李大钊

历史的道路，不会是坦平的，有时走到艰难险阻的境界。这是全靠雄健的精神才能冲过去的(1)。 一条浩浩荡荡的长江大河，有时流到很宽阔的境界(2)，平原无际，一泻万里(3)。有时流到很逼狭的境界，两岸丛山迭岭，绝壁断崖，江河流于期间，回环曲折，极其险峻(4)。民族生命的进展，其经历亦复如是。 人类在历史上的生活正如旅行一样。旅途上的征人(5)所经过的地方，有时是坦荡平原，有时是崎岖险路(6)。志于旅途的人，走到平坦的地方，因是高高兴兴地向前走，走到崎岖的境界，俞是奇趣横生(7)，觉得在此奇绝壮绝(8)的境界，俞能感到一种冒险的美趣(9)。 中华民族现在所逢的史路，是一段崎岖险阻的道路。在这段道路上，实在亦有一种奇绝壮绝的境至，使我们经过此段道路的人，感得一种壮美的趣味，是非有雄健的精神的，不能够感觉到的。 我们的扬子江、黄河，可以代表我们的民族精神，扬子江及黄河遇见沙漠、遇见山峡都是浩浩荡荡的往前流过去，以成其浊流滚滚，一泻万里的魄势(10)。目前的艰难境界，那能阻抑我们民族生命的前进。我们应该拿出雄健的精神，高唱着进行的曲调，在这悲壮歌声中，走过这崎岖险阻的道路。要知(11)在艰难的国运中建造国家，亦是人生最有趣味的事……。

National Crisis vs Heroic Nation

Li Dazhao

The course of history is never smooth. It is sometimes beset with difficulties and obstacles and nothing short of a heroic spirit can help surmount them. A mighty long river sometimes flows through a broad section with plains lying boundless on either side, its waters rolling on non-stop for thousands upon thousands of miles. Sometimes it comes up against a narrow section flanked by high mountains and steep cliffs, winding through a course with many a perilous twist and turn. A nation, in the course of its development, fares likewise. The historical course of man’s life is just like a journey. A traveler on a long journey passes through now a broad, level plain, now a rugged, hazardous road. While a determined traveler cheerfully continues his journey upon reaching a safe and smooth place, he finds it still more fascinating to come to a rugged place, the enormously magnificent spectacle of which, he feels, is better able to generate in him a wonderful sensation of adventure. The Chinese nation is now confronted with a rugged and dangerous section of its historical course. Nevertheless, there is also in this section a spectacle of enormous magnificence that inspires in us passers-by a delightful sensation of splendor. And this delightful sensation, however, can only be shared by those with a heroic spirit. The Yangtse River and the Yellow River are both symbolic of our national spirit the two mighty rivers negotiate deserts and gorges until their turbid torrents surge forward with irresistible force. The present national crisis can never obstruct the advance of our national life. Let us brace up our spirits and march through this rugged, dangerous road to the tune of our solemn, stirring songs. The greatest joy of life, mind you, is to build up our country during its most difficult days.

注释: 李大钊此文载于1923年12月20日《新国民》第一卷第2号上，短小隽永，堪称一首诗意盎然的抒情散文诗。作者用象征，比喻等手法，说明历史发展的必然规律以及中国革命面临的艰难险阻。 (1) “这是全靠雄健的精神才能冲过去的”译为nothing short of a heroic spirit can help surmount them，其中nothing short of 相当于nothing less than 或only。 (2)“宽阔的境界”须按上下文译为a broad section。“境界”在这里不宜译为realm、place、

area等。 (3)“一泻万里”译为rolling on non-stop for thousands upon thousands of miles，但也可译为rolling on vigorously for tens of thousands of miles或rolling on for thousands of miles at a stretch。 (4)“回环曲折，极其险峻”译为winding through a course with many a perilous twist and turn，其中twist and turn来自成语twists and turns。此句亦可译为following a dangerous tortuous course。 (5)“征人”即“远行之人”，故译“旅途上的征人”为a traveler on a long journey。

(6)“有时……，有时……”译为now……now……（＝sometimes……and sometimes……）。 (7)“奇趣横生”意即“极度吸引人”，故译为fascinating。

(8)“奇绝壮绝”意即“无限壮观”，故译为the enormously magnificent spectacle。 (9)“感到一种冒险的美趣”意即“一种敢于冒险的美妙感觉”，原译为a wonderful sensation of adventure。 (10)“遇见沙漠，遇见山峡都是浩浩荡荡的往前流过去，以成其浊流滚滚，一泻万里的魄势”译为negotiate deserts and gorges until their turbid torrents surge forward with irresistible force, 其中动词to negotiate 的意思是“顺利通过”（to succeed in getting past something difficult）。又，注意until在这里的用法。它在此不作“直到……为止”解，而是so that finally（“以至于……”或“最后”）的意思。 (11)“要知”译为mind you，插入句中。成语mind you的意思是mind what I say 或however, 相当于汉语的“请注意”或“说真的”。

螃 蟹鲁迅

老螃蟹觉得不安了，觉得全身太硬了(1)，自己知道要蜕壳(2)了。 他跑来跑去的寻。他想寻一个窟穴，躲了身子，将石子堵了穴口，隐隐的蜕壳。他知道外面蜕壳(3)是危险的。身子还软(4)，要被别的螃蟹吃去的。这并非空害怕，他实在亲眼见过。 他慌慌张张的走。 旁边的螃蟹(5)问他说：“老兄，你何以这般慌？” 他说：“我要蜕壳了。” “就在这里蜕不是很好么？我还要帮你呢。” “那可太怕人了。” “你不怕窟穴里的别的东西，却怕我们同种么？”

“我不是怕同种。” “那是怕什么呢？” “就怕你要吃掉我(6)。”

The Crab Lu Xun

An old crab grew restless. Finding himself stiff all over, he knew it was time for him to moult his shell. He dashed here and there in search of a cave to hide. He was going to block up the mouth of cave so that he could moult in secret. He knew it would be very dangerous to shed his shell in the open because, with his new shell still being soft, he might be eaten up by other crabs. This fear was not groundless for he himself had really seen it happen to other moulting crabs. The old crab kept moving about in a hurry. A nearby crab asked, “Hey, brother, what’s the rush?” “I am going to moult,” answered the old crab. “Wouldn’t it be all right to moult right here? I could help you out with it.” “How horrible that would be!” “You mean while you’ll not scared of other things in the cave you’re scared of your own kind?” “No, I’m not scared of my own kind.” “Then what are you scared of?” “Nothing but being eaten up by you.”

注释: 《螃蟹》是近年发现的鲁迅佚文。文章发表于1919年8月间，时值五四运动方兴未艾，作者通过寓言故事，提醒人们新生事物往往有被旧事物消灭于萌芽状态的危险。 (1)“觉得全身太硬了”译为Finding himself stiff al over，其中all over意即“全身”或“浑身”，作状语短语用。如逐字译为finding his whole body stiff并无不可，但语言稍欠地道。 (2)“蜕壳”译为to moult his shell，其中to moult 为专用语，意同to cast off。 (3)“外面蜕壳”中的“外面”意即“在露天”，故译为（to moult）in the open，以代替to moult outside the cave。 (4)“身子还软”意即“蜕去旧壳后新壳还软”，故译为with his new shell still being soft。如按字面直译为with his body still being soft则欠确切，因“身子”在此指“新壳”，不泛指“躯体”。 (5)“旁边的螃蟹”译为A nearby crab比Ａcrab beside him灵活。 (6)“就怕你要吃掉我”译为Nothing but being eaten up by you, 乃I’m scared of nothing but being eaten up by you之略。

落花生许地山

我们屋后有半亩隙地。母亲说：“让它荒芜着怪可惜，既然你们那么爱吃花生，就辟来做花生园罢(1)。”我们几个姊弟(2)和几个小丫头都很喜欢——买种的买种，动土的动土，灌园的灌园；过了不几个月，居然收获了！ 妈妈说：“今晚我们可以做一个收获节(3)，也请你们的爹爹来尝尝我们底新花生，如何？”我们都答应了。母亲把花生做成好几样食品(4)，还吩咐这节期要在园里底茅亭举行。 那晚上底天色不大好(5)，可是爹爹也来到，实在很难得！爹说：“你们爱吃花生吗？” 我们都争着答应：“爱！” “谁能把花生底好处说出来？” 姊姊说：“花生底气味很美。” 哥哥说：“花生可以榨油。”

我说：“无论何等人都江堰市可以用贱价买它来吃；都喜欢吃它。这是它的好处。” 爹爹说：“花生底用处固然很多；但有一样是很可贵的。这小小的豆(6)不像那好看的苹果、桃子、石榴，把它们底果实悬在枝上，鲜红嫩绿的颜色(7)，令人一望而发生羡慕的心。它只把果子埋在地底，等到成熟，才容人把它挖出来。你们偶然看见一棵花生瑟缩(8)地长在地上，不能立刻辨出它有没有果实，非得等到你接触它才能知道。” 我们都说：“是的。”母亲也点点头。爹爹接下去说：“所以你们要像花生(9)，因为它是有用的，不是伟大、好看的东西。”我说：“那么，人要做有用的，不要做伟大、体面的人了。”爹爹说：“这是我对于你们的希望。” 我们谈到夜阑才散，所有花生食品虽然没有了，然而父亲底话现在还印在我心版上。

Peanuts Xu Dishan

Behind our house there lay half a mou of vacant land. Mother said, “it’s a pity to let it lie waste. Since you all like to eat peanuts so very much, why not plant some here?” that exhilarated us children and our servant girls as well, and soon we started buying seeds, ploughing the land and watering the plants. We gathered in a good harvest just after a couple of months! Mother said, “How about giving a party this evening to celebrate the harvest and inviting your Daddy to have a taste of our newly-harvested peanuts?” We all agreed. Mother made quite a few varieties of goodies out of the peanuts, and told us that the party would be held in the thatched pavilion on the peanut plot. It looked like rain that evening, yet, to our great joy, father came nevertheless. “Do you like peanuts?” asked father. “Yes, we do!” we vied in giving the answer. “Which of you could name the good things in peanuts?” “Peanuts taste good,” said my elder sister. “Peanuts produce edible oil,” said my elder brother. “Peanuts are so cheap,” said I, “that anyone can afford to eat them. Peanuts are everyone’s favourite. That’s why we call peanuts good.” “It’s true that peanuts have many uses,” said father, “but they’re most beloved in one respect. Unlike nice-looking apples, peaches and pomegranates, which hang their fruit on branches and win people’s admiration with their brilliant colours, tiny little peanuts bury themselves underground and remain unearthed until they’re ripe. When you come upon a peanut plant lying curled up on the ground, you can never immediately tell whether or not it bear any nuts until you touch them.” “That’s true,” we said in unison. Mother also nodded. “So you must take after peanuts,” father continued, “because they’re useful though not great and nice- looking.” “Then you mean one should be useful rather than great and nice-looking,” I said. “That’s what I except of you,” father concluded. We kept chatting until the party broke up late at night. Today, though nothing is left of the goodies made of peanuts, father’s words remain engraved in my mind.

注释: 本文是许地山（1892-1941）的名篇。作者回忆自己童年时代一个小小片断，以朴实无华、清新自然的笔调，从花生的平凡而有用，谈到做人的道理，富于哲理，反映他身处旧社会的污泥浊流而洁身自好、不慕虚名的思想境界。 (1)原句也可译为why not have them planted here或why not make a peanut plot of it，但现译更直截了当，且避免在同一句中重复peanuts一词。 (2)“几姊弟”在下文将涉及，为防累赘，译为children。 (3)“做一个收获节”不宜直译为hold a harvest festival，现取意译。 (4)“食品”也可译为food，但不如goodies 贴切；goodies指“好吃的东西”，常用于口语。 (5)“那晚上底天色不大好”译为It looked like rain that evening, 符合原意和英语习惯。 (6)“这小小的豆”译为tiny little peanuts。英语中常把tiny和little用在一起，有“得可怜（爱）”等含意。 (7)“鲜红嫩绿”不宜直译，译brilliant colours即可。 (8)“瑟缩”意即“蜷曲而不舒展”，故有现译。 (9)“你们要像花生”译为you must take after peanuts，其中take after 是成语，意即take……as an example（学习……的榜样）。

差不多先生传 胡适

你知道中国最有名的人是谁？

提起此人，人人皆晓，处处闻名。他姓差，名不多(1)，是各省各县各村人氏。你一定见过他，一定听说过别人谈起他。差不多先生的名字天天挂在大家的口头，因为他是中国全国人的代表。 差不多先生的相貌和你和我都差不多。他有一双眼睛，但看的不很清楚；他有两只耳朵，但听的不很分明；有鼻子和嘴，但他对于气味和口味都不很讲究。他的脑子也不小，但他的记性却不很精明，他的思想也不很细密(2)。 他常常说：“凡事只要差不多，就好了。何必太精明呢？” 他小的时候，他妈叫他去买红糖，他买了白糖回来。他妈骂他，他摇摇头说：“红糖白糖不是差不多吗？”

他在学堂的时候，先生问他：“直隶省(3)的西边是哪一省？”他说是陕西。先生说：“错了。是山西，不是陕西。”他说：“陕西同山西，不是差不多吗？”

后来他在一个钱铺(4)里做伙计，他也会写，也会算，只是总不会精细。十字常常写成千字，千字常常写成十字。掌柜的生气了，常常骂他。他只是笑嘻嘻地赔小心道：“千字比十字只多一小撇，不是差不多吗？” 有一天他为了一件要紧的事，要搭火车到上海去。他从从容容地走到火车站，迟了两分钟，火车已经开走了。他白瞪着眼，望着远远的火车上煤烟，摇摇头道：“只好明天再走了，今天走同明天走，也差不多。可是火车公司未免太认真了。8点30分开，同8点32分开，不是差不多吗？“他一面说，一面慢慢地走回家，心里总不明白为什么火车不肯等他两分钟。 有一天，他忽然得了急病，赶快叫家人去请东街的汪医生。那家人急急忙忙地跑去，一时寻不着东街的汪大夫，却把西街牛医王大夫请来了。差不多先生病在床上，知道寻错了人；但病急了，身上痛苦，心里焦急，等不得了，心里想道：“好在王大夫同汪大夫也差不多，让他试试看罢。”于是这位牛医王大夫走近床前，用医牛的法子给差不多先生治病。不上一点钟，差不多先生就一命呜呼了。 差不多先生差不多要死的时候，一口气断断续续地说道：“活人同死人也……差……差不多，……凡事只要……差……差……不多……就……好了，……何……何……必……太……太认真呢？”他说完了这句格言(5)，方才绝气了。 他死后，大家都很称赞差不多先生样样事情看得破，想得通(6)；大家都说他一生不肯认真，不肯算账，不肯计较，真是一位有德行的人。于是大家给他取个死后的法号，叫他做圆通大师。 他的名誉越传越远，越久越大。无数无数的人都学他的榜样。于是人人都成了一个差不多先生。——然而中国从此就成为一个懒人国了。

Mr. About-the Same

Hu Shih

Do you know who is the most well-known person in China? The name of this person is a household word all over the country. His name is Cha and his given name, Buduo, which altogether mean “About the Same”. He is a native of every province, every country and every village in this country. You must have seen or heard about this person. His name is always on the lips of everybody because he is representative of the whole Chinese nation. Mr. Cha Buduo has the same physiognomy as you and I. He has a pair of eyes, but doesn’t see clearly. He has a pair of ears, but doesn’t hear well. He has a nose and a mouth, but lacks a keen sense of smell and taste. His brain is none too small, but he is weak in memory and sloppy in thinking. He often says: “whatever we do, it’s OK to be just about right. What’s the use of being precise and accurate:” One day, when he was a child, his mother sent him out to buy her some brown sugar, but he returned with some white sugar instead. As his mother scolded him about it, he shook his head and said, “Brown sugar or white sugar, aren’t they about the same?” One day in school, the teacher asked him, “Which province borders Hebei on the west?” He answered, “Shaanxi,” The teacher corrected him, “You are wrong. It’s Shanxi, Not Shaanxi.” He retorted, “Shaanxi or Shanxi, aren’t they about the same?” Later Mr. Cha Buduo served as an assistant at a money shop. He could write and calculate all right, but his mathematics were/was often faulty. He would mistake the Chinese character十（meaning 10）for 千（meaning 1000）or vice versa. The shop owner was infuriated and often took him to task. But he would only explain apologetically with a grin, “The character千differs from 十in merely having one additional short stroke. Aren’t they about the same?” One day, he wanted to go to Shanghai by train on urgent business. But he arrived at the railway station unhurriedly only to find the train already gone, because he was two minutes late. He stood staring helplessly at the smoke belching from the diminishing train, and shook his head, “Well, all I can do is leave tomorrow. After all, today and tomorrow are about the same. But isn’t the railway taking it too seriously? What’s the difference between departing at 8:30 and 8:32?” He walked home slowly while talking to himself and kept puzzling over why the train hadn’t waited for him for two minutes more. One day he suddenly fell ill and immediately told one of his family to fetch Dr. Wang of East Street. The latter went in hurry, but couldn’t find the physician on East Street. So he fetched instead Veterinarian Wang of West Street. Mr. Cha Buduo, lying on his sickbed, knew that a wrong person had been brought home. But, what with pain and worry, he could ill afford to wait any longer. So he said to himself, “Luckily, Vet Wang is about the same as Dr. Wang. Why not let Vet Wang have a try?” there- upon, the veterinarian walked up to his bed to work on him as if he were a cow. Consequently, Mr. Cha Buduo kicked the bucket before an hour was out. When Mr. Cha Buduo was about to breathe his last, he uttered intermittently in one breath, “Live or die, it’s about…about…the same…Whatever we do…it’s OK…to be …just…just about right... Why…why…take it…so seriously?” as soon as he finished this pet phrase of his, he stopped breathing. After Mr. Cha Buduo death, people all praised him for his way of seeing things and his philosophical approach to life. They say that he refused to take things seriously all his life and that he was never calculating or particular about personal gains or losses. So they called him a virtuous man and honored him with the posthumous reverent title Master of Easy-Going. His name has spread far and wide and become more and more celebrated with the passing of time. Innumerable people have come to follow his example, so that everybody has become a Mr. Cha Buduo. But lo, China will hence be a nation of lazybones!

注释： 胡适（1891-1962）的《差不多先生传》是一篇针砭社会陋习的讽刺小品，1924年6月28日发表在《申报·平民周刊》的创刊号上，曾不胫而走传诵一时。此文至今读来，犹感有极深刻的现实意义。 (1)“他姓差，名不多”如仅仅译为His name is Cha and his given name, Buduo，外国读者只知其音，不知其意，故在后面加补充说明which altogether mean “About the Same”。 (2)“他的思想也不很细密”译为He is…sloppy in thinking, 其中sloppy作“无条理”、“凌乱”解。 (3)“直隶”为旧省名，即今之“河北”，故译为Ｈebei。 (4)“钱铺”又称“钱庄”，大多仅从事兑换业务，后为银行所代替。“钱铺”可译为private bank或banking house，但均不如money (exchange) shop确切。 (5)“格言”在这里意同“口头语”，现参照上下文译为pet phrase。 (6)“想得通”意即“达观”或“随遇而安”，故译为philosophical approach to life。

不要抛弃学问(1) 胡适

诸位毕业同学，你们现在要离开母校了，我没有什么礼物送给你们，只好送你们一句话罢。 这一句话是：“不要抛弃学问。”以前的功课也许有一大部分是为这张文凭，不得已而做的，从今而后，你们可以依自己的心愿去自由研究了(2)。趁现在年富力强的时候，努力做一种学问。少年是一去不复返的，等到精力衰时，努力做学问(3)也来不及了。即为吃饭计，学问决不会辜负人的(4)。吃饭而不求学问，三年五年后，你们都江堰市要被后来少年淘汰掉的。到那时再想做点学问来补救，恐怕已太晚了。 有人说：“出去做事之后，生活问题急需解决，哪有工夫去读书？即使要做学问，既没有图书馆，又没有实验室，哪能做学问？” 我要对你们说：凡是要等到有了图书馆才读书的，有了图书馆也不肯读书。凡是要等到有了实验室才做研究的，有了实验室也不肯做研究。你有了决心要研究一个问题，自然会撙衣节食(5)去买书，自然会想出来法子来设置仪器。 至于时间，更不成问题(6)。达尔文一生多病，不能多作工，每天只能做一点钟的工作。你们看他的成绩！每天花一点钟看10页有用的书，每年可看3600多页书，30年可读11万页书。 诸位，11万书可以使你成一个学者了，可是，每天看三种小报也得费你一点钟的工夫，四圈麻将也得费你一点半钟的光阴。看小报呢，还打麻将呢？还是努力做

一个学者呢？全靠你们自己的选择(7)！ 易卜生说：“你的最大责任是把你这块材料铸造成器。” 学问便是铸器的工具。抛弃了学问便是毁了你们自己。

再会了！你们的母校眼睁睁地要看(8)你们十年之后成什么器。

Never Give Up the Pursuit of Learning

Hu Shih

Dear students of the Graduating Class, As you are leaving your alma mater, I have nothing to offer you as a gift except a word of advice. My advice is, “Never give up the pursuit of learning.” You have perhaps finished your college courses mostly for obtaining the diploma, or, in other words, out of sheer necessity. However, from now you are free to follow your own bent in the choice of studies. While you are in the prime of life, why not devote yourselves to a special field of

study? Youth will soon be gone never to return. And it will be too late for you to go into scholarship when in your declining years. Knowledge will do you a good turn even as a means of subsistence. If you give up studies while holding a job, you will in a couple of years have had yourselves replaced by younger people. It will then be too late to remedy the situation by picking up studies again. Some people say, “Once you have a job, you’ll come up against the urgent problem of making a living. How can you manage to find time to study? Even if you want to, will it be possible with no library or no laboratory available?” Now let me tell you this. Those who refuse to study for lack of a library will most probably continue to do so even though there is a library. And those who refuse to do research for lack of a laboratory will most probably continue to do so even though a laboratory is available. As long as you set your mind on studies, you will naturally cut down on food and clothing to buy books or do everything possible to acquire necessary instruments. Time is no object. Charles Darwin could only work one hour a day due to ill health. Yet what a remarkable man he was! If you spend one hour a day reading 10 pages of a book, you can finish more than 3600 pages a year, and 110000 pages in 30 years. Dear students, 110000 pages will be quite enough to make a learned man of man. It will take you one hour to read three tabloids a day, and one and half hours to finish four rounds of mah-jong a day. Reading tabloids, playing mah-jong or striving to be a learned man, the choice lies with you. Henrik Ibsen says, “it is your supreme duty to cast yourself into a useful implement.” Learning is the casting mould. Forsake learning, and you will ruin yourself. Farewell! Your alma mater is watching eagerly to see what will become of you ten years from now.

注释： 本文是胡适1928-1930年在上海任中国公学校长时为毕业生所作赠言，至今仍有参考价值。 (1)“不要抛弃学问”在这里的意思是“不要放弃对学问的追求”，因此不能直译为Never Give up Learning，必须加字：Never Give up the Pursuit of Learning。 (2)“你们可以依自己的心愿去自由研究了”译为you are free to follow your personal bent in the choice of studies，其中to follow one’s bent 是成语，和to follow one’s inclination同义，作“做自己感兴趣或爱做的事”解。 (3)“做学问”译为to go into scholarship, 等于to engage in learning。 (4)“学问决不会辜负人的”译为Knowledge will do you a good turn，其中to do one a good turn 是成语，作“做对某人有益的事”解. (5) “撙衣节食”即“省吃省穿”，现译为 cut down on food and clothing, 其中 to cut down on 是成语，与 to economize on 同义，作“节约”解。又，上语也可译为 to live frugally。 (6)“至于时间，更不成问题”译为Time is no object,其中no object是成语，等于no problem，作“不成问题”或“不在话下”解。 (7)“全靠你们自己的选择”译为the choice lies with you或it is up to you to make the choice。 (8)“你们的母校眼睁睁地要看……”中的“眼睁睁地”通常的意思是“无可奈何地”，现在这里作“热切地”解，故译为eagerly。

夏丐尊

二十年来，我的生活费中至少十分之一二是消耗在书上的(2)。我的房子里(3)比较贵重的东西就是书。 我一向没有对于任何问题作高深研究的野心，因之所以买的书范围较广，宗教、艺术、文学、社会、哲学、历史、生物，各方面差不多都有一点。最多的是各国文学名著的译本，与本国古来的诗文集，别的门类只是些概论等类的入门书而已。 我不喜欢向别人或图书馆借书。借来的书，在我好像过不来瘾似的(4)，必要是自己买的才满足。这也可谓是一种占有的欲望。买到了几册新书，一册一册在加盖藏书印(5)记，我最感到快悦的是这时候。 书籍到了我的手里，我的习惯是先看序文，次看目录。页数不多的往往立刻通读(6)，篇幅大的，只把正文任择一二章节略加翻阅，就插在书架上。除小说外，我少有全体读完的大部的书，只凭了购入当时的记忆，知道某册书是何种性质，其中大概有些什么可取的材料而已。什么书在什么时候再去读再去翻，连我自己也无把握，完全要看一个时期一个时期的兴趣。关于这事，我常自比为古时的皇帝，而把插在架上的书籍诸列屋而居的宫女(7)。 我虽爱买书，而对于书却不甚爱惜。读书的时候，常在书上把我认为要紧的处所标出。线装书竟用红铅笔划粗粗的线。经我看过的书，统计统体干净的很少。 据说，任何爱吃糖果的人，只要叫他到糖果铺中去做事，见了糖果就会生厌。自我入书店以后，对于书的贪念也已消除了不少了，可不免要故态复萌(8)，想买这种，想买那种。这大概因为糖果要用嘴去吃，摆存毫无意义，而书则可以买了不看，任其只管插在架上的缘故吧。

Books and I Xia Mianzun

For twenty years past, books have eaten into at least 10-20 percent of my pocket. Now the only things of some value under my roof, if any, are my books. Since I have never entertained ambition for making a profound study of any subject, the books I have acquired cover almost everything--religion, art, literature, sociology,

philosophy, history, biology, etc. Most of them are Chinese translations of literary works by famous foreign writers and anthologies of Chinese poetry and prose through the ages. The rest, often called an outline or introduction, are merely on rudiments of various subjects. I never care to borrow books from other people or a library. It seems that books bought can better satisfy my bibliomania than books borrowed. You may also attribute this to some sort of desire for personal possession. Whenever I have some new acquisitions, it always gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to stamp my ex-libris on them one by one. As soon as a new book comes to hand, I always read the preface first and then the table of contents. If it happens to be a thin one, I often finish reading it at one sitting. Otherwise, I often browse through one or two chapters or sections before putting it onto my bookshelf. I seldom read a thick book from cover to cover unless it is a novel. By dint of the first impression it made on me at the time of buying, I have a rough idea of what a book is about and what useful materials in it are available to me. But I have little idea which book is to be read or looked over again at what time. It is completely subject to the whims of the moment. This often prompts me to liken myself and the books on my shelves respectively to an ancient emperor and his concubines housed separately in a row of adjoining rooms. Much as I love books, I take little care of them. In doing my reading, I often mark out what I regard as important in a book. If it is a thread-bound Chinese book, I use a writing brush to draw small circles as markings. Otherwise, I use a red pencil to draw heavy underlines. Consequently, the books I have read are rarely clean. It is said that those who have a great liking for candies will sicken to see them when later they happen to work in a candy store. Likewise, ever since I began to work in a bookstore, my obsession with books has been very much on the decline. Nevertheless, I still can not help slipping back into the same old rut, eager to buy this and that book. This is probably because candies are to be eaten with the mouth and not worth keeping as knick-knacks while books can be bought without being read and just left on a shelf.

注释： 夏丐尊（1886-1946）浙江上虞人，著名文学家、教育家、出版家。他的文学创作以散文为主，多随笔、杂感，内容积极，风格平淡朴素。此文于1933年11月发表在《中学生》杂志上。 (1)“我之于书”译为 Books and I ，比 I and Books 符合英语习惯，读音也较顺口。 (2)“我的生活费中至少十分之一二是消耗在书上的”译为books have eaten into at least 10-20 percent of my pocket，其中成语 to eat into 作“耗尽”或“花费”解，意同 to use up 或to spend gradually；pocket 作“腰包”解。 (3)“我的房子里”译为 under my roof ,意同 in my house。 (4)“好像过不来瘾似的”中的“瘾”指“藏书癖”，故译为bibliomania，意即 desire or passion for collecting books。 (5)“藏书印”译为 ex-libris，为专用语。 (6)“往往立刻通读”译为 I often finish reading it at one sitting，其中at one sitting（亦作at a sitting）为成语，作“坐着一口气”或“一下子”解。 (7)“宫女”本可译为court ladies或palace maids，但原文实际上指的是“妃子”，故译为concubines。 (8)“故态复萌”译为slipping back into the same old rut，或relapsing into my old habit。

中年人的寂寞 夏丐尊

我已是一个中年的人。一到中年，就有许多不愉快的现象，眼睛昏花了，记忆力减退了，头发开始秃脱(1)而且变白了，意兴，体力，什么都不如年青的时候，常不禁会感觉到难以名言的(2)寂寞的情味。尤其觉得难堪的是知友的逐渐减少(3)和疏远，缺乏交际上的温暖的慰藉。 不消说，相识的人数是随了年龄增加的，一个人年龄越大，走过的地方当过的职务越多，相识的人理该越增加了。可是相识的人并不就是朋友。我们和许多人相识，或是因了事务关系，或是因了偶然的机缘(4)——如在别人请客的时候同席吃过饭之类。见面时点头或握手，有事时走访或通信，口头上彼此也“朋友”，笔头上有时或称“仁兄”，诸如此类，其实只是一种社交上的客套，和“顿首”“百拜”同是仪式的虚伪(5)。这种交际可以说是社交，和真正的友谊相差似乎很远。 真正的朋友，恐怕要算“总角之交”或“竹马之交”了(6)。在小学和中学的时代容易结成真实的友谊，那时彼此尚不感到生活的压迫，入世未深，打算计较的念头也少，朋友的结成全由于志趣相近或性情适合，差不多可以说是“无所为”的(7)，性质比较纯粹。二十岁以后结成的友谊，大概已不免搀有各种各样的颜色分子在内；至于三十岁四十岁以后的朋友中间，颜色分子愈多，友谊的真实成分也就不免因而愈少了。这并不一定是“人心不古”(8)，实可以说是人生的悲剧。人到了成年以后，彼此都有生活的重担须负，入世既深，顾忌的方面也自然加多起来，在交际上不许你不计较，不许你不打算，结果彼此都“勾心斗角”(9)，像七巧板似地只选定了某一方面和对方接合(10)。这样的接合当然是很不坚固的，尤其是现代这样什么都到了尖锐化的时代。 在我自己的交游中，最值得系念的老是一此少年时代以来的朋友。这些朋友本来数目就不多，有些住在远地，连相会的机会也不可多得。他们有的年龄大过了我，有的小我几岁，都江堰市是中年以上的人了，平日各人所走的方向不同。思想趣味境遇也都不免互异，大家晤谈起来，也常会遇到说不出的隔膜的情形。如大家话旧，旧事是彼此共喻的，而且大半都江堰市是少年时代的事，“旧游如梦”，把梦也似的过去的少年时代重提，因谈话的进行，同时会联想起许多当时的事情，许多当时的人的面影，这时好象自己仍回归到少年时代去了(11)。我常在这种时候感到一种快乐，同时也感到一种伤感，那情形好比老妇人突然在抽屉里或箱子里发见了她盛年时的影片。 逢到和旧友谈话，就不知不觉地把话题转到旧事上去，这是我的习惯。我在这上面无意识地会感到一种温暖地慰藉。可是这些旧友一年比一年减少了，本来只是屈指可数的几个，少去一个是无法弥补的。我每当听到一个旧友死去的消息，总要惆怅多时。 学校教育给我们的好处不但只是灌输知识，最大的好处恐怕还在给与我们求友的机会上。这好处我到了离学校以后才知道，这几年来更确切地体会到，深悔当时毫不自觉，马马虎虎地过去了。近来每日早晚在路上见到两两三三的携了手或挽了肩膀走着的青年学生，我总艳羡他们有朋友之乐，暗暗地要在心中替他们祝福。

Mid-life Loneliness Xia Mianzun

I am already a middle-aged man. At middle age, I feel sad to find my eyesight and memory failing, my hair thinning and graying, and myself no longer mentally and

physically as fit as when I was young. I often suffer from a nameless loneliness. The most intolerable of all is the lack of friendly warmth and comfort due to the gradual passing away and estrangement of more and more old pals. Needless to say, the number of acquaintances increases with one’s age. The older one gets, the more widely traveled one is and the more work experience one has, the more acquaintances one is supposed to have. But not all acquaintances are friends. We come to know many people either in the way of business or by mere chance –say, having been at the same table at a dinner party. We may be on nodding or hand-shaking terms, call each other “friend”, sometimes write to each other with the salutation of “Dear So-and-So”, etc., etc. All these are, in fact, nothing but civilities of social life, as hypocritical as the polite formula dunshou (kowtow) or baibai (a hundred greetings) used after the signature in old-fashioned Chinese letter-writing. We may call them social intercourse, but they seem to have very little in common with genuine friendship. Real friendship between two persons originates perhaps from the time of life when they were children playing innocently together. Real friendship is easily formed in primary or middle school days when, being socially inexperienced and free from the burden of life, you give little thought to personal gains or losses, and make friends entirely as a result of similar tastes and interests or congenial disposition. It is sort of “friendship for friendship’s sake” and is relatively pure in nature. Friendship among people in their 20's, however, is more or less coloured by personal motives. And friendship among those aged over 30 becomes correspondingly still less pure as it gets even more coloured. Though this is not necessarily due to "degeneration of public morality", I do have good reasons to call it the tragedy of life. People at middle age, with the heavy burden of life and much experience in the ways of the world, have more scruples about this and that, and can not choose but become more calculating in social dealings till they start scheming against each other. They always keep a wary eye, as it were, on each other in their association. Such association is of course fragile, especially in this modern age of prevailing sharp conflicts. Of all my friends, those I have known since child-hood are most worthy of remembrance. They are few in number. Some of them live far away and we seldom have an opportunity to see each other. Some of them are older than I am, and some a few years younger. But all of us are in late mid-life. Since we have each followed a different course in life, our ways of thinking, interests and circumstances are bound to differ, and often we lack mutual understanding somehow or other in our conversation. Nevertheless, when we talk over old times, we will always agree on things in the past--mostly about things in our childhood days. While we retell the dream-like childhood days in the course of our conversation, numerous scenes and persons of bygone days will unfold again before our eyes, and we will feel like reliving the old days. Often at this moment, I'll feel at once happy and sad--like an old lady suddenly fishing out from her drawer or chest a photo of her taken in the bloom of her youth. When chatting away with my old friends, I am in the habit of unwittingly channeling the topic of conversation toward things of former days. From that I unknowingly derive some sort of warm solace. But old friends are dwindling away year by year. They are originally few in number, so the disappearance of any of them is an irreparable loss to me. The news of any old pal's death will invariably make me sad in my heart for a long, long time. The imparting of knowledge is not the sole advantage of school education. Its greatest advantage is perhaps the opportunity it affords us for making friends. It was not until I had already left school that I began to realize this advantage. And in recent years I have come to understand it even more deeply. I much regret having carelessly frittered away my school days without making many friends. Recently, every morning or evening, whenever I see school kids with satchels walking in twos and threes, hand in hand or shoulder to shoulder, I always envy them for enjoying happy friendship, and inwardly offer them my best wishes.

注释： 本文发表在1934年11月的《中学生》杂志上，文章用平淡的语言诉说了中年人的苦恼，感叹“真实的友谊”不可多得，字里行间流泄出对当时现状的不满。 (1)“头发开始秃脱”指头发开始变稀，也可译为 my head balding。 今译 my hair thinning ，以 hair 取代head，是为了照顾下面的graying一字。 (2)“难以名言的”译为nameless，意同indescribable，但nameless常用来指不好的事物，如：a nameless fear、nameless atrocities。 (3)“逐渐减少”在原文指逐渐作古，如直译为 the gradual dwindling away 则未能明确表达“死去”的意思。故译为gradual passing away. (4)“我们和许多人相识，或是因为事务关系，或是因了偶然的机缘……”译为We come to know many people either in the way of business or by mere chance…，其中in the way of 是成语，作“为了”解。成语in the way of可有若干不同的意思，如“关于”、“以……的方法”，“为了”等，须由上下文来决定。 (5)“和‘顿首’‘百拜’同是仪式的虚伪”译为as hypocritical as the polite formula dunshou (kowtow) or baibai (a hundred greetings) used after the signature in old-fashioned Chinese letter-writing。其中 kowtow, a hundred greetings 以及 used after the signature in old fashioned Chinese letter-writing 均为译者的补充说明，属一种释义译法。

(6)“真正的朋友，恐怕要算‘总角之交’或‘竹马之交’了”译为 Real friendship between two persons originates perhaps from the time of life when they were children playing innocently together，其中“总角之交”和“竹马之交”合而为一，用意译法处理。 (7)“差不多可以说是‘无所为’的”译为It is sort of “friendship for friendship’s sake”，其中sort of （有几分）用来表达“差不多可以说”。又“无所为”意即“无其它目的”或“无条件的”，故译为friendship for friendship’s sake（为友谊而友谊的）。 (8)“这并一定是‘人心不古’”译为Though this is not necessarily due to “degeneration of public morality”。也可考虑采用另一译法：Though this should not be ascribed exclusively to “degeneration of public morality”。 (9)“结果彼此都‘勾心斗角’”译为till they start scheming against each other。注意其中till的一种特殊用法。它在这里指“结果”，意即so that、finally或and at last，不作“直到……为止”解。 (10)“像七巧板似地只选定了某一方面和对方接合”不宜直译。现按“人们在交往中互相提防，互存戒心”的内涵，用意译法处理：They always keep a wary eye, as it were, on each other in their association，其中插入语as it were作“似乎”、“可以说”等解。 (11)“这时好像自己仍回归到少年时代去了”译为and we feel like reliving the old days，其中to relive作“（凭想象）重新过……的生活”(to experience…again, especially in imagination)解。

我坐了木船 叶圣陶

从重庆到汉口，我坐了木船。 木船危险，当然知道。一路上数不清的滩，礁石随处都是，要出事，随时可以出。还有盗匪(1)——实在是最可怜的同胞，他们种地没得吃，有力气没处出卖，当了兵经常饿肚皮，无可奈何只好出此下策(2)。——假如遇见了，把铺盖或者身上衣服带下去，也是异常难处的事儿(3)。 但是，回转来想，从前没有轮船，没有飞机，历来走川江(4)的人都坐木船。就是如今，上上下下的还有许多人在那里坐木船，如果统计起来，人数该比坐轮船坐飞机的多。人家可以坐，我就不能坐吗？我又不比人家高贵。至于危险，不考虑也罢。轮船飞机就不危险吗？安步当车似乎最稳妥了，可是人家屋檐边也可以掉下一张瓦片来。要绝对避免危险就莫要做人(5)。 要坐轮船坐飞机，自然也有办法(6)。只要往各方去请托，找关系，或者干脆买张黑票。先说黑票，且不谈付出超过定额的钱，力有不及，心有不甘(7)，单单一个“黑”字，就叫你不愿领教。“黑”字表示作弊，表示越出常轨。你买黑票，无异同作弊，赞助越出常轨(8)。一个人既不能独立转移风气，也该在消极方面有所自守，邦同作弊，赞助越出常轨的事儿，总可以免了吧，——这自然是书生之见(9)，不免通达的人一笑。 再说请托找关系，听人家说他们的经验，简直与谋差使一样的麻烦。在传达室恭候，在会客室恭候(10)，幸而见了那要见的人，他听说你要设法买船票，或是飞机票，爱理不理的答复你说，“困难呢……下个星期再来打听吧……”于是你觉得好像有一线希望，又好像毫无把握，只得挨到下星期再去。跑了不知多少趟，总算有眉目了(11)，又得往这一处签字，那一处盖章，看种种的脸色，候种种的传唤，为的是得一份充分的证据，可以去换张票子。票子到手，身分可以改变了，什么机关的部属，什么长的秘书，什么人的本人或是父亲，或者姓名仍旧，或者必须改名换姓，总之要与你自己暂时脱离关系。最有味的是冒充什么部的士兵(12)，非但改名换姓，还得穿上灰布棉军服，腰间束条皮带。我听了这些，就死了请托找关系的念头。即使饿得要死，也不定要去奉承颜色谋差使，为了一张票子去求教人家，不说我自己犯不着，人家也太费心。重庆的路又那么难走，公共汽车站排队往往等上一个半钟头，天天为了票子去跑，实在吃不消。再说与自己暂时脱离关系，换上他人的身分，虽然人家不大爱惜名气，

我可不愿滥用那些那些名气。我不是部属，不是秘书，不是某人，不是某人的父亲，我是我。我毫无成就，样样不长进，我可不愿与任何人易地而处，无论长期的或是暂时的。为了走一趟路，必须易地而处，在我总觉着像被剥夺了什么似的。至于穿灰布棉衣更为难了，为了走一趟路才穿上那套衣服，岂不亵渎了那套衣服(13)？亵渎的人固然不少，我可总不忍——这一套又是书生之见。 抱着书生之见，我决定坐木船。木船比不上轮船，更比不上飞机，千真万确。可是绝对不用找关系，也无所谓黑票。你要船，找运输行，或者自己到码头上去找，找着了，言明价钱，多少钱坐到汉口，每块钱花得明明白白(14)。在这一点上，我觉得木船好极了(15)，我可以不说一句讨情的话，不看一副难看的嘴脸，堂堂正正的凭我的身分东西归。这是大多数坐轮船坐飞机的朋友办不到的，我可有这种骄傲。 决定了之后，有两位朋友特来劝阻，一位从李家沱，一位从柏滨，不怕水程跋涉，为的是关爱我，瞧得起我。他们说了种种理由，预想了种种可能的障害，结末说，还是再考虑一下的好。我真感谢他们，当然不敢说不必再行考虑，只好带玩笑的说，“吉人天相，“安慰他们激动的心情。现在，他们接到我平安到达的消息了，他们也真的安慰了。

I Took a Wooden Boat Ye Shengtao

I took a wooden boat from Chongqing to Hankou. Of course I know it is risky to travel by wooden boat. With countless shoals and reefs to negotiate, accidents may happen any time. To complicate matters, there are bandits lurking around－those pitiful fellow countrymen who, unable to ward off starvation by farming or soldiering or whatnot, have been reduced to the disreputable business as a last resort. I’ll be in a real fix if they should rob me of, say, my bedding or clothes. Now, on reflection, I realize that in the days before steamers and aircraft came into use, people used to travel by wooden boat up and down the Sichuan section of the Yangtse

River. Even today, many continue to do so, and statistic will invariably show a higher percentage of people travelling by wooden boat than by steamer or aircraft. Why shouldn’t I do the same? Why should I think it beneath myself to travel by wooden boat? As for safety, is it less dangerous to travel by steamer or aircraft? Going on foot seems to be the best choice, but a tile falling off the eaves of somebody’s house might prove equally disastrous to foot passengers. Enjoying absolute safety is humanly impossible. It stands to reason that I can go by steamer or aircraft if I care to. I can simply go around fishing for help or personal connections, or just buy a “black” ticket. But I’ll have to pay more than the regular price for a “black” ticket, which I can ill afford and which I disdain to do. And the very word “black” generates in me a feeling of repulsion. “Black” signified fraud or illegal practice. Buying a “black” ticket is as good as getting involved in a fraud or an illegal practice. If it is beyond one’s capacity to single-handedly stem the prevailing social evils, one should at least be self-disciplined so as not to make matters worse. All this is undoubtedly the pedantic view of bookish person—a view which must sound ridiculous to all sensible gentlemen. Some people have told me from their own experience that soliciting help or speaking personal connections is something as difficult as hunting for a job. You may be kept cooling your heels in a janitor’s office or a reception room before an interview is granted. Hearing that you are trying to get a steamer or air ticket, the much sought-after interview may reply in a cold and indifferent manner, “Ah, that’s difficult…Come see me next week…” Thereupon you seem to see a ray of hope, and you may also feel totally uncertain of success. All you can do is wait until then. After making you don’t know how many visits, there eventually appear signs of positive outcome. Then you have to go here and there to get a signature or a seal, meet with all sorts of cold reception and wait for all sorts of summonses—all for the purpose of obtaining a useful certificate to buy a ticket with. Once with a ticket in hand, your status automatically changes. You can now call yourself the employee of certain government office or certain official’s secretary. You can call yourself so-and-so or so-and-so’s father. You can either keep your original name or have it changed. In short, you must temporarily break off relations with your old self. The funniest thing is when you try to pass for a soldier of a certain army unit, you must not only have your name changed, but also wear a grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform with a leather belt around your waist. All that kills my idea of soliciting help or seeking personal connections. I disdain to go humbly begging for a job even when I am starving, let alone to go asking for other people’s help in getting me a mere ticket. Neither is it necessary for me to go to all that trouble, nor should I bother other people for that matter. Going around is hard in the city of Chongqing. You have to queue up for at least 30 minutes or more to get on a bus. It would really be too much for me to go about for the ticket every day. As to the temporary divorce from my old self and the concealing of my identity, I hate to usurp all those designations though other people may think otherwise. I’m neither a government employee, nor a secretary, nor so-and-so, nor so-and-so’s father. I am myself. I am just an ordinary man with no urge to do better, so I hate to change places with anybody else, whether for a while or for good. To change places just for the sake of a trip would make me feel like being deprived. Wouldn’t it be sinful for me to wear the grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform for nothing more than making a single trip? Though many other people violate the taboo, I for my part cannot bear to do the same. This again is the impractical view of a bookish person. It was with this impractical view that I decided to take a wooden boat. It is absolutely true that a wooden boat cannot compare with a steamer, much less an airplane. But there is no need for soliciting help or seeking personal connections, nor the need for the so-called “black” ticket. All you need to do is contact the transport company, or go direct to the wharf to look for a wooden boat. Once you have located it, you will know what the fare is from Chongqing to Hankou, and every dollar will be paid for what it is worth, no more, no less. I find the wooden boat super in this respect. I am saved the humiliation of begging for help or the need of confronting the nasty look on somebody’s face. I can travel with my true identity. This is something quite beyond the majority of those travelling by steamer or aircraft. I am proud of it. After I had made up my mind, two friends of mine, in spite of the difficult boat journey all the way from Li Jia Tuo and Bai Bin respectively, came to dissuade me from taking the wooden boat out of concern and respect for me. They enumerated various reasons against my decision as well as various possible mishaps, advising me in the end to re-consider the matter. I felt very grateful to them, and of course refrained from showing any reluctance to re-consider the matter. By way of allaying their anxiety, I said jokingly, “A good guy always enjoys Heaven’s protection.” Now, the subsequence news of my safe arrival in Hankou must have set their mind at rest.

注释: 叶圣陶（1894-1988）原名叶绍钧，江苏苏州人，现代文学家，教育家。《我坐了木船》一文以平淡的口吻叙述他在抗战胜利后乘木船从重庆到汉口的一番经历，对当时的黑暗社会作了无情的鞭挞。 (1)“还有盗匪”译为To complicate matters, there are bandits lurking around，其中To complicate matters是为承上启下而添加的成分。又，lurking around作“潜伏”解，也是添加成分，原文虽无其字，而有其意。 (2)“无奈何只好出此下策”译为have been reduced to the disreputable business as a last resort，其中disreputable business（不体面的行当）指“下策”。又，reduced to 意即“被逼从事……”；as a last resort意即“作为最后一着”。 (3)“异常难处的事儿”译为I’ll be in a real fix, 其中in a fix是成语，作“陷入困境”或“尴尬”解。 (4)“川江”即“四川段的长江”，故译为the Sichuan section of the Yangtse River。 (5)“要绝对避免危险就莫做人”译为“Enjoying absolute safety is humanly impossible，其中

humanly意即“从从做人的角度看”。 (6)“要坐轮船坐飞机，自然也有办法”译为It stands to reason that I can go by steamer or aircraft if I care to，其中It stands to reason是成语，意即“当然”。 (7)“付出超过定额的钱，力有不及，心有不甘”译为to pay more than the regular price for a “black” ticket, which I can ill afford and which I disdain to do。“心有不甘”意即“不屑一干”，故译disdain to do。 (8)“你买黑票，无异同作敝，赞助越出常轨”译为Buying a “black” ticket is as good as getting involved in a fraud or an illegal practice, 其中as good as 是成语，作“实际上等于”或“与……几乎一样”解。 (9)“书生之见”译为the pedantic view of a bookish person，其中pedantic view意同impractical view，作“不现实的观点”解。 (10) “在传达室恭候，在会客室恭候”译为You may be kept cooling your heels in a janitor’s office or a reception room before an interview is granted，其中cooling your heels是成语，作“长等”、“空等”解。 (11) “跑了不知多少趟，总算有眉目了”译为After making you don’t knowhow many visits, there eventually appear signs of positive outcome，其中you don’t know how是是插入语，修饰many。 (12)“最有味的是冒充什么部的士兵”译为The funniest thing is when you try to pass for a soldier of certain army unit，其中to pass for作“冒充”解。 (13)“为了走一趟路才穿上那套衣服，岂不亵渎了那套衣服？”译为Wouldn’t it be sinful for me to wear the grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform for nothing more than making a single trip?“亵渎”原作“轻慢”、“冒失”解，用在此处略带讽刺口气，意为“做了不该做的事”，故译为sinful。 (14)“每块钱花得明明白白”意即“该花多少就花多少”或“每块钱都花得值得”，故译为every dollar is paid for what it is worth。 (15)“我觉得木船好极了”译为I find the wooden boat super in this respect，其中super相当于fantastic或wonderful。

背 影 朱自清

我与父亲不相见已二年余了，我最不能忘记的是他的背影。那年冬天，祖母死了，父亲的差使也交卸了，正是祸不单行的日子，我从北京到徐州，打算跟着父亲奔丧回家。到了徐州见着父亲，看见满院狼藉的东西，又想起祖母，不禁簌簌地流下眼泪。父亲说：“事已如此，不必难过，好在天无绝人之路！” 回家○1变卖典质，父亲还了亏空；又借了钱办了丧事。这些日子，家中光景很是惨淡，一半为了丧事，一半为了父亲的赋闲○2。丧事完毕，父亲要到南京谋事，我也要回到北京念书，我们便同行。 到南京时，有朋友约去游逛，勾留了一日；第二日上午便须渡江到浦口，下午上车北去。父亲因为事忙，本已说定不送我，叫旅馆里一个熟识的茶房○3陪我同去。他再三嘱咐茶房，甚是仔细。但他终于不放心，怕茶房不妥贴，颇踌躇了一会。其实那年我已二十岁，北京来往过两三次，是没有甚么要紧的了。他踌躇了一会，终于决定还是自己送我去。我两三回劝他不必去○4；他只说，“不要紧，他们去不好○5！” 我们过了江，进了车站。我买票，他忙着照看行李。行李太多了，得向脚夫行些小费○6，才可过去。他便又忙着和他们讲价钱。我那时真是太聪明过分○7，总觉得他说话不大漂亮○8，非得自己插嘴不可。但他终于讲定了价钱；就送我上车。他给我拣定了靠车门的一张椅子；我将他给我做的紫毛大衣铺好坐位。他嘱我路上小心，夜里要警醒些，不要受凉。又嘱托茶房好好照应我。我心里暗笑他的迂○9；他们只认得钱，托他们直是白托！而且我这样大年纪的人，难道还不能料理自己吗？唉，我现在想想，那时真是太聪明了10！ 我说道，“爸爸，你走吧。”他望车外看了看，说，“我买几个橘子去。你就在此地，不要走动。”我看那边月台的栅栏外有几个卖东西的的等着顾客。走到那边月台，须穿过铁道，须跳下去又爬上去。父亲是一个胖子，走过去自然要费些事。我本来要去的，他不肯，只好让他去。我看见他戴着黑布小帽。穿着黑布大马褂11，深青布棉袍，蹒跚在走到铁道边，慢慢探身下去，尚不大难。可是他穿过铁道，要爬上那边月台，就不容易了。他用两手攀着上面，两脚再向上缩；他肥胖的身子向左微倾，显出努力的样子。这时我看见他的的背影，我眼泪很快地流下来了。我赶紧拭干了泪，怕他看见，也怕别人看见。我再向外看时，他已抱了朱红的橘子往回走了。过铁道时，他先将橘子散放在地上，自己慢慢爬下，再抱起橘子走。到这边时，我赶紧去搀他。他和我走到车上，将橘子一股脑儿放在我的皮大衣上。于是扑扑衣上泥土，心里很轻松似的，过了一会说，“我走了；到那边来信！”我望着他走出去。他走了几步，回过头看见我，说，“进去吧，里边没人12。”等他的背影混入来来往往的人里，再找不着了，我便进来坐下，我的眼泪又来了。 近几年来，父亲和我都是东奔西走13，家中的光景是一日不如一日。他少年出外谋生，独力支持，做了许多大事。那知老境却如此颓唐！他触目伤怀，自然不能自己14。情郁于中，自然要发之于外；家庭琐屑便往往触他之怒。他待我渐渐不同往日15。但最近两年的不见，他终于忘却我的不好，只是惦记着我，惦记着我的儿子。我北来后，他写了一信给我，信中说道，“我身体平安，惟膀子疼痛利害，举箸提笔，诸多不便，大约大去16之期不远矣。”我读到此处，在晶莹的泪光中，又看见那肥胖的，青布马褂的背影。唉！我不知何时再能与他相见！

The Sight of Father’s Back

Zhu Ziqing

It is more than two years since I last saw father, and what I can never forget is the sight of his back. Misfortunes never come singly. In the winter of more than two years ago, grandma died and father lost his job. I left Beijing for Xuzhou to join father in hastening home to attend grandma’s funeral. When I met father in Xuzhou, the sight of the disorderly mess in his courtyard and the though of grandma started tears trickling down my cheeks. Father said, “Now that things’ve come to such a pass, it’s no use crying. Fortunately, Heaven always leaves one a way out.” After arriving home in Yangzhou, father paid off debts by selling or pawning things.

He also borrowed money to meet the funeral expenses. Between grandma’s funeral and father’s unemployment, our family was then in reduced circumstances. After the funeral was over, father was to go to Nanjing to look for a job and I was to return to Beijing to study, so we started out together. I spent the first day in Nanjing strolling about with some friends at their invitation, and was ferrying across the Yangtse River to Pukou the next morning and thence taking a train for Beijing on the afternoon of the same day. Father said he was too busy to go and see me off at the railway station, but would ask a hotel waiter that he knew to accompany me there instead. He urged the waiter again and again to take good care of me, but still did not quite trust him. He hesitated for quite a while about what to do. As a matter of fact, nothing would matter at all because I was then twenty and had already travelled on Beijing-Pukou Railway a couple of times. After some wavering, he finally decided that he himself would accompany me to the station. I repeatedly tried to talk him out of it, but he only said, “Never mind! It won’t do to trust guys like those hotel boys!” We entered the railway station after crossing the River. While I was at the booking office buying a ticket, father saw to my luggage. There was quite a bit of luggage and he had to bargain with the porter over the fee. I was then such a smart aleck that I frowned upon the way father was haggling and was on the verge of chipping in a few words when the bargain was finally clinched. Getting on the train with me, he picked me a seat close to the carriage door. I spread on the seat the brownish fur-lined overcoat he had got tailor made for me. He told me to be watchful on the way and be careful not to catch cold at night. he also asked the train attendants to take good care of me. I sniggered at father for being so impractical, for it was utterly useless to entrust me to those attendants, who cared for nothing but money. Besides, it was certainly no problem for a person of my age to look after himself. Oh, when I come to think of it, I can see how smarty I was in those days! I said, “Dad, you might leave now.” But he looked out of window and said, “I’m going to buy you some tangerines. You just stay here. Don’t move around.” I caught sight of several vendors waiting for customers outside the railings beyond a platform. But to reach that platform would require crossing the railway track and doing some climbing up and down. That would be a strenuous job for father, who was fat. I wanted to do all that myself, but he stopped me, so I could do nothing but let him go. I watched him hobble towards the railway track in his black skullcap, black cloth mandarin jacket and dark blue cotton-padded cloth long gown. He had little trouble climbing down the railway track, but it was a lot more difficult for him to climb up that platform after crossing the railway track. His hands held onto the upper part of the platform, his legs huddled up and his corpulent body tipped slightly towards the left, obviously making an enormous exertion. While I was watching him from behind, tears gushed from my eyes. I quickly wiped them away lest he or others should catch me crying. The next moment when I looked out of the window again, father was already on the way back, holding bright red tangerines in both hands. In crossing the railway track, he first put the tangerines on the ground, climbed down slowly and then picked them up again. When he came near the train, I hurried out to help him by the hand. After boarding the train with me, he laid all the tangerines on my overcoat, and patting the dirt off his clothes, he looked somewhat relieved and said after a while, “I must be going now. Don’t forget to write me from Beijing!” I gazed after his back retreating out of the carriage. After a few steps, he looked back at me and said, “go back to your seat. Don’t leave your things alone.” I, however, did not go back to my seat until his figure was lost among crowds of people hurrying to and fro and no longer visible. My eyes were again

wet with tears. In recent years, both father and I have been living an unsettled life, and the circumstances of our family going from bad to worse. Father left home to seek a livelihood when young and did achieve quite a few things all on his own. To think that he should now be so downcast in old age! The discouraging state of affairs filled him with an uncontrollable feeling of deep sorrow, and his pent-up emotion had to find a vent. That is why even mere domestic trivialities would often make him angry, and meanwhile he became less and less nice with me. However, the separation of the last two years has made him more forgiving towards me. He keeps thinking about me and my son. After I arrived in Beijing, he wrote me a letter, in which he says. “I’m all right except for a severe pain in my arm. I even have trouble using chopsticks or writing brushes. Perhaps it won’t be long now before I depart this life.” Through the glistening tears which these words had brought to

my eyes I again saw the back of father’s corpulent form in the dark blue cotton-padded cloth long gown and the black cloth mandarin jacket. Oh, how I long to see him again.

注释:

《背影》是朱自清（1898-1948）影响最大的抒情名篇之一，写于1925年10月。作者用的提炼的口语，文笔秀丽，细腻缜密，读来有一种亲切婉转、娓娓动听的感觉。但它的巨大艺术魅力主要来自它饱含的真挚感情。 (1)“回家”指作者和父亲一起从徐州回扬州奔丧。英译时有必要交代清楚扬州是他们的老家，所以采用加字法：After arriving home in Yangzhou。 (2)“一半为了丧事，一半为了父亲的赋闲”译为Between Grandma’s funeral and father’s

unemployment，其中Between…and…等于What with …and (what with)…，作“半因……，半因……”或“由于……的共同影响“解。 (3)“茶房”旧时指旅馆、餐馆、轮船等内的服务员，可译为waiter、attendant、boy等。 (4)“我两三回劝他不必去”译为I repeatedly tried to talk him out of it，比I repeatedly tried to dissuade him from accompanying me to the station通俗简洁。 (5)“他们去不好”中的“他们”指“茶房”，全句意译为It won’t do to trust guys like those hotel boys。如直译为It won’t do to let one of the hotel boys go with you，也无不可，但未能把“对茶房缺乏信任感”的意思表达出来。 (6)“小费”在这里不指按规定价格付费之外另给的“赏金”，不能用tip表达，现译为fee。 (7)“我那时真是聪明过分”中的“聪明”是反话，现全句译为I was then such a smart aleck，其中smart aleck意即“自以为是的人”或“自以为样样懂的人”。 (8)“总觉得他说话不大漂亮”意即嫌父亲不会讲