of beauty(论 美）

e文

VIRTUE is like a rich stone, best plain set; and surely virtue is best, in 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 * x6 ]9 g/ A- Y( b2 Kseen, 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 rather behavior, than virtue. But this holds not always: for Augustus Caesar, 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. In beauty, that of favor, is more than that of color; and that of decent " N* r$ ?% P9 q* hand gracious motion, more than that of favor. That is the best part of ) G9 r9 ^+ y" K* }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 3 `$ [3 D/ J' h& r* F. I8 e$ Ythe more trifler; whereof the one, would make a personage by geometrical + t& _' D: o+ Yproportions; the other, by taking the best parts out of divers faces, to ; Z/ }* p9 |4 k2 y9 Lmake one excellent. Such personages, I think, would please nobody, but the painter that made them. Not but I think a painter may make a better , B7 f" C, v) e) f' yface than ever was; but he must do it by a kind of felicity (as a musician ~7 X# Q/ q& W k7 A/ N( Sthat maketh an excellent air in music), and not by rule. A man shall see 9 R3 r/ Y' _! j! l2 K! o( h& @: F3 yfaces, that if you examine them part by part, you shall find never a good; - U! j) L" L9 n: yand yet altogether do well. If it be true that the principal part of beauty " a$ U2 {) v/ s6 Q0 His in decent motion, certainly it is no marvel, though persons in years . J9 _( n$ G+ U; E2 V5 xseem 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 $ t7 ~0 w0 o- F+ C8 Y" Fcomeliness. Beauty is as summer fruits,) which are easy to corrupt, and 5 M" V5 G: J( Icannot last; and for the most part it makes a dissolute youth, and an age 2 w1 E4 R: r& P4 V" q7 w5 H! fa little out of countenance; but yet certainly again, if it light well, it maketh virtue shine,and vices blush. 8 L2 G' M4 I5 q- e) w5 g& S

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。 4 s. _& B6 K( b- {4 } 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。

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其实像这样画出来的美人，恐怕只有画家才喜欢。

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。

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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。