World Enough,and Time

By Robert Klose

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Allow me to introduce myself: I am the last man in America who has time.

If you should run into1. run into: 偶然遇见，碰上。me on the street, I will have time to chat with you.If you invite me for tea, I will seize the opportunity and savor2. savor: 尽情享受，品尝。a cup. Should dinner be on offer, I will be punctual and pull my weight as a convivial conversationalist at your table.3. 若是你邀我共进晚餐，我必会准时抵达，在餐桌上侃侃而谈，尽作为客人的本分。punctual:准时的，守时的； pull one’s weight: 努力做好自己分内的工作；convivial: 欢乐的，友好的；conversationalist: 健谈的人，谈话者。

But, in the words of the poet John Donne, “all pleasures fancies be.”4. John Donne: 约翰·多恩（1572—1631），英国玄学派诗人；all pleasures fancies be: 所有的快乐都是虚幻的。The problem with having time, when nobody else seems to, is that one becomes a sort of islet, or rogue planet, with little connection to one’s surroundings.5. 问题在于，当其他人均无闲暇时，有闲暇之人似乎就成为了一个孤岛，或离群的星球，与周遭几乎失去了联系。islet: 小岛；rogue: 离群而危险的。

When did people become so busy? Sometimes I think it happened when shopping, instead of being a necessity or occasional pleasure, became a form of entertainment. At other times I blame it on the computer, with honorary mention given to “smart” phones, for creating appetites that can never be sated,no matter how intently we stare at the movable feast on the screen, no matter how incessantly we peck away at our keyboards.6. 有时候，我会归罪于电脑，尤其要将此“荣誉”颁给“智能”手机，因为它们令我们产生了永远无法满足的欲望，无论我们多么目不转睛地盯着屏幕上的移动盛宴，无论我们多么持续地敲打键盘。sate: 使心满意足，使饱享；incessantly: 不间断地，持续地；peck away: 连续敲击。These devices have become a time sink,7. device: 装置，设备；time sink: 时间陷阱。absorbing moments the way a black hole absorbs light.

It wasn’t always like this.

The days, the seasons, the years used to be punctuated with lax moments.8. punctuate: 不时打断，穿插；lax: 不认真的，放纵的。Sundays, for example, were days of repose, replete with closed stores and empty highways.9. repose: 休息，休养；be replete with: 充满。It was a sort of unwritten law that one should not telephone another person beyond a certain evening hour. And then there were the holidays, which were set aside for family time rather than a trip to the mall.

过去，提到形容“慢”的词语，如闲庭信步、慢条斯理、不疾不徐等，我们还是褒多贬少。在如今“快餐化”的世界里，“快”是一种不容分说的时尚，躲也躲不开的潮流。饮食“快餐化”，娱乐“快餐化”，就连人与人之间的感情也“快餐化”了。为什么我们想说慢如此不易？

The compulsion10. compulsion: 强迫性冲动，强迫行为。to fill every moment with activity has been called “the American sickness.” I have grown accustomed to the predictability11. predictability: 可预测性。of the response when I run into a friend or acquaintance and ask, “How are you?” The inevitable answer: “Busy!”

A singular example: I recently spotted an old friend as he hurried off to wherever it was he was going, and I called out to him.12. singular: 突出的，非凡的；spot: 认出，发现。He stopped to acknowledge me, but I could tell from his body language and the checking of his watch that I had upended him.13. acknowledge: 对……打招呼，理会；upend: 颠倒，倒放，此处指使某人停留。“I see you’re in a hurry,” I said. “Why don’t we get together to catch up14. catch up: 叙旧。?”

Looking pained, he bit his lip. “I should have a free hour in June,” he said before continuing on his way.

“But this is March!” I remarked.

“Check with me in a few months,” he yelled over his shoulder. “I’m very busy!”Maybe my problem, then, is that I am nostalgic15. nostalgic: 怀旧的。with a too-good memory.I came of age when one walked for the sake of walking, with no particular destination in mind.16. 在我的那个年代，人们就是为了散步而散步，没有明确的目的地。for the sake of: 由于，为了。I recall evenings lying on the sofa, reading. Sunday drives.Tinkering17. tinker: 无事忙，瞎忙一阵。. All of these leisurely undertakings gave me the freedom of time to pause should a familiar face present itself. Whoever I was in those days, that person still resides within me and looks on in wonder while the rest of the world seems to have cycled into a blur of ceaseless activity.18. 那些日子的我仍驻留在如今的我的体内，满心惊奇地向外窥视，因为外面的世界似乎发展成了一片纷纷扰扰的无尽浑噩。reside: 居住于，定居于；cycle: 循环，轮转；blur: 模糊。

I find that I align myself squarely with what Socrates once said: “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.”19. align oneself with: 公开支持，与……结盟；squarely: 坚定地，完全地；Socrates:苏格拉底（公元前469年—前399年），古希腊哲学家，被认为是西方哲学的奠基者；barrenness: 荒芜，无益。Or Robert Frost, whose poem title put it succinctly:“I Could Give All to Time.”20. Robert Frost: 罗伯特·弗罗斯特（1874—1963），美国诗人，曾四度获得普利策奖；succinctly: 简洁地，简明扼要地。More recently there has erupted a so-called Slow Movement, which, according to Wikipedia, “advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace.”21. erupt:（通常是突然而猛烈地）由抑制状态爆发出来；advocate: 提倡，主张。

So I do have kindred spirits22. kindred spirit: 性情相投的人，有共同兴趣的人。after all, and perhaps a place to call home. I would formally join the Slow Movement, but I hesitate, fearing that, like any organization, it would make inordinate23. inordinate: 过度的，无节制的。demands on my time.

In any case, come June I’ll have a friend to catch up with. That is, if he still has the time to see me.ELL