Afternoon Tea 下午茶

亨利·詹姆斯(Henry James)

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. There are circumstances in which, whether you partake of the tea or not — some people of course never do — the situation is in itself delightful. Those that I have in mind in beginning to unfold this simple history offered an admirable setting to an innocent pastime . The implements of the little feast had been disposed upon the lawn of an old English country-house, in what I should call the perfect middle of a splendid summer afternoon. Part of the afternoon had waned, but much of it was left, and what was left was of the finest and rarest quality. Real dusk would not arrive for many hours; but the flood of summer light had begun to ebb, the air had grown mellow, the shadows were long upon the smooth, dense turf. They lengthened slowly, however, and the scene expressed that sense of leisure still to come which is perhaps the chief source of one's enjoyment of such a scene at such an hour. From five o'clock to eight is on certain occasions a little eternity; but on such an occasion as this the interval could be only an eternity of pleasure. The persons concerned in it were taking their pleasure quietly... The shadows on the perfect lawn were straight and angular; they were the shadows of an old man sitting in a deep wicker-chair near the low table on which the tea had been served, and of two younger men strolling to and fro, in desultory talk, in front of him. The old man had his cup in his hand; it was an unusually large cup, of a different pattern from the rest of the set and painted in brilliant colours. He disposed of its contents with much circumspection , holding it for a long time close to his chin, with his face turned to the house. His companions had either finished their tea or were indifferent to their privilege; they smoked cigarettes as they continued to stroll. One of them, from time to time, as he passed, looked with a certain attention at the elder man, who, unconscious of observation, rested his eyes upon the rich red front of his dwelling. The house that rose beyond the lawn was a structure to repay such consideration and was the most characteristic object in the peculiarly English picture I have attempted to sketch.

- setting [ˈsetɪŋ] n. 环境，背景

- pastime [ˈpɑːstaɪm] n. 消遣，娱乐

- dispose [dɪˈspəʊz] v. 处理；处置

- circumspection [ˌsɜːkəmˈspekʃn] n. 谨慎

- repay [riːˈpeɪ] v. 偿还，补偿

在某些情况下，人生中很少有几个小时比专门用来享用下午茶的时刻更让人舒心。有些情况下，不论你喝不喝下午茶——有些人从不喝——这种情境本身就令人愉悦。在开始讲述下午茶的简单历史时，我心目中呈现的是这种无害消遣的怡人环境。在我称之为美好愉快的夏日傍晚，小小茶宴的用具摆在了古老英国农舍的草坪上。下午的时光已部分消逝，但尚余许多，那剩下的却是最美好、最金贵的。离黄昏降临还有几个小时，但夏天的强烈阳光已开始消退，空气变得温和，长长的影子落在平滑茂盛的草地上。不过，影子慢慢拉长，这种场景显示着即将来临的悠闲，那也许是人们面对此时此景心中怡然快乐的主要源泉。从5点到8点，在某些场合，是一种小小的永恒；但在如是的一种场合，这段时间只能是一段快乐的永恒。人们乐在其中，静静地享受着。如茵的草坪上，影子直直的，带着角度；这是一位老人和两个年轻男子的影子，老人坐在靠背高的藤椅上，旁边有张矮桌子，上面已摆好了茶，年轻男子在他面前来回溜达着，随便说些话。老人手里端着茶杯，那杯子超乎寻常的大，上面的图案同那套茶具其他杯子上的图案不同，鲜艳夺目。他把杯子举到下巴前，仔细品茶，面朝着屋子。两个年轻人，要么喝完了，要么对男人这么特殊的享受无所谓，来回踱着步，抽着烟。其中一个年轻人，时不时地从老者身边经过，打量老者，看他用茶，老者没有觉察到这一点，还在盯着屋子鲜红的正面。草坪后面的屋子也值得一看，在我想描绘的奇特的英国风景画中，那是最有特色的部分。

亨利·詹姆斯（Henry James，1843年4月15日－1916年2月28日）是一位杰出的美国作家和文学评论家，以其对心理现实主义的贡献而闻名。他出生于纽约市的一个富裕家庭，其父是一位哲学家和神学家，母亲是一位社会活动家。亨利·詹姆斯的兄弟威廉·詹姆斯是一位著名的心理学家和哲学家。

詹姆斯在欧洲和美国之间度过了他的大部分成年生活，这影响了他的作品。他的小说和短篇故事通常探讨了美国与欧洲之间的文化差异，以及个人身份和道德选择的复杂性。他的写作风格细腻，擅长描绘人物的内心世界和社交互动。

詹姆斯的著名作品包括《一位女士的画像》（The Portrait of a Lady，1881年）、《华盛顿广场》（Washington Square，1880年）、《螺丝转动》（The Turn of the Screw，1898年）和《鸽翼》（The Wings of the Dove，1902年）。这些作品不仅在文学上受到高度评价，而且在电影和戏剧改编中也取得了成功。

亨利·詹姆斯对文学的贡献不仅限于他的小说创作。他还是一位重要的文学评论家，对其他作家的作品进行了深刻的分析和评论。他的评论文章和信件也展现了他对文学艺术的深刻见解。

亨利·詹姆斯于1916年在伦敦去世，享年72岁。他的作品至今仍被广泛阅读和研究，被认为是19世纪末至20世纪初文学的重要组成部分。