not of one man only: he is a composite portrait,
made up of all the vices which flourish, full-

grown, amongst the present generation. You
will tell me, as you have told me before,

that no man can be so bad as this; and my
reply will be: "If you believe that such

persons as the villains of tragedy and romance
could exist in real life, why can you not believe

in the reality of Pechorin? If you admire fic-
tions much more terrible and monstrous, why is

it that this character, even if regarded merely as
a creature of the imagination, cannot obtain

quarter at your hands? Is it not because there
is more truth in it than may be altogether palat-

able to you?"
You will say that the cause of morality gains

nothing by this book. I beg your pardon. People
have been surfeited with sweetmeats and their

digestion has been ruined: bitter medicines,
sharp truths, are therefore necessary. This must

not, however, be taken to mean that the author
has ever proudly dreamed of becoming a reformer

of human vices. Heaven keep him from such im-
pertinence! He has simply found it entertaining

to depict a man, such as he considers to be
typical of the present day and such as he has often

met in real life -- too often, indeed, unfortunately
both for the author himself and for you. Suffice

it that the disease has been pointed out: how it
is to be cured -- God alone knows!

End

• flourish [´flʌriʃ] v.茂盛；挥动 n.挥舞 (初中英语单词)
• generation [,dʒenə´reiʃən] n.发生；世代；同龄人 (初中英语单词)
• tragedy [´trædʒidi] n.悲剧；惨案；灾难 (初中英语单词)
• reality [ri´æliti] n.现实(性)；真实；逼真 (初中英语单词)
• character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)
• imagination [i,mædʒi´neiʃən] n.想象(力) (初中英语单词)
• altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)
• pardon [´pɑ:dən] n.&vt.原谅；饶恕；赦免 (初中英语单词)
• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
• proudly [´praudli] ad.骄傲地；傲慢地 (初中英语单词)
• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
• monstrous [´mɔnstrəs] a.怪异的；庞大的 (高中英语单词)
• depict [di´pikt] vt.描写；描绘 (高中英语单词)
• morality [mə´ræliti] n.道德；教训；伦理学 (英语四级单词)