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渐

丰子恺

使人生圆滑进行的微妙的要素，莫如“渐”；造物主骗人的手段，也莫 如“渐”。在不知不觉之中，天真烂漫的孩子“渐渐”变成野心勃勃的青年；慷慨好侠的青年“渐渐”变成冷酷的成人；血气旺盛的成人“渐渐”变成了顽固的老头子。因为其变更是渐进的，一年一年地、一月一月地、一日一日地、一时一时地、一分一分地、一秒一秒地渐进，犹如从斜度极缓的长远的山坡上走下来，使人不察其递降的痕迹，不见其各阶段的境界，而似乎觉得常在同样的地位，恒久不变，又无时不有生的意趣与价值，于是人生就被确实肯定，而圆滑进行了。假使人生的进行不像山坡而像风琴的键板，由do忽然移到re，即如昨夜的孩子今朝忽然变成青年；或者像旋律的“按离进行”地由 do忽然跳到mi，即如朝为青年而夕暮忽成老人，人一定要惊讶、感慨、悲伤, 或痛感人生的无常，而不乐为人了。故可知人生是由“渐”维持的。这在女人恐怕尤为必要：歌剧中，舞台上的如花的少女，就是将来火炉旁边的老婆子，这句话，骤听使人不能相信，少女也不肯承认，实则现在的老婆子都是由如花的少女“渐渐”变成的。

人之能堪受境遇的变衰，也全靠这“渐”的助力。巨富的纨绔子弟因屡次破产而“渐渐”荡其家产，变为贫者，贫者只能做佣工，佣工往往变为奴隶，奴隶容易变为无赖，无赖与乞丐相去甚近，乞丐不妨作偷儿……这样的例，在小说中，在实际上，均多得很。因为其变衰是延长为十年二十年而一步一步地“渐渐”地达到的，在本人不感到什么强烈的刺激。故虽到了饥寒病苦 刑笞交迫的地步，仍是熙熙然贪恋着目前的生的欢喜。假如一位千金之子忽然变了乞丐或偷儿，这人一定愤不欲生了。

这真是大自然的神秘的原则，造物主的微妙的功夫！阴阳潜移，春秋代序，以及物类的衰荣生杀，无不暗合于这法则。由萌芽的春“渐渐”变成绿荫的夏；由凋零的秋“渐渐”变成枯寂的冬。我们虽已经历数十寒暑，但在围炉拥衾的冬夜仍是难于想象饮冰挥扇的夏日的心情；反之亦然。然而由冬一天一天地、一时一时地、一分一分地、一秒一秒地移向夏，由夏一天一天地、一时一时地、一分一分地、一秒一秒地移向冬，其间实在没有显著的痕迹可寻。昼夜 也是如此，傍晚坐在窗下看书，书页上“渐渐”地黑起来，倘不断地看下去（目力也因了光的减弱而渐渐加强），几乎永远可以认识书页上的字迹，即不觉 昼之已变为夜。儿女渐渐长大起来，在朝夕相见的父母全不觉得，难得见面的远亲就想见不相识了。往年除夕，我们曾在红蜡烛底下守候水仙花的开放，真是痴态！倘水仙花果真当面开放给我们看，便是大自然的原则的破坏，宇宙的根本的动摇，世界人类的末日临到了！

“渐”的作用，就是用每步相差极微极缓的方法来隐蔽时间的过去与事 物的变迁的痕迹，使人误认其为恒久不变。这真是造物主骗人的一大诡计！这有一件比喻的故事：某农夫每天朝晨抱了犊而跳过一沟，到田里去工作，夕暮又抱了它跳过沟回家。每日如此，未尝间断。过了一年，犊已渐大，渐重，差不多变成大牛，但农夫全不觉得，仍是抱了它跳沟。有一天他因事停止工作，次日再就不能抱了这牛而跳沟了。造物的骗人，使人留连于其每日每时的生 的欢喜而不觉其变迁与辛苦，就是用这个方法的。人们每日在抱了日重一日的牛而跳沟，不准停止。自己误以为是不变的。其实每日在增加其苦劳！

我觉得时辰钟是人生的最好的象征了。时辰钟的针，平常一看总觉得是“不动”的；其实人造物中最常动的无过于时辰钟的针了。日常生活中的人生也如此，刻刻觉得我是我，似乎这“我”永远不变，实则与时辰钟的针一样的无常！一息尚存，总觉得我仍是我，我没有变，还是留连着我的生，可怜受尽“渐”的欺骗！

“渐”的本质是“时间”。时间我觉得比空间更为不可思议，犹之时间艺术的音乐比空间艺术的绘画更为神秘。因为空间姑且不追究它如何广大或无限，我们总可以把握其一端，认定其一点。时间则全然无从把握，不可挽留，只有过去与未来在渺茫之中不绝地相追逐而已。性质上既已渺茫不可思议，分量上在人生也似乎太多。因为一般人对时间的悟性，似乎只够支配搭船乘车的短时间，对于百年的长时间的寿命，他们不能胜任，往往迷于局部而不能顾及全体。试看乘火车的旅客中，常有明达的人，有的宁牺牲暂时的安乐而让其座位与老弱者，以求心的太平（或博暂时的美誉）；有的见众人争先 下车，而退在后面，或高呼“勿要轧，总有得下去的！”“大家都要下去的！”然而在乘“社会”或“世界”的大火车的长期的旅客中，就少有这样的明达之人。所以我觉得百年的寿命，定得太长。像现在的世界上的人，倘定他们搭船乘车的期间的寿命，也许在人类社会上可减少许多凶险残惨的争斗，而与火车中一样的谦让，和平，也未可知。

然人类中也有几个能胜任百岁的或千古的寿命的人。那是“大人格”，“大人生”。他们能不为“渐”所迷，不为造物所欺，而收缩无限的时间并空间于方寸的心中。故佛家能纳须弥于芥子。中国古诗人（白居易）说：“蜗牛角上争何事？石火光中寄此身。” 英国诗人（Blake )也说：“一粒沙里见世界，一朵花里见天国；手掌里盛住无限，一刹那便是永劫。”

渐

丰子恺

The Gradual Advance

—By Feng Zikai

使人生圆滑进行的微妙的要素，莫如“渐”；造物主骗人的手段，也莫 如“渐”。

Life advances on the quiet, so does Nature’s tricks on men.

🎈悄悄地；私下地，私密地 on the quiet

例句

I know you drink on the quiet and I know how much you drink.

你知道你常常在暗地里喝，我也知道你能喝多少。

🎈「进行、发展」等可选用词advance、go、move、develop、proceed。「圆滑进行」译作Advance（move forward），理解为「顺利进行」

🎈so does Nature’s tricks on men是英文中常见的「so+助动词/情态动词+主语」语法结构。

🎈Nature同Mother Nature，指大自然。

违反自然的，有违天性的against nature

回归自然，返璞归真 go/get back to nature

在不知不觉之中，天真烂漫的孩子“渐渐”变成野心勃勃的青年；慷慨好侠的青年“渐渐”变成冷酷的成人；血气旺盛的成人“渐渐”变成了顽固的老头子。

Before they know it, innocent children have become aspiring youths, chivalrous youths have become hard-hearted adults, and prime-time adults have become obstinate old men.

🎈hard-hearted属于「形容词+名词-ed」构成的合成形容词，类似的例子还有noble-minded高尚的、good-tempered脾气好的。

🎈黄金时段prime time

黄金时间的电视节目 prime-time television

因为其变更是渐进的，一年一年地、一月一月地、一日一日地、一时一时地、一分一分地、一秒一秒地渐进，犹如从斜度极缓的长远的山坡上走下来，使人不察其递降的痕迹，不见其各阶段的境界，而似乎觉得常在同样的地位，恒久不变，又无时不有生的意趣与价值，于是人生就被确实肯定，而圆滑进行了。

The change comes about gradually, year after year, month after month, day after day, hour after hour, minute after minute, and second after second. Life is like a stroll down a very gentle, long sloping path. We don’t perceive our gradual descent or the boundary between different stages, so we imagine ourselves stationary and that nothing has changed. At the same time, we invariably feel the fun and value of life. And so our lives slip away without our noticing.

🎈发生 come about

例句

How did it come about that he knew where we were?

他怎么会知道我们在哪？

🎈一步一步地 step by step

一年一年地/每年/年复一年 year by/after year

一天天/逐日 day by/after day

🎈斜坡 a sloping path

🎈Life is like a stroll down a very gentle, long sloping path: 有些地点副词、方位副词、时间副词等，可以作后置定语，修饰名词。常见的这类副词有：here, there, above, below, abroad, upstairs, back, ahead, around, home, up, down, downstairs, out, now, before, today, tomorrow, yesterday 等。

例句

the young men here 这儿的年轻人

the room above 上面的房间

the note below 下面的注释

the way out 出去的路

the way ahead 前面的路

on the way back (在)回来的路上

holiday abroad 在国外的度假

the people outside 外边的人们

the villages around 四周的村庄

China today 《今日中国》

the meeting yesterday  昨天的会议

🎈Stage和phase为近义词，常相互替代使用。stage的英文解释为 a particular point in time during a process or set of events，因此常和介词at搭配，如at this stage。phase的英文解释为a particular period of time during the development of something, 因此常和介词in或during 搭配。

🎈消失，悄悄溜走 slip away

例句

Their support gradually slipped away.

他们逐渐失去支持。

假使人生的进行不像山坡而像风琴的键板，由do忽然移到re，即如昨夜的孩子今朝忽然变成青年；或者像旋律的“按离进行”地由 do忽然跳到mi，即如朝为青年而夕暮忽成老人，人一定要惊讶、感慨、悲伤，或痛感人生的无常，而不乐为人了。

If the journey of life could be described as the keyboard of a parlor organ rather than a gentle slope, the sudden move from do to re is like the unexpected growth from yesterday’s children to today’s youths, and the big jump from do to mi is like the shocking decline from this morning’s youths to tonight’s old people. If we grew or declined like this, we would be amazed, shocked, or even consumed with grief. Some might be overcome with the realization of our impermanence and might no longer wish to go on.

🎈「昨夜的孩子今朝忽然变成青年」中「昨夜」「今朝」完全可以理解成非确切的时间，旨在强调转变之快，这一点和把人生看作缓坡不同。

🎈「由 do忽然跳到mi」译时选用了jump（refer to a big or sudden change）一词，符合变化不再是缓坡的徐徐下降而是猛然突变之势。

🎈If we grew or declined like this, we would be…：虚拟语气If + S. + did / were… , S. + would / should / could / might + do …。原文中的would+V原表示一种虚拟语气，是一种与现在事实相反的假设。

故可知人生是由“渐”维持的。

Luckily, life proceeds little by little.

🎈此句核心意为 人生是逐渐前行的。「故而可知」处理为了Luckily，承接上一句的语意，幸而人生由「渐」维持，免去了一群「惊讶、感慨、悲伤，或痛感人生的无常，而不乐为人」的人。

这在女人恐怕尤为必要：歌剧中，舞台上的如花的少女，就是将来火炉旁边的老婆子，这句话，骤听使人不能相信，少女也不肯承认，实则现在的老婆子都是由如花的少女“渐渐”变成的。

To women, this seems even more important, for today’s young blossoms on the opera stage will end up as old women who mope by the fireside. It may seem unbelievable, and some girls may even refuse to accept it, but as a matter of fact today’s old women were once young blossoms.

🎈for today’s young blossoms will end up as old women是原因状语从句，指女人尤为忧虑岁月在身形容貌上留下的痕迹。

🎈事实上，其实，说真的 as a matter of fact

例句

It’s a nice place. We’ve stayed there ourselves, as a matter of fact.

那个地方不错。事实上，我们在那儿待过。

🎈…的问题 (the) question of…

声望问题question of prestige

面子问题question of pride

时间问题question of time

…的事matter of …

时间/个人偏好/兴趣问题a matter of time / personal taste / preference / interest

生死攸关的事a matter of life and death.

人之能堪受境遇的变衰，也全靠这“渐”的助力。

Yet because the decline is step by step, most people can reconcile themselves to their diminished circumstances.

🎈Yet此处是连词conj., 用于引出颇令人惊讶的事实，指「可是却，却又」。本篇译文在语意上下衔接上处理地很精妙，比如前文的Luckily, because等等。

🎈顺从，妥协，将就 reconcile oneself to sth.

例句

He could not reconcile himself to the prospect of losing her.

他一想到有可能失去她，就觉得难以忍受。

巨富的纨绔子弟因屡次破产而“渐渐”荡其家产，变为贫者，贫者只能做佣工，佣工往往变为奴隶，奴隶容易变为无赖，无赖与乞丐相去甚近，乞丐不妨作偷儿……这样的例，在小说中，在实际上，均多得很。

The playboy born into wealth who loses the family fortune through repeated business failures, is first reduced to a poor wretch, then to a hired laborer, next to a slave, then to a scoundrel, and finally to a homeless tramp. Such examples are legion both in fiction and real life.

🎈寻欢作乐的有钱男子，花花公子，纨绔子弟playboy（a rich man who spends his time enjoying himself）

🎈The playboy born into wealth who loses the family fortune through repeated business failures中born into wealth和who loses the family fortune through repeated business failures都作定语修饰playboy。碰到中心词有很多修饰成分不知如何安排译文时，可以同时考虑前置定语、后置定语、从句。

🎈legion本身可用作形容词，指「比比皆是的」，也可以是名词的「众多、大量、大批」，常用搭配a plenty of sth.

例句

The number of women who become pregnant after adopting children is legion.

领养小孩后怀孕的妇女比比皆是。

因为其变衰是延长为十年二十年而一步一步地“渐渐”地达到的，在本人不感到什么强烈的刺激。

As the decline of fortune comes about over a span of ten or twenty years, he may not feel any intense trauma.

🎈此处「变衰」处理为the decline of fortune，看的是整个语境，指「纨绔子弟」的财富不断减少。

故虽到了饥寒病苦刑笞交迫的地步，仍是熙熙然贪恋着目前的生的欢喜。

So, even if he finds himself living in poverty, with illness, or imprisoned and tortured, he will still avidly cling to his miserable life.

🎈迷恋，依恋cling to

🎈常言道，好死不如赖活着，「生的欢喜」指「仍生在世上的欢喜」，但也不尽是欢喜，译文处理为cling to his miserable life，虽不字字对应，却很好地表达出了作者的真正意图。

假如一位千金之子忽然变了乞丐或偷儿，这人一定愤不欲生了。

However, if a wealthy young man suddenly finds himself forced to beg or steal, he would surely be overwhelmed and would soon consider suicide.

🎈多个形容词修饰同一个名词，排序为：大 形 年 新 颜 国 材 用 [大小/形状/年龄/新旧/颜色/国籍/材料/用途]+ 中心名词

例句

一张新的很沉的黑色的中国式的圆形的大木餐桌a heavy big round new black Chinese wooden dining table

🎈被压垮，应接不暇 be overwhelmed

例句

The patient overload also overwhelms medical workers.

病人数量过多也使医务人员不堪重负。

这真是大自然的神秘的原则，造物主的微妙的功夫！

What mysterious laws and subtle tricks Nature commands!

🎈这里的tricks可以与command/conjure搭配。

阴阳潜移，春秋代序，以及物类的衰荣生杀，无不暗合于这法则。

The interchange of yin and yang, the replacement of spring by summer, the wax and wane of all species—they coincide with this law without exception.

🎈（力量、重要性等）兴衰枯荣，盛衰wax and wane

🎈符合，与…相一致coincide with

例句

This story coincides with the facts.

这故事与事实相符合。

由萌芽的春“渐渐”变成绿荫的夏；由凋零的秋“渐渐”变成枯寂的冬。

The buds of spring gradually turn into the green leaves of summer, then wither and fall, and finally give way to winter’s desolate silence.

🎈变为；进入 turn into

🎈被…代替/取代give way to …

🎈这一句的处理和老舍《想北平》中的“多少风景名胜，从雨后什刹海的蜻蜓一直到我梦里的玉泉山的塔影，都积凑到一块。Numerous scenic spots and historical sites from Shi Sha Hai Lake with its dragonflies after a rain to the Yu Quan Shan Mountain with the dream pagoda on top—all merge into a single whole.”相似，并不译成“萌芽的春”，而是“春的芽”，找准更适合做中心词的对象。

我们虽已经历数十寒暑，但在围炉拥衾的冬夜仍是难于想象饮冰挥扇的夏日的心情；反之亦然。

Though we have gone through several dozen years, on winter nights when we sit by the fireside or sleep in our warm beds, we still find it hard to imagine our feelings on those summer days when we were fanning ourselves or eating ice creams. In summer, we have an equally difficult time imagining the reverse.

🎈undergo (underwent, undergone) v.经历（强调主语发生了变化）

经历外科手术

undergo surgery （患者做了手术）

例句

Mankind has undergone no general improvement.

（人类自身在进步）

近义

experience /go through/ know /see/ witness（只是表明某事发生了）

经历磨难experience difficulties

经历危机go through a crisis

🎈反之亦然vice versa

例句

The strengths will make up for some of the weaknesses, and vice versa.

优势将弥补一些弱点，反之亦然。

然而由冬一天一天地、一时一时地、一分一分地、一秒一秒地移向夏，由夏一天一天地、一时一时地、一分一分地、一秒一秒地移向冬，其间实在没有显著的痕迹可寻。

As the seasons pass from winter to summer and back again, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second, we see no boundaries along the way.

🎈「痕迹」按「界限boundary」或「迹象sign」理解其实都是可以的。

昼夜也是如此，傍晚坐在窗下看书，书页上“渐渐”地黑起来，倘不断地看下去（目力也因了光的减弱而渐渐加强），几乎永远可以认识书页上的字迹，即不觉昼之已变为夜。

The same is true of day giving way to night. Towards evening, when we read by the window, little by little the pages become blurry. Yet if we continue our reading, we can go on well into darkness without noticing the fall of night, for our vision can grow stronger in the fading light. At dawn, looking out towards the eastern horizon, we will never discover any trace of night transforming into day.

🎈…也是如此、…同样适用于…the same is true of…

例句

The same is true of the political field.

政治领域也一样。

🎈中文句子经常一「逗」到底，译时记得断句。先说事实：昼夜也是如此，傍晚坐在窗下看书，书页上「渐渐」地黑起来，然后断句，后接评论性的语言。

🎈夜幕降临the fall of night

🎈译文At dawn, looking out towards the eastern horizon, we will never discover any trace of night transforming into day.是译者加入了自己的理解，原文字面上说的是察觉不到昼→夜的转化，可以把这个面放大一点，理解为昼夜交替，而非只是单向变化，会更符合文章的中心思想。

儿女渐渐长大起来，在朝夕相见的父母全不觉得，难得见面的远亲就想见不相识了。

Children gradually grow into adulthood, but their parents, who see them all the time, are unaware of the changes they go through. On the other hand, their distant relatives, who rarely see them, may be amazed that they have changed beyond recognition.

🎈远亲distant relatives

🎈beyond用法

这个单词可以是介词，也可以是副词。它的含义可以是正面的，也可以是反面的。

正面的意义，指的是「超出某一范围但并不脱离或否定这个范围」，也就是「既保持原有的，还外加」

例句

The plan was beyond ingenious.

此计妙极。

Beyond flooding, villagers worry that more tree cutting could put an end to the mushroom bonanza.

除了水涝，村民们还担心，树木再继续砍伐下去，蘑菇盛长的局面就会告终。在这个意义上，beyond后面可以接名词，也可以接形容词。

例句

This has gone beyond ridiculous.

这已经不光是可笑了。

He was beyond exhausted.

他已经过度筋疲力尽了。

反面的意义，指的是「超出某一范围，不再属于这个范围」

例句

beyond repair

坏到无法修理

beyond his wildest dreams

他无论如何也梦想不到的

补充

无法…；不容…be beyond sth.

无法修理beyond repair

令人无法相信beyond belief

无法控制beyond my control

不容争辩beyond dispute / controversy

无法形容/描述beyond words / description

不容指摘beyond reproach / criticism

人类无法忍受的beyond human endurance

做梦也没想到…（表惊叹）beyond my wildest dreams

确定无疑beyond doubt

往年除夕，我们曾在红蜡烛底下守候水仙花的开放，真是痴态！

On past New Year’s Eves, we would sit in candlelight, eagerly waiting for narcissus to blossom. How silly we were!

🎈除夕New Year’s Eve

🎈「在红蜡烛底下」处理为了in candlelight（在烛光中），省去了过节常备的颜色「红」，当然可译作sit in the light of a burning red candles，这就要看译者到底侧重什么了。

倘水仙花果真当面开放给我们看，便是大自然的原则的破坏，宇宙的根本的动摇，世界人类的末日临到了！

If our wish had been granted, it would have necessitated a breach in the laws of Nature, which in turn would have shaken the foundations of the universe and caused the end of the world!

🎈使…成为必要 necessitate sth.

🎈自然法则 the laws of Nature

🎈in turn（反过来）的增添恰到好处，表明了「只能是自食其果」的下场。

“渐”的作用，就是用每步相差极微极缓的方法来隐蔽时间的过去与事物的变迁的痕迹，使人误认其为恒久不变。

These slight, gentle advances, which can well disguise the passage of time and the change of things, often trick us into believing that there is no change taking place.

🎈骗人做某事 trick sb. into (doing) sth.

例句

He tricked me into lending him £100.

他骗我借给了他 100 英镑。

🎈发生 take place

例句

Even when no meeting is to take place, I feel restless all the same.

即使不开会，这种惴惴不安的心情总摆脱不掉。

这真是造物主骗人的一大诡计！

What an outrageous trick Nature plays on human beings!

🎈本来应是What an outrageous trick on human beings Nature plays！的顺序，但这样导致句式看上去非常不平衡，所以把on human beings移至了句末，这种调整顺序以达到句式平衡的现象在英文中非常常见。

这有一件比喻的故事：某农夫每天朝晨抱了犊而跳过一沟，到田里去工作，夕暮又抱了它跳过沟回家。

Let me tell you a story here. There was a farmer who carried a calf across a ditch each morning on his way to work, and he would do the same at dusk when he returned home.

🎈calf 大型动物（尤指牛、象、海豚、鲸鱼等）的幼兽

foal 小马/驴/骡子

piglet小猪

lamb 小羊羔

kid 小山羊（baby goat）；小孩子

fawn小鹿（baby deer）

cub 小熊

kitten /kitty小猫

puppy小狗

chicken 小鸡崽

duckling 小鸭子

gosling小鹅

larva 幼虫

infant婴儿

每日如此，未尝间断。

Every day, he repeated this chore without interruption.

🎈中文中常见「无主语」的句子，但中国人读起来却是一气呵成，并不觉成分缺失。但英文必须进行补充，来构成完整的句子，这句译文中的he便是这个道理。

过了一年，犊已渐大，渐重，差不多变成大牛，但农夫全不觉得，仍是抱了它跳沟。

A year later, the calf had grown bigger and heavier, almost into a cow, yet the farmer, unaware of the increment in its weight, continued the same old routine.

🎈later 与 after 最大的区别应该是：after 可以做连词，引导时间状语从句，而 later 只是个副词。

🎈英语cow本作“母牛”或“奶牛”解， 但常泛指“牛”，不分公母老幼，如cowhide（牛皮）、cowshed（牛棚）、cowboy（牛仔）等。

🎈the same old routine就是指的“抱着牛跳沟”，属于多义表达或者重复表达的替换。

有一天他因事停止工作，次日再就不能抱了这牛而跳沟了。

One day, however, he skipped work, and the very next day he suddenly found that he was unable to carry the cow across the ditch.

🎈翘班skip work

例句

Sam has never skipped work before.

山姆之前从未旷工过。

🎈the very next day中加个very表示特指，就是，正是，等等，有强调的意思

例句

You are the very person i want to find.

你就是我要找的那个人。

所以这里the very next day可以根据上下文解释成：就是在第二天，正好在第二天，就在隔天。

造物的骗人，使人留连于其每日每时的生的欢喜而不觉其变迁与辛苦，就是用这个方法的。

It is in this way that Nature tricks us into wallowing in the joys of life and forgetting its vicissitudes and hardship.

🎈这样，用这种方法in this way

🎈沉溺于wallow in

例句

Mr Trump is not the only politician to wallow in division-just the most powerful and one of the most accomplished.

特朗普并不是唯一沉溺于分裂的政客——只是最有权势最有成就的。

人们每日在抱了日重一日的牛而跳沟，不准停止。

In a way, we all carry an increasingly heavier calf in our arms across a ditch day after day.

🎈在某种程度上in a way 或to some degree / extent或in some measure

在某种意义上in some sense

自己误以为是不变的。其实每日在增加其苦劳！

We wrongly think the cow does not change, yet every day it gains a little weight!

🎈yet可以作连词，如The essay is good, yet it could be improved.，也可以作副词，如It is strange, and yet it is true.

我觉得时辰钟是人生的最好的象征了。

I think the clock is the best symbol of human life.

🎈symbol of … ……的象征、标志

例句

The dove is a symbol of peace.

The lion is the symbol of courage.

时辰钟的针，平常一看总觉得是“不动”的；其实人造物中最常动的无过于时辰钟的针了。

At first glance its hands seem to stand still, but among man-made objects nothing moves more often than them.

🎈man-made a.人造的，人为的

例句

Man-made and natural disasters have disrupted the Government’s economic plans.

天灾人祸打乱了政府的经济计划。

🎈artificial a. 人工的，人造的，假的

假花/假肢/人工智能/人工呼吸

artificial flowers / limbs / intelligence (AI) / respiration

synthetic a.人造的（指用化学方式合成的）

合成纤维/橡胶synthetic fibers / rubber

simulated a.仿制的（源自动词simulate 模仿，模拟）

仿制裘皮/珠宝simulated fur / jewels

false a.人造的，假的

假发/假牙false hair / teeth

fake / counterfeit a.假的 （不合法）

伪钞fake / counterfeit money

forged a.伪造的

伪造的签名a forged signature

pirated a.盗版的

盗版光盘/书刊/软件 pirated CDs / books / software

日常生活中的人生也如此，刻刻觉得我是我，似乎这“我”永远不变，实则与时辰钟的针一样的无常！

The same is true of humans. We tend to think that we are immutable and undergo no change, but in reality we are subject to changes all the time, just like the clock.

🎈往往，常常，倾向于tend to do

要与intend to do（打算/计划做）区分开

be inclined to do

have the tendency to do

be apt / prone to do

🎈be subject to …

①必须服从或支付

例句

As a diplomat, he is not subject to local laws.

作为一名外交官，他不是必须遵守当地的法律吧。（外交豁免权）

②常有、常患或常遭某事物

例句

The timetable is subject to alteration.

时刻表常常会有变动。

③需要某事物（为先决条件），取决于…

例句

The plan is subject to the director’s approval.

这项计划需要主任的批准。

一息尚存，总觉得我仍是我，我没有变，还是留连着我的生，可怜受尽“渐”的欺骗！

As long as we have one last breath left in our bodies, we always think that we have not changed at all and will avidly cling to the wretched life. It’s sad.

🎈「留连着我的生」和前文「贪恋生的欢喜」一个意思。

🎈It’s sad的sad指「令人悲哀的」

“渐”的本质是“时间”。

Gradual advances are, in essence, a matter of time.

🎈插入语in essence也可直接替换为essentially。

时间我觉得比空间更为不可思议，犹之时间艺术的音乐比空间艺术的绘画更为神秘。

To me, time is even more difficult to grasp than the concept of space. Indeed, the art of time in music is more mysterious than the art of space in painting.

🎈still、far、even等可以修饰比较级，意为「更加」

例句

Tom’s handwriting is far better than yours.

汤姆的字比你的好得多。

It is still colder today than yesterday.

今天比昨天还冷。

🎈更为不可思议→更难理解/更难以琢磨difficult to grasp

因为空间姑且不追究它如何广大或无限，我们总可以把握其一端，认定其一点。

No matter how huge or infinite a space is, we can always hold one corner of it.

🎈“把握其一端”和“认定其一点”是一个意思，中文中常用重复来起到强调等等作用，但英文表达很多情况下都不会对同一个意思赘述，推荐阅读《中式英语之鉴》

时间则全然无从把握，不可挽留，只有过去与未来在渺茫之中不绝地相追逐而已。

Yet time is completely different. It is beyond our grasp, and we can never stop its passage. We can only watch helplessly as the past chases the future into the void.

🎈Yet time is completely different（全然不同）也可替换为Yet time is quite another matter(另一回事)

性质上既已渺茫不可思议，分量上在人生也似乎太多。

Time is in essence vague and inconceivable, and too much of it seems to be rationed to each individual.

🎈ration的近义词：allocate, allot, allow, apportion, assign, distribute, lot

因为一般人对时间的悟性，似乎只够支配搭船乘车的短时间，对于百年的长时间的寿命，他们不能胜任，往往迷于局部而不能顾及全体。

Ordinary people know time only in regard to a bus or a boat journey; they are unable to get a grip on the whole of life, such as a lifetime of one hundred years, because they can’t see the wood for the trees.

🎈一般人 ordinary people

🎈关于，至于 in/with regard to

例句

The company’s position with regard to overtime is made clear in their contracts.

公司关于加班的立场在合同中有明确说明。

🎈只见树木，不见森林；目光短浅can’t see the wood for the trees

（21年上半年的二口中出现过这个词组）

试看乘火车的旅客中，常有明达的人，有的宁牺牲暂时的安乐而让其座位与老弱者，以求心的太平（或博暂时的美誉）；

On the train, for example, there are always sensible passengers who choose to offer their own seats to the elderly or to the sickly at the sacrifice of their own comfort, either for their own peace of mind or for a momentary recognition.

🎈offer和provide的区别是offer含「主动提供」之意，provide仅指「提供」

主动做某事offer to do sth.

例句

You could offer to do an act.

你可以自告奋勇去表演。

有的见众人争先下车，而退在后面，或高呼“勿要轧，总有得下去的！”“大家都要下去的！”

There are people who, when seeing passengers falling all over themselves to scramble off the train, would stand back to make way for them or shout, “Don’t push! Everyone can get off!”

🎈煞费苦心，竭尽全力，急切地 fall all over oneself (to do sth.)

🎈scramble指慌忙前往（move to a place or position in a hurried, awkward way），贴合车上众人推搡的场面。

然而在乘“社会”或“世界”的大火车的长期的旅客中，就少有这样的明达之人。

However, on our long journey of life aboard this huge “social” or “global” train, people with good common sense are hard to find.

🎈「明达的」是第二次出现了，此处译作了with good common sense（有良好的常识），常识即指「别挤，大家都要下去的」，乍一看，明达并不等同于有良好常识，但细想，却发现译文的处理在文中的语境下非常有趣，颇具反讽效果。

所以我觉得百年的寿命，定得太长。

So I think a lifetime of one hundred years is in principle too long.

🎈原则上，理论上in principle

例句

In principle there is nothing that a human can do that a machine might not be able to do one day.

原则上，总会有一天，凡是人能做的事，机器就能做。

像现在的世界上的人，倘定他们搭船乘车的期间的寿命，也许在人类社会上可减少许多凶险残惨的争斗，而与火车中一样的谦让，和平，也未可知。

Imagine if it was our fate to have a life as short as a train ride. Society might witness far less ruthlessness, and we might become as respectful and courteous as the riders on a train.

🎈as short as a train ride是life的后置定语，按a life (that is) as short as a train ride理解也可以。

🎈在翻译类似xx时间/xx地点（发生了什么事）就可套用这种表达，译作：时间/地点+witness/see等……

传统产业加快升级

Traditional industrials saw faster upgrading

然人类中也有几个能胜任百岁的或千古的寿命的人。那是“大人格”，“大人生”。

In the history of mankind, only a very few have managed to live life to its fullest. This takes greatness to achieve.

🎈设法、努力（完成某事）manage to do sth

例句

我那勇敢的白蝴蝶呀！它试了几次，终于一跃而起，展翅飞翔。

O my courageous white butterfly! After trying several times, it finally managed to rise abruptly to its feet and spread its wings to fly.

🎈尽情地、充分地 to its/the fullest

他们能不为“渐”所迷，不为造物所欺，而收缩无限的时间并空间于方寸的心中。故佛家能纳须弥于芥子。

These people were not deceived by the slow advances of time or misled by Nature. Instead, they grabbed hold of infinite time and space and made a place for it in their hearts. In this way, a Buddhist can see a pagoda in a mustard seed.

🎈抓住，握住catch/ get/ grab/take (a) hold of sb./sth.

例句

Lee got hold of the dog by its collar.

李拉住了狗的项圈。

🎈纳须弥于芥子：佛门和世俗社会是相通的，就像芥子和须弥山可以互相包容一样。芥为蔬菜，子如粟粒，佛家以“芥子”比喻极为微小。须弥山原为印度神话中的山名，后为佛教所用，指帝释天、四大天王等居所，其高八万四千由旬，佛家以“须弥山”比喻极为巨大。

中国古诗人（白居易）说：“蜗牛角上争何事？石火光中寄此身。”

Bai Juyi, the famed poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote, “For what matters do we fight, on the horns of a snail? We live our life in a flash struck off a stone.”

🎈“蜗牛角上争何事？石火光中寄此身”出自唐代白居易的《对酒》，大意是说，人活在世界上，就好像局促在那小小的蜗牛角上，空间是那样的狭窄，还有什么好争的呢？人生短暂，就像石头相撞的那一瞬间所发出的一点火光，人生就这样过去了。

英国诗人（Blake )也说：“一粒沙里见世界，一朵花里见天国；手掌里盛住无限，一刹那便是永劫。”

William Blake, the well-known British poet, challenged readers “To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower; hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour.”

🎈威廉·布莱克（William Blake），英国第一位重要的浪漫主义诗人、版画家，英国文学史上最重要的伟大诗人之一，虔诚的基督教徒。主要诗作有诗集《纯真之歌》《经验之歌》等。早期作品简洁明快，中后期作品趋向玄妙深沉，充满神秘色彩。他一生中与妻子相依为命，以绘画和雕版的劳酬过着简单平静的创作生活。后来诗人叶芝等人重编了他的诗集，人们才惊讶于他的虔诚与深刻。接着是他的书信和笔记的陆续发表，他的神启式的伟大画作也逐渐被世人所认知，于是诗人与画家布莱克在艺术界的崇高地位从此确立无疑。

🎈强烈建议某人做某事 challenge sb to (do) sth.

例句

Mike challenged me to a game of chess.

迈克硬逼着要和我下一盘棋。

🎈这句和“一花一世界，一叶一菩提”表达的意思是相同的。

🔥重点表达

违反自然的，有违天性的against nature

回归自然，返璞归真 go/get back to nature

黄金时段 prime time

黄金时间的电视节目 prime-time television

发生 come about

斜坡 a sloping path

一步一步地 step by step

一年一年地/每年/年复一年 year by/after year

一天天/逐日 day by/after day

消失，悄悄溜走 slip away

事实上；其实；说真的 as a matter of fact

顺从，妥协，将就 reconcile oneself to sth.

被压垮；应接不暇be overwhelmed

（力量、重要性等）兴衰枯荣，盛衰wax and wane

符合，与…相一致coincide with

变为；进入 turn into

被…代替/取代give way to …

反之亦然vice versa

…也是如此、…同样适用于…the same is true of…

除夕New Year’s Eve

…成为必要 necessitate sth.

自然法则 the laws of Nature

骗人做某事 trick sb. into (doing) sth.

发生 take place

翘班skip work

这样，用这种方法in this way

沉溺于wallow in

在某种程度上in a way 或to some degree / extent或in some measure

在某种意义上in some sense

……的象征、标志symbol of …

往往，常常，倾向于tend to do

一般人 ordinary people

关于，至于 in/with regard to

原则上，理论上in principle

设法、努力（完成某事）manage to do sth

抓住，握住catch/ get/ grab/take (a) hold of sb./sth.

强烈建议某人做某事 challenge sb to (do) sth.

未经允许不得转载：帕布莉卡 » 丰子恺《渐》 -英语翻译教程-中英双语赏析