这样的悼词和赞语，尽管他们在社会上也曾经出头露面，声闻遐迩。 【作者简介】
阿狄生 (1672—1719)是十八世纪初具代表性的英国随笔作家，与理查德?斯梯尔合办刊物《旁观者》。本文便节选该刊物。
Two Women
In externals, they were two unobtrusive women; a per-fectly secluded life gave them retiring manners and habits. In Emily's nature the extremes of vigor and simplicity seemed to meet. Under an unsophisticated culture, inartifical tastes, and an unpretending outside, lay a secrecy power and fire that might have inflamed the brain and kindled the veins of a hero; but she had no worldly wisdom: her powers were unaccepted to the practical business of life : she would fail to defend her most manifest rights, to consult her most legitimate advantage. An interpreter ought always to have stood between her and the world. Her will was not very flexible, and it generally opposed her interest. Her temper was magnanimous, but warm and sudden; her spirit altogether unbending.
Anne's character was milder and more subdued; she wanted the power, the fire ,the originality of her sister, but was well endowed with quite virtues of her own. Long suffering, self-denying, reflective, and intelligent, a constitutional reserve and taciturnity placed and kept her in the shade, and covered her mind, and especially her feelings, with a sort of nun-like evil, which was rarely lifted. Neither Emily nor Anne was learned; they had no thought of filling their pitchers at the well-spring of other minds; they always wrote form the impulse of nature, the dictates of intuition, and from such stores of observation as their limited experience had enabled them to amass. I may sum up all by saying, that for strangers they were nothing, for superficial observers less than nothing; but for those who had known them all their lives in the intimacy of close relationship, they were genuinely good and truly great. 【注释】
unobtrusive不引人注目 secluded与世隔绝的;隐退的
she had no worldly wisdom:她不知世故为何物 her most manifest rights:她自己最明显的权利。
magnanimous宽大的;有雅量的 warm and sudden:热情而激烈 subdued被制服的;顺从的 constitutional reserve:热情而激烈 taciturnity沉默寡言;缄默 intuition直观(能力),直觉
两个女人 夏洛蒂?勃朗特
从表面看，她们是两个毫不引人注目的姑娘，久处穷乡僻壤使她们养成了腼腆的态度和缄默的习惯。在艾米莉身上，刚强的魄力与质朴的性格似乎汇合在一起了。在她那天真无邪的情性、质朴无华的爱好与坦白率真的态度之下，隐藏着一股魄力，一团烈火——那是足以激励着英雄头脑、点燃起英雄的热血的。然而，对于处世之道她却一
无所知，她的聪明才智在生活的实际事务上毫无用处——她不懂得怎样保护自己最明显的权利，也不知道如何去考虑她最合法的利益。在她和社会之间，经常需要有那么一个解说人员。她的决心是不容易改变的，而这决心又往往违背着她自己的利益。她的脾气既宽宏大量，又热情激烈。她的性格是宁折不弯的。
安恩的性格却是温和而柔顺。她缺乏她姐姐的那种气魄、热情和独创性，然而她自有她自己那种文静的美德。她聪明，然而总是忍耐、克制、冥思苦想。气质上的含蓄内倾，沉默寡言，总是把她摆到一个不引人注意的地位；她的思想,尤其是她的感情，似乎被一幅修女的面纱遮盖着——这面纱很少揭开。不论艾米莉或安恩都不是博学之士——她们无意到别人的思想源泉那里充实自己的思想。她们写作，总是根据自己内心的冲动，根据自己感受的指使，根据自己那有限经验所容许她们贮存的观察所得。概括一句，我可以这么说：对于陌生者，她们是微不足道的人；对于浅薄的人，也许不值一顾；然而，对于那些了解她们生平的亲人来说，她们是真正优秀的人，也是真正伟大的人。 【作者简介】
夏洛蒂?勃朗特（1816-1855），十九世纪英国作家，其名著有《简?爱》。本文节选自回忆录《艾里斯?贝尔与阿克顿?贝尔生平纪》。
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