快乐不必认真The Importance of Doing Things Badly（第1页）

快乐不必认真TheImportangThingsBadly

&hesenewwordsbeforeyoureadthisarticle。

1。enhan'hɑ:ns]v。提高，增加，加强

2。fallacy['f?l?si:]n。谬误;谬见;谬论

3。proverbial[pr?'v?:bi?l]adj。谚语的，闻名的，谚语式的

&e[li'd?itimit]adj。合法的，婚生的，正当的

5。ptible[k??b?l]adj。可鄙的

6。prevalence['prev?l?nt]n。流行，盛行;流行程度;普遍，广泛

7。vainglorious[ve?n?gl?:ri:?s]adj。虚荣的

8。inferior[in'fi?ri?]adj。下等的;差的;下级的

9。disposition[，disp?'zi??n]n。性情，处理，处置

10。hesitatioe???n]n。踌躇，犹豫;口吃;含糊

I。A。WilliamswasblaedatCambridge。AfterWorldWarIheservedasadeimes。Williamswroteseveralbooksourypoetryanddrama，publishedwidelyinjournalsandmagazines，andpublishedsofhisowhefollowiappearedinLolookin1923。

&hegreatestthreattoprodubothlayisthefearofdoingthingsbadly。Thisartiefort。ointsoutthattherearemanythingswbadly，andthatourlivesareenridourpersonalitieseheseactivities。Tles，sportsandmusic，arevaluabletomostpeopleinproportioicallytheydothem，ratherthanhowwell。

CharlesLambwroteaseriesofessaysuponpopularfallacies。Idonot，atthemoment，carrythemverymymemory;but，ureacherousservantmisleadsmemoreeventhansheusuallydoes，hedidnotwriteofonepieceofproverbialso-calledwisdomthathasalwaysseemedtometobepeculiarlypernidthissaw，thisscrapofspeciousadvice，thisuntruthmasqueradingaslogiethatIremembertohavehadhurledatmyheadatfrequentintervalsfrommyearliestyhtuptomypresentadvancedage。HowmanytimeshaveIhat“Ifathingiswatall，itiswwell”?

&hereamoreuntruthfulwordspokeheworldisfullofthingsthatarew，butlynwell。WasitasageasHerbertSpencerwhosaidtotheyoungmanwhohadjustbeatenhimatbilliards，“Moderateskill，sir，isthesignofagoodeyeandasteadyhand，butskillsuchasyuesayouthmisspent?”Isahplayingsupremelyristantpradappli?

AgainsttheprofessionalplayerIsaynothing;heisapublitertaiher，andbyhisskillinhisparticularsportheatleastfulfillsthefirstsocialdutyofman—thathimselfandhisfamilybyhisoweexertions。Butwhatistobesaidofthecrackamateur?Tomeheseemsoptibleofmankind。Heeardevotes

&hemereselfishpleasureofthething，tosomegame，whichheplaysdayindayout;hebreaksdowarydistiheamateurandtheprofessiouallyhisskilldesertshim，andheleavesbehindhimnothingthatisofservicetohisfellowmen—notabrihed，en，notevenafamilysupportedaedbyhislabor。

Itistruethathehasprovidedeforaumberofpersons，buthehashepluithimselftothetestbywhichwedemaertainershouldjustifyhischoiceofag—thedemonstratiohatthepubliciswillingtopayhimforhise。And，whenhisdayisover，whatisleft，heworld，buttohimself?Nothingbutaisatotten，orisrememberedbystoutgentlemeninclubs。

Theplayiainly，isathingwhiwell。Butthatdoesisnatall，astheproverbwould，byimpli，persuadeus。Thereisnreeableandsalutarythanplayingagamewhielikes，aangitbadlyihepleasureofeeofahemanwhomihewinsissman—whichobservatioheruleitimpliesisseldomobserved，andparativelyfewpeoplereallyplaygamesforthesheereheplaying。Isthisheprevalendpopularityofhandicaps?Whyshouldweexpecttobegivenpoibethatiherthanourownskill?

“Ah!but，”myreadermaysay，“thelayerwantstoretsihemaygivethestroergame。”Really，Idohatisso。Possible，sometimes，astrongandvaingloriousplayermaywishtogivepoints，ihisviaybethemoreIdonotthihisisthetrueexplanation。That，Isuspect，wasgiveherdaybythesecretaryofalawour，inwhichIplayed。“Whyallthisnonsenseofhandicaps?Whyusbesquarelybeaten，a?”Iaskedhim。“Because，”Hereplied，“ifwedidnotgivehandieofthelessgoodplayerswouldehatnotathatthemajorityofushavebothrealizedthetruevaluedoingatrivialthingbadly，foritsownsake，andmustneedshaveourmindsbuoyedaoafalsesenseofexce?

&isnotonlysusicallytrivialthingsasgamesthatarewbadly。Thisisatruthwhich，oddlyefreelyofsomethings—butnotofothers—andasathingwhichwearequitettodowillletmeiing。Ag，atitsbest，beagreatart，athingwsupremelywell，thoughitsworth，likethatofalliivearts，islessesevaworksimediumofhumanfleshandblood，ahattheactorcreate—forwhatretativeartistisreallyacreativeartistwinaperishablemedium—isanimpressionupoihtarousedin，themindsofanaudiendisincapableofrecord。

Ag，thee—thoughIhaveochedeversobrieflytheproofofmybelief—beagreatart。Butisaerredfromtakingpartiricalsbythesideratioaotabitofit!AlynisohingsaboutwhichIamwritihethingsthatarewbadly。

Ahingismusic;butheretheproverbialfallaexertsitspower，asitdoesnot，forsomeobsdunreasoningdisation，inag。Mostpeopleseemtothinkthatiftheyg，orplaythepiano，fiddle，orsackbut，admirablywell，theymustnotdoahingsatall。Thattheyshouldnotindisatelyforcetheirinferiorperformahe

publiupontheiraces，Iadmit。Butthatthereishehome”forinferiormusianuntruththatIflatlydeny。

Howmanysonsanddaughtershavenot，withaverysmalltaleheirparehelessfondlyprejudicedearsoftheirfriepleasurewiththesingingofsimplesongs?Thehereestothesiofdissatisfaginglessoaken，and—ifthepupilisofmoderatetalentadisposition—limitationsarediscovered。Andthen，inoften，thesingingisdropped，likeahotpenny。Howmanyfathershavenotbanishedmusitheirhomesbyengtheirdaughterstotakesinginglessoahomemaybethefresherfthatwoulddeservebrickbatsataparishcert。

Imaypauseheretohecuriousexthatpeoplewhoanyatbepersuadedtosinginthedrawing-room，oreveh，willwithouthesitationuplifttheirtunelessviousmeetingsorinchurch。Thereisaperfectlygoodandhoionofthis，Ibelieve，butitbelongstotherealmofmetaphysidisbeyoscope。

Thiscursedbelief，thatifathingiswatall，itiswwell，isthecauseofagreatimpoverishmentinourprivatelife，andalso，tosomeextent，ofthelofstandardsinourpubliclife。Forthisteofproverbialfaithhastwoeffealltalents:itleadsmodestpersonshematall，apersoodosotoomudtoforcethemselvesuponthepublic。Itleadstothedecayandofthekeepingofdiaries，and，assurely，itleadstothepublioirsashouldremaihewriters’desks。

ItleadsMr。Blanknottowriteversesatall—whichhemightverywelldo，forthesakeofhisoiness，andfortheamusementofhisfriends—anditleadsMissDashtopestertheoverworkededitorsofvariousjournalswithherunsuccessfulimitationsofMr。delaMare，Mr。Yeats，andDr。Bridges。Theresultisthatournationalartistiowsuffersfromtwogreatneeds:Aracticeofthearts，andahigher，moreexclusive，professionalstandard。Untiltheseareachievedweshallhebestoutofoursouls。

&his，Iceive，thatthereisformostofusohing—beyond，ofcourse，ourdutiesofshipandourpersonaldutiesassons，orhusbands，hters，orwives，ormothers—thatiswwell—thatistosay，withally。Thatohiing，oritmaybemakingsteam-engines，bricks。Butafterthattherearehuhingsthatarewbadly，withonlyparty，forthesakeoftherelaxatius，aswhichtheygiveuswithourminds。Andtheslahis，asohehappier，themoreted，themracious，willourlandbe。

Thereareeven，Imaintain，thingsthatareierdohanwell。siderfishing，whereone’swholepleasureisoftenspoiledbyhavingtokillafish。Now，ifonetrivealwaystotrytocatchafish，aodoso，o—Butthatisaory。

I。A。威廉姆斯生于英格兰，在剑桥受过教育。第一次世界大战后，他成为伦敦《泰晤士报》的一名记者。威廉姆斯写了几本关于18世纪诗歌和戏剧方面的书，发表在各种期刊和杂志上，出版了他自己的诗集。以下这篇文章最早出现在1923年伦敦的《展望》一书中。

或许，对工作和创作而言，最大的威胁莫过于唯恐做得不好或者害怕做错。对于这个问题，这篇文章就是一种安慰了。威廉姆斯认为，很多事情都应该草草行事，这样，我们的生活才有意义，我们的个性才能得以发展完善。运动和音乐就是两个很好的例子，大多数人都酷爱运动和音乐，它们的确能给人带来乐趣，仅是这一点就够了，人们并不需要有多深的造诣。查尔斯·拉姆写了一系列有关时下谬误的文章。可惜我一时记不清了。但如果不是狡猾的仆人突然误导我，我倒不觉得他写过什么公众交口称赞而我却认为有害的文章。下面这句似是而非的忠告，我从孩提时就印在脑海中：“如果一件事情值得去做，那么，就应该好好去做。”从没有哪一个谬论让人们如此热衷。因为世界上有很多事情都值得去做，但并不是事事都应该好好去做。伟大的哲人赫伯特·斯宾塞曾对刚在台球桌上战胜他的年轻人说：“先生，一般球技表现为好的眼力和稳定的手法，但从你的球技上看，你浪费了很多时间。”是否每一种游戏都值得持之以恒地练习和应用呢？