Now naturally, like many of us, I have a reluctance to change too much of the old ways. But there is no virtue at all in clinging as some do to tradition merely for its own sake. In this age of electricity and modern heating systems, there is no need at all to employ the sorts of numbers necessary even a generation ago. Indeed, it has actually been an idea of mine for some time that the retaining of unnecessary numbers (查看原文)
And of course, in Lord Darlington's days, when adies and gentlemen would often visit for many days on lend. it was possible to develop a good understanding
with visiting colleagues. Indeed, in those busy days, our servants' hall would often witness a gathering of some of the finest professionals in England talking late into the night by the warmth of the fire. And let me tell you, if you were to have come into our servants'hall on any of those evenings, you would not have heard mere gossip more likely, you would have witnessed debates over the great affairs preoccupying our employers upstairs, or
else over matters of import reported in the newspapers and of course, as fellow professionals from all walks of life are wont to do when gathered together, we could be found discussing every asp... (查看原文)
So then, there seems little reason why I should not
undertake my motoring trip to the West Country. I would of course have to write to Miss Kenton to tell her I might be passing by; I would also need to see to the matter of the costumes. Various other questions concerning
arrangements here in the house during my absence will need to be settled. But all in all, I can see no genuine reason " Why I should not undertake this trip. (查看原文)
It has never, of course, been my privilege have seen such things at first hand, but I will nevertheless hazard this with some confidence: the English landscape at its finest- such as I saw it this morning-possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations, however more
superficially dramatic, inevitably fail to possess. It is, I believe, a quality that will mark out the English landscape to any objective observer as the most deeply satisfying in the world, and this quality is probably best summed up by the term greatness. For it is true, when I stood on that high ledge this morning and viewed the land before me, I distinctly felt that rare, yet unmistakable feeling-the feeling that one is in the presence of greatness. We call this land of ours Great Britain, and there may be those ... (查看原文)
作者: Kazuo Ishiguro, Sophie Mayoux 原作名: The Remains of the Day isbn: 2702132391 书名: Les Vestiges du jour 页数: 266 译者:Sophie Mayoux 出版社: Calmann-Lévy 出版年: 2001-08-21 装帧: Paperback
