Stories of resistance;Shades of grey

　　關(guān)于抵抗的故事;灰色的幽影

　　Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, andHeeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times. ByEyal Press.

　　美麗靈魂:說(shuō)不，打破等級(jí)，留心黑暗時(shí)代中道德之音。

　　You have a decent job and work hard. You keepyour nose clean, respect authority and have never joined a protest march. Suddenly youhave the bad luck to face a cruel and seemingly impossible choice. Your superiors tell you todo something outrageous or unacceptable. Do you obey or, at grave personal cost,refuse? In Beautiful Souls, a subtle and thoughtful book, Eyal Press, an Americanjournalist, tells the stories of four very ordinary people who, in widely different times, placesand circumstances, surprised themselves by saying no.

　　你有份體面的工作并且做得很努力。你保持潔身自愛(ài)，尊重權(quán)威，從不加入抗議性游行中。突然你不幸的要面對(duì)殘忍幾乎表面來(lái)看不可能的選擇：你的上級(jí)令你去做你粗暴不可接受的事。服從命令還是犧牲重大的個(gè)人代價(jià)去拒絕?在精細(xì)巧妙充滿思想的美麗靈魂一書(shū)中，美國(guó)記者Eyal Press為您講述一個(gè)關(guān)于四位來(lái)自不同時(shí)空不同地點(diǎn)不同環(huán)境的普通人在說(shuō)出不之后得到的意想不到的結(jié)果。

　　This morally courageous foursome includes a Swiss police official who broke the law in 1938by giving entry permits to Jewish refugees; a Serb who, at risk to his own life, savedcaptured Croats from summary execution during the Serb-Croat war in 1991; an Israelispecial-forces soldier in the occupied territories who could no longer stomach orders toprotect Israeli settlers who were doing wrong, as he saw it, to Palestinian farmers; and amid-ranking whistle-blower in a Texas investment company accused of fraud.

　　這個(gè)著實(shí)勇敢的四人組包括一名1938年因給猶太逃亡者放行二觸犯法律的瑞士警官;一名冒生命危險(xiǎn)在1991年救了在塞爾維亞克羅地亞戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中即將被草率處決的克羅地亞人的塞爾維亞人;一名在被占領(lǐng)土的以色列特種兵，就像他看到的，不能再容忍錯(cuò)誤的針對(duì)巴勒斯坦農(nóng)民而保護(hù)以色列移居者的命令;還有一名在德克薩斯投資公司被指控詐騙罪的中層內(nèi)部揭發(fā)者。

　　At first glance, this looks like a jumble of risks and motives. The policeman had to be braveover months. The Serb had to decide in an instant. The Israeli soldier s disquiet nagged foryears before he quit. The whistle-blower was fired, whereas the Serb faced being shot. Thatlack of a pattern, though, is part of Mr Press s point. We recognise moral bravery when wesee it. Explaining it is extremely hard.

　　乍一看，這書(shū)是危險(xiǎn)與動(dòng)機(jī)的混雜體。警察不得不在數(shù)月里保持勇敢。塞爾維亞人不得不即刻做決定。以色列士兵在退役前數(shù)年的焦慮讓他煩惱不已。揭發(fā)者被炒了，另一方面塞爾維亞人面臨槍決。這些例子乍一看沒(méi)有什么共性，但這也是Mr Press所要強(qiáng)調(diào)的地方。當(dāng)我們看到它時(shí)會(huì)認(rèn)可道德上的勇氣。而要解釋清楚卻極端困難。

　　On stage and in the pulpit, moral dilemmas of this kind tend to have a black-and-whiteclarity. Working from life, Mr Press brings out the greys. All of the choices he looked at werehard, and only the Serb s involved a clear-cut decision in the moment. The good achieved byeach of these beautiful souls was small: the few lives the Serb and the Swiss policemansaved were a pittance when set against greater evils they could not stop. The soldier has notstopped Israel s settlement-building, and the whistle-blower did not dent the financialsystem. So why did they do it?

　　在舞臺(tái)上也好，在講道壇上也好，這類的道德上的是與非往往很明確， 就是非黑即白。而在實(shí)際生活中，Mr Press提出還有灰色這種情況。他所觀察到的所有抉擇都極其困難，只有塞爾維亞人在那刻卷入的抉擇時(shí)則是心里明鏡似的。這些美麗靈魂的所作所為只是造成很小范圍內(nèi)的而影響：少數(shù)人讓塞爾維亞人存活了下來(lái)，瑞士警察所解救的也只是滄海一粟，對(duì)其他更強(qiáng)大的惡勢(shì)力更是無(wú)能為力。士兵沒(méi)能阻止以色列的殖民建設(shè)，揭發(fā)者也沒(méi)能削弱金融系統(tǒng)。所以為什么主人公們還要這么做呢?

　　Without claiming to have firm answers, Mr Press sees three factors at work. One is that thesepeople listened to their emotions. Faced with the unacceptable, their instincts rebelled.Direct confrontation was also important. The challenge to their moral sensibility was face-to-face. This was not true of the whistle-blower, but her conduct suggests to Mr Press athird element. She was not a rebel out to flout authority or change the rules. On thecontrary, she acted to protect rules that her superiors flouted.

　　雖然Mr Press申明這些問(wèn)題沒(méi)有確切的回答，但他看到有這樣的三個(gè)因素在起作用。一個(gè)原因就是主人公們都聽(tīng)從了他們的心做出選擇。面對(duì)不能接受的事物，他們本能的反叛排斥。直接的抗?fàn)幰埠苤匾＿@對(duì)他們道德感情的挑戰(zhàn)是直接面對(duì)面的。這不適合揭發(fā)者，但是揭發(fā)者的行為也給Press先生帶去了第三個(gè)重要的要素。她不是個(gè)試圖藐視權(quán)威或改變規(guī)則的叛逆者。相反，她維護(hù)了那些她的上級(jí)沒(méi)有遵守的規(guī)則。

　　In leading us through such thickets, Mr Press points to studies in psychology and tophilosophical work on moral dilemmas. A drier sort of book might have probed morewhether our moral emotions are always reliable and how sure naysayers must be beforeoutright disobedience is their best course. On the other hand Beautiful Souls gains muchfrom its storytelling approach. It is rich in personal, circumstantial details that analyticalthinkers in search of clear principles may overlook. These are modern instances of ancientpuzzles, and Mr Press is wise not to pretend to be offering new wisdom.

　　在引導(dǎo)我們穿越錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的進(jìn)程中，Press先生表明了心理學(xué)的研究和道德兩難時(shí)的哲學(xué)著作。一種更純粹故事的書(shū)可能更能探測(cè)出我們的道德情感是否總是可靠，如何在拒絕者們完全不服從前確定那是他們最好的道路。另一方面美麗靈魂以它講故事的特別方式收益很多。大量的人物塑造和環(huán)境描寫(xiě)可能會(huì)被善于分析的讀者們?cè)谝晃秾ふ仪逦砟畹倪^(guò)程中忽略。書(shū)中表達(dá)的都是謎題的現(xiàn)代實(shí)例，而Press先生很明智的沒(méi)有假裝在提供新智慧。

　　Stories of resistance;Shades of grey

　　關(guān)于抵抗的故事;灰色的幽影

　　Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, andHeeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times. ByEyal Press.

　　美麗靈魂:說(shuō)不，打破等級(jí)，留心黑暗時(shí)代中道德之音。

　　You have a decent job and work hard. You keepyour nose clean, respect authority and have never joined a protest march. Suddenly youhave the bad luck to face a cruel and seemingly impossible choice. Your superiors tell you todo something outrageous or unacceptable. Do you obey or, at grave personal cost,refuse? In Beautiful Souls, a subtle and thoughtful book, Eyal Press, an Americanjournalist, tells the stories of four very ordinary people who, in widely different times, placesand circumstances, surprised themselves by saying no.

　　你有份體面的工作并且做得很努力。你保持潔身自愛(ài)，尊重權(quán)威，從不加入抗議性游行中。突然你不幸的要面對(duì)殘忍幾乎表面來(lái)看不可能的選擇：你的上級(jí)令你去做你粗暴不可接受的事。服從命令還是犧牲重大的個(gè)人代價(jià)去拒絕?在精細(xì)巧妙充滿思想的美麗靈魂一書(shū)中，美國(guó)記者Eyal Press為您講述一個(gè)關(guān)于四位來(lái)自不同時(shí)空不同地點(diǎn)不同環(huán)境的普通人在說(shuō)出不之后得到的意想不到的結(jié)果。

　　This morally courageous foursome includes a Swiss police official who broke the law in 1938by giving entry permits to Jewish refugees; a Serb who, at risk to his own life, savedcaptured Croats from summary execution during the Serb-Croat war in 1991; an Israelispecial-forces soldier in the occupied territories who could no longer stomach orders toprotect Israeli settlers who were doing wrong, as he saw it, to Palestinian farmers; and amid-ranking whistle-blower in a Texas investment company accused of fraud.

　　這個(gè)著實(shí)勇敢的四人組包括一名1938年因給猶太逃亡者放行二觸犯法律的瑞士警官;一名冒生命危險(xiǎn)在1991年救了在塞爾維亞克羅地亞戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中即將被草率處決的克羅地亞人的塞爾維亞人;一名在被占領(lǐng)土的以色列特種兵，就像他看到的，不能再容忍錯(cuò)誤的針對(duì)巴勒斯坦農(nóng)民而保護(hù)以色列移居者的命令;還有一名在德克薩斯投資公司被指控詐騙罪的中層內(nèi)部揭發(fā)者。

　　At first glance, this looks like a jumble of risks and motives. The policeman had to be braveover months. The Serb had to decide in an instant. The Israeli soldier s disquiet nagged foryears before he quit. The whistle-blower was fired, whereas the Serb faced being shot. Thatlack of a pattern, though, is part of Mr Press s point. We recognise moral bravery when wesee it. Explaining it is extremely hard.

　　乍一看，這書(shū)是危險(xiǎn)與動(dòng)機(jī)的混雜體。警察不得不在數(shù)月里保持勇敢。塞爾維亞人不得不即刻做決定。以色列士兵在退役前數(shù)年的焦慮讓他煩惱不已。揭發(fā)者被炒了，另一方面塞爾維亞人面臨槍決。這些例子乍一看沒(méi)有什么共性，但這也是Mr Press所要強(qiáng)調(diào)的地方。當(dāng)我們看到它時(shí)會(huì)認(rèn)可道德上的勇氣。而要解釋清楚卻極端困難。

　　On stage and in the pulpit, moral dilemmas of this kind tend to have a black-and-whiteclarity. Working from life, Mr Press brings out the greys. All of the choices he looked at werehard, and only the Serb s involved a clear-cut decision in the moment. The good achieved byeach of these beautiful souls was small: the few lives the Serb and the Swiss policemansaved were a pittance when set against greater evils they could not stop. The soldier has notstopped Israel s settlement-building, and the whistle-blower did not dent the financialsystem. So why did they do it?

　　在舞臺(tái)上也好，在講道壇上也好，這類的道德上的是與非往往很明確， 就是非黑即白。而在實(shí)際生活中，Mr Press提出還有灰色這種情況。他所觀察到的所有抉擇都極其困難，只有塞爾維亞人在那刻卷入的抉擇時(shí)則是心里明鏡似的。這些美麗靈魂的所作所為只是造成很小范圍內(nèi)的而影響：少數(shù)人讓塞爾維亞人存活了下來(lái)，瑞士警察所解救的也只是滄海一粟，對(duì)其他更強(qiáng)大的惡勢(shì)力更是無(wú)能為力。士兵沒(méi)能阻止以色列的殖民建設(shè)，揭發(fā)者也沒(méi)能削弱金融系統(tǒng)。所以為什么主人公們還要這么做呢?

　　Without claiming to have firm answers, Mr Press sees three factors at work. One is that thesepeople listened to their emotions. Faced with the unacceptable, their instincts rebelled.Direct confrontation was also important. The challenge to their moral sensibility was face-to-face. This was not true of the whistle-blower, but her conduct suggests to Mr Press athird element. She was not a rebel out to flout authority or change the rules. On thecontrary, she acted to protect rules that her superiors flouted.

　　雖然Mr Press申明這些問(wèn)題沒(méi)有確切的回答，但他看到有這樣的三個(gè)因素在起作用。一個(gè)原因就是主人公們都聽(tīng)從了他們的心做出選擇。面對(duì)不能接受的事物，他們本能的反叛排斥。直接的抗?fàn)幰埠苤匾＿@對(duì)他們道德感情的挑戰(zhàn)是直接面對(duì)面的。這不適合揭發(fā)者，但是揭發(fā)者的行為也給Press先生帶去了第三個(gè)重要的要素。她不是個(gè)試圖藐視權(quán)威或改變規(guī)則的叛逆者。相反，她維護(hù)了那些她的上級(jí)沒(méi)有遵守的規(guī)則。

　　In leading us through such thickets, Mr Press points to studies in psychology and tophilosophical work on moral dilemmas. A drier sort of book might have probed morewhether our moral emotions are always reliable and how sure naysayers must be beforeoutright disobedience is their best course. On the other hand Beautiful Souls gains muchfrom its storytelling approach. It is rich in personal, circumstantial details that analyticalthinkers in search of clear principles may overlook. These are modern instances of ancientpuzzles, and Mr Press is wise not to pretend to be offering new wisdom.

　　在引導(dǎo)我們穿越錯(cuò)綜復(fù)雜的進(jìn)程中，Press先生表明了心理學(xué)的研究和道德兩難時(shí)的哲學(xué)著作。一種更純粹故事的書(shū)可能更能探測(cè)出我們的道德情感是否總是可靠，如何在拒絕者們完全不服從前確定那是他們最好的道路。另一方面美麗靈魂以它講故事的特別方式收益很多。大量的人物塑造和環(huán)境描寫(xiě)可能會(huì)被善于分析的讀者們?cè)谝晃秾ふ仪逦砟畹倪^(guò)程中忽略。書(shū)中表達(dá)的都是謎題的現(xiàn)代實(shí)例，而Press先生很明智的沒(méi)有假裝在提供新智慧。