The Three New Yorks三个纽约

By Elwin Brooks White

There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born here, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size and its turbulences as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter—the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something.

大致说来有三个纽约。首先是那些土生土长的男男女女的纽约，他们对这座城市习以为常，认为它有这样的规模和喧嚣，乃是自然而然、不可避免的。其次是家住郊区、乘公交车到市内上班的人们的纽约--这座城市每到白天就被如蝗的人群吞噬进去，每到晚上又给吐出来。第三是外来人的纽约，他们生于他乡，到纽约来寻求机缘。

Of these three trembling cities the greatest is the last—the city of final destination, the city that is a goal. It is this third city that accounts for New York’s high-strung disposition, its poetic deportment, its dedication to the arts, and its incomparable achievements.

在这三座充满骚动的城市中，最了不起的是最后一座--那座被视为最终归宿的城市，视为追寻目标的城市。正是由于这第三座城市，纽约才有了紧张的秉性、诗人的气质、对艺术的执着追求、无与伦比的成就。