自考高级英语课文逐句翻译十三

　　工 作

　　Lesson Thirteen Work

　　究竟工作是幸福还是痛苦的源泉，这可能是一个难以回答的问题。

　　Whether work should be placed among the causes of happiness or among the causes of unhappiness may perhaps be regarded as a doubtful question.

　　毫无疑问有许多工作是非常令人厌烦的，而且过多的工作总是十分痛苦的事。

　　There is certainly much work which is exceedingly irksome， and an excess of work is always very painful.

　　然而我认为，只要不过量，对多数人来说即使是最枯燥的工作也比终日无所事事要好些。

　　I think， however， that， provided work is not excessive in amount， even the dullest work is to most people less painful than idleness.

　　工作给人的愉快的程度多种多样，从仅仅是消烦解闷到产生巨大的快乐，这会随工作的性质和工作者的能力而异。

　　There are in work all grades， from mere relief of tedium up to the profoundest delights， according to the nature of the work and the abilities of the worker.

　　大多数人不得不从事的工作本身大都无乐趣可言，但即使是这样的工作也有一些很大的好处。

　　Most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting， but even such work has certain great advantages.

　　首先，工作可将一天的许多时间占满，人们不必再费神来决定应干些什么，大多数人在可以自由地按自己的愿望打发时间时，常常会不知所措，想不起有什么令人愉快的事值得去做。

　　To begin with， it fills a good many hours of the day without the need of deciding what one shall do. Most people， when they are left free to fill their own time according to their own choice， are at a loss to think of anything sufficiently pleasant to be worth doing.

　　而他们的决定又总是受到干扰，觉得干别的什么事也许会更令人愉快。

　　And whatever they decide on， they are troubled by the feeling that something else would have been pleasanter.

　　能够有意义地利用闲暇时间是文明发展到最高阶段的结果，而目前很少有人能达到这一层次。

　　To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization， and at present very few people have reached this level.

　　何况作出选择本身就是件令人厌烦的事。

　　Moreover the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome.

　　除了那些具有非凡主动性的人，其他的人肯定有人乐于被告诉一天中的每时每刻该做什么，当然命令他们做的事不能太令人厌烦。

　　Except to people with unusual initiative it is positively agreeable to be told what to do at each hour of the day， provided the orders are not too unpleasant.

　　多数无所事事的阔佬免遭从事单调乏味工作之苦，但代价是莫名其妙的无聊。

　　Most of the idle rich suffer unspeakable boredom as the price of their freedom from drudgery.

　　有时他们去非洲猎取巨兽或环绕世界飞行来解闷，但这类刺激的数量有限，尤其到了中年以后更是如此。

　　At times they may find relief by hunting big game in Africa， or by flying round the world， but the number of such sensations is limited， especially after youth is past.

　　因此较为明智的阔佬们工作起来几乎像穷人一样卖力，而有钱的女人则大多忙于她们自以为具有震撼世界般重要性的无数琐事。

　　Accordingly the more intelligent rich men work nearly as hard as if they were poor， while rich women for the most part keep themselves busy with innumerable trifles of whose earthshaking importance they are firmly persuaded.

　　因此人们愿意工作，首先因为工作可防止产生无聊感。比起终日无所事事而造成的无聊来，人们在干着虽必要但缺乏兴趣的工作时所感到的枯燥无聊就不值一提了。

　　Work therefore is desirable， first and foremost， as a preventive of boredom， for the boredom that a man feels when he is doing necessary though uninteresting work is as nothing in comparison with the boredom that he feels when he has nothing to do with his days.

　　与工作的这一好处相关的还有一个好处，那就是假日到来会令人感到更加美妙。只要一个人的工作不至于累得他体力不支，那么他就会从他的闲暇时间里得到无所事事的人绝对得不到的极大乐趣。

　　With this advantage of work another is associated， namely that it makes holidays much more delicious when they come. Provided a man does not have to work so hard as to impair his vigor， he is likely to find far more zest in his free time than an idle man could possibly find.

　　多数有报酬的工作和某些没有报酬的工作还有第二个好处，那就是它们提供了成功的机会和实现抱负的可能。

　　The second advantage of most paid work and of some unpaid work is that it gives chances of success and opportunities for ambition.

　　在多数工作中，收入的多少是衡量成功与否的标准，当我们这个资本主义社会继续存在时，这是不可避免的。

　　In most work success is measured by income and while our capitalistic society continues， this is inevitable.

　　只有在工作最好的情况下收入才不再被用作当然的衡量标准。

　　It is only where the best work is concerned that this measure ceases to be the natural one to apply.

　　人们想增加收入当然是出自钱多了可以获得更多的舒适享受这一愿望，但同样也出自想获得成功的愿望。

　　The desire that men feel to increase their income is quite as much a desire for success as for the extra comforts that a higher income can procure.

　　无论工作多么枯燥单调，如果它是能够使人逐渐成名的手段，无论是在世界上出名还是就在自己的圈子里出名，那么这工作就不再难以忍受了。

　　However dull work may be， it becomes bearable if it is a means of building up a reputation， whether in the world at large or only in one's own circle.

　　归根结底，幸福的最重要的因素之一是有始终如一的目的。而对多数人来说这样的目的主要来自他们的工作。

　　Continuity of purpose is one of the most essential ingredients of happiness in the long run， and for most men this comes chiefly through their work.

　　在这一点上，终日从事家务的妇女便远不如男子幸运，也没有走出家庭参加工作的妇女幸运。

　　In this respect those women whose lives are occupied with housework are much less fortunate than men， or than women who work outside the home.

　　家庭妇女没有工资，无法改善自己的状况，她所干的一切在她的丈夫看来都是理所当然的（她的丈夫对此几乎是熟视无睹），丈夫欣赏的不是她干的家务活，而是她的其他品质。

　　The domesticated wife does not receive wages， has no means of bettering herself， is taken for granted by her hu and （who sees practically nothing of what she does）， and is valued by him not for her housework but for quite other qualities.

　　当然对那些有足够的钱可以把住宅和花园搞得十分漂亮而成为邻居们的羡慕对象的女人来说，情况就不一样，但这样的女人相对来说数量较少，对于大多数妇女，家务带给她们的满足远不如其他工作带给男子或职业妇女的满足。

　　Of course this does not apply to those women who are sufficiently well-to-do to make beautiful houses and beautiful gardens and become the envy of their neighbors； but such women are comparatively few， and for the great majority housework cannot bring as much satisfaction as work of other kinds brings to men and to professional women.

　　多数工作都能使人满意地消磨掉时间，而且给人们实现抱负提供某种令人满意的途径，虽然这途径不起眼。一般说来这种满足足以使一个即使工作枯燥无味的人也比无事可做的人感到快乐。但如果从事的是有趣的工作，就能给人带来比仅仅是解闷高级得多的满足。

　　The satisfaction of killing time and of affording some outlet， however modest， for ambition， belongs to most work， and is sufficient to make even a man whose work is dull happier on the average than a man who has no work at all. But when work is interesting， it is capable of giving satisfaction of a far higher order than mere relief from tedium.

　　有兴趣的工作可以按其包含乐趣的大小顺序排列，我先谈小有乐趣的工作，最后谈那些值得伟大人物投入全部精力的工作。

　　The kinds of work in which there is some interest may he arranged in a hierarchy. I shall begin with those which are only mildly interesting and end with those that are worthy to absorb the whole energies of a great man.

　　两个使工作有趣的主要因素，一是需要运用技巧，二是有建设性。

　　Two chief elements make work interesting： first， the exercise of skill， and second， construction.

　　凡是掌握了不同寻常的技巧的人都喜欢运用这种技巧，直至他感到太平常或他再也不能提高时为止。

　　Every man who has acquired some unusual skill enjoys exercising it until it has become a matter of course， or until he can no longer improve himself.

　　这种想要自我表现的动机从幼儿时代就开始了：一个能倒立的男孩总是不想用脚站立。

　　This motive to activity begins in early childhood： a boy who can stand on his head becomes reluctant to stand on his feet.

　　许多工作同靠技艺取胜的游戏一样给人以快乐。

　　A great deal of work gives the same pleasure that is to be derived from games of skill.

　　律师或政治家的工作一定更愉快而且包含着许多和打桥牌同样的快乐。

　　The work of a lawyer or a politician must contain in a more delectable form a great deal of the same pleasure that is to be derived from playing bridge.

　　当然这里不仅运用了技巧，而且还在智力较量上胜过了一个本领高超的对手。

　　Here of course there is not only the exercise of skill but the outwitting of a skilled opponent.

　　即使在不存在竞争因素的情况下，表演高难的绝技也是件令人惬意的事情。

　　Even where this competitive element is absent， however， the performance of difficult feats is agreeable.

　　能驾驶飞机进行特技飞行的人会从中获得极大的快乐，以至为此甘愿冒生命危险。

　　A man who can do stunts in an aero——plane finds the pleasure so great that for the sake of it he is willing to risk his life.

　　我想像尽管一个能干的外科医生工作时处在令人痛苦的气氛中，他还是能从精湛的手术中得到满足。

　　I imagine that an able surgeon， in spite of the painful circumstances in which his work is done， derives satisfaction from the exquisite precision of his operations.

　　从大量层次较低的工作中也能得到同样的，只是在程度上没有那么强烈的快乐。

　　The same kind of pleasure， though in a less intense form， is to be derived from a great deal of work of a humbler kind.

　　只要工作中需要的技巧不是一成不变的，或存在着不断提高的余地，那么一切需要熟练技巧的工作都会是令人愉快的。

　　All skilled work can be pleasurable， provided the skill required is either variable or capable of indefinite improvement.

　　但如不具备上述两个条件，在人们掌握的技巧达到顶峰以后，这种工作便不再有兴趣了。

　　If these conditions are absent， it will cease to be interesting when a man has acquired his maximum skill.

　　一个从事3英里长跑的运动员到了不能再打破自己纪录的年龄以后，就不会再从这个职业中获得乐趣。

　　A man who runs three-mile races will cease to find pleasure in this occupation when he passes the age at which he can beat his own previous record.

　　幸而有相当数量的工作随新的情况出现而需要新的技巧，人们可以不断提高自己的技巧，至少可以一直继续到中年以后。

　　Fortunately there is a very considerable amount of work in which new circumstances call for new skill and a man can go on improving， at any rate until he has reached middle age.

　　从事某些技巧性工作的人，比如从政的人，似乎在60岁到70岁之间才达到颠峰状态，原因是在这些职业中，丰富的阅历至关重要。

　　In some kinds of skilled work， such as politics， for example， it seems that men are at their best between sixty and seventy， the reason being that in such occupations a wide experience of other men is essential.

　　因此有成就的政治家在70岁时往往会比其他同龄人幸福。

　　For this reason successful politicians are apt to be happier at the age of seventy than any other men of equal age.

　　在这一点上惟一能与他们相比的是大公司的首脑人物。

　　Their only competitors in this respect are the men who are the heads of big businesses.

　　然而最好的工作还具有另一因素，作为幸福的源泉它比运用技巧更为重要，这便是建设性。

　　There is， however， another element possessed by the best work， which is even more important as a source of happiness than is the exercise of skill. This is the element of constructiveness.

　　有些工作在完成后，结果会像纪念碑一样存在下去，尽管并非多数工作都能如此。

　　In some work， though by no means in most， something is built up which remains as a monument when the work is completed.

　　我们可以用下列标准区分是建设还是破坏。

　　We may distinguish construction from destruction by the following criterion.

　　如果是建设，则初始阶段事物较为缺少章法，而到最后阶段则体现出某个目标来；如为破坏，则正好相反，初始阶段体现出某个目标，而最后阶段则是缺少章法，也就是说，破坏者惟一的目的是制造出一个不具备某一目标的状态来。

　　In construction the initial state of affairs is comparatively haphazard， while the final stale of affairs embodies a purpose. In destruction the reverse is the case； the initial stale of affairs embodies a purpose， while the final state of affairs is haphazard， that is to say， all that is intended by the destroyer is to produce a state of affairs which does not embody a certain purpose.

　　适用这一标准的最具体最明显的一个例子，就是建造和拆除房屋。

　　This criterion applies in the most literal and obvious case， namely the construction and destruction of buildings.

　　在建造房屋时，预先制定好的方案得到实施，而在拆除房屋时没有人明确规定拆毁后残砖烂瓦应如何处置。

　　In constructing a building a previously made plan is carried out， whereas in destroying it no one decides exactly how the materials are to lie when the demolition is completed.

　　当然破坏常常是随之而来的建设的必要前提，在这种情况下它便成了整个建设的一部分。

　　Destruction is of course necessary very often as a preliminary to subsequent construction， in that case it is part of a whole which is constructive.

　　但有时一个人从事的活动旨在破坏而不是考虑此后可能进行的建设活动，他常常会标榜自己是为了重新建设而扫平一切，但一般说来如果这是个借口，只要问他随后的建设是什么样就会揭穿他。人们会发现在这一问题上他会含糊其词，毫无热情，但对于作为准备工作的破坏他却津津乐道，谈得十分具体。

　　But not infrequently a man will engage in activities of which the purpose is destructive without regard to any construction that may come after. Frequently he will conceal this from himself by the belief that he is only sweeping sway in order to build afresh， but it is generally possible to unmask this pretense， when it is a pretense， by asking him what the subsequent construction is to he. On this subject it will be found that he will speak vaguely and without enthusiasm， whereas on the preliminary destruction he has spoken precisely and with zest.

　　不少的革命者、尚武分子及其他暴力的信徒们就是如此。

　　This applies to not a few revolutionaries and militarists and other apostles of violence.

　　他们为仇恨所驱使，但自己往往还没意识到这一点……他们的真正目的是毁灭他们所仇恨的事物，相对来说对随后应做什么的问题并不关心。

　　They are actuated， usually without their own knowledge， by hatred： the destruction of what they hate is their real purpose， and they are comparatively indifferent to the question what is to come after it.

　　我无法否认从事破坏性工作和从事建设性工作一样也可能有快乐。

　　Now I cannot deny that in the work of destruction as in the work of construction there may be joy.

　　这是一种更为狂暴的快乐，也许有时更为强烈，但却不能给人以那种更深的满足，因为从它的结果中几乎找不到什么满足。

　　It is a fiercer joy， perhaps at moments more intense， but it is less profoundly satisfying， since the result is one in which little satisfaction is to be found.

　　你杀死了敌人，他死了你的职业就不存在了，你从胜利中得来的满足很快就消失了。

　　You kill your enemy， and when he is dead your occupation is gone， and the satisfaction that you derive from victory quickly fades.

　　从另一方面来说，建设性的工作在完成后一回想起来就令人愉快，而且这种永远也不会做到再也无事可做的地步。

　　The work of construction， on the other hand， when completed， is delightful to contemplate， and moreover is never so fully completed that there is nothing further to do about it.

　　最令人满意的目标是那些能永远从一个成功通向另一个成功而从不会走进死胡同的目标，在这个方面人们会发现建设比破坏更能带给人幸福。

　　The most satisfactory purposes are those that lead on indefinitely from one success to another without ever coming to a dead end； and in this respect it will be found that construction is a greater source of happiness than destruction.

　　也许更准确的说法应该是，在建设中寻求满足的人得到的满足要比热衷破坏建设的人从破坏中得到的满足更大，因为你一旦变得满腔仇恨，就很难从建设中得到别的人从中得到的乐趣。

　　Perhaps it would be more correct to say that those who find satisfaction in construction find in it greater satisfaction than the lovers of destruction can find in destruction， for if once you have become filled with hate you will not easily derive from construction the pleasure which another man would derive from it.
 

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