英语散文欣赏（中英文对照）

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:46:14

The Road To Happiness

It is a commonplace among moralists that you cannot get happiness by pursuing it. This is only true if you pursue it unwisely. Gamblers at Monte Carlo are pursuing money, and most of them lose it instead, but there are other ways of pursuing money, which often succeed. So it is with happiness. If you pursue it by means of drink, you are forgetting the hang-over. Epicurus pursued it by living only in congenial society and eating only dry bread, supplemented by a little cheese on feast days. His method proved successful in his case, but he was a valetudinarian, and most people would need something more vigorous. For most people, the pursuit of happiness, unless supplemented in various ways, is too abstract and theoretical to be adequate as a personal rule of life. But I think that whatever personal rule of life you may choose it should not, except in rare and heroic cases, be incompatible with happiness.

There are a great many people who have all the material conditions of happiness, i.e. health and a sufficient income, and who, nevertheless, are profoundly unhappy. In such cases it would seem as if the fault must lie with a wrong theory as to how to live. In one sense, we may say that any theory as to how to live is wrong. We imagine ourselves more different from the animals than we are. Animals live on impulse, and are happy as long as external conditions are favorable. If you have a cat it will enjoy life if it has food and warmth and opportunities for an occasional night on the tiles. Your needs are more complex than those of your cat, but they still have their basis in instinct. In civilized societies, especially in English-speaking societies, this is too apt to be forgotten. People propose to themselves some one paramount objective, and restrain all impulses that do not minister to it. A businessman may be so anxious to grow rich that to this end he sacrifices health and private affections. When at last he has become rich, no pleasure remains to him except harrying other people by exhortations to imitate his noble example. Many rich ladies, although nature has not endowed them with any spontaneous pleasure in literature or art, decide to be thought cultured, and spend boring hours learning the right thing to say about fashionable new books that are written to give delight, not to afford opportunities for dusty snobbism. ( to be continued)

　　中文：

　　道德家们常说：幸福靠追求是得不到的。只有用不明智的方式去追求才是这样。蒙特卡洛城的赌徒们追求金钱，但多数人却把钱输掉了，而另外一些追求金钱的办法却常常成功。追求幸福也是一样。如果你通过畅饮来追求幸福，那你就忘记了酒醉后的不适。埃毕丘鲁斯追求幸福的办法是只和志趣相投的人一起生活，只吃不涂黄油的面包，节日才加一点奶酪。他的办法对他来说是成功的，但他是个体弱多病的人，而多数人需要的是精力充沛。就多数人来说，除非你有别的补充办法，这样追求快乐就过于抽象和脱离实际，不宜作为个人的生活准则。不过，我觉得无论你选择什么样的生活准则，除了那些罕见的和英雄人物的例子外，都应该是和幸福相容的。

　　很多人拥有获得幸福的全部物质条件，即健康的身体和丰足的收入，可是他们非常不快乐。就这种情况来说，似乎问题处在生活理论的错误上。从某种意义上讲，我们可以说任何关于生活的理论都是不正确的。我们和动物的区别并没有我们想象的那么大。动物是凭冲动生活的，只要客观条件有利，它们就会快乐。如果你有一只猫，它只要有东西吃，感到暖和，偶尔晚上得到机会去寻欢，它就会很快活。你的需要比你的猫要复杂一些，但还是以本能为基础的。在文明社会中，特别是在讲英语的社会中，这一点很容易被忘却。人们给自己定下一个最高的目标，对一切不利于实现这一目标的冲动都加以克制。生意人可能因为切望发财以致不惜牺牲健康和爱情。等他终于发了财，他除了苦苦劝人效法他的好榜样而搅得别人心烦外，并没有得到快乐。很多有钱的贵妇人，尽管自然并未赋予她们任何欣赏文学或艺术的兴趣，却决意要使别人认为她们是有教养的，于是他们花费很多烦人的时间学习怎样谈论那些流行的新书。这些书写出来是要给人以乐趣的，而不是要给人以附庸风雅的机会的。（待续）
( to continue) If you look around at the men and women whom you can call happy, you will see that they all have certain things in common. The most important of these things is an activity which at most gradually builds up something that you are glad to see coming into existence. Women who take an instinctive pleasure in their children can get this kind of satisfaction out of bringing up a family. Artists and authors and men of science get happiness in this way if their own work seems good to them. But there are many humbler forms of the same kind of pleasure. Many men who spend their working life in the city devote their weekends to voluntary and unremunerated toil in their gardens, and when the spring comes, they experience all the joys of having created beauty.

The whole subject of happiness has, in my opinion, been treated too solemnly. It had been thought that man cannot be happy without a theory of life or a religion. Perhaps those who have been rendered unhappy by a bad theory may need a better theory to help them to recovery, just as you may need a tonic when you have been ill. But when things are normal a man should be healthy without a tonic and happy without a theory. It is the simple things that really matter. If a man delights in his wife and children, has success in work, and finds pleasure in the alternation of day and night, spring and autumn, he will be happy whatever his philosophy may be. If, on the other hand, he finds his wife fateful, his children’s noise unendurable, and the office a nightmare; if in the daytime he longs for night, and at night sighs for the light of day, then what he needs is not a new philosophy but a new regimen----a different diet, or more exercise, or what not.

Man is an animal, and his happiness depends on his physiology more than he likes to think. This is a humble conclusion, but I cannot make myself disbelieve it. Unhappy businessmen, I am convinced, would increase their happiness more by walking six miles every day than by any conceivable change of philosophy. ( finished)

　　中文：

　　（续）只要你观察一下周围那些你可称之为幸福的男男女女，就会看出他们都有某些共同之处。在这些共同之处中有一点是最重要的：那就是活动本身，它在大多数情况下本身就很有趣，而且可逐渐的使你的愿望得以实现。生性喜爱孩子的妇女，能够从抚养子女中得到这种满足。艺术家、作家和科学家如果对自己的工作感到满意，也能以同样的方式得到快乐。不过，还有很多是较低层次的快乐。许多在城里工作的人到了周末自愿地在自家的庭院里做无偿的劳动，春天来时，他们就可尽情享受自己创造的美景带来的快乐。

　　在我看来，整个关于快乐的话题一向都被太严肃的对待过了。过去一直有这样的看法：如果没有一种生活的理论或者宗教信仰，人是不可能幸福的。也许那些由于理论不好才导致不快乐的人需要一种较好的理论帮助他们重新快活起来，就像你生过病需要吃补药一样。但是，正常情况下，一个人不吃补药也应当是健康的；没有理论也应当是幸福的。真正有关系的是一些简单的事情。如果一个男人喜爱他的妻子儿女，事业有成，而且无论白天黑夜，春去秋来，总是感到高兴，那么不管他的理论如何，都会是快乐的。反之，如果他讨厌自己的妻子，受不了孩子们的吵闹，而且害怕上班；如果他白天盼望夜晚，而到了晚上又巴望着天明，那么，他所需要的就不是一种新的理论，而是一种新的生活——改变饮食习惯，多锻炼身体等等。

　　人是动物，他的幸福更多的时候取决于其生理状况而非思想状况。这是一个很庸俗的结论，然而我无法使自己怀疑它。我确信，不幸福的商人与其找到新的理论来使自己幸福，还不如每天步行六英里更见效。（完）

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:47:09

Feeling in Snow

As soon as I walked outside, I was greeted with the shimmering white blanket of cold. Despite the chill overwhelming my skin, inside I was warm. I felt as though I could be giving off heat; I had the desire to stay out in this freeze for hours. It was the type of day that speaks to you through its elements; I took a deep breath to hear more snow was coming.

As I walked I looked up, trying to realize what made this day so beautiful, so serene. It was as if time had been put temporarily on hold and I along with it. Or maybe I was the only one unpaused…Either way, the solitude was comforting, and I sensed myself floating away. I sat down on the edge of a curb and listened. All there was to hear was the wind rushing over the top of my head and circling some old, cracking leaves some yards away. To me it was the reassuring sound of nature, trying not to be forgotten.

It did start to snow. None of those little flurries, but big, fat flakes which clung immediately to their surface.

Then it was time to go and my reverie had to end. As I began walking again, I drifted back into this time frame, calm and cleared.

Now if only I could remember where I was going.

　　中文：

　　刚出门，便扑面而来一大片晶莹雪白的冰凉。冷气袭来，肌肤阵阵战栗，而内心却温暖如初。觉得自己似乎能发热，因而渴望在这寒冷中长时间驻足。这是一个大自然与你交流的日子。我深深地吸了一口气，静听雪花飘落，源源不绝。

　　漫步雪中，举目四顾，我努力思索是什么竟然能够把这一天变得如此美丽和宁静。那一刻，时间仿佛静止了，而我也定在其中。或者，只有我一个人在前行……

　　无论如何，这种孤寂却令人欣慰。我仿佛脱离了尘世。坐在路边，仔细聆听。只有风从头顶掠过，卷走几码远的干枯树叶。在我心中，这是大自然给人安慰、令人难忘的声音。

　　真的下雪了！不是零星小雪，而是鹅毛大雪，一落地就凝结在一起了。

　　该结束沉思离开了！我举步前行时，思绪又转回到现实中来，而此时感觉如此平静，如此清新。

　　我实在记不得我要往何处去了！

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:48:17

Rain of Seattle

I've got a deep secret few people understand and even fewer will admit to sharing. It's time to tell the truth: I love the rain, deeply and passionately and more than the sun. At least I live in the right place, famous for its damp weather and spawning its own genuine rainforest. I can't imagine living anywhere else than the Pacific Northwest. The sun shines so infrequently that my friends forget where they put their sunglasses. Gloomy clouds cause many people around here to suffer from seasonal affective disorder. Yet I welcome the rain.

Seattleites will say they like how rain keeps the city green, how clean the air tastes afterwards. My real reason for enjoying the rain is steeped in pure selfishness when it's mucky outside, I don't have to do anything. I can spend the afternoon curled up reading, build a fire and make a big pot of spiced tea. I can sleep in late, waking up occasionally to hear soothing patter on the roof, water racing down the gutter. Nobody expects me to leave my house or do anything overly productive. Maybe I'll invite a few friends over to watch an old movie or play a board game. Friends' expectations are low and easy to meet.

Summer in Seattle is beautiful but exhausting. The sunny, gorgeous weather and blue skies draw Seattleites from their cozy little homes, ready to dry out and have fun. People go hiking, biking, canoeing. Folks work in their gardens, wash their cars and attend outdoor concerts in the park all in the same day! The effort involved to throw a party ratchets up several notches, as people host barbecues and picnics and water-skiing parties. ( to be continued )

　　中文：

　　我有一个极少为人理解甚至无人愿意分享的秘密。现在应该说出来了：我爱雨，深情而热烈，甚至胜过对太阳的爱。最起码我住在适宜之地，以潮湿的天气和产生自己的雨林而出名。除了太平洋西北部，我想不出自己还能住在哪儿。阳光如此罕见，以至我的朋友们都忘了把太阳镜放到哪里去了。乌云密布的天空让很多在这儿生活的人都遭受季节性的情绪波动，然而我却欢迎雨的到来。

　　西雅图人会说他们喜欢雨使这个城市变绿，空气变得清新。我喜欢雨的真正原因纯粹是出于自我考虑。在外面泥泞的时候，我可以什么都不干，整个下午蜷缩在家里看书，再生盆火，泡一大壶香茶。我可以睡到很晚，时而醒来倾听屋檐上柔和的拍打，水顺着水槽往下流的声音。没人要我离开房子或去干一些超负荷的劳动。也许我会邀上几个朋友看一部老电影，或者玩玩棋盘游戏。朋友的期望不高，极易满足。

　　西雅图的夏天如此美丽却令人疲惫不堪。晴朗的天气和蔚蓝的天空吸引着西雅图人走出安逸舒适的小家，准备去干燥的户外寻找乐趣。他们去远足、骑车、划独木舟。他们修整自家的花园、洗车、去公园听露天音乐会，所有这些都在同一天做完！在他们举行烤肉、野餐和参加水上滑雪派对时，他们会把派对分成几个等级一步步推进。（待续）
( to continue )

It's a sin around here to not thoroughly enjoy every moment of every golden day. It's embarrassing to answer, "Did you get out and enjoy the sunshine this weekend?" with "No, I stayed inside." Co-workers frown and exchange suspicious looks; apparently I'm one of those rain-loving slugs. I tried lying, but my pale complexion gave me away.

Another mark in rain's favor is that my body doesn't betray me when it's cold and damp outside. Throughout the winter, people wear several layers, with perhaps several extra pounds here and there. In June I dig out my shorts to discover my thighs resemble cottage cheese. I dread buying a swimsuit, as consecutive horror and humiliation make me cringe in the dressing room.

Even my tastebuds prefer the rain. When it storms outside, it's time for steamy hot chocolate or even a soothing toddy. People devour hot, hearty meals, with lots of potatoes and savory sauces. This type of eating evaporates when the sun comes out; suddenly everyone offers salads and ice water and expects it to be satisfying.

It's time to publicly acknowledge that I love the rain, how it transforms my house into a cozy caves where I can spend the afternoon cooking and dreaming. It seems nobody else will admit to a love affair with the rain, nobody else will groan when it's hot outside and join me in a rain dance.

When the sun comes out I do greet it with a smile, slipping sunglasses to my purse and pulling a tank top out of my closet. Yet my comfortable sweaters and warm slippers beckon, making me wish for another wet, chilly afternoon. When the rain returns, I will grin even more. Am I the only one? ( finished )

　　中文：

　　（续）在这样绚丽多彩的日子不出去尽情享受这美妙的时刻好像不合情理。当别人问“你周末出去享受阳光了吗？”，你如果回答“没有，我呆在家里了。”是很令人尴尬的。同事们皱起眉头并相互交换猜疑的表情，很明显我就是那种喜欢下雨天的懒蛋儿。我试图撒谎，但我苍白的脸色总会出卖我。

　　我喜欢雨的另一个原因是，当室外天气较冷且潮湿时，我的身体不会跟我作对。整个冬天，人们都穿着好几层衣服，可能这儿那儿的多重了几磅。在六月份我就翻出了短裤，结果却发现我的大腿就像白软干酪似的。我害怕买游泳衣，由于接二连三令人恐怖和丢面子的情形发生，使得我总是躲在更衣室里。

　　甚至我的味蕾也喜欢雨天，外面狂风暴雨时，正是吃热巧克力或者喝轻柔的棕榈汁的好时机。人们吞吃着丰盛的热肉、许多土豆以及风味极佳的调味品。等太阳出来了就不使用这种吃法了，猛然间每个人都吃沙拉以及冰水，认为这就能使人满意了。

　　现在我该公开宣布了：我喜欢雨，是它把我的家变成了一个温暖而舒适的小窝。我可以花整个下午的时间边做饭边胡思乱想。似乎没有其他人愿意承认喜欢雨，但在外面很热时，也没有人为加入我的祈雨舞会而感到犹豫。

　　太阳出来时我一样会笑脸相迎，把太阳镜塞进包里，从壁橱中取出紧身背心。然而我舒适的羊毛衫和温暖的拖鞋又在召唤我了，让我期待有雨而寒冷的下午再次到来。雨又回来时我甚至更为高兴。我是惟一一个这样的人吗？（完）

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:50:53

　　钱钟书是我国博通古今中外的大学问家、作家。学术巨著《管锥篇》博大精深；长篇小说《围城》脍炙人口。他还是《毛泽东选集》英译本定稿人。为了使读者进一步欣赏钱钟书的英语文采，现把钱钟书给林书武的三封英语信刊登出来，边加汉译，同时，做些必要的注解，以飨读者。

　　第一封信

　　My Dear Shu-Wu, 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　May 14
　　　　
　　Your letter gives me a joyful surprise. Your English is astonishingly good. This is not "flannel" or "butter" but my sincere opinion (my hand upon my heart!). The idea found from your version of Chairman's statement is, to say the least, quite unjust. Perhaps your hand is recovering some of its old cunning momentarily lost through long lack of practice. At any rate, it would be a pity-nay, a sin, a crime-to let your English get rusty & become finally unserviceable.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Yours in haste

　　　　
　　By a slip of pen, you wrote "allocation" instead of "Collocation". This is a mere peccadillo. Don't let meticulousness about such trifles cramp your style.

　　　
　　书武：

　　看了来信，又惊又喜。你的英语之好，出人意外。这不是兜圈子的奉承话，而是真诚的意见(我手按在胸前发誓!)。你以前翻译主席文章的段落，我看了以后有些想法。现在看来，那些想法至少是很不公正的。你长期以来缺乏实践，一时失去的原有的灵巧手法，也许逐渐得到恢复。不管怎么样，让你的英语生锈，最终变得无法利用，那是件憾事——不，是罪过，是犯罪。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　钱钟书匆匆
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 5月14日

　　又及，由于笔误，你把collocation写成allocation.这只是一个小错。别把这些小事看得过重，变得谨小慎微，妨碍你写作方式的完善。
　　第二封信

　　My Dear Lin, 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　May

　　Excuse this belated reply to your very kind May Day greetings. It's almost literally "a day after the fair". What with fixing the mosquito net, queuing for sweets at the co-op store, fetching and distributing letters, and the thousand and one odds and ends which eat away one's time, the red letter day was over before I know where I was. Well, here go my best wishes in which my wife joins. Your letter makes me ashamed. I feel guilty like a swindler who has won your "gratitude" without doing anything to earn it. Your characteristic generosity has led you to overestimate the aids to study I gave. Yes, vocabulary is important. Pedagogues used to distinguish a pupils active or writing and speaking vocabulary. As you know, the latter is far more extensive than the former. How to turn the supinely passive into the nimbly active—that's the big problem. However, enough of shop talk. Tomorrow to the battle and more power to your elbow!?

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Yours Sincerely,

　　林：

　　5月1日承蒙来信祝贺节日，迟复为歉。称之为“定期集市后的一天”，此语非虚。安蚊帐，在合作社小店排队买糖果，往邮局取信，回来分发，以及忙乎耗费时间的没完没了的琐事，不知不觉中纪念日已经过去了。在此，我和妻子向你致以最良好的祝愿。你的来信，使我感到惭愧。我像个骗子，没干什么就获得了你的感谢，感到内疚。我对你的学习，帮助甚少，你特有的忠厚，使你过高估计这种帮助。是的，词汇是重要的。教师通常把词汇分为积极的和消极的词汇，前者为写和说的词汇，后者为阅读的词汇。正如你所知道的，学生的词汇中，后者远比前者多得多。如何把呆板的消极词汇变成灵活的积极词汇，这是个大问题。但有关行内的议论，就说这么多吧。明天就要投入战斗了，加油干!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　钱钟书谨上　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　5月2日

　　注解：

　　1、此信写于1972年5月2日，距上封信近一年。
　　2、Thousand and one odds and ends：极言琐事繁多。
　　3、Red letter day：日历上节日、纪念日都是用红色字体印，故称。
　　第三封信

　　My Dear Lin,
　　　　
　　I am deeply grateful, but I have smiting of conscience. As you know, I have my own ration of sugar, and I must not deprive you of yours. As to the dim sum, a healthy young man has more need of them to stay his hunger between the meals---much more that and old man does. So I am returning them with heartfelt thanks---accompanied with a little token of esteem. The latest No. of Broadsheet is worth glancing at.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Your thankfully

　　林：

　　很感谢你，但我深感不安。正如你知道的，白糖，我有自己的定量，我不应该取你的。至于那些精美的点心，健康的小伙子比老人更加迫切需要，以便在两顿饭之间充饥。所以我怀着衷心的谢意把糖和点心还给你，同时附上一些英文报纸杂志，聊表敬意。最近一期的Broadsheet(报纸)值得一看。

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　钱钟书谨上
　　　　
　　注解：

　　1、这封信没署日期。大概写于1972年钱钟书、杨绛离开河南明港，提前返回北京的几个月前。信中提到“白糖”、“点心”等话，指的是林书武为了感谢钱钟书赠送英语书报、对其学习上的指导，送给钱钟书的东西。
　　2、smite和conscience搭配，是地道的英语，如：His conscience smote him. （他受到了良习的谴责），也可以说成：He had smiting of conscience.
　　3、to deprive you of yours：意为“夺取你的东西”，不能说成to deprive yours。
　　4、to stay ones hunger是地道的英语，学生往往想不到这种用法。“充饥”，不要说成to fill ones hunger，要采用这里的说法。
　　5、a little token of esteem：当时钱钟书还送给林书武一些英文报纸杂志。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:52:14

Experiencing Scotland

Scotland is a unique and austere place, laden with history, where you can find aristocratic palaces and castles, as well as the traditional parades in national costumes. It has some of the most beautiful cities in Europe, a living testimony of a proud and splendid past.

In order to see and discover the true soul of Scotland today, what forged the character of this splendid region, we have to go towards the northern regions, to the Grampian Mountains. Beautiful and unspoiled, it was difficult to farm. The Scots subdued the environment with simple spades and strong arms.

The history of this ancient struggle, and its people's ancient love affair with the hard land, is enclosed within the walls of the Angus Folk Museum. You are able to get a feel of the typical rural atmosphere of times past from the everyday artifacts displayed here.

From coastal Aberdeen in towards the interior of the Grampian Mountains there runs the Castle Trail, a road that touches on many fortresses, which are witnesses of continual revolts against the dominion of neighboring England in Scottish history.

Perhaps the most uplifting moment for Scottish autonomy is the one experienced inside this ancient abbey of Arbroath, where, in 1320; the Declaration of Independence was celebrated, at the instigation of King Robert the Bruce. He carried out the plan for autonomy drawn up by the great popular hero William Wallace, to whom cinema has dedicated the wonderful film Braveheart, the winner of five Oscars. ( to be continued)

　　中文：

　　苏格兰是一个独特的地方，历史的厚重感随处可见。豪门望族的府第与城堡历历在目，以及穿着传统服装的仪仗队。这些全欧洲最美丽的城市，诉说着苏格兰昔日的荣耀与光芒。

　　想体验和发现真正今日的苏格兰，追寻这里民族精神的源泉，就得去北部的格兰扁山区。格兰扁山区景色怡人，决无污染，曾一度不适合耕作，苏格兰人硬是凭着简单的锄头、铁锹和他们的双手征服了生存环境。

　　苏格兰先民的艰苦劳作史以及他们自古对这片贫瘠土地的眷恋，在安格斯民俗博物馆里一览无余。从这里展出的平常物品中，你能够感受到那种典型的往日乡间气氛。
　
　　有一条古堡之路从沿海的阿伯丁一直蜿蜒到格兰扁山区深处。沿途很多昔日的要塞，都是苏格兰在历史上不断反抗英格兰统治的见证。

　　苏格兰争取自治的过程中最大快人心的时刻莫过于1320年，在古老的阿布罗斯修道院，在罗伯特·布鲁斯国王的鼓动下庆贺《独立宣言》的签订。布鲁斯采纳了传奇英雄威廉·华莱士所献的计策，完成了自治大业，这个故事后来被改编成精彩的电影《勇敢的心》，并获五项奥斯卡大奖。（待续）
( to continue)

This is Glamis Castle. It is often remembered for being the residence of King Macbeth and Queen Elizabeth in her childhood. Among the most assiduous guests here are the inevitable ghosts, which are nourished, if not actually created, by ancient popular beliefs. These have been handed down over the centuries by a people inclined to live with mystery, with the forces of the supernatural.

Another attraction here is a legendary monster: the Loch Ness Monster. Is it real or imaginary, this monster, which has been nicknamed Nessie, has collected a good 3000 sightings over the last 50 years? To fuel the debate about the monster, and perhaps also curiosity about the lake, a price of 500,000 pounds sterling has been put on Nessie's head.

The true flag of Scotland, tartan, is recognizable from the brightly coloured plaid patterns which are used to distinguish the various clans. Over the last few decades this fabric has made a comeback and is part of the daily life of this country.

The typical Scottish garment, the kilt, is de rigeur when the Scots play the Great Highland bagpipes, especially when they march in parades.

Bagpipes and reels open the competitions of local sporting events, which are called Highland Gatherings. The games, which have strange rules, involve a spirit that has more to do with brute force than with athletics. ( finished)

　　中文：

　　（续）格拉姆斯城堡之所以名闻遐迩，却是因为这里是苏格兰国王麦克佩斯与儿时的伊丽莎白女王的住所。如今这里最相看无厌的当数传说中挥之不去的幽灵，这些幽灵即使不是凭空捏造的，也就是源于世代相传的古老信仰。苏格兰人似乎生来就就喜欢与神秘事物生活在一起，笃信超自然的力量，因此才有了这些世代相传的传说和幽灵。

　　这里的另一个看点则是充满传奇色彩的尼斯湖的怪兽。真假姑且不论，这个昵称尼西的怪兽在过去的半个世纪中已经吸引了3,000余名游客。如今它头上有50万英镑的悬赏，更使得关于它存在的争论日益激烈，或许对该湖的好奇也会日盛吧。

　　苏格兰格子呢是苏格兰真正的旗帜。它色彩鲜明的花格子图案曾经是区分不同宗族的标志。在过去几十年里，格子呢在苏格兰再度流行，如今则已在日常生活中不可或缺。

　　苏格兰传统的褶裥短裙按照礼节是应该在苏格兰人演奏著名的高地风笛时穿的，尤其是列队前进的时候。

　　风笛与里尔舞揭开了苏格兰高地运动盛会的序幕。运动会的比赛项目规则奇特，赛事的主题与其说是竞技比赛，不如说是蛮力的较量。（完）

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:53:29

　下面这段文章选自英国游记作家科林-萨布伦撰写的《亚西亚失落的心》一书。本书描述了萨布伦在苏联解体后不久游历中亚诸国的经历。在这个节选片段中，萨布伦叙述了他在土库曼斯坦马雷市度过的第一晚的见闻。

　　Eastward from Ashkhabad my train lumbered across a region of oases where rivers dropped out of Iran to die in the Turcoman desert. In one window the Kopet Dagh mountains lurched darkly out of haze, and repeated themselves in thinning colours far into the sky. Beyond the other rolled a grey-green savannah, gashed with poppies. Over this immensity the sky curved like a frescoed ceiling, where flotillas of white and grey clouds floated on separate winds.

　　我乘坐的列车由阿什哈巴德驶出，一路向东，在土库曼沙漠中的绿洲地区中缓慢行驶，源自伊朗的数条河流便在这里汇集。透过一扇车窗，可以看到考匹特塔克山脉在黑色的迷雾中蜿蜒前行，若隐若现，其颜色随着山势的增高而变得模糊起来。另一扇车窗中，灰绿色草原绵延不绝，四处是凌乱的罂粟。天空在无垠的大地上盘旋曲折，仿佛是一个刻有壁画的天花板，密集的白云和灰云在空中随着阵风飘移。

　　Once or twice under the foothills I glimpsed the mound of a kurgan, broken open like the lips of a volcano – the burial-place of a tribal chief, perhaps, or the milestone of some lost nomad advance. Along this narrow littoral, a century ago, the Tekke Turcomans had grazed their camels and tough Argamak horses, and tilled the soil around forty-three earthen fortresses. Now the Karakum canal ran down from the Oxus through villages with old, despairing names such as "Dead-End" and "Cursed-by-God", and fed collective farms of wheat and cotton.

　　在山麓小丘之下，我瞥见了一两个坟头，坟头已经裂开，样子与火山口相仿——也许，它是部落首领的埋葬之地，或者就是某个迷失的游牧开拓者的一座里程碑。一个世纪之前，在这个滨海地区的沿岸，提基亚土库曼人用泥土建立起43个堡垒，他们在周围放牧骆驼和凶悍的阿葛马克马，并耕种土地。如今，卡拉库姆运河自阿姆河顺流而下，穿过那些以“死角”和“天谴”等古老、绝望的名字来命名的村子，灌溉着那些种有小麦与棉花的集体农场。

　　The train was like a town on the move. In its cubicles the close-tiered bunks were stacked with Russian factory workers and gangs of gossiping Turcomans. Grimy windows soured the world outside with their own fog, and a stench of urine rose from the washrooms. But a boisterous freedom was in the air. Everyone was in passage, lightly uprooted. They gobbled salads and tore at scraggy chicken, played cards raucously together and pampered each other's children, until the afternoon lunch-break lulled them into sleep. Then the stained railway mattresses were deployed over the bunks, and the corridor became a tangle of arms and projecting feet in frayed socks. From a tundra of sheets poked the beards of Turcoman farmers, and the weathered heads of soldiers resting on their caps. Matriarchs on their way to visit relatives in the next oasis lay mounded under blankets or quilted coats, and young women curled up with their children in their arms and their scarves swept over their faces.

　　这列火车就像一个移动的城镇。车厢单间内，上下铺位间的空间狭窄，上面全都挤满了俄罗斯工人和成群唧喳不停的土库曼人。污秽的车窗布满了雾气，使外面的景色模糊不清，洗手间更是飘来了小便后的恶臭。但空气中弥漫着放纵喧闹的气氛。人们全都是在旅行，似乎有点漂泊在外的味道。他们大口吞咽着沙拉，撕啃着骨多肉少的鸡，一起大声吆喝着玩着扑克，互相哄弄着彼此的小孩，直到下午，午休时间才使他们安静下来，开始睡觉。之后，铺位上纷纷铺起污迹斑斑的列车床垫，走廊里顿时到处都是胳膊和露在外面、穿着破袜子的脚丫子。所有被单仿佛就是一片苔原，土库曼农民把他们的胡子露在了被单外面，而枕着帽子的士兵则把他们那饱受风霜之苦的脑袋露了出来。去下一个绿洲地区看亲戚的老妇人们躺在毛毯里或棉大衣中，好似一座座小山丘，而年轻的妇人则蜷着身子，怀里抱着孩子，并用她们的头巾盖住了自己的脸。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:53:57

Of Harmony

It is my temper, and I like it the better, to affect all harmony: and sure there is musick even in the beauty, and the silent note which Cupid strikes, far sweeter than the sound of an instrument. For there is a musick where ever there is a harmony, order, or proportion: and thus far we may maintain the music of the Sphears; for those well-ordered motions, and regular paces, though they give no sound unto the ear, yet to the understanding they strike a note most full of harmony. Whatsoever is harmonically composed delights in harmony; which makes me much distrust the symmetry of those heads which declaim against all Church-Musick. For my self, not only for my obedience, but my particular Genius, I do embrace it: for even that vulgar and Tavern-Musick, which makes one man merry, another mad, strikes in me a deep fit of devotion, and a profound contemplation of the First Composer. There is something in it of Divinity more than the ear discovers: it is an Hieroglyphical and shadowed lesson of the whole World, and creatures of GOD; such a melody to the ear, as the whole World, well understood, would afford the understanding. In brief, it is a sensible fit of that harmony which intellectually sounds in the ears of GOD.

　　注释：

　　1、harmony：n. 融洽、和谐、协调
　　2、temper：n. 性情、脾气
　　3、note：n. 音符
　　4、Cupid：爱神丘比特
　　5、whatsoever：无论什么
　　6、compose：v. 著、撰、组成
　　7、distrust：v. 不信任
　　8、symmetry：n. 对称、匀称
　　9、obedience：n. 服从、顺从
　　10、contemplation：n. 沉思
　　11、divinity：n. 神、神性
　　12、hieroglyphical：n. 象形文字
　　13、melody：n. 悦耳的音调

　　中文：　　

　　我生性耽爱一切之和谐，于此，我且颇以自得；确实，甚至在鸩彼得所奏放的无声音籁之中与美感之内，无不有音乐的存在，其吐音之佳妙迥出一般乐器之上。此亦缘音乐即在和谐、秩序与比例匀称之中，而星际乐声一说至少可以此为部分依据；其秩序井然之动作，节拍分明之步武，此在常人耳中虽悄无声息，然在颖慧者听来，确乃和谐无艺之妙乐。大凡和谐构成之物，必喜和谐，据此，则彼辈攻击一切教堂音乐者，其头脑之中是否尚有匀称二字，我实不能不深致疑虑。至于我自己，我对上述之音乐确实服膺无已，此固与我之虔诚信仰有关，亦系我的特殊禀赋所致；甚即通常旅店之俚俗音乐，所叙不出嬉乐激切之情，尚能使我对那最初制曲人于胸臆之中顿生仰慕之忱与遥深之想；其中圣洁处有非人耳所能察觉者。它是茫茫世界芸芸众生的一篇佶屈恢诡的天启，使上下尘寰彻悟之后捧供识者聆赏的一阙悠扬的妙乐。要言之，它是上彻天听的玲珑曼妙的仙籁的阵阵和谐。

　　（高健译）

　　注：本段文字节选自Thomas Browne的名著——《一位医生的信仰》（Religio Medici）的第二章第二节。

iceinsummer · 发表于 2007-3-24 10:56:51

匆匆Rush--朱自清
Swallows may have gone, but there is a time of return; willow trees may have died back, but there is a time of regreening; peach blossoms may have fallen, but they will bloom again. Now, you the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return? - If they had been stolen by someone, who could it be? Where could he hide them? If they had made the escape themselves, then where could they stay at the moment?
　　燕子去了，有再来的时候；杨柳枯了，有再青的时候；桃花谢了，有再开的时候。但是，聪明的，你告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？——是有人偷了他们罢：那是谁？又藏在何处呢？是他们自己逃走了：现在又到了哪里呢？

I don't know how many days I have been given to spend, but I do feel my hands are getting empty. Taking stock silently, I find that more than eight thousand days have already slid away from me. Like a drop of water from the point of a needle disappearing into the ocean, my days are dripping into the stream of time, soundless, traceless. Already sweat is starting on my forehead, and tears welling up in my eyes.
　　我不知道他们给了我多少日子；但我的手确乎是渐渐空虚了。在默默里算着，八千多日子已经从我手中溜去；象针尖上一滴水滴在大海里，我的日子滴在时间的流里，没有声音也没有影子。我不禁头涔涔而泪潸潸了。

Those that have gone have gone for good, those to come keep coming; yet in between, how swift is the shift, in such a rush? When I get up in the morning, the slanting sun marks its presence in my small room in two or three oblongs. The sun has feet, look, he is treading on, lightly and furtively; and I am caught, blankly, in his revolution. Thus--the day flows away through the sink when I wash my hands, wears off in the bowl when I eat my meal, and passes away before my day-dreaming gaze as reflect in silence. I can feel his haste now, so I reach out my hands to hold him back, but he keeps flowing past my withholding hands. In the evening, as I lie in bed, he strides over my body, glides past my feet, in his agile way. The moment I open my eyes and meet the sun again, one whole day has gone. I bury my face in my hands and heave a sigh. But the new day begins to flash past in the sigh.
　　去的尽管去了，来的尽管来着，去来的中间，又怎样的匆匆呢？早上我起来的时候，小屋里射进两三方斜斜的太阳。太阳他有脚啊，轻轻悄悄地挪移了；我也茫茫然跟着旋转。于是——洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。我觉察他去的匆匆了，伸出手遮挽时，他又从遮挽着的手边过去，天黑时，我躺在床上，他便伶伶俐俐地从我身边垮过，从我脚边飞去了。等我睁开眼和太阳再见，这算又溜走了一日。我掩着面叹息。但是新来的日子的影儿又开始在叹息里闪过了。

What can I do, in this bustling world, with my days flying in their escape? Nothing but to hesitate, to rush. What have I been doing in that eight-thousand-day rush, apart from hesitating? Those bygone days have been dispersed as smoke by a light wind, or evaporated as mist by the morning sun. What traces have I left behind me? Have I ever left behind any gossamer traces at all? I have come to the world, stark naked; am I to go back, in a blink, in the same stark nakedness? It is not fair though: why should I have made such a trip for nothing!
　　在逃去如飞的日子里，在千门万户的世界里的我能做些什么呢？只有徘徊罢了，只有匆匆罢了；在八千多日的匆匆里，除徘徊外，又剩些什么呢？过去的日子如轻烟却被微风吹散了，如薄雾，被初阳蒸融了；我留着些什么痕迹呢？我何曾留着象游丝样的痕迹呢？我赤裸裸来到这世界，转眼间也将赤裸裸地回去罢？但不能平的，为什么偏要白白走这一遭啊？

You the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return?
　　你聪明的，告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？

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