评论
打印
"Tell me some more of this keen stuff," she said eagerly.
“再给我讲些这类高难的玩意儿吧。”她急切地说。
I consulted my watch. "I think we'd better call it a night. I'll take you home now, and you go over all the things you've learned. We'll have another session tomorrow night."
我看了看表说：“今晚就讲到这里吧。现在该送你回去了。你回去把今天的内容复习一遍，明晚再上一课吧。”
I deposited her at the girls' dormitory, where she assured me that she had had a perfectly terrif evening, and I went glumly to my room. Petey lay snoring in his bed, the raccoon coat huddled like a great hairy beast at his feet. For a moment I considered waking him and telling him that he could have his girl back. It seemed clear that my project was doomed to failure. The girl simply had a logic-proof head.
我把她送到了女生宿舍。分手时她说今晚她非常愉快，而我则郁郁寡欢地回到我的房间。皮蒂正在睡觉，鼾声如雷，那件浣熊皮大衣堆在他的脚边，像一头多毛的野兽。我真想马上把他叫醒，告诉他可以把他的女朋友领回去。显然，我的计划终将失败，这姑娘一点逻辑思维都没有。
But then I reconsidered. I had wasted one evening: I might as well waste another. Who knew? Maybe somewhere in the extinct crater of her mind, a few embers still smoldered. Maybe somehow I could fan them into flame. Admittedly it was not a prospect fraught with hope, but I decided to give it one more try.
可一转念，我想既然已经浪费了一个晚上，不妨再用一个晚上试试看。天知道会是什么结果，也许，在她死火山般的脑袋里，还有一点余火仍在闪烁冒烟。也许会有办法能把这些火星扇成熊熊烈焰。我承认，成功的希望渺茫，可我要再试一次。
Seated under the oak the next evening I said, "Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam."
第二天晚上，我们又坐在那棵橡树下，我说：“今晚我们先说说文不对题。”
She quivered with delight.
她高兴得发抖。
"Listen closely," I said. "A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he replies that he has a wife and six children at home, the wife is a helpless cripple, the children have nothing to eat, no clothes to wear, no shoes on their feet, there are no beds in the house, no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming."
“听仔细了，”我说，“有个人申请工作。老板问他具备什么资历，他回答说他有妻子和六个孩子，妻子完全残废，孩子们身上无衣，口中无食，脚上无鞋，身下没床，生火没煤，可冬天就要到了。”
A tear rolled down each of Polly's pink checks. "Oh, this is awful, awfal," she sobbed.
泪水流过波莉那粉红的面颊。“啊，真糟糕！真糟糕！”她抽泣起来。
"Yes, it's awful," I agreed, "but it's no argument. The man never answered the boss's questions about his qualifications. Instead he appealed to the boss' sympathy. He committed the fallacy of Ad Misericordiam. Do you understand?"
“是的，真糟糕,”我顺着她说，“但这没用。那人根本没有回答老板提出的关于他所具备的资历问题，反而他想求得老板的同情。他文不对题。你懂吗？”
"Have you got a handkerchief?" she blubbered.
“你有手帕吗？”她啜泣着。
