It’s hard to know how to mark a milestone birthday, especially for the rich and powerful. A fancy dinner, or perhaps a trip? As America approaches 250, friends and admirers at home and abroad worry that it has lost its shimmer(光泽，闪光；魅力). The last time a majority of Americans thought their country was on the right track(走在正确的轨道上) was a generation ago. For those keen to celebrate America’s birthday but wary of overdoing it, this newspaper recommends something more cerebral than a cage fight on the lawn: reading Alexis de Tocqueville.(对于那些热衷于庆祝美国生日但又担心过分张扬的人来说，本刊推荐一种比草坪上铁笼格斗更理智的活动：阅读亚历克西·德·托克维尔。)
很难知道如何庆祝一个里程碑式的生日，尤其是对于富人和权贵。一顿豪华晚餐，还是一次旅行？随着美国即将迎来250岁生日，国内外的朋友和仰慕者担心它已经失去了光彩。大多数美国人上一次认为自己的国家走在正确轨道上，还是一代人之久。对于那些热衷于庆祝美国生日但又担心过分张扬的人来说，本刊推荐一种比草坪上铁笼格斗更理智的活动：阅读亚历克西·德·托克维尔。
Why him? A young French aristocrat(贵族) who visited the country just once in the 1830s, Tocqueville was an unlikely prophet(预言家，先知). He went travelling partly to escape his parents, who disapproved of his girlfriend and his liberal(自由的，开明的) politics. But his nine-month trip across 17 of the then 24 states filled 14 notebooks and produced “Democracy in America”, one of the best books about democracy, or America.
为什么是他？托克维尔是一位年轻的法国贵族，19世纪30年代仅访美一次，他是一位不太可能的先知。他旅行部分是为了逃避父母，父母不赞成他的女友和他的自由派政治立场。但他为期九个月的旅程穿越了当时24个州中的17个，填满了14本笔记本，并产出了《论美国的民主》，这本书是关于民主或美国的最佳著作之一。
Its two volumes, written five years apart, mix political science, sociology, journalism and prediction. It is long, occasionally turgid(浮夸的，晦涩的) and also funny. It is not universally loved: Walter Isaacson reckons it is the least-read and most quoted book about America. Reading it cover to cover(从头到尾) is indeed a slog. It is better dipped into, like Montaigne’s “Essays” or a recipe book.
该书的两卷相隔五年写成，融合了政治学、社会学、新闻学和预测。它篇幅长，偶尔浮夸，但也很有趣。它并非受到普遍喜爱：沃尔特·艾萨克森认为它是关于美国的最少阅读但最常被引用的书。从头到尾读确实是一桩苦差事。最好像蒙田的《随笔集》或菜谱书那样随意翻阅。
Quelle surprise
何等惊喜
L’esprit de ‘76
七六年精神