少年维特的烦恼 英文版 The Sorrows of Young Werther
歌德 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
DECEMBER 24.
As I anticipated, the ambassador occasions me infinite annoyance.He is the most punctilious blockhead under heaven. He doeseverything step by step, with the trifling minuteness of an oldwoman; and he is a man whom it is impossible to please, becausehe is never pleased with himself. I like to do business regularlyand cheerfully, and, when it is finished, to leave it. But heconstantly returns my papers to me, saying, "They will do," butrecommending me to look over them again, as "one may always improveby using a better word or a more appropriate particle." I thenlose all patience, and wish myself at the devil's. Not a conjunction,not an adverb, must be omitted: he has a deadly antipathy to allthose transpositions of which I am so fond; and, if the music ofour periods is not tuned to the established, official key, hecannot comprehend our meaning. It is deplorable to be connectedwith such a fellow.
My acquaintance with the Count C-- is the only compensation forsuch an evil. He told me frankly, the other day, that he was muchdispleased with the difficulties and delays of the ambassador;that people like him are obstacles, both to themselves and toothers. "But," added he, "one must submit, like a traveller whohas to ascend a mountain: if the mountain was not there, the roadwould be both shorter and pleasanter; but there it is, and he mustget over it."
The old man perceives the count's partiality for me: this annoyshim, and, he seizes every opportunity to depreciate the count inmy hearing. I naturally defend him, and that only makes mattersworse. Yesterday he made me indignant, for he also alluded to me."The count," he said, "is a man of the world, and a good man ofbusiness: his style is good, and he writes with facility; but,like other geniuses, he has no solid learning." He looked at mewith an expression that seemed to ask if I felt the blow. But itdid not produce the desired effect: I despise a man who can thinkand act in such a manner. However, I made a stand, and answeredwith not a little warmth. The count, I said, was a man entitledto respect, alike for his character and his acquirements. I hadnever met a person whose mind was stored with more useful andextensive knowledge, -- who had, in fact, mastered such an infinitevariety of subjects, and who yet retained all his activity for thedetails of ordinary business. This was altogether beyond hiscomprehension; and I took my leave, lest my anger should be toohighly excited by some new absurdity of his.
And you are to blame for all this, you who persuaded me to bendmy neck to this yoke by preaching a life of activity to me. Ifthe man who plants vegetables, and carries his corn to town onmarket-days, is not more usefully employed than I am, then let mework ten years longer at the galleys to which I am now chained.
Oh, the brilliant wretchedness, the weariness, that one is doomedto witness among the silly people whom we meet in society here!The ambition of rank! How they watch, how they toil, to gainprecedence! What poor and contemptible passions are displayed intheir utter nakedness! We have a woman here, for example, whonever ceases to entertain the company with accounts of her familyand her estates. Any stranger would consider her a silly being,whose head was turned by her pretensions to rank and property; butshe is in reality even more ridiculous, the daughter of a meremagistrate's clerk from this neighbourhood. I cannot understandhow human beings can so debase themselves.
Every day I observe more and more the folly of judging of othersby ourselves; and I have so much trouble with myself, and my ownheart is in such constant agitation, that I am well content to letothers pursue their own course, if they only allow me the sameprivilege.
What provokes me most is the unhappy extent to which distinctionsof rank are carried. I know perfectly well how necessary areinequalities of condition, and I am sensible of the advantages Imyself derive therefrom; but I would not have these institutionsprove a barrier to the small chance of happiness which I may enjoyon this earth.
I have lately become acquainted with a Miss B--, a very agreeablegirl, who has retained her natural manners in the midst of artificiallife. Our first conversation pleased us both equally; and, attaking leave, I requested permission to visit her. She consentedin so obliging a manner, that I waited with impatience for thearrival of the happy moment. She is not a native of this place,but resides here with her aunt. The countenance of the old ladyis not prepossessing. I paid her much attention, addressing thegreater part of my conversation to her; and, in less than half anhour, I discovered what her niece subsequently acknowledged to me,that her aged aunt, having but a small fortune, and a still smallershare of understanding, enjoys no satisfaction except in thepedigree of her ancestors, no protection save in her noble birth,and no enjoyment but in looking from her castle over the heads ofthe humble citizens. She was, no doubt, handsome in her youth,and in her early years probably trifled away her time in renderingmany a poor youth the sport of her caprice: in her riper years shehas submitted to the yoke of a veteran officer, who, in return forher person and her small independence, has spent with her what wemay designate her age of brass. He is dead; and she is now awidow, and deserted. She spends her iron age alone, and would notbe approached, except for the loveliness of her niece.