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老桑說
真誠才能最大限度地發揮自己的潛力，建立穩固的關系，增強我們的自尊。做真實的自己，因為這會讓你走得更遠。
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「 朋友，你好，我是老桑。」
老桑在田野里
與老桑共讀一本書
本期特別活動：
與老桑共讀一本書
閱讀好書，共同成長。我們生活在不同的世界里，共讀一本書，就是創造并擁有共同的語言密碼。
本期推薦書籍《麥田的守望者》，邀你和老桑共讀一本書，交流感悟，碰撞心靈，也是一種樂趣。
想參加此活動的讀者，可在本文下方留言，說說你對讀書的感悟，老桑將抽選3名幸運粉絲，每人送實體書《麥田的守望者》一本，期待你們的參與~
塞林格的《麥田里的守望者》被認為是20世紀最優秀的英文小說之一。該書出版于1951年，每年仍有近100萬冊的銷量，并已被翻譯成各種語言。我第一次讀這本小說是在上高中英語課的時候，為了和大家分享這個故事，我又重讀了一遍這本小說。
小說的主人公霍爾頓·考爾菲德是一個16歲的紐約男孩。他因為不用功而相繼被三所著名的寄宿學校退學，故事是圍繞他為了不回家而在紐約街頭流浪的三天經歷而展開的。
他沉浸在極度痛苦的情緒狀態中，抽煙喝酒，在寒冷的戶外不穿冬衣，很少睡覺。隨著時間的推移，我們目睹了他的精神崩潰。他甚至可能得了肺結核，后來他在一家療養院里寫下了這個故事。
在紐約漫步時，霍爾頓渴望與他人建立聯系。他試著與出租車司機建立親密關系，在酒吧里與女性調情，拜訪一些朋友，還參與了一些危險的行為，這些都是為了試圖與人們建立關系。然而，他所有的嘗試都失敗了，逐漸變得和人們疏遠，并讓自己退縮到一種自我保護的模式中。
霍爾頓也掙扎著要長大，他哀悼自己失去了童年時代的純真。一想到10歲的妹妹菲比，他就感到很安慰。在她身上，他看到了孩子的天真、好奇和誠實。
一天晚上，霍爾頓偷偷溜進自己家的公寓，以避免見到他的父母。菲比很高興見到他，但指責他沒有任何抱負。他反駁說，自己確實有一個想法：在孩子們從懸崖上跌落，失去他們的純真之前，去拯救那些在麥田里玩耍的孩子們。他將這一形象建立在羅伯特·彭斯1782年寫的一首詩名為《穿越麥田》的基礎上。
書中最著名的引用是霍爾頓對菲比說的話：“我站在瘋狂的懸崖邊緣…我必須抓住他們如果他們試圖去跨越懸崖——我的意思是如果他們只是奔跑卻不去看看自己前進的方向時，我必須從某些地方站出來并抓住他們。這就是我每天要做的事。我只想做麥田里的守望者。”
The phoniness
of the adult world
成年人世界的虛偽
虛偽是《麥田里的守望者》的一個突出主題。在他與成年人的所有互動中，霍爾頓感受到的是淺薄、虛偽、矯飾和膚淺。他尋找的是真正的友誼，但卻被其他人的政治和個人事務埋沒了。
例如，霍爾頓去格林威治村的一家酒吧找爵士鋼琴家厄尼。霍爾頓知道厄尼演奏得很好，而且真的他認為他表演得太好了。厄尼也知道自己很好，但他卻假裝謙虛。霍爾頓認為厄尼的謙虛使他虛偽，所以他開始discredit（質疑）厄尼彈鋼琴的能力，并嘲笑他。
后來在酒吧的時候，霍爾頓看到了一個曾經和他哥哥約會的女人，后來哥哥成了好萊塢的編劇。她想讓霍爾頓和她以及她的約會對象一起喝酒，但是霍爾頓認為她這么做只是因為想接近霍爾頓的哥哥。霍爾頓斷定她是個騙子，于是選擇避開她，離開了酒吧。
霍爾頓認為成年人是虛偽的，但他們看不到自己的虛偽。說謊和欺騙是虛偽的一部分，霍爾頓尤其嘲笑自我欺騙。他蔑視那些自以為了不起或拒絕承認自己弱點的人。這種厭惡為他提供了一個退入憤世嫉俗孤立狀態的借口。
Habits of truly
genuine people
真正真誠的人所擁有的習慣
像霍爾頓一樣，我們中的許多人青睞“真誠”的對象，而對那些“虛偽”的人評價很差。即使一個phony（虛偽的）人受到鼓勵然后表現得更有吸引力或更令人印象深刻，但偽裝卻會產生相反的效果。我們更可能相信一個真實的人而不是一個虛假的人。那些對自己誠實的人也可能對我們更誠實。
自我完善的一個關鍵方面是過一種更真實的生活。如果你厭倦了戴上面具，為了挽回面子而踮著腳尖走在別人周圍，或者在自我發現的過程中受到挫折，這里有六個習慣供你考慮。當然，重要的是不要做得太過分，因為適度的目標可能比極端的目標更有效。
真誠的人首先會想出自己的觀點，然后與他人分享。他們通常更樂于分享自己的想法，并讓這些觀點為自己服務，而虛偽的人則過于努力地去說服別人接受自己是對的。
“唯唯諾諾的人”是指一個總是同意同事或上級的觀點，沒有批判精神地支持或endorse（贊同）他們的觀點的人。然而，真誠是由你自己的信念和標準所引導的。有時這些想法與強加于我們的想法相沖突，所以真實往往與勇敢聯系在一起。
我在中國參加過很多大學招生會，父母和孩子對選擇哪個專業有著不同的看法。例如，學生可能想學習藝術，但家長希望他們學習商科或科學。我建議折衷一下，選擇廣告學專業。學生將學習市場營銷(商業)和廣告設計(藝術)課程。
一旦你能自如地表達自己的觀點，并追隨自己內心的期望，內心的羅盤就會指引你去追求自己的激情，找到自己的目標。你可以選擇一條傳統的道路，也可以選擇一條全新的道路。當你對自己真誠時，你會做出自己的選擇。即使會考慮別人的觀點，你也會去走自己的路。
傳統的道路被認為是“安全的”，然而堅持自己的選擇可能會導致失敗。但是做真正的自己就不應害怕失敗。事實上，失敗是這段旅程的關鍵部分，而在這段旅程中，你可以學習并獲得新的經驗。
在小說中，霍爾頓被那些不知道自己弱點以及那些知道自己弱點卻不愿承認的人所排斥。他認為他們都是騙子。也許在他看來，我們在面對好與壞應該自我反省。這樣，我們就能認識到自己的缺點，并為自己的行為負責。
霍爾頓尤其revile（唾棄）那些“自欺欺人”的人。他們不承認自己的錯誤，而是先欺騙自己，假裝自己的弱點不存在。然后，這些人還undaunted（毫不掩飾地）試圖讓其他人以同樣扭曲的方式看待這種情況。
當你接受自己的缺點，擁抱自己的個性時，你可能會變得更能接受別人。隨著偏見的減少，你會對生活抱有一種更純粹的看法，引導你獲得更真誠的關系。你的注意力會更多地集中在追求自己的命運上，而不是評判或批評他人。
諷刺的是，盡管霍爾頓注意到了別人的缺點,他卻沒有意識到自己的問題。他經常表現出他想要回避的那種虛偽，假裝自己是別人而非本我。他不忠于自己，拒絕追求他所渴望的真愛和友誼，反而疏遠了自我。也許如果他養成了這六個習慣，他就能避免精神崩潰。
我的朋友，《麥田里的守望者》告訴我們，虛偽對我們個人是不健康的，會破壞同伴之間的關系。小說呼吁我們要真誠，這樣我們才能最大限度地發揮自己的潛力，建立穩固的關系，增強我們的自尊。做真實的自己，因為這會讓你走得更遠。
本文部分圖片來源網絡。
往期文章
謝謝收看《老桑說》。
給你啟發，激勵你上進，陪伴你堅持。
敬請期待下一集。
英文版
English
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The Catcher in the Rye:
Are you real or phony?
?
「 Hello, my friend！
I'm John Smagula. 」
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger is considered one of the best English-language novels of the 20th century. Published in 1951, the book continues to sell nearly one million copies a year and has been translated into numerous languages. I first read the novel for a high school English class, and just re-read it to share the story with you.
The novel’s protagonist is Holden Caulfield, a 16-year-old boy from New York City. He flunked out of three prestigious boarding schools because he doesn’t apply himself, and the story centers on his three days of living on the streets of New York City to avoid going home.
He wanders in a state of extreme emotional distress, smoking and drinking, staying out in the cold without a winter coat, and sleeping very little. As the time goes on, we witness his fall into a mental breakdown. He may even have gotten TB, and he writes the story from a rest home.
As he wanders New York, he longs to make connections with other people. He tries bonding with taxi drivers, flirts with women at bars, calls upon some acquaintances, and engages in some dangerous behavior in an effort to connect with people. Yet he fails in all these attempts, becomes alienated, and withdraws into himself as a form of self-protection.
Holden also struggles with having to grow up, and he mourns the loss of childhood innocence. He finds comfort in thinking about his 10-year-old sister Phoebe, in whom he sees the innocence, curiosity, and honesty of children.
One night, Holden sneaks into his own family’s apartment to avoid seeing his parents. Phoebe is happy to see him, but accuses him of not having any ambitions. He retorted that he does have a fantasy: to rescue children playing in a field of rye before they run off a cliff and lose their innocence. He bases this image on a Robert Burns poem, Comin’ Thro the Rye, written in 1782.
In the book’s most famous quote, Holden says to Phoebe, “I’m standing on the edge of some crazy cliff…I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they’re running and they don’t look where they’re going. I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That’s all I’d do all day. I’d just be the catcher in the rye and all.”
The phoniness of
the adult world
Phoniness is a prominent theme of The Catcher in the Rye. In all the interactions he has with adults, Holden finds superficiality, hypocrisy, pretension, and shallowness. He is seeking authentic friendship, but becomes overwhelmed by others’ politics and personal agendas.
For example, Holden goes to a bar in Greenwich Village to see a jazz pianist named Ernie. Holden acknowledges that Ernie plays well, but thinks he plays too well. Ernie also knows he’s good, but he pretends to be humble. Holden thinks Ernie’s false modesty makes him phony, so he discredits his piano-playing abilities and mocks him.
Then later at the bar, Holden sees a woman who used to date his older brother, who has since become a screenwriter in Hollywood. She wants Holden to have drinks with her and her date, but Holden believes that she is being cordial simply because she wants access to Holden’s brother. Holden concludes she’s a phony and shuns her, and he just leaves the club.
Holden believes that adults are phonies—but that they can’t see their own phoniness. Lying and deception are part of being phony, and Holden particularly derides self-deception. He scorns people who think that they are something they are not or who refuse to acknowledge their own weaknesses. This disgust provides him an excuse to withdraw into cynical isolation.
Habits of truly
genuine people
Like Holden, many of us value “genuine” people and think poorly of those who are being “fake.” Even though a phony person is motivated to appear more appealing or impressive, being fake has the opposite effect. We are much more likely to trust a genuine person than a fake one. Those who are true to themselves are also likely to be more honest with us.
One key aspect of self-improvement is to live a more authentic life. If you are tired of wearing a mask, tiptoeing around others to try to save face, or stunted in the process of self-discovery, here are six habits to consider. Of course, it’s important not to overdo any of these, as moderate goals may be more effective than extreme ones.
Genuine people first figure out their own opinions, and then they share them with others. Genuine people are usually more comfortable sharing ideas and letting those views speak for themselves, whereas fake people try too hard to persuade others they are right.
A “yes-man” is a weak person who always agrees with an associate or superior, endorsing or supporting their views without criticism. To be genuine, though, is to be guided by your own beliefs and standards. Sometimes these ideals conflict with those that are imposed upon us, so being authentic is often associated with being brave.
I have attended many college recruiting fairs in China, where parents and children have different ideas of which major to choose. For example, students may want to study art, but the parents want them to study business or science. I suggested a compromise and major in advertising. Students would take courses in marketing (business) and advertising design (art).
Once you are comfortable expressing your views and following your internal expectations, your inner compass will guide you on how to pursue your passions and find your purpose. You may take a traditional path or create an entirely new one. When you are authentic, you make your own choices. Even though you consider others’ views, you blaze your own trail.
Conventional paths are considered “safe,” but forging your own path could lead to failure. To be genuine is not to fear failure. In fact, failure is a key part of the journey, where you learn and acquire new experiences.
In the novel, Holden was repulsed by people who were unaware of their weaknesses as well as those who knew their weaknesses but didn’t admit them. He considered them all phony. Perhaps in his mind, we should be self-reflective and confront the bad along with the good. This way, we recognize our shortcomings and take responsibility for our actions.
Holden particularly reviled those who “fooled themselves to fool others.” Rather than admit their faults, they first lied to themselves, pretending the weakness didn’t exist. And then, these people undauntedly tried to get others to see the situation in their same distorted way.
When you accept your own faults and embrace your individuality, you may become more accepting of others. With less bias, you will have a purer perspective on life that leads to more honest relationships. Your focus becomes more upon pursuing your own mission, and less on judging or criticizing others.
Ironically, despite Holden’s awareness of others’ faults, he is unaware of his own. He often exhibits the same phoniness he shuns, pretending to be someone he is not. And rather than be true to himself and seek the true love and friendship he craves, he alienates himself. Perhaps if he practiced these six habits, he may have avoided the mental breakdown.
My friend, The Catcher in the Rye teaches us that being phony is unhealthy for us personally and also damages our relationships. The novel calls us to be genuine so we can maximize our potential, build solid relationships, and enhance our self-esteem. Be true to who you are…as that will take you far in this journey.
{ 今日英文速記卡 }
1.Discredit
\ dis-?kre-d?t \
a)含義：v. 懷疑；不信
b)例句：
i.Holden thinks Ernie’s false modesty makes him phony, so he discredits his piano-playing abilities and mocks him.
霍爾頓認為厄尼的謙虛使他虛偽，所以他開始質疑厄尼彈鋼琴的能力，并嘲笑他。
ii.It is unprecedented for prosecutors to discredit their own star witness.
檢察官懷疑自己的主要證人，這是史無前例的。
c)近義詞： disgrace, reproach, shame
2.Phony \ ?fō-nē \
a)含義：adj. 假的；欺騙的
b)例句：
i.Even though a phony person is motivated to appear more appealing or impressive, being fake has the opposite effect.
即使一個虛偽的人受到鼓勵然后表現得更有吸引力或更令人印象深刻，但偽裝卻會產生相反的效果。
ii.I always hate phony people like that.
我一直都很討厭像他那樣的騙子。
c)近義詞：artificial, contrived, fake
3.Endorse \ in-?d?rs \
a)含義：v. 贊同；背書
b)例句：
i.A “yes-man” is a weak person who always agrees with an associate or superior, endorsing or supporting their views without criticism.
“唯唯諾諾的人”是指一個總是同意同事或上級的觀點，不加批評地支持或贊同他們的觀點的人。
ii.I can endorse his opinion wholeheartedly.
我可以全力支持他的意見。
c)近義詞：advocate, back, support
4.Revile \ ri-?vī(-?)l \
a)含義：v. 辱罵；斥責
b)例句：
i.Holden particularly reviled those who “fooled themselves to fool others.”
霍爾頓尤其唾棄那些“自欺欺人”的人。
ii.No man should reproach, revile, or slander another man.
人都不應該羞辱，辱罵，或誹謗他人。
c)近義詞： abhor, detest, loathe
5.Undaunted \ ??n-?d?n-t?d \
a)含義：adj. 勇敢的；無畏的
b)例句：
i.And then, these people undauntedly tried to get others to see the situation in their same distorted way.
然后，這些人還毫不掩飾地試圖讓其他人以同樣扭曲的方式看待這種情況。
ii.But it's not a problem for such an undaunted person like me.
但對我這樣一個現在大無畏的人來說，這并不是大問題。
c)近義詞：brave, courageous, fearless
Thank you for watching me to inspire, encourage, and accompany you.
See you next time.
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John Smagula
