特别广播英语第 117 课：American Men Don't Cry 美国男子汉一般不会哭-2

And so the "little man" controls his desire to cry and goes on doing so until he is unable to cry even when he wants to. 于是这"小男子汉"想哭的时候，也老是憋着不哭，憋着憋着一直憋到甚至当他想哭的时候也不会哭了。

Thus do we produce a trained incapacity in the American male to cry. 这样，我们就致使美国男性被训练成不会哭的人了。

And this is bad. Why is it bad? Because crying is a natural function of the human organism which is designed to restore the emotionally disequilibrated person to a state of equilibrium. 这很不好。为什么不好呢？因为哭是人的有机体中的一种很自然的功能，有一这一功能就是为了让那些感情上失去了平衡人，能恢复到感情上平衡的状态。

The return of the disequilibrated organ systems of the body to steady states or-dynamic stability is known as homeostasis. 把人体失去了平衡的器官体系恢复到稳定状态或恢复到正常运作状态下的稳定状态，被称为原状稳定或体内平衡。

Crying serves a homeostatic function for the organism as a whole. Any interference with homeostasis is likely to be damaging to the organism. 对体内平衡的任何干扰都有可能损害人体的有机体。

And there is good reason to believe that the American male's trained incapacity to cry is seriously damaging to him. 所以，我们有充分的理由相信，把美国男性训练得不会哭，这会对美国男性造成严重的损害。

It is unnecessary to cry whenever one wants to cry, but one should be able to cry when one ought to cry - when one needs to cry. 一个人不论任何时候想哭就哭--这实在是没有必要；但是当一个人应该哭的时候--也就是一个人需要哭的时候，应该能够哭出来。

For to cry under certain emotionally disequilibrating conditions is necessary for the maintenance of health. 因为哭上一通在某咱内心感情失衡的情况下，对保持身体健康是必要的。

To be human is to weep. The human species is the only one in the whole of animated nature that sheds tears. 只要是人就会落泪，把整个动物世界里，人类这个物种是唯一的会流泪的物种。

The trained inability of any human being to weep is lessening of his capacity to be human - a defect which usually goes deeper than the mere inability to cry. 把一个人训练成不会落泪的人，这就在降低了他作为一个人所应有的能力。不具备作为一个人所应有的能力，这一缺陷比仅仅是不会哭泣在意义上要深远得多。

And this, among other things, is what American parents - with the best intentions in the world - have achieved for the American male. 而这一点，尤其是这一点，正是那些心怀着人间最美好的用心的美国父母们一心给美国男性养成的。

It is very sad. If we feel like it, let us all have a good cry - and clear our minds of those cobwebs of confusion which have for so long prevented us from understanding the natural necessity of crying. 简直是太可悲了。如果我们想哭的话，那就让我们好好地哭上一通吧，把那些很长时候以来使我们不能理解哭这种天性的需要、像蜘蛛网一样束缚人思想的种种糊涂想法，从我们的脑海中清除的干干净净吧。