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LessonThirteenSelectedSnobberies1LessonThirteenSelectedSnobberies13-1Allmenaresnobsaboutsomething.Oneisalmosttemptedtoadd:Thereisnothingaboutwhichmencannotfeelsnobbish.Butthiswoulddoubtlessbeanexaggeration.Therearecertaindisfiguringandmortaldiseasesaboutwhichtherehasprobablyneverbeenanysnobbery.Icannotimagine,forexam4ple,thatthereareanyleprosy-snobs.Morepicturesquediseases,evenwhentheyaredangerous,andlessdangerousdiseases,particularlywhentheyarethediseasesoftherich,canbeandveryfrequentlyareasourceofsnobbishself-importance.Ihavemetseveraladolescentconsumption-snobs,whothoughtthatitwouldberomantictofadeawayintheflowerofyouth,likeKeatsorMarieBashkirtseff.Alas,thefinalstagesoftheconsumptivefadingaregenerallyagooddeallessromanticthantheseingenuousyoungtubercle-snobsseemtoimagine.Toanyonewhohasactuallywitnessedthesefinalstages,thecomplacentpoeticizingsoftheseadolescentsmustseemasexasperatingastheyareprofoundlypathetic.Inthecaseofthosecommonerdisease-snobs,whoseclaimtodistinctionisthattheysufferfromoneofthemaladiesoftherich,exasperationisnottemperedbyverymuchsympathy.势利种种所有的人都有势利之处。甚至想再补充一句：世界上没有不让人有势利之感的事物。但这毫无疑问是个夸张。因为没有人对那些损坏人的容颜或致命的疾病怀有势利之感。例如，我无法想象会有人对麻风病产生势利，一些较引人注目的疾病，特别是那些富人常得的病，无论危险还是不太危险，都有可能成为而且通常成为那些具有势利心态的人自以为高贵的根源。我遇到过几个年轻的肺病势利者，他们认为如果能像济慈和玛丽巴什基尔采夫那样在青年时代的大好时期逐渐死亡是无比浪漫的。唉，结核病的晚期通常远不像这些单纯的年轻的肺病势利者所想象的那样浪漫面对这些自以为是的青年人给予肺病的这种诗意，对于任何一个亲眼目睹肺病末期的人，这些青年人的自满诗情必定会显得令人恼恨又令人可怜。至于那些常见的疾病势利者，他们因患了夫人易得的病便自称与众不同，对他们更没有多少同情来减少对他们的恼恨了。LessonThirteenSelectedSnobberies2Peoplewhopossesssufficientleisure,sufficientwealth,nottomentionsufficienthealth,togotravellingfromspatospa.fromdoctortofashionabledoctor,insearchofcuresfromproblematicaldiseases(which,insofarastheyexistatall.probablyhavetheirsourceinovereating)cannotexpectustobe.verylavishinoursolicitudeandpity.13-2Disease-snobberyisonlyoneoutofagreatmultitudeofsnobberies,ofwhichnowsome,nowotherstakeprideofplaceingeneralesteem.Forsnobberiesebbandflow;theirempirerises,declines,andfallsinthemostapprovedhistoricalmanner.Whatweregoodsnobberiesahundredyearsagoarenowoutoffashion.Thus,thesnobberyoffamilyiseverywhereonthedecline.Thesnobberyofculture,stillstrong,hasnowtowrestlewithanorganizedandactivelow-browism,withasnobberyofignoranceandstupidityunique,sofarasIknow,inthewholeofhistory…Hardlylesscharacteristicofourageisthatrepulsivebooze-snobbery,bornofAmericanProhibition.Themaleficinfluences,ofthissnobberyarerapidlyspreadingallovertheworld.EveninFrance,wheretheexistenceofsomanyvarietiesofdeliciouswinehadhithertoimposedajudiciousconnoisseurshipandhasledtothebrandingofmeredrinkingasabrutishsolecism,eveninFrancetheAmericanbooze-snobbery,withitsodiousaccompanimentsatasteforharddrinksingeneralandforcocktailsinparticularismakingheadwayamongtherich.那些拥有充足的闲暇时间，充足的金钱、更不用说充沛的精力的人，为了治疗他们的疾病（如果确实有病的话，很可能是过食所致），他们不停地从一个矿泉疗养地到另一个矿泉疗养地，从一个医生到另一个时髦医生。这些人是不可能得到我们充分的关切和同情的。疾病势利使众多势利中的一种。在这众多的势利中，此时是这种疾病，而过了一些时间却又是另一种疾病赢得人们的仰慕。由于各种势利的消长，他们各自的帝国也以最为公认的历史性方式兴起、衰落、消亡。仍然强盛的文化势利感，现在必须和有组织、有活力的粗俗之流拼搏，以及和我所知的整个历史上独一无二的愚昧与愚蠢势利去拼搏。令人厌倦的纵酒势利使我们这个时代的另一个同等特点，这种势利的不良影响正很快地波及整个世界。在法国，由于这里长期以来盛产多种美酒，法国人因此对酒很有鉴赏力。在那里，饮烈性酒被看作是一种粗野的失礼行为，即使在法国，美国的狂饮势利及其可憎的附属品——对烈性酒的普遍喜好，尤其是对鸡尾酒的嗜好——正是法国富人中日渐兴盛起来，由于对烈酒的势利感，有教养的男子和葱15岁到70岁之间一切年龄有教养的妇女（这一点很新奇），LessonThirteenSelectedSnobberies3Boozesnobberyhasnowmadeitsociallypermissible,andinsomecirclesevenrathercreditable,forwell-brought-upmenand(thisisthenovelty)well-broughtupwomenofallages,fromfifteentoseventy,tobeseendrunk,ifnotinpublic,atleastintheverymuchtemperedprivacyofaparty.13-3Modernitysnobbery,thoughnotexclusivetoourage,hascometoassumeanunprecedented,importance.Thereasonsforthisaresimpleandofastrictlyeconomiccharacter.Thankstomodernmachinery,productionisoutrunningconsumption.Organizedwasteamongconsumersisthefirstconditionofourindustrialprosperity.Thesooneraconsumerthrowsawaytheobjecthehasboughtandbuysanother,thebetterfortheproducer.Atthesametime,ofcourse,theproducermustdohisbitbyproducingnothingbutthemostperishablearticles,Themanwhobuildsaskyscrapertolastmorethanfortyyearsis,atraitortothebuildingtrade.ThewordsarethoseofagreatAmericancontractor.Substitutemotor-car,boot,suitofclothes,etc.,forskyscraper,andoneyear;threemonths,sixmonths,andsoonforfortyyears,andyouhavethegospelofanyleaderofanymodernindustry,Themodernity-snob,itisobvious,isthisindustrialist'sbestfriend.Formodernity-snobsnaturallytendtothrowawaytheiroldpossessionsandbuynewonesatagreaterratethanthosewhoarenotmodernity-snobs.如果不能在公众场合喝醉，在有多人参加的私人宴会上是允许喝醉的，在某些圈子里喝醉还被赞赏。新潮势利虽然不是我们这个时代的特有产物，但却有着空前的重要性。原因很简单，完全是经济上的。由于现代机器生产大于消费。消费者有组织的浪费是我们的工业得以繁荣的首要条件。消费者弃旧购新的速度越快，对生产商就越有利。当然，与此同时，制造商要尽自己的努力，只生产最不耐用的产品。“建造一座寿命超过40年的大楼的人，就是建筑业的叛徒。”这是美国的一个大包工商所说的话。如果用汽车、靴子、套服等等代替摩天大楼，用一年、三个月、六个月等等代替40年，你就会得出现代工业界领导人的信条。很显然，新潮势利感是工业家最好的朋友。LessonThirteenSelectedSnobberies4Thereforeitisintheproducer'sinteresttoencouragemodernity-snobbery.Whichinfacthedoesdoonanenormousscaleandtothetuneofmillionsandmillionsayearbymeansofadvertising.Thenewspapersdotheirbesttohelpthosewhohelpthem;andtothefloodofadvertisementisaddedafloodoflessdirectlypaid-f