After the lecture one of the students in the audience asked Eliot what he thought the most beautiful line in the English language was—an insane question, really, like asking for the largest number. Much to my amazement Eliot answered without the slightest hesitation, "But look, the morn in russet mantle clad / Walks o'er the dew of yon high eastward hill." I asked Spender what he thought the most beautiful line in the English language was. He got up from his chair and in a firm hand wrote a line of Auden's on the blackboard. He looked at it with an expression that I have never forgotten—sadness, wonder, regret, perhaps envy. He recited it slowly and then sat back down. There was total silence in the room. I thanked him, and my companion and I left the class.
讲座后听众中有一个学生问艾略特他认为最美的英文诗句是什么，一个愚蠢的问题，真的，就像问最大的数字是什么一样。令我万分吃惊的是，艾略特毫不犹豫地回答了这个问题，“瞧，清晨披着金黄色的氅蓬，踏着髙山上的露珠从东方走来。”于是我问斯彭德，他认为最美的英文诗句是什么。他从椅子上站起，坚定地在黑板上写下了一行奥登的诗句。他以一种我永难忘怀的复杂表情看着诗句——悲伤、惊叹、悔恨，也许还有妒忌。他慢慢地背诵了一遍，然后坐了回去。房间里悄无声息。我谢了他，与我的女友离开了课堂。
I had not thought of all of this for many years, but recently, for some reason, it all came back to me, nearly. I remembered everything except the line that Spender wrote on the blackboard. All that I could remember for certain was that it had to do with the moon—somehow the moon. My companion of fifteen years ago is my companion no longer: so I could not ask her. I am a compulsive collector of data from my past, mostly in the form of items that were once useful for tax preparation. Perhaps I had saved the program of the conference with the line written down on it. I looked in the envelopes for 1981 and could find no trace of this trip.
我已经很多年没有想过这些事了，可是最近由于某种原因，我几乎又都想起来了。我记得所有的事情，除了斯彭德写在黑板上的那行诗句。我的的确确能够记起来的就是那句诗与月亮有关一反正是某种关于月亮的东西。我十五年前的那位女友如今已经不再是女友了，所以我也没法去问她。我是个收集成癖的人，热衷于收集过去的数据资料，多数资料以条款的形式列出，曾经对返税起了作用。或许我保存了那次会议的章程，上面会写着那句诗。我仔细翻看了装着1981年材料的信封，没有找到一丁点儿关于那次旅行的资料。
来源:可可英语 http://www.kekenet.com/daxue/201912/601015.shtml
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