William Cullen Bryant to His Mother
威廉·卡伦·布莱恩特（1794—1878），美国诗人，生于马萨诸塞州一个医生家庭。19世纪20年代初，布莱恩特移居纽约，从事新闻工作。1829年主编《晚邮报》，主张“自由土地、自由言论、自由劳动、自由人”。作家爱默生曾称赞他为“乡土的、诚挚的、有独创性的爱国诗人”。
本篇是布莱恩特写给母亲的信，描述婚礼当日自己的感受。
Dear Mother,
I hasten to send you the melancholy intelligence of what has lately happened to me.
Early on the evening of the eleventh day of the present month I was at a neighboring house in this village. Several people of both sexes were assembled in one of the apartments, and three or four others, with myself, were in another. At last came in a little elderly gentleman, pale, thin, with a solemn countenance, hooked nose, and hollow eyes. It was not long before we were summoned to attend in the apartment where he and the rest of the company were gathered. We went in and took our seats; the little elderly gentleman with the hooked nose prayed, and we all stood up. When he had finished, most of us sat down. The gentleman with the hooked nose then muttered certain cabalistic expressions which I was too much frightened to remember, but I recollect that at the conclusion I was given to understand that I was married to a young lady of the name of Frances Fair-child, whom I perceived standing by my side, and I hope in the course of a few months to have the pleasure of introducing to you as your daughter-in-law, which is a matter of some interest to the poor girl, who has neither father nor mother in the world...
I looked only for goodness of heart, an ingenuous and affectionate disposition, a good understanding, etc., and the character of my wife is too frank and single hearted to suffer me to fear that I may be disappointed. I do myself wrong; I did not look for these nor any other qualities, but they trapped me before I was aware, and now I am married in spite of myself.
Thus the current of destiny carries us along. None but a madman would swim against the stream, and none but a fool would exert himself to swim with it. The best way is to float quietly with the tide...
Your affectionate son,
William
June,1821
亲爱的母亲：
我匆忙发出这封信，是想告诉你最近我这里发生的一件事情——一个令人忧愁的消息。
这个月11号的傍晚时分，我在与村子相邻的一栋房子里。有几个男女聚集在其中一间屋里，而我自己则跟其他三四个人待在另一间房子里。然后进来一个脸色苍白、瘦削，有一副严肃面孔、鹰钩鼻、眼睛深陷的老先生。没过多久，有人来招呼我们到另外那间屋子里去，那位老先生和其他人都聚集在那里。我们走进去，坐了下来。那位鹰钩鼻的老先生开始作祷告，我们全体起立。他作完祷告之后，人们都坐了下来。接着，那位鹰钩鼻的老先生口中念念有词，说了一串神秘的话语。我当时十分紧张，没有记住他说了些什么，只记得在结束的时候，他说我和一个名叫弗朗西丝·菲切尔德的姑娘成了婚。她当时就站在我身旁，希望几个月后能有机会荣幸地把她作为您的儿媳介绍给您。这个可怜的姑娘对此很感兴趣，因为她在这个世界上无父无母……
我追求的是一个心地善良、性情直率、和蔼可亲、温柔体贴的女孩，她的为人非常坦率和单纯，让我不用担心自己将来有失望的时候。或许我并不了解自己，或许我并没有去寻求拥有这些品质的人，我可能在不知不觉中落入了他们的圈套，身不由己地娶了那个姑娘。
我们就是这样顺着命运的潮流向前走的。只有疯子才会逆流而上，只有傻子才去竭力迎合潮流。最好的办法是静静地随波逐流……
爱您的儿子，
威廉
1821年6月
countenance [kauntnns] n. 面容；表情
He kept his countenance when he was in danger.
当他身处险境时，他表现得镇定自若。
summon [smn] v. 传唤；吁求；争取；召集
You must summon up all your courage to meet the danger.
你必须鼓起全部勇气以面对危险。
perceive [psi:v] v. 注意到；意识到；视为
With an open heart, you will perceive people differently.
开放你的心，你对人们的感受将会不同。
ingenuous [indenjus] adj. 单纯的；天真的
She is too ingenuous in believing what others say .
她太天真，轻信别人的话。
我当时十分紧张，没有记住他说了些什么。
她的为人非常坦率和单纯，让我不用担心自己将来有失望的时候。
我们就是这样顺着命运的潮流向前走的。
I hasten to send you the melancholy intelligence of what has lately happened to me.
happen to：发生于；恰巧
I am married in spite of myself .
in spite of：尽管；不顾；虽然
切斯特菲尔德勋爵致儿子
Lord Chesterfield to His Son
切斯特菲尔德（1694—1773），英国著名的外交家兼作家，曾任驻荷兰大使、国务大臣等。他风流倜傥，在英国是讲究礼仪的典范，以著作《致儿子的信》而闻名于世。本篇选自《致儿子的信》，是切斯特菲尔德勋爵写给儿子的家书，其内容说理透彻，辞藻华丽。
Dear Boy,
Whatever you do, will always affect me, very sensibly, one way or another; and I am now most agreeably affected by two letters, which I have lately seen from Lausanne, upon your subject; the one was from Madame St. Germain, the other from Monsieur Pampigny: they both give so good an account of you, that I thought myself obliged, in justice both to them and to you, to let you know it.
Those who deserve a good character ought to have the satisfaction of knowing that they have it, both as a reward and as an encouragement. They write, that you are not only décrotté, but tolerably well-bred; and that the English crust of awkward bashfulness, shyness, and roughness, (of which, by the bye, you had your share) is pretty well rubbed off. I am most heartily glad of it; for, as I have often told you, those lesser talents, of an engaging, insinuating manner, an easy good-breeding, a genteel behaviour and address, are of infinitely more advantage than they are generally thought to be, especially here in England.
Virtue and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value; but if they are not polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their luster; and even polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold.
What a number of sins does the cheerful, easy good-breeding of the French frequently cover! Many of them want common sense, many more common learning; but, in general, they make up so much, by their manner, for those defects, that, frequently, they pass undiscovered.
I have often said, and do think, that a Frenchman, who, with a fund of virtue, learning, and good-sense, has the manners and good-breeding of his country, is the perfection of human nature. This perfection you may, if you please, and I hope you will, arrive at.
You know what virtue is: you may have it if you will; it is in every man's power; and miserable is the man who has it not. Good sense God has given you. Learning you already possess enough of, to have, in a reasonable time, all that a man need have. With this, you are thrown out early into the world, where it will be your own fault if you do not acquire all the other accomplishments necessary to complete and adorn your character.