Perhaps some of these Europeans are reassured by the sight, on the twin fashion avenues of Madison and Fifth, of all those familiar international names – the jewelers, shoe stores, and designer shops that exist to flatter and bilk the frivolous rich.
这些欧洲人中有些人也许是因为在麦迪逊大街和第五大街这两条双胞胎似的繁华大街上看到那些熟悉的国际名牌商号--那些专为迎合并蒙骗那些轻浮浅薄的有钱人而存在的珠宝店、鞋店和服装设计店…而感到心头踏实。
But no; what most excites Europeans is the city’s charged, nervous atmosphere, its vulgar dynamism.
然而事实并非如此，最令欧洲人激动不已的是这个城市的那种精神饱满的紧张气氛和它那种野性的活力。
New York is about energy, contention, and striving.
纽约充满着活力、竞争和奋斗。
And since it contains its share of articulate losers, it is also about mockery, the put-down, the loser’s shrug (“whaddya gonna do?”).
同时，由于存在着一批能说会道的失意者，它也充满着嘲笑、轻侮和失意者的心灰意冷("你说该咋办?")。
It is about constant battles for subway seats, for a cabdriver’s or a clerk's or a waiter's attention, for a foothold, a chance, a better address, a larger billing.
它充满着无休无止的斗争一一为了地铁上的座位，为了引起一个的士司机、一个办事员或一个侍者的注意，为了有一个立足之地，为了一次成功的机会。为了一个较好的居住地方，为了让自己名字出现在一张大一点的海报上。
To win in New York is to be uneasy; to lose is to live in jostling proximity to the frustrated majority.
在纽约，一个人若成功了，他会感到惶惶不安;如果失败了，他就得和那灰心丧气的大多数人一起苦熬岁月。
New York was never Mecca to me.
纽约从来都不是我心目中的麦加圣地。
And though I have lived there more than half my life, you won't find me wearing an “I Love New York” T-shirt.
尽管我在那儿生活了大半辈子，你却休想看到我穿上一件印着"我爱纽约"的文化衫。
But all in all, I can't think of many places in the world I'd rather live. It's not easy to define why.
但总的说来，我倒还想不出这世界上有多少个地方我更愿意去居住。至于为什么，就很难说得清。