三個紐約城

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is， first， the New York of the man or woman who was born here， who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second， there is the New York of the commuter-the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out1 each night. Third， there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Of these three trembling cities the greatest is the last —— the city of final destination， the city that is a goal. It is this third city that accounts for New York's high-strung2 disposition， its poetical deportment， its dedication to the arts， and its incomparable achievements. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness; natives give it solidity and continuity; but the settles give it passion. And whether it is a farmer arriving from Italy to set up a small grocery store in a slum， or a young girl arriving from a small town in Mississippi to escape the indignity of being observed by her neighbors， or a boy arriving from the Corn Belt with a manuscript in his suitcase and a pain in his heart， it makes no difference: each embraces New York with the intense excitement of first love3， each absorbs New York with the fresh eyes of an adventurer， each generates heat and light to dwarf4 the Consolidated Edison Company.

一般來說，紐約城有三個。第一個是出生在紐約的男女們的紐約城，他們把紐約的一切都看作是理所當然的，認為紐約之大、紐約城的動蕩是很自然的無法避免的。第二個是每天往返城市間的上班族的紐約城，在他們眼力，這個城市每天白天被蝗蟲吞了進去，到夜里又被吐了出來。第三個是出生在他鄉(xiāng)，到紐約來有所追求的人的紐約城。這三個生氣勃勃的紐約城中，最重要的是最后一個，這個城才是最終的目的地，才是要到達的終點。正因為有了這第三個城，紐約才有它高度敏感的特性、詩人般的風度、對藝術的獻身精神以及它無與倫比的成就。每日往返城市間的上班族使紐約潮汐般沒有片刻平靜，本地人使紐約保持其穩(wěn)定性和延續(xù)性，但外來謀生的人卻激起紐約了的熱情。無論是從意大利來的農民，在貧民區(qū)開了個小雜貨店也好;還是從密西西比州的小鎮(zhèn)來的年輕姑娘，為逃避鄰居的注意而感到的羞辱也好;或是從玉米地帶跋涉而來的小伙子，手提箱里裝著文稿，內心帶著痛苦而來也好;大家都是一樣:每個人都懷著初戀的激情來擁抱紐約，每個人都是以冒險家的新眼光來探視紐約的新奇，每個人帶給紐約的光熱都足以使愛迪生電氣公司相形見絀了。

注釋:

1. spit out:吐出來。但spit it out還有另外一個含義，是“說出來，有話盡管說”的意思。當你的朋友有煩心事的時候，你就可以對他說:“Come on， spit it out!”(說出來吧，心里會痛快一點。)

2. high-strung:高度緊張的、敏感的。Strung這個詞的原形是string，string是動詞“串起”、名詞“繩子”的意思。High-strung形象地說明緊張、敏感的程度像繃緊的繩子一樣，也可寫作\"highlystrung\"。

3. first love:初戀?？谡Z中“初戀”也常說成“puppy love”，puppy是“小狗”的意思。

4. dwarf:使……變矮小(渺小)。Dwarf作名詞是指“矮人”，童話中救過白雪公主的七個小矮人就是“the seven dwarfs”;dwarf作動詞是“使……矮小”，本文中是“使……相形見絀”的意思。