A Treatise on Good Manners and Good Breeding

By Jonathan Swift

论礼貌与教养（下）

乔纳森 斯威夫特

Therefore, I insist that good sense is the principal foundation of good manners; but because the former is a gift which very few among mankind are possessed of, therefore all the civilized nations of the world have agreed upon fixing some rules for common behavoiur, best suited to their genernal customs, or fancies, as a kind of artificial good sense, to supply the defects of reson. Without which the gentlemanly part of duces would be perpetually at cuffs, as they seldom fail when they happen to be drunk,or engaged in squabbles about women or play. And, God be thanked, there hardly happens a duel in a year, which may not be imputed to one of those three motives.Upon which accout, I should be exceedigly sorry to find the legislature make any new laws against the practice of dueling; because the methods are easy and many for a wise man to avoid a quarrel with honour, or engage in it with innocence.And I can discover no political evil in suffering bullies, sharpers, and rakes, to rid the world of each other by a method of their own; where the law hath not been able to find an expedient.

因此我坚持认为理性是礼貌所需的最重要的基础。但是由于人类之中很少有人具备理性这种天赋才能，所以世界上所有的文明国度都同意制定最能适合他们风俗或想象的规范行为举止的规章制度，作为一种人为的理性以弥补理智的缺乏。没有这种人为的理性，愚蠢的人之中举止尚属文雅的那部分人便会无休止的挥拳相向，他们在喝的酩酊大醉时，或者在大声讨论女人和玩乐时总是这样的。并且谢天谢地，每年之中发生的决斗几乎无一不可归咎于上述三个原因中的一个。由于这一缘故，我将对立法机构制定任何旨在禁止决斗行为的新法律深表遗憾；因为明智的人可以有许多简捷的办法避免体面的决斗或无知的搏杀。并且在法律尚无有效对策的地方，容忍恃强凌弱，诈骗者和浪荡子自己采取的方法来相互铲除，以求清理世界---我看不出这样做有什么政治祸害。

As the common forms of good manners were intended for regulating the conduct of those who have weak understandings ; so they have been corruped by the persons for whose use they were contrived. For thers people have fallen into a needless and endless way of multiplying ceremonies, which have been extremely troublesome to those who practise them, and insupportable to everybody else: insomuch that wise man are often more uneasy at the over civility of these refiners, than they could possibly be in the conversations of peasants or mechanics.

制定良好行为的规范形式，是为了指导调整只是肤浅的人的举止，然而这些规范形式又恰恰为这些规范形式的制定对象所破坏。因为这些人已习惯于无必要和无休止的增加种种繁文缛节，这些繁文缛节使遵守执行的人无所适从，使所有别的人不敢赞同。现在情况已经到了这样的地步，明智的人对这些谨小慎微的人的过分客套感到局促不安，倒不如与农夫商贩的交谈更为轻松自如。

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