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Lesson 24 Beauty
第二十四课美
24-1. A young man sees a sunset and, unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him, concludes that it must be the gateway to a world that lies beyond.
【译文】年轻人看到日落，由于无法理解和表达日落在他心中激起的那种感情，便断定日落处定是通往遥远世界的大门。
【讲解】unable to understand…in him作原因状语。that it rouses in him作emotion的定语从句。it指sunset。
【单词和短语】
gateway：途径，方法，手段（a way of achieving something），例如：
a gateway to a wilder world 通向更为广阔的天地的途径
a gateway to success 获得成功的手段
24-2. It is difficult for any of us in moments of intense aesthetic experience to resist the suggestion that we are catching a glimpse of a light that shines down to us from a different realm of existence, different and, because the experience is intensely moving, in some way higher.
【译文】我们任何人在强烈感受美的时刻都不禁联想到：我们似乎瞥见一个不同的世界射向我们的一线光芒，不仅不同，而且因为这种美具有强烈感染力，在某种程度上更高级。
【讲解】for any of us…in some way higher是本句真正的主语，句首it是形式主语。that we are catching…a different realm of existence作suggestion的同位语。different and…in some way higher作realm of existence的非限制性定语。in some way作状语修饰higher。different和higher是并列成分。
【单词和短语】
intense：强烈的，剧烈的，极度的（having a very strong effect or felt very strongly），例如：
an intense light 一道强光
intense cold 严寒
have intense interest in sth. 对某事有浓厚兴趣
intense的名词形式是intensity。
由aesthetic（美学的）联想到aesthetics（美学）和aesthetician（美学家）。
glimpse：一瞥，一看（a quick look at someone or something that does not allow you to see them clearly），例如：
have a glimpse of/into sth. 粗略看一下某物
take a glimpse at sth. 对某物看一眼
moving：动人的，感人的（making you feel strong emotions, especially sadness or sympathy），例如：
a moving story 动人的故事
a very moving letter 一封十分感人的信
24-3. And, though the gleams blind and dazzle, yet do they convey a hint of beauty and serenity greater than we have known or imagined.
【译文】还有，尽管这光芒令人眼花缭乱，但它确实传送了一种我们未曾经历和无法想象的美和静谧的启示。
【讲解】do表示强调，摆在主语前更具有强调意味。greater than we have known or imagined作beauty and serenity的定语。
【单词和短语】
serenity的形容词形式是serene。
24-4. Greater too than we can describe; for language, which was invented to convey the meanings of this world, cannot readily be fitted to the uses of another.
【译文】这种美和静谧我们无法描述，因为人们创造语言的目的是表达我们这个世界的各种意义，无法轻易地运用于另一世界。
【讲解】Greater前省略了The beauty and serenity is。for是并列连词，意为“因为”。another后省略了world。
24-5. That all great has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable.
【译文】不可否认，一切伟大的艺术都具有使人联想到遥远世界的力量。
【讲解】That all great has this power of suggesting a world beyond是主语从句。本句是圆周句（periodic sentence），这种句子的特点是到句末句意才清楚、结构才完整的句子。又如：
A Forsyte，you will notice，never gives himself away.
一个福尔赛人，你将来会看得出，是从来不暴露自己的。
Muscle，on the other hand，did not renew.
另一方面，体力不能恢复原状。
24-6. In some moods, Nature shares it.
【译文】在某种意义上说，大自然就具有这种魅力。
【讲解】it指上句中this power of suggesting a world beyond。mood本指人的心境、精神状态，句中把mood用于自然界是把自然界拟人化了。
24-7. There is no sky in June so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer, no sunset so beautiful that it does not waken the vision of a greater beauty, a vision which passes before it is fully glimpsed, and in passing leaves and indefinable longing and regret.
【译文】六月的天空不是蓝得不能再蓝，日落不是美得不能再唤起一个更美的景象，一个未被饱览就消失的景象，而且在消失的时候留给人们一种莫名的渴望和遗憾。
【讲解】本句是平衡句（balanced sentence），即由几个相同结构构成的一个句子。又如：
It’s their wealth and security that makes everything possible；makes your art possible；makes literature，science，even religion possible.
没有他们的财富和安全，什么事都行不通；你的艺术就行不通；文学、科学甚至宗教都行不通。
a vision which passes…longing and regret作the vision of a greater beauty的同位语。passes和leaves并列作谓语。in passing作状语，修饰leaves。
【单词和短语】
in passing：顺便，附带地（if you say something in passing, you mention it while you are mainly talking about something else），例如：
He told us in passing that those flowers came from his garden.
他顺便告诉我们说那些花都是从他的花园里采来的。
24-8. But, if this world is not merely a bad joke, life a vulgar flare amid the cool radiance of the stars, and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries; if these intimations of a something behind and beyond are not evil humour born of indigestion, or whimsies sent by the devil to mock and madden us,if, in a word, beauty means something, yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning.
【译文】但是，如果这个世界不只是一场恶作剧的话，如果生命不只是惨淡的星光里的平凡一闪的话，如果存在不只是神秘的宗教仪式传出的一阵空虚的笑声的话，如果对某种玄妙的事物的暗示不是由于消化不良引起的不好情绪。或者一种魔鬼送来嘲笑我们并使我们发狂的怪念头的话，一句话，如果美有某种意义，我们千万不要设法去阐明它的意义。
【讲解】本句中有几个并列的条件状语从句，其主句是yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning。其中，life和a vulgar之间省略了is not merely；life前省略了if；existence前省略了if；existence与an enemy之间省略了is not merely。并列结构中的相同部分均可省略，以避免重复。braying across the mysteries作laugh的定语。something在句中作名词用。born of indigestion作humour的定语。sent by the devil to mock and madden us作whimsies的定语。to mock and madden us作目的状语修饰sent。
【单词和短语】
indigestion的动词形式是indigest。
24-9. If we glimpse the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it, nor should we seek to invest with significance that which we cannot grasp.
【译文】如果我们瞥见难以言传之物，企图用语言把它表达出来是不明智的；我们也不应该设法给我们所不理解的事物赋予意义。
【讲解】the unutterable，不可名状之物，the＋形容词表示具有某类具有共同特性的人或物。句中的后一个it指the unutterable。that which we cannot grasp作invest的宾语。that指the unutterable。
【单词和短语】
invest：赋予，使充满，赋有（to make someone or something seem to have a particular quality or character），例如：
invest sb. with legal rights 给某人合法权利
The palace was invested with glamour and romance.
这座宫殿充满了魅力和浪漫气息。
His whole life was invested with a new significance.
他的全部生活有了全部意义。
24-10. Beauty in terms of our human meanings is meaningless.
【译文】从人生的各种意义来看，美是没有意义的。
【单词和短语】
in terms of请参见第十九课第3句讲解。
meaningless：无意义的，无目的的，无价值的（having no purpose or importance and therefore not worth doing or having），例如：
a meaningless reply 毫无意义的答复
Political independence without economic emancipation would be meaningless.
只有政治上的独立而无经济上的解放，毫无意义的。