07年“高級英語”課文逐句翻譯（12）

　　工 作

　　Lesson Thirteen Work

　　究竟工作是幸福還是痛苦的源泉，這可能是一個難以回答的問題。

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

　　毫無疑問有許多工作是非常令人厭煩的，而且過多的工作總是十分痛苦的事。

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

　　然而我認為，只要不過量，對多數人來說即使是最枯燥的工作也比終日無所事事要好些。

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

　　工作給人的愉快的程度多種多樣，從僅僅是消煩解悶到產生巨大的快樂，這會隨工作的性質和工作者的能力而異。

　　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.

　　大多數人不得不從事的工作本身大都無樂趣可言，但即使是這樣的工作也有一些很大的好處。

　　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，工作可將一天的許多時間占滿，人們不必再費神來決定應干些什么，大多數人在可以自由地按自己的愿望打發(fā)時間時，常常會不知所措，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.

　　而他們的決定又總是受到干擾，覺得干別的什么事也許會更令人愉快。

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

　　能夠有意義地利用閑暇時間是文明發(fā)展到最高階段的結果，而目前很少有人能達到這一層次。

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

　　何況作出選擇本身就是件令人厭煩的事。

　　Moreover the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome.

　　除了那些具有非凡主動性的人，其他的人肯定有人樂于被告訴一天中的每時每刻該做什么，當然命令他們做的事不能太令人厭煩。

　　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.

　　多數無所事事的闊佬免遭從事單調乏味工作之苦，但代價是莫名其妙的無聊。

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

　　有時他們去非洲獵取巨獸或環(huán)繞世界飛行來解悶，但這類刺激的數量有限，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.

　　因此較為明智的闊佬們工作起來幾乎像窮人一樣賣力，而有錢的女人則大多忙于她們自以為具有震撼世界般重要性的無數瑣事。

　　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.

　　因此人們愿意工作，首先因為工作可防止產生無聊感。比起終日無所事事而造成的無聊來，人們在干著雖必要但缺乏興趣的工作時所感到的枯燥無聊就不值一提了。

　　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.

　　與工作的這一好處相關的還有一個好處，那就是假日到來會令人感到更加美妙。只要一個人的工作不至于累得他體力不支，那么他就會從他的閑暇時間里得到無所事事的人絕對得不到的極大樂趣。

　　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.

　　多數有報酬的工作和某些沒有報酬的工作還有第二個好處，那就是它們提供了成功的機會和實現抱負的可能。

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

　　在多數工作中，收入的多少是衡量成功與否的標準，當我們這個資本主義社會繼續(xù)存在時，這是不可避免的。

　　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況下收入才不再被用作當然的衡量標準。

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

　　人們想增加收入當然是出自錢多了可以獲得更多的舒適享受這一愿望，但同樣也出自想獲得成功的愿望。

　　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.

　　無論工作多么枯燥單調，如果它是能夠使人逐漸成名的手段，無論是在世界上出名還是就在自己的圈子里出名，那么這工作就不再難以忍受了。

　　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.

　　歸根結底，幸福的最重要的因素之一是有始終如一的目的。而對多數人來說這樣的目的主要來自他們的工作。

　　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.

　　在這一點上，終日從事家務的婦女便遠不如男子幸運，也沒有走出家庭參加工作的婦女幸運。

　　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.

　　家庭婦女沒有工資，無法改善自己的狀況，她所干的一切在她的丈夫看來都是理所當然的（她的丈夫對此幾乎是熟視無睹），丈夫欣賞的不是她干的家務活，而是她的其他品質。

　　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.

　　當然對那些有足夠的錢可以把住宅和花園搞得十分漂亮而成為鄰居們的羨慕對象的女人來說，情況就不一樣，但這樣的女人相對來說數量較少，對于大多數婦女，家務帶給她們的滿足遠不如其他工作帶給男子或職業(yè)婦女的滿足。

　　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.

　　多數工作都能使人滿意地消磨掉時間，而且給人們實現抱負提供某種令人滿意的途徑，雖然這途徑不起眼。一般說來這種滿足足以使一個即使工作枯燥無味的人也比無事可做的人感到快樂。但如果從事的是有趣的工作，就能給人帶來比僅僅是解悶高級得多的滿足。

　　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.

　　有興趣的工作可以按其包含樂趣的大小順序排列，我先談小有樂趣的工作，最后談那些值得偉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.

　　兩個使