三、Beauty Is Meaningless

　　A young man sees a sunset and, unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him, concludes that it must be the gateway to a world that lies beyond. It is difficult for any of us in moments of intense aesthetic experience to resist the suggestion that we are catching a glimpse of a light that shines down to us from a different realm of existence, different and, because the experience is intensely moving, in some wqy higher. And, though the gleams blind and dazzle, yet they do convey a hint of beauty and serenity greater than we have known or imagined. Greater too than we can describe, for language, which was invented to convey the meanings of this world, cannot readily be fitted to the uses of another.

　　That all great art has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable. In some moods, Nature shares it. There is no sky in June so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer, no sunset so beautiful that it does not waken the vision of a greater beauty, a wision which passes before it is fully glimpsed, and in passing leaves an indefinable linging and regret. But, if this world is not merely a bad joke, life a vulgar flare amid the cool radiance of the stars, and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries, if these intimations of a something behind and beyond are not evil humour born of indigestion, or whimsies sent by the devil to mock and madden us, if, in a word, beauty means something, yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning. If we glimpse the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it, nor should we seek to invest with significance that which we cannot grasp. Beauty in terms of our human meanings is meaningless.

　　intense a. 1.強烈的，劇烈的，緊張的 2.認真的，專注的 3.熱情的，熱切的

　　intensify v. （使）增強，（使）加劇

　　aesthetic a. 1.美學(xué)的，審美的 2.悅目的，雅致的

　　gleam vi.1.閃亮，閃爍 2.閃現(xiàn)，流露 n.1.閃光，閃亮 2.閃現(xiàn)，流露

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　sparkle vi.1.發(fā)光，閃耀，閃爍 2.活躍，煥發(fā) n.1.發(fā)光，閃耀，閃爍 2.活力，生氣

　　glitter vi. 閃閃發(fā)光，閃耀 n.閃光，燦爛的光輝 2.耀眼，輝煌

　　dazzle vt. 使眩目 n.1.耀眼的光 2.令人贊嘆的東西

　　serenity n. 1.平靜，安詳 2.晴朗，明朗

　　denial n. 1.否認 2.拒絕

　　undeniable a.不可否認的

　　vulgar a. 1.粗野的，下流的 2.庸俗的，粗俗的

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　boscene a. 1.淫穢的，下流的 2.可憎的，可惡的

　　flare vi. 1.（火焰）閃耀 2.突發(fā)，突然發(fā)怒 n.閃光信號，照明彈

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　erupt vi. 1.（火山等）噴發(fā) 2.（戰(zhàn)爭等）爆發(fā)，突然發(fā)生

　　ignite vt. 點燃，引發(fā)

　　radiant a. 1.容光煥發(fā)的，喜形于色的 2.光芒四射的，光輝燦爛的 3.輻射的

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　radiate v. 1.發(fā)出（光或熱），輻射 2.流露，顯示

　　radioactive a. 放射性的，有輻射的

　　bray vi. 1.（驢）叫 2.以響而粗的聲音說（或笑）

　　whimsy n. 1.怪念頭，離奇的想法 2.稀奇古怪

　　[聯(lián)想詞]

　　bizare a. 怪誕的，奇形怪狀的

　　weird a. 1.古怪的，離奇的 2.怪誕的，神秘可怕的

　　mock vt. 1.嘲笑，嘲弄 2.（為了取笑）模仿 vi.嘲笑，嘲弄 a. 1.模擬的，學(xué)習(xí)的 2.假的，假裝的