Only once during his very first few days did I get a sense that this willful but accommodating, laid-back, water-over-my-back, unflappable, unfazed twenty-four-year-old who was so heedlessly okay with so many things in life was, in fact, a thoroughly alert, cold, sagacious judge of character and situations. Nothing he did or said was unpremeditated. He saw through everybody, but he saw through them precisely because the first thing he looked for in people was the very thing he had seen in himself and may not have wished others to see. He was, as my mother was scandalized to learn one day, a supreme poker player who’d escape into town at night twice a week or so to “play a few hands.” This was why, to our complete surprise, he had insisted on opening a bank account on the very day of his arrival. None of our residents had ever had a local bank account. Most didn’t have a penny.
在他初来的那几天，只有一次，我感觉到这个固执却乐与人方便，悠然自得、满不在乎、沉着冷静、泰然自若，并且对生活中这么多事都毫不介怀的二十四岁青年，实际上对他人性格和事态形势有着十足敏锐、冷静精明的判断。他的言行无一不经过算计。他看透每一个人，但他之所以能够看透，正是因为他第一眼去寻找的就是他在自己身上见到而不愿意被别人窥见的部分。好比我母亲有一天震惊地发现他原来是扑克高手，每周约有两晚溜进城去“玩几手”。完全出乎我们的意料，原来这就是他抵达当天就坚持要在银行开户的原因。我们的住客多半身无分文，从来没人拥有本地银行的户头。
It had happened during a lunch when my father had invited a journalist who had dabbled in philosophy in his youth and wanted to show that, though he had never written about Heraclitus, he could still spar on any matter under the sun. He and Oliver didn’t hit it off. Afterward, my father had said, “A very witty man—damn clever too.” “Do you really think so, Pro8?” Oliver interrupted, unaware that my father, while very easygoing himself, did not always like being contradicted, much less being called Pro, though he went along with both. “Yes, I do,” insisted my father. “Well, I’m not sure I agree at all. I find him arrogant, dull, flat-footed, and coarse. He uses humor and a lot of voice”—Oliver mimicked the man’s gravitas—“and broad gestures to nudge his audience because he is totally incapable of arguing a case. The voice thing is so over the top, Pro. People laugh at his humor not because he is funny but because he telegraphs his desire to be funny. His humor is nothing more than a way of winning over people he can’t persuade.
某天午餐时，父亲邀请一名年少时对哲学颇有涉猎的记者，记者想证明虽然他从没写过关于赫拉克利特的文章，还是能就世界上的任何事与人辩论。这记者与奥利弗完全合不来。事后，父亲说那记者“很机智，也很聪明”，奥利弗却打断问道：“您真的这么想吗，教授？”奥利弗不了解我父亲虽然性格随和，却未必喜欢别人反驳他的意见，更讨厌别人称他“教授”，即使他表面上对这两件事往往不动声色。“是，我是这么想。”父亲对自己的见解颇为坚持，奥利弗却模仿那记者正经严肃的样子说道：“我恐怕难以苟同。我认为他傲慢自大、沉闷无趣、迟钝笨拙，又粗俗不堪。他看似幽默，利用很多声音和夸张的动作来说服听众，因为他根本说不出一套道理。声音这一点实在太过火了，教授。大家被他的幽默逗笑，不是因为他有趣，而是因为他无意间流露出他渴望别人觉得他有趣。他的幽默只不过是用来拉拢自己无法说服的对象的手段而已。
在他初来的那几天，只有一次，我感觉到这个固执却乐与人方便，悠然自得、满不在乎、沉着冷静、泰然自若，并且对生活中这么多事都毫不介怀的二十四岁青年，实际上对他人性格和事态形势有着十足敏锐、冷静精明的判断。他的言行无一不经过算计。他看透每一个人，但他之所以能够看透，正是因为他第一眼去寻找的就是他在自己身上见到而不愿意被别人窥见的部分。好比我母亲有一天震惊地发现他原来是扑克高手，每周约有两晚溜进城去“玩几手”。完全出乎我们的意料，原来这就是他抵达当天就坚持要在银行开户的原因。我们的住客多半身无分文，从来没人拥有本地银行的户头。
It had happened during a lunch when my father had invited a journalist who had dabbled in philosophy in his youth and wanted to show that, though he had never written about Heraclitus, he could still spar on any matter under the sun. He and Oliver didn’t hit it off. Afterward, my father had said, “A very witty man—damn clever too.” “Do you really think so, Pro8?” Oliver interrupted, unaware that my father, while very easygoing himself, did not always like being contradicted, much less being called Pro, though he went along with both. “Yes, I do,” insisted my father. “Well, I’m not sure I agree at all. I find him arrogant, dull, flat-footed, and coarse. He uses humor and a lot of voice”—Oliver mimicked the man’s gravitas—“and broad gestures to nudge his audience because he is totally incapable of arguing a case. The voice thing is so over the top, Pro. People laugh at his humor not because he is funny but because he telegraphs his desire to be funny. His humor is nothing more than a way of winning over people he can’t persuade.
某天午餐时，父亲邀请一名年少时对哲学颇有涉猎的记者，记者想证明虽然他从没写过关于赫拉克利特的文章，还是能就世界上的任何事与人辩论。这记者与奥利弗完全合不来。事后，父亲说那记者“很机智，也很聪明”，奥利弗却打断问道：“您真的这么想吗，教授？”奥利弗不了解我父亲虽然性格随和，却未必喜欢别人反驳他的意见，更讨厌别人称他“教授”，即使他表面上对这两件事往往不动声色。“是，我是这么想。”父亲对自己的见解颇为坚持，奥利弗却模仿那记者正经严肃的样子说道：“我恐怕难以苟同。我认为他傲慢自大、沉闷无趣、迟钝笨拙，又粗俗不堪。他看似幽默，利用很多声音和夸张的动作来说服听众，因为他根本说不出一套道理。声音这一点实在太过火了，教授。大家被他的幽默逗笑，不是因为他有趣，而是因为他无意间流露出他渴望别人觉得他有趣。他的幽默只不过是用来拉拢自己无法说服的对象的手段而已。
