【续】 即便你对他批评布什政府的观点 不敢苟同,却还是会赞叹他的远见卓识。民主党人若试图要整合出一套严肃缜密的外交政策与布什较量,那么他们就该读读《选择》这本书。 4. Arabesque
There in the mist, enormous, majestic, silent, and terrible, stood the Great Wall of China. Solitarily, with the indifference of nature herself, it crept up the mountain side and slipped down to the depth of the valley. Menacingly, the grim watch towers, stark and foursquare, at due intervals stood at their posts.
【译文】长城——一幅阿拉伯花饰图案
长城在迷蒙中赫然呈现,巨大雄壮,沉默威严。它是孤独的,爬高山下深谷,像大自然那样与世无涉,踽踽独行。它是森严的,每隔相当距离就挺立着一座瞭望塔,冷峻强固,严阵以待。 Ruthlessly, for it was built at the cost of a million lives and each one of those great grey stones has been stained with the bloody tears of the captive and the outcast, it forged its dark way through a sea of rugged mountains.
【续】它是冷酷无情的,牺牲百万人的生命才建成,每块灰色大砖石都沾满了离乡背井犹如囚徒的苦工血泪;它坚忍不拔地穿越崇山峻岭,跋涉于未知之途。
Fearlessly, it went on its endless journey, league upon league to the furthermost regions of Asia, in utter solitude, mysterious like the great empire it guarded. There in the mist, enormous, majestic, silent, and terrible, stood the Great Wall of China. (W. S. Maugham:Arabesque)
【续】它也是无所畏惧的,无尽征途一程一程走下去,奔向亚洲最遥远的地方,茕茕孑立,神秘莫测,犹如它捍卫的大帝国。迷蒙中的长城正是那么巨大,那么雄壮,那么沉默,那么威严。(陈文伯译) A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.
【译文】看一个人读些什么书,同些什么人交往就能知道他的为人。因为人生在世有与人为友的,也有与书为友的。无论是书友还是朋友,人们都应该生活在最好的书和最好的朋友之中。
A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.
【续】一本好书就像是一个很好的朋友。过去是这样,现在是这样,将来依然如故、始终不渝。它最有耐心、是最能使人感到欢快的伴侣。它也不会在我们穷苦惆怅、临危遭难之时抛弃我们。它对我们总是情深谊厚。在我们年轻时,陶冶我们的情操,增长我们的知识;到我们年老时,它又给我们以愉悦和安慰。
Men often discover their affinity to each other by the love they have each for a book—just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both have for a third. There is an old proverb, “Love me, love my dog.”
【续】人们往往由于喜爱同一本书而结为知己,就如同两个人有时因为敬仰同一个人而交为朋友一样。古谚说:“爱屋及乌。”
But there is more wisdom in this. “Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author. They live in
him together, and he in them.
【续】但我却认为“爱吾及书”则更富于哲理。书是人们交友更为诚实而高尚的情谊纽带。人们可以通过共同爱好的作家来沟通思想,交流情感。他们的思想共同在作者的作品中得到反映,而作者的思想情感反过来又在他们身上体现出来。
“Books,” said Hazlitt, “wind in the heart; the poet’s verse slide current of our blood. We read them when young, we remember them when old. We feel that it has happened to ourselves. They are to be had very cheap and good. We breathe but the air of books.”
【续】黑兹利特曾经说过:“书籍会默化影响人们的内心世界,诗歌能熏陶人们的气质品性。少小所读,老大不忘,书中所谈,犹如亲身经历一般。好书如同我们呼吸的空气,随处可得,所费无几,裨益甚大。”
A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters. “They are never alone,” said Sir Philip Sidney, “that are accompanied by noble thoughts.”
【续】好书常如人生的精典宝库,珍藏着人的思想精华。人生的境界,主要就在于其思想的境界。所以,好的书是美好话语、崇高思想的宝库,若将其美好思想珍藏心中,就成为我们忠实的伴侣和永恒的慰藉。菲利普·西德尼爵士说得好:“具有高尚思想的人永不寂寞孤独。”
The good and true thought may in times of temptation be as an angle of mercy purifying and guarding the soul. It also enshrines the germs of action, for good words almost always inspire to good works.
【续】当我们面临诱惑的时候,高尚纯真的思想会像仁慈的天使一样,纯洁并护卫着我们的灵魂,也孕育着我们行动的胚芽,因为美好话语总会启迪善行。
Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first passed through their author’s minds, ages ago.
【续】书籍具有不朽的本质,是人类辛勤努力的最为持久的产物。寺庙会倒坍,神像会朽烂,而书却经久不衰。对于崇高思想而言,时间无关重要。
What was then said and thought still speaks to us vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time has been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.
【续】多少年代前初次闪现在作者脑海里的崇高思想今天依然清新如故。他们当时的言语和思想刊印成书,如今还是那么生动感人。时间惟一的作用是淘汰拙作劣品,因为只有真正的佳作精品才能历世长存。
Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were in a measure actors with them in the scenes which they describe.
【续】书籍引导我们进入一种至高境界,让我们接触到历代最伟大的思想家,聆听到他们的所言,晋见到他们的所行,体会到他们的所感,他们的身影仿佛仍然活着一样。我们和他们有同样的感受,与
他们共享欢乐喜悦、分担哀愁悲伤,他们的经历变成了我们自己的经历,我们感到有点像是生活在他们所描写的书的情节中与他们一道登台扮演。
The great and good do not die even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of old. The imperial intellects of the word are as much alive now as they were ages ago. (Sammuel Smiles: Companionship of Books)
【续】世上杰出的伟人是永生不朽的。他们的精神书籍长载,永久传颂。书是个活的智慧之声,古往今来为人们所俯耳聆听。所以,我们总是不断地接受到历代伟大人物的熏陶。这些古代先哲圣贤,仍然得以永远活在人们的心里。 (塞缪尔· 斯迈尔斯:《书谊》) 1.These scientists could not believe the two Curies more. 【译文】这些科学家完全相信居里夫妇。
2.John can be relied on; he eats no fish and plays the game. 【译文】约翰为人可靠,忠诚又正直。 3.There is nothing like health. 【译文】健康是最重要的。
4.We’re almost home; we’ll be there in no time. 【译文】我们快到家了;马上就要到了。
5.Students, with no exception, are to hand in their papers this afternoon. 【译文】今天下午,学生统统要交上书面作业。 6.Styles come and go, but good taste is timeless. 【译文】文风随时在变,而文雅是永恒的。 7.All the articles are untouchable in the museum. 【译文】博物馆内一切展品禁止触摸。
8.Mexico City is an earthquake zone and earth tremors are not unusual. 【译文】墨西哥城市在地震区,地动很正常。 9.No one has nothing to offer to society.
【译文】人人对社会都有所贡献。(双重否定用来表示强烈肯定) 10.I can’t wait to see you again. 【译文】我真希望能早点再见到你。 1.She was refused admittance by them. 【译文】他们不让她进去。
2.The world today is far from peacefulness. 【译文】今天的世界很不安宁。 3.His noble deeds are above all praise. 【译文】他的高尚行为是赞扬不尽的。
4.The handshake also has a rich history as a symbol of reconciliation or rapport. 【译文】历史上,以握手作为重归于好或和睦亲善的象征的,也不乏其例。 5.We may safely say so. 【译文】我们这样说万无一失。 6.He laughed till his side split.
【译文】他把肚子都要笑破了。 7.The mistake escaped me. 【译文】我没注意到这个错误。
8.The truth is quite other than what you think. (other than = not, anything but) 【译文】事实真相与你想的完全不同。
9.They are racing to build an economy based on something other than oil revenues. 【译文】他们竞相建立一个不是以石油收入为主要来源的经济。
10.I did not know that I was spelling a word or even that words existed; I was simply making my fingers go in a monkey-like imitation.
【译文】当时我并不知道自己是在拼写一个词,甚至不知道有所谓的词,不过是像猴子一样用手指模仿罢了。
1.He was so underpaid and so deep in his work that he had declared never to marry. 【译文】他的收入非常少,而工作却如此潜心,所以他决心永不结婚。(特指否定) 2.It is unlikely but not impossible.
【译文】这个可能性不大,但也不是不可能。(显形否定) 3.Catch me making the same error again. 【译文】我决不再犯同样的错误。(隐形否定) 4.He doesn’t seem to like the idea.
【译文】他似乎不喜欢这个主意。(转移否定)
5.Wealth we employ, not for talk and ostentation, but when there is a real use for it. 【译文】 财富的利用在于适当,并非为了夸口和炫耀。(特指否定) 6.But all men are not born to reign.
【译文】并非人人生来就都是做帝王的。 (部分否定) 7.All men can’t be the first.
【译文】不可能人人都是第一。(部分否定)
8.All that write poems are not poets.(=Not all that write poems are poets.) 【译文】不是所有写诗的人都是诗人。(转移否定) 9.Both children are not clever.
【译文】并非两个孩子都聪明。(或许这个没那个聪明。)(部分否定)
10. The mountain is not valuable because it is high.(=The mountain is valuable not because it is high. 【译文】这座山不是因为高才有价值。(特指否定) 1.She is past hope of recovery. 【译文】她没有康复的希望了。
2.The evidence is clear enough, excluding all possibilities. 【译文】证据确凿,毋庸置疑。
3.He aims at inhuman perfection in everything he does. 【译文】他做任何事情都指望达到超人的完美。 4.Styles come and go, but good taste is timeless. 【译文】风格随时在变,而文雅是永恒的。
5.The doubt was still unsolved after his repeated explanation.