《少年维特的烦恼·第一部·1771 年 5 月至 9 月》第40节
"Shame upon him who can look on calmly, and exclaim, 'The foolish girl! she should have waited; she should have allowed time to wear off the impression; her despair would have been softened, and she would have found another lover to comfort her.' One might as well say, 'The fool, to die of a fever! why did he not wait till his strength was restored, till his blood became calm? all would then have gone well, and he would have been alive now.'" Albert, who could not see the justice of the comparison, offered some further objections, and, amongst others, urged that I had taken the case of a mere ignorant girl. But how any man of sense, of more enlarged views and experience, could be excused, he was unable to comprehend. "My friend!" I exclaimed, "man is but man; and, whatever be the extent of his reasoning powers, they are of little avail when passion rages within, and he feels himself confined by the narrow limits of nature. It were better, then—but we will talk of this some other time," I said, and caught up my hat. Alas! my heart was full; and we parted without conviction on either side. How rarely in this world do men understand each other!
注释摘要
维特在这一节里，为自杀行为所做的辩护达到了整封信中最激烈的顶点。他刚刚向阿尔贝特讲述了一个被恋人抛弃后投水自尽的年轻女子的故事，现在他直接将矛头对准那些站在岸上、用冷静的理性去评判溺水者的人。他先用了一个刻薄的虚拟语调来模仿那种说教——“这傻姑娘，她应该等一等，让时间冲淡印象，绝望自然会软化，她还能找到另一个爱人”——然后立刻用一个极其锐利的类比予以回击：…