COLORFUL,COLORED AND COLORLESS WORDS

生动的、有感情色彩的和无感情色彩的词汇

By Paul Roberts

作者：保罗. 罗伯茨

The writer builds with words, and no builder uses a raw material more slippery and elusive and treacherous.

写作者用词汇来创造，没有一个建造者使用的原材料比词汇更加模糊不定、难以理解和变幻莫测。

A writer¡'s work is a constant struggle to get the right word in the right place, to find that particular word that will convey his meaning exactly, that will persuade the reader or soothe him or startle or amuse him.

写作者的工作就是通过持续不断地努力，以使适当的词能放在适当的位置，找到能准确表达写作者意图的特定词，这些都会鼓励、安慰或使写作者快乐。

He never succeeds altogether¡ªsometimes he feels that he scarcely succeeds at all¡ªbut such successes as he has are what make the thing worth doing.¡¯

他从没有过完全的成功。有时他会觉得自己根本没有成功过，但就是这种成功，使得他所做的一切有意义。

There is no book of rules for this game.

没有一本书能讲明写作的规则。

One progresses through everlasting experiment on the basis of ever-widening experience.

通过持续训练，这种训练要以不断丰富经验为基础，一个人才能进步。

There are few useful generalizations that one can make about words as words, but there are perhaps a few.

几乎没有令人满意的词汇用法通则，但是可能会有几点有用的

Some words are what we call ¡°colorful.¡± By this we mean that they are calculated to produce a picture or induce an emotion.

我们称一些词为“生动的”。用这些词我们意在精心营造一个画面或传达一种情感。

They are dressy instead of plain, specific instead of general, loud instead of soft.

他们考究而不朴素，具体而不笼统，喧嚣而不安静。

Thus, in place of "Her heart beat", we may write "Her heart pounded, throbbed, fluttered, danced".Instead of "He sat in his chair",we may say, "He lounged, sprawled, coiled". Instead of "It was hot", we may say, "It was blistering, sultry, muggy, suffocating, steamy, wilting".

因此我们可能会写“她的心在剧烈地跳动、悸动、怦怦乱跳、荡漾”来代替“她的心在跳”。我们可能会说“他懒洋洋地倚靠、伸开四肢躺在、盘坐在椅子上”来更换“他坐在椅子上”，我们会说“天气炎热、酷热、闷热、热得令人窒息、燥热、干热”代替“天气热”。

However, it should not be supposed that the fancy word is always better.

然而，所有华丽的词汇并不总是更好的。

Often it is as well to write "Her heart beat" or "It was hot" if that is all it did or all it was.

我们也经常写“她的心在跳”或者“天气热”，如果确实如此。

Ages differ in how they like their prose.

年代不同，写作者喜欢的散文风格也不同。

The nineteenth century liked it rich and smoky.

19世纪时，他们喜欢华丽和朦胧的散文。

The twentieth has usually preferred it lean and cool.

20世纪时，他们通常更青睐于精简和冷漠的。

The twentieth century writer, like all writers, is forever seeking the exact word, but he is wary of sounding feverish.

像所有的写作者一样,20世纪的写作者一直在追求精确的词,但是要提防过度狂热.

He tends to pitch it low, to understate it, to throw it away.

他试图将词的定位放低，理解之后，抛开词的限制。

He knows that if he gets too colorful, the audience is likely to giggle.

他知道如果使用过于生动的词汇，读者很可能会嘲笑他。

See how this strikes you:

看看这些会如何给你敲响警钟：

"As the rich, golden glow of the sunset died away along the eternal western hills, Angela¡'s limpid blue eyes looked softly and trustingly into Montague¡'s flashing brown ones, and her heart pounded like a drum in time with the joyous song surging in her soul."Some people like that sort of thing, but most modern readers would say, "Good grief", and turn on the television.

“落日饱满的金色光辉消逝在绵延的西山下，安吉拉清澈的蓝色眼眸温柔笃定地注视着蒙塔古闪烁的棕色眼睛，她的心猛烈跳动，如同伴随心中激荡的欢快歌声在打鼓。”一些人喜欢这类的描述，但是大多数读者在发出“天啊”的感叹后，关掉电视。