第109期:鄉村和城市你選那一個

今天我們分享的是一篇英語美文——Living In Big Cities。

Why are so many people so anxious to get away from the small town or village where they brought up, and to make for the big cities? They usually describe their hometown as "boring" or "dead", or the harshest criticism of all as "provincial".
If we examine the question from a distance, as if we were viewing the whole country from a long way off, we start to get a clue about what it is that lures us into the big cities.
The main point to notice about big cities is that they are big: there are a lot of people, and there are a lot of things going on. If you.look down on a city, literally from a great distance, from an airplane at night, you will be struck by the incredible brightness of a city: there are so many lights that you cannot help feeling that all the bright things of life are down there waiting for you. But a feeling of disappointment will set in shortly after you land, because you will discover as you drive into the city center from the airport that the lights are just that: lights, miles and miles of street lights and neon signs. They are not in themselves sources of joy and happiness: city lights are not friendly, they are merely lights. In fact, the effect will probably be to make you feel lonely and isolated.
And yet the city lures us, because it is not provincial like the dead little town we have left behind us.“Provincial” is in fact our way of describing not the town but the attitude of the people. In our little town, we know (or think we know) everybody. And what we know about them is that they do not want to go anywhere, or to do anything outside to normal routine of their everyday lives. Unlike us, they have no sense of adventure, no longing for new experiences or new horizons.
So we look down on them, pity or despise them, pack our bags, and make for the big world which we know is out there, where the bright lights are. Then a curious thing happens. We find a job, make a small circle of friends and acquaintances, and move into some cramped accommodation. Gradually we get to know our section of the city, its shops and its people, and for a while, we begin to feel at home. It is small enough, our part of the city, for us not to feel lost or anonymous. We, in effect, create another little village for ourselves within the big city. The ultimate irony comes when we rent a television set so that we can stay in at night and watch exactly the same programs that our despised country cousins watch. Soon we too become “provincial”, and others who live round us will be glad to get up and leave us behind.

爲什麼那麼多人那麼急切地想離開自己從小長大的小城鎮或村莊，而奔向大都市呢？他們常稱自己的家鄉“枯燥乏味”，或者"死氣沉沉”，甚或最爲刺耳地評判爲“偏狹”。
假如我們從更高的層面來審視這個問題，就像我們遠距離地一覽整個國家一樣，我們就會對到底是什麼誘使我們到大城市來這個問題有一點線索了。大城市值得注意的主要一點就是 “大”：人口衆多，發生的亊情也多。假如你確實從一個很遠的距離——如夜晚航行的飛機上——俯視一座城市,你會被一座城市難以置信的明亮所打動:那麼多的燈光，以至於你會情不自禁地感覺五彩繽紛的生活正在那裏等着你。然而，一旦你乘坐的飛機着陸，一股失望之情便會油然而生，因爲當你驅車從機場駛向市中心的時候,你會發現那種光亮不過是綿延幾英里的路燈和霓虹燈招牌。它們本身並非快樂與幸福的源泉：城市之光並不友善，它們僅僅是燈光而已。亊實上，其燈光效果很可能還 會讓你感覺到孤獨與落寞。
然而，大城市依舊誘惑着我們，因爲它們不像我們背棄的那個死氣沉沉的小城鎮那樣偏狹。實際上，“偏狹”一詞是我們用來描述人們態度的方式而非城鎮本身。在我們的小城鎮，我們認識（或者我們以爲認識）那裏的每一個人。我們對他們的瞭解就是：他們不想到任何地方去，或者不想做任何與他們的日常生話相距甚遠的事情。不像我們，他們沒有冒險意識，沒有尋求新體驗或者新視野的渴望。
所以我們瞧不起他們,可憐或者鄙視他們。於是我們自己打點好行囊，來到這個我們知道確確實實存在着的、燈火通明的大千世界。隨後卻發生了令人感到不解的事情。我們找到了工作，結識了一小羣朋友與熟人，又搬進了擁擠的住房。漸漸地， 我們瞭解了城市的這一區域，它的商店和它的居民。有一段時間，我們幵始有了一種家的感覺。這塊地方很小，我們並不感到失落或被人遺忘。實際上，我們正是在一座大都市中營造了一個小村莊。當我們租來一臺電視機，我們就能夠在晚上待在家裏，與曾被我們藐視的鄉下親戚收看同一套節目，而這真是一個絕大的諷刺。不久，我們也變得“偏狹”了，居住在我們周圍的 人也會興沖沖地準備行裝而遠走他鄉。

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