《乌合之众·第一编·群体的心理·群体的情感与道德》第18节
Quite rightly importance has been laid on the special standpoint from which matters are viewed in the theatre. Such a standpoint exists no doubt, but its rules for the most part have nothing to do with common sense and logic. The art of appealing to crowds is no doubt of an inferior order, but it demands quite special aptitudes. It is often impossible on reading plays to explain their success. Managers of theatres when accepting pieces are themselves, as a rule, very uncertain of their success, because to judge the matter it would be necessary that they should be able to transform themselves into a crowd.[6] [6] It is understandable for this reason why it sometimes happens that pieces refused by all theatrical managers obtain a prodigious success when by a stroke of chance they are put on the stage. The recent success of Francois Coppee's play "Pour la Couronne" is well known, and yet, in spite of the name of its author, it was refused during ten years by the managers of the principal Parisian theatres. "Charley's Aunt," refused at every theatre, and finally staged at the expense of a stockbroker, has had two hundred representations in France, and more than a thousand in London. Without the explanation given above of the impossibility for theatrical managers to mentally substitute themselves for a crowd, such mistakes in judgment on the part of competent individuals, who are most interested not to commit such grave blunders, would be inexplicable. This is a subject that I cannot deal with here, but it might worthily tempt the pen of a writer acquainted with theatrical matters, and at the same time a subtle psychologist--of such a writer, for instance, as M. Francisque Sarcey.
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段用戏剧来论证他关于群体情感的理论，这个例子选得很精准，因为十九世纪末的巴黎正是剧场文化的黄金时代，一出戏的成败往往完全没有规律可循。他要证明的是：群体有自己的判断标准，这个标准与常识和逻辑几乎毫无关系。剧院经理是最了解戏剧行业的人，按理说他们应该最有能力判断一出戏会不会成功，但现实恰恰相反——他们经常看走眼。勒庞举了两个当时巴黎观众都熟悉的例子…