碰到了primitive interfaces这个词,感觉不能泛泛地翻译。经过搜索,找到了一篇名为Primitive interface structures in browsing the Web的论文。该论文大概发表于1998年在澳大利亚召开的“计算机人机交互会议”的《会刊》上面。查看全文是要收费的,所幸“摘要”部分可以free of charge。现摘录并试译如下,作为存档。

Primitive interface structures in browsing the Web
Rho, Y.; Gedeon, T.D.
Computer Human Interaction Conference, 1998. Proceedings. 1998 Australasian
Volume , Issue , 30 Nov-4 Dec 1998 Page(s):304 – 305
Digital Object Identifier   10.1109/OZCHI.1998.732228
Summary:Browsing WWW documents is interactive. Not only their layout but also their interaction structures should be organised well in order to be effective to the reader and to get engineering benefits by composition. We define four primitive logical browsing structures. These are the sequential, go-to, nested and iterative structures. To support these primitive browsing structures, five groups of interface structures are proposed in this paper. These are the sequential, go-to, nested, loop and evolutionary interface structures

Web浏览中的基本界面结构
Rho, Y.; Gedeon, T.D.
原载计算机人机交互会议《学报(1998)》(澳大利亚,1998)
卷,期,1998年11月30日~12月4日,页:304~305
数字对象识别 10.1109/OZCHI.1998.732228
摘要:浏览WWW文档是一个交互的过程。除布局之外,还应合理组织文档的交互结构,以方便人类阅读和自动化处理。本论文定义了4种基本的逻辑浏览结构,分别是连续型、跳转型、嵌套型和迭代型。为了支持这些基本的浏览结构,本论文建议成立5个界面结构小组,分别是连续结构组、跳转结构组、嵌套结构组、循环结构组和界面结构改进组。

为什么要查“圣诞树”呢?因为看到一本本版Java教材中提到,Java语言的前身是Oak,进而解释说“Oak是一种橡树的名字”。那么,Oak在英文中到底是指“橡树”呢,还是指“一种橡树的名字”呢?查来查去,Oak就是我们中文里说的“橡树”(或者“栎树”),没有词典解释说Oak是“一种橡树的名字”。可见,说“Oak是一种橡树的名字”,犹如说“橡树是一种橡树的名字”,这简直岂有此理?!而查“圣诞树”,原意是想请教一下作者“Christmas tree”是“圣诞树”还是“一种圣诞树的名字”?结果就有了Christmas与Xmas之辨,也算是无心插柳。

事实上,畅销书作者Ben Forta老师的家就安在Oak Park(橡树园),只不过是美国密歇根州的那个Oak Park,不是建筑大师弗兰克·赖特和文学家海明威的故乡,芝加哥城西10英里的伊利诺伊州奥克帕克(Oak Park)

提到橡树,不禁忆起学生时代喜欢的一首诗——《致橡树》。舒婷老师在这首脍炙人口的诗作中,以橡树和木棉作喻,热情讴歌了女性的人格独立及崭新的爱情观。这首诗作优美、隽永,今日读来仍有沁人心脾、荡涤灵魂之感。现将中、英两个版本全文摘录如下,也给这次“探索之旅”画上一个颇有艺术性的句号。

致橡树

我如果爱你——绝不象攀援的凌霄花/借你的高枝炫耀自己
我如果爱你——绝不学痴情的鸟儿/为绿荫重复单纯的歌曲
也不止象泉源/常年送来清凉的慰藉
也不止象险峰/增加你的高度/衬托你的威仪
甚至日光/甚至春雨

不,这些都还不够/我必须是你近旁的一株木棉
作为树的形象和你站在一起
根,紧握在地下
叶,相触在云里
每一阵风过/我们都互相致意
但没有人/听懂我们的言语

你有你的铜枝铁干/象刀象剑也象戟
我有我红硕的花朵/象沉重的叹息/又象英雄的火炬
我们分担寒潮风雷霹雳
我们共享雾霭流岚虹霓
仿佛永远分离/却又终身相依

这才是伟大的爱情/坚贞就在这里
爱——不仅爱你伟岸的身躯
也爱你坚持的位置/足下的土地

Ode to the Oak

If I love you
— I will never be a trumpet creeper Clinging to your body to highlight my height;
If I love you
— I will never be a spoony bird Repeating the monotonous song for a green shade;
Nor a spring That brings perennial cool solace;
Nor steep peak That increases your highness, reflect your eminence.
Even the sunlight. Even the spring rain.

No, all these are not sufficient! I must be a ceiba stand by your side,
A tree With roots clinched underground, And leaves touched in the cloud.
We nod to each other, When each gust passes by,
But nobody Can understand our words.

You have your iron body, Like a knife, a sword, As well as a halberd;
I have my red flowers, Like a heavy sigh, And a valiant torch.
We share cold, storms and thunders;
We enjoy brume, mist and neons, Seems we are part always,
But we are together forever.

Only this can be called a great love, The loyalty is this:
Not only your manful body I love,
But also the place you hold, and the land under your foot.