马克吐温傻子出国记innocentabroad

1、Mark Twai n: An America ns View of Europe from Innocents Abroad (1869)Throughout its early history America ns suffered from ambivale nt feeli ngs about Europe. As settlers in the New World, they claimed to have beg un civilization afresh on a fairer footing than the corrupt culture of old Europe, an

2、d ofte n took some pleasure in boasti ng about the superior attracti ons of their n ative land. However, they also had to ack no wledge that the United States lacked the long historical traditions and great artistic achieveme nts of a country like Fran ce. Having foun ded their nation on a rejection

3、 of monarchy they were often fascinated by the actual monarchs they encountered. As many writers such as Henry James and Edith Whart on were to do later, Mark Twain was fasc in ated by the sple ndors and wretched ness he encoun tered on this first trip to Europe, where he had been sent by a newspape

4、r to report on a grand tour mostly populated with pious travelers whose mai n in terest was in the cul min at ing explorati on of sacred sites in Palestine.Twain wasself-consciouslya rowdy westernerand a scoffer, but he was also a Victorian in his attitudes toward sex, which reveals itself in his ac

5、count of the popular French can-can. He appreciated little of the art he saw, and manyof the pictures in the Louvre offen ded his democratic in sti nets. Although there are many lavish portraits of n obles in that museum, he may have bee n react ing eve n more to the numerous pictures which depict t

6、itled lords and ladies familiarly pos ing with Mary and the infant Jesus .What is his react ion whe n he encoun ters a real-life mon arch in the Bois de Boulog ne? What con trast in attitudes toward history does he suggest betwee n the U.S. and Europe in the final paragraph?The dance had beg un, and

7、 we adjo urned to the temple (1) . With in it was a drinkin g-salo on; and all around it was a broad circular platform for the dancers. I backed up against the wall of the temple, and waited. Twenty sets formed, the music struck up, and the n-l placed my hands before my face for very shame. But I lo

8、oked through my fin gers. They were dancing the renowned Can-can. A handsomegirl in the set before metripped forward lightly to meet the opposite gentleman-tripped back again, grasped her dresses vigorously on both sides with her han ds, raised them pretty high, danced an extraordinary jig that had

9、more activity and exposure about it than any jig I ever saw before, and then, drawing her clothes still higher, she adva need gaily to the cen ter and laun ched a vicious kick full at her vis a vis (2) that must infallibly have removed his nose if he had been seve n feet high. It was a mercy he was

10、only six.That is the Can-can. The idea of it is to dance as wildly, as no isily, as furiously as you can; expose yourself as much as possible if you are a woma n; and kick as high as you can, no matter which sex you bel ong to. There is no word of exaggeration in this. Any of the staid, respectable,

11、 aged people who were there that ni ght can testify to the truth of that stateme nt. There were a good many such people prese nt. I suppose French morality is not of that strait-laced description which is shocked at trifles.I moved aside and took a general view of the Can-can. Shouts, laughter, furi

12、ous music, a bewilderi ng chaos of dart ing and in term in gli ng forms, stormy jerking and snatching of gay dresses, bobbing heads, flying arms, light ning flashes of white-stock in ged calves and dainty slippers in the air, and then a grand final rush, riot, a terrific hubbub, and a wild stampede!

13、 Heave ns! Nothi ng like it has bee n see n on earth since trembli ng Tam OShanter saw the devil and the witches at their orgies that stormy ni ght in Alloways auld haun ted kirk (3)We visited the Louvre . . . and looked at its miles of paintings by the old masters. Someof them were beautiful, but a

14、t the sametime they carried such evide nces about them of the cringing spirit of those great men that we found small pleasure in examining them. Their nauseous adulation of prin cely patro ns was more prominent to me and cha ined my atte nti on more surely tha n the charms of color and expressi on w

15、hich are claimed to be in the pictures. Gratitude for kindnesses is well, but it seemsto methat some of those artists carried it so far that it ceased to be gratitude, and becameworship. If there is a plausible excuse for the worship of men, then by all means let us forgive Rube ns and his brethre n

16、.But I will drop the subject, lest I say someth ing about the old masters that might as well be left un said.Of course we drove in the Bois de Boulogne, that limitless park, with its forests, its lakes, its cascades, and its broad avenues. There were thousa nds upon thousa nds of vehicles abroad, an

17、d the sce ne was full of life and gaiety. There were very commorhacks (4) , with father and mother and all the children in them; conspicuous little open carriages with celebrated ladies of questi on able reputati on in them; there were Dukes and Duchesses abroad, with gorgeous footme n perched beh i

18、nd, and equally gorgeous outriders perched behind, and equally gorgeous outriders perched on each o? the six horses; there were blue and silver, and green and gold, and pink and black, and all sorts and descripti ons of stunning and startli ng liveries out,and I almost year ned to be a flun key myse

19、lf, forthe sake of the fine clothes.But presently the Emperor (5) came along and he outshone them all. He was preceded by a body-guard of gen tleme n on horseback in showy uni forms, his carriage-horses (there appeared to be somewhere in the remote n eighborhood of a thousa nd of them) were bestridd

20、e n by galla nt-look ing fellows, also in stylish uni forms, and after the carriage followed ano ther detachment of body-guards. Everybody got out of the way; everybody bowed to the Emperor and his friend the Sulta n, and they went by on a swinging trot and disappeared.I will not describe the Bois d

21、e Boulog ne. I cannot do it. It is simply a beautiful, cultivated, en dless, won derful wilder ness. It is an enchanting place. It is in Paris, now, one may say, but a crumbling old cross in one portion of it reminds one that it was not always so. The cross marks the spot where a celebrated troubado

22、ur was waylaid and murdered in the fourtee nth cen tury (6). It was in this park that thatfellow with anunpronoun ceable n ame made the attempt upon the Russia n Czars life last spri ng with a pistol (7). The bullet struck a tree.Fergus on (8) showedus the place. Now in America that in terest ing tree would be chopped dow n or forgotten within the next five years, but it will be treasured here.The guides will point it out to visitors for