第二届英语世界杯翻译大赛原文

第一篇：第二届英语世界杯翻译大赛原文

His First Day as Quarry-Boy

By Hugh Miller(1802～1856)

It was twenty years last February since I set out, a little before sunrise, to make my first acquaintance with a life of labour and restraint;and I have rarely had a heavier heart than on that morning.I was but a slim, loose-jointed boy at the time, fond of the pretty intangibilities of romance, and of dreaming when broad awake;and, woful change!I was now going to work at what Burns has instanced, in his ‘Twa Dogs’, as one of the most disagreeable of all employments,—to work in a quarry.Bating the passing uneasinesses occasioned by a few gloomy anticipations, the portion of my life which had already gone by had been happy beyond the common lot.I had been a wanderer among rocks and woods, a reader of curious books when I could get them, a gleaner of old traditionary stories;and now I was going to exchange all my day-dreams, and all my amusements, for the kind of life in which men toil every day that they may be enabled to eat, and eat every day that they may be enabled to toil!The quarry in which I wrought lay on the southern shore of a noble inland bay, or frith rather, with a little clear stream on the one side, and a thick fir wood on the other.It had been opened in the Old Red Sandstone of the district, and was overtopped by a huge bank of diluvial clay, which rose over it in some places to the height of nearly thirty feet, and which at this time was rent and shivered, wherever it presented an open front to the weather, by a recent frost.A heap of loose fragments, which had fallen from above, blocked up the face of the quarry and my first employment was to clear them away.The friction of the shovel soon blistered my hands, but the pain was by no means very severe, and I wrought hard and willingly, that I might see how the huge strata below, which presented so firm and unbroken a frontage, were to be torn up and removed.Picks, and wedges, and levers, were applied by my brother-workmen;and, simple and rude as I had been accustomed to regard these implements, I found I had much to learn in the way of using them.They all proved inefficient, however, and the workmen had to bore into one of the inferior strata, and employ gunpowder.The process was new to me, and I deemed it a highly amusing one: it had the merit, too, of being attended with some such degree of danger as a boating or rock excursion, and had thus an interest independent of its novelty.We had a few capital shots: the fragments flew in every direction;and an immense mass of the diluvium came toppling down, bearing with it two dead birds, that in a recent storm had crept into one of the deeper fissures, to die in the shelter.I felt a new interest in examining them.The one was a pretty cock goldfinch, with its hood of vermilion and its wings inlaid with the gold to which it owes its name, as unsoiled and smooth as if it had been preserved for a museum.The other, a somewhat rarer bird, of the woodpecker tribe, was variegated with light blue and a grayish yellow.I was engaged in admiring the poor little things, more disposed to be sentimental, perhaps, than if I had been ten years older, and thinking of the contrast between the warmth and jollity of their green summer haunts, and the cold and darkness of their last retreat, when I heard our employer bidding the workmen lay by their tools.I looked up and saw the sun sinking behind the thick fir wood beside us, and the long dark shadows of the trees stretching downward towards the shore.—Old Red Sandstone

（文章选自THE OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH PROSE, 658-660, Oxford University Press, London, first published 1925，reprinted 1958.）

第二篇：第六届“英语世界杯”翻译大赛原文、译文及评析

第六届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛原文

A Garden That Welcomes Strangers

By Allen Lacy

I do not know what became of her, and I never learned her name.But I feel that I knew her from the garden she had so lovingly made over many decades.The house she lived in lies two miles from mine – a simple, two-story structure with the boxy plan, steeply-pitched roof and unadorned lines that are typical of houses built in the middle of the nineteenth century near the New Jersey shore.Her garden was equally simple.She was not a conventional gardener who did everything by the book, following the common advice to vary her plantings so there would be something in bloom from the first crocus in the spring to the last chrysanthemum in the fall.She had no respect for the rule that says that tall-growing plants belong at the rear of a perennial border, low ones in the front and middle-sized ones in the middle, with occasional exceptions for dramatic accent.In her garden, everything was accent, everything was tall, and the evidence was plain that she loved three kinds of plant and three only: roses, clematis and lilies, intermingled promiscuously to pleasant effect but no apparent design.She grew a dozen sorts of clematis, perhaps 50 plants in all, trained and tied so that they clambered up metal rods, each rod crowned intermittently throughout the summer by a rounded profusion of large blossoms of dark purple, rich crimson, pale lavender, light blue and gleaming white.Her taste in roses was old-fashioned.There wasn’t a single modern hybrid tea rose or floribunda in sight.Instead, she favored the roses of other ages – the York and Lancaster rose, the cabbage rose, the damask and the rugosa rose in several varieties.She propagated her roses herself from cuttings stuck directly in the ground and protected by upended gallon jugs.Lilies, I believe were her greatest love.Except for some Madonna lilies it is impossible to name them, since the wooden flats stood casually here and there in the flower bed, all thickly planted with dark green lily seedlings.The occasional paper tag fluttering from a seed pod with the date and record of a cross showed that she was an amateur hybridizer with some special fondness for lilies of a warm muskmelon shade or a pale lemon yellow.She believed in sharing her garden.By her curb there was a sign: “This is my garden, and you are welcome here.Take whatever you wish with your eyes, but nothing with your hand.”

Until five years ago, her garden was always immaculately tended, the lawn kept fertilized and mowed, the flower bed free of weeds, the tall lilies carefully staked.But then something happened.I don’t know what it was, but the lawn was mowed less frequently, then not at all.Tall grass invaded the roses, the clematis, the lilies.The elm tree in her front yard sickened and died, and when a coastal gale struck, the branches that fell were never removed.With every year, the neglect has grown worse.Wild honeysuckle and bittersweet run rampant in the garden.Sumac, ailanthus, poison ivy and other uninvited things threaten the few lilies and clematis and roses that still struggle for survival.Last year the house itself went dead.The front door was padlocked and the windows covered with sheets of plywood.For many months there has been a for sale sign out front, replacing the sign inviting strangers to share her garden.I drive by that house almost daily and have been tempted to load a shovel in my car trunk, stop at her curb and rescue a few lilies from the smothering thicket of weeds.The laws of trespass and the fact that her house sits across the street from a police station have given me the cowardice to resist temptation.But her garden has reminded me of mortality;gardeners and the gardens they make are fragile things, creatures of time, hostages to chance and to decay.Last week, the for sale sign out front came down and the windows were unboarded.A crew of painters arrived and someone cut down the dead elm tree.This morning there was a moving van in the driveway unloading a swing set, a barbecue grill, a grand piano and a houseful of sensible furniture.A young family is moving into that house.I hope that among their number is a gardener whose special fondness for old roses and clematis and lilies will see to it that all else is put aside until that flower bed is restored to something of its former self.(选自 Patterns: A Short Prose Reader, by Mary Lou Conlin, published by Houghton Mifflin Company, 1983.)

参考译文

一座向陌生人敞开的花园

文/〔美〕艾伦·莱西

译/曹明伦

我并不知晓她当时的境遇，也从未听说过她的姓名，但我觉得我曾了解她，因为她精心照料过数十年的那座花园。

她住过的房子离我家有两英里地。那是幢两层小楼，造型简约，结构方正，屋顶陡斜，轮廓线都未经装饰，是19世纪中期新泽西海岸附近典型的住宅式样。

那座花园也同样简约。她种花从不墨守成规，不会凡事都照搬书本，按书上的建议去换种时令花卉，以期园中常有花开，从早春第一朵番红花到晚秋最后一枝黄菊。她对某条园艺规则也漠然置之，任其去说高植株花卉应种在带状花坛的后排，矮植株的种在前排，而不高不矮的则种在中间，除非偶尔想营造出引人注

在她的花园里，所有的花都有特色，所有的花植株都高；而且不难看出，她喜欢三个类属的花，并且只喜欢那三类：玫瑰、百合、铁线莲。三类花混栽间种，令人悦目赏心，但却不显刻意规划的痕迹。

她栽培了十余种铁线莲，总共大概有五十株。她修剪其枝条，绑缚其茎蔓，使其植株沿金属杆攀缘；在整个夏季，金属杆顶部会陆陆续续戴上硕大的花冠，绀青、殷红、堇紫、浅蓝、莹白，五彩缤纷，花团锦簇。

她对玫瑰有一种恋旧的偏好。花坛中看不见一株时兴的杂交香水玫瑰或丰花玫瑰。与之相反，她钟爱旧时流行的品种——红白玫瑰、包心玫瑰、大马士革玫瑰，以及数种东亚皱瓣玫瑰。她自己繁殖新株，把削下的扦条直接插入土中，罩上倒扣的加仑罐加以保护。

我想百合花是她的最爱。除了一些圣母百合，旁人很难叫出其他品种的名字，因为花坛中到处都随意摆放着木制育苗箱，箱里都密密匝匝地种着墨绿色的百合幼苗。幼苗下偶有纸标签飘动，标签上写有栽种日期和杂交纪录，这说明她是个业余的杂交品种培育者，尤其爱培育像香瓜那种暖黄色调或像柠檬那种淡黄色调的百合。

她认为其花园应该与人共享。她家围栏边曾立有一块标牌：“房主花园，欢迎观赏。请尽饱眼福，但切莫动手。”

直到五年前，那花园还一直被照料得无可挑剔，草坪按时施肥，定期修剪，花坛里没有一根杂草，高植株的百合都被小心地系在支撑桩上。可后来发生了变故。我不知当时究竟出了何事，只见修剪草坪的次数日渐稀疏，后来竟完全无人修剪。芃芃丰草侵入花坛，挤入百合、玫瑰和铁线莲之间。前院那棵榆树萎蔫并枯死，被海风刮落的枯枝也不再有人清除。

年复一年，花园愈发荒废。野生忍冬和南蛇藤在园中滋蔓。漆树、臭椿、毒葛和其他杂树野藤也不请自入，威胁着少许尚在挣扎求生的百合、玫瑰和铁线莲。

到了去年，那幢房子也人去楼空。前门被紧锁，窗户被胶合板封闭。其后几个月，房前一直竖着块“此房待售”的告示牌，就竖在原来立“邀客赏花”标牌的那个位置。

我几乎每天都要驱车经过那幢房子，而且一直都很想在后备箱里带把锹，把车停在花园边，去拯救几株正被蓬蓬荒草窒息的百合。可禁闯私宅的法律条款，加之那房子街对面就是警察局这一事实，使我心生畏怯，从而抑制了这种诱惑。然而，她那座花园总让我想到物盛必衰，想到种花人及其营造的花园都像春草秋花，乃时间之造物，由时运摆弄，易衰朽飘零。

上个星期，那块出售房子的告示牌被撤掉了，封闭窗户的胶合板被揭开了。几名油漆工来刷那幢房子，那颗枯死的榆树也被砍倒。今天上午，一辆搬家卡车停在屋前车道上，有人从车上卸下一副秋千、一个烧烤架、一台三角钢琴，还有一整套实用的家具。一对年轻夫妻正带着孩子搬进那幢房子。

我希望那家人中有个园丁，一个钟爱百合花、铁线莲和老品种玫瑰的种花人，其爱花之心能确保其他事都暂被撇在一边，先让那一溜花坛多少恢复其旧貌。□ 【译者后记】也许是有感于当年那位不知名的女邻居对陌生人敞开花园，过退休生活的莱西教授在妻子赫拉和一些志愿者的协助下，几年前在他晚年定居的新泽西州大西洋县林伍德镇领头创建了一座占地仅1英亩（6.07亩）的公园——林伍德植物园（Linwood Arboretum）。现任园长的他将其称为“全世界最小的植物园”。

注释：

1.艾伦·莱西（Allen Lacy, 1935-），美国新泽西理查德斯托克顿学院哲学及园艺学荣誉退休教授，撰有哲学著作《乌纳穆诺：生存修辞》（Miguel de Unamuno: The Rhetoric of Existence, 1967），与人合作翻译有西班牙哲学家及作家乌纳穆诺的小说《战争中的和平》（Peace in War, 1983）和《隐秘世界》（The Private World, 1984），曾长期为《纽约时报》和《华尔街日报》的园艺专栏撰稿，著有《后花园：园丁杂记》（Home Ground: A Gardener’s Miscellany, 1984）、《秋日花园》（The Garden in Autumn, 1990）和《绿荫下：小园随笔》（In a Green Shade: Writings from Homeground, 2000）等十余部散文集和园艺著作。

一等奖译文

欢迎陌生人的花园

文/〔美〕艾伦•莱西1

译/姚强

我不清楚她境况如何，也从不知她姓甚名谁。但几十年来她精心呵护的这座花园让我感觉和她已是知交。

她的房子离我家有两英里，是一栋简简单单的两层小楼，外形四四方方，屋顶陡斜2，朴实无华，正是典型的十九世纪中期新泽西海岸附近的建筑风格。

她的花园也同样简单。她并非那种死板的园丁，凡事照搬园艺书，墨守陈规，只求花卉种类繁多，从春天的第一朵番红花到秋天的最后一朵菊花，总有应季的花卉开放。还有人认为在多年生草本花境3中，应让高者居后，矮者居前，不高不低者居于中，若是为了错落有致，引人注目，偶尔也可变换顺序，可她对此却不屑一顾。

在她的园中，所有的花卉都引人注目，所有的花卉都个头高挑。显而易见，她只对三种花情有独钟：玫瑰，铁线莲和百合花。三者虽随意混杂，却颇为赏心悦目，仿佛浑然天成。

她种了十几种铁线莲，共约50余株。这些铁线莲被牵绕在金属栅栏上，攀缘而上。整个夏季，每根栏杆的顶端都会开满大朵的铁线莲，五颜六色，花团锦簇，或暗紫，或深红，或淡紫，或浅蓝，或亮白，不时更替。

她偏爱古典玫瑰。在园内寻不到一株现代的杂交茶香月季或丰花月季，相反，她更青睐古老的玫瑰品种，比如白蕊红玫瑰4，包心玫瑰5，大马士革玫瑰等。她自己动手培育玫瑰花，将花枝剪下，直接插入土中，再把加仑壶倒扣在枝条上加以保护。

而我相信她的最爱其实是百合花。因为花圃中随处可见木质的育苗箱，里面密密地种植着深绿色的百合花幼苗，除了一些圣母百合之外，很难辨认出其余的幼苗是哪些品种。偶尔会有幼苗的种荚上系着纸签，记录着杂交的日期和过程，随风飘动，这说明她还是个业余的杂交育种者，对带有香瓜色暖色调和浅柠檬黄色的百合花情有独钟。

她乐于与他人共享花园。在园外的人行道旁有一块牌子，上面写着：“欢迎光临敝园。美景可尽情观赏，却切勿拈花摘叶。”

五年之前，她的花园还打理的井井有条，草坪肥料充足，平平整整，花圃里没有杂草，高挑的百合花被细心地用木桩支撑。但接下来就发生了变故，我并不了解实情，但草坪没有以往修剪的那么勤快，后来就干脆无人照看了。玫瑰、铁线莲和百合花的领地变得野草丛生。前院的榆树生了病，最终枯死。沿海的飓风袭来时，吹落了一地枯枝，却再也无人清理。年复一年，花园荒废的更加厉害。野生的金银花和南蛇藤在园内肆意生长。漆树，臭椿，毒葛和其它不请自来的植物让所剩无几但还在苦苦求生的百合花，铁线莲和玫瑰的处境变得更加岌岌可危。

到了去年，房子也人去楼空。前门紧锁，窗户也被几块胶合板封住。园外邀请陌生人来游园的牌子不知所踪，取而代之的是“此房出售”的标牌，一直挂了好几个月。

我几乎每天都要驾车经过那座房子，也曾想过要在后备箱里放把铁锨，将车停在她家路边，然后进入花园，救出几株被茂密的野草闷的喘不过来气的百合花。但法律禁止侵入私人住宅，而且她的房子对面恰好是警察局，这让我心生怯意，只得打了退堂鼓。但她的花园让我想到死亡；园丁和他们培育的花园都很脆弱，受着时间的摆布，若是机缘不巧，只好花自飘零人自去。

上周，房前悬挂的售房告示被摘去，窗户上钉的板子也被卸下。来了一群油漆工人，还有人伐倒了枯死的榆树。今天早上，一辆搬家货车停在房前的私人车道上，卸下了一套秋千，一套烧烤架，一架大钢琴，和一大堆实用的家具，足够装满整个屋子。一个年轻的家庭正在迁入这所房子。

我希望这家人中能有位园丁，她对古典玫瑰，铁线莲和百合花情有独钟，可以抛开其它所有琐事，先去整修花圃，直到它重新焕发几分昔日的光彩。

（选自《范文：短文读本》玛丽•卢•康林著，霍顿米夫林出版公司，1983）

注释：

1.艾伦•莱西于1935年生于美国达拉斯，精通园艺，曾先后任《华尔街日报》和《纽约时报》的园艺专栏作家，出版过多部和园艺相关的文集。此外，他还担任过新泽西州斯托克顿学院的哲学教授及荣誉教授。本文后来被教育专家玛丽•卢•康林（Mary Lou Conlin）编入《范文：短文读本》（Patterns: A Short Prose Reader）一书。该书专为指导美国大学低年级学生写作而编写，于1983年由霍顿米夫林（Houghton Mifflin）公司出版。

2.在建筑学中，排水坡度一般大于10%的屋顶叫做斜屋顶或坡屋顶（pitched roof）。其形式和坡度主要取决于建筑平面、结构形式、屋面材料、气候环境、风俗习惯和建筑造型等因素。

3.花境（Flower border）起源于英国古老而传统的私人别墅花园，是模拟自然界中林缘地带各种野生花卉交错生长的状态，以宿根花卉、球根花卉及一二年生花卉为主，栽植在树丛、绿篱、栏杆、绿地边缘、道路两旁及建筑物前，经过艺术提炼而设计成宽窄不一的曲线式或直线式的自然式花带，表现花卉自然散布生长的景观。各种花卉高低错落排列、层次丰富，既表现了植物个体生长的自然美，又展示了植物自然组合的群体美，本文中的花境即由多年生草本植物组成。

4.此花名字源自历史上著名的“玫瑰战争”（War of the Roses，1455年-1485年），是约克家族（House of York）和兰开斯特家族（House of Lancaster）的支持者为了争夺英格兰王位而断续发生的内战。两大家族都是金雀花王朝王室的分支，为英王爱德华三世的后裔。约克家族选择白玫瑰作为族徽，而兰开斯特家族的族徽为红玫瑰。战争最终以兰开斯特家族的亨利七世与约克的伊丽莎白联姻而结束，为了纪念这次战争，英格兰将玫瑰做为国花，并把皇室徽章改为白蕊红玫瑰。

5.因其花型酷似西洋包心菜，故得名包心玫瑰；属于园林玫瑰，为普罗旺斯玫瑰的变种。

理解·转换·调整

——第六届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛参赛译文评析

本届大赛参赛人数又创新高，达到6179人。优秀译文的数量也随之大增，这令组织者和评阅者既感欣慰又抱歉忱，因为有许多优秀译文难入获奖名单。唯愿参赛者都明白一个道理：获奖译文肯定是参赛译文中的优秀译文，但优秀的译文未必都能获奖，正如诺贝尔文学奖获得者必定是伟大作家，但并非伟大的作家都能获得该奖。另外还希望大家明白，获奖固然可喜可贺，但参赛的真正价值还在于通过参赛使自己的翻译能力得到提升。

为大赛提供参考译文，于我已是第6个年头。我每年都是在大赛截稿日之前提交拙译，供初评老师参考并审查，所以从某种意义上说，参考译文也是一份参赛译文。鉴于此，今年的评析就调整一下角度，结合大家的参赛译文来评析参考译文，谈谈我翻译这篇散文时的一些思考，或者说向参赛者汇报参考译文的翻译过程。

有教科书把翻译过程分为两个步骤，即理解和表达【1】，而根据我自己的经验，我认为翻译过程往往还会有第三个步骤，即调整，所以我把翻译过程分为理解、转换、调整三个步骤，多年来上笔译课也主要是用实例讲解如何理解、如何转换、必要时如何调整。三步骤之分应该说符合翻译的实际情况。上世纪末期，由30名美国顶尖学者组成的《新修订版标准译本圣经》（New Revised Standard Version of Holy Bible, 1989）译委会曾提出“尽可能直译，必要时才意译”（as literal as possible, only as free as necessary【2】）这个翻译原则。“尽可能直译”（尽可能直接转换）说明翻译有时可在两个步骤内完成，如参考译文将“I do not know what became of her, and I never learned her name.”直接转换成“我并不知晓她当时的境遇，也从未听说过她的姓名。”。“必要时才意译”（必要时才调整）则说明翻译有时的确需要进入第三个步骤，如参考译文把“A young family is moving into that house.”翻译成“一对年轻夫妻正带着孩子搬进那幢房子。”；而较之原文，参考译文第12段末句之用词和意象均有调整。需要说明的是，对许多有经验的译者来说，理解、转换和调整并非截然分开的三个步骤，有时理解中就包含了转换，而有些调整则是在转换的同时即已完成。

是直接转换还是有所调整，这取决于译者对原文的理解、译者的审美倾向和文章风格，以及译者对译文读者阅读审美习惯的判断。我很可能同许多参赛者一样，也是先从宏观上理解原文，即先把原文从头至尾细读几遍，体会原文的主题要旨，同时会忍不住去了解一下是何人写出如此美文。我这番宏观理解获得的印象是：本届大赛原文是一篇叙事为主、兼抒情怀的散文。作者是一位在哲学和园艺学方面都颇有造诣的资深学者、作家及翻译家。原文朴素而不失清新，优美而不乏深沉，描景状物颇为细腻，视觉形象非常鲜明，起承转合极其自然，抒怀感叹与景交融，使读者似乎也从那座跃然纸上的花园窥见了作者那位不知名的女邻居，并从花园的盛衰和花木的枯荣感悟人生自然。但我此时获得的印象还只是朦朦胧胧的基调，或者说是这篇散文隐隐约约的旋律。要把这篇英语散文变成能与之相对应的中文版，接下来就得为这段旋律“填词”，即从微观上理解原文——深究其遣词造句，细品其文法文风，探悉其精理微言，并考证某些物名之实。对我而言，这番微观理解一方面可明确原文首段那两句话中的主句和从句为何用不同时态，perennial border、rugosa rose和wooden flats到底是何所指等具体问题，另一方面则能使在宏观理解时获得的朦胧基调变得确定，隐约旋律变得清晰，从而知道“优美而不乏深沉”的底蕴从何而来。

以原文第12段末句为例，有人将句中的“...are fragile things, creatures of time, hostages to chance and to decay”直译成“是脆弱之物，时间的傀儡、命运与衰亡的人质”或“是脆而不坚的东西，时间的产物、机会和衰败的抵押品”，也有人将其意译成“都是不堪一击的，是有始有终的生命体，都是要面临兴衰成败的”或“是脆弱的生灵，受着时间的摆布，若是机缘不巧，只好花自飘零人自去”【3】。我认为，这些译者虽理解了原文的字词意义，却没有把握住应和这些字词的韵调。我之所以这样认为，除了我自己对原文本身的理解之外，还因为我知道作者艾伦·莱西不仅是一位园艺家，还是一名哲学教授；他对西班牙哲学家乌纳穆诺颇有研究，深受乌纳穆诺哲学思想的影响。碰巧的是，乌纳穆诺那本《生命的悲剧意识》是我经常翻阅并不时在课堂上提及的一本书，因此我不仅记得“哲学更接近于诗，而不是更接近于科学”【4】这句名言，甚至还能发现该书英文版中有句话与参赛原文第12段末句异曲同工，甚至刚好也用了fragile、creatures、time等字眼（of all creatures...what becomes of Me, of this poor fragile I, this I that is the slave of time and space）【5】。由此可见，乌纳穆诺对莱西教授的影响还体现在语言文字方面，而我早年读《生命的悲剧意识》时，就隐隐觉得书中既有“草木无情，有时飘零”之悲怀，亦有“况修短随化，终期于尽”之豁达，所以我觉得，既然莱西教授像欧阳修和王羲之那样借景抒情，表达对生死无常的感慨，那么这番感叹的中文版也可以效仿几分《秋声赋》和《兰亭序》的韵调，于是便有了参考译文：“然而，她那座花园总让我想到物盛必衰，想到种花人及其营造的花园都像春草秋花，乃时间之造物，由时运摆弄，易衰朽飘零。”

有参赛者把perennial border翻译成“长青植物组成的树篱”或“多年生植物组成的边界”，或者把wooden flats翻译成“木台”“木板”，甚至“扁平的木质物件”。对此评委老师都知其缘由，表面上看，这是因为这些参赛者手边没有堪用的英汉词典，但真令人担忧的原因是，许多青年译者尚未认识到“工欲善其事，必先利其器”之必要性。以我任教的学校为例，尽管我一再告诫学生，仅凭手机查单词学不好翻译，可愿意携词典来上翻译课的学生仍越来越少。其实对上述物名，认真查阅词典通常都能解决问题。拿perennial border来说，欲知其所指，首先得明确border到底指什么，在《韦氏第三版新国际英语大词典》（Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of English Language, 1976）中，border名词词条第3义项的解释是“a strip of planted ground or of plants along or around the edge of a garden”；在《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》（Oxford Advanced Learner’s English-Chinese Dictionary, 7th ed.）中，border名词词条第3义项的释义是“（in a garden花园）a strip of soil which is planted with flowers along the edge of the grass（草坪边等的）狭长花坛”，释义后还指示参见所附彩图第24页；在陆谷孙教授主编的《英汉大词典》中，border名词词条第3义项的释义是“（沿花园、人行道等边缘设置的）狭长花坛，狭长的绿化带”，而且该义项还附有a perennial border这个词条的释义和译例，其释义为“栽种多年生植物的狭长花坛”。由此可见，perennial border中的border既非“树篱”，亦非“边界”，而是“狭长的花坛（花床、花台）”。若进一步查阅包括Home Garden Journal【6】在内的相关资料，我们还可得知，虽说perennial border的字面意思是“栽种多年生植物的狭长花坛”，而且英美人也一直用perennial border来指花园草坪边的带状花坛，但这种花坛早已不局限于栽种多年生花卉，而通常还会间种些一年生和二年生花卉（but in addition utilizes groups of annuals and biennials）。换言之，perennial border这个能指中的perennial很多时候已失去了其字面意思。当然，我们仍然可以把perennial border翻译成“栽种多年生植物的狭长的花坛（花台、花床）”，不过我认为，在一篇讲究行文格调和音韵节奏的散文中，翻译成“条形花坛（花床、花台）”或“带状花坛（花床、花台）”更为适宜。另外，正确理解了perennial border，你就会发现这个perennial border就是原文下文中三次出现的flower bed。

当然，对某些物名的翻译，单凭查阅词典还不能解决问题，譬如原文第6段第3句中的rugosa rose，一般词典都没收录，而收有这个词条的《英汉大词典》又只将其解释为“【植】玫瑰”，但在我们翻译的这篇散文中，用“玫瑰”与“红白玫瑰”“包心玫瑰”和“大马士革玫瑰”并列，显然不甚得体，有属种不辨之嫌，因为据原文语境，rugosa rose肯定也是玫瑰的某个品种。《韦氏第三版新国际英语大词典》说rugosa rose原产于日本，但我对此存疑，我经常提醒学生记住奈达的一句话：“对于译者，百科全书往往比词典有用得多。”【7】据我查阅的各种百科资料，我确信rugosa rose原产于中国东北地区，后传入朝鲜、日本等地，韩语称其为해당화（haedanghwa），日语称其为ハマナシ（hamanasu），而此花的韩语汉字名“海棠花”（字面意思是flowers near seashore）和日语汉字名“滨梨”（字面意思是shore pear）也都暗示了此花是从中国经海上传入当地的。北美于19世纪中期从日本以拉丁学名Rosa rugosa引入此花，于是便有了rugosa rose这个英语名。然而，想必也有些参赛者和我一样，考证之后终于明确了rugosa rose之所指，但仍然觉得难以将其转换成得体的中文，甚至会像严复当年那样感叹“索之中文，渺不可得，既有牵合，终嫌参差”【8】。的确，我们今天能一见science就想到科学，一见economy就想到经济，殊不知仅仅一百多年前，严复面对一个introduction就在“卮言、悬谈、悬疏”之间旬月踟蹰，最后才翻译成“导言”。我们今天能有词典可查，实乃前辈万千次“旬月踟蹰”的积累，但前辈的积累不可能无所不包，而且事物在不断变化，认识在不断发展，概念也在随之而更新。所以遇到rugosa rose这种在汉语中尚无定名的事物，译者只能效法前辈译家“自具衡量，即义定名”【9】。据我手边的《拉英词典》（Cassell’s Latin-English Dictionary, 1987），拉丁语形容词rugosa（rugosus, rugosum）的意思是wrinkled；英文中有源自拉丁词rugosa的形容词rugose，意为“有皱纹的, 多皱纹的”；《大英百科全书》中介绍的一类珊瑚名为Rugosa（Rugosa corals），《简明不列颠百科全书》（中国大百科全书出版社1986年版）将其翻译成“皱壁珊瑚”。综合以上考证并反复衡量，我最后把rugosa rose定名为“东亚皱瓣玫瑰”，于是便有了参考译文：“她钟爱旧时流行的品种——红白玫瑰、包心玫瑰、大马士革玫瑰，以及数种东亚皱瓣玫瑰。”在此说明一下，评委会在初评前就决定“不要求参赛译文的译名都这样统一，只要得体即可”。实际上，只要译文体现出了rugosa rose是玫瑰的一类，不管是翻译成“东亚玫瑰”“皱叶玫瑰”“日本（野）玫瑰”，还是翻译成“原产自中国不同品种的玫瑰”，我评阅时都有适当加分。

有一千个译者就有一千个哈姆莱特，对这句话我可能比许多人都体会得更深刻，因为教了30年英汉翻译，批阅过的作业和试卷至少也近万份，但我还从没见过两篇一模一样的译文。就拿这次入围百篇译文的篇名来说，100个译者译出的篇名就有51种，从尚质的《一个欢迎陌生人的花园》到好文的《芳园不拒陌客》，我相信每个译者都认为自己译出的哈姆莱特最像哈姆莱特。我也认为这些译名大多都像哈姆莱特，因为这些不同的译文中都包含了捷克翻译学者波波维奇所说的原文的“不变内核”（invariant core），英国学者巴斯内特谈到“不变内核”时说：“转换之差异或译文之不同，均在于那些不会改变核心意义但却能影响表达形式的变化”【10】，而我历来认为，这种“转换之差异或译文之不同”必然会产生，因为每个译者的文学修养、语言水平、审美习惯、鉴赏水平和翻译理念都不尽相同。其实我一见A Garden That Welcomes Strangers，脑子里首先想到的也是《一座欢迎陌生人的花园》，后来调整为《一座向陌生人敞开的花园》，是因为我觉得后者更能表现作者所关注的人类个体与整体的关系（篇末一个新家庭搬进那幢老屋，就令我联想到《旧约·传道书》第1章第4节“一代过去，一代又来，地却永远长存”）。同时我认为，A Garden That Welcomes Strangers这个篇名的“内核”是“Welcomes Strangers”，所以我觉得《祂的花园》《爱的花园》和《一个迎接未知的花园》等篇名值得商榷。

再简单谈谈我对tall grass（第9段）和A young family（第13段）的转换和调整。我开始也把tall grass译成“高高的野草”，但随后就意识到，此处的tall grass还不是花园长期荒废后的“蓬蓬荒草”（第12段），只是草坪刚开始无人修剪时长高的草，所以觉得此处译“野草”不妥，但译“高高的草”过质，译“萋萋芳草”太文，最后想到借用徐霞客笔下的“丰草芃芃”，于是便有了参考译文“芃芃丰草侵入„„”。和许多参赛者一样，我看到A young family也想到“一个年轻的家庭”，但考虑到中国人把新婚燕尔的小两口（a young couple）也称为年轻家庭，而英语中的a young family不等于 a young couple，前者专指 a young couple with their child or children，所以便有了参考译文“一对年轻夫妻正带着孩子搬进那幢房子”。最后我建议参赛者先把自己的译文朗读一遍，然后再朗读一遍参考译文（对比语气之轻重、节奏之张弛、语言之清浊、措辞之分寸），这样也许能从中领会到仅靠默读难以领会到的东西。当然，参考译文仅供参考，参赛者从中获得的不可能只是启发，还应该有经验教训。毕竟就像傅雷先生所说：“即使是最优秀的译文，其韵味较之原文仍不免过或不及。翻译时只能尽量缩短这个距离，过则求其勿太过，不及则求其勿过于不及。”【11】 □

注释：

【1】 参见郭著章等编《英汉互译实用教程》（第四版），武汉大学出版社，2010年版，第59页。

【2】 参见http://。【3】 本文所举译例均引自入围最终评审的100篇参赛译稿。

【4】 Miguel De Unamuno.The Tragic Sense of Life, Eng.trans.by J.E.Crawford Flitch.Dover: Dover Publications, Inc.1954, p.15.【5】 The Tragic Sense of Life, p.123.【6】 参见http://www.xiexiebang.com/。

【7】 Eugene A.Nida.Language and Culture: Contexts in Translating.Shanghai: SFLE Press, 2001, p.286.【8】 参见严复《天演论·译例言》，载《翻译论集》，商务印书馆，1984年版，第137页。

【9】 同上。

【10】 Susan Bassnett.Translation Studies(3rd Edition).Shanghai: SFLE Press, 2010, p.33.【11】 参见傅雷《〈高老头〉重译本序》，载《翻译论集》，商务印书馆，1984年版，第559页。

第三篇：英语世界翻译大赛原文

第九届“郑州大学—《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛英译汉原文

The Whoomper Factor

By Nathan Cobb

【1】As this is being written, snow is falling in the streets of Boston in what weather forecasters like to call “record amounts.” I would guess by looking out the window that we are only a few hours from that magic moment of paralysis, as in Storm Paralyzes Hub.Perhaps we are even due for an Entire Region Engulfed or a Northeast Blanketed, but I will happily settle for mere local disablement.And the more the merrier.【1】写这个的时候，波士顿的街道正下着雪，天气预报员将称其为“创纪录的量”。从窗外望去，我猜想，过不了几个小时，神奇的瘫痪时刻就要来临，就像《风暴瘫痪中心》里的一样。也许我们甚至能够见识到《吞没整个区域》或者《茫茫东北》里的场景，然而仅仅部分地区的瘫痪也能使我满足。当然越多越使人开心。

【2】Some people call them blizzards, others nor’easters.My own term is whoompers, and I freely admit looking forward to them as does a baseball fan to April.Usually I am disappointed, however;because tonight’s storm warnings too often turn into tomorrow’s light flurries.【2】有些人称它们为暴风雪，其他人称其为东北风暴。我自己则有一个叫法：呐喊者。我大方地承认道我期待着它们的到来，正如一位篮球迷盼望着四月份的来临。然而通常情况下，我会大失所望，因为今天发布了风暴警报，明天往往只飘起小雪。

【3】Well, flurries be damned.I want the real thing, complete with Volkswagens turned into drifts along Commonwealth Avenue and the MBTA’s third rail frozen like a hunk of raw meat.A storm does not even begin to qualify as a whoomper unless Logan Airport is shut down for a minimum of six hours.【3】好吧，小雪令人厌恶。我想要实实在在的东西，包括大众汽车成了联邦大道的漂浮物，波士顿市运输局的第三条轨道像一大块生肉一样被冻住了。除非洛根机场至少关闭六个小时，否则这一场风暴根本配不上称作呐喊者。

【4】The point is, whoompers teach us a lesson.Or rather several lessons.For one thing, here are all these city folks who pride themselves on their instinct for survival, and suddenly they cannot bear to venture into the streets because they are afraid of being swallowed up.Virtual prisoners in their own houses is what they are.In northern New England, the natives view nights such as this with casual indifference, but let a whoomper hit Boston and the locals are not only knee deep in snow but also in befuddlement and disarray.【4】关键是，呐喊者们给了我们一个教训。或者几个教训。一方面，所有的城里人为他们的生存本能感到自豪，霎时间，他们不能忍受街道上的风险因为害怕被吞没。他们就好像是自己房子里的囚犯。在新英格兰的北部，当地人对这样的夜晚习以为常，但是让一位呐喊者袭击波士顿，居民不仅深陷雪中而且陷入困境和混乱。

【5】The lesson? That there is something more powerful out there than the sacred metropolis.It is not unlike the message we can read into the debacle of the windows falling out of the John Hancock Tower;just when we think we’ve got the upper hand on the elements, we find out we are flies and someone else is holding the swatter.Whoompers keep us in our place.【5】教训？那里有比神圣的大都市更强大的东西。这与我们可以从约翰•汉考克大厦掉落下来的崩溃信息没什么不同；正当我们自认为凌驾于风雨之上时，才发现我们只是沧海一粟，另有高人将我们玩弄于股掌之间。呐喊者们将我们困在原地。

【6】They also slow us down, which is not a bad thing for urbania these days.Frankly, I’m of the opinion Logan should be closed periodically, snow or not, in tribute to the lurking suspicion that it may not be all that necessary for a man to travel at a speed of 600 miles per hour.In a little while I shall go forth into the streets and I know what I will find.People will actually be walking, and the avenues will be bereft of cars.It will be something like those marvelous photographs of Back Bay during the nineteenth century, wherein the lack of clutter and traffic makes it seem as if someone has selectively airbrushed the scene.【6】他们也使我们放慢了速度，如今对于乌尔巴尼亚来说不是一件坏事。坦率地讲，为了向潜在的怀疑致敬，即可能不是每个人都必须以每小时600英里的速度行走，我认为不管下不下雪，洛根应该定期关门。我应该去街道上走上一小会儿就能知道自己寻找什么。实际上人们将要行走，大道上没有车子。如同19世纪巴克湾那些

【7】And, of course, there will be the sound of silence tonight.It will be almost deafening.I know city people who have trouble sleeping in the country because of the lack of noise, and I suspect this is what bothers many of them about whoompers.Icy sidewalks and even fewer parking spaces we can handle, but please, God, turn up the volume.City folks tend not to believe in anything they can’t hear with their own ears.【8】It should also be noted that nights such as this are obviously quite pretty, hiding the city’s wounds beneath a clean white dressing.But it is their effect on the way people suddenly treat each other that is most fascinating, coming as it does when city dwellers are depicted as people of the same general variety as those New Yorkers who stood by when Kitty Genovese was murdered back in 1964.【9】There’s nothing like a good whoomper to get people thinking that everyone walking towards them on the sidewalk might not be a mugger, or that saying hello is not necessarily a sign of perversion.You would think that city people, more than any other, would have a strong sense of being in the same rough seas together, yet it is not until a quasi catastrophe hits that many of them stop being lone sharks.【10】But enough of this.There’s a whoomper outside tonight, and it requires my presence.

第四篇：第二届全国《英语世界》翻译大赛通知及参赛原文

第二届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛启事

在成功举办首届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛之后，《英语世界》杂志社将联合南开大学、中国翻译协会社科翻译委员会、四川省翻译协会共同举办第二届“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛。今后，我们拟将此项赛事办成每年一届的活动，以激发英语爱好者的翻译热情，给力英语学习，探寻翻译之星。诚愿此项赛事真正成为翻译爱好者晒秀佳译的一方天地。

一、活动内容

1、竞赛形式：本次竞赛为英汉翻译，参赛原文附后，亦可点击商务印书馆网站（http://www.xiexiebang.com/）。

2、参赛要求：

（1）参赛者年龄不限。（2）译文须独立完成，不接受合作译稿。请参赛者在本次竞赛截稿之日前妥善保存参赛稿件，勿在报刊、网络等任何媒体公布参赛文稿，否则将被取消参赛资格并承担由此造成的一切后果。

（3）第一次投稿有效，不接收修改后另投稿件。

（4）参赛投稿请用电脑打印（A4纸）或用稿纸（有单位名称抬头的稿纸无效）誊写清楚。打印稿统一用Word中宋体，小四号字排版。译文前加一封面，填写参赛者信息，包括姓名、出生年月日、性别、工作单位、通信地址、邮编、电话、电子邮箱。投稿正文内请勿书写参赛者个人信息，否则将视为无效投稿。

（5）截稿日期：2011年7月20日，网络投稿以投稿日为准，信件以寄出日邮戳为准。

二、投稿方式

1、网上投稿：邮箱wewecp@sina.com。请在主题栏标明“参赛译文”字样。

2、邮寄投稿：北京朝阳区朝外大街吉庆里小区9号楼E-2-1005室 《英语世界》编辑部（邮编：100020）。请在信封上标明“参赛译文”字样。

三、奖项设置：

所有投稿将由《英语世界》、南开大学和中国翻译协会社科翻译委员会共同组织专家进行评审，设一、二、三等奖及优秀奖。一、二、三等奖获奖者将颁发奖金、证书和纪念品，优秀奖获奖者将颁发证书和纪念品；《英语世界》将于2011年第10期公布竞赛评审结果，并择机举行颁奖典礼，竞赛获奖者将受邀参加颁奖典礼。

四、联系方式：

为办好本次翻译大赛，保证此项赛事的公平、公正，我们成立了竞赛组委会，负责整个竞赛活动的组织、实施和评审工作。组委会办公室设在《英语世界》编辑部。电话/传真：010-65539242。

《英语世界》杂志社

2011年5月

附：第二届英语世界杯翻译大赛原文：

His First Day as Quarry-Boy

By Hugh Miller(1802～1856)It was twenty years last February since I set out, a little before sunrise, to make my first acquaintance with a life of labor and restraint;and I have rarely had a heavier heart than on that morning.I was but a slim, loose-jointed boy at the time, fond of the pretty intangibilities of romance, and of dreaming when broad awake;and, woful change!I was now going to work at what Burns has instanced, in his ‘Twa Dogs’, as one of the most disagreeable of all employments,—to work in a quarry.Bating the passing uneasinesses occasioned by a few gloomy anticipations, the portion of my life which had already gone by had been happy beyond the common lot.I had been a wanderer among rocks and woods, a reader of curious books when I could get them, a gleaner of old traditionary stories;and now I was going to exchange all my day-dreams, and all my amusements, for the kind of life in which men toil every day that they may be enabled to eat, and eat every day that they may be enabled to toil!

The quarry in which I wrought lay on the southern shore of a noble inland bay, or frith rather, with a little clear stream on the one side, and a thick fir wood on the other.It had been opened in the Old Red Sandstone of the district, and was overtopped by a huge bank of diluvial clay, which rose over it in some places to the height of nearly thirty feet, and which at this time was rent and shivered其, wherever it presented an open front to the weather, by a recent frost.A heap of loose fragments, which had fallen from above, blocked up the face of the quarry and my first employment was to clear them away.The friction of the shovel soon blistered my hands, but the pain was by no means very severe, and I wrought hard and willingly, that I might see how the huge strata below, which presented so firm and unbroken a frontage, were to be torn up and removed.Picks, and wedges, and levers, were applied by my brother-workmen;and, simple and rude as I had been accustomed to regard these implements, I found I had much to learn in the way of using them.They all proved inefficient, however, and the workmen had to bore into one of the inferior strata, and employ gunpowder.The process was new to me, and I deemed it a highly amusing one: it had the merit, too, of being attended with some such degree of danger as a boating or rock excursion, and had thus an interest independent of its novelty.We had a few capital shots: the fragments flew in every direction;and an immense mass of the diluvium came toppling down, bearing with it two dead birds, that in a recent storm had crept into one of the deeper fissures, to die in the shelter.I felt a new interest in examining them.The one was a pretty cock goldfinch, with its hood of vermilion and its wings inlaid with the gold to which it owes its name, as unsoiled and smooth as if it had been preserved for a museum.The other, a somewhat rarer bird, of the woodpecker tribe, was variegated with light blue and a grayish yellow.I was engaged in admiring the poor little things, more disposed to be sentimental, perhaps, than if I had been ten years older, and thinking of the contrast between the warmth and jollity of their green summer haunts, and the cold and darkness of their last retreat, when I heard our employer bidding the workmen lay by their tools.I looked up and saw the sun sinking behind the thick fir wood beside us, and the long dark shadows of the trees stretching downward towards the shore.—Red Sandstone

（文章选自THE OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH PROSE, 658-660, Oxford University Press, London, first published 1925，reprinted 1958.）

Old

第五篇：江西省第二届翻译大赛

第二届翻译大赛初赛（2010年）翻译原文及参考译文

一、将下列短文译成汉语（50分）: 1)At a time when a towering personality like Mme.Curie has come to the end of her life, let us not merely rest content with recalling what she has given to mankind in the fruits of her work.It is the moral qualities of its leading personalities that are perhaps of even greater significance for a generation and for the course of history than purely intellectual accomplishments.Even these latter are, to a far greater degree than is commonly credited, dependent on the stature of character.It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme.Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship.I come to admire her human grandeur to an ever growing degree.Her strength, her purity of will, her austerity toward herself, objectively, her incorruptible judgment—all these were of a kind seldom found joined in a single individual.She felt herself at every moment to be a servant of society and her profound modesty never left any room for complacency.2)It was common enough during the first year of the war to meet people who took an aesthetic pleasure in the darkness of the streets at night.It gave them un nouveau frisson.They said that never had London been so beautiful.It was hardly a gracious thing to say about London.And it was not entirely true.The hill of Piccadilly has always been beautiful, with its lamps suspended above it like strange fruits.The Thames between Westminister Bridge and Blackfriars has always been beautiful at night, pouring its brown waters along in a dusk of light and shadow.And had we not always had Hyde Park like a little dark forest full of lamps, with the gold of the lamps shaken into long Chinese alphabets in the windy waters of the Serpentine? There was Chelsea, too.Surely, even before the war, Chelsea by night lay in darkness like a town forgotten and derelict in the snug gloom of an earlier century.（注：un nouveau frisson，法语，一种新的颤动；Piccadilly：皮卡迪利，位于伦敦西区的繁华地段；Westminister Bridge and Blackfriars: 威斯敏斯特大桥和黑衣修士区；Serpentine：蛇湖，海德公园内；Chelsea切尔西区。)

二、将下列短文译成英语（50分）: 1）名声、财产、知识等等都是身外之物，人人都可求而得之，但没有人能够代替你感受人生。你死以后，没有人能够代替你再活一次。如果你真正意识到了这一点，你就会明白，活在世上，最重要的事就是活出你自己的特色和滋味来。你的人生是否有意义，衡量的标准不是外在的成功，而是对人生意义的独特领悟和坚守，从而使你的自我闪放出个性的光芒。

2）至于时间，更不成问题。达尔文一生多病，不能多作工，每天只能做一点钟的工作。你们看他的成绩！每天花一点钟看10页有用的书，每年可看3600多页书，30年可读11万页书。

诸位，11 万页书可以使你成一个学者了。可是每天看三种小报也得费你一点钟的工夫，四圈麻将也得费你一点半钟的光阴。看小报呢？还是打麻将呢？还是努力做一个学者呢？全靠你们自己的选择。易卜生说：“你的最大责任是把你这块材料铸造成器。”

（注：本文节选自胡适在对毕业生的致词，题为《不要抛弃学问》）参考译文：

英译中

1)当居里夫人这样杰出的人物逝世的时候，我们不能仅缅怀她的研究成果为人类做出的贡献。对于一个时代和整个历史进程来说，杰出人物所具有的高尚品质也许比他们纯智力成就具有更重大的意义。即使后者也依赖于人格力量，而这依赖的程度远比一般人所想象的要高得多。

我很荣幸，20 年来一直和居里夫人保持高尚而纯洁的友谊。我对她高尚品德的敬佩与日俱增。她的力量，她的意志的纯粹，她的严与自律，她的客观，她的公正的判断—一 个人身上极少具有如此多方面的品质。她每分每秒都觉得自己是社会的公仆。她虚怀若谷的品德从未被丝毫自满的情绪所沾染。

2）战争的头一年里，在夜间街头的一片黑暗之中，有人产生了一种审美快感，遇见这样的人是相当普通的事。黑暗使他们感到一种新的颤动。他们都说伦敦从来没有如此美丽！用这样的话来形容伦敦并不算溢美之词。而且这样说也并非完全真实。皮卡迪利大街的上空一向是美丽的，悬空的街灯宛如异乡的水果。横贯威斯敏斯特大桥与黑衣修士区的泰晤士河，到了夜间一向是美丽的，在光影相映的暮色之中，延绵不断地倾泻着褐色的河水。我们不是一向拥有海德公园吗？它宛如灯火密布的小小黑森林，金光闪闪的灯火在蛇湖起了风浪的水面上摇曳不定，变成了长形的中文汉字。还有切尔西区呢。确实，甚至就在战前，切尔西区到了夜晚便静卧于黑暗之中，就像上实际的一个镇子，为了淡忘遭到遗弃，消没于隐然的昏沉之中。（杨岂深译）

中译英

1）Fame, wealth and knowledge are merely worldly possessions which are within the reach of anybody striving for them.But your experience of and feeling about life are your own and not to be shared(But no one can experience life on behalf of you).No one can live your life over again after your death A full awareness of this will point out to you that the most important thing in your existence is your distinctive individuality or something special of yoursWhat really counts is not your worldly success but your peculiar insight into the meaning of life and your commitment to it, which add lusterto your personality.2）Time is no object.Charles Darwin could only work one hour a day due to his ill health.Yet what a remarkable man he was!If you spend one hour a day reading 10 pages of a book, you can finish more than 3600 pages a year, and 110,000 pages in 30 years.Dear students, 110,000 pages will be quite enough to make a learned man of you.It will take you one hour to read three tabloids a day, and one and half hours to finish four rounds of mah-jong a day.Reading tabloids, playing mah-jong or striving to be a learned man, the choice lies with you.Henrik Ibsen says, “It is your supreme duty to cast yourself into a useful implement”