華盛頓·歐文/Washington Irving
華盛頓·歐文（1783—1859），美國著名作家。1802年，19歲的歐文在《早晨紀事報》上發表了幾篇書信體散文，嶄露頭角。1809年，《紐約外史》出版後，歐文成為紐約文壇風靡一時的人物。後來出版的《見聞劄記》是歐文的代表作，包括小說、散文、雜感等32篇，以幽默風趣的筆調和富於幻想的浪漫色彩，描寫了英國和美國古老的風俗習慣以及善良淳樸的舊式人物。這部作品在英國出版後，受到歐美文學界的高度重視，奠定了歐文在美國文學史上的地位。
I was always fond of visiting new scenes,and observing strange char acters and manners.Even when a mere child I began my travels,and made many tours of discovery into foreign parts and unknown regions of my nat ive city,to the frequent alarm of my parents,and the emolument of the town-crier.As I grew into boyhood I extended my range of observations.My holiday afternoons were spent in ramble about the surrounding country I made myself familiar with all its places famous in history or fable.I knew every spot where a murder or robbery had been committed,or a ghost seen.I visited the neighboring villages,and added greatly to my stock of knowledge,by noting their habits and customs,and conversing with th eir sages and great men.I even journeyed one long summer's day to the summit of the most distant hill,where I stretched my eye over many a mi le of terra incognita,and was astonished to find how vast a globe I inh abited.
This rambling propensity strengthened with years.Books of voyages a nd travels became my passion,and in devouring their contents I neglecte d the regular exercises of the schools.How wistfully would I wander abo ut the pier-heads in fine weather and watch the parting ships bound to d istant climes--with what longing eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails,and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth!
Further reading and thinking,though they brought this vague inclina tion into more reasonable bounds,only served to make it more decided.I visited various parts of my own country;and had I been merely a lover o f fine scenery,I should have felt little desire to seek elsewhere its g ratification,for on no country have the charms of nature been more prod igally lavished.Her mighty lakes like oceans of liquid silver;her moun tains with their bright aerial tints;her valleys,teeming with wild fer tility;her tremendous cataracts,thundering in their solitudes;her bou ndless plains,waving with spontaneous verdure;her broad deep rivers,r olling in solemn silence to the ocean;her trackless forests,where vege tation puts forth all its magnificence;her skies,kindling with the mag ic of summer clouds and glorious sunshine,--no,never need an American look beyond his own country for the sublime and beautiful of natural sce nery.
But Europe held forth the charms of storied and poetical association.There were to be seen the masterpieces of art,the refinement of highl y,cultivated society,the quaint peculiarities of ancient and local cus tom.My native country was full of youthful promise;Europe was rich in the accumulated treasures of age.Her very ruins told the history of tim es gone by,and every mouldering stone was a chronicle.I longed to wand er over the scenes of renowned achievement--to tread,as it were,in the footsteps of antiquity--to loiter about the ruined castle--to meditate o n the falling tower--to escape,in short,from the commonplace realities of the present,and lose myself among the shadowy grandeurs of the past.
I had,beside all this,an earnest desire to see the great men of th e earth.We have,it is true,our great men in America:not a city but h as an ample share of them.I have mingled among them in my time,and bee n almost withered by the shade into which they cast me;for there is not hing so baleful to a small man as the shade of a great one,particularly the great man of a city.But I was anxious to see the great men of Europ e;for I had read in the works of various philosophers,that all animals degenerated in America,and man among the number.A great man of Europe,thought I,must therefore be as superior to a great man of America,as a peak of the Alps to a highland of Hudson;and in this idea I was confirm ed,by observing the comparative importance and swelling magnitude of ma ny English travellers among us,who,I was assured,were very little peo ple in their own county.I will visit this land of wonders,thought I,a nd see the gigantic race from which I am degenerated.
It has been either my good or evil lot to have my roving passion gra tified.I have wandered through different countries,and witnessed many of the shifting scenes of life.I cannot say that I have studied them wi th the eye of a philosopher;but rather with the sauntering gaze with wh ich humble lovers of the picturesque stroll from the window of one print-shop to another;caught sometimes by the delineations of beauty,someti mes by the distortions of caricature,and some times by the loveliness o f landscape.As it is the fashion for modern tourists to travel,pencil in hand,and bring home their portfolios filled with sketches,I am disp osed to get up a few for the entertainment of my friends.When,however,I look over the hints and memorandums I have taken down for the purpose,my heart almost fails me at finding how my idle humor has led me aside f rom the great objects studied by every regular traveler who would make a book.I fear I shall give equal disappointment with an unlucky landscape painter,who had traveled on the continent,but,following the bent of h is vagrant inclination,had sketched in nooks,and corners,and by-place s.His sketch-book was accordingly crowded with cottages,and landscapes,and obscure ruins;but he neglected to paint St.Peter's,or the Colo sseum the cascade of Terni,or the bay of Naples;and had not a single g lacier or volcano in his whole collection.
一直以來，我都很喜歡出遊，觀察新奇的風俗人情。在我還年幼的時候，便踏上了旅程，多次去遊曆故鄉的一些偏僻陌生之地。父母常常為此驚慌，為了找我回家，他們也沒少給鎮上的地保交一些賞錢。童年時，我擴大了自己的活動地盤。每到假日的下午我總去附近村落轉悠，對那裏的曆史典故和神話傳說了如指掌。我熟悉那些凶殺搶掠現場和鬼魂縈繞之地。去鄰近村莊的時候，我觀察人們的風俗習慣，拜見當地的名人誌士並與他們交談，這大大增長了我的見識。某個夏日，我登上了最遠的山岡，從山頂上遙望遠處數十英裏外的陌生地帶，發現我所居住的地區如此遼闊，這真讓我大大驚歎。
歲月流逝，我出遊的興趣更加濃厚。我狂愛遊記，如饑似渴地閱讀使我無暇顧及學校的正常功課。晴天時，我希望徜徉在碼頭，看著駁船離岸遠去，不禁覺得心神爽朗。點點風帆，消失得無影無蹤，我仿佛隨著幻覺漂向天邊。
細讀和深思雖然給模糊的愛好套上理智的約束，但卻使其變得更為明確和堅定。我遊遍祖國山河，如果單是為欣賞優美的風景，那我就犯不著去別處尋找這種欲望的滿足感，因為再沒有別的國家像美國這樣有如此迷人的自然景色了：廣闊的湖泊，如銀波閃耀的大海；崇山峻嶺，鋪上空靈清爽的色彩；深邃的峽穀，繁茂的草木；眾多的鳥獸，激**的瀑布在寂靜的荒涼中轟鳴而下；無邊的平靜，連綿起伏，鬱鬱蔥蔥；深厚寬闊的河流，浩浩****，無聲無息地奔流入海；人跡罕至的林，處處顯露著豪放的景觀；夏日的天空，雲朵變幻莫測，陽光燦爛；——不，一個美國人永遠不必去國外尋找宏偉壯麗的美景！
歐洲具有一種迷人的魅力，能讓人聯想起詩意盎然的典故。那裏有傑出的藝術，優雅先進的文明社會，以及古怪離奇的地方風俗。我的祖國朝氣蓬勃、前途似錦，而歐洲則有著厚重的曆史沉澱和時代寶藏。那裏的廢墟記載著歲月的流逝，每塊崩碎剝落的石頭都是一段編年史。我夢想著漫遊名勝古跡——踏著前人的足跡前進；流連在廢墟古堡周圍——默默地憑吊搖搖欲墜的巍巍高塔。總之，我想逃避俗世的紛紛擾擾，沉醉在昔日輝煌的虛幻中。
除此之外，我還迫切渴望拜會當今的偉大人物。我們美國確實也有自己的傑出人物；連一個城鎮都會有眾多的英雄豪傑。我曾經穿梭在他們中間，可是他們的光芒蓋住了我，使我黯然失色。對於小人物而言，最糟糕的莫過於活在大人物——尤其是大城市裏的大人物的陰影下。雖然如此，我仍然非常急切要去探訪歐洲的偉人，因為我讀過各個哲學流派的作品，它們都認為一切動物到了美國就會退化，包括人在內。我想，歐洲的偉人一定要比美國的卓越，就像阿爾卑斯山的山峰要比哈得遜河流域的高地高許多一樣。我這個想法得到了證實。我觀察過許多來我們這裏的英國遊客，我敢斷言，在故鄉他們隻不過是渺小的人物，可是此時此地卻顯得心高氣傲，目空一切。由此我更確定了這一想法，我一定要去那個神奇之地，見識一下已退化成諸如我類的偉大種族。
不知幸運與否，我遊曆的癖好居然得以滿足。我轉悠了好幾個國家，親眼目睹了許多滄桑變幻。對於這些，稱不上以哲學家的眼光進行過研究，不過確實是以普通文物風光愛好者的身份，暢遊在滿是圖片的櫥窗外，有時被造型勾勒出的美感所吸引，有時被漫畫誇張的奇特形狀所迷惑，有時被明媚動人的景色所**。現在的遊客總是隨手帶著畫筆，帶回家的都是滿滿的速描畫，時尚如此，所以我也隨意湊了幾幅，供友人娛樂。當我瀏覽了那些有心記下的提示和備忘後，常常心生恐慌，我的惰性令一些重大課題束之高閣，而這都是著書立說的遊客所要研究的。我擔心自己會像一個不幸的風景畫家那樣使人失望，雖然他曾經遊曆過歐洲大陸，但總是隨著自己流浪的嗜好，去犄角旮旯和荒郊野嶺裏寫生。因而，他的寫生簿裏總有村舍、自然風光和說不上名字的廢墟，而沒有聖彼得大教堂或者羅馬圓劇場、特尼大瀑布或者那不勒斯灣，怎麽也找不到一幅冰川或者火山的奇觀。