王爾德毒舌的天才
不知道有多少人曾經像詞典君一樣被《快樂王子》這個打著童話名號的故事給虐慘了,它的作者,就是王爾德。
他是英國(準確來講是愛爾蘭,但當時由英國統(tǒng)治)19世紀最偉大的作家與藝術家之一;他是英國歷史上有名的同性戀,因此遭受過牢獄之災,并在20世紀末、21世紀初成為了同志群體的文化偶像。他傲嬌,毒舌,反雞湯,他是19世紀的“段子手”,犀利地吐槽著一切,拉得一把好仇恨。
軼聞
1881年,王爾德坐船橫跨大洋來到美利堅,進關的時候傲然地對海關官員翻了個白眼說:“我沒有什么可以申報的,除了我的才華。” (I have nothing to declare except my genius.)
當然這只是一段野史,王爾德到底是不是說過這句話如今已很難考證。但即便是偽造,這句話也完全符合王爾德的身份、性格和氣質,因為王爾德就是這么一個恃才傲物又舌燦蓮花的毒舌天才。
在他短短46年的傳奇人生里,王爾德留下了無數驚世駭俗又逼格甚高的妙句,其中不少是他作品中人物的話。
他嘲諷所有人
他嘲諷他的敵人:
Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.
永遠要寬恕你的敵人。沒有什么比這更能讓他們心煩的了。
他也嘲諷自己的朋友:
I don't want to go to heaven. None of my friends are there.
我不想去天堂,我的朋友都不在那里。
他嘲諷悲觀主義者:
Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.
借錢就要向悲觀主義者借,因為他們不會期待你還錢?!?/p>
他嘲諷好為人師的人:
The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.
對于建議,你所能做的,就是把它轉送給別人,建議從來就不是給自己準備的。
他嘲諷平庸的人,幾乎不給人留任何活路:
Hard work is simply the refuge of people who have nothing to do.
努力不過是無事可做的人的避難所。
Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.
只有無聊的人才會把早餐吃出花樣來。
Only the shallow know themselves.
只有淺薄的人才了解自己。
Bad artists always admire each other's work.
糟糕的畫家總是欣賞彼此的作品。
但是他同樣不喜歡優(yōu)秀的人:
An excellent man; he has no enemies; and none of his friends like him.
一個優(yōu)秀的人沒有敵人,但他的朋友也沒有一個喜歡他。
他嘲諷最多的,還是女人:
A man’s face is his autobiography. A woman’s face is her work of fiction.
男人的臉是自傳,女人的臉是小說 (這句話應該是諷刺女人化妝吧)。
Don't give a woman advice; one should never give a woman anything she can't wear in the evening.
不要給女人忠告;你不能給女人任何她晚上不能穿的東西。
Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood.
女人是用來被愛的,不是用來理解的。
If a woman can't make her mistakes charming, she is only a female.
如果一個女人不能把自己的錯誤變得迷人,那她就只是一個雌性動物。
One should never trust a woman who tells her real age. If she tells that, she'll tell anything.
一個人決不應該相信說出自己真實年齡的女人。如果她把這都說出來了,那她什么都會說。
Thirty five is a very attractive age; London society is full of women who have of their own free choice remained thirty-five for years.
三十五歲是一個非常有吸引力的年齡;倫敦社交圈內滿是這樣好多年一直保持三十五歲的女人,她們可以自由地挑來選去。
哦,他還喜歡自黑:
I can resist everything except temptation.
我可以抗拒一切,誘惑除外。
I was working on the proof of one of my poems all morning,and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put it back again.
我整個早上都在校對自己的一首詩,我去掉了一個逗號。下午我又把它加了上去。
I am so clever that sometimes I don’t understand a single word of what I’m saying.
我簡直太聰明了,有時連我自己都不能明白我說的話。
他嘲諷任何事
他吐槽時尚:
Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have toalter it every six months.
時尚總是丑得難以容忍,所以每隔六個月我們都只好改一次。
他什么都能吐槽…
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without
civilization in between.
美國是唯一一個直接從野蠻進入頹廢、中間沒有經過文明階段的社會。
Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after
eachother.
人生就是一件蠢事追著另一件蠢事而來,而愛情則是兩個蠢東西追來追去。
Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
民主就是指人民用人民的大頭棒打擊人民。
他有時也玩“欲抑先揚”的把戲:
Pleasedo not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best.
請別開槍打死那個鋼琴師,他已經盡力了。
Tell the cook of this restaurant with my compliments that these are the very worst sand wiches in the whole world, and that when I ask for a watercress sandwich I do not mean a loaf with a field in the middle of it.
請轉告我對這家飯店廚師的贊譽,這是全世界最糟糕的三明治了,還有,我點的是豆瓣菜三明治,我并不是要面包片中夾一塊菜田。
Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
教育是一件可敬的事,但要時刻牢記,沒有什么值得知道的事是教得會的。
現(xiàn)在段子手屢試不爽的梗,原來他才是鼻祖↓
When I was young, I used to think that money was the most important thing in life, now that I am old, I know it is.
我年輕時以為金錢是世界上最重要的東西,等到老了才知道,原來真的是這樣。
有時候他也會帶來正能量有時候,他會突然收起毒舌,說一些正能量甚至是略帶雞湯味的話。
All charming people, I fancy, are spoiled. It is the secret of their attraction.
我想所有迷人的人都是被寵愛著的,這是他們魅力來源的秘密。
Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.
每個圣人都有過去,每個罪人都有未來。
An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.
一個思想若稱不上危險,那么它就不值得被稱作思想。
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.我們都生活在陰溝里,但仍有人仰望星空。
最后,如果你看了這些妙語連珠,覺得自己可以背下來以備不時之需,老王同志早就備好了另外一句話送給你:
Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit。
引用,是智慧耐用的替代品。
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