Once upon a time (this is an anecdote) I went for a week's holiday on the Continent with an Indian friend. We both enjoyed ourselves and were sorry when the week was over, but on parting our behaviour was absolutely different. He was plunged in despair. He felt that because the holiday was over all happiness was over until the world ended. He could not express his sorrow too much. But in me the Englishman came out strong I reflected that we should meet again in a month or two, and could write in the interval if we had anything to say; and under these circumstane I could not see what there was to make a fuss about. It wasn't as if we were parting forever or dying. "Buck up," I said, "do buck up." He refused to buck up, and I left him plunged in gloom.
从前（这是一件逸事），我与一位印度朋友到欧洲度假，为期一周。我们玩得很愉快，当一周结束时我们都感到十分难过。然而在分别时，我们的行为却是截然相反的。我的朋友完全陷入了绝望。他认为假期结束了，所有的幸福也将随之而去，而且痛苦的日子将一直持续至世界末日。他将伤心表达到了极点，到了无以复加的程度。但是我身上则表现出强烈的英国人特性。我想到我们可以在一至两个月以后再次见面，如果我们在此期间有话要说，可以通信，而且在这种情况下我认为这不值得大惊小怪。这并不是生离死别。“振作起来，”我说，“振作起来。”他拒绝振作，于是我任由他陷入郁闷。
The conclusion of the anecdote is even more instructive. For when we met the next month our conversation threw a good deal of light on the English character. I began by scolding my friend. I told him that he had been wrong to feel and display so much emotion upon so slight an occasion; that it was inappropriate. The word "inappropriate" roused him to fury. "what?" he cried. "Do you measure out your emotions as if they were potatoes" I did not like the simile of the potatoes, but after a moment's reflection I said: "Yes, I do; and what's nore, I think I ought to. A small occasion demands a little emotion just as a large occasion demands a great one. I would like my emotions to be appropriate. This may be measuring them like potatoes, but it is better than slopping them about like water from a pail, which is what you did." He did not like the simile of the pail. "If those are your opinions, they part us forever," he cried, and left the room. Returning immediately, he added: "No—but your whole attitude toward emotion is wrong. Emotion has nothing to do with appropriateness. It matters only that it shall be sincere. I happened to feel deeply. showed it. It doesn't matter whether ought to have felt deeply or not."
这件事的结尾更说明问题。因为当我们于次月见面时，我们的谈话对了解英国人的性格大有神益。一开始我便指责朋友，我告诉他不应该在这种小事上牵动并体现出这么多感情，这并不妥当。“妥当”这个字眼儿激怒了他，“什么？”他大声说道，“你是不是像分配土豆一样分配你的感情？”我不喜欢土豆这个比喻，但是沉思片刻后我说，“是的，我是这样；而且，我认为应该这样。小事需要的感情少，大事需要的感情多。我希望我的感情分配得当。我也许是像分配土豆一样分配感情，但是要胜过你像桶里的水一样乱溅。”他不喜欢水桶这个比喻。“如果是这样想的，那么我们绝交，他喊道，然后离开了房间，而后又立刻转回来，补充说道，“不——但是你对于感情的整个态度是错的。感情与妥当无关，感情只在于是否真诚。我碰巧是个感情丰富的人，于是我流露我的感情；你是否应该感情丰富这并不重要。”
This remark impressed me very much. Yet I could not agree with it, and said that I valued emotion as much as he did, but used it differently; if I poured it out on small occasions I was afraid of having none left for the great ones, and of being bankrupt at the crises of life.
这些话给我留下了深刻印象。然而我不同意他的看法，并且要说明我与他一样重视感情，只是表达的方式不同而已。如果我在小事上随意挥洒感情，我害怕在大事上无感情可施，比如破产、人生危机这样的大事。
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