Of Beauty 論美
Irtue is like a rich stone,best plain set;and surely vitue is best,in a body that is comely,though not of delicate features;and that hath rather dignity of presence,than beauty of aspect.
美德好比寶石，它在樸素背景的襯托下反而更華麗。同樣，一個(gè)打扮并不華貴卻端莊嚴肅而有美德者是令人肅然起敬的。
Neither is it almost seen,that very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue;as if nature were rather busy,not to err,than in labor to produce excellency.And therefore they prove accomplished,but not of great spirit;and study rather behavior,than virtue.But this holds not always:for Augustus Caesar,Titus Vespasianus,Philip le Belle of France,Edward the Fourth of England,Alcibiades of Athens,Ismael the Sophy of Persia,were all high and great spirits;and yet the most beautiful men of their times.In beauty,that of favor,is more than that of color;and that of decent and gracious motion,more than that of favor.
外表美麗的人，未必也具有內在的美。因為造物主似乎是吝嗇的，他給了此就不再予彼。所以許多容顏俊秀的人卻不足為訓，他們過(guò)于追求外形美麗而忽略了內心的美。但這也許不全對，因為奧古斯都?撒、菲斯帕斯、法蘭西的菲力普王、英格蘭的愛(ài)德華四世、雅典的阿爾西巴蒂斯、波斯的伊斯梅爾等既是大丈夫，又是美男子。就形貌而言，自然之美要勝過(guò)粉飾之美，而優(yōu)雅行為之美又勝于單純禮儀之美。
That is the best part of beauty,which a picture cannot express;no nor the first sight of the life.There is no excellent beauty,that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.A man cannot tell whether Apelles,or Albert Durer,were the more trifler;whereof the one ,would make a personage by geometrical proportions;the other,by taking the best parts out of divers faces,to make one excellent.Such personages,I think,would please nobody,but the painter that made them.
最高的美是畫(huà)家說(shuō)無(wú)法表現的，因為它是難于直觀(guān)的。沒(méi)有哪種美能極致到不存在比例上的瑕疵。曾經(jīng)有兩位畫(huà)家——阿皮雷斯和艾伯特?丟勒滑稽地認為，可以按照幾何比例，或者通過(guò)攝取不同人身上最美的特點(diǎn)，用畫(huà)合成一張最完美的人像。其實(shí)像這樣畫(huà)出來(lái)的美人，恐怕只表現了畫(huà)家本人的某種偏愛(ài)。
Not but I think a painter may make a better face than ever was;but he must do it by a kind of felicity(as a musician that maketh an excellent air in music),and not by rule.A man shall see faces, that if you examine them part by part,you shall find never a good;and yet altogether do well.
畫(huà)家不能通過(guò)這樣畫(huà)出更好看的臉，（正如為曲子營(yíng)造氛圍的音樂(lè )家），創(chuàng )造它的常常是構思，而不是公式。有許多的臉，就他們的部分看并不優(yōu)美，但作為整體卻非常動(dòng)人。
If it be true that the principal part of beauty is in decent motion,certainly it is no marvel,though persons in years seem many times more amiable;pulchrorum autumnus pulcher;for no youth can be comely but by pardon,and considering the youth,as to make up the comeliness.
雖然美之菁華無(wú)疑在于優(yōu)雅的舉止，但有些老人更顯得可愛(ài)，這印證了一句拉丁諺語(yǔ)：“暮色之色更美�！倍M管有的年輕人具有美貌，卻由于缺乏完美的修養而不配得到最好的贊美。
Beauty is as summer fruits,which are easy to corrupt,and cannot last;and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth,and an age a little out of countenance;but yet certainly again,if it light well,it maketh virtue shine,and vices blush.
美猶如盛夏的水果，是容易腐爛而難保持的。世上有許多美人，他們有過(guò)放蕩的青春，卻迎受著(zhù)愧悔的晚年。因此，應該把美的形貌與美的德行結合起來(lái)。這樣，美才會(huì )發(fā)出奪目的光輝。
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