---
url: https://gaojian.site/new-concept/book-4/31-the-sculptor-speaks.md
description: 新概念英语第四册：The Sculptor Speaks。精读、词块回忆、双向译练、句法、逻辑与FSRS复习。
---

# 31 · 雕塑家的语言

### 第1段

Appreciation of sculpture depends upon the ability to respond to form in three dimensions. That is perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts; certainly it is more difficult than the arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions. Many more people are "form-blind" than colour-blind. The child learning to see, first distinguishes only two-dimensional shape; it cannot judge distances, depths. Later, for its personal safety and practical needs, it has to develop partly by means of touch the ability to judge roughly three-dimensional distances. But having satisfied the requirements of practical necessity, most people go no further. Though they may attain considerable accuracy in the perception of flat form, they do not make the further intellectual and emotional effort needed to comprehend form in its full spatial existence.
This is what the sculptor must do.He must strive continually to think of, and use, form in its full spatial completeness. He gets the solid shape, as it were, inside his head—he thinks of it, whatever its size, as if he were holding it completely enclosed in the hollow of his hand. He mentally visualizes a complex form from all round itself; he knows while he looks at one side what the other side is like; he identifies himself with its centre of gravity, its mass, its weight; he realizes its volume, as the space that the shape displaces in the air.
And the sensitive observer of sculpture must also learn to feel shape simply as shape, not as description or reminiscence. He must, for example, perceive an egg as a simple single solid shape, quite apart from its significance as food, or from the literary idea that it will become a bird. And so with solids such as a shell, a nut, a plum, a pear, a tadpole, a mushroom, a mountain peak, a kidney, a carrot, a tree-trunk, a bird, a bud, a lark, a ladybird, a bulrush, a bone. From these he can go on to appreciate more complex forms or combinations of several forms.

中文理解：欣赏雕塑，有赖于感受三维形体的能力。这或许就是雕塑被称为最难欣赏的艺术的原因；可以肯定的是，它比欣赏只涉及二维平面形状的艺术更难。“形盲”远比色盲常见。孩子刚开始学习看东西时，只能分辨平面的轮廓，还不会判断距离和深度。后来，出于安全和实际生活的需要，他们必须发展出粗略判断三维空间距离的能力，其中一部分要靠触摸来培养。然而，满足实际需要之后，多数人就不再继续了。他们对平面形状的感知可能已经相当准确，却不再投入进一步的思考和情感，去理解形体完整的空间存在。
而这恰恰是雕塑家必须做到的。他得不断努力，从完整的空间形态去思考和运用形体。可以说，他把整个立体形状装进了脑子里；无论物体有多大，想象时都仿佛把它完整地拢在掌心。他能从各个角度在脑海中看清一个复杂的形体；看着这一面，也知道另一面是什么样；他仿佛亲身感受到它的重心、体量和重量，并把它的体积理解为它在空气中占据的那一块空间。
敏锐的雕塑观赏者也必须学会，仅仅把形体当作形体来感受，而不把它当成某种描绘，或唤起回忆的线索。例如，他要把一枚蛋看成一个简单、完整的立体形状，暂时撇开它作为食物的意义，也撇开“它会变成一只鸟”这种富于文学意味的联想。贝壳、坚果、李子、梨、蝌蚪、蘑菇、山峰、肾脏、胡萝卜、树干、鸟、花蕾、云雀、瓢虫、芦苇和骨头等形体，也都应如此感受。由此，他才能进一步欣赏更复杂的形态，或几种形态的组合。

* **Appreciation of sculpture**：雕塑欣赏；这里是感受与理解，不只是说喜欢。

* **respond to form**：对形体作出感受；to后说明响应对象，不是respond something。

* **three dimensions**：三维；undefined

* **form-blind**：缺少立体形体感知的；undefined

* **judge distances**：判断距离；这里是估量空间，不是道德评判。

* **practical needs**：实际生活需要；undefined

* **satisfied the requirements**：满足了要求；satisfy可直接接要求，区别于自己感到满意。

* **go no further**：就此止步；可说动作或理解停在哪一层。

* **considerable accuracy**：相当高的准确度；undefined

* **intellectual and emotional effort**：思想与情感投入；undefined

* **spatial existence**：空间中的存在；undefined

* **strive continually**：持续努力；强调努力目标，不保证必然成功。

* **as it were**：可以说；仿佛；插入语，提醒后面是比喻而非字面事实。

* **completely enclosed**：完全包拢的；undefined

* **identifies himself with**：把自己代入；本课是设身感受形体，不是辨认物体身份。

* **centre of gravity**：重心；固定术语，也可用于比喻核心。

* **apart from**：除了……以外；既能补充也能排除信息，要用上下文判断；不能总换成 besides。

* **literary idea**：文学性的联想；undefined

* **go on to appreciate**：进一步欣赏；开始下一项动作，区别于继续同一动作go on doing。

* **combinations of**：……的组合；说多个成分怎样合在一起，不是任选其一。

#### Appreciation of sculpture depends upon the ability to respond to form in three dimensions.

简单句，主谓宾结构，form 在这里应为名词，respond to 该三维的立体形状，to respond…作定语，来修饰 ability，即这个能力是针对该形状的反应来说的.

#### That is perhaps why sculpture has been described as the most difficult of all arts; certainly it is more difficult than the arts which involve appreciation of flat forms, shape in only two dimensions.

并列复合句，以分号相连，前句的主句为主系+表语从句结构，why 引导了表语从 句 sculpture…all arts.

as 引导的是主语 sculpture 的补足语，讲雕塑最难.

后句为主系表结构，which 引导了一个定语从句为主谓宾结构，一直到句尾 dimensions，该从句中包含了一个同位语 shape in only two dimensions.

#### Many more people are "form-blind" than colour-blind.

简单句，主系表结构，翻译的时候，“形盲”应该打引号，但色盲不应该打引号，因为“形盲”是作者生硬造出来的字，色盲是本身就有的词语，教材引号有误.

#### The child learning to see, first distinguishes only two-dimensional shape; it cannot judge distances, depths.

并列句，主谓宾结构，learning to see 分词作状语，解释是怎样的孩子，是在学看的孩子.

distances, depths，两词中间的逗号后面是可以加 and.

it 指代小孩，这里把男孩女孩统称了.

#### Later, for its personal safety and practical needs, it has to develop partly by means of touch the ability to judge roughly three-dimensional distances.

简单句，主谓宾结构，it 同样指小孩，partly by means of touch 的括号是本来就有的，类似一个方式状语.

教材中（P183）把 three-dimensional 误写成了 three-dimensonal，少了 i，需要注意.

#### But having satisfied the requirements of practical necessity, most people go no further.

简单句，主谓结构，现在分词作程度状语，表能力发展的水平或程度.

#### Though they may attain considerable accuracy in the perception of flat form, they do not make the further intellectual and emotional effort needed to comprehend form in its full spatial existence.

复合句，主句为主谓宾结构，Though 引导的让步状语从句亦为主谓宾结构.

needed to comprehend…existence 作定语修饰 effort，该定语中还包含了一个状语 in its full spatial existence，可以当作地点状语，也可以理解成程度状语.

#### This is what the sculptor must do.

复合句，主句为主系+表语从句结构，而表语从句为主谓宾结构，从句采用正常陈述语序；what 位于从句开头，同时作 do 的宾语。不能仅因宾语 what 在从句开头就称为倒装，可以看出 what 引导的表语从句中，what 本身作 do 的宾语.

#### This is what the sculptor must do.He must strive continually to think of, and use, form in its full spatial completeness.

简单句，主谓宾结构，该句的宾语是 form，教材翻译出来的宾语变成了 completeness，属误译.

这里能很直接地看出 and 连接了两个成分都是谓语的一部分，其中 use 前面还省略了 to.

#### He gets the solid shape, as it were, inside his head—he thinks of it, whatever its size, as if he were holding it completely enclosed in the hollow of his hand.

复合句，以破折号分为前后两句，前句为主谓宾结构，后句为主谓宾+从句. solid 是三维的意思，破折号后面作进一步的解释说明，用了个握在手心的比喻，让人更好地理解雕塑家是如何将形体置于脑海的. 有些参考书竟认为破折号后面是同位语，难以苟同.

全句代词 it 均指 solid shape.

whatever its size 后面省略了 may be，这里是一个让步状语从句，故“]”打在了 size 后面逗号的右边，表示从句.

enclosed 作宾语补足语，表该形体处于雕塑家手心里.

#### He mentally visualizes a complex form from all round itself; he knows while he looks at one side what the other side is like; he identifies himself with its centre of gravity, its mass, its weight; he realizes its volume, as the space that the shape displaces in the air.

并列复合句，都是主谓（宾）结构. 这里接连的四句乃具体解释雕塑家是如何将形体想象于脑海之中的，分别从可视化形体，如同看见了形体，清楚形体的大小和质量，以及理解形体的体积来阐述.

该句属全书的难句，课文应有误译.

网络上引发了两位专业研究英语的学者针对该句的翻译而做了讨论，这里需要区分质量与重量：质量描述物体的惯性等性质，重量是重力作用，二者并不相同。讨论原句中的 mass 和 weight 时，还应留意雕塑语境，避免直接把两个词合并。 mass 在物理学中（比如本书），是“质量”的术语表达，而在艺术上，是同色（或阴影部分的）扩散形状，块面（21 世纪大英汉词典）.

绘画中点线面为 dot, line, and mass，《西洋现代艺术大师与美学理论》一书中有“相關的色調加強塊面(related tones unify the mass)”的表达.

该句的理解一定要放在全段中进行，否则很难理解作者为什么要写这样一段话，更无从翻译.

from all round 的斜体原文即有，或为提醒读者注意区别 form 和 from，并注意是从该物体的方方面面可视化，而不是想成一个平面.

这里应把 identify himself with…作为整体理解：雕塑家通过想象去体会形体的重心、体量和重量，不能把 identify 单独解释成“确认几个指标”而忽略 himself with。with 后的内容是这一动词结构的补足部分；“融为一体”若采用，也应解释为想象中的认同与感知，不是物理意义上的合并。

as the space that the shape displaces in the air 为宾语补足语，补充说明该体积的具体情况，这里包含了一个 that 引导的定语从句，讲清楚了这个情况是该体积所占据的空间.

#### And the sensitive observer of sculpture must also learn to feel shape simply as shape, not as description or reminiscence.

简单句，主谓宾+宾补结构，as 后面为宾语补足语，解释说明如何来感觉和理解形体.

\[1] 罗成典.西洋现代艺术大师与美学理论.秀威出版.2010:167.

#### He must, for example, perceive an egg as a simple single solid shape, quite apart from its significance as food, or from the literary idea that it will become a bird.

复合句，主句为和上句同样的句式，主谓宾+宾补，as 引导宾语补足语. 后面有一个 that 引导的同位语从句，为主系表结构.

#### And so with solids such as a shell, a nut, a plum, a pear, a tadpole, a mushroom, a mountain peak, a kidney, a carrot, a tree-trunk, a bird, a bud, a lark, a ladybird, a bulrush, a bone.

参考 So do I 的表达，so 相当于 in the same way，我们理解其它形体的时候，也是如此，所以 solids 在这个倒装且省略句中作宾语，后面的名词均为其同位语.

#### From these he can go on to appreciate more complex forms or combinations of several forms.

简单句，主谓宾结构，from these 可以视为地点状语，从这里出发，理解上便是有了上面的基础之后.

## 学完这一课

说明一项鉴赏能力依赖哪种更基础的能力。

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