送行Seeing People off（第1页）

送行SeeingPeopleoff

麦克斯·毕尔勃姆MaxBeerbohm

麦克斯·毕尔勃姆（1872—1956），英国著名讽刺画家、散文家和剧评家。曾就读于牛津大学。除擅长绘画外，他还写过不少散文，并取得了较高的成就。后来继萧伯纳任《星期六评论》剧评专栏作者达十二年之久，晚年移居美国直到去世。

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&hesenewwordsbeforeyoureadthisarticle。

1。languish['l??ɡwi?]v。失去活力

2。prophecy['pr?fisi]n。预言

3。magic[m?ɡ'ik]adj。地磁的；有磁性的

4。fess[k?n'fes]v。承认

Iamnotgoodatit。Todoitwellseemstomeodiffigsintherobablyseemssotoyou，too。

ToseeafriendofffromWaterlootoVauxhallwereeasyenough。Butwearenevertoperformthatsmallfeat。Itisonlywhenafriendisgoingonalongishjourney，afuishtime，thatweturnupattherailwaystatiohefriehejourhelohelikelyabseheearlierdoweturnup，andthemorelamentablydowefail。Ourfailureisiiototheseriousheo，ah。

Inaroom，orevenonadoorstep，wemakethefarewellquiteworthily。ressihegenuinesorrowwefeel。Nordowordsfailus。Thereisnoawkwardness，，ohethreadofourintimaotbeeheleave-takingisanidealo，theheleave-takingatthat?Alartingfriendsimploreusnottobothertoetotherailwaystatiom。Always，wearedeaftotheseeies，kobenotquitesiingfriendswouldthinkitveryoddofusifwetookthemattheirword。Besides，theyreallydowanttoseeusagain。Andthatwishisheartilyreciprocated。Wedulyturnup。Ahen，whatagulfyawsvainlyacrossit。Wehaveutterlylosttouch。Wehavenothingatalltosay。Wegazeateachotherasdumbanimalsgazeathumanbeings。We“makeversation”—andsuversatiohatthesefriehefriendsfromwhomwepartedht。Theyknowthatwehave，onthesurface，everythingisdifferent;aensionissuchthatweonlyluardtoblowhisutahefarce。

OnaoflastweekIdulyturEuston，toseeoffanoldfriendwhforAmerica。

&，wehadgivenhimafarewelldinner，inwhiesswaswellmihfestivity。Yearsprobablysebeforehisreturn。Someofusmightneverseehimagain。Ntheshadowofthefuture，wegailycelebratedthepast。Wewereasthankfultohaveknuestasweweregrievedtolosehim;andboththeseemotionsweremademaerfectfarewell。

Andnoere，stiffandself-stheplatform;ahewindowoftherailway-carriagewasthefaceofourfriend;butitwasasthefaceer—astrangeranxioustoplease，aranger，anawkwardstraeverything?”askedoneasilehing，”aidourfriend，leasahied，withtheemphasisofaybrain。“You’llbeabletolurain，”saidI，thoughtheprophecyhadalreadybeehanonce。“Oh，yes，”hesaidwith。HeaddedthatthetrairaightthroughtoLiverpool。Thisfactseemedtostrikeusasratherodd。WeexgedglastopatCrewe?”askedoneofus。“No，”saidourfriend，briefly。Heseemedalmostdisagreeable。Thereause。Oneofus，withanodandaforcedsmileatthetraveler，said“Well!”Thenod，thesmileandtheunmeaningmonosyllable，werereturnedtiously。Anotherpausewasbrokenbyoneofuswithafitofg。Itwasanobviouslyassumedfit，butitservedtopassthetime。Thebustleoftheplatformwasuherewasnosigraiure。Release—ours，andourfriend’s—was。

Mywaedolymiddle-agedmanwhowastalkilyfromtheplatformtoayoungladyatthewindowbutooours。Hisfineprofilewasvaguelyfamiliartome。TheyoungladywasevidentlyAmeridhewasevidentlyEnglish;otherwiseIshouldhaveguessedfromhisimpressiveairthathewasherfather。IwishedIcouldhearwhathewassaying。Iwassurehewasgiviadvidthestrongtendernessofhisgazewasreallybeautiful。Heseemedmagic，ashepouredouthisfinalinjuns。Icouldfeelsomethingofhismagismeveood。Aism，liketheprofile，wasvaguelyfamiliartome。erie?

InaflashIremembered。ThemaLeRos。ButhowgedsiIsawhim!Thatwasseveyearsago，irahen（asusual）outofa，andborrowedhalf-a-。Itseemedaprivilegetolendanythingtohim。HewasalwaysmagidwhyhismagismhadnevermadehimsuctheLondonstagewasalwaysamysterytome。Hewasaor，andama。But，likemanyothersofhiskiLeRos（Idonot，ivetheaamebyn）driftedspeedilyawayintotheprovindI，likeeveryoneelse，berhim。

Itwasstraeralltheseyears，hereoformofEuston，lookingsoprosperousandsolid。Itwasnotohathehadputon，butalsotheclothes，thatmadehimhardtheolddays，animitationfurcoathadseemedtobeasintegralapartofhimaswerehisill-shornlanternjaws。Butnowhisewasamodelofrioderati，notg，attentiontoitself。Helookedlikeabanker。Anyonecouldhavebeenproudtobeseenoffbyhim。

“Standback，please!”hetrainwasabouttostart，andIwavedfarewelltomyfriend。LeRosdidnotstandback。Hestoodginbothhandsthehandsoftheyouandback，sir，please!”heobeyed，butquicklydartedfaintowhispersomefinalword。Ithiearsiherelyweretearsilength，havirainoutofsight，heturnedround。Heseemed，heless，delightedtoseeme。HeaskedmewhereIhadbeenhidingalltheseyears;andsimultahehalf-asthoughithadbeeerday。Helinkedhisarminmine，ahmeslowlyalofleasurehereadmydramaticcriticismseverySaturday。

Itoldhim，iurn，howmuchhewasmissedoage。“Ah，yes，”hesaid，“Ihestagenowadays。”Helaidsomeemphasise。”andIaskedhimwhere，the。“Oform，”heanswered。“Youmean，”saidI，“thatyoureciteatcerts?”Hesmiled。“This，”hewhispered，strikinghisstithegrouformImean。”Hadhismysteriousprosperityunhingedhim?Helookedquitesane。Ibeggedhimtobemoreexplicit。

“Isuppose，”hesaidpresently，givifarwhichhehadofferedme，“Youhavebeenseeingafriendoff?Iassented。Heaskedmeosedhehadbeendoing。IsaidthatIhadwatchedhimdoihing。“No，”hesaidgravely。“Thatladywasnotafrieherforthefirsttimethism，lessthanhalfanhaiheplatformwithhisstick。

IfessedthatIwasbewildered。Hesmiled。“Youmay，”hesaid，“haveheardoftheAnglo-AmeriSocialBureau?Ihadnot。HeexplaiofthethousandsofAmerisassthroughEnglandtherearemanyhundredswhohavenoEnglishfriends。Intheolddaystheyusedtlettersofintrodu。ButtheEnglisharesoinhospitablethattheselettersarehardlyworththepapertheyarewrittenon。”Thus，“aidLeRos，”theA。A。S。B。suppliesalo。Amerisareasociablepeople，andmostofthemhaveplentyofmoheA。A。S。B。suppliesthemwithEnglishfriends。FiftypertofthefeesispaidovertothefrieherfiftyisretaiheA。A。S。B。Iamnot，alas!Adirector。IfIwere，Ishouldbeaveryrideed。IamonlyaevensoIdoverywell。Iamoheseers-off。

AgainIaskedfhte。“ManyAmeris，”hesaid，“otaffordtokeepfriendsinEngland。Buttheyallaffordtobeseenoff。Thefeeisonlyfivepouy-fivedollars）fletraveller;apounds（fortydollars）forapartyoftwoormore。Theysendthatintivieoftheirdeparture，aionbywhichtheseer-offtifythemoform。Ahentheyareseenoff。”

“Butisitworth”Iexclaimed。“Ofcourseitisworthit，”saidLeRos。“Itpreventsthemfromfeeling‘Outofit。’Itearherespectoftheguard。Itsavesthemfrombeiheirfellow-passehepeoplewhtobeogivesthemafootingforthewholevoyage。Besides，itisagreatpleasureinitself。Yousawmeseeingthatyoungladyoff。Didn’tyouthinkIdiditbeautifully?”“Beautifully，”Iadmitted。“IeherewasI—”“Yes，Ie。Therewereyou，shuffliofblanklyatyourfriend，tryingtomakeversation。Iknow。That’showIusedtobemyself，beforeIstudied，ahethingprofessionally。Idon’tsayI’mperfectyet。I’mstillamartyrtht。Arailwaystatiodifficultofallplacestoa，asyouhavediscoveredforyourself。”“But，”Isaidwithrese，“Iwasn’ttryingtoact。Ireallyfelt。”“sodidI，myboy，”aidLeRos。“You’tactwithoutfeeling。What’s-his-heFren—Diderot，yes—saidyoucould;butwhatdidheknowaboutit?Doearsihetrainstarted?Ihadhem。ItellyouIwasmoved。Sowereyou，Idaresay。Butyou’thavepumpedupateartoproveit。You’texpressys。Inotherwords，you’tayrate，”headdedkindly，“notinarailwaystation。”“Teachme!”cried。Helookedthoughtfullyatme。“Well，”hesaidatlength，“theseeing-offseasonispracticallyover。Yes，I’llgiveyouacourse。Ihaveagoodmanypupilsonhayes，”hesaid，gaebook，“IcouldgiveyouanhouronTuesdaysandFridays。”

Histerms，Ifess，areratherhigh。ButIdethei。

参考译文

我不会送行。它可是我所认为世上最难做好的事情之一，对此，你大概也心有同感。

送一位朋友从滑铁卢去渥克斯厅可以说是一件相当简单的事。但你从来就接不到这种轻松活儿。我们只有当朋友要远行，离去的时间又比较长时，才被召唤亲赴车站送行。朋友交情越好，送的路程越远，朋友离去的时间越长，我们就越早到达车站，相应的，我们遭遇的失败也就越为惨烈。这种失败的程度恰恰与场合的正式以及感情的深厚程度成正比。

屋内话别已十分体面，甚至在门前台阶也不错。我们脸上的表情书写着真切的忧伤，言语里透出恋恋不舍之情，主客双方不觉尴尬或拘谨，亲密友谊更是丝毫无损。如此的送别真可谓完美。可我们怎么就不懂到了这种程度就应该罢休呢？通常情况下，即将远行的友人们总是恳求我们次日早晨不要再赶到车站。但我们知道那不一定是真心话，便也就不听信那劝说的话，还是奔向车站。假若真的听信了朋友们的话，并且照着做了，他们说不定心里还会责怪呢。何况，他们也确实希望能再见上我们一面。于是我们也就按时到达，真诚地去回应朋友的愿望。但结果却，结果却，陡然生出一道鸿沟！我们伸手，可怎么也无法超越，谁也够不着谁。我们哑口无言，像愚笨的动物痴望人类一样面面相觑。我们“找些话题来说”——但哪里有什么话好说的！大家都心知肚明离别之景昨夜就已上演了一遍。人还是昨晚的那些人，但从表面上看，所有的又都变了，气氛是如此紧张，我们都盼望着列车员赶紧鸣笛，及早结束这场闹剧。

上周一个冷清阴沉的早晨，我准点赶到奥斯顿送一位去美国的朋友。

头一天晚上，我们已经摆设筵席为他饯行，席间分手的离情和聚会的喜庆糅合得恰到好处。他这一去可能就是多年，席上有些人恐怕今世也难得再见他面。虽然说不上完全不受未来所投下的阴影的影响，可我们还是兴高采烈，畅叙了往日情谊。我们既为认识这位朋友而感谢命运，同时又因他的行将离别而遗憾不已。此两种情怀欣然体现，昨晚的离别真是完美！