Happy Life at a Tavern
小客栈的乐趣
James Boswell
詹姆斯·鲍斯韦尔
We dined at an excellent inn at Chapelhouse, where Dr. Johnson expatiated on the felicity of England in its taverns and inns, and triumphed over the French for not having, in any perfection, the tavern life. "There is no private house," said he, "in which people can enjoy themselves so well as at a capital tavern. Let there be ever so great plenty of good things, ever so much grandeur, ever so much elegance, ever so much desire that everybody should be easy, in the nature of things it cannot be: there must always be some degree of care and anxiety. The master of the house is anxious to entertain his guests; the guests are anxious to be agreeable to him; and no man but a very impudent dog indeed can as freely command what is in another’s house as if it were his own. Whereas at a tavern there is a general freedom from anxiety. You are sure you are welcome; the more noise you make, the more trouble you give, the more good things you call for, the welcomer you are. No servants will attend you with the alacrity which waiters do, who are excited with the prospect of an immediate reward in proportion as they please. No, sir; there is nothing which has as yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.
我们在查普尔壕斯一家极好的小客栈里吃饭，约翰逊博土在那儿详细叙述了英格兰的小客栈和小旅馆的妙处，并得意洋洋地指出法国人没有任何这等完美的小客栈生活。“任何私人住宅，”他说，“都不能使人们象在一家顶好的小客栈里那样舒适愉快。尽管那里好东西应有尽有，尽管屋宇是那样的宏伟，陈设是那样的雅致，尽管主人一心一意要让每个人都感到自由自在，而实标上这是不可能实现的。相反，那里总是有着某种程度的顾虑和急切的心情。屋主人要小心地招待客人，客人要留神地迎合主人。除了非常无礼的鲁莽家伙，决没有人在别人的屋于里会象在自己家里那样可以随心所欲，颐指气使。然而在小客栈里就根本没有这种顾虑了。在这里，你肯定是受欢迎的，你嗓门越大，你越添麻烦，你要的好东西越多，你就越受欢迎。没有一个仆人会象受到小费刺激的店倌那样殷勤地侍候你，因为店倌的侍候越中意，你给小费越慷慨。没有的，先生，在人类迄今所创造的一切事物中，没有什么能象一家优美的乡村小客栈或者小旅馆那样给人们提供那么多的乐趣。”
