| 244 | 244 | 244．让别人欠你的人情债
有些人将自己的利益假饰成其他人的利益：当他们真正接受恩惠时他们使之看起来好像在施予恩惠。有些人精明得很，明明是在求人，而给人的感觉却是他们在给人以荣幸。他们用使自己获利的办法来使别人产生荣誉感。他们安排事情的方式使其他人觉得当其他人给他们东西的时候是在偿付债务。他们绝顶聪明，打乱主客的次序，让人迷惑不解，不知道谁是施惠者，谁是受惠者。他们用廉价的称赞赚取最好的东西；通过表示他们喜欢某件东西来给予别人荣誉和奉承。他们以别人的谦卑来获得对某物的所有权。本来该他们自己应觉得感激的东西，他们却让别人感到受了他们的恩。他们在Oblige（感谢、承蒙--译者注）这个词上玩弄主动态或是被动态花招，他们更擅长的是政治而不是语法。这真是妙不可言。但如果你能当场破其狡诈，阻止他反客为主，让名誉归于当归之人，让利益归于当得之主，那就证明你才是更精明的人。 | 244 Create a feeling of Obligation.
Some transform favours received into favours bestowed, and seem, or let it be thought, that they are doing a favour when receiving one. There are some so astute that they get honour by asking, and buy their own advantage with applause from others. They manage matters so cleverly that they seem to be doing others a service when receiving one from them. They transpose the order of obligation with extraordinary skill, or at least render it doubtful who has obliged whom. They buy the best by praising it, and make a flattering honour out of the pleasure they express. They oblige by their courtesy, and thus make men beholden for what they themselves should be beholden. In this way they conjugate “to oblige” in the active instead of in the passive voice, thereby proving themselves better politicians than grammarians. This is a subtle piece of finesse; a still greater is to perceive it, and to retaliate on such fools’ bargains by paying in their own coin, and so coming by your own again. |