總統的劍(１)
2010/09/01 17:27
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今晚(8/31)歐巴馬總統在白宮橢圓形辦公室面對華盛頓和林肯的肖像，透過電視鏡頭對全民演說。這兩幅肖像由來己久，不是最近幾任總統所裝飾的。
有一百五拾年歷史，前瞻、有深度、至今仍然廣受尊重的大西洋月刊在２００６年選出１００位影響美國歷史的人物。前１２位依序是林肯，華盛頓，傑佛遜，羅斯福，漢彌爾頓，佛蘭克林，馬歇爾(第一位黑人大法官)，金恩(殉道的人權鬥士)，愛迪生，威爾遜，洛克斐勒，格蘭特；其中６位擔任過總統。
以藝文為準繩,
一般認為美國過去歷任總統當中，讓人稱頌的大概只有傑佛遜，林肯，和格蘭特的文筆。《林肯的劍》和幾本研究林肯(包括文筆)的書碰巧在上次總統大選一兩年期間出版。紐約時報的書評專欄作家 Michiko Kakutani
在評論林肯新書時一而再的稱許歐巴馬的文筆。歐巴馬至今寫了兩本書，《Dreams of My Father》
是法學院剛畢業頭３年寫的真摰之書，晚近的《The Audacity of Hope》是有點打選戰的弦外之音。
２００５年在時代雜誌巧遇當時是參議院一年級歐巴馬寫的短文《What I see in Lincoln’s Eyes》。希望來訪的格友能夠抽空訪問時代雜誌，讀完這篇短文; 以下是頭兩段：
Time Magazine
Sunday, Jun. 26, 2005
What I See in Lincoln's Eyes
By Barack Obama
My favorite portrait of Lincoln
comes from the end of his life. In it, Lincoln's
face is as finely lined as a pressed flower. He appears frail, almost broken; his eyes, averted from the camera's lens, seem to contain a heartbreaking melancholy, as if he sees before him what the nation had so recently endured.
It would be a sorrowful picture except for the fact that Lincoln's
mouth is turned ever so slightly into a smile. The smile doesn't negate the sorrow. But it alters tragedy into grace. It's as if this rough-faced, aging man has cast his gaze toward eternity and yet still cherishes his memories--of an imperfect world and its fleeting, sometimes terrible beauty. On trying days, the portrait, a reproduction of which hangs in my office, soothes me; it always asks me questions.
有一百五拾年歷史，前瞻、有深度、至今仍然廣受尊重的大西洋月刊在２００６年選出１００位影響美國歷史的人物。前１２位依序是林肯，華盛頓，傑佛遜，羅斯福，漢彌爾頓，佛蘭克林，馬歇爾(第一位黑人大法官)，金恩(殉道的人權鬥士)，愛迪生，威爾遜，洛克斐勒，格蘭特；其中６位擔任過總統。
以藝文為準繩,
一般認為美國過去歷任總統當中，讓人稱頌的大概只有傑佛遜，林肯，和格蘭特的文筆。《林肯的劍》和幾本研究林肯(包括文筆)的書碰巧在上次總統大選一兩年期間出版。紐約時報的書評專欄作家 Michiko Kakutani
在評論林肯新書時一而再的稱許歐巴馬的文筆。歐巴馬至今寫了兩本書，《Dreams of My Father》
是法學院剛畢業頭３年寫的真摰之書，晚近的《The Audacity of Hope》是有點打選戰的弦外之音。
２００５年在時代雜誌巧遇當時是參議院一年級歐巴馬寫的短文《What I see in Lincoln’s Eyes》。希望來訪的格友能夠抽空訪問時代雜誌，讀完這篇短文; 以下是頭兩段：
Time Magazine
Sunday, Jun. 26, 2005
What I See in Lincoln's Eyes
By Barack Obama
My favorite portrait of Lincoln
comes from the end of his life. In it, Lincoln's
face is as finely lined as a pressed flower. He appears frail, almost broken; his eyes, averted from the camera's lens, seem to contain a heartbreaking melancholy, as if he sees before him what the nation had so recently endured.
It would be a sorrowful picture except for the fact that Lincoln's
mouth is turned ever so slightly into a smile. The smile doesn't negate the sorrow. But it alters tragedy into grace. It's as if this rough-faced, aging man has cast his gaze toward eternity and yet still cherishes his memories--of an imperfect world and its fleeting, sometimes terrible beauty. On trying days, the portrait, a reproduction of which hangs in my office, soothes me; it always asks me questions.
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迴響（1） ：
1樓. 夢娘2010/09/09 11:36你好
”微微笑意不能揮除憂傷. 卻將悲劇改成恩慈.”
很好的詮釋^^~感謝夢娘分享您對歐巴馬思維的感受。
ben讚服他運用日常的英文字詞，言簡意賅且略帶感性地描述林肯讓人感懷、尊重的部分特質。他的”the portrait, .., soothes me; it always asks me questions”或許有附會林肯之嫌，ben 私自認為這是歐巴馬真誠之言; 林肯是歐巴馬渴望師從的典範。
ben 初讀這篇散文時油然而生的嘆服不知然地影響兩段嚐試性的中譯，結果是過當的感性和繁複的用詞。謝謝您的寬容。
希望能在年內完成總統的劍(２)和(３)，介紹我對林肯和格蘭特粗淺的認知。
歡迎來訪！
ben 邯鄲學步中 於 2010/09/12 05:20回覆
