During the years to which I have referred, that paper really had no editor. An editor would have done three things. He would have written a few wise words himself. He would have pitilessly repressed my unconscionable volubility. And he 59would have given the public the benefit of some of those carefully prepared contributions which I, with savage19 satisfaction, hurled20 into the waste-paper basket. It would have been a good thing for the paper if the editorials had been so few and so brief that people could have been reasonably expected to read them. They would then have attached to them the gravity and authority that such contributions should normally carry. And it would have been good for the world in general, and for me in particular, if liberal quantities of my manuscript had been substitutionally sacrificed in redemption of some of those rolls of paper, whose destruction I now deplore21, which I consigned22 to limbo23 with so light a heart. Since then I have had a fairly wide experience of editors, and the years have increased my respect. ‘O Lord,’ an up-country suppliant24 once exclaimed at the week-night prayer-meeting, ‘O Lord, the more I sees of other people the more I likes myself!’ I do not quite share the good man’s feeling, at any rate so far as editors are concerned. The more I have seen of the ways of other editors the less am I pleased with the memory of my own attempt. The way in which these other editors have treated my own manuscript makes me blush for very shame as I remember my editorial intolerance of such packages. Very occasionally an editor has found it necessary to delete some portion of my contribution, 60and, nine times out of ten, I have admired the perspicacity25 which detected the excrescence and strengthened the whole by removing the part. I say nine times out of ten; but I hint at the tenth case in no spirit of resentment26 or bitterness. I am young yet, and the years may easily teach me that, even in the instances that still seem doubtful to me, I am under a deep and lasting27 obligation to the editorial surgery.
The editor is the emblem28 of all those potent29, elusive30, invisible forces that control our human destinies. We are clearly living in an edited world. We may not always agree with the editor; it would be passing strange if we did. We may see lots of things admitted that we, had we been editor, would have vigorously excluded. The venom31 of the cobra, the cruelty of the wolf, the anguish32 of a sickly babe, and the flaunting33 shame of the street corner; had I been editor I should have ruthlessly suppressed all these contributions. But my earlier experience of editorship haunts my memory to warn me. I was too fond of rejecting things in those days. I was too much attached to the waste-paper basket. And I have been sorry for it ever since. And perhaps when I have lived a few aeons longer, and have had experience of more worlds than one, I shall feel ashamed of my present inclination34 to doubt the editor’s wisdom. Knowing as little as I know, 61I should certainly have rejected these contributions with scorn and impatience35. The fangs36 of the viper37, the teeth of the crocodile, and all things hideous38 and hateful, I should have intolerantly excluded. And, some ages later, with the experience of a few millenniums and the knowledge of many worlds to guide me, I should have lamented39 my folly40, even as I now deplore my old editorial exclusiveness.
And, on the other hand, we sometimes catch a glimpse of the editor’s waste-paper basket, and the revelation is an astounding41 one. The waste of the world is terrific. And among these rejected manuscripts I see some most exquisitely42 beautiful things. The other day, not far from here, a snake bit a little girl and killed her. Now here was a curious freak of editorship! On the editor’s table there lay two manuscripts. There was the snake—a loathsome43, scaly44 brute45, with wicked little eyes and venomous fangs, a thing that made your flesh creep to look at it. And there was the little girl, a sweet little thing with curly hair and soft blue eyes, a thing that you could not see without loving. Had I been there, I should have tried to kill the snake and save the child. That is to say, I should have accepted the child-manuscript, and rejected the snake-manuscript. But the editor does exactly the opposite. The snake-manuscript is accepted; the horrid46 thing glides47 through the bush at this moment as a 62recognized part of the scheme of the universe. The child-manuscript is rejected; it is thrown away; have we not seen it, like a crumpled48 poem, in the editor’s waste-paper basket? How differently I should have acted had I been editor! And then, when I afterwards reviewed my editorship, as I to-day review that other editorship of mine, I should have seen that I was wrong. And that reflection makes me very thankful that I am not the editor. We shall yet come to see, in spite of all present appearances to the contrary, that the editor adopted the kindest, wisest, best course with each of the manuscripts presented. We shall see
That nothing walks with aimless feet;
That not one life shall be destroyed,
Or cast as rubbish to the void,
When God hath made the pile complete;
That not a worm is cloven in vain;
That not a moth49 with vain desire
Is shrivelled in a fruitless fire,
Or but subserves another’s gain.
Everybody feels at liberty to criticize the Editor; but, depend upon it, when all the information is before us that is before Him, we shall see that our paltry50 judgement was very blind. And we shall recognize with profound admiration51 that we have been living in a most skilfully52 edited world.
63For, after all, that is the point. The Editor knows so much more than I do. He has eyes and ears in the ends of the earth. His sanctum seems so remote from everything, and yet it is an observatory53 from which He beholds54 all the drama of the world’s great throbbing55 life. When I was a boy I was very fond of a contrivance that was called a camera-obscura. I usually found it among the attractions of a seaside town. You paid a penny, entered a room, and sat down beside a round white table. The operator followed, and closed the door. The place was then in total darkness; you could not see your hand before you. It seemed incredible that in this black hole one could get a clearer view of all that was happening in the neighbourhood than was possible out in the sunlight. Yet, as soon as the lens above you was opened, the whole scene appeared like a moving coloured photograph on the white table. The waves breaking on the beach; the people strolling on the promenade56; everything was faithfully depicted57 there. Not a dog could wag his tail but there, in the darkness, you saw him do it. An observer who watched you enter, and saw the door close after you, could be certain that now, for awhile, you were cut off from everything. And yet, as a fact, you only went into the darkness that you might see the whole scene in the more perfect perspective. What is this but the editor’s sanctum? He enters 64it and, to all appearances, he leaves the world behind him as he does so. But it is a mere58 illusion. He enters it that he may see the whole world more clearly from its quiet seclusion59.
In the same way, when I look round upon the world, and see the things that are allowed to happen, the Editor seems fearfully aloof60. He seems to have gone into His heaven and closed the door behind Him. ‘Clouds and darkness are round about Him,’ says the psalmist. And if clouds and darkness are round about Him, is it any wonder that His vision is obscure? If clouds and darkness are round about Him, is it any wonder that He acts so strangely? If clouds and darkness are round about Him, is it any wonder that He rejects the child-manuscript and accepts the snake-manuscript? And yet, and yet; what if the darkness that envelops61 Him be the darkness of the camera-obscura? The psalmist declares that it is just because clouds and darkness are round about Him that righteousness and judgement are the habitation of His throne. It is a darkness that obscures Him from me without in the slightest degree concealing62 me from Him.
So there the editor sits in his seclusion. Nobody is so unobtrusive. You may read your paper, day after day, year in and year out, without even discovering the editor’s name. You would not recognize him if you met him on the street. He may be young 65or old, tall or short, stout63 or slim, dark or fair, shabby or genteel—you have no idea. There is something strangely mysterious about the elusive individuality of that potent personage who every day draws so near to you, and yet of whom you know so little. One of these days I shall be invited to preach a special sermon to editors, and, in view of so dazzling an opportunity, I have already selected my text. I shall speak of that Ideal Servant of Humanity of whom the prophet tells. ‘He shall not scream, nor be loud, nor advertise Himself,’ Isaiah says, ‘but He shall never break a bruised64 reed nor quench65 a smouldering wick.’ That would make a great theme for a sermon to editors. There He is, so mysterious and yet so mighty66; so remote and yet so omniscient67; so invisible and yet so eloquent68; so slow to obtrude69 Himself and yet so swift to discern any flickering70 spark of genius in others. He shall not advertise Himself nor quench a single smouldering wick.
There are two great moments in the history of a manuscript. The first is the moment of its preparation; the second is the moment of its appearance. And in between the two comes the editor’s censorship and revision. I said just now that I had noticed that editorial emendations are almost invariably distinct improvements. The article as it appears is better than the article as it left my hands. Now 66let me think. I spoke71 a moment ago of the child-manuscript and the snake-manuscript; but what about myself? Am not I too a manuscript, and shall I not also fall into the Editor’s hands? What about all the blots72, and the smudges, and the erasures, and the alterations73? Will they all be seen when I appear, when I appear? The Editor sees to that. The Editor will take care that none of the smudges on this poor manuscript shall be seen when I appear. ‘For we know,’ says one of the Editor’s most intimate friends, ‘we know that when we appear we shall be like Him—without spot or wrinkle or any such thing!’ It is a great thing to know that, before I appear, I shall undergo the Editor’s revision.
Charlie was very excited. His father was a sailor. The ship was homeward bound, and dad would soon be home. Thinking so intently and exclusively of his father’s coming, Charlie determined74 to carve out a ship of his own. He took a block of wood, and set to work. But the wood was hard, and the knife was blunt, and Charlie’s fingers were very small.
‘Dad may be here when you wake up in the morning, Charlie!’ his mother said to him one night.
That night Charlie took his ship and his knife to bed with him. When his father came at midnight Charlie was fast asleep, the blistered75 hand on the counterpane not far from the knife and the ship. 67The father took the ship, and, with his own strong hand, and his own sharp knife, it was soon a trim and shapely vessel76. Charlie awoke with the lark77 next morning, and, proudly seizing his ship, he ran to greet his father; and it is difficult to say which of the two was the more proud of it. It is an infinite comfort to know that, however blotted78 and blurred79 this poor manuscript may be when I lay down my pen at night, the Editor will see to it that I have nothing to be ashamed of when I appear in the morning.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
pestered
|
|
| 使烦恼，纠缠( pester的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
treatises
|
|
| n.专题著作，专题论文，专著( treatise的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
sonnets
|
|
| n.十四行诗( sonnet的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
deluged
|
|
| v.使淹没( deluge的过去式和过去分词 )；淹没；被洪水般涌来的事物所淹没；穷于应付 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
dealing
|
|
| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
glimmer
|
|
| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
captious
|
|
| adj.难讨好的，吹毛求疵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
corroboration
|
|
| n.进一步的证实，进一步的证据 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
awakening
|
|
| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
delusion
|
|
| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
snare
|
|
| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
bluff
|
|
| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
garrulous
|
|
| adj.唠叨的，多话的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
usurped
|
|
| 篡夺，霸占( usurp的过去式和过去分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
precipitately
|
|
| adv.猛进地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
journalism
|
|
| n.新闻工作，报业 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
mansion
|
|
| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
prescriptions
|
|
| 药( prescription的名词复数 )； 处方； 开处方； 计划 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
savage
|
|
| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
hurled
|
|
| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
deplore
|
|
| vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
consigned
|
|
| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
limbo
|
|
| n.地狱的边缘；监狱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
suppliant
|
|
| adj.哀恳的；n.恳求者，哀求者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
perspicacity
|
|
| n. 敏锐, 聪明, 洞察力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
resentment
|
|
| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
lasting
|
|
| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
emblem
|
|
| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
potent
|
|
| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
elusive
|
|
| adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
venom
|
|
| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
flaunting
|
|
| adj.招摇的，扬扬得意的，夸耀的v.炫耀，夸耀( flaunt的现在分词 )；有什么能耐就施展出来 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
inclination
|
|
| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
impatience
|
|
| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
fangs
|
|
| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
viper
|
|
| n.毒蛇；危险的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
hideous
|
|
| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
lamented
|
|
| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
folly
|
|
| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
astounding
|
|
| adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
exquisitely
|
|
| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
loathsome
|
|
| adj.讨厌的，令人厌恶的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
scaly
|
|
| adj.鱼鳞状的；干燥粗糙的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
brute
|
|
| n.野兽，兽性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
horrid
|
|
| adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
glides
|
|
| n.滑行( glide的名词复数 )；滑音；音渡；过渡音v.滑动( glide的第三人称单数 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
crumpled
|
|
| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
moth
|
|
| n.蛾，蛀虫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
paltry
|
|
| adj.无价值的，微不足道的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
skilfully
|
|
| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
observatory
|
|
| n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
beholds
|
|
| v.看，注视( behold的第三人称单数 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
throbbing
|
|
| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
promenade
|
|
| n./v.散步 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
depicted
|
|
| 描绘，描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 )； 描述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
seclusion
|
|
| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
aloof
|
|
| adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
envelops
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
concealing
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
bruised
|
|
| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
quench
|
|
| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
omniscient
|
|
| adj.无所不知的；博识的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
eloquent
|
|
| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
obtrude
|
|
| v.闯入；侵入；打扰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
flickering
|
|
| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
blots
|
|
| 污渍( blot的名词复数 )； 墨水渍； 错事； 污点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
alterations
|
|
| n.改动( alteration的名词复数 )；更改；变化；改变 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
blistered
|
|
| adj.水疮状的，泡状的v.（使）起水泡( blister的过去式和过去分词 )；（使表皮等）涨破，爆裂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
vessel
|
|
| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
lark
|
|
| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
blotted
|
|
| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
blurred
|
|
| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |