[10]与此相比，我们美国人今天的物质生活条件比以往任何时候都好，但是却没有以往的快乐和满足。

[11]Like Icelanders, Americans are individualists『个人主义者』. Where we seem to differ is in our sense of community『群体；团体』. Iceland, known as the land of “fire and ice,” is about living with opposing forces. It is one of the most active volcanic countries on earth, but has 4536 square miles of glacier—heat and cold, co-existing. No surprise them that its society can reconcile『使调和；使并存』another set of opposing forces: individualism and the needs of the community.

[11]美国人和冰岛人都是个人主义者，所不同的是各自的群体意识。冰岛以“火和冰”而闻名遐迩，人民生活在逆境之中。冰岛是世界上活火山最多的国家之一，还有4536平方英里的冰川，堪称冷热并存。无怪乎这个国家能很好地协调个人主义和群体需要这两种对立的观念，使之共存共容。

[12]Anyone who thinks Americans invented rugged『粗鲁的；粗俗的』individualism has only to visit Iceland. This nation has an ancient『古代的；远古的』 respect for independence. Way back in the tenth century, Iceland was a commonwealth『共和国；联邦』; today Icelanders still place high value on their freedom.

[12]那些认为是美国人发明了个人主义的人应该到冰岛去看看，这个国家在远古就崇尚独立，早在10世纪就建立了联邦共和国。今天的冰岛人仍然看重自由的价值。

[13]But here’s the paradox『矛盾；似是而非』: this individualism exists with a sense of community. For years I have known an Icelandic family that embraces『包括；接受』a family drunk and an illegitimate『私生的；非法的』child. This family never let them drift, like human flotsam『流浪者；流离失所者』, to be beached『庇护；安顿』at some government institution. “Icelanders have strong systems of support,” says Thorlindsson.

[13]然而，这里的个人主义置于群体意识之中。在冰岛，家庭中的酒鬼和私生子不会被抛弃，这是因为冰岛有强有力的社会救济制度。

[14]Tolerance is not hollow 『表面的；虚伪的』 phrase in Iceland. The word for “stupid”is heimskur, which roughly means “comes from home” — or as we would say, provincial『乡下气的；偏狭的』or narrow-minded. Icelanders believe only a dolt『笨蛋；傻瓜』is unable to see the other fellow’s position. In this sense, they might find some of what passes for political debate『讨论；辩论』in the United States absolutely heimskur.

[14]在冰岛，忍耐并不是一句空话。冰岛话中“愚蠢”的同义词是“乡巴佬””或“心胸狭隘”。冰岛人认为只有傻瓜才不考虑别人的利益。以此观点，冰岛人可能会发现美国某些提交政府讨论的东西是非常愚蠢的。

[15]Most Icelanders travel out into the world as young adults. They learn that theirs is not the only way of doing things. Yet this doesn’t translate into contempt『蔑视；轻视』for their own land and its history.

[15]大多数冰岛人年轻时都要到国外去旅行。于是，他们知道自己的生活方式并非是唯一的，但是，并不会因此看不起自己的国家和历史。

[16]The 12th-century Icelandic sagas『英雄传说』, studied at universities the world over, are revered『尊重；崇拜』at home. Turn on the radio and at the top of the charts『节目播出单；节目安排表』is Bubbi Morthens, a troubadour『吟游诗人』.

[16]在世界上各大学中讲授的冰岛12世纪的传说在国内颇受重视。广播中到处都是吟游诗人巴比·莫森斯的节目。

[17]Last summer in the lava 『火山熔岩』fields of Iceland’s interior 『内地；内陆』, accountant Sigmar Bjornsson pointed out to me a cave where thieves had hidden. He showed me where they stored their weapons, where the villagers attacked, told me how one of the thieves, who had only one leg, walked on his hands to the glacier on the horizon『地平线；水平线』.

[17]去年夏天，在岛内溶岩区，一个叫乔恩森的会计师指给我看一个岩洞，告诉我这岩洞曾是小偷的住所，指给我看他们藏匿武器、伏击村民的地方，并讲述了一个独腿贼是怎样以手代脚爬到地平线上的冰川去的。

[18]“When did they hole up『躲藏；藏匿』here?” I asked.

[18]“他们何时藏身于此？”我问。

[19] “About 900 years ago” was the answer. Nearly a millennium『1000年』, and the myth is still alive『存在；保留』.

[19]“大约900年前。”将近1000年过去了，可这个故事却依然在传诵。

[20]How many Americans have that kind of familiarity with their nation’s past, its myths『神话；传说』, its history? How many even care?

[20]有多少美国人对于自己祖国的过去，传说和历史也那般地熟悉？又有多少人留意过？

[21]I wish America’s multiculturalisms and historical revisionists would grasp『理解；领会』what Icelanders understand: trashing『抛弃；扔掉』your nation’s myths is the wrong way to create a better society. “A nation has to be tolerant of newcomers『新事物』,” say psychiatrist『精神病学家』Niel Micklem. “But if it loses its myths, it loses its center.”

[21]我希望美国的多元文化主义者和历史修正主义者能够理解冰岛人的这种思想：抛弃自己国家的传统来创造更好的社会是一种错误的方式。精神病学家尼尔·米克勒姆说：“一个民族应该接受新东西，但是，一个民族失去了自己的神话，就失去了自我。”

[22]Maybe I’m wrong. But I suspect『猜想；认为』that this loss of “center” is what makes so many Westerners unhappy amid their affluence『丰富；富裕』.

[22]也许我的想法是错误的。但我想正是这种“自我”的失去使得如此众多的西方人在富裕的生活中难以感受到愉快。