LESSON 33 THE DISCONTENTED PENDULUM 不满的钟摆

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.

【中文阅读】

简·泰勒（1783—1824）出生于英国伦敦，她的母亲是一位游记作家。当她还只是个孩子时，就和姐姐安一起写了些相当优秀的作品，其中包括《为童真心灵写的赞美诗》和《原创诗歌》。除此之外，她还写了《展示：一个故事》、《韵律散文》和《QQ的贡献》。她的作品大多文笔优美，且蕴涵深刻教育意义。

1.在农夫的厨房里，有一座已经立了半世纪之久的老钟。老钟从未发生过故障，使主人有抱怨的机会。某个夏日清晨，在所有人起床之前，毫无缘由地，老钟突然停了。对此，表盘（我们不妨认为这不过是个寓言）惊诧地变了脸；指针们试图循着原有路程迈步，却徒然无力；齿轮们也惊讶地动弹不得；刻度们悬挂在那里，说不出一句话。老钟身上的每个成员都在琢磨着把过错归咎于他人。最后，表盘实施正规盘问，以查明老钟停止的原因。对此，指针、齿轮、刻度都异口同声地咬定自己是无辜的。

2.就在这时，一个微弱的嘀嗒声从老钟下方的钟摆处传来，它说：“我承认，我是本次停工的唯一原因。为了使在座各位满意，我愿意陈述我的理由。事实是，我实在厌倦了这样的反复嘀嗒。”听到这番话，整座老钟都愤怒起来，它几乎要再度敲响了。“你这个懒惰的家伙！”表盘叫起来，生气地扬着它的嵌条。

3.“你说得倒轻巧！”钟摆反唇相讥，“表盘夫人，大家都清楚你那高高在上的态度。对你来说，指责别人懒惰再容易不过了。你这一辈子做了些什么？无非就是瞪眼盯着别人看，不管厨房里发生了些什么，你都在一旁围观取乐。请你设身处地地为我想想，要是你终生被困在这个暗无天日的黑箱子里，像我这样年复一年地前后摇摆，你还会说得这么好听吗？”

4.“说到这一点，”表盘说，“难道不是特地为你安了个窗口，好让你能看到外面的世界？”“话是这么说，”钟摆继续抱怨道，“但这里太黑了。就算有一个窗口，我也不能停下哪怕一秒钟时间向外张望。再说，我实在厌倦了这种生活方式。如果你不介意的话，我倒很想告诉你这份工作有多么令人厌恶。今早，我碰巧计算了一下在接下来的二十四小时内，我需要来回嘀嗒多少次。你们上面诸位中也许有人能给我个准确数字？”

5.擅长于数字的分针很快回答：“86400次。”“一点儿也不错，”钟摆答道，“请你们大家都想想这个数字吧。如果它还不足以让你们感到疲惫，请再将这个数字按每天每月每年翻倍累计。一想到这些数字，我便觉得前途一片黯淡，生活毫无希望。因此，考虑再三后，我对自己说，我不愿再继续这种生活了。”

6.在钟摆发表这篇演说的时候，表盘几乎无法维持它的沉稳表情。但是，它很快便镇定下来，回答道：“亲爱的钟摆先生，我很震惊，一个像你这样勤勉能干的人竟然会被突如其来的倦意所压垮。确实，你做了大量的工作，但是，难道我们不也在努力干活，并且将继续这样做？尽管一想到这点，我们或许都疲惫不堪，但问题是：这份工作真的使我们厌倦吗？现在，为了解释我的观点，能否请你帮个忙，再嘀嗒几下？”

7.按照平常的节奏，钟摆顺从地嘀嗒了六下。“好了，”表盘接着说，“请问，像这样摆动六下，是否让你厌倦心烦？”“一点也不，”钟摆回答道，“但是，我抱怨的不是六下，也不是六十下，而是数以百万计的无数个六下。”

8.“很好，”表盘说道，“但是，你想一下，尽管你在顷刻间便想到要嘀嗒数百万次，但实际上，你只需要嘀嗒一次。不管以后你还需要嘀嗒摇摆多少次，每一秒钟你都只需要嘀嗒一次。”“我承认，这么想的确令我好受些。”“那么，我希望，”表盘说，“我们大家能立即重新开始工作。如果我们继续站在这里闲聊，女主人们就会一直赖在床上。”

9.听到这话，从未被指责过工作轻巧的刻度们，也纷纷向钟摆施加影响，建议它继续工作。最后，大家终于达成一致意见，齿轮们开始转动，指针们开始迈步，钟摆也开始摆动。值得称道的是，它的嘀嗒声与以前一样铿锵有力。当朝阳的红色光芒从厨房的一个洞口处流泻进来，映在表盘上，表盘熠熠生辉，仿佛什么事都不曾发生过。

10.那天早晨，那位农夫走进厨房吃早餐，他看着老钟对了对表，说，他的表昨晚快了半个小时。

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【注释】

[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.