LECTURE XII.

TEMPER.
——
“O tempora! O mores¹!”
“To seek to extinguish anger utterly² is but a bravery of the Stoics³.”—Bacon.

I am afraid that you will hear at the whist table a good deal about temper, unless you are particularly fortunate; that so-and-so is good-tempered, or the reverse; that if we were all better tempered, something or other might be different, and similar platitudes⁴. Now these mostly start on the utterly false assumption that everybody is equally subject to the same annoyances⁷.

“Tender and delicate persons must needs be oft angry; they have so many things to trouble them, which more robust⁸ natures have little sense of.”—Ibid.

That the greatest exponent⁹ of Bumblepuppy has necessarily the longest temper goes without saying—of course he has! He has nothing to ruffle¹⁰ him, for he has everything his own way; he plays as he thinks fit (supposing him to think at all, or ever to be fit); if his partner makes a mistake it is any odds¹¹ he[100] never sees it; de non existentibus et non apparentibus eadem est ratio; here is one cause of equanimity¹².

If it is any amusement to him—and I presume it is, otherwise he would not do it—from his cradle to his grave to play a game of which he knows absolutely nothing, and if in pursuit of that amusement he thinks it worth his while to take a certain amount of his own and his partner’s capital, and to throw it in the street, why should he lose his temper? Although he has paid his money, he has had his choice—another cause of equanimity.

Ah Sin played a game he did not understand, and remained quite calm and unperturbed, though he was a heathen and an Asiatic; while his antagonist¹³ disgraced our common Christianity by letting his angry passions rise because things were going against him.

If both partners, then, are of the same mind and the same calibre—either bad or good—to quote an American author, “all is peas,” and like the place
“Where brothers dwell and sisters meet
Quarrels should never come.”

The difficulty begins to arise when one of the partners fails to see things altogether in the same light as the other. He may be so unfortunately constituted (cross-grained the other would say) that he is unable to derive¹⁴ any amusement from the game unless it is played with a modicum¹⁵ of intelligence; it is just possible that instead of considering gold as dross¹⁶, as an accursed thing to be got rid of at the earliest[101] opportunity, he may be actuated by a depraved love of filthy¹⁷ lucre¹⁸, and a sordid¹⁹ desire for gain; such conditions are to be deplored²⁰, but they exist and must be reckoned with.

When his partner proceeds to run amuck²¹, he misses the point of the joke; his perverted²² moral sense revolts against paying half the money, and the other man having all the choice; probably, for a time, he keeps his mouth tightly shut, but his collaborateur is not to be eluded²³ in that way; he demands not merely the passive, but the active assent²⁴ of his victim, and sooner or later, after the perpetration of some particularly atrocious coup²⁵, inquires with the bland²⁶ and childlike smile of the heathen already referred to, “Partner, I think we could not have done better there?” What is to be done now? Silence is not an answer; it used to be, but has been disestablished. Are you to agree with him? Are you to state what is false? Are you to dissent²⁷ and be informed you are always finding fault? (Shakespeare’s retort is neat and worthy²⁸ of him: “You have always been called a merciful man, partner;” but we are not all Shakespeares.) Or is it the best course at once to resort to active measures, and throw at him the first thing that comes to hand?

The worm must turn some time or other; it may turn the other cheek, but that is only temporising; no worm has more than two cheeks, and when it has[102] had them both slapped, what is it to do then? We come to an impasse²⁹.

The copy-books used to tell us—for anything I know they may do so yet—copy-book aphorisms³⁰ have a marvellous vitality³¹, and you have seen them since I have—that “patience is a virtue³²” (I think virtue ought to have a capital V), and, as an abstract proposition, the statement is probably as true and more grammatical than “There’s milestones³³ on the Dover Road”; but what is the use of it? The question is, will it wash? The two best known examples of this virtue are the Patriarch Job and the patient ass⁵. Whether the Patriarch was well advised in enduring his friends so long, and whether he endured them on account of his patience, or whether the bodily affliction from which he was notoriously suffering at the time, incapacitated him from taking energetic steps to expel them from his bed-room, are questions difficult to decide so long after the event. I express no opinion of my own; let the dead past bury its dead: de mortuis nil³⁴ nisi bonum; but the donkey is a different matter; he lives in our own times, and I know him well; he touches me nearly; and I unhesitatingly affirm that the only benefit—if benefit is the proper term—he has ever derived³⁵ from his long-suffering, has been to be invariably imposed upon in consequence. Casa Bianca on the burning deck is another case in point; he did score to a certain extent, for owing to his[103] patience his widowed mother escaped an undertaker’s bill, while he himself is known to this day in the nursery as “the noble boy”; but to the more mature observer, in whom the ambition to be called names is dead, the game is hardly worth the candle; while you yourselves will be called quite enough names at the whist table without being cremated³⁶; not to mention that the majority of you probably prefer pudding to praise.

Some irritable³⁷ people go so far as to apply language of a condemnatory³⁸ character to the inanimate cards; as it is impossible to arouse any emotion either of pleasure or anger in their breasts, this seems absurd and a waste of energy. It must be bad form to excite yourself without causing annoyance⁶ to others, and should certainly be avoided.

Believing luck to be strictly³⁹ personal, it appears to me that calling for new cards is an unnecessary display of temper and throwing good money after bad.

We may take it, speaking generally—for it is not always the case—that the worse a man plays, the less visible is his bad temper; the converse⁴⁰ fortunately does not hold good, for many good players have really wonderful tempers.

One curious circumstance is that want of perception and thickness of mental cuticle⁴¹ are usually looked upon by the unfortunate possessors as proofs of good temper, and boasted of as such. This is not the case in other afflictions. I once knew a man with[104] a Barbadoes leg, and though its circumference⁴² much exceeded that of mine, he never made any offensive comparisons.

In Bath I have seen scores of invalids—mostly naval⁴³ and military men, naturally warlike—they were all seated decorously in the local chairs; and when they dismounted and hobbled into the club, they did not go about brandishing⁴⁴ their crutches⁴⁵ and bragging⁴⁶ that they had refrained from assaulting us innocent civilians⁴⁷; on the contrary, I always found them most courteous⁴⁸ and friendly.

To sum up the matter; we are all worms of some kind, and we all turn more or less when we are trodden upon, if we perceive it. The denser⁴⁹ the worm, the more slowly he turns. While some ill-conditioned ones turn under all circumstances, some of the most highly-organised are scarcely ever known even to wriggle⁵⁰. Apparently⁵¹ harmless ones sometimes turn most suddenly and ferociously⁵². Those most trodden upon—unless quite hors de combat—turn most.

Finally, many congenitally mal-formed worms, and worms suffering from amaurosis, cerebral⁵³ ramollissement, myx?dema, and other dreadful diseases, are not only unaware⁵⁴ of their critical state, but are actually proud of it, and look upon it as a proof of their amiable⁵⁵ disposition⁵⁶.

1 mores   

n.风俗，习惯，民德，道德观念

参考例句：

• The mores of that village are hard to believe.那村子的习俗让人难以置信。
• We advocate a harmonious society where corruption is swept away,and social mores are cleared.我们提倡弊绝风清，建设一个和谐社会。

2 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

3 stoics   

禁欲主义者，恬淡寡欲的人，不以苦乐为意的人( stoic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Stoics I can handle this shit. 斯多葛：我能掌握这大便。
• The most famous exercise of meditation is the premeditatio mallorum as practiced by the Stoics. 冥思最著名的练习是禁欲学派所实行的[消灾冥思]。

4 platitudes   

n.平常的话，老生常谈，陈词滥调( platitude的名词复数 )；滥套子

参考例句：

• He was mouthing the usual platitudes about the need for more compassion. 他言不由衷地说了些需要更加同情之类的陈腔滥调。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He delivered a long prose full of platitudes. 他发表了一篇充满陈词滥调的文章。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

6 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

7 annoyances   

n.恼怒( annoyance的名词复数 )；烦恼；打扰；使人烦恼的事

参考例句：

• At dinner that evening two annoyances kept General Zaroff from perfect enjoyment one. 当天晚上吃饭时，有两件不称心的事令沙洛夫吃得不很香。 来自辞典例句
• Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances-don't we all? 事实上我有很多类似的小烦恼，我们不都有这种小烦恼吗？ 来自互联网

8 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

9 exponent   

n.倡导者，拥护者；代表人物；指数，幂

参考例句：

• She is an exponent of vegetarianism.她是一个素食主义的倡导者。
• He had been the principal exponent of the Gallipoli campaign.他曾为加里波利战役的主要代表人物。

10 ruffle   

v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边

参考例句：

• Don't ruffle my hair.I've just combed it.别把我的头发弄乱了。我刚刚梳好了的。
• You shouldn't ruffle so easily.你不该那么容易发脾气。

11 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

12 equanimity   

n.沉着，镇定

参考例句：

• She went again,and in so doing temporarily recovered her equanimity.她又去看了戏，而且这样一来又暂时恢复了她的平静。
• The defeat was taken with equanimity by the leadership.领导层坦然地接受了失败。

13 antagonist   

n.敌人，对抗者，对手

参考例句：

• His antagonist in the debate was quicker than he.在辩论中他的对手比他反应快。
• The thing is to know the nature of your antagonist.要紧的是要了解你的对手的特性。

14 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

15 modicum   

n.少量，一小份

参考例句：

• If he had a modicum of sense,he wouldn't do such a foolish thing.要是他稍有一点理智，他决不会做出如此愚蠢的事来。
• There's not even a modicum of truth in her statement.她说的话没有一点是真的。

16 dross   

n.渣滓；无用之物

参考例句：

• Caroline felt the value of the true ore,and knew the deception of the flashy dross.卡罗琳辨别出了真金的价值，知道那种炫耀的铁渣只有迷惑人的外表。
• The best players go off to the big clubs,leaving us the dross.最好的队员都投奔大俱乐部去了，就只给我们剩下些不中用的人。

17 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

18 lucre   

n.金钱，财富

参考例句：

• She married a foreigner for mere lucre.她仅仅为钱财而嫁给了一个外国人。
• He would sell his soul for filthy lucre.他会为了不义之财而出卖灵魂。

19 sordid   

adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的

参考例句：

• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively.他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。
• They lived in a sordid apartment.他们住在肮脏的公寓房子里。

20 deplored   

v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They deplored the price of motor car, textiles, wheat, and oil. 他们悲叹汽车、纺织品、小麦和石油的价格。 来自辞典例句
• Hawthorne feels that all excess is to be deplored. 霍桑觉得一切过分的举动都是可悲的。 来自辞典例句

21 amuck   

ad.狂乱地

参考例句：

• The sea ran amuck.海上风暴肆虐。
• The scoundrels who ran amuck will be severely punished.横行无忌的歹徒将受到严惩。

22 perverted   

adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落

参考例句：

• Some scientific discoveries have been perverted to create weapons of destruction. 某些科学发明被滥用来生产毁灭性武器。
• sexual acts, normal and perverted 正常的和变态的性行为

23 eluded   

v.（尤指机敏地）避开( elude的过去式和过去分词 )；逃避；躲避；使达不到

参考例句：

• The sly fox nimbly eluded the dogs. 那只狡猾的狐狸灵活地躲避开那群狗。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The criminal eluded the police. 那个罪犯甩掉了警察的追捕。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

24 assent   

v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可

参考例句：

• I cannot assent to what you ask.我不能应允你的要求。
• The new bill passed by Parliament has received Royal Assent.议会所通过的新方案已获国王批准。

25 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

26 bland   

adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的

参考例句：

• He eats bland food because of his stomach trouble.他因胃病而吃清淡的食物。
• This soup is too bland for me.这汤我喝起来偏淡。

27 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

28 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

29 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

30 aphorisms   

格言，警句( aphorism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He formulated trenchant aphorisms that caught their attention. 他阐述的鲜明格言引起了人们的注意。
• The aphorisms started following like water as all the old cliches got dusted off. 一些陈词滥调象尘土一样扬起，一些格言警句象洪水一样到处泛滥。

31 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

32 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

33 milestones   

n.重要事件( milestone的名词复数 )；重要阶段；转折点；里程碑

参考例句：

• Several important milestones in foreign policy have been passed by this Congress and they can be chalked up as major accomplishments. 这次代表大会通过了对外政策中几起划时代的事件，并且它们可作为主要成就记录下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dale: I really envy your milestones over the last few years, Don. 我真的很羡慕你在过去几年中所建立的丰功伟绩。 来自互联网

34 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。

35 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

36 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

37 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

38 condemnatory   

adj. 非难的，处罚的

参考例句：

• Public security punishs a law to also have corresponding condemnatory regulation. 治安处罚法也有相应的处罚规定。
• Public security management does not have such regulation on condemnatory byelaw, can not detain. 治安治理处罚条例上没有这样的规定，不可以拘留的。

39 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

40 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

41 cuticle   

n.表皮

参考例句：

• You'd never puncture the cuticle.你无法刺穿表皮。
• The reform has hardly made a scratch upon the cuticle of affairs.改革几乎还没有触到事物的表皮。

42 circumference   

n.圆周，周长，圆周线

参考例句：

• It's a mile round the circumference of the field.运动场周长一英里。
• The diameter and the circumference of a circle correlate.圆的直径与圆周有相互关系。

43 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

44 brandishing   

v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀

参考例句：

• The horseman came up to Robin Hood, brandishing his sword. 那个骑士挥舞着剑，来到罗宾汉面前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He appeared in the lounge brandishing a knife. 他挥舞着一把小刀，出现在休息室里。 来自辞典例句

45 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

46 bragging   

v.自夸，吹嘘( brag的现在分词 )；大话

参考例句：

• He's always bragging about his prowess as a cricketer. 他总是吹嘘自己板球水平高超。 来自辞典例句
• Now you're bragging, darling. You know you don't need to brag. 这就是夸口，亲爱的。你明知道你不必吹。 来自辞典例句

47 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

48 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

49 denser   

adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• As Tito entered the neighbourhood of San Martino, he found the throng rather denser. 蒂托走近圣马丁教堂附近一带时，发现人群相当密集。

50 wriggle   

v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒

参考例句：

• I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
• Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。

51 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

52 ferociously   

野蛮地，残忍地

参考例句：

• The buck shook his antlers ferociously. 那雄鹿猛烈地摇动他的鹿角。
• At intervals, he gritted his teeth ferociously. 他不时狠狠的轧平。

53 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

54 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

55 amiable   

adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的

参考例句：

• She was a very kind and amiable old woman.她是个善良和气的老太太。
• We have a very amiable companionship.我们之间存在一种友好的关系。

56 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。