He seemed a very plain honest man, and a person of good sense,had not his head been touched with that distemper which Hippocrates calls the Tulippomania;in so much that he would talk very rationally on any subject in the world but a tulip.
他看上去是位单纯老实的人,有较高的品位,头脑也很理智。除了郁金香,他可以理性地谈论世间的任何事物。
He
told
me,
that
he
valued
the
bed
of
flowers
which
lay
before
us,
and
was
not
above
twenty
yards
in
length
and
two
in
breadth,
more
than
he
would
the
best
hundred
acres
of
land
in
England,
and
added,
that
it
would
have
been
worth
twice
the
money
it
is,
if
a
foolish
cook,
maid
of
his
had
not
almost
ruined
him
in
the
last
winter,
by
mistaking
a
handful
of
tulip
roots
for
a
heap
of
onions,
and
by
that
means,
said
he,
made
me
a
dish
of
pottage
that
cost
me
above
thousand
pounds
sterling.
他告诉我,他特别珍惜我们面前的那个花坛。虽然那个花坛不足二十码长,宽也不足两码,但是即使有人用英国最肥沃的百亩良田来换,他也坚决不换。他又补充说,去年冬天,要不是他的一个愚蠢的厨娘误把一堆郁金香球茎当成洋葱做了汤,差点要了他的命,否则,这个花坛的价钱至少是现在的两倍。他说:厨娘做的那碗汤,花了我整整一千多英镑。
He then showed me what he thought the finest of his tulips, which I ound received all their value from their rarity,and odd ness, and put me in mind of our great fortunes,which are not always the greatest beauties.
随后他又给我看了他心目中最好的郁金香。我觉得那些郁金香珍贵的原因,主要是稀有,形态也非常奇异。
I
have
often
looked
upon
it
as
a
piece
of
happiness,
that
I
have
never
fallen
into
any
of
these
fantastical
tastes,
nor
esteemed
anything
the
more
for
its
being
the
uncommon
and
hard
to
be
met
with.
我认为这是一件高兴的事。因此,我把春日的乡野看做是一座花园,时常去看看雏菊,看看紫罗兰,就像花匠照看自己的花坛一样。周围绽放的每一朵花儿,都是那么的熟悉,我不会错过一朵水仙、一簇迎春,即使它们的凋谢我也都知道。
For
this
reason
I
look
upon
the
whole
country
in
springtime
as
a
spacious
garden,
and
make
as
many
visits
to
a
spot
of
daisies
or
a
bank
of
violets,
as
a
florist
does
to
his
borders
or
parterres.
由此我想到,不论我们有多少财富,都没有什么可珍贵的。
There
is
not
a
bush
in
blossom
within
a
mile
of
me,
which
I
am
not
acquainted
with,
nor
scarce
a
daffodil
of
cowslip
that
withers
away
in
my
neighborhood
without
my
missing
it,
I
walked
home
in
this
temper
of
mind
through
several
fields
and
meadows
with
hand
unspeakable
pleasure,
not
without
reflecting
on
the
bounty
of
Providence
which
has
made
the
most
pleasing
and
most
beautiful
objects
the
most
ordinary
and
most
common.
我从来没有捕风捉影的嗜好,不会因为某样东西不同寻常、很稀有,便用不同的眼光看待它。带着这种心情,我穿过几处农田,几片草地,向家走去。我想,这是普罗维登斯的赏赐,他把那些最令人高兴的、最美丽的事物变得那么平凡,那么简单。
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