Distance lends enchantment to the view.距离为景色增添魅力。
此谚语出自苏格兰诗人Thomas Campbell(1777 1844)的诗篇“The Pleasures of Hope”,原文是一长句:“Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, and robes the mountain in its azure hue.”
又如另一位十八世纪苏格兰诗人John Cunningham在他的诗篇“Hymen”中所写的:
So various is the human mind;
Such are the frailties of mankind!
What at a distance charmed our eyes,
Upon attainment, droops, and dies.
以上都是讲远望的景色比眼前的景象总是要好看得多。当然这还只是比喻而已;其真意是说,一个人的想象总要比现实美好得多。下面一句谚语即点明此意:
Expectation is better than realization.
盼望胜于现实。
十九世纪又一位苏格兰诗人及小说家Robert Louis Stevenson曾写道:“To travel hopefully is better than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.”首句“满怀希望地上路犹胜于抵达终点”也有同样意思。