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人们往往把快乐当作欲望的满足，把文明当作欲望的压制。依照这个逻辑，作为文明标记的品性的培育天然与快乐无关。但在蒙塔格（1867—1928）看来，快乐是人感悟自然万物之“性格”的能力，因而也是培养“知识、智慧和高尚情操”的不二法门。
英文正文
Among the mind's powers is one that comes of itself to many children and artists.It needs not be lost,to the end of his days,by any one who has ever had it.This is the power of taking delight in athing,or rather in anything,everything,not as ameans to some other end,but just because it is what it is,as the lover dotes on whatever may be the traits of the beloved object.A child in the full health of his mind will put his hand flat on the summer turf,feel it,and give alittle shiver of private glee at the elastic firmness of the globe.He is not thinking how well it will do for some game or to feed sheep upon.That would be the way of the wooer whose mind runs on his mistress'money.The child's is sheer affection,the true ecstatic sense of the thing's inherent characteristics.No matter what the things may be,no matter what they are good or no good for,there they are,each with athrilling unique look and feel of its own,like aface;the iron astringently cool under its paint,the painted wood familiarly warmer,the clod crumbling enchantingly down in the hands,with its little dry smell of the sun and of hot nettles;each common thing apersonality marked by delicious differences.
The joy of an Adam new to the garden and just looking round is brought by the normal child to the things that he does as well as those that he sees.To be suffered to do some plain work with the real spade used by mankind can give him amystical exaltation:to come home with his legs,as the French say,reentering his body from the fatigue of helping the gardener to weed beds sends him to sleep in the glow of abeatitude that is an end in itself...
The right education,if we could find it,would work up this creative faculty of delight into all its branching possibilities of knowledge,wisdom,and nobility.Of all three it is the beginning,condition,or raw material.
中文译文
感知快乐的天赋
查尔斯·爱德华·蒙塔格
在人的心理能力中，有一种是很多孩子和艺术家自然就有的。不论是谁，一旦有了这种能力，直到他生命的最后一天也不一定会丢失。这就是从某一事物或任一事物，都能感受到快乐的能力，不是为了某一目的，只是因为它就是这样，这好比一个人喜爱一样东西，不论它有什么特征他都喜爱。一个心理健全的孩子会把他的手掌平放在夏天的草皮上，抚摩它，在他感觉到具有弹性又很坚实的地球表面时，他心里便产生一种快乐的冲动。他倒没有考虑这草地对人们玩游戏或用来喂羊会有多大好处。如果是这样，那就是一心只图钱财的那种求婚者的行径了。孩子的爱好是真纯的，是对那件事物内在特征的真正的兴奋之感。不管这些事物是什么，也不管它们有用或无用，它们却一一具在，各有各的动人的特殊神情与味道，宛如一张面孔那样；油漆下面冰凉的钢铁，温暖可亲的着色木料，那在手中一搓就碎得那么迷人的土块，微微含着日晒与荨麻的干燥气味；每一样普通的东西都有它自己的“性格”，都有其不同的怡人特征。
初到伊甸园的亚当左右张望，充满喜悦，这正是一个正常的儿童在做什么或看什么时所感到一种神秘的喜悦。如果让他拿起人们使用的真正的铲子去做点普通的劳动，那他肯定感到一种神秘的喜悦。当他经过一番疲劳，帮助园丁把花园里的杂草除掉，两只脚像缩进身体里边似的走了回来（像法国人说的那样），他会在一片喜悦之光的照耀之下安然睡去——这本身就是他的目的……
正确的教育，如果我们能够发现它，可以调动这一带有创造性的快乐的天赋，使其纳入所有可能的各个方面——知识、智慧和高尚的情操。对于这三者，这种心理能力是开始，是条件，或是原始材料。
（刘士聪译）
词汇速记
dote v. 溺爱
turf n. 草皮
inherent adj. 固有的，内在的
astringently adv. 严格地，严厉地
clod n. 土块
exaltation n. 兴奋，得意
beatitude n. 美丽
美句欣赏
The child's is sheer affection,the true ecstatic sense of the thing's inherent characteristics.No matter what the things may be,no matter what they are good or no good for,there they are,each with athrilling unique look and feel of its own,like aface.只有孩童的赤子童心才能感受到万物的内在价值，在自然之中获得最大愉悦；这正是迷失在功利主义之中的成人所丧失的宝贵能力。正是在这个意义上，如华兹华斯所言，“孩童是成人的老师。”