The Three New Yorks三個(gè)紐約

By Elwin Brooks White

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulences as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter—the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.

大致說(shuō)來(lái)有三個(gè)紐約。首先是那些土生土長(zhǎng)的男男女女的紐約，他們對(duì)這座城市習(xí)以為常，認(rèn)為它有這樣的規(guī)模和喧囂，乃是自然而然、不可避免的。其次是家住郊區(qū)、乘公交車到市內(nèi)上班的人們的紐約--這座城市每到白天就被如蝗的人群吞噬進(jìn)去，每到晚上又給吐出來(lái)。第三是外來(lái)人的紐約，他們生于他鄉(xiāng)，到紐約來(lái)尋求機(jī)緣。

Of these three trembling cities the greatest is the last—the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is this third city that accounts for New York’s high-strung disposition, its poetic deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements.

在這三座充滿騷動(dòng)的城市中，最了不起的是最后一座--那座被視為最終歸宿的城市，視為追尋目標(biāo)的城市。正是由于這第三座城市，紐約才有了緊張的秉性、詩(shī)人的氣質(zhì)、對(duì)藝術(shù)的執(zhí)著追求、無(wú)與倫比的成就。