The Contented Man

True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare. The absence of this digestive talent is what makes so cold and incredible the tales of so many people who say they have been “through” things; when it is evident that they have come out on the other side quite unchanged. A man might have gone “through” a plum pudding as a bullet might go through a plum pudding; it depends on the size of the pudding--and the man. But the awful and sacred question is “Has the pudding been through him?” Has he tasted, appreciated, and absorbed the solid pudding, with its three dimensions and its three thousand tastes and smells? Can he offer himself to the eyes of men as one who has cubically conquered and contained a pudding? 真正的知足，如同莊稼，是一件令人感到生機(jī)勃勃的事情。它是一種力量，能從任何情形中獲取其中應(yīng)有的一切。這很不容易，也很少見。那些聲稱自己“經(jīng)歷過”事情的人們，他們講道德故事之所以死氣沉沉、令人難以置信，正是因?yàn)樗麄內(nèi)狈@一消化的能力；很明顯，他們雖然經(jīng)歷過事情但卻幾無改變。一個(gè)人對(duì)一塊干果布丁的體驗(yàn)，完全可能像一顆子彈穿過這塊布?。划?dāng)然這要看布丁的大小以及這個(gè)人的題型。但那個(gè)討厭而又不容輕視的問題是：“那塊布丁經(jīng)過了這個(gè)人的身體嗎？”他有沒有真正地品嘗、欣賞和吸收這塊實(shí)實(shí)在在，有著三千鐘口味和香味的布丁？他能在世人的眼前表現(xiàn)出他是一個(gè)充分體驗(yàn)和容納了一塊布丁的人嗎？

In the same way we may ask of those who profess to have passed through trivial or tragic experiences whether they have absorbed the content of them; whether they licked up such living water as there was. It is a pertinent question in connection with many modern problems. 同樣，我們可以問問那些聲稱自己經(jīng)歷過或瑣碎或悲慘事情的人，他們是否吸收了這些經(jīng)歷的內(nèi)涵，是否舔凈了其中所有的活水？這個(gè)問題與很多現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的困境都有關(guān)系。

Thus the young genius says, “I have lived in my dreary and squalid village before I found success in Paris or Vienna.” The sound philosopher will answer, “You have never lived in your village, or you would not call it dreary and squalid.” 同樣，我們可以問問那些聲稱自己經(jīng)歷過或瑣碎或悲慘事情的人，他們是否吸收了這些經(jīng)歷的內(nèi)涵，是否舔凈了其中所有的活水？這個(gè)問題與很多現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的困境都有關(guān)系。

Thus the Imperialist, the Colonial idealist (who commonly speaks and always thinks with a Yankee accent) will say, “I've been right away from these little muddy islands, and seen God's great seas and prairies.” The sound philosopher will reply, “You have never been in these islands; you have never seen the weald of Sussex or the plain of Salisbury; otherwise you could never have called them either muddy or little.” 于是便有帝國主義者和殖民理想主義者（通常帶著美國佬的口音和美國佬的思路）說：“我離開過這些泥濘的小島，見過上帝創(chuàng)造的汪洋大海和茫茫草原?！泵髦堑恼苋藭?huì)說：“你從沒有在這些島上真正呆過；你從沒見過蘇塞克斯的曠野和索爾茲伯里的草原；不然你不可能說它們泥濘或是渺小?！?/p>

Thus the Suffragette will say, “I have passed through the paltry duties of pots and pans, the drudgery of the vulgar kitchen; but I have come out to intellectual liberty.” The sound philosopher will answer, “You have never passed through the kitchen, or you never would call it vulgar. Wiser and stronger women than you have really seen a poetry in pots and pans; naturally, because there is a poetry in them.” It is right for the village violinist to climb into fame in Paris or Vienna; it is right for the stray Englishman to climb across the high shoulder of the world; it is right for the woman to climb into whatever cathedrae or high places she can allow to her sexual dignity. But it is wrong that any of these climbers should kick the ladder by which they have climbed. But indeed these bitter people who record their experiences really record their lack of experiences. It is the countryman who has not succeeded in being a countryman who comes up to London. It is the clerk who has not succeeded in being a clerk who tries (on vegetarian principles) to be a countryman. And the woman with a past is generally a woman angry about the past she never had. 于是便有爭取選舉權(quán)的女性說：“我已經(jīng)承擔(dān)過鍋碗瓢盆的瑣碎職責(zé)，做過粗鄙廚房的乏味苦工，但我已經(jīng)出來爭取智性的自由。”明智的哲人會(huì)說，“你從沒有真正下過廚房，不然你不會(huì)說它粗鄙。比你更聰慧更優(yōu)秀的女性在鍋碗瓢盆中看到過詩歌，這很自然，因?yàn)槟抢锎_實(shí)有詩歌?！编l(xiāng)村小提琴在巴黎或維也納怕到名利的巔峰并沒有錯(cuò)；漂泊的英國人越過世界的高脊也沒有錯(cuò)；女人登上她認(rèn)為自己的性別尊嚴(yán)所允許的任何權(quán)威高位也沒有錯(cuò)。但是，這些攀登者若是一腳踢開他們?cè)?jīng)爬過的梯子，便是不對(duì)的。這些心懷怨怒的人在記錄他們的經(jīng)歷時(shí)，實(shí)際上是在記錄他們?nèi)狈?jīng)歷。是那個(gè)沒有做好鄉(xiāng)下人的人才會(huì)到倫敦去。是那個(gè)沒有做好職員的人才會(huì)試圖（按照素食原則）做個(gè)鄉(xiāng)下人。一個(gè)過去的女人通常是對(duì)自己從未有過的那個(gè)過去感到憤怒的女人。

When you have really exhausted an experience you always reverence and love it. The two things that nearly all of us have thoroughly and really been through are childhood and youth. And though we would not have them back again on any account, we feel that they are both beautiful, because we have drunk them dry. 當(dāng)你竭力從一段經(jīng)歷中獲取最多的東西時(shí)，你總會(huì)尊敬并熱愛它。有兩件事情是幾乎我們所有人都徹底地真實(shí)地經(jīng)歷過的——童年和青春。盡管我們無論如何也不會(huì)讓它們回來，我們感到它們是那么美好，因?yàn)槲覀円呀?jīng)將它們飲得一干二凈。