Leonardo da Vinci
萊昂納多·達(dá)·芬奇
Da Vinci was a painter, an engineer, a writer, a sculptor, an inventor, an architect, a pioneer in exploring human anatomy, an avid animal lover and possibly one of the most famous vegetarians who ever lived. It seems that theres nothing that this man did not do. Yet there was, and it was sleeping. He wasnt a fan of it and after conducting careful research and building up his knowledge, he started following the polyphasic sleep cycle. To put it in other words, Da Vincis sleep would consist of several short naps every 24 hours. Being the Renaissance man is not so easy.
達(dá)芬奇是一名畫(huà)家、工程師、作家、雕塑家、發(fā)明家、建筑師、探索人類解剖學(xué)的先驅(qū)、狂熱的動(dòng)物愛(ài)好者,可能還是有史以來(lái)最有名的素食者之一。似乎沒(méi)有什么事情是達(dá)芬奇沒(méi)做過(guò)的。但是有一件事是達(dá)芬奇不愛(ài)做的,那就是睡覺(jué)。經(jīng)過(guò)仔細(xì)的研究和積累相關(guān)的知識(shí)之后,他開(kāi)始采用多階段睡眠法。換言之,達(dá)芬奇在一天的時(shí)間內(nèi)小睡多次,每次只睡一點(diǎn)時(shí)間。能當(dāng)文藝復(fù)興時(shí)期的代表人物可不是那么容易的事。
Leo Tolstoy
列夫·托爾斯泰
The giant of the Russian literature, Leo Tolstoy not only wrote historically accurate books, but he himself became of historical importance while still being alive. Despite coming from the highest layers of society, Tolstoy eventually started questioning the morale of society that he lived in and started following his own path. He became a vegetarian, started following a vigorous daily routine and denounced the looks of a rich man. He started wearing peasant clothes and shoes, which, despite not being too skilled, were made by himself.
俄國(guó)文學(xué)巨匠列夫·托爾斯泰不僅寫(xiě)出了真實(shí)地反映歷史的書(shū),他自己在世時(shí)也成了重要的歷史人物。盡管托爾斯泰出身上層社會(huì),但他后來(lái)開(kāi)始質(zhì)疑他所生活的社會(huì)的風(fēng)氣,并開(kāi)始走自己的道路。他成了一名素食者,開(kāi)始遵守嚴(yán)格的日常作息,并拋棄富人派頭的打扮。他開(kāi)始穿農(nóng)民的衣服和鞋子,這些衣服和鞋子都是他自己做的,盡管做得不太好。
Erik Satie
埃里克·薩蒂
The prominent French composer Erik Satie was incomprehensibly bizarre. His eating habits were something else. He only ate food that was white, such as eggs, sugar, grated bones, salt, coconuts, rice and similar. Each day he rose at 7:18 am and would have lunch strictly at 12:11. Then he would have dinner at 7:16 pm and he would go to bed at 10:37 pm. Also, he was a hoarder but a very specific one—he loved umbrellas and had over 100 of them.
法國(guó)著名的作曲家埃里克·薩蒂是個(gè)讓人匪夷所思的人。他的飲食習(xí)慣完全和常人不同。他只吃白色的食物,比如雞蛋、白糖、磨碎的骨頭、鹽、椰子和大米之類的食物。他每天早上7點(diǎn)18分起床,中午12點(diǎn)11分準(zhǔn)時(shí)吃午飯,晚上7點(diǎn)16分吃晚飯,10點(diǎn)37分睡覺(jué)。另外,他還是個(gè)囤積狂,但他只囤積一件物品——雨傘,他擁有100多把雨傘。
Michelangelo Buonarroti
米開(kāi)朗琪羅·博那羅蒂
The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City might be celestial, but its creator, Michelangelo, one of the most important names in Western arts history, was far from that. And for a simple reason, which is hygiene. Michelangelo slept with his clothes and boots on, without removing them for days. He avoided showering and even considered it a health hazard. Well, he might have had a point, because he lived until he was 89 years old.
梵蒂岡的西斯廷教堂也許美得出塵脫俗,但它的創(chuàng)造者——西方美術(shù)史上最重要的人物之一米開(kāi)朗琪羅卻遠(yuǎn)非如此。原因很簡(jiǎn)單,就是衛(wèi)生問(wèn)題。米開(kāi)朗琪羅穿著衣服和靴子睡覺(jué),而且好多天都不脫。他很少洗澡,甚至認(rèn)為洗澡會(huì)危害身體健康。不過(guò),他的觀點(diǎn)也許有點(diǎn)道理,因?yàn)樗畹搅?9歲。
Honoré de Balzac
奧諾雷·德·巴爾扎克
“Were it not for coffee one could not write, which is to say one could not live” is what Balzac, the renowned French novelist, playwright and the author of The Human Comedy once said. And he really meant it, because there barely was a minute when he was not sipping this elixir of life. Its estimated that Balzac drank 50 coffee cups a day. You may wonder, how does one sleep, when youre permanently on a caffeine rush? But thats how Balzac liked it, since he woke up daily at 1 am so he could jump straight into writing.
“沒(méi)有咖啡就無(wú)法寫(xiě)作,也就無(wú)法生活”,這是法國(guó)著名小說(shuō)家、劇作家、《人間喜劇》的作者巴爾扎克說(shuō)過(guò)的話。他真的是這么認(rèn)為的,因?yàn)樗繒r(shí)每刻都在喝咖啡。據(jù)估計(jì),巴爾扎克每天要喝掉50杯咖啡。你可能會(huì)好奇,一個(gè)人不停地喝咖啡,他還睡得著覺(jué)嗎?但這正是巴爾扎克想要的,因?yàn)樗刻炝璩?點(diǎn)醒來(lái),喝咖啡能使他立刻投入到寫(xiě)作中。
Virginia Woolf and Friedrich Nietzsche
弗吉尼亞·伍爾芙和弗里德里希·尼采
Even though these two figures dont seem to have many things in common, the British modernist Virginia Woolf, together with the subversive German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche could see themselves working in a modern office as long as they would be provided with a standing desk. They both wrote while standing up, considering it to be the only proper way to achieve something of meaning.
盡管這兩個(gè)人似乎沒(méi)有太多共同點(diǎn),但英國(guó)現(xiàn)代主義作家弗吉尼亞·伍爾芙和德國(guó)顛覆性哲學(xué)家弗里德里?!つ岵啥歼m合有站立式辦公桌的現(xiàn)代辦公室。兩人都是站著寫(xiě)作,他們認(rèn)為只有這樣才能寫(xiě)出有意義的東西。
Ludwig van Beethoven
路德維?!し病へ惗喾?/p>
Beethoven did write the glorious “Symphony No. 9”, which is now the anthem of European Union, while being already deaf, but, of course, thats just the tip of the iceberg of his input into musical history. Yet stellar results require astronomic discipline. Each morning Beethoven counted by hand 60 coffee beans from which he would make his perfect cup of coffee. Also, in order to restart his creative muscles after writing too much music, he would pour cold water on his head.
貝多芬確實(shí)是在耳聾的狀況下寫(xiě)出輝煌的《第九交響曲》的,這首曲子現(xiàn)已成為歐盟盟歌。當(dāng)然,這只是貝多芬的音樂(lè)軼事的冰山一角。誠(chéng)然,只有極端的自律才能達(dá)到這樣非凡的成就。每天早上,貝多芬都要用手?jǐn)?shù)出60粒咖啡豆來(lái)泡出完美的咖啡。此外,為了激發(fā)因?qū)懽魈鄻?lè)章而疲軟的創(chuàng)作力,他會(huì)往自己頭上澆冷水。
Andy Warhol
安迪·沃霍爾
Andy Warhol, the face of pop art, is easy to distinguish from a crowd. Because he indeed was a dandy and took great care of his looks, and most importantly, his iconic hairdo, which was, actually… a wig. Warhol had the unusual habit of collecting wigs. Eventually, he hoarded a collection of 40 wigs.
人們很容易就能在人群中認(rèn)出波普藝術(shù)的代表人物安迪·沃霍爾,因?yàn)樗莻€(gè)很愛(ài)打扮的人,非常注重自己的外表。他最看重的就是他標(biāo)志性的發(fā)型。實(shí)際上,那是一頂假發(fā)。沃霍爾有收集假發(fā)的特殊癖好。他總共囤積了40頂假發(fā)。
Glenn Gould
格倫·古爾德
A big name in the world of classical music, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould was famous not only for his virtuosic skills and unique playing style. He also was a very odd character with many the eccentricities of a hyper hypochondriac. He always wore an overcoat and gloves in all temperatures because of his fears of catching germs and getting sick. And when performance time arrived, he would always bring his own chair with him, no matter where the concert took place. It always had to be his own, magical chair.
作為古典音樂(lè)界的大人物,加拿大鋼琴家格倫·古爾德的名氣不僅源自他杰出的演奏技巧和獨(dú)特的演奏風(fēng)格,他還是一個(gè)超級(jí)古怪的疑心病患者。無(wú)論是什么天氣,他總是穿著大衣,戴著手套,因?yàn)樗ε赂腥炯?xì)菌而導(dǎo)致生病。到了演奏的時(shí)候,無(wú)論音樂(lè)會(huì)在哪里舉行,他總會(huì)帶上自己的椅子。他一定要坐在自己那把神奇的椅子上演奏。
Word Study
avid /'?v?d/ adj. 熱衷的;酷愛(ài)的
accurate /'?kj?r?t/ adj. 精確的;準(zhǔn)確的
routine /ru?'ti?n/ n. 常規(guī);正常順序
The players had to change their daily routine and lifestyle.
bizarre /b?'zɑ?(r)/ adj. 極其怪誕的;異乎尋常的
hygiene /'ha?d?i?n/ n. 衛(wèi)生
hazard /'h?z?d/ n. 危險(xiǎn);危害
Everybody is aware of the hazards of smoking.
distinguish /d?'st??ɡw??/ v. 使有別于
What was it that distinguished her from her classmates?