of beauty(论 美）

e文

VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set; and surely virtue is best, / s4 s# [0 o( H2 y" ?0 O! m- k- l, Jin a body that is comely ,though not of delicate features; and that hath rather dignity of presence, than beauty of aspect. Neither is it almost seen, that very beautiful persons are otherwise of great virtue; as if nature were rather busy, not to err, than in labor to produce excellency. And therefore they prove accomplished, but not of great spirit; and study N( b& n% V6 g% Qrather behavior, than virtue. But this holds not always: for Augustus $ Z- {4 a4 e) C) X9 _. I t$ ACaesar, Titus Vespasianus, Philip le Belle of France, Edward the Fourth of England, Alcibiades of Athens, Ismael the Sophy of Persia, were all high and great spirits; and yet the most beautiful men of their times. % {. p" B) h* f. |8 F In beauty, that of favor, is more than that of color; and that of decent 9 L8 l8 B5 H$ A% eand gracious motion, more than that of favor. That is the best part of beauty, which a picture cannot express; no, nor the first sight of the life. There is no excellent beauty, that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. A man cannot tell whether Apelles, or Albert Durer, were 2 l7 b {! J# r6 q; S, rthe more trifler; whereof the one, would make a personage by geometrical proportions; the other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces, to make one excellent. Such personages, I think, would please nobody, but ( y& l& t! c7 A) c- wthe painter that made them. Not but I think a painter may make a better 0 n! o( ~% g- a5 b% `$ X$ | iface than ever was; but he must do it by a kind of felicity (as a musician that maketh an excellent air in music), and not by rule. A man shall see faces, that if you examine them part by part, you shall find never a good; : `. I" J$ F2 a! Y/ cand yet altogether do well. If it be true that the principal part of beauty $ ]" t: F" a9 H/ S/ x$ t- k% vis in decent motion, certainly it is no marvel, though persons in years + U+ m0 E+ I; y# @* V/ k7 H+ g- {seem many times more amiable; pulchrorum autumnus pulcher; for no youth can be comely but by pardon, and considering the youth, as to make up the 4 e3 r- {" J6 l& N& c, Icomeliness. Beauty is as summer fruits,) which are easy to corrupt, and 7 s( ^$ M# P0 C6 M8 Scannot last; and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth, and an age 8 I9 Z1 Y2 M' x+ n6 ra little out of countenance; but yet certainly again, if it light well, it maketh virtue shine,and vices blush.

美德好比宝石，在朴素背景的衬托下反而更华丽。同样，一个打扮并不华贵，却端庄严肃而有美德的人是令人肃然起敬的。 5 e) Y) G( P3 W" m7 y4 i5 r/ z 美貌的人并不都有其他方面的才能。许多容貌俊秀的人却一无所有，他们过于追求外形的美而放弃了内在的美。

仔细分析起来，形体之美要胜于颜色之美，而优雅行为之美又胜于形体之美。最高的美是画家所无法表现的。因为它是难以直观的。这是一种奇妙的美，曾经有两位画家――阿皮雷斯和丢勒滑稽地认为，可以按照几何比例，或者通过摄取不同人身上最美的特点，加以合成的方法，画出最完美的人像。

其实像这样画出来的美人，恐怕只有画家才喜欢。

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有些老人显得很可爱，因为他们的作风优雅而美。“美人的迟暮也是美的。”而尽管有的年轻人具有美貌，却由于缺乏优美的修养而不配得到赞美。

美有如盛夏的水果，而容易腐烂而难保持的,世上有许多美人,他们有过放荡青春，却迎受着愧悔的晚年。

因此，把美的形貌与美的德行结合起来吧。只有这样，美会放射出真正的光辉。