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1、 The Sad Young Men 1 No aspect of life in the Twenties has been more commented upon and sensationally romanticized than the so-called Revolt of the Younger Generation. 二十年代社会生活的各个方面中，被人们评论得最多、渲染得最厉害的，莫过于青年一代的叛逆之行了。The slightest mention of the decade brings nostalgic recollections to the middle-aged

2、and curious questionings by the young: 只要有只言片语提到那个时期，就会勾起中年人怀旧的回忆和青年人好奇的提问。memories of the deliciously illicit thrill of the first visit to a speakeasy, of the brave denunciation of Puritan morality, and of the fashionable experimentations in amour in the parked sedan on a country road; 中年人会回忆起第一次光顾

3、非法酒店时的那种既高兴又不安的违法犯罪的刺激感，回忆起对清教徒式的道德规范的勇猛抨击，回忆起停在乡间小路上的小轿车里颠鸾倒凤的时髦爱情试验方式；questions about the naughty, jazzy parties, the flask-toting sheik, and the moral and stylistic vagaries of the flapper and the drug-store cowboy. 青年人则会问起有关那时的一些纵情狂欢的爵士舞会，问起那成天背着酒葫芦、勾引得女人团团转的“美男子”，问起那些“时髦少女”和“闲荡牛仔”的奇装异服和古怪行为等等的情

4、况。Were young people really so wild? present-day students ask their parents and teachers. 那时的青年果真这样狂放不羁吗?”今天的青年学生们不禁好奇地向他们的师长问起这样的问题。Was there really a Younger Generation problem? “那时真的有过青年一代的问题吗?”The answers to such inquiries must of necessity be yes and no-Yes because the business of growing up is

5、always accompanied by a Younger Generation Problem;对这类问题的回答必然只能是既“对”又“不对”说“对，是因为人的成长过程中一贯就存在着所谓青年一代的问题； no because what seemed so wild, “说“不对”是因为在当时的社会看来似乎是那么狂野。irresponsible, and immoral in social behavior at the time can now be seen in perspective as being something considerably less sensational t

6、han the degenerauon of our jazzmad youth.那么不负责任，那么不讲道德的行为，若是用今天的正确眼光去看的话，却远远没有今天的一些迷恋爵士乐的狂荡青年的堕落行为那么耸人听闻。2 Actually, the revolt of the young people was a logical outcome of conditions in the age:实际上，青年一代的叛逆行为是当时的时代条件的必然结果。 First of all, it must be remembered that the rebellion was not confined to th

7、e Unit- ed States, but affected the entire Western world as a result of the aftermath of the first serious war in a century.首先，值得记住的是，这种叛逆行为并不局限于美国，而是作为百年之中第一次惨烈的战争的后遗症影响到整个西方世界。 Second, in the United States it was reluctantly realized by some- subconsciously if not openly 其次，在美国，有一些人已经很不情愿地认识到如果不是明

8、明白白地认识到，至少是下意识地认识到- that our country was no longer isolated in either politics or tradition and that we had reached an international stature that would forever prevent us from retreating behind the artificial walls of a provincial morality or the geographical protection of our two bordering oceans.无

9、论在政治方面还是在传统方面，我们的国家已不再是与世隔绝的了；我们所取得的国际地位使我们永远也不能再退缩到狭隘道德规范的人造围墙之后，或是躲在相邻的两大洋的地理保护之中了。3 The rejection of Victorian gentility was, in any case, inevitable. 在当时的美国，摒弃维多利亚式的温文尔雅无论如何都已经是无可避免的了。The booming of American industry, with its gigantic, roaring factories, its corporate impersonality, and its lar

10、gescale aggressiveness, no longer left any room for the code of polite behavior and well-bred morality fashioned in a quieter and less competitive age. 美国工业的飞速发展及其所带来的庞大的、机器轰鸣的工厂的出现，社会化大生产的非人格性，以及争强好胜意识的空前高涨，使得在较为平静而少竞争的年代里所形成的温文尔雅的礼貌行为和谦谦忍让的道德风范完全没有半点栖身之地。War or no war, as the generations passed, i

11、t became increasingly difficult for our young people to accept standards of behavior that bore no relationship to the bustling business medium in which they were expected to battle for success. 不论是否发生战争，随着时代的变化要我们的年轻一代接受与他们必须在其中拼搏求胜的这个喧嚣的商业化社会格格不入的行为准则已经变得越来越难了。The war acted merely as a catalytic ag

12、ent in this breakdown of the Victorian social structure, 战争只不过起了一种催化剂的作用，加速了维多利亚式社会结构的崩溃。and by precipitating our young people into a pattern of mass murder it released their inhibited violent energies which, after the shooting was over, were turned in both Europe and America to the destruction of a

13、n obsolescent nineteenth-century society.战争把年轻一代一下子推向一种大规模的屠杀战场，从而使他们体内潜藏的压抑已久的狂暴力量得以释放出来，待到战争一结束，这些被释放出来的狂暴力量便在欧洲和美国掉转矛头，去摧毁那日渐衰朽的十九世纪的社会了。4 Thus in a changing world youth was faced with the challenge of bringing our mores up to date. 这样一来，在一个千变万化的世界中，青年一代便面临着使我们的道德习惯与时代合拍这一挑战。But at the same time

14、it was tempted, in America at least, to escape its responsibilities and retreat behind an air of naughty alcoholic sophistication and a pose of Bohemian immorality. 而与此同时，青年人。至少美国的青年人又表现出这样一种倾向：他们试图逃避自己的责任。沉溺于一种老于世故、以酒自娱的生活作风之中，装出一副波希米亚式的放荡不羁的样子。The faddishness , the wild spending of money on transi

15、tory pleasures and momentary novelties , the hectic air of gaiety, the experimentation in sensation - sex, drugs, alcohol, perversions - were all part of the pattern of escape, an escape made possible by a general prosperity and a post-war fatigue with politics, economic restrictions, and internatio

16、nal responsibilities. 追求时尚，为了短暂的快乐和一时的新奇而大肆挥霍，纵情地狂欢，寻求各种各样的感官刺激性行为，吸毒，酗酒以及各种各样的堕落行为这些都是他们逃避责任的表现形式，是一种由社会的普遍繁荣及战后人们对于政治、经济限制和国际义务所产生的厌烦情绪所造成的逃避方式。Prohibition afforded the young the additional opportunity of making their pleasures illicit , 禁酒法令使青年人有了更多的机会寻求违禁取乐的刺激。and the much-publicized orgies and

17、defiant manifestoes of the intellectuals crowding into Greenwich Village gave them a pattern and a philosophic defense for their escapism. 文人墨客纷纷涌人格林威治村，他们那些被大肆渲染的放纵行为和挑战性言论也为青年人的逃避主义提供了一种表现形式和一套哲学辩护辞。And like most escapist sprees, this one lasted until the money ran out, until the crash of the worl

18、d economic structure at the end of the decade called the party to a halt and forced the revelers to sober up and face the problems of the new age.这种逃避主义者的纵情狂欢，像大多数逃避主义者的纵情狂欢一样，一直要持续到狂欢者囊空如洗为止。到二十年代末世界经济结构总崩溃之时，这种狂欢宴会便告停歇，那些寻欢作乐者也只得从酣醉中清醒过来，去面对新时代的各种难题了。5 The rebellion started with World War I. 青年人的叛

19、逆行为是随着第一次世界大战而开始的。The prolonged stalemate of 1915 - 1916, the increasing insolence of Germany toward the United States, 19151916年间那旷日持久的僵持局面。德国对美国所表现出的越来越傲慢无礼的态度，and our official reluctance to declare our status as a belligerent were intolerable to many of our idealistic citizens, 以及我国政府迟迟不愿宣布参战的作法，

20、都使我们理想主义的公民觉得无法忍受。and with typical American adventurousness enhanced somewhat by the strenuous jingoism of Theodore Roosevelt, our young men began to enlist under foreign flags. 我们的青年，本身已怀着典型的美国式冒险精神，又多少受到西奥多罗斯福的狂热沙文主义思想的怂恿，于是便开始在外国旗帜下入伍参战。In the words of Joe Williams, in John Dos Passos U. S. A., t

21、hey wanted to get into the fun before the whole thing turned belly up.用约翰多斯帕索斯的美利坚合众国中的人物乔威廉斯的话说，他们“是想趁着战争还没结束就参加到这场游戏中去”。 For military service, in 1916- 1917, was still a romantic occupation. 因为在19161917年间，入伍当兵还是一种富于浪漫色彩的职业。The young men of college age in 1917 knew nothing of modern warfare. 在1917年

22、正处于上大学年龄的年轻人对于现代战争还一无所知。The strife of 1861 -1865 had popularly become, in motion picture and story, a magnolia-scented soap opera, 18611865年间的那场战争早已通俗地在电影和小说中成了一部散发出木兰花香的连续剧。while the one hundred-days fracas with Spain in 1898 had dissolved into a one-sided victory at Manila and a cinematic charge u

23、p San Juan Hill.而1898年同西班牙之间的百日战争在影剧故事中总是被描写成美军在马尼拉大获全胜或是冲上圣胡安山顶的电影镜头式场面。 Furthermore, there were enough high school assembly orators proclaiming the character-forming force of the strenuous life to convince more than enough otherwise sensible boys that service in the European conflict would be of g

24、reat personal value, in addition to being idealistic and exciting. .此外，更有许多演说家们在中学生集会上大肆渲染战场上的紧张生活在培养性格方面的力量，使得那些本来还算有头脑的年轻小伙子们都信以为真，以为到欧洲战场上去服役不仅是一件令人兴奋的理想化的美事，而且具有巨大的人生价值。Accordingly, they began to join the various armies in increasing numbers, the intellectuals in the ambulance corps, others in t

25、he infantry, merchant marine, or wherever else they could find a place. 因此，越来越多的年轻人便开始加入各兵种，“知识分子型的人”加入救护兵团其余的人则分别加入步兵部队、商船队或到其他任何有其用武之地的单位去服役。Those who were reluctant to serve in a foreign army talked excitedly about Preparedness, occasionally considered joining the National Guard, and rushed to en

26、list when we finally did enter the conflict. 那些不愿到外国军队里去服役的人则慷慨陈辞，表示自己随时“待命出征”；间或也有考虑参加国民自卫队的，待到我国最终决定参战时他们便踊跃地报名参军。So tremendous was the storming of recruitment centers that harassed sergeants actually pleaded with volunteers to go home and wait for the draft, but since no self-respecting person wa

27、nted to suffer the disgrace of being drafted, the enlistment craze continued unabated各征兵站的报名者都是人如潮涌，弄得主管征兵事务的军曹们焦头烂额，实在无法应付，以至于恳求志愿报名者“且先归家，静待征召”然而，有自尊心的人谁也不愿蒙受“被征召入伍”的耻辱，因此，青年人的参军热潮持久不衰。6 Naturally, the spirit of carnival and the enthusiasm for high military adventure were soon dissipated once the

28、eager young men had received a good taste of twentieth- century warfare. 旦这些满腔热血的年轻人饱尝了二十世纪战争的滋味以后，那种纵情狂欢的兴致和要从事轰轰烈烈的军事冒险的热情自然很快就烟消云散了。To their lasting glory, they fought with distinction, but it was a much altered group of soldiers who returned from the battlefields in 1919. 他们可以永远感到光荣，因为他们在战场上表现得很

29、出色，但是1919年从战场上回来的却是一批已经发生了很大变化的士兵。Especially was this true of the college contingent, whose idealism had led them to enlist early and who had generally seen a considerable amount of action. 大学兵团的士兵们更是如此。他们在理想主义的感召下很早就到军中服役，可渭是屡经沙场。To them, it was bitter to return to a home town virtually untouched b

30、y the conflict, where citizens still talked with the naive Fourth-of-duly bombast they themselves had been guilty of two or three years earlier. 对他们来说，回到几乎没有受到战争的任何影响的故乡是一件痛苦的事，因为在那里，人们仍在像庆祝独立日时那样天真地大唱爱国的高调，而这是他们自己两三年前也曾犯过的错误。It was even more bitter to find that their old jobs had been taken by the

31、stay-at-homes, that business was suffering a recession that prevented the opening up of new jobs, and that veterans were considered problem children and less desirable than non-veterans for whatever business opportunities that did exist. 而当时又正值经济萧条时期，新的工作无法找到，现有的工作机会本就为数不多，而且人们又宁愿聘用非退伍军人，而把退伍军人看作难对付

32、的孩子，不愿聘用。Their very homes were often uncomfortable to them; they had outgrown town and families and had developed a sudden bewildering world-weariness which neither they nor their relatives could understand. 就连他们自己的家对他们来说也常常是不舒服的；他们再也不能适应家乡和家庭了，并且萌生出一种突如其来的、迷惘的厌世之感。这种感觉不论是他们自己还是他们的亲友都不能理解。Their ener

33、gies had been whipped up and their naivete destroyed by the war 战争激起了他们的劲头，打掉了他们的天真幼稚and now, in sleepy Gopher Prairies all over the country, they were being asked to curb those energies and resume the pose of self-deceiving Victorian innocence that they now felt to be as outmoded as the notion that

34、 their fighting had made the world safe for democracy.而现在，在遍布全国的沉睡的、落后的地方，到处都要求他们抑制他们的劲头，并恢复那种自欺欺人的、维多利亚式的天真无邪的态度。 但是他们现在觉得这种态度同那种说什么他们的战斗已“使民主在这个世界有了保障”的论调一样，都是陈旧过时的。And, as if home town conditions were not enough, 再者，似乎家乡的情况还不够受的the returning veteran also had to face the sodden, Napoleonic cynicis

35、m of Versailles, 退伍军人还得面对凡尔赛和约那种愚蠢的、拿破仑式的犬儒主义、the hypocritical do-goodism of Prohibition, 禁酒法令那种虚伪的行善主义，and the smug patriotism of the war profiteers. ，以及那些发了战争财的人们的洋洋自得的爱国主义。Something in the tension-ridden youth of America had to give and, after a short period of bitter resentment, it gave in the f

36、orm of a complete overthrow of genteel standards of behavior.那些气鼓鼓的美国青年的不满迟早要爆发出来。在经过一段短暂的强烈的怨忿之后，它终于以一种彻底推翻温文尔雅的行为规范的形式而爆发出来了。7 Greenwich Village set the pattern. Since the Seven-ties a dwelling place for artists and writers who settled there because living was cheap, the village had long enjoyed a

37、 dubious reputation for Bohemianism and eccentricity. 格林威治村为他们树立了榜样。自七十年代因其生活消费低廉而成为艺术家和作家聚居地以来，格林威治村在很长时间里一直享有波希米亚式生活和怪僻行为的说不清是好还是坏的名声。It had also harbored enough major writers, especially in the decade before World War I, to support its claim to being the intellectual center of the nation. 过去，尤其是在

38、第一次世界大战之前的十年中，这地方还曾栖居过许多大作家，因而使它成了名副其实的全美国文人雅士中心。After the war, it was only natural that hopeful young writers, their minds and pens inflamed against war, Babbittry, and Puritanical gentility, should flock to the traditional artistic center (where living was still cheap in 1919) to pour out their ne

39、w-found creative strength, to tear down the old world, to flout the morality of their grandfathers, and to give all to art, love, and sensation.战后，那些脑子里和笔杆子里都充满着对战争、市侩气和“清教徒式的”道德修养的仇恨的怒火的年轻有为的作家们便自然而然地云集到这个传统的艺术中心(那儿的生活消费在1919年仍很低廉)，去倾泻他们那新近获得的创造力，去摧毁旧世界，嘲弄前辈们所信守的道德规范，把自己的一切献给艺术、爱情和感官享受。 8 Soon they

40、 found their imitators among the non-intellectuals. 很快，知识分子阶层以外的人便也开始仿效他们了。As it became more and more fashionable throughout the country for young persons to defy the law and the conventions and to add their own little matchsticks to the conflagration of flaming youth, it was Greenwich Village that

41、fanned the flames. 在全国各地，青年人蔑视法律和一切传统习惯，为“燃烧着的青年”的大火添柴加油越来越成为时髦之举，而煽起这场大火的正是格林威治村。Bohemian living became a fad. Each town had its fast set which prided itself on its unconventionality ,“波希米亚”生活方式已成为人们追求的时尚，每个城镇都有一群“生活放荡者”，他们为自己的反传统行为感到自豪。 although in reality this self-conscious unconventionality was

42、 rapidly becoming a standard feature of the country club class - and its less affluent imitators -throughout the nation. 可实际上，这种有意识的反传统行为正迅速在全国范围内成为乡村俱乐部的富人们以及一些不那么富有的效仿者所共有的一个基本特征。Before long the movement had be-come officially recognized by the pulpit (which denounced it), by the movies and magazi

43、nes (which made it attractively naughty while pretending to denounce it), and by advertising (which obliquely encouraged it by selling everything from cigarettes to automobiles with the implied promise that their owners would be rendered sexually irresistible). 没过多久，这场运动便得到了教会、电影杂志以及广告商们的正式承认：教会方面是通

44、过谴责的方式对它予以承认；电影杂志则是一方面假意对它进行谴责，一方面又将它描写得放荡胡闹而又引人人胜；广告商们更是间接地对这场运动起了推波助澜的作用，因为他们不论是推销香烟还是推销汽车一类的商品时都在暗示说，这种商品将使买主具有不可抗拒的性感。Younger brothers and sisters of the war generation, who had been playing with marbles and dolls during the battles of Belleau Wood and Chateau-Thierry, and who had suffered no re

45、al disillusionment or sense of loss, now began to imitate the manners of their elders and play with the toys of vulgar rebellion. 在贝洛森林战役和蒂耶里堡战役正在进行之时，参战青年的小弟弟小妹妹们还在家里玩着弹子游戏和洋娃娃，他们并没有体验到真正的幻想破灭或失落感，可现在竞也学起兄长们的样子，玩起群众性的反传统游戏来了。Their parents were shocked, but before long they found themselves and thei

46、r friends adopting the new gaiety. By the middle of the decade, the wild party had become as commonplace a factor in American life as the flapper, the Model T, or the Dutch Colonial home in Floral Heights.他们的父母先是大吃一惊，继而便发现自己以及自己的朋友们也都正在接受这种时兴的快乐的生活方式了。及至二十年代中期，这种“放荡的狂欢会”便像摩登少女、T型汽车或弗拉洛花园的荷兰式房屋一样，成为美

47、国生活中司空见惯的事物了。9 Meanwhile, the true intellectuals were far from flattered. 其时，真正的知识分子对此现象远远谈不上满意。What they had wanted was an America more sensitive to art and culture, less avid for material gain, and less susceptible to standardization.他们原本所希望的是使美国成为一个对艺术和文化更为敏感，对物质利益不那么贪求，对标准化观念不那么轻易接受的国家。 Instead,

48、 their ideas had been generally ignored, while their behavior had contributed to that standardization by furnishing a pattern of Bohemianism that had become as conventionalized as a Rotary luncheon. 然而，他们的这种思想完全没有受到人们注意，而他们的行为却由于提供了一种已变得如同“扶轮国际午餐会”一样常规化的“波希米亚式”的生活模式，反倒助长了这种标准化观念。As a result, their d

49、issatisfaction with their native country, already acute upon their return from the war, now became even more intolerable. 结果，他们从战场上归来时本已十分强烈地对自己国家不满的情绪，现在就变得更加忍无可忍了。Flaming diatribes poured from their pens denouncing the materialism and what they considered to be the cultural boobery of our society. 于是，他们的笔尖下便喷射出愤怒的火花，猛烈抨击着美国社会中的唯物质主义以及他们所称的文化市侩习气。An important book rather grandiosely entitled Civilization in the United States, written by thirty intellectuals under the ed