Places and People乡土与人

By William Saroyan

Where you are dropped, as the saying is, is who you are, at least in a certain limited sense. If you are dropped in Bitlis but are soon taken to New York, Bitlis is less who you are than New York is. But the place you knew first is at least a large part of who you are. Places make people. They very definitely do, almost physically. Places procreate. They are part of the human procreation process. There are many men and women who wouldn’t think of engaging in the procreative act in certain places of the world, and there are other places in which nothing seems more right and pleasant. There are places that are all business, and places that are all fun and frolic, and still other places that are all light and song and the senses and love.

正如古语所言，你出生的地方将会为你打上烙印，至少在某种有限的意义上是这样的。如果你出生在比特里斯，之后又迁去了纽约，那么你可以更多地成为纽约人而不是比特里斯人。但是你第一次结识的那个地方至少在很大程度上决定了你会成为什么样的人。地域可以造就人。它们确实有这样的功能，大多是形体上的。环境可以养育人。它们是人类繁育过程的一部分。在世界上的某些地方，那里许多的男男女女都不想参与到后代的生育中来;也有一些地方，在那里，没有什么让人觉得更加舒适与惬意。有些地方遍布焦虑，有些地方充满欢乐与嬉戏，也有些地方洋溢着欢乐与歌声，荡漾着理智与热情。