5.3 “回顾”思维

5.3 “回顾”思维

前面提到过，完成时态的本质思维就是用来“回顾（retrospect）”。这一本质思维应用到现在完成时中，就是表示站在“现在时间”的角度回顾“过去”。既然是回顾自己从过去到现在的经历，因此现在完成时态的这种思维用法在个人自传中应该是少不了的。下面这篇短文是选自英国著名的哲学家、数学家和散文家伯特兰·罗素（Bertrand Russell, 1872-1970）的自传（The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell）的前言部分，请读者注意里面现在完成时的表达。

1 What I Have Lived for

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.

I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I have sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.

Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I can’t, and I too suffer.

This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

妙语点睛　罗素在其自传中回顾自己一生的时候，频繁地使用了现在完成时态，如标题中的have lived，以及从开篇的have governed直到最后的结语has been和have found。作者通过使用这些完成时态，来表明自己“从过去一直到现在”这段有生之年一直被三种激情所控制（have governed my life）：对爱的渴望、对知识的探索和对人类所遭受的苦难的同情。随后，作者用了大量的现在完成时来说明自己为什么一生在追求这三种激情，因为“爱和知识能够把人类引向天堂，而同情却把人类带回尘世”。他渴望减少人间的痛苦与邪恶，但却无能为力，所以他也心受折磨。在最后，罗素用现在完成时总结说：“This has been my life.”。因为他是在回顾自己的一生经历，所以必然要用“现在完成时”这样一个横贯过去与现在的时态来作出“这就是我的一生”这样的结语。若单纯地用一般现在时说成“This is my life.”，那只表明他目前的生活状态——“这就是我现在的生活”，而失去了“回顾过去、纵观一生”的思想内涵。由此可见，两句话的含义完全不同，而这种差别就是通过句子谓语动词的时态变化（由has been到is）表达出来的。由此也足以证明，完成时态具有“回顾”性这一本质的思维特征。只要抓住这一本质思维，完成时态的各种用法便迎刃而解了。

精品译文　我生之所求

我的一生被三种简单却又无比强烈的激情所控制：对爱的渴望，对知识的探索和对人类苦难难以忍受的同情。这些激情像狂风，把我恣情吹向四方，掠过苦痛的大海，乃至使我濒临绝望的边缘。

我寻求爱，首先因为它使我心为之着迷，这种难以名状的美妙迷醉之感，使我愿意用所有的余生去换取哪怕几个小时这样的幸福。我寻求爱，还因为它能缓解我心里的孤独，在这种可怕的孤独中，我感觉心灵的战栗，仿如站在世界的边缘而面前是冰冷、无底的死亡深渊。我寻求爱，还因为在我所目睹的爱的结合中，我仿佛看到了圣贤和诗人们所设想的天堂之景。这就是我所寻找的，虽然对人的一生而言似乎有些遥不可及，但至少是我用尽一生所领悟到的。

我用同样的激情去寻求知识。我希望能够理解人类的心灵，希望能够知道群星闪烁的原因。我试图领悟毕达哥拉斯所景仰的“数即万物”的思想。我已经悟出了其中的一点点道理，尽管并不是很多。

爱和知识，用它们的力量把我引向天堂，但是同情却总把我又拽回到尘世中来。痛苦的呼喊声回荡在我的内心。饥饿中的孩子，压迫下的难民，被儿女们当作负担的无助的老人，还有这整个充满了孤独、贫穷和痛苦的世界，都是对人类所憧憬的美好生活无情的嘲弄。我渴望能够减少邪恶，但是我无能为力，甚至连我自己也难免于备受其折磨。

这就是我的一生。我已经找到了它的价值，而且如果有机会，我很愿意能再活它一次。

我们下面再看看美国前总统克林顿在2001年1月18日作卸任演说时，是怎样通过现在完成时态来“回顾”和吹嘘自己的政绩的：

2 In all the work I have done as president, every decision I have made, every executive action I have taken, every bill I have proposed and signed, I’ve tried to give all Americans the tools and conditions to build the future of our dreams, in a good society, with a strong economy, a cleaner environment, and a freer, safer, more prosperous world. （Selection of President Bill Clinton’s farewell address to the nation on Jan. 18, 2001.）

妙语点睛　克林顿用了现在完成时表明他从1993年1月20日上台当总统以来到目前为止（即2001年1月18日，他演说的当天），是如何尽心尽力地“为美国人民提供途径和创造条件，来实现美国未来的梦想”的。克林顿在演讲时，显然还是美国总统，所以这种“回顾”性的演说，他当然要用“现在完成时态”来向世人宣称自己在过去八年里的“丰功伟绩”。

精品译文　（在过去的八年里）作为总统，我所做的每一项工作，作出的每一个决策，采取的每一个行政措施，以及提议并签署的每一个法案，都是在尽力为全体美国人民提供途径和创造条件，来实现美国未来的梦想——社会稳定、经济繁荣、环境美好，进而使得全世界更自由、更安全、更繁荣。

同时值得注意的是，如果克林顿现在再说这番话，那他就该用“一般过去时态”了，因为他现在已不是总统。比如他要这么说：

In all the work I did as president, every decision I made, every executive action I took, every bill I proposed and signed, I tried to give all Americans the tools and conditions to build the future of our dreams, in a good society, with a strong economy, a cleaner environment, and a freer, safer, more prosperous world.

由此可见，英语时态是与说话的时间点和语境密切相关的活生生的思维表达，而不是僵化的死规则。

2002年2月21日是美国前总统尼克松秘密访华30周年的纪念日，次日，美国时任总统小布什在中国著名高等学府清华大学发表了演说。我们来看看小布什是如何使用“现在完成时态”来“回顾”中美外交30年的风雨历程的：

3 During the 30 years since, America and China have exchanged many handshakes of friendship and commerce. And as we have had more contact with each other, the citizens of both countries have gradually learned more about each other. And that’s important.

自从那时以来的30年当中（作者注：指1972尼克松首次访华到2002年这30年），美国和中国已经握过多次的友谊之手和商业之手。随着我们两国间接触的日益频繁，我们两国的国民也逐渐地加深了对彼此的了解，这是非常重要的。

（注：尼克松总统于1972年2月21日秘密访华，从而打破了中美两国外交的坚冰；1979年1月1日中美两国正式建立外交关系；同年3月1日，两国互派大使，在对方首都建立大使馆。）

小布什作完演讲后（注：本节后面附有小布什这次演讲的节选，供读者欣赏），接受了清华大学学生的提问。当有位学生问到有关台湾问题时，小布什作了如下表态：

4 We’ve had many discussions with your leaders, and I’ve reiterated support for the“One China”policy. It’s been my government’s policy for a long period of time, and I haven’t changed it.

妙语点睛　我们看到，这里短短的几句话，小布什全部用了现在完成时态，强调自从尼克松总统首次访华及后来的中美建交以来，中美两国之间在不断地交流、交往、增加接触、加强了解，以及美国政府对“一个中国”政策的一贯支持。

精品译文　我同你们的领导人有过很多的沟通和交流，我本人也一再重申支持“一个中国”的政策，而且这也是我们政府的一贯政策，我不会改变。

我们可以想象，如果小布什用了一般过去时态，说成：

The“One China”policy was my government’s policy for a long period of time. （我们美国政府曾经在很长一段时间内坚持了“一个中国”的政策。）

这句话的言外之意是，现在美国政府不再坚持这个重要政策了，那么接下来的一句话他就不会说“I haven’t changed it.”，而是要说“I have changed it. （但我现在已经改变了这个政策。）”。

果真如此，那真是中美两国人民的灾难，但愿也相信这样的事情不会发生！

思维总结

本节通过三段经典短文，想让读者真正理解完成时态的核心思维意义是“回顾”。另外，需要提醒读者注意的是，虽然这里列举了现在完成时态的例子，但这种“回顾”性的思维特征对于过去完成时态和将来完成时态同样适用。

思维训练5.3 Key

一、请分析和体会第一句话中的完成时态has been所反映出来的“回顾”性思维，并把该对话翻译成中文。

1. A: So here we are at the end of the 20th century, and what a century it has been !

B: Yes. When the century began, who would have ever imagined that cars, planes, movies, radios, televisions, telephones, videos and Internet would be taken for granted.

A: I wonder what it will be like in the 21st century.

B: From the great advances in these past years I assume that we will be entering a new golden age of miracles and wonders.

A: Yes, life will be fantastic in the next century.

二、请判断下列语境中该用何种时态。

在每周的周末回顾这一周的忙碌经历时，你可以说：

2. This ______ (be) a hectic week.

在年末总结时，你可以说：

3. This ______ (be) a difficult year.

如果你是在年初时预测，你可以说成：

4. This ______ (be) a difficult year.

附录：2002年2月22日美国前总统小布什清华大学演说节选

My visit to China comes on an important anniversary, as the vice president mentioned. Thirty years ago this week an American president arrived in China on a trip designed to end decades of estrangement and confront centuries of suspicion. President Richard Nixon showed the world that two vastly different governments could meet on the grounds of common interest in the spirit of mutual respect.

As they left the airport that day, Premier Zhou Enlai said this to President Nixon:“Your handshake came over the vastest ocean in the world—25 years of no communication.”

During the 30 years since, America and China have exchanged many handshakes of friendship and commerce. And as we have had more contact with each other, the citizens of both countries have gradually learned more about each other. And that’s important.

Once America knew China only by its history as a great and enduring civilization. Today we see a China that is still defined by noble traditions of family, scholarship and honor. And we see a China that is becoming one of the most dynamic and creative societies in the world, as demonstrated by the knowledge and potential right here in this room.

China is on a rising path, and America welcomes the emergence of a strong and peaceful and prosperous China.