You do not seem to realise that beauty is a liability rather than

你似乎没有意识到美是种风险，而不是

   an asset—that in view of the fact that spirit creates form we are justified in supposing

资产——精神创造形式，为此我们有理由假设，

     that you must have brains. For you, a symbol of the unit, stiff and sharp,

你必定有头脑。对你而言，个体的象征物既坚硬又尖锐，

    conscious of surpassing by dint of native superiority and liking for everything

你因为意识到天生的优势而卓尔不群，喜欢事事

self-dependent, anything an

自立，喜欢野心勃勃的文明

ambitious civilisation might produce: for you, unaided to attempt through sheer

可能产生的任何东西：对你而言，独立地、试图通过纯粹的

   reserve, to confute presumptions resulting from observation, is idle. You cannot make us

矜持，去驳斥通过观察对你所做的假设，毫无必要。你无法让我们

     think you a delightful happen-so. But rose, if you are brilliant, it

认为你是一个愉快的偶然。但是玫瑰，如果你卓越，并

   is not because your petals are the without-which-nothing of pre-eminence. You would look, minus

不是因为你的花瓣超越一切、不可或缺，如果没有刺，你看上去

thorns—like a what-is-this, a mere

什么都不像，仅仅是一个

peculiarity. They are not proof against a worm, the elements, or mildew

怪物。它们不防虫，不防风火水土，不防霉菌，

   but what about the predatory hand? What is brilliance without co-ordination? Guarding the

而那掠夺之手呢？没有协作何谈卓越？且守护

     infinitesimal pieces of your mind, compelling audience to

你极微小的思想碎片，并强迫观众

   the remark that it is better to be forgotten than to be remembered too violently,

接受这种观点：与其被粗暴地记住，不如被遗忘，

your thorns are the best part of you.

刺是你最好的部分。