美国国父之一的富兰克林写的这篇哨子，收录于1990年代初二语文课本。传达的意思很简单，不要为一个哨子付出过高的代价。20年后重读英文原文，有了三点新的认识，于是有了这篇文字。
1.《哨子》不是写给你看的
中学课本中的哨子这篇文章，写于1779年，其实是从73岁的富兰克林写给一个35岁的好友的回信中抽出来的。好友在前一封信中描述了天堂的种种美好，富兰克林在回信中先是表示基本同意，然后说当心不要为哨子们付出过多，于是娓娓道来他的童年故事。
这位好友是 Madame Brillon, 全名为Anne Louise Brillon de Jouy， 是一名法国女性音乐家和作曲家。他们认识时，两人都已结婚。有趣的是，76岁的富兰克林还特别写了一篇和平协议（treaty of Peace），原文如下：
ARTICLE 1. There shall be eternal Peace, Friendship & Love, between Madame
B. and Mr F.
ARTICLE 2.
...In order to maintain the same inviolably, Made B. on her Part
stipulates and agrees, that Mr F. shall come to her whenever she
sends for him.
ART. 3.
That he shall stay with her as long as she pleases.
ART. 4.
That when he is with her, he shall be oblig'd to drink Tea,
play Chess, hear Musick; or do any other thing that she requires of
him.
ART. 5.
And that he shall love no other Woman but herself.
ART. 6.
And the said Mr F. on his part stipulates and agrees, that he
will go away from M. B.'s whenever he pleases.
ART. 7.
That he will stay away as long as he pleases.
ART. 8.
That when he is with her, he will do what he pleases.
ART. 9.
And that he will love any other Woman as far as he finds her
amiable.
Let me know what you think of these Preliminaries. To me they seem to express the true Meaning and Intention of each Party more plainly than most Treaties. -- I shall insist pretty strongly on the eighth Article, tho' without much Hope of your Consent to it; and on the ninth also, tho I despair of ever finding any other Woman that I could love with equal Tenderness: being ever, my dear dear Friend,
Yours most sincerely
1782
2. 中文翻译，我的版本
如今的我已经不满意课本里的中文翻译了。这里，我把完整的全文贴出，并对哨子部分逐段译出，我个人比较感兴趣的地方加下划线。
To Madame Brillon，
I received my dear friend’s two letters, one for Wednesday and one for Saturday.
This is again Wednesday. I do not deserve one for to-day, because I have not answered the former. But, indolent as I am, and averse to writing, the fear of having no more of your pleasing epistles, if I do not contribute to the correspondence, obliges me to take up my pen; and as Mr. B. has kindly sent me word that he sets out to-morrow to see you, instead of spending this Wednesday evening, as I have done its namesakes, in your delightful company, I sit down to spend it in thinking of you, in writing to you, and in reading over and over again your letters.
I am charmed with your description of Paradise, and with your plan of living there; and I approve much of your conclusion, that, in the meantime, we should draw all the good we can from this world. In my opinion we might all draw more good from it than we do, and suffer less evil, if we would take care not to give too much for whistles.
For to me it seems that most of the unhappy people we meet with are become so by neglect of that caution.
You ask what I mean? You love, and will excuse my telling one of myself.
When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of a whistle, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I <u>voluntarily offered</u> and gave all my money for one.
当我还是一个七岁的孩子时，一个节日，我的朋友们给我的口袋塞满了铜币。我径直奔向卖儿童玩具的商店。路上遇到一个拿着口哨的男孩并被其口哨声迷住了，我<u>自愿出价</u>，掏空了口袋换取了一个口哨。
（译注：对真正想要的东西愿意出高价钱，其实是聪明的决定）
I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and <u>the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.</u>
然后我回到家，哨声响遍房子。我非常得意我的哨子，却打扰了家人们。我的兄弟们，姐妹们和堂亲们，知道了我的买卖后，告诉我，我给出了其价值四倍的价钱；给我一个画面，我本可以用剩余的钱买多少好东西；嘲笑我是多么愚蠢，搞得我懊恼地哭了。回想起来，这只哨子带给我的沮丧要多于 快乐。
（译注：哨子本身并不一定带来喜悦或沮丧。是寄托在哨子上面的情感。显然，哥哥姐姐们的嘲笑造成了改变了我的感受。）
This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind; so that often, when I was <u>tempted to buy some unnecessary thing</u>, I said to myself, Don’t give too much for the whistle; and I saved my money.
无论如何，这件事依然对我有用，它一直烙印在我脑中。有很多次，我<u>心痒痒</u>要买一些不必要的东西，我会告诉自己，不要为哨子花费太多，于是我省了钱。
As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, who gave too much for the whistle.
当我长大，步入社会，观察到人们的行为，我认为太多太多的人为哨子付出了过分的代价。
When I saw one too ambitious of court favor, <u>sacrificing his time in attendance on levees</u>, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, this man gives too much for his whistle.
当我看见有人过分寻求权贵的偏爱，把时间浪费在不停地献殷勤，不惜牺牲自己的休息、自由、美德甚至朋友，来达到目的。我对自己说，这个人为哨子多付钱了。
（译注：不一定是讨好上司，也可能是讨好选民，讨好特定利益关系的群体）
When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by that neglect, "He pays, indeed," said I, "too much for his whistle."
当我看见有人为了涨粉，不停地让自己忙于政治纷争中，忽略了自己份内的事情，而且由于忽略而毁了自己重要的事情。我说，他为了买这个哨子做了冤大头。
If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living, <u>all the pleasure of doing good to others</u>, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth, "Poor man," said I, "you pay too much for your whistle."
我知道有个吝啬鬼，他放弃了种种舒适的生活，放弃了为他人做好事带来的全部愉悦，放弃了同胞们对他的尊重和爱戴，放弃了慷慨友谊的快乐，仅仅是为了积累财富。我说，可怜的人啊，你为哨子蒙蔽了双眼。
When I met with a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement of the mind, or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and ruining his health in their pursuit, "Mistaken man," said I, "you are providing pain for yourself, instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle."
当我遇见贪图享乐的人，牺牲了一切值得称颂的精神上的或者物质上的改进，仅仅是为了肉体上的感官体验，而在追求中毁掉了自己的健康。我说，误入歧途的人啊，你是在为自己提供痛苦而非快乐。你为哨子付出了过多代价。
If I see one fond of appearance, or fine clothes, fine houses, fine furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he <u>contracts debts</u>, and ends his career in a prison, "Alas!" say I, "he has paid dear, very dear, for his whistle."
如果我看见一个人喜好外表，精致的衣服，高档房子，高级家具，高端装备，所有均在他的财力之上。他债务缠身，最终进了监狱。我说，他为哨子付出了昂贵的代价。
When I see a beautiful <u>sweet-tempered</u> girl married to an ill-natured brute of a husband, "What a pity," say I, "that she should pay so much for a whistle!"
当我看见漂亮甜美的女孩嫁给了品性恶劣的人，我说，太可惜了，她为哨子付出了太多。
In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by their giving too much for their whistles.
简而言之，我确信人类苦难中的很大一部分是由于虚假地估计了东西的价值，并未他们的哨子付出了过多的代价。
Yet I ought to have charity for these unhappy people, when I consider that, with all this wisdom of which I am boasting, there are certain things in the world so tempting, for example, the <u>apples of King John</u>, which happily are not to be bought; for if they were put to sale by auction, I might very easily be led to ruin myself in the purchase, and find that I had once more given too much for the whistle.
当我用我所宣扬的这种智慧考虑问题时，我也许应该要可怜这些不幸的人们，然而世界上有些极具诱惑的东西，比如英国约翰国王的苹果，恰好是买不到的。如果它们被拍卖，我也许很容易就成了剁手党，然后发现自己又一次被宰了。
Adieu, my dear friend, and believe me ever yours very sincerely and with unalterable affection.
(November 10, 1779)
3 哨子的隐喻和代价的考量
在分析哨子这个隐喻之前，我先翻译一段特斯拉汽车的创办人 Elon Musk的“第一原则思考”（First Principle thinking）：
Musk: Well, I do think there’s a good framework for thinking. It is physics. You know, the sort of first principles reasoning. Generally I think there are — what I mean by that is, <u>boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there, as opposed to reasoning by analogy</u>.
马斯克：好吧，我确实认为存在一个思考的好框架。这就是物理，也就是那种第一原理来寻找根源。我的意思是，<u>把事情分解成最基本的真相，然后从根源上推演，而不是用比拟来推演。</u>
Through most of our life, we get through life by reasoning by analogy, which essentially means copying what other people do with slight variations.
在我们生活中的大部分时候，我们都是通过打比方的推理方式来度过日常，这实质上就是复制别人怎么做事情，仅仅稍加改动。
（翻译完毕）
在我看来，哨子这篇文章出自于书信，本来就只是借题发挥指哪打哪，自然经不起严密的推敲。而且人类社会经过200多年的进化，已经能够更加精准地讨论一些话题了。简单说来，买哨子其实有两个关键问题：
- 该不该买？如果你对哨子不感兴趣，或者只是三分钟的新鲜感，那么，不管哨子多么特价销售，你都不应该买。
- 花多少钱买哨子才是一个合理的价格？如果“哨子”是一个商品，放在市场上多交易几次就能发现大致的价格了。但如果“哨子”不是一个商品，而是宠爱、名望、享乐、外表、情爱等人类的欲望，那本身就不是一个固定的商品，所以就没有一个统一的价签。如果硬要价格价签，那就是多人次试错后得出的一个大致成本。
富兰克林一直在说“为了一个哨子付出了过高的代价”，其实只是在处理第二个问题。然而更重要的其实是第一个问题。如果哨子对你而言不重要，你又何必在乎多少钱？
参考链接：
- 九十年代初中语文课本的经典回忆。http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_4c31b8c80100ejc7.html
- 哨子中文通用翻译：https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%93%A8%E5%AD%90/13682800
- 哨子英文全文。The Whistle by Benjamin Franklin：https://www.thoughtco.com/the-whistle-by-benjamin-franklin-1688774
- Benjamin Frankin and the French Women：https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~engelis/bf_and_women.html
- Elon Musks’ “3-Step” First Principles Thinking: How to Think and Solve Difficult Problems Like a Genius: https://medium.com/the-mission/elon-musks-3-step-first-principles-thinking-how-to-think-and-solve-difficult-problems-like-a-ba1e73a9f6c0
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