World Enough,and Time

By Robert Klose

∷丁玎 選 鐘凡凡 注

Allow me to introduce myself: I am the last man in America who has time.

If you should run into1. run into: 偶然遇見(jiàn)，碰上。me on the street, I will have time to chat with you.If you invite me for tea, I will seize the opportunity and savor2. savor: 盡情享受，品嘗。a cup. Should dinner be on offer, I will be punctual and pull my weight as a convivial conversationalist at your table.3. 若是你邀我共進(jìn)晚餐，我必會(huì)準(zhǔn)時(shí)抵達(dá)，在餐桌上侃侃而談，盡作為客人的本分。punctual:準(zhǔn)時(shí)的，守時(shí)的； pull one’s weight: 努力做好自己分內(nèi)的工作；convivial: 歡樂(lè)的，友好的；conversationalist: 健談的人，談話者。

But, in the words of the poet John Donne, “all pleasures fancies be.”4. John Donne: 約翰·多恩（1572—1631），英國(guó)玄學(xué)派詩(shī)人；all pleasures fancies be: 所有的快樂(lè)都是虛幻的。The problem with having time, when nobody else seems to, is that one becomes a sort of islet, or rogue planet, with little connection to one’s surroundings.5. 問(wèn)題在于，當(dāng)其他人均無(wú)閑暇時(shí)，有閑暇之人似乎就成為了一個(gè)孤島，或離群的星球，與周遭幾乎失去了聯(lián)系。islet: 小島；rogue: 離群而危險(xiǎn)的。

When did people become so busy? Sometimes I think it happened when shopping, instead of being a necessity or occasional pleasure, became a form of entertainment. At other times I blame it on the computer, with honorary mention given to “smart” phones, for creating appetites that can never be sated,no matter how intently we stare at the movable feast on the screen, no matter how incessantly we peck away at our keyboards.6. 有時(shí)候，我會(huì)歸罪于電腦，尤其要將此“榮譽(yù)”頒給“智能”手機(jī)，因?yàn)樗鼈兞钗覀儺a(chǎn)生了永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法滿足的欲望，無(wú)論我們多么目不轉(zhuǎn)睛地盯著屏幕上的移動(dòng)盛宴，無(wú)論我們多么持續(xù)地敲打鍵盤(pán)。sate: 使心滿意足，使飽享；incessantly: 不間斷地，持續(xù)地；peck away: 連續(xù)敲擊。These devices have become a time sink,7. device: 裝置，設(shè)備；time sink: 時(shí)間陷阱。absorbing moments the way a black hole absorbs light.

It wasn’t always like this.

The days, the seasons, the years used to be punctuated with lax moments.8. punctuate: 不時(shí)打斷，穿插；lax: 不認(rèn)真的，放縱的。Sundays, for example, were days of repose, replete with closed stores and empty highways.9. repose: 休息，休養(yǎng)；be replete with: 充滿。It was a sort of unwritten law that one should not telephone another person beyond a certain evening hour. And then there were the holidays, which were set aside for family time rather than a trip to the mall.

過(guò)去，提到形容“慢”的詞語(yǔ)，如閑庭信步、慢條斯理、不疾不徐等，我們還是褒多貶少。在如今“快餐化”的世界里，“快”是一種不容分說(shuō)的時(shí)尚，躲也躲不開(kāi)的潮流。飲食“快餐化”，娛樂(lè)“快餐化”，就連人與人之間的感情也“快餐化”了。為什么我們想說(shuō)慢如此不易？

The compulsion10. compulsion: 強(qiáng)迫性沖動(dòng)，強(qiáng)迫行為。to fill every moment with activity has been called “the American sickness.” I have grown accustomed to the predictability11. predictability: 可預(yù)測(cè)性。of the response when I run into a friend or acquaintance and ask, “How are you?” The inevitable answer: “Busy!”

A singular example: I recently spotted an old friend as he hurried off to wherever it was he was going, and I called out to him.12. singular: 突出的，非凡的；spot: 認(rèn)出，發(fā)現(xiàn)。He stopped to acknowledge me, but I could tell from his body language and the checking of his watch that I had upended him.13. acknowledge: 對(duì)……打招呼，理會(huì)；upend: 顛倒，倒放，此處指使某人停留?！癐 see you’re in a hurry,” I said. “Why don’t we get together to catch up14. catch up: 敘舊。?”

Looking pained, he bit his lip. “I should have a free hour in June,” he said before continuing on his way.

“But this is March!” I remarked.

“Check with me in a few months,” he yelled over his shoulder. “I’m very busy!”Maybe my problem, then, is that I am nostalgic15. nostalgic: 懷舊的。with a too-good memory.I came of age when one walked for the sake of walking, with no particular destination in mind.16. 在我的那個(gè)年代，人們就是為了散步而散步，沒(méi)有明確的目的地。for the sake of: 由于，為了。I recall evenings lying on the sofa, reading. Sunday drives.Tinkering17. tinker: 無(wú)事忙，瞎忙一陣。. All of these leisurely undertakings gave me the freedom of time to pause should a familiar face present itself. Whoever I was in those days, that person still resides within me and looks on in wonder while the rest of the world seems to have cycled into a blur of ceaseless activity.18. 那些日子的我仍駐留在如今的我的體內(nèi)，滿心驚奇地向外窺視，因?yàn)橥饷娴氖澜缢坪醢l(fā)展成了一片紛紛擾擾的無(wú)盡渾噩。reside: 居住于，定居于；cycle: 循環(huán)，輪轉(zhuǎn)；blur: 模糊。

I find that I align myself squarely with what Socrates once said: “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”19. align oneself with: 公開(kāi)支持，與……結(jié)盟；squarely: 堅(jiān)定地，完全地；Socrates:蘇格拉底（公元前469年—前399年），古希臘哲學(xué)家，被認(rèn)為是西方哲學(xué)的奠基者；barrenness: 荒蕪，無(wú)益。Or Robert Frost, whose poem title put it succinctly:“I Could Give All to Time.”20. Robert Frost: 羅伯特·弗羅斯特（1874—1963），美國(guó)詩(shī)人，曾四度獲得普利策獎(jiǎng)；succinctly: 簡(jiǎn)潔地，簡(jiǎn)明扼要地。More recently there has erupted a so-called Slow Movement, which, according to Wikipedia, “advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace.”21. erupt:（通常是突然而猛烈地）由抑制狀態(tài)爆發(fā)出來(lái)；advocate: 提倡，主張。

So I do have kindred spirits22. kindred spirit: 性情相投的人，有共同興趣的人。after all, and perhaps a place to call home. I would formally join the Slow Movement, but I hesitate, fearing that, like any organization, it would make inordinate23. inordinate: 過(guò)度的，無(wú)節(jié)制的。demands on my time.

In any case, come June I’ll have a friend to catch up with. That is, if he still has the time to see me.ELL