Wellington2 is said to have chosen his officers by their noses and chins. The standard for them in noses must have been rather high， to judge by the portraits of the Duke， but no doubt he made allowances. Anyhow， by this method he got the men he wanted. Some people， however， may think that he would have done better to have let the mouth be the deciding test. The lines of one’s nose are more or less arranged for one at birth. A baby， born with a snub nose， would feel it hard that the decision that he would be no use to Wellington should be come to so early. And even if he arrived in the world with a Roman nose， he might smash it up in childhood， and with it his chances of military fame. This， I think you will agree with me， would be unfair.

据说威灵顿公爵依据人们鼻子和下巴的形状选拔军官。单以公爵的画像而论，他为候选者的鼻子制定的标准想必很高，不过他无疑有所变通。不管怎样，他毕竟以这种方式找到了所需之人。然而，有些人可能认为，倘若他把嘴巴当作主要的检验依据，收效当会更佳。一个人的鼻子轮廓，或多或少在他出生之际便已注定。一个天生鼻塌的幼童，会觉得命运实在残酷，这么早就注定他将对威灵顿毫无用处。即便他带着一个罗马鼻来到世间，也没准会在儿时把它跌个粉碎，他扬名军界的希望亦随之破灭。这很不公平，你也许和我有此同感。

Now the mouth is much more likely to be a true index of character. A man may clench his teeth firmly or smile disdainfully or sneer， or do a hundred things which will be reflected in his mouth rather than in his nose or chin. It is through the mouth and eyes that all emotions are expressed， and in the mouth and eyes therefore that one would expect the marks of such emotions to be left. I did read once of a man whose nose quivered with rage， but it is not usual; I never heard of anyone whose chin did anything. It would be absurd to expect it to.

嘴巴远比鼻子更有可能是真正的性格表征。一个人可以咬紧牙关，或笑容轻蔑，或是冷嘲，抑或做出一百种表情，这都反映在嘴巴上，而不是鼻子或下巴上。所有的情绪都是通过眼睛和嘴巴加以体现，于是我们指望他的眼睛和嘴巴留下这些情绪的痕迹。我确曾读到某人气得鼻子颤抖，但这并非常见；我从未听说谁的下巴颏儿流露任何情绪特点。期待下巴做到这一点是滑稽可笑的。

But there arises now the objection that a man may conceal his mouth， and by that his character， with a moustache. There arises， too， the objection that a person whom you thought was a fool， because he always went about with his mouth open， may only have had a bad cold in the head. In fact the difficulties of telling anyone’s character by his face seem more insuperable3 every moment. How， then， are we to tell whether we may safely trust a man with our daughter， or our favourite golf club， or whatever we hold most dear？

但是如今有人提出异议，声称一个人借助一部胡须即可遮蔽他的嘴巴，并进而掩盖其性格。