Places and People鄉土與人

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.

正如古語所言，你出生的地方將會為你打上烙印，至少在某種有限的意義上是這樣的。如果你出生在比特里斯，之后又遷去了紐約，那么你可以更多地成為紐約人而不是比特里斯人。但是你第一次結識的那個地方至少在很大程度上決定了你會成為什么樣的人。地域可以造就人。它們確實有這樣的功能，大多是形體上的。環境可以養育人。它們是人類繁育過程的一部分。在世界上的某些地方，那里許多的男男女女都不想參與到后代的生育中來;也有一些地方，在那里，沒有什么讓人覺得更加舒適與愜意。有些地方遍布焦慮，有些地方充滿歡樂與嬉戲，也有些地方洋溢著歡樂與歌聲，蕩漾著理智與熱情。