鄉(xiāng)村修辭課

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A Rural Lesson in Rhetoric

Don't fire too high．Speak to men in language they understand．Ministers should remember not to fire over people's heads．Truth must be put in simple language,and illustra tedby metaphors familiar to all． Call the sun a sun,—not a luminary． Don't call the sky "an azure vault"; call it the sky．Don't talk of the "economy of grace", for your plainer hearers will at once revert to the kitchen．Here is "A Rural Lesson in Rhetoric," which shows the importance of not firing toohigh：—

Brown was invited to visit a town in the extreme rural districts, for the purpose of lecturing the people on temperance．He arrived at his destination late in the evening,and was invited to the cottage of a farmer to partake of supper, previous tothe display of his eloquence．

The farmer had two sons, twenty to twenty five years of age, and to them a temperance　lecturer appeared something more than an ordinary man．Brown had great difficulty in drawing them into conversation, but at length the ice was broken, and the following colloquy was the result：

"I suppose you've both affixed your names to the pledge long ago?"

"Which?"

"I presume you are both temperance men,and have pledged yourselves to abstain from the use of everything thatint oxicates?"

"The which, stranger?

"You do not get the idea clearly．I was expressing thehope that you do not indulge in intoxicating beverages．"

"Eh?"

"That you do not indulge in the inebriating cup．"

"Sir?"

"Do either of you drink liquor? That's what I'm trying to get at．"

"Waal, stranger!I did n't know but ye was atalkin French jabber．Why did n't ye ax the thing right eout?Samand me don't drink no liquor to speak on,’cept hayin’a ndharvist, and then we drink right smart．So does fayther andevery body’round here．Ef ye talk French stuff in yer lecture,stranger,'t won't du much good, I tell ye,for nobody won'tknow a word what yer means in this yer neck o'timber, sartinand sure"

Brown declares this to be the best lesson in rhetoric he ever received, and he made an unusual effort to adapt his word tothe comprehension of his hearers in that "neck o'timber．"Other speakers may profit by the hint．

鄉(xiāng)村修辭課

開槍別瞄得太高。用人家聽得懂的語言跟人說話。大臣們應(yīng)當(dāng)記住不要沖著人們的頭頂之上開火。真理必須通過簡單的語言表達(dá)，并由家喻戶曉的比喻加以說明。把太陽就叫作太陽，不要說成發(fā)光天體。別把天空稱為“蒼穹”，就說天空。別談什么“優(yōu)雅的節(jié)儉”，因?yàn)槟懵牨娭械钠胀ㄈ笋R上就要回到廚房去。這里有篇《鄉(xiāng)下的修辭課》，說明了適應(yīng)聽眾的重要性：

布朗應(yīng)邀訪問一個(gè)地處純農(nóng)業(yè)區(qū)的小城鎮(zhèn)，準(zhǔn)備就自我節(jié)制問題向那里的人們做一番演講。他傍晚時(shí)分抵達(dá)了目的地，一戶農(nóng)民請他到家里去，讓他在一展辯才之前和他們共進(jìn)晚餐。

農(nóng)人有兩個(gè)兒子，一個(gè)20歲，一個(gè)25歲，對他們來說，宣講自制的演說人絕非尋常人物。布朗發(fā)現(xiàn)想引他們談話很不容易，但最后總算打破了僵局，于是有了下面的交談——

“我想二位一定早已在誓約上簽署了自己的名字？”

“什么？”

“我猜你們一定都是自制的人，已經(jīng)立過誓要避免用任何麻醉品？”

“什么東西，外鄉(xiāng)人？”

“你們沒太理解我的意思。我在表示，我希望你們不放縱豪飲醉人的飲料。”

“啊？”

“希望你們不耽于麻醉之杯。”

“先生？”

“你們倆喝不喝酒？我想問的就是這個(gè)。”

“哇——外鄉(xiāng)人！我搞不清但您在嘰哩咕嚕地說法國話。為什么您不一開始就這么問呢？山姆和我都不怎么喝酒，收獲干草和莊稼的季節(jié)除外，在那些日子里可就要喝個(gè)痛快嘍。俺爹和這里別的人也都是一個(gè)樣兒。外鄉(xiāng)人，我跟您直說，要是您在演說里盡講那些法國東西，可沒啥用處，因?yàn)椋翢o疑問，這地界兒誰都聽不懂您到底是什么意思。”

布朗宣布這是他上過的最好的修辭課，他做了極大的努力去調(diào)整自己的語言，以適應(yīng)他的那“地界兒”的聽眾的理解力。別的演說人也可從中得到啟發(fā)。

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