Character of Englishmen英国人的性格

Character of EnglishmenQuality of the British, and in particular of the English, is “reserved.” A reserved perso n is one who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion, and seldom gets excited. It is difficult to get to know a reserved person: he never tells you anything about himself, and you may work with him for years without ever knowing where he lives, how many children he has, and what his interests are. English people t end to be like that. 在其他的欧洲人看来，英国人，尤其是英格兰人的最明显的特点是“沉默寡言”。

一个沉默寡言的人不大同陌生人说话，情感不大外露，也很少激动。

要想了解一个沉默寡言的人很困难：他从不谈及他的身世，即使你与他工作数年，也许你不知道他家住在哪里，有几个子女，有些什么兴趣爱好。

英国人往往就是这样。

If they are making a journey by bus they will do their best to find an empty seat; if by train, an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, t hey may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does star t, personal questions like “How old are you?” or even “What is your name?” are not e asily asked. 乘公共汽车旅行时，他们会尽量找到一个空座位；乘火车旅行时，他们会尽量找到一个空隔间。

如果他们不得不与他人共坐一个隔间，火车开了数英里也许还不见他们开口说话。

即使打开了话匣子，他们也不轻易问起“你多大了？”或者“你贵姓？”之类的个人问题。

This reluctance to communicate with others is an unfortunate quality in some ways si nce it tends to give the impression of coldness, and it is true that the English (except p erhaps in the North) are not noted for their generosity and hospitality. On the other ha nds, they are perfectly human behind their barrier of reserve, and may be quite please d when a friendly strange or foreigner succeeds for a time in breaking the barrier dow n. We may also mention at this point that the people of the North and West, especially the Welsh, are much less reserved than those of the South and East.从某些方面来说，这种不愿与人交往的特点是件令人遗憾的事情，因为这往往给人以冷漠的印象。

除了北方人以外，英国人从不以他们的慷慨大方和热情好客而著称。

另一方面，虽然他们表面上沉默寡言，但内心还是很有人情味。

当友善的陌生人或外国人打破沉默时，他们也许会感到很高兴。

说到这里，也许我们应该提一句，英国的北部和西部的人，特别是威尔士人，远不象南部和东部的人那样缄默。

Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else, but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty. Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let u s say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply “Yes,” because people will think him conceited. He will probably give an answe r like, “I’m not bad,” or “I think I’m very good,” or “Well,I’m very keen on tennis.” ( i.e. I’m very fond of it.) even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year’s local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a pi ece of good luck.与英国人的缄默密切相关的是英国人的谦虚。

在英国人的内心，他们的自负不亚于任何其他的民族。

但在与别人交往时，他们注重谦虚，起码要表现出一种谦虚的姿态。

自夸被认为是不礼貌的。

比如说，一个人网球打得很好，当有人问他是不是一个网球好手时，他很少会回答说“是”，因为如果他回答“是”，人们会认为他很自负。

他很可能会这样回答：“还不错。

”或者“我觉得我还行。

”或者“嗯，我挺喜欢打网球。

”即使他在去年当地的网球锦标赛上打入了决赛，他也许会说只是碰上了好运气。

The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting-point is self-dispraise, and i ts great enemy is conceit. Its object is the ability to laugh at oneself---at one’s own fau lts, one’s own failure, even at one’s own ideals. The criticism, “He has no sense of hu mor” is very commonly heard in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of hu mor is an attitude to life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious. The English do not laugh at a cripple of a m adman, or a tragedy or an honorable failure.著名的英国式幽默感也与此相似。

其出发点是自贬，其大敌是自负。

其目的是能够自嘲——嘲笑自己的错误，自己的失败，甚至自己的理想。

在英国，幽默感受到高度重视，经常听到“他没有幽默感”这样的评论。

幽默感是对生活的一种态度，而不仅仅是一听到笑话就能够开怀大笑。

这种态度决不是冷酷，决不是无礼，决不是恶毒。

英国人从不嘲笑残疾人或精神病人，也从不会对一件悲惨的或虽败犹荣的事情幸灾乐祸。

Since reserve, a show of modesty and a sense of humor are part of his own nature, the typical Englishman tends to expect them in others. He secretly looks down on more e xcitable nations, and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they. He doesn’t tr ust big promises and open shows of feelings, especially if they are expressed in flower y language. He doesn’t trust self-praise of any kind. This applies not only to what othe r people may tell him about themselves orally, but to the letters they may write to him. To those who are fond of flowery expressions, the Englishman may appear uncomfort ably cold.因为沉默寡言、谦虚的表现和幽默感是英国人天生性格的组成部分，典型的英国人总是期望别人也具有这种品质。

他从心里看不起那些容易激动的民族，总是认为他们没有自己可靠。

他不相信信誓旦旦的诺言，也不相信感情的直接外露，尤其不相信用华丽的语言做出的承诺和表达的感情。

他对任何的自夸之词都不相信，不管是人们口头告诉的，还是写信书面表达的。

在那些喜欢用华丽辞藻的人看来，英国人可能显得冷漠，让人感到很不舒服。

Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all E nglishmen live up to. It must be realized that sport in this modern form is almost entir ely a British invention. Boxing, rugby, football, hockey, tennis and cricket were all fir st organized and given rules in Britain. Rules are the essence of sport, and sportsmans hip is the ability to practice a sport according to its rules, while also showing generosit y to one’s opponent and good temper in defeat. The high pressure of modern internati onal sport makes these ideals difficult to keep, but they are at least highly valued in Br itain and are certainly achieved there more commonly than among more excitable peo ples. Moreover, sportsmanship as an ideal is applied to life in general this is proved by the number of sporting terms used in ordinary speech. Everybody talks of “fair play”and “playing the game” or “playing fair.” Borrowed from boxing, “straight from the s houlder” is used todescribe a well-aimed, strong criticism and “below the belt” is used to describe an unfair one. One of the most elementary rules of life is “never hit a man when he’s down”---in other words, never take advantage of a person’s misfortune. English schoolboys o ften show this sense of sportsmanship to a surprisingly high degree in their relations w ith each other.最后再说说体育运动风范。