第8章
第9段
There are many other elements in this article on which I should love to linger. But the matter which I wish to point out is that in that sentence is perfectly revealed the whole truth of what our Chamberlainites, hustlers, bustlers, Empire-builders, and strong, silent men, really mean by "commonsense." They mean knocking, with deafening noise and dramatic effect, meaningless bits of iron into a useless bit of wood. A man goes on to an American platform and behaves like a mountebank fool with a board and a hammer; well, I do not blame him; I might even admire him. He may be a dashing and quite decent strategist. He may be a fine romantic actor, like Burke flinging the dagger on the floor. He may even (for all I know) be a sublime mystic, profoundly impressed with the ancient meaning of the divine trade of the Carpenter, and offering to the people a parable in the form of a ceremony. All I wish to indicate is the abyss of mental confusion in which such wild ritualism can be called "sound common sense." And it is in that abyss of mental confusion, and in that alone, that the new Imperialism lives and moves and has its being. The whole glory and greatness of Mr. Chamberlain consists in this: that if a man hits the right nail on the head nobody cares where he hits it to or what it does. They care about the noise of the hammer, not about the silent drip of the nail. Before and throughout the African war, Mr. Chamberlain was always knocking in nails, with ringing decisiveness. But when we ask, "But what have these nails held together? Where is your carpentry? Where are your contented Outlanders? Where is your free South Africa? Where is your British prestige? What have your nails done?" then what answer is there? We must go back (with an affectionate sigh) to our Pearson for the answer to the question of what the nails have done: "The speaker who hammered nails into a board won thousands of votes."
這篇文章中還有許多其他段落讓我想進一步提出來討論，但我想點出的重點，是這句話完美揭露張伯倫們、虛偽騙子、帝國擁護者，以及強壯、沈默的大眾口中所謂的「常識」到底是指什麼。是指充滿噪音與戲劇效果的敲打，是指無所謂、無形無狀的鐵塊被敲入無用的木塊中。一個人走上一個美國舞台，以江湖賣藥郎的姿態手拿著木板與釘錘，說真的，也不能怪他，我搞不好還對他心生崇拜。他可能是個穿著體面、人模人樣的謀士，或是一個優秀的文藝片演員，能像艾德蒙伯克（譯註：Edmund Burke，英國18世紀政治家，為保守主義者，著有《對法國大革命的反思》，並支持美國獨立）一樣在國會殿堂把弄短刀(1)，甚至（就我所知）他搞不好是個不凡的神秘主義者，深入沈浸於對那位木匠神聖事業古老意涵的思索中，並透過外在儀式為大眾展演奧妙的寓言。但我想點出的這當中存在的心智矛盾深淵，因這類外顯、儀式主義般的表現竟被稱為「通達的常識」。在這心智矛盾深淵裡，就是單單在這深淵裡，新帝國主義存續、茁壯、漸成氣候。張伯倫先生的全部榮耀與偉大在於：即使有人說中要害，也無人在意其點出的要害在哪，或是這論辯有何作用，他們只在意釘錘敲打時所發生的響聲，而不在意釘子無聲的陷落。在非洲戰爭發生前與發生期間，張伯倫先生總是在敲打釘子，敲出陣陣作響的欺哄與瞞騙。但當我們問：「這些釘子是要用來固定什麼呀？你的木工在哪？你那高興滿足的異鄉人在哪？你那自由的南非在哪？你所提到的英國光榮在哪？你的這些釘子到底做了什麼？」對這些問題的答案在哪裡呢？我們得（充滿熱情的）回到皮爾森先生的那句話，來尋找對這些釘子究竟發揮何功用的答案：「發言人將釘子錘入木板，贏得千張選票。」
第10段
Now the whole of this passage is admirably characteristic of the new journalism which Mr. Pearson represents, the new journalism which has just purchased the Standard. To take one instance out of hundreds, the incomparable man with the board and nails is described in the Pearson's article as calling out (as he smote the symbolic nail), "Lie number one. Nailed to the Mast! Nailed to the Mast!" In the whole office there was apparently no compositor or office boy to point out that we speak of lies being nailed to the counter, and not to the mast. Nobody in the office knew thatPearson's Magazine was falling into a stale Irish bull, which must be as old as St. Patrick. This is the real and essential tragedy of the sale of the Standard. It is not merely that journalism is victorious over literature. It is that bad journalism is victorious over good journalism.
這整段話令人欽佩地為皮爾森先生所代表的新新聞下了完美的註腳，這新新聞剛完成對標準報（譯註：1904年Arthur Pearson買下當時財務遇到危機的The Standard）的收購，從不設枚舉的事例中舉一例，皮爾森雜誌文中那拿著木板與釘子的萬中選一者，好像在喊叫著（同時重重敲擊著釘子）：「謊言第一，釘在桅杆上！釘在桅杆上！」整個辦公室內，顯然沒有哪個排版工或職員會指出，我們說的謊言被印出陳列在櫃台上，而不是釘在桅杆上。辦公室內沒有人知道皮爾森雜誌已變成陳腐無味的荒謬言論，就跟St. Patrick一樣古老，這對於標準報的銷售來說，是徹底的悲劇。不是新聞凌駕了文學，而是壞新聞取代了好新聞。
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好難翻！
(1)翻譯Chesterton的文章對無知的我而言實在太累了，滿到爆炸的引經據典……………。歡迎點閱以下連結，欣賞一下Burke flinging dagger的歷史重建圖https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/M544947/Burke-Throwing-Down-the-Dagger-in-the-House-of-Commons?t=4&c=2&n=245141
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