音频下载[点击右键另存为][00:00.00]Passage 44. How Germans See Others

[00:05.69]The Germans generally adore England and have suffered in the past from unrequited love.

[00:11.92]England used to be the ultimate role model with its amazingly advanced political,

[00:17.50]social, industrial and technological achievements.

[00:21.33]The Germans regard the English as being very nice and mostly harmless,almost German.

[00:27.02]They admire Americans for the (un-German) easygoing pragmatism

[00:32.16]and dislike them for their (un-German) superficiality.

[00:35.67]For the Germans,the United States is the headmaster in the school of nations,

[00:41.03]and accord due respect if not always affection.

[00:44.85]Germans are strong believers in authority.

[00:48.03]If you know how to obey, then you can also be a master runs the refrain.

[00:53.06]With the Italian Germans have a close understanding

[00:57.33]because they have so much history in common.

[00:59.95]Through wars, invasion and other forms of tourism,

[01:03.89]a deep and lasting friendship has been established.

[01:07.56]Italian art treasures, food and beaches are thoroughly appreciated.

[01:12.48]There is also a connection arising from the fact that

[01:16.31]Italy and Germany both achieved nationhood in the last century,

[01:20.03]and are still not entirely sure that this was a good thing.

[01:24.08]The French are admired for their sophisticated civilization,

[01:28.45]and pitied for their inferior culture.

[01:31.19]The French may have higher spirits, but the Germans have deeper souls.

[01:35.89]Despite this, Francophilia is widespread among Germans,

[01:40.38]especially those living close to the French border.

[01:43.66]Like a wistful child looking over the garden fence,

[01:47.17]Germans envy Mediterranean people for more relaxed attitudes, cultural heritage and warm climate.

[01:53.84]But only when they are on holiday.

[01:56.14]The only people to whom the Germans readily concede

[01:59.53]unquestioned superiority of Teutonic virtues are the Swiss.

[02:03.25]No German would argue their supremacy in the fields of order,

[02:07.84]punctuality,diligence, cleanliness and thoroughness.

[02:11.88]They have never been to war with the Swiss.

[02:14.51]If experience has taught them one thing,

[02:17.25]it is that there is not future outside the community of nations.

[02:21.40]No other nation has a stronger sense of the importance of getting along with others.

[02:26.77]Tolerance is not only a virtue,

[02:29.17]It’s a duty.