特别广播英语第 201 课：Work, Labor, and Play 工作，劳作和娱乐-3

When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful. 当一个人回忆过去贵族的所作所为，前景就不会乐观了。

Indeed, the problem of dealing with boredom may be even more difficult for such a future mass society than it was for aristocracies. 的确对于这样一个未来群众社会，应付无聊的问题比起来贵族们可能更困难。

The latter, for example, ritualized their time; there was a season to shoot grouse, a season to spend in town, etc. 例如：后者使他们的时间仪式化，有射猎松鸡的季节、有镇上度日的季节等。

The masses are more likely to replace an unchanging ritual by fashion which it will be in the economic interest of certain people to change as often as possible. 群众更可能用时尚取代千篇一律的程式，而尽可能经常地改变时尚也符合某些人的经济利益。

Again, the masses cannot go in for hunting, for very soon there would be no animals left to hunt. 同样，群众也不能都有打猎的爱好，因为很快就会没有动物可供射猎。

For other aristocratic amusements like gambling, dueling, and warfare, it may be only too easy to find equivalents in dangerous driving, drug-taking, and senseless acts of violence. 对于其他贵族娱乐活动，像赌博、决斗和战争，可能很容易在危险驾驶、吸毒和愚蠢的暴力行为中找到等价物。

Workers seldom commit acts of violence, because they can put their aggression into their work, be it physical like the work of a smith, or mental like the work of a scientist or an artist. 工作者很少有暴力行为，因为他们能把进取心放在他们的工作上，不管是铁匠从事的体力劳动，还是科学家或艺术家从事的脑力劳动。

The role of aggression in mental work is aptly expressed by the phrase "getting one's teeth into a problem." "把牙到某个问题中"这条习语很贴切地表示出进取心在智力工作中的作用。