知，

in a fresh, unclouded, underivative manner

以一種清新、清晰、不落俗套的方式，

and translated them accurately into his medium,

並將其準確地轉化為他的媒介，

weaving a small masterpiece 慣用語

編織出了一幅小小的傑作，

out of the thread of everyday life.

從日常生活的細線中。

And just as there's no such thing as a boring river bank, 文法

正如不存在無趣的河岸、

tree, or dandelion,

樹木或蒲公英一樣，

so too,

同理，

there can be no such thing as an inherently boring person.

也不可能存在天生無趣的人。

The human animal

人類這種動物，

witnessed in its essence with honesty and without artifice 用詞

當其本質被誠實且毫不做作地展現時，

is always interesting.

總是很有趣的。

When we call a person boring,

當我們說一個人無趣時，

we're just pointing to someone

我們只是在指一個人，

who's not had the courage or concentration

他沒有勇氣或專注力，

to tell us what it's like to be them. 文法

去告訴我們做他們自己是種什麼感受。

By contrast, 表達脈絡

相比之下，

we invariably prove compelling

我們總是能變得引人入勝，

when we succeed in saying

只要我們成功表達出

how and what we truly desire,

我們真正渴望什麼、如何渴望，

envy, regret,

以及我們的嫉妒、遺憾、

mourn, and dream.

悲傷和夢想。

Anyone who faithfully recuperates

任何人只要忠實地還原

the real data on what it's like to exist

生存體驗的真實數據，

is guaranteed to have material

就一定能擁有素材，

with which to captivate others. 文法

去吸引他人。

The interesting person

有趣的人，

isn't someone to whom obviously and outwardly interesting things have happened, 文法

不是那些在表面上發生過明顯有趣事情的人，

someone who's traveled the world,

那些環遊世界、

met important dignitaries,

見過重要顯貴、

or been present at large geopolitical events.

或出席過大型地緣政治事件的人。

Nor is it someone who speaks in learned terms 文法

也不是那些用淵博的詞彙，

about the weighty themes of culture,

談論文化、

history, or science.

歷史或科學等沉重主題的人。

They're someone who's grown into an attentive, 片語動詞

他們是那種成長為專注的、

self-aware listener

有自我意識的傾聽者，

and a reliable, honest correspondent 慣用語

也是可靠、誠實的通訊員，

of the tremors of their own mind and heart

記錄自己頭腦與內心的悸動，

and who can thereby give us faithful accounts 片語搭配

從而能向我們忠實地描述，

of the pathos, drama,

活著時的悲哀、戲劇性

and strangeness of being alive.

以及奇異之處。

What then are some of the elements

那麼，到底是什麼因素

that get in the way 片語動詞

阻礙了我們，

of us being as interesting

讓我們沒能像

as we in fact are?

實際上那樣有趣呢？

Firstly, and most crucially,

首先，也是最關鍵的，

we bore when we lose faith

當我們失去信心時，我們就會變得無趣，

that it really could be our feelings

也就是不再相信我們的真實感受

that would stand the best chance of interesting others. 片語搭配

才最有可能引起別人的興趣。

Out of modesty and habit, 片語搭配

出於謙虛和習慣，

we push some of our most interesting perceptions 片語動詞

我們將自己最有趣的感知

to one side

推到一邊，

in order to follow respectable but dead conventions

為了去遵循那些看似體面卻死板的傳統，

of what might impress.

以為那樣才能給人留下印象。

When we tell anecdotes,

當我們講軼事時，

we throw the emphasis on the outward details, 片語搭配

我們把重點放在了表面的細節上，

who was there,

誰在那兒，

when we went,

什麼時候去的，

what the temperature was like,

氣溫如何，

rather than maintaining our nerve

而不是鼓起勇氣，

to report on the layer of feelings beneath the facts, 慣用語

去報告事實背後的情感層面，

the moment of guilt,

那一刻的內疚，

the sudden sexual attraction,

突然的性吸引，

the humiliating sulk,

屈辱的生悶氣，

the career crisis,

職業危機，

the strange euphoria at 3:00 a.m.

凌晨3點奇怪的亢奮。

Our neglect of our native feelings

我們對自己本能感受的忽視，

isn't just an oversight. 用詞

並不只是一種疏忽。

It can be a deliberate strategy

它可能是一種刻意的策略，

to keep our minds away from realizations

讓我們的頭腦遠離那些

that threaten our ideas of dignity and normality.

威脅到我們尊嚴和常態觀念的認知。

We babble inconsequentially to the world

我們對世界進行著無關痛癢的喋喋不休，

because we lack the nerve 片語搭配

因為我們缺乏勇氣，

to look more closely and unflinchingly within.

去更仔細、毫不退縮地審視內心。

It feels significant 文法

這顯得意味深長：

that most 5-year-olds are far less boring than most 45-year-olds.

大多數5歲的孩子遠沒有大多數45歲的人那麼無趣。

What makes these children gripping

讓這些孩子如此吸引人的，

is not so much that they have more interesting feelings than anyone else,

並不真的是因為他們比其他人擁有更有趣的感受，

far from it, 語氣意圖

差得遠呢，

but that they are especially uncensored correspondents

而是因為他們是未經審查的特別通訊員，

of these feelings.

傳達著這些感受。

Their inexperience of the world

他們對世界缺乏經驗，

means they are still instinctively loyal to themselves,

意味著他們本能地仍然忠於自己，

and so they will candidly tell us what they really think

所以他們會坦率地告訴我們他們真實的想法，

about Granny and their little brother,

關於奶奶和他們的小弟弟，

what their plans for reforming the planet are,

改造地球的計畫是什麼，

and what they believe everyone should do with their boogies.

以及他們認為每個人應該怎麼處理鼻屎。

We are rendered boring 用詞

我們之所以變得無趣，

not by nature so much as by a fateful will

與其說是天性使然，不如說是因為一種宿命的意願，

that begins its malevolent reign over us in adolescence

這種意願從青春期就開始對我們進行惡毒的統治，

to appear normal.

那就是表現得正常。

Yet, even when we're honest about our feelings,

然而，即使我們對自己的感受很誠實，

we may still prove boring

我們仍然可能顯得無趣，

because we don't know them as well as we should.

因為我們對感受的了解還不夠。

And so we get stuck at the level 片語搭配

於是我們就卡在了這個層面，

of insisting on an emotion

只是在堅持一種情緒，

rather than explaining it.

而不是去解釋它。

We'll assert with ever greater emphasis

我們會越來越強調，

that a situation was extremely exciting or awful or beautiful,

某個情況是極其令人興奮、糟糕或美麗的，

but not be able to provide those around us 片語搭配

卻無法向周圍的人提供

with any of the sort of related details and examples

任何相關的細節和例子，

that would help them viscerally understand why. 用詞

那些能幫助他們發自肺腑地理解為什麼的細節。

We can end up boring 片語動詞

我們最終可能會變得無趣，

not so much because we don't want to share our lives 文法

與其說是因為我們不想分享生活，

as because we don't yet know them well enough

不如說是我們還不夠了解生活，

to do so.

以至於無法分享。

Fortunately,

幸運的是，

the gift of being interesting

變得有趣的這種天賦，

is neither exclusive 文法

既不排他，

nor reliant on exceptional talent.

也不依賴於非凡的才華。

It requires only direction, honesty, and focus.

它只需要方向、誠實和專注。

The person we call interesting

我們所說的有趣的人，

is in essence someone alive to what we all deeply want from social intercourse, 用詞

本質上是深知我們在社交中深切渴望什麼的人，

which is an uncensored glimpse

渴望的就是未經審查地瞥見，

of what the brief waking dream called life 慣用語

這段短暫的被稱為生活的清醒夢，

looks like through the eyes of another person 慣用語

藉由另一個人的雙眼看出去是什麼樣子，

and reassurance

並渴望得到一種安慰，

we are not entirely alone

我們並不完全是孤單的，

with all that feels most bewildering,

即使面對心中那些最令人困惑、

peculiar, and intense within us.

奇怪和強烈的感覺。