经济学人下载:美国式幽默-有趣的人

American humour
美式幽默

Funny man
有趣的人

The talent of an American lyricist
一位富有天赋的美国抒情诗人

CALVIN TRILLIN made his reputation over four decades as the author of “US Journal” in the New Yorker, reporting extensively about serious and often tragic subjects such as race relations and crime. He was also among the first writers to grasp that American cuisine is a good way to understand the nation’s vigorous and various cultures. But Mr Trillin is incapable of resisting the temptation of comedy. The jokes kept on welling up and Mr Trillin made a parallel reputation as a writer of funny stuff.

卡尔文.特里林作为《纽约客》美国日报作者享誉盛名四十余载，广泛的报道种族关系和犯罪这类严肃而悲痛的题材文章。他是首位发现美国烹饪是了解美国朝气而丰富文化的良好途径的作家之一。但是特里林无法抗拒喜剧的诱惑，创作出许多笑话。因此，他也因创作滑稽有趣的作品而享有同等声望。

He belongs to a tradition that included distinguished journalists such as Art Buchwald in the Washington Post, and Russell Baker at the New York Times. Each might regard the idea as risible, but their ability to deflate the reputations of self-important politicians and men of business makes classy moralists of them.

他是一位传统派作家，还有华盛顿邮报和纽约时报著名的新闻记者阿尔特．布克沃尔德和拉塞尔贝克。每位想法独特有趣，而他们有能力减少高傲政客和商业人士的声望和影响力，因此他们可称为优秀道德家。

The title of this collection of his humorous writings is the first of many jokes. Mr Trillin makes fun of the arrival in the Port of Galveston, Texas, in 1908, from somewhere “near Kiev”, of his father and his Uncle Benny. Apparently, Jacob Schiff, an eminent German Jewish banker was embarrassed by the poor, huddled masses from eastern Europe cluttering up New York at the time and financed the detour to the south-west. The thought is rather appalling, but Mr Trillin makes it work for him: “You can say what you want to about my Uncle Benny, but he never made his living as a money lender.”

幽默集锦是特里林第一部笑话作品。他取笑他的父亲和叔叔本尼从基辅附近的某个地方在1908年到达德克萨斯州加尔维斯顿。大批来自东欧的贫穷民众使纽约异常杂乱拥挤，杰出的德国犹太银行家雅各布.希夫很明显对此感到不安，并资助他们绕道去往美国西南部。这种想法非常令人震惊。但是特里林成功的为他开脱：你可以随便我评论我叔叔本尼，但是他从未以放贷人为生。