永恒的象征——钻石

在许多学者的眼里，钻石是缺乏精妙之美的庸俗商品，它的流行，是商家狡诈宣传和消费者盲目跟风的结果。然而，在我眼里，它却是自然的神奇和人类智慧的结晶，这代表着闪烁和永恒的爱物让我意识到：我们在人世间的旅程极其短暂，且终将归于碳尘。

Although I have always considered myself a fairly unconventional person, I wanted a diamond ring when I became engaged to be married.[2] To please me, my fiancé visited the Diamond District in New York City and (with the help of his mother) picked out a round, 1.5-carat diamond with a yellow gold band.[3]

In the early years of my marriage, some of my female students would come up to me after class and compliment[4] me on my ring. I don’t know if it was the diamond they were admiring or the fact that I had managed to get myself married. In time, the compliments diminished.[5] Whether because my ring was less impressive or because marriage seemed less of an accomplishment[6] to the new generation is hard to say.

As with all highly prized commodities, diamonds also have their detractors.[7] A few years ago, a man sitting next to me at a faculty lunch proclaimed in a loud voice,[8] “That is the biggest diamond I’ve ever seen!” Everyone at the table turned to stare, and my academic stock immediately sunk.[9] My diamond is hardly enormous; in another setting, say dinner at Mayor Bloomberg’s or Warren Buffett’s, it would be puny—but in an academic setting, it looms large and vulgar.[10] Even esthetic-minded academics see diamonds as philistine commodities lacking in nuance.[11] This is not really true, since accurate assessment of the four Cs—color, cut, clarity, and carat weight—requires immense study; it’s just that this study is different from the study for attendance at another four Cs (the Conference on College Composition and Communication).[12] Diamonds also get a bad rap in academia in being linked to marriage, that most bourgeois of institutions.[13] I know that my diamond ring goes against the grain of my profession[14], but I don’t care. I like the mild vulgarity[15] of the thing.

The idea of wearing a diamond on one’s finger is, when one thinks about it, absurd. But, then, all ornament[16] is absurd. My husband, who does not understand jewelry, connects it to the mystery of gender difference[17]. He thinks there is something hormonal in the desire to display a mutated piece of carbon on one’s finger.[18] His theory misses the fact that many men have a taste for diamonds.

As I see it, diamonds reconcile in the simplest possible way two elements that appeal to us—the glittery fun of bling and the solidity of a good investment.[19] These are also the two attributes[20] we seek in marriage and, indeed, in life. A diamond, by symbolically denoting brightness and endurance, reminds us of the fact that our passage through this mortal space is fleeting and will inevitably end in (carbon) dust.[21]

Vocabulary

1. sparkly: 活泼的，生气勃勃的。

2. unconventional: 不守成规的，不依惯例的;engaged: 订婚的。

3. fiancé: 未婚夫，未婚妻为fiancée;1.5-carat diamond with a yellow gold band: 黄金戒圈的1.5克拉钻戒，克拉为钻石等珠宝的重量单位，等于200毫克。

4. compliment: 赞美，恭维。

5. in time: 一段时间之后;diminish: 减少，缩减。

6. accomplishment: 成绩，成就。

7. prized commodity: 价格高昂的商品; detractor: 诋毁者，贬低者。

8. faculty lunch: 教工午餐;proclaim: 宣告，宣布。

9. my academic stock immediately sunk: 我的学术地位立时陡降。stock: 声望，地位。

10. 我的这颗钻石算不上很大，在其他场合，比如布隆伯格市长或是巴菲特的晚宴上，可能都无足挂齿。但在学术场合，它却赫然突显，庸俗不堪。Mayor Bloomberg: 布隆伯格(Michael R. Bloomberg)，纽约市长，传媒大亨;Warren Buffett: 沃伦•巴菲特，著名投资商、慈善家，有“华尔街股神”之称;puny: 微不足道的。

11. 即便是颇具审美趣味的学者，也会将钻石视作缺乏精妙之美的庸俗商品。

12. 这有悖事实。对4C(颜色、切工、净度和克拉数)的精密测量需要大量研究，只不过这种研究有别于参与另外一项4C(大学写作与交流会议)的研究。

13. rap: 批评，指责;academia: 学术圈;that most bourgeois of institutions: 最平庸的习俗。

14. grain of my profession: 我职业的特质。

15. vulgarity: 粗俗。

16. ornament: 装饰(品)。

17. gender difference: 两性差异。

18. hormonal:(似)激素的，激素引起的;a mutated piece of carbon:(钻石是)碳的同素异形体。

19. 我认为，钻石用最简单的方法把吸引我们的两个因素调和起来：一个是闪闪亮带来的乐趣，另一个是好投资所保证的可靠。

20. attribute: 特征。

21. 钻石代表了闪烁和永恒，它让我们意识到这样一个事实：我们在人世间的这段旅程极其短暂，且终将归于(碳)尘。