第三章
第1段
III. On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small
There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person. Nothing is more keenly required than a defence of bores. When Byron divided humanity into the bores and bored, he omitted to notice that the higher qualities exist entirely in the bores, the lower qualities in the bored, among whom he counted himself. The bore, by his starry enthusiasm, his solemn happiness, may, in some sense, have proved himself poetical. The bored has
certainly proved himself prosaic.
III.
論盧亞德·吉卜齡與縮小世界
這世上沒有什麼議題是無趣的，只有對議題不感興趣的人，沒什麼事情比抗拒、消滅我們的無聊更為急迫。當拜倫（Byron）將人分成讓人感到無聊的人（無趣的人）與感到無聊的人（無聊的人），他忽略了一點，較佳的特質完全出現於那些無趣的人身上，而較差的特質則浮現在那無聊的人中間，拜倫視自己為那無聊者的一份子。無趣者，因其滿腔熱情，他那以認真萬分態度營造的幸福感，某種程度上證明他充滿詩意。而無聊者則證明自己平淡、乏味、了無生氣。
第2段
We might, no doubt, find it a nuisance to count all the blades of grass or all the leaves of the trees; but this would not be because of our boldness or gaiety, but because of our lack of boldness and gaiety. The bore would go onward, bold and gay, and find the blades of grass as splendid as the swords of an army. The bore is stronger and more joyous than we are; he is a demigod—nay, he is a god. For it is the gods who do not tire of the iteration of things; to them the nightfall is always new, and the last rose as red as the first.
毫無疑問的，我們一定覺得計算草或樹葉的數量是件麻煩事，但這不是因為我們充滿膽識或歡樂，而是因我們缺乏膽試或歡樂。那無趣的人會勇敢與歡欣地著手任務，並發覺草葉就像軍隊裡的刀劍一樣美麗。無趣者比我們更強壯與喜樂，他就好像神人一樣，喔不，他就是神。因為只有神不會厭倦事物的反覆更迭。對祂們而言，每一次天色變暗、夜幕低垂都是新的，最後一朵玫瑰就跟第一朵一樣鮮紅豔麗。
第3段
The sense that everything is poetical is a thing solid and absolute; it is not a mere matter of phraseology or persuasion. It is not merely true, it is ascertainable. Men may be challenged to deny it; men may be challenged to mention anything that is not a matter of poetry. I remember a long time ago a sensible subeditor coming up to me with a book in his hand, called "Mr. Smith," or "The Smith Family," or some such thing. He said, "Well, you won't get any of your damned mysticism out of this," or words to that effect. I am happy to say that I undeceived him; but the victory was too obvious and easy. In most cases the name is unpoetical, although the fact is poetical. In the case of Smith, the name is so poetical that it must be an arduous and heroic matter for the man to live up to it. The name of Smith is the name of the one trade that even kings respected, it could claim half the glory of that arma virumque which all epics acclaimed. The spirit of the smithy is so close to the spirit of song that it has mixed in a million poems, and every blacksmith is a harmonious blacksmith.
對一切事物都充滿詩意的知覺是確實與絕對的（原文為：The sense that everything is poetical is a thing solid and absolute），絕非僅是遣詞用字或口舌之爭。這不僅是真的，而且是可以查明確知的。或許我們會想否認這點，會被要求不再提及詩歌。我記得很久以前，一位聰穎明理的編輯助理拿著一本書來找我，那書名為「史密斯先生」或「史密斯一家」或類似的名稱，他說，言詞的大意是：「唉，這本書真是毫無神秘感」。我很開心我不再欺騙他了，但這勝利也太明白簡單了。通常發生的狀況是，書名（原文：name）不具詩意，但內容物（原文：fact）卻充滿詩意。可是「史密斯」這例子是，這名字充滿詩意，內容更得充滿高潮起伏、英勇神奇的歷程，好配得上這名稱。史密斯這名是連國王都尊敬的行當（鐵匠）之名，配得所有史詩中所頌揚的武器與勇士（arma virumque，英文：arms and men）一半的榮耀。鐵匠小史（smithy）的精神與無數詩歌中出現的詩意精神，是如此接近，每個鐵匠（blacksmith）也都是成調、和諧的史密斯（blacksmith）（The spirit of the smithy is so close to the spirit of song that it has mixed in a million poems, and every blacksmith is a harmonious blacksmith）。
[翻者碎念：翻到最後一句話，我了解到(或許是誤解)，Chesterton可能想在這裡寫一首詩XD，smith, smithy, black smith，但我除了冷汗直流全身濕之外，真的想不到更有詩意的翻法....]
＝＝＝
到底史密斯是誰？
這本書實在是充滿陷阱，當你覺得這文句好不容易平鋪直敘，愈來愈好翻時，史密斯出現了！神秘的史密斯。（這若是對副編輯「毫無神秘感」的復仇...說真的....何苦傷害翻譯呢XD）
為了這章的標題，找了一下Kipling這人的介紹，我從未看過他的作品（或者就算有看過，想必是看得非常少...一點印象都沒有...）。搜尋了一下，很快發現，吉卜齡先生也些微參與了一下Black live matter抗爭的風潮，事實上，因其作品的帝國主義、種族主義色彩，幾年前，我的母校(XD)University of Manchester就曾發生過抗議人士將刻印於學校建築物上的吉卜齡詩句，塗改覆蓋的事件.....
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