首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
If, besides the accomplishments of being witty and ill-natured, a man is vicious into the bargain, he is one of the most mischie
If, besides the accomplishments of being witty and ill-natured, a man is vicious into the bargain, he is one of the most mischie
admin
2019-08-27
58
问题
If, besides the accomplishments of being witty and ill-natured, a man is vicious into the bargain, he is one of the most mischievous creatures that can enter into a civil society. His satire will then chiefly fall upon those who ought to be the most exempt from it. Virtue, merit, and everything that is praiseworthy, will be made the subject of ridicule and buffoonery. It is impossible to enumerate the evils which arise from these arrows that fly in the dark; and I know no other excuse that is or can be made for them, than that the wounds they give are only imaginary, and produce nothing more than a secret shame or sorrow in the mind of the suffering person. It must indeed be confessed that a lampoon or a satire do not carry in them robbery or murder; but at the same time, how many are there that would not rather lose a considerable sum of money, or even life itself, than be set up as a mark of infamy and derision? And in this case a man should consider that an injury is not to be measured by the notions of him that gives, but of him that receives it.
Those who can put the best countenance upon the outrages of this nature which are offered them, are not without their secret anguish. I have often observed a passage in Socrates’ behavior at his death in a light wherein none of the critics have considered it. That excellent man entertaining his friends a little before he drank the bowl of poison, with a discourse on the immortality of the soul, at his entering upon it says that he does not believe any the most comic genius can censure him for talking upon such a subject at such at a time. This passage, I think, evidently glances upon Aristophanes, who wrote a comedy on purpose to ridicule the discourses of that divine philosopher. It has been observed by many writers that Socrates was so little moved at this piece of buffoonery, that he was several times present at its being acted upon the stage, and never expressed the least resentment of it. But, with submission, I think the remark I have here made shows us that this unworthy treatment made an impression upon his mind, though he had been too wise to discover it. When Julius Caesar was lampooned by Catullus, he invited him to a supper, and treated him with such a generous civility, that he made the poet his friend ever after. Cardinal Mazarine gave the same kind of treatment to the learned Quillet, who had reflected upon his eminence in a famous Latin poem. The cardinal sent for him, and, after some kind expostulations upon what he had written, assured him of his esteem, and dismissed him with a promise of the next good abbey that should fall, which he accordingly conferred upon him in a few months after. This had so good an effect upon the author, that he dedicated the second edition of his book to the cardinal, after having expunged the passages which had given him offence. Though in the various examples which I have here drawn together, these several great men behaved themselves very differently towards the wits of the age who had reproached them, they all of them plainly showed that they were very sensible of their reproaches, and consequently that they received them as very great injuries. For my own part, I would never trust a man that I thought was capable of giving these secret wounds; and cannot but think that he would hurt the person, whose reputation he thus assaults, in his body or in his fortune. He could do it with the same security. There is indeed something very barbarous and inhuman in the ordinary scribblers of lampoons. I have indeed heard of heedless, inconsiderate writers that, without any malice, have sacrificed the reputation of their friends and acquaintance to a certain levity of temper, and a silly ambition of distinguishing themselves by a spirit of raillery and satire; as if it were not infinitely more honourable to be a good-natured man than a wit. Where there is this little petulant humor in an author, he is often very mischievous without designing to be so.
According to the author, those who want to trivialize satire tend to suggest that______.
选项
A、the damage is immaterial
B、the effect is mere buffoonery
C、wit is a streak of genius
D、the mischief must be taken in a spirit of raillery
答案
A
解析
根据文中的“His satire will then chiefly fall upon those who ought to be the most exempt from it...It is impossible to enumerate the evils which arise from these arrows that fly in the dark”可知,讽刺文学主要抨击那些最不应该受此待遇的人。要列举这些恶行是不可能的,因为它们来自那些暗箭。据此可知,A项“伤害是无形的"正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/kZUO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Historianshaveonlyrecentlybeguntonotetheincreaseindemandforluxurygoodsandservicesthattookplacein18th-century
RogerRosenblatt’sbookBlackFiction,inattemptingtoapplyliteraryratherthansociopoliticalcriteriatoitssubject,succe
Sleepisanimportantpartofourlives.Wespendaboutone-thirdofourlivessleeping.Formillionsofpeople,【C1】______,gett
Ofalltheareasoflearningthemostimportantisthedevelopmentofattitudes.Emotionalreactionsaswellaslogicalthought
Americanstodaydon’tplaceaveryhighvalueonintellect.Ourheroesareathletes,entertainers,andentrepreneurs,notschola
Agreatdealofattentionisbeingpaidtodaytotheso-calleddigitaldivide—thedivisionoftheworldintotheinfo(informatio
Hedidnotrelishappealingamongsthisfriendsand______oftheircriticismorcensure.
Greatworksareperformednotbystrengthbutbypersistence.
Thediversityoftropicalplantsintheregionrepresentsaseemingly______sourceofrawmaterials,ofwhichonlyafewhavebe
Whichofthefollowingistrue,accordingtothewriter?FindingabargainontheInternetwasgettingeasierpartlybecause___
随机试题
企业于2016年10月8日预付2017年度财产保险费,按权责发生制核算,该项费用应计入的会计期间是
《素问.上古天真论》中关于“丈夫七八”在生理上的表现是
下列关于口腔颌面部有张力创口处理的方法,错误的是
营养不良患儿皮下脂肪逐渐减少或消失,最后累及的部位是
下列关于股权投资基金管理人的说法中,错误的是()。
甲公司记账本位币为人民币,2×19年1月1日,甲公司购入乙公司同日发行的面值总额为2000万美元的债券,购入时实际支付价款2078.98万美元,另支付交易费用10万美元。该债券系分期付息、到期还本债券,期限为5年,票面年利率为5%,实际年利率为4%,每年1
一切从实际出发,是我们制定路线、方针的基本原则。现阶段中国最大的实际是()。
前庭系统功能正常时,地面生活的人对重力感会有持续性相类似的信息输入,这些感觉信息会与其他感觉信息一起以不断重叠的方式输入大脑,_______。正因为前庭器官随时在告诉我们头和身体的方向,我们的视觉信息才有意义,才能形成空间方位感、判断身体与环境的关系、控制
中国跨过资本主义发展阶段直接进入社会主义社会后,在社会主义建设问题上,中国人民经过反复实践和探索,又走上了建设中国特色社会主义的成功之路。这一事实说明
Americanarchitectureis(71)itsbestwhenitisconcernedwith(72)thathaveapracticalpurpose.Factories,officebuild
最新回复
(
0
)