翻译刘炳善译文赏析

1、第十一课 刘炳善译文赏析A Bachelor's Complaint of the Behaviour of Married People By Charles LambAs a single man, I have spent a good deal of my time in noting down the infirmities of Married People, to console myself for those superior pleasures, which they tell me I have lost by remaining as I am.I cannot

2、 say that the quarrels of men and their wives ever made any great impression upon me, or had much tendency to strengthen me in those anti-social resolutions, which I took up long ago upon more substantial considerations. What oftenest offends me at the houses of married persons where I visit, is an

3、error of quite a different description;-it is that they are too loving.Not too loving neither: that does not explain my meaning. Besides, why should that offend me? The very act of separating themselves from the rest of the world, to have the fuller enjoyment of each other's society, implies tha

4、t they prefer one another to all the world.But what I complain of is, that they carry this preference so undisguisedly, they perk it up in the faces of us single people so shamelessly, you cannot be in their company a moment without being made to feel, by some indirect hint or open avowal, that you

5、are not the object of this preference. Now there are some things which give no offence, while implied or taken for granted merely; but expressed, there is much offence in them. If a man were to accost the first homely-featured or plain-dressed young woman of his acquaintance, and tell her bluntly, t

6、hat she was not handsome or rich enough for him, and he could not marry her, he would deserve to be kicked for his ill manners; yet no less is implied in the fact, that having access and opportunity of putting the question to her, he has never yet thought fit to do it. The young woman understands th

7、is as clearly as if it were put into words; but no reasonable young woman would think of making this the ground of a quarrel. Just as little right have a married couple to tell me by speeches, and looks that are scarce less plain than speeches, that I am not the happy man,-the lady's choice. It

8、is enough that I know I am not: I do not want this perpetual reminding.The display of superior knowledge or riches may be made sufficiently mortifying; but these admit of a palliative. The knowledge which is brought out to insult me, may accidentally improve me; and in the rich man's houses and

9、pictures,-his parks and gardens, I have a temporary usufruct at least. But the display of married happiness has none of these palliatives: it is throughout pure, unrecompensed, unqualified insult.Marriage by its best title is a monopoly, and not of the least invidious sort. It is the cunning of most

10、 possessors of any exclusive privilege to keep their advantage as much out of sight as possible, that their less favoured neighbours, seeing little of the benefit, may the less be disposed to question the right. But these married monopolists thrust the most obnoxious part of their patent into our fa

11、ces.Nothing is to me more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new-married couple, in that of the lady particularly: it tells you, that her lot is disposed of in this world: that you can have no hopes of her. It is true, I have none; nor wishe

12、s either, perhaps: but this is one of those truths which ought, as I said before, to be taken for granted, not expressed.The excessive airs which those people give themselves, founded on the ignorance of us unmarried people, would be more offensive if they were less irrational. We will allow them to

13、 understand the mysteries belonging to their own craft better than we who have not had the happiness to be made free of the company: but their arrogance is not content within these limits. If a single person presume to offer his opinion in their presence, though upon the most indifferent subject, he

14、 is immediately silenced as an incompetent person. Nay, a young married lady of my acquaintance, who, the best of the jest was, had not changed her condition above a fortnight before, in a question on which I had the misfortune to differ from her, respecting the properest mode of breeding oysters fo

15、r the London market, had the assurance to ask with a sneer, how such an old Bachelor as I could pretend to know any thing about such matters.But what I have spoken of hitherto is nothing to the airs which these creatures give themselves when they come, as they generally do, to have children. When I

16、consider how little of a rarity children are, -that every street and blind alley swarms with them, -that the poorest people commonly have them in most abundance,-that there are few marriages that are not blest with at least one of these bargains,-how often they turn out ill, and defeat the fond hope

17、s of their parents, taking to vicious courses, which end in poverty, disgrace, the gallows, &c.-I cannot for my life tell what cause for pride there can possibly be in having them. If they were young phoenixes, indeed, that were born but one in a year, there might be a pretext. But when they are

18、 so common I do not advert to the insolent merit which they assume with their husbands on these occasions. Let them look to that. But why we, who are not their natural-born subjects, should be expected to bring our spices, myrrh, and incense,-our tribute and homage of admiration,-I do not see.一个单身汉对

19、已婚男女言行无状之哀诉（片段）查尔斯兰姆 作刘炳善 译我， 身为光棍汉， 曾经花了不少功夫记录下那些已婚男女的毛病， 为的是看一看她们所说的我由于坚持独身而失去的至高无上的快乐到底是怎么一回事这， 对我来说， 也是一种安慰。我的意思并不是说， 夫妻反目、 吵吵闹闹给我留下了多么深刻的印象， 加强了我孑然一身， 独来独往的决心； 因为这种态度乃是我在很久以前出于实质性的考虑早就采取了的。 到结了婚的人家去串门儿， 常惹我生气的倒是另一种相反的过错就是说， 他们夫妻之间感情太好。要说我是为了他们感情太好而生气嘛这还不能把我的意思说清楚。 况且， 人家两口感情好， 招惹我什么啦？他们既然自愿离开人群

20、， 充分享受伉俪之乐， 就表明人家把两个人卿卿我我泡在一起看得比全世界都更重要。我抱怨的是： 他们总把这种燕婉私情不加掩饰地摆到表面儿上来， 不害臊地在我们单身汉面前炫耀卖弄； 你一来到他们中间， 马上就会从他们的间接暗示或者公开声明当中得到启发： 他们之间的感情， 你是没有份儿的。 本来嘛， 有些事不必明说， 谁也不会见怪； 挑明了，倒惹人讨厌。 假如一个人碰见他认识的一位容貌不美， 衣着朴素的姑娘， 马上向人家贸贸然声明：因为她既不漂亮，钱也不多，所以没法儿娶她；那么，为了这个人的无礼，该拿脚踢他。不过，既有机会见面，又能提出婚姻之事，却从不觉得有必要一试，这本身也就把意思暗示出来了。不说

21、出来，人家照样明白，明理的姑娘也绝不会为此大闹一场。同样，一对夫妇也没有权利用语言以及跟语言差不多一样清楚的表示向我通知；我不是那位太太的意中人，不是她所选择的配偶。我知道我不是，这就完了；用不着别人对我没完没了的提醒。夸耀自己在知识上、 财产上的优势， 已经够叫人生气不过， 这些总还带有一定的缓和条件。向我卖弄的知识，也许能使我增广见闻；阔人家的宅院、图画、园囿、花圃，我至少还能享受一点儿暂时使用权。 但是， 人家向我夸耀结婚的幸福， 对我可就一点儿好处也没有了它从头到底纯粹是无报偿、无条件的侮辱。婚姻， 究极说来，乃是一种垄断，而且还是一种容易招人妒忌的垄断。 凡是独占了什么特权的人， 多

22、半都很滑头， 他们尽量不让那些没有他们幸运的邻居们看见他们捞到手的好处，这样也就不至引起人们对于他们的权利发生怀疑。 然而， 这些垄断了结婚权利的人， 却把他们那特权之中最最惹人反感之处偏偏摆到咱们眼前来。最叫我感到不是滋味儿的， 莫过于一对新婚夫妇脸上所流露出的那种十分得意、 完全满足的神气女方的脸上尤其明显。 它向你表示说： 她的终身已定， 你不要再抱什么希望了。诚然，我不该再抱什么希望，就连幻想也不该有。但是，这种事情，像刚才说的，只要彼此心照就行了，根本不必表示出来。有的看法虽说事出有因， 仍然叫人不能不生气： 譬如说， 那些结了婚的人认定我们这些未婚者啥也不懂， 因此就对我们把架子摆

23、得十足。 我们承认： 光棍汉不能不和三朋四友往来，没法像结婚成家的人那样安心精研专业之奥秘然而， 他们的傲慢自大并非到此即止。 一个单身汉在他们面前， 哪怕对于一个很小的题目敢于略抒己见， 马上就会被他们笑为根本没有资格，不如免开尊口。最可笑的，我认识一位年轻女士，刚结婚不到半个月，只因在关于如何用最恰当的方法为伦敦市场养殖牡蛎这个问题上， 我不幸与她意见相左， 她竟然狂笑一声，向我问道：像我这么一个老光棍儿，怎有资格在诸如此类的问题上冒充内行？刚才说的还不算什么，等这些人一有了孩子（他们总是要有孩子的） ，他们摆出的那副神气就更不得了啦。 我想了想： 小孩子又算什么稀罕物儿？每一条街上， 每

24、一道死胡同里， 到处都有小孩子， 而且， 人愈是穷， 孩子也就愈多， 人只要结了婚， 一般来说，总要托上天之福， 至少生出来这么一个不值钱的小玩意儿， 这些小孩子长大了， 往往不成器，走上邪道，一生遭穷、受辱，甚至说不定上绞架，使得父母的一片痴心化为泡影；所以，打死我，我也说不出，人生下小孩子，有什么可骄傲的？如果小孩子是小凤凰，一年只生一只，那倒还有可说。可他们有是这么平平常常在这种时候， 他们在丈夫面前那种居功自傲的样儿， 我就不说了。 她们爱怎么着就怎么着吧。可是，咱们又不是她们天生的 臣民，干嘛就应该向她们献出香料、没药、瓣香，向她们顶礼膜拜，以表钦羡之意，我不明白。Grace Bef

25、ore MeatBy Charles LambThe custom of saying grace at meals had, probably, its origin in the early times of the world, and the hunter-state of man, when dinners were precarious things, and a full meal was something more than a common blessing; when a belly-full was a windfall, and looked like a speci

26、al providence. In the shouts and triumphal songs with which, after a season of sharp abstinence, a lucky booty of deer's or goat's flesh would naturally be ushered home, existed, perhaps, the germ of the modern grace. It is not otherwise easy to be understood, why the blessing of food-the ac

27、t of eating-should have had a particular expression of thanksgiving annexed to it, distinct from that implied and silent gratitude with which we are expected to enter upon the enjoyment of the many other various gifts and good things of existence.I own that I am disposed to say grace upon twenty oth

28、er occasions in the course of the day besides my dinner. I want a form for setting out upon a pleasant walk, for a moonlight ramble, for a friendly meeting, or a solved problem. Why have we none for books, those spiritual repasts-a grace before Milton-a grace before Shakspeare a devotional exercise

29、proper to be said before reading the Fairy Queen?-but, the received ritual having prescribed these forms to the solitary ceremony of manducation, I shall confine my observations to the experience which I have had of the grace, properly so called .The form then of the benediction before eating has it

30、s beauty at a poor man's table, or at the simple and unprovocative repasts of children. It is here that the grace becomes exceedingly graceful. The indigent man, who hardly knows whether he shall have a meal the next day or not, sits down to his fare with a present sense of the blessing, which c

31、an be but feebly acted by the rich, into whose minds the conception of wanting a dinner could never, but by some extreme theory, have entered. The proper end of food-the animal sustenance-is barely contemplated by them. The poor man's bread is his daily bread, literally his bread for the day. Th

32、eir courses are perennial.Again, the plainest diet seems the fittest to be preceded by the grace. That which is least stimulative to appetite, leaves the mind most free for foreign considerations. A man may feel thankful, heartily thankful, over a dish of plain mutton with turnips, and have leisure

33、to reflect upon the ordinance and institution of eating; when he shall confess a perturbation of mind, inconsistent with the purposes of the grace, at the presence of venison or turtle. When I have sate (a rarus hospes) at rich men's tables, with the savoury soup and messes steaming up the nostr

34、ils, and moistening the lips of the guests with desire and a distracted choice, I have felt the introduction of that ceremony to be unseasonable. With the ravenous orgasm upon you, it seems impertinent to interpose a religious sentiment. It is a confusion of purpose to mutter out praises from a mout

35、h that waters. The heats of epicurism put out the gentle flame of devotion. The incense which rises round is pagan, and the belly-god intercepts it for his own. The very excess of the provision beyond the needs, takes away all sense of proportion between the end and means. The giver is veiled by his

36、 gifts. You are startled at the injustice of returning thanks-for what?-for having too much, while so many starve. It is to praise the Gods amiss.I have observed this awkwardness felt, scarce consciously perhaps, by the good man who says the grace. I have seen it in clergymen and others-a sort of sh

37、ame-a sense of the co-presence of circumstances which unhallow the blessing. After a devotional tone put on for a few seconds, how rapidly the speaker will fall into his common voice, helping himself or his neighbour, as if to get rid of some uneasy sensation of hypocrisy. Not that the good man was

38、a hypocrite, or was not most conscientious in the discharge of the duty; but he felt in his inmost mind the incompatibility of the scene and the viands before him with the exercise of a calm and rational gratitude.I hear somebody exclaim,-Would you have Christians sit down at table, like hogs to the

39、ir troughs, without remembering the Giver?-no I would have them sit down as Christians, remembering the Giver, and less like hogs. Or if their appetites must run riot, and they must pamper themselves with delicacies for which east and west are ransacked, I would have them postpone their benediction

40、to a fitter season, when appetite is laid; when the still small voice can be heard, and the reason of the grace returns-with temperate diet and restricted dishes. Gluttony and surfeiting are no proper occasions for thanksgiving.饭前的祷告(片段) 查尔斯兰姆 作 刘炳善 译吃饭要做祷告，这种习惯大约由来久矣。 远古时候，人类处于狩猎时代，吃饭是非常靠 不住的事，一顿饱饭

41、更是了不得的造化；所以，吃个肚儿圆乃是一种以外的福分，好像老天格外开了恩。楞腹多日，一旦碰上运气猎到一头鹿、一只山羊，自然要大喊大叫、高唱凯歌 运回家去一一这个， 可能就是如今饭前祷告的萌芽吧。要不然，那就难以理解，在生活中我 们本来还有别的许多恩物，许多好东好西，只须悄悄享用便可， 而为什么对于得到食物一一吃上一顿饭一一偏偏就要举行一番特别的感恩仪式呢？说是在话，一天当中，我想祈祷一番表示感谢的事情，除了吃饭以外，不下一二十件。 要作一次愉快的散布， 要在月光之下漫游，要和好友相会，解决了一个问题一一我都希望举 行个什么仪式才好。 对于那些精神食粮一一书籍，为什么不可以做做礼拜呢？譬如说，读

42、弥尔顿之前，祷告一番一一读莎士比亚之前，祷告一番一一读仙后之前，诚心诚意、规规 矩矩举行一次礼拜仪式。 但是，既然大家约定俗成，规定这种祈祷仪式只能在进餐之际使用， 我也只好仅仅根据个人在饭前祷告中的体会略抒己见穷人在自己的餐桌旁， 孩子们对着自己淡而无味的食物祝祷一番，那自由一种美感。 在这种场合之下，感恩起到显得格外庄严。穷人坐下吃饭的时候， 正因为不知道明天是否还能吃上一顿饭，所以对当下这顿饭有一种幸福之感；而这一点，有钱人无论怎么装也装不像， 因为那种没有饭吃的概念，除非偶尔看到什么激进的理论，根本不可能进入他的头脑。 食物运持肉体生存一一这种根本目的，他们几乎想也不想。面包，对于穷人，人他每天赖以生存之物一实实在在的当天的食粮。而有钱人的饭菜却是四季不断的。在吃粗茶淡饭之前，先来祷告一番，是再恰当不过的了。 因为，要吃的东西引不起人的 食欲，人的头脑才有自由驰骋的余地，去想那些与饮食无关的事