查斯特菲尔德勋爵给儿子的信 第19封信.doc

查斯特菲尔德勋爵给儿子的信
第十九信
优雅的举止言行是立足于世的手段
I am extremely well pleased with the course of studies which Mr. Harte informs me you are now in, and with the degree of application which he assures me you have to them. It is your interest to do so, as the advantage will be all your own. My affection for you makes me both wish and endeavor that you may turn out well; and, according as you do turn out, I shall either be proud or ashamed of you. But as to mere interest, in the common acceptation of that word, it would be mine that you should turn out ill; for you may depend upon it, that whatever you have from me shall be most exactly proportioned to your desert. Deserve a great deal, and you shall have a great deal; deserve a little, and you shall have but a little; and be good for nothing at all, and, I assure you, you shall have nothing at all.
Solid knowledge, as I have often told you, is the first and great foundation of your future fortune and character; for I never mention to you the two much greater points of Religion and Morality, because I cannot possibly suspect you as to either of them. This solid knowledge you are in a fair way of acquiring; you may, if you please; and I will add, that nobody ever had the means of acquiring it more in their power than you have. But remember, that manners must adorn knowledge, and smooth its way through the world. Like a great rough diamond, it may do very well in a closet by way of curiosity, and also for its intrinsic value; but it will never be worn or shine if it is not polished. It is upon this article, I confess, that I suspect you the most, which makes me recur to it so often; for I fear that you are apt to show too little attention to everybody, and too much contempt to many. Be convinced, that there are no persons so insignificant and inconsiderable, but may, some time or other, have it in their power to be of use to you; which they certainly will not, if you have once shown them contempt. Wrongs are often forgiven; but contempt never is. Our pride remembers it forever. It implies a discovery of weaknesses, which we are much more careful to conceal than crimes. Many a man will confess his crimes to a common friend, but I never knew a man who would tell his silly weaknesses to his most intimate one--as many a friend will tell us our faults without reserve, who will not so much as hint at our follies; that discovery is too mortifying to our self-love, either to tell another, or to be told of one's self. You must, therefore, never expect to hear of your weaknesses, or your follies, from anybody but me; those I will take pains to discover, and whenever I do, shall tell you of them.
　　Next to manners are exterior graces of person and address, which adorn manners, as manners adorn knowledge. To say that they please, engage, and charm, as they most indisputably do, is saying that one should do everything possible to acquire them. The graceful manner of speaking is, particularly, what I shall always holloa in your ears, as Hotspur holloaed MORTIMER to Henry IV., and, like him too, I have aimed to have a starling taught to say, SPEAK DISTINCTLY AND GRACEFULLY, and send him you, to replace your loss of the unfortunate Matzel, who, by the way, I am told, spoke his language very distinctly and gracefully.
　　As by this time you must be able to write German tolerably well, I desire that you will not fail to write a German letter, in the German character, once every fortnight, to Mr. Grevenkop: which will make it more familiar to you, and enable me to judge how you improve in it.
　　Do not forget to answer me the questions, which I asked you a great while ago, in relation to the constitution of Saxony; and also the meaning of the words 'Landsassii and Amptsassii'.
　　I hope you do not forget to inquire into the affairs of trade and commerce, nor to get the best accounts you can of the commodities and manufactures, exports and imports of the several countries where you may be, and their gross value.
　　I would likewise have you attend to the respective coins, gold, silver, copper , etc., and their value, compared with our coin's; for which purpose I would advise you to put up, in a separate piece of paper, one piece of every kind, wherever you shall be, writing upon it the name and the value. Such a collection will be curious enough in itself; and that sort of knowledge will be very useful to you in your way of business, where the different value of money often comes in question.
　　I am doing to Cheltenham to-morrow, less for my health; which is pretty good, than for the dissipation and amusement of the journey. I shall stay about a fortnight.
L'Abbe Mably's 'Droit de l 'Europe', which Mr. Harte is so kind as to send me, is worth your reading. Adieu.

哈特先生告诉我，你正在埋头于研究，他肯定了你所达到的知识应用的水平。对此我特别高兴。这是你的兴趣使然，因为这些益处终将为你自己所拥有。我对你的爱使我既希望你成功，也尽我的努力助你成功。依你最终达到的目标，我或以你为荣，或以你为羞。但仅就“兴趣”而言(从“兴趣”这个词一般被接受的意义上看)，在你做事情不顺利时，兴趣会起到好的作用；你可以依赖它，因为无论你在我这里得到多少鼓励，都必须与你应得的成最适当的比例。应得的多，你得到的也会多；应得的少，你仍会得到，不过得到的很少。如果你对任何事情都提不起兴趣，那么我敢相信，你将一无所得。
我时常对你说，拥有丰富的知识，是你掌握未来命运和形成自己性格的首要和重要的基础。我从来没有对你说过宗教和道德这两个更为重要的方面，因为我不可能对你这两方面的素养产生一点点怀疑。你通过公平的方式获得了丰富的知识，只要你愿意，你就可以获得，而且我还要加一句，你在获取知识方面的能力是最强的。但要记住，言行举止必须有助于体现学识修养，而且它是你在世上立足的手段。就像一颗弥足珍贵的却未经琢磨的钻石，它会因它内在的价值获得人们的识别与鉴赏；但如果不精雕细琢，它就永远不会被人佩戴，也不会一熠熠发光。
我承认，在这封信中，言行举止这一点让我对你最不放心，它反复在我脑海中浮现。我担心你对于周围每个普通人都不太关注，并且对许多人都不屑一顾。要相信，滑有什么人是无关紧要、微不足道的。在某个时候，你或许会从他们身上吸取对你有益的东西。但如果你曾经对他们流露过轻蔑之意，他们则一定不愿意帮助你。人可以原谅错误，但绝对不会原谅他人对自己的轻蔑。一个人因为自尊，会将所受到的轻视永记在心。这表明人人身上存在着弱点，我们对自己的弱点竭力掩盖，甚至超过对罪行的隐瞒。许多人都会对一个普通朋友承认自己的罪过，但是我还从未听到过一个人想把他愚蠢的弱点告诉给 自己最亲密的人。正如许多朋友会毫无保留地指出我们的过错，但他不会如此明显地暗示我们的愚蠢。我们的弱点若被发现，会使我们的自尊蒙羞，于是我们既不会将自己的弱点示于他人，也不会让他人指出来。因此你永远也不要期望从别人口中听到你的弱点，或是你的愚蠢。只有我会向你指出来。我会尽力发现在你身上存在的弱点，而且每当我有所发现，我都会向你指出来。
接下来要说的是，衣着的得优雅和演讲的水平，这会让你的行为举止增色不少，就像行为举止体现了一个人的知识涵养一样。说些令人愉悦的，吸引人的，迷人的东西，人们无可置疑地应当这样做，就是说，一个人应当尽一切可能去获得外在的优雅。我已定下了目标，就是要你清晰且优雅地表达自己的观点。优雅的表达方式可以弥补由不幸的马滋尔带来的损失。顺便说一句，我得知马滋尔的语言非常清晰和优雅。
当你收到这封信的时候，你一定能写相当好的德语了。我希望你每两周给格拉夫先生写封德语信，这会使你更熟练地应用德语，也能使我对你的德语进步程度加以判定。很久以前我曾问你关于撒克逊的政治制度的问题，别忘记回答我。
我希望你不要忘记调查关于贸易和商业的事务，也不要忘记尽你所能描述你可能要去的几个国家的进出口产品和制造品以及它们的总价值。
同样，我要你关注各国不同的货币种类，金、银、铜等等，及它们的价值，并与我国的货币作比较。出于这样的目的，我要建议你不论在哪个国家，将每种货币的名称和价值各自抄在不同的纸上。这样的记录本身就是新奇的，而且这种知识对你从事商业将会非常有用。在商业领域，不同的地方，货币价值不同，经常会带来麻烦。
明天，我要去切滕汉姆。我的身体现在很好，因此去那里更多地是因为旅行的放松和娱乐。我要在那里呆上两周。再会。