给青年人的忠告.doc

Advice to Youth, About 1882Mark Twain | 1882 思政一班 杨惠琪 110720022Being told I would be expected to talk here, I inquired what sort of talk I ought to make. They said it should be something suitable to youth-something didactic, instructive, or something in the nature of good advice. Very well I have a few things in my mind which I have often longed to say for the instruction of the young; for it is in ones tender early years that such things will best take root and be most enduring and most valuable. First,then. I will say to you my young friends and I say it beseechingly, urgently Always obey your parents, when they are present. This is the best policy in the long run, because if you dont, they will make you. Most parents think they know better than you do, and you can generally make more by humoring that superstition than you can by acting on your own better judgment. Be respectful to your superiors, if you have any, also to strangers, and sometimes to others. If a person offend you,and you are in doubt as to whether it was intentional or not, do not resort to extreme measures; simply watch your chance and hit him with a brick. That will be sufficient. If you shall find that he had not intended any offense, come out frankly and confess yourself in the wrong when you struck him; acknowledge it like a man and say you didnt mean to. Yes, always avoid violence; in this age of charity and kindliness, the time has gone by for such things. Leave dynamite to the low and unrefined. Go to bed early, get up early- this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with . It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every timeits no trick at all. Now as to the matter of lying, you want to be very careful about lying; otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught. Once caught, you can never again be in the eyes to the good and the pure, what you were before. Many a young person has injured himself permanently through a single clumsy and ill finished lie, the result of carelessness born of incomplete training. Some authorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all. That of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable. Patience, diligence, painstaking attention to detailthese are requirements; these in time , will make the student perfect; upon these only, may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence. For the history of our race, and each individuals experience, are sewn thick with evidences that a truth is not hard to kill, and that a lie well told is immortal. There is in Boston a monument of the man who discovered anesthesia; many people are aware, in these latter days, that that man didnt discover it at all, but stole the discovery from another man. Is this truth mighty, and will it prevail? Ah no, my hearers, the monument is made of hardy material, but the lie it tells will outlast it a million years. An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid; such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth. Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it. A feeble, stupid, preposterous lie will not live two yearsexcept it be a slander upon somebody. It is indestructible, then of course, but that is no merit of yours. A final word：begin your practice of this gracious and beautiful art earlybegin now. If I had begun earlier, I could have learned now. Never handle firearms carelessly. The sorrow and suffering that have been caused through the innocent but heedless handling of firearms by the young! Only four days ago, right in the next farm house to the one where I am spending the summer, a grandmother, old and gray and sweet, one of the loveliest spirits in the land, was sitting at her work, when her young grandson crept in and got down an old, battered, rusty gun which had not been touched for many years and was supposed not to be loaded, and pointed it at her, laughing and threatening to shoot. In her fright she ran screaming and pleading toward the door on the other side of the room; but as she passed him he placed the gun almost against her very breast and pulled the trigger! He had supposed it was not loaded. And he was rightit wasnt. So there wasnt any harm done. It is the only case of that kind I ever heard of. Therefore, just the same, dont you meddle with old unloaded firearms; they are the most deadly and unerring things that have ever been created by man. You dont have to take any pains at all with them; you dont have to have a rest, you dont have to have any sights on the gun, you dont have to take aim, even. No, you just pick out a relative and bang away, and you are sure to get him. There are many sorts of books; but good ones are the sort for the young to read. Remember that. They are a great, an inestimable, and unspeakable mean of improvement. Therefore be careful in your selection, my young friends; be very careful; confine yourselves exclusively to Robertsons Sermons, Baxters Saints Rest, The Innocents Abroad, and works of that kind. But I have said enough. I hope you will treasure up the instructions which I have given you, and make them a guide to your feet and a light to your understanding. Build your character thoughtfully and painstakingly upon these precepts, and by and by, when you have got it built, you will be surprised and gratified .to see how nicely and sharply it resembles everybody elses. 给青年人的忠告马克吐温听说期望我来谈谈，我便询问应该发表什么样的谈话。他们说应当宜于青年的话题教诲性的、启发性的话题，或者实质上是良言忠告之类的话题。好吧。关于开导青年人，我心里倒是有几件事时常想说的；因为正是在人幼小时，这些事最适合扎根，而且最持久、最有价值。那么，首先呢，我要对你们、我的年轻朋友们说的是我恳切地、迫切地要说的是永远服从你们的父母，只要他们在堂的时候。长远看来这是上策，因为你们要是不服从的话，他们也非要你们服从。大多数家长认为比你们懂得多，一般说来你们迁就那种迷信的话，比起你们根据自以为是的判断行事，你们会建树大些。对待上司要尊重，要是你们有了上司；对待陌生人，有时还有别人，也要尊重。如果有人得罪了你们，你们要犹豫一番，看看是存心的还是无意的，不要采取极端的做法；只要看好机会用砖块打他一下，那就足够了。如果你们发现他并非故意冒犯，那就坦然走出来，承认自己打他不对；像个男子汉认个错，说声不是故意的。况且，永远要避免动武；处于这个仁慈和睦的时代，此类举动的年代已经过去了。“炸药”留给卑下而无教养的人吧早睡早起这是聪明的。有的权威讲，跟着太阳起床；还有的讲，跟着这样东西起床，又有的讲，跟着那样东西起床。其实跟着云雀起床才是再好不过的。这样你就落个好名声，人人都知道你跟着云雀起床；如果弄到一只那种适当的云雀，在它身上花些功夫，你就很容易把它调教到九点半起来，每次都是这可决不是欺人之谈接着来谈谈说谎的问题。你们可要非常谨慎地对待说谎；否则十有八九会被揭穿。一旦揭穿，在善良和纯洁的眼光看来，你就再也不可能是过去的你了。多少年轻人，因为一次拙劣难圆的谎言，那是由于不完整的教育而导致的轻率的结果，使得自己永远蒙受损害。有些权威认为，年轻人根本不该说谎。当然，这种说法言之过甚，其实未必如此；不过，虽然我可不能把话讲得太过分，我却认定而且相信自己看法正确，那就是，在实践和经验使人获得信心、文雅、严谨之前，年轻人运用这门了不起的艺术时要有分寸，只有这三点才能使得说谎的本领无伤大雅，带来好处。耐性、勤奋、细致入微这些是必要素质；这些素质日久天长便会使学生变得完善起来；凭借这些，只有凭借这些，他才可能为将来的出类拔萃打下稳固的基础。试想一下，要付出多么漫长的岁月，通过学习、思考、实践、经验，那位盖世无双的前辈大师才具有如此的素养，他迫使全世界接受了“真理是强大的而且终将取胜”这句崇高而掷地有声的格言这是关于事实的复杂层面道出的最豪迈的话，迄今任何出自娘胎的人都未获得。因为我们人类的历史，还有每个个人的经验，都深深地埋下了这样的证据：一个真理不难扼杀，一个说得巧妙的谎言则历久不衰。波士顿有座发现麻醉法的人的纪念碑；许多人到后来才明白，那个人根本没有发现麻醉法，而是剽窃了另一个人的发现。这个真理强大吗？它终将取胜吗？唉，错哉，听众们，纪念碑是用坚硬材料建造的，而它所晓示的谎言却将比它持久百万年。一个笨拙脆弱而有破绽的谎言是你们应该不断学会避免的东西；诸如此类的谎言比起一个普通事实来，决不具有更加真实的永恒性。嗨，你们倒不如既讲真话又和真理打交道。一个脆弱愚蠢而又荒谬的谎言持续不了两年除非是对什么人物的诽谤。当然，那种谎言是牢不可破的，不过那可不是你们的光彩。最后说一句：早些开始实践这门优雅美妙的艺术从现在做起。要是我早些做起，我就能学会门道了。绝不轻意地用武器。由于年轻人无知，轻率地拿起武器而引起的悲痛有多少！仅仅四天前，就在我过夏天那家农屋的隔壁，有一位头发灰白，和蔼可亲的老奶奶，当地最可爱的人物之一，正坐着做她的活，她年幼的孙子蹑手蹑脚地进来取下那枝破旧、已被敲扁了的、生锈的枪。这枝枪已多年未被动过，可能没有填装弹药。惊骇中，她边跑边尖叫着恳求着到了屋子另一边的门。就当她经过他时，他几乎把枪正对着她的胸膛，并拉动了扳机。” “他以为里面没装子弹，他对了 - 是的，是没装，所以没造成任何伤害。这是我所听说过的惟一一个没有造成伤害的例子。因此，同样别去摆弄那些旧的卸了瞠的武器，它们是人类创造的武器中最准确最致命的了。使用它们你不用费任何力气，也不需要休息，不用枪瞄准，甚至都不用选取目标。都不用，你就找个亲戚呼地一声，就一定能击中他。书有许多种，但好书才是给年轻人读的，记住这一点。它们的伟大的，无法估计的，无法言传的自我进步方法。因此，要仔细挑选，我年轻的朋友们，要仔细；把自己读的书限定在罗伯森的布道，巴克斯特的圣人的休憩、 傻子国外旅行记那类书。我说的已够了。我希望你们会珍惜我刚刚给你们的指导，把它们当成你的向导，当成你领悟的明灯。认真思考，并努力地按照这些告诫来塑造自己的性格，渐渐地，当你成功时你就会惊奇而满足地发现，你的性格与其他人的性格类似得如此精细与鲜明。小事决定一生马克吐温，（Mark Twain l8351910）美国作家本名塞谬尔朗赫恩克莱门斯，他是美国批判现实主义文学的奠基人，世界著名的短篇小说大师，被誉为“美国文学中的林肯”。他的主要作品已大多有中文译本。马克吐温这篇给青年人的忠告是他应邀写给美国青年的一篇短文，主要是关于生活中的一些教育性的有益的建议。他那时所说的话拿到现在来看还是如当时一样正确，从中我们也可以管窥到他的人生观。我选择这篇短文是因为马克吐温用简单易懂的言语提醒着青年人，事小，但让人深思。这篇短文从五个小方面给青年人忠告，虽然都是小事，但正如他所说“因为正是在人幼小时，这些事最适合扎根，而且最持久、最有价值”。对于永远服从父母，马克吐温认为这是最重要的，因为如果你反抗的话父母会有办法让你乖乖顺从，正如他所说“一般说来你们迁就那种迷信的话，比起你们根据自以为是的判断行事，你们会建树大些”。如果永远服从父母是否就没有个人的思想和主见了呢？我并不这么认为，父母阅历比我们多，所以有时候我们在某件事或在某观点与父母发生冲突的时候应该静下心来与父母沟通，听听他们的看法，而不是一味的反抗，这不仅是双方关系更加和谐，而且也有利于事情的发展。尊重他人是一种高尚的美德，是个人内在修养的外在表现。尊重，是人的一生修养以及自