A Marriage of Two 两人的婚姻——原声版2010年12月号美文2010-12-7A Marriage of Two 两人的婚姻A marriage of twois for love that is trueA marriage of twois always something newA marriage of twohappens sometimes out of the blueA marriage of twois worth it when its dueA marriage of twois a marriage of trustMany can find themselves lostIt can be an expensive costThey are only very fewwho 1)have a clueof when love 2)accruesA marriage of twois about love makingIt is not aboutmoney rakingA marriage of twocan be badA marriage of twocan be sadYou should only be glad if A marriage of twois for love that is true两人的婚姻有爱源于心两人的婚姻历久亦常新两人的婚姻偶有意外生两人的婚姻相宜就值得两人的婚姻信任相缔连迷途不罕见失足代价高唯独有情人知晓何处爱渐增两人的婚姻是情相互倚而非财富攀比两人的婚姻或许很糟糕两人的婚姻或许成哀号君当感欣慰两人的婚姻有爱源于心Chapter 35 The Mediaeval City (Excerpt)第35章中世纪的城市如今，总有人以保护传统、保护环境的名义，痛斥社会进步。

要知道，这可不是什么新鲜事，在近百年前，这种现象就出现了。

我们来看看作者如何评说这种现象。

The early part of the Middle Ages had been an era of pioneering and of settlement. A new people, who thus far had lived outside the wild rangeof forest, mountains and 1)marshes which protected the north-eastern frontier of the Roman Empire, had forced its way into the plains of Western Europe and had taken possession of most of the land. They were 2)restless, as all pioneers have been since the beginning of time. They liked to be “on the go.” They cut down the forests and they cut each other’s throats with equal energy. Few of them wanted to live in cities. They insisted upon being “free,” they loved to feel the fresh air of the hillsides fill their lungs while they drove their herds across thewind-swept pastures. When they no longer liked their old homes, they pulled up stakes and went away in search of fresh adventures.The weaker ones died. The hardy fighters and the courageous women who had followed their men into the wilderness survived. In this way they developed a strong race of men. They cared little for the graces of life. They were too busy to play the fiddle or write pieces of poetry. They had little love for discussions. The priest, “the learned man” of the village (and before the middle of the thirteenth century, a layman who could read and write was regarded as a “sissy”) was supposed to settle all questions which had no direct practical value. They managed the affairs of their castle and the surrounding country to the best of their ability.It was not an ideal world in which they found themselves. The greater part of the people were serfs or “villains,” farm-hands who were as mucha part of the soil upon which they lived as the cows and sheep whose3)stables they shared. Their fate was not particularly happy nor was it particularly unhappy. But what was one to do?When you grow up you will discover that many people do not believe in “progress” and they will prove to yo u by the terrible deeds of some of our own 4)contemporaries that “the world does not change.” But I hope that you will not pay much attention to such talk. You see, it took our ancestors almost a million years to learn how to walk on their 5)hind legs.Other centuries had to go by before their animal-like 6)grunts developed into an understandable language. Writing—the art of preserving our ideas for the benefit of future generations, without which no progress is possible was invented only four thousand years ago. The idea of turning the forces of nature into the obedient servants of man was quite new in the days of your own grandfather. It seems to me, therefore, that we are making progress at an unheard-of rate of speed. Perhaps we have paid a little too much attention to the mere physical comforts of life. That will change 7)in due course of time and we shall then attack the problems which are not related to health and to wages and plumbing and machinery in general.But please do not be too sentimental abou t the “good old days.” Many people who only see the beautiful churches and the great works of art which the Middle Ages have left behind grow quite 8)eloquent when they compare our own ugly civilization with its hurry and its noise and the evil smells of backfiring motor trucks with the cities of a thousand years ago. But these mediaeval churches were invariably surrounded by miserable 9)hovels compared to which a modern 10)tenement house stands forth as a luxurious palace. It is true that the noble Lancelot and the equally noble Parsifal, the pure young hero who went in search of the Holy Grail, were not bothered by the odor of gasoline. But there were other smells of thebarnyard variety—odors of decaying refuse which had been thrown into the street—of 11)pigsties surrounding the Bishop’s palace—of unwashed people who had inherited their coats and hats from their grandfathers and who had never learned the blessing of soap. I do not want to paint too unpleasant a picture. But when you read in the ancient chronicles that the King of France, looking out of the windows of his palace, fainted at the 12)stench caused by the pigs 13)rooting in the streets of Paris, when an ancient manuscript recounts a few details of an epidemic of the 14)plague or of small-pox, th en you begin to understand that “progress” is something more than a catchword used by modern advertising men.中世纪初期是一个拓荒与定居的时代。