LESSON 33 THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM 不滿的鐘擺

Jane Taylor (b.1783, d.1824) was born in London.Her mother was a writer of some note.In connection with her sister Ann, Jane Taylor wrote several juvenile works of more than ordinary excellence.Among them were “Hymns for Infant Minds” and “Original Poems.” Besides these, she wrote “Display, a Tale,” “Essays in Rhyme,” and “Contributions of QQ.” Her writings are graceful, and often contain a useful moral.

1.An old dock that had stood for fifty years in a farmer’s kitchen, without giving its owner any cause of complaint, early one summer’s morning, before the family was stirring, suddenly stopped.Upon this, the dial plate (if we may credit the fable) changed countenance with alarm; the hands made a vain eff ort to continue their course; the wheels remained motionless with surprise; the weights hung speechless; and each member felt disposed to lay the blame on the others.At length the dial instituted^[1] a formal inquiry as to the cause of the stagnation, when hands, wheels, weights, with one voice, protested^[2] their innocence.

2.But now a faint tick was heard below from the pendulum, who spoke thus:“I confess myself to be the sole cause of the present stoppage; and I am willing, for the general satisfaction, to assign my reasons.The truth is, that I am tired of ticking.” Upon hearing this, the old clock became so enraged that it was upon the very point of striking.“Lazy wire!” exclaimed the dial plate, holding up its hands.

3.“Very good!” replied the pendulum; “it is vastly easy for you, Mistress Dial, who have always, as everybody knows, set yourself up above me,—it is vastly easy for you, I say, to accuse other people of laziness! you who have had nothing to do all your life but to stare people in the face, and to amuse yourself with watching all that goes on in the kitchen.Think, I beseech you, how you would like to be shut up for life in this dark closet, and to wag backward and forward year after year, as I do.”

4.“As to that,” said the dial, “is there not a window in your house on purpose for you to look through?” “For all that,” resumed the pendulum, “it is very dark here; and, although there is a window, I dare not stop even for an instant to look out at it.Besides, I am really tired of my way of life; and, if you wish, I’ll tell you how I took this disgust at my employment.I happened, this morning, to be calculating^[3] how many times I should have to tick in the course of only the next twenty-four hours; perhaps some one of you above there can give me the exact sum.”

5.The minute hand, being quick at figures, presently replied, “Eighty-six thousand four hundred times.” “Exactly so,” replied the pendulum.“Well, I appeal to you all, if the very thought of this was not enough to fatigue anyone; and when I began to multiply the strokes of one day by those of months and years, really it was no wonder if I felt discouraged at the prospect^[4].So, after a great deal of reasoning and hesitation, thinks I to myself, I’ll stop.”

6.The dial could scarcely keep its countenance during this harangue^[5]; but, resuming its gravity, thus replied: “Dear Mr.Pendulum, I am really astonished that such a useful, industrious person as yourself should have been seized by this sudden weariness.It is true, you have done a great deal of work in your time; so have we all, and are likely to do; which, although it may fatigue us to think of, the question is, whether it will fatigue us to do.Would you now do me the favor to give about half a dozen strokes to illustrate^[6] my argument?”

7.The pendulum complied, and ticked six times at its usual pace.“Now,”resumed the dial, “may I be allowed to inquire if that exertion^[7] is at all fatiguing or disagreeable to you?” “Not in the least,” replied the pendulum; “it is not of six strokes that I complain, nor of sixty, but of millions.”

8.“Very good,” replied the dial; “but recollect that, although you may think of a million of strokes in an instant, you are required to execute^[8] but one; and that, however often you may hereafter have to swing, a moment will always be given you to swing in.” “That consideration^[9] staggers me, I confess,” said the pendulum.“Then I hope,” resumed the dial plate, “that we shall all return to our duty immediately; for the maids will lie in bed if we stand idling thus.”

9.Upon this, the weights, who had never been accused of light conduct, used all their influence in urging him to proceed; when, as if with one consent, the wheels began to turn, the hands began to move, the pendulum began to swing, and, to its credit, ticked as loud as ever; while a red beam of the rising sun, that streamed through a hole in the kitchen, shining full upon the dial plate, it brightened up as if nothing had been the matter.

10.When the farmer came down to breakfast that morning, upon looking at the clock, he declared that his watch had gained half an hour in the night.

【中文閱讀】

簡·泰勒（1783—1824）出生于英國倫敦，她的母親是一位游記作家。當她還只是個孩子時，就和姐姐安一起寫了些相當優秀的作品，其中包括《為童真心靈寫的贊美詩》和《原創詩歌》。除此之外，她還寫了《展示：一個故事》、《韻律散文》和《QQ的貢獻》。她的作品大多文筆優美，且蘊涵深刻教育意義。

1.在農夫的廚房里，有一座已經立了半世紀之久的老鐘。老鐘從未發生過故障，使主人有抱怨的機會。某個夏日清晨，在所有人起床之前，毫無緣由地，老鐘突然停了。對此，表盤（我們不妨認為這不過是個寓言）驚詫地變了臉；指針們試圖循著原有路程邁步，卻徒然無力；齒輪們也驚訝地動彈不得；刻度們懸掛在那里，說不出一句話。老鐘身上的每個成員都在琢磨著把過錯歸咎于他人。最后，表盤實施正規盤問，以查明老鐘停止的原因。對此，指針、齒輪、刻度都異口同聲地咬定自己是無辜的。

2.就在這時，一個微弱的嘀嗒聲從老鐘下方的鐘擺處傳來，它說：“我承認，我是本次停工的唯一原因。為了使在座各位滿意，我愿意陳述我的理由。事實是，我實在厭倦了這樣的反復嘀嗒?！甭牭竭@番話，整座老鐘都憤怒起來，它幾乎要再度敲響了。“你這個懶惰的家伙！”表盤叫起來，生氣地揚著它的嵌條。

3.“你說得倒輕巧！”鐘擺反唇相譏，“表盤夫人，大家都清楚你那高高在上的態度。對你來說，指責別人懶惰再容易不過了。你這一輩子做了些什么？無非就是瞪眼盯著別人看，不管廚房里發生了些什么，你都在一旁圍觀取樂。請你設身處地地為我想想，要是你終生被困在這個暗無天日的黑箱子里，像我這樣年復一年地前后搖擺，你還會說得這么好聽嗎？”

4.“說到這一點，”表盤說，“難道不是特地為你安了個窗口，好讓你能看到外面的世界？”“話是這么說，”鐘擺繼續抱怨道，“但這里太黑了。就算有一個窗口，我也不能停下哪怕一秒鐘時間向外張望。再說，我實在厭倦了這種生活方式。如果你不介意的話，我倒很想告訴你這份工作有多么令人厭惡。今早，我碰巧計算了一下在接下來的二十四小時內，我需要來回嘀嗒多少次。你們上面諸位中也許有人能給我個準確數字？”

5.擅長于數字的分針很快回答：“86400次?！薄耙稽c兒也不錯，”鐘擺答道，“請你們大家都想想這個數字吧。如果它還不足以讓你們感到疲憊，請再將這個數字按每天每月每年翻倍累計。一想到這些數字，我便覺得前途一片黯淡，生活毫無希望。因此，考慮再三后，我對自己說，我不愿再繼續這種生活了?！?/p>

6.在鐘擺發表這篇演說的時候，表盤幾乎無法維持它的沉穩表情。但是，它很快便鎮定下來，回答道：“親愛的鐘擺先生，我很震驚，一個像你這樣勤勉能干的人竟然會被突如其來的倦意所壓垮。確實，你做了大量的工作，但是，難道我們不也在努力干活，并且將繼續這樣做？盡管一想到這點，我們或許都疲憊不堪，但問題是：這份工作真的使我們厭倦嗎？現在，為了解釋我的觀點，能否請你幫個忙，再嘀嗒幾下？”

7.按照平常的節奏，鐘擺順從地嘀嗒了六下。“好了，”表盤接著說，“請問，像這樣擺動六下，是否讓你厭倦心煩？”“一點也不，”鐘擺回答道，“但是，我抱怨的不是六下，也不是六十下，而是數以百萬計的無數個六下?！?/p>

8.“很好，”表盤說道，“但是，你想一下，盡管你在頃刻間便想到要嘀嗒數百萬次，但實際上，你只需要嘀嗒一次。不管以后你還需要嘀嗒搖擺多少次，每一秒鐘你都只需要嘀嗒一次?！薄拔页姓J，這么想的確令我好受些?！薄澳敲矗蚁Ｍ?，”表盤說，“我們大家能立即重新開始工作。如果我們繼續站在這里閑聊，女主人們就會一直賴在床上?！?/p>

9.聽到這話，從未被指責過工作輕巧的刻度們，也紛紛向鐘擺施加影響，建議它繼續工作。最后，大家終于達成一致意見，齒輪們開始轉動，指針們開始邁步，鐘擺也開始擺動。值得稱道的是，它的嘀嗒聲與以前一樣鏗鏘有力。當朝陽的紅色光芒從廚房的一個洞口處流瀉進來，映在表盤上，表盤熠熠生輝，仿佛什么事都不曾發生過。

10.那天早晨，那位農夫走進廚房吃早餐，他看著老鐘對了對表，說，他的表昨晚快了半個小時。

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【注釋】

[1] Instituted, commenced, began.

[2] Protested, solemnly declared.

[3] Calculating, reckoning, computing.

[4] Prospect, anticipation, that to which one looks forward.

[5] Harangue, speech.

[6] Illustrate, to make clear, to exemplify.

[7] Exertion, ef fort.

[8] Execute, to complete, to f inish.

[9] Consideration, reason.