隱身衣漢英翻譯完整

1、隱身衣 楊絳我們夫婦有時候說廢話玩兒?！敖o你一件仙家法寶，你要什么?”我們都要隱身衣；各披一件，同出遨游。我們只求擺脫羈束，到處閱歷，并不想為非作歹。可是玩得高興，不免放肆淘氣，于是驚動了人，隱身不住，得趕緊逃跑。“阿呀!還得有縮地法！”“還要護身法!”想得越周到，要求也越多，干脆連隱身衣也不要了。其實，如果不想干人世間所不容許的事，無需仙家法寶，凡間也有隱身衣；只是世人非但不以為寶，還惟恐穿在身上，像濕布衫一樣脫不下。因為這種隱身衣的料子是卑微。身處卑微，人家就視而不見，見而無睹。The Invisible CloakMy husband and I sometimes carry on a

2、 conversation that doesnt make any sense. We do so just for the fun of it. “What would you like if I could give you something with magic powers?”We had the same wish: a magic cloak that could make us invisible. We would throw it over our shoulders and go wandering. We had no desire to do anybody har

3、m, just to go about freely, to see the world. But when youre having a good time, you are likely to get naughty, attract attention, lose your invisibility, and have to flee.“Oh, then wed need the magic power to shrink distance!”And the magic power to protect ourselves from injury!”The more we thought

4、 about it, the more kinds of magic powers we figured we needed. But eventually we even abandoned the idea of wanting a magic cape that would make us invisible.Actually, as long as you dont try to do things that people in human society cant tolerate, you dont need an immortal from another world to gi

5、ve you magic powers. There are magic cloaks that make you invisible in the very world we live in.Cloak of Invisibility Sometimes my husband and I amuse ourselves with make-believe.If you had the choice of some magical power, what would you want?We both wanted a cloak of invisibility: with one for ea

6、ch of us we could go on rambles together. Our idea was only warmed to our game we could easily get up to naughty tricks, in which case people would become aware of our presence and we would have to beat a hasty retreat.Oh dear, we would have to have winged feet too!And a protective charm!The more we

7、 went into the implication, the more our requirements became, so we decided a cloak of invisibility wasnt such a good idea after all. As a matter of fact, as long as you dont plan to do anything that society forbids, there is no need of a magical power: you can find a cloak of invisibility in the mu

8、ndane world. It is just that ordinarily people do not prize it, indeed they are even afraid to put it on, I case like a wet shirt they wont be able to take it off.我記得我國筆記小說里講一人夢魂回家，見到了思念的家人，家里人卻看不見他。他開口說話，也沒人聽見。家人團坐吃飯，他欣然也想入座，卻沒有他的位子。身居卑微的人也仿佛這個未具人身的幽靈，會有同樣的感受。人家眼里沒有你，當然視而不見；心上不理會你，就會瞠目無睹。你的“自我”覺得受了

9、輕忽或怠慢或侮辱，人家卻未知有你；你雖然生存在人世間，卻好像還未具人形，還未曾出生。這樣活一輩子，不是雖生猶如未生嗎? 誰假如說，披了這種隱身衣如何受用，如何逍遙自在，聽的人只會覺得這是發(fā)揚阿Q精神，或闡述“酸葡萄論”吧?且看咱們的常言俗語，要做個“人上人”呀、“出類拔萃”呀、“出人頭地”呀、“脫穎而出”呀、“出風頭”或“拔尖”“冒尖”呀等等，可以想見一般人都不甘心受輕忽。 People fail to see their magic powers, and are also afraid once they put one on it will cling to them like a we

10、t shirt that wouldnt come off. This worldly magic cloak is made of lowliness and obscurity. When you are and obscure, people will look at you but not see you,or see you but not care.I recall a story in a the tradition of the biji xiaoshuo (informal short story). The ghost of a man returns to his hom

11、e. He sees the people hes missed, but they dont see him. He speaks to them but they dont hear him. When the family take their seats around the table for dinner, he wants to join them, but theres no place for him. People in a lowly position can empathize with this ghost. If people don t want to see y

12、ou, theyll naturally look right through you. If you re not in their hearts, youll draw a blank stare. Your ego would feel slighted, neglected, or insulted. Although you live in this world, it would be like you had never been born, or had never acquired a bodily form. What kind of life is that? Isnt

13、it a living death? If他們或悒悒而怨，或憤憤而怒，只求有朝一日掙脫身上這件隱身衣，顯身而露面。英美人把社會比作蛇阱(snake pit)。阱里壓壓擠擠的蛇，一條條都拼命鉆出腦袋，探出身子，把別的蛇排擠開，壓下去；一個個冒出又沒入的蛇頭，一條條拱起又壓下的蛇身，扭結(jié)成團、難分難解的蛇尾，你上我下，你死我活，不斷的掙扎斗爭。鉆不出頭，一輩子埋沒在下；鉆出頭，就好比大海里坐在浪尖兒上的跳珠飛沫，迎日月之光而生輝，可說是大丈夫得志了。人生短促，浪尖兒上的一剎那，也可作一生成就的標志，足以自豪。你是“窩囊廢”嗎?你就甘心郁郁久居人下?但天生萬物，有美有不美，有才有不才。萬具枯骨，才造

14、得一員名將；小兵小卒，豈能都成為有名的英雄。世上有坐轎的，有抬轎的；有坐席的主人和賓客，有端茶上萊的侍仆。席面上，有人坐首位，有人陪末座。廚房里，有掌勺的上灶，有燒火的灶下婢； somebody told you how wonderful, how free it was to wear a magic cloak that made you invisible, wouldnt you feel he was playing up the “spirit of Ah Q, or invoking the sour grapes complex?/Lets just look at some

15、 common saying among us: Be a man above men, be the best and the brightest,” “rise above the crowd, break away from the pack, get in the limelight, ”“ forge ahead, and so on. Its obvious that no one wants to be overlooked. They are depressed and complain, or they are indignant and fume. All they wan

16、t is to shed the clock someday that makes them invisible and manifest themselves to the world. People in England and America have likened society to a snake pit. In the pit are numerous snakes, pushing and squeezing, struggling to raise their heads and lift up their bodies by nudging others aside or

17、 pushing them down. One head after another pops up and is then submerged. One body after another arches up and then is forced down. And then tails of the snakes are tied in knots so no one can tell them apart. One rises while another falls. One lives while another dies. Its an endless struggle for s

18、urvival. If one cant rise above the crowd, he is buried for life. If he does rise above the crowd, hed like the spray on the crest of a wave, riding high to greet the light of the sun and the moon. He would be the hero who has achieved his ambition. Life is short. So one can take pride in even a pas

19、sing moment of riding high, for it can count as an That is because the material is made from humbleness. If a persons station is humble, he or she will be looked at but not seen, or seen but ignored.I remember that in our anecdotal literature there is a story about a man who returns home in a dream

20、to the family he has sorely missed, but his family cannot see him. He opens his mouth and speaks, but his family does not hear him either. When the family gathers round the table to eat, he joyfully goes to take his place, but there is no seat for him. People of humble status are like this disembodi

21、ed spectre, and will have the same feelings. If others have no regard for you, naturally they will look at you but not see you; if to their mind you are of no consequence, they will ignore you however wide open their eyes are. Your self will feel neglected or slighted or insulted, but the other pers

22、on will not know you are there. Though you exist in the human world, it will be as if you have not yet taken human form, have not yet been born. Would not a lifetime like that be no life at all? So if you claimed that a cloak of invisibility of this kind was very comfortable, and freed you from all

23、troubles and cares, your listeners would only think you were 天之生材也不齊，怎能一律均等。人的志趣也各不相同。儒林外史二十六回里的王太太，津津樂道她在孫鄉(xiāng)仲家“吃一、看二、眼觀三”的席上，坐在首位，一邊一個丫頭為她掠開滿臉黃豆大的珍珠拖掛，讓她露出嘴來吃蜜餞茶。而唐吉訶德十一章里的桑丘，卻不愛坐酒席，寧愿在自己的角落里，不裝斯文，不講禮數(shù)，吃些面包蔥頭。有人企求飛上高枝，有人寧愿“曳尾涂中”。人各有志，不能相強。有人是別有懷抱，旁人強不過他。譬如他寧愿“曳尾涂中”，也只好由他。有人是有志不伸，自己強不過命運。譬如庸庸碌碌之輩，偏要做

24、“人上人”，這可怎么辦呢? 常言道：“煩惱皆因強出頭”。猴子爬得愈高，尾部又禿又紅的丑相就愈加顯露；自己不知道身上只穿著“皇帝的新衣”，卻忙不迭地掙脫“隱身衣”，出乖露丑。indication of a successful life. Are you a “good-for-nothing”? Are you content to be at the bottom of the heap and live out your days in obscurity? But the universe is diverse. Some things in it are beautiful and o

25、thers arent. Some people are talented and others arent. It takes thousands of skeletons to make a great general. The rank and file arent going to be heroes. In life, some ride in the sedan while others carry it on their shoulders. At a dinner, theres the host, the guests, and then the servants who s

26、erve. Theres the man at the head of the table and the man who sits at the the far end. In the kitchen, theres the chef who cooks and the maid who tends the fire. Nature has created people of unequal talent; how can all be equal?consoling yourself for your inferiority, preaching sour grapes.You can s

27、ee that the average person is not reconciled to being overlooked from the multitude of phrases we have for superiority: people aspire to be a a man above other men, to be the pick of the bunch, to be head and shoulders over others, to be in the limelight, to burst upon the scene, to be top-notch, to

28、 stand out, and so on and so on. They complain despondently or rage violently, with the sole aim of one day ridding themselves of their cloak of invisibility, so that they can appear in public and show what they are made of.English speakers have a phrase for society: the snake pit. Each of the teemi

29、ng mass of snakes desperately sticks up its head, stretches out its body and shoves the other snakes aside or pushes them down; one snakes head after another breaks the surface and goes under again; one snake好些略具才能的人，一輩子掙扎著求在人上，虛耗了畢生精力，一事無成，真是何苦來呢。我國古人說：“彼人也，予亦人也?！蔽鞣饺艘灿蓄愃频脑?，這不過是勉人努力向上，勿自暴自棄。西班牙諺云：“干

30、什么事，成什么人?！比说淖鸨?，不靠地位，不由出身，只看你自己的成就。我們不妨再加上一句：“是什么料，充什么用?！奔偃缡且粋€蘿卜，就力求做個水多肉脆的好蘿卜；假如是棵白菜，就力求做一棵糍糍實實的包心好白菜。蘿卜白菜是家常食用的菜蔬，不求做廟堂上供設的珍果。我鄉(xiāng)童謠有“三月三，薺萊開花賽牡丹”的話。薺菜花怎賽得牡丹花呢!我曾見草叢里一種細小的青花，常猜測那是否西方稱為“勿忘我”的草花，因為它太渺小，人家不容易看見。不過我想，野草野菜開一朵小花報答陽光雨露之恩，并不求人“勿忘我”，所謂“草木有本心，何求美人折”。 People also have different interests. Mrs .

31、 Wang in Chapter 26 of The Unofficial History of the Scholars, was delighted to talk about her experience at Sun Xiangchongs house: how she used her mouth and her eyes at the same time as she sat in the seat of honor, with a slave girl standing on either side to hold back the soy-bean sized pearls t

32、hat hung over her face, so as to expose her mouth and allow her to sip the honeyed tea. Then theres Sanchez in Chapter 11 of Don Ouixote, who didnt care to sit at a feast, but preferred to sit in his corner and eat his bread and onions with no pretense to manners or ceremony. Some enjoy perching on

33、a high branch, others prefer to “wallow in the mud”. Each has his preference and should not be forced to change. In some cases, a person may have his preference and others are unable to change him. If he wants to “wallow in the mud”, others simply have to leave him alone. In other cases, a person ma

34、y have realized ambitions but is unable to prevail over fate. Nothing can be done to help a mediocre person to rise above the crowd. Theres body after another arches up and is pressed down; snakes tails are knotted into balls, indistinguishable and inextricable. The thrashing and fighting never stop

35、s: if youre up Im down, if you live I die. So if you cant stick your head above the ruck, you are buried for life. If you can get your head out, you are like the foam and spume that sit on the crest of the ocean waves, you shine and glow in the light of the sun and the moon. In other words, the man

36、of mettle gets his just reward. Given that life is short, the brief moment on the crest of the waves can still be the mark of a lifes achievements, and be something to be proud of. Who would be a good-for-nothing? Who would want to be always grovelling at peoples feet? Yet the truth is, some of gods

37、 creatures are beautiful, some are not; some are talented, some not. It takes ten thousand skeletons to make a braided general. How can your ordinary foot soldiers all become famous heroes? There are those who sit in sedan chairs, there are those who bear the chairs; there are the host and guest at

38、dinners, there are the servants who bring the tea and food; at the table someone sits in the place of honor, others sit below the salt. In the kitchen there is the chef with his ladle, the scullery maids with their coals. Natural endowment is also unequal: how can everybody be on the same footing?我愛

39、讀東坡“方人如海一身藏”之句，也企慕莊子所謂“陸沉”。社會可以比作“蛇阱”，但“蛇阱”之上，天空還有飛鳥；“蛇阱”之旁，池沼里也有游魚。古往今來，自有人避開“蛇阱”而“藏身”或“陸沉”。消失于眾人之中，如水珠包孕于海水之內(nèi)，如細小的野花隱藏在草叢里，不求“勿忘我”，不求“賽牡丹”，安閑舒適，得其所哉。一個人不想攀高就不怕下跌，也不用傾軋排擠，可以保其天真，成其自然，潛心一志完成自己能做的事。而且在隱身衣的掩蓋下，還會別有所得，不怕旁人爭奪。蘇東坡說：“山間之明月，水上之清風”是“造物者之無盡藏”，可以隨意享用。但造物所藏之外，還有世人所創(chuàng)的東西呢。世態(tài)人情，比明月清風更饒有滋味；可作書讀，可當

40、戲看。書上的描摹，戲里的扮演，即使栩栩如生，究竟只是文藝作品；人情世態(tài)，都是天真自然的流露，往往超出情理之外，新奇得令人震驚，令人駭怪，給人以更深刻的教益，更奇妙的娛樂。惟有身處卑微的人，最有機緣看到世態(tài)人情的真相，而不是面對觀眾的藝術(shù)表演。s the saying: “All misery comes from the desire to out-do the next guy.” The higher the monkey climbs up the tree, the more he exposes the ugliness of his bald red behind. If a pe

41、rson, unware that hes only wearing the “emperors new clothes,” hurries to take off his invisible cloak, he would only make a fool of himself. No small number of moderately endowed people strive for a lifetime to rise high above the crowd. They expend a lifetime of energy and accomplish nothing. Why

42、all the bother! Ancient Chinese have a saying: “Hes a man, and so am I.” Westerners have similar sayings. They say such sayings only to encourage people to strive, and not to give up trying. Theres a Spanish maxim:” You are what you do.” In other words, whether youre looked up to or looked down upon

43、 depends not on your status, or your lineage, but on your achievements. We might add a comment:“The use youre put to depends on the stuff youre made of.” If youre a turnip, try to be a crisp and juicy turnip. If youre a cabbage, try to be a good tight cabbage. Turnips and cabbages are common househo

44、ld vegetables, so dont try to be the precious fruits that are used in ceremonial sacrifice in temples. A childs rhyme in my home village goes:” In early March, inconspicuous People also differ in their inclinations. Mrs Wang in chapter 26 of Rulin waishi (The Scholars) rhapsodizes over the magnifice

45、nt wedding banquet Squire Sun put on, where she sat in the place of honour and had a maid at either side to part her veil of pearls as big as peas and allow her to get her mouth to her cup of honeyed tea. Sancho Panza, on the other hand, in chapter 11 of Don Quixote, declines to sit at the banquetin

46、g table, preferring to eat his bread and onion in his own corner without any pretension to refinement or good manners. Some people aspire to sit on high perches, others prefer to creep along close to the ground. Every man to his taste; you cant force your own on others. 不過這一派胡言純是廢話罷了。急要掙脫隱身衣的人，聽了未必入

47、耳；那些不知世間也有隱身衣的人，知道了也還是不會開眼的。平心而論，隱身衣不管是仙家的或凡間的，穿上都有不便還不止小小的不便。英國威爾斯(HGWells)的科學幻想小說隱形人(Invisible Man)里，寫一個人使用科學方法，得以隱形。可是隱形之后，大吃苦頭，例如天冷了不能穿衣服，穿了衣服只好躲在家里，出門只好光著身子，因為穿戴著衣服鞋帽手套而沒有臉的人，跑上街去，不是興妖作怪嗎?他得把必需外露的面部封閉得嚴嚴密密：上部用帽檐遮蓋，下部用圍巾包裹，中部架上黑眼鏡，鼻子和兩頰包上紗布，貼滿橡皮膏。要掩飾自己的無形，還需這樣煞費苦心!jicai flowers outshine the peon

48、y.” How can the flower of a tiny wild plant compare with the splendor of the peony! Ive seen a tiny blue flower in clumps of grass and wondered if it was what Westerners call the “forget-me-not.” Its so tiny that its easily overlooked. But I think a tiny plant growing in the wild can put forth a tin

49、y flower in gratitude to the sunshine and rain without asking others to “forget me not”. A line in a classical Chinese poem explains it: “Flowers and trees have their own reason to grow. They need no beauty to pick them.”I love Su Dongpuos line of poetry:” I get lost in a sea of humanity.” I also ad

50、mire what Zhuang Zi calls “sink into the ground.” Society may be compared to a “snake pit,” but above the “snake pit” birds fly in the sky, and near the “snake pit” fish swim in the lakes. From ancient to present times, men have avoided the “snake pit” either to get lost or to sink. They are lost in

51、 the sea of humanity, like a drop of water joining the ocean, like a tiny flower getting lost in the grass, not asking people to “forget me not,” not If someone has a particular idea of himself, you cant get him to change it. Supposing he would rather creep along close to the ground, you have to let

52、 him get on with it. If someone has an ambition that is not realized, he himself cant change fate. Our mediocre brethren, for example, might take it into their heads to be a man above other men, but how can that be done? There is an old saying: “To want to be top dog is to look for trouble. The high

53、er a monkey climbs, the more unappetizing a spectacle its bare red bottom presents. To be in a hurry to rid oneself of the cloak of invisibility will lead to making an exhibition of oneself if all that one is wearing underneath is the emperors new clothes. A lot of people possessed of a modicum of t

54、alent waste the energy of a lifetime striving for superiority, only to achieve nothing: all totally pointless. The sentiment He is just a man, the same as I am can be found in our Chinese history, and the Westerners have a similar saying. The sense is only to encourage people to make the best of the

55、ir opportunities, and not give up on themselves. A Spanish proverb says A man is what he does. That is, a persons worth is not decided by rank or birth, but by achievement. We might add a rider: 當然，這是死心眼兒的科學制造，比不上仙家的隱身衣。仙家的隱身衣隨時可脫，而且能把凡人的衣服一并隱掉。不過，隱身衣下的血肉之軀，終究是凡胎俗骨，耐不得嚴寒酷熱，也經(jīng)不起任何損傷。別說刀槍的襲擊，或水燙火灼，就連磚

56、頭木塊的磕碰，或笨重的踩上一腳，都受不了。如果沒有及時逃避的法術(shù)，就需煉成金剛不壞之軀，才保得無事。穿了凡間的隱身衣有同樣不便。肉體包裹的心靈，也是經(jīng)不起炎涼、受不得磕碰的。要煉成刀槍不入、水火不傷的功夫，談何容易!如果沒有這份功夫，偏偏有緣看到世態(tài)人情的真相，就難保不氣破了肺，刺傷了心，哪還有閑情逸致把它當好戲看呢。況且，不是演來娛樂觀眾的戲，不看也罷。假如法國小說家勒薩日筆下的瘸腿魔鬼請我夜游，揭起一個個屋頂讓我觀看屋里的情景，我一定辭謝不去。 tying to “outshine the peony”, but relaxed and comfortable, finding a pla

57、ce of their own. A person who doesnt try to climb high has no fear of falling. He has no need to push and shove. He can preserve his innocence and true nature, and focus on what he can achieve.There are other benefits to wearing an invisible cloak, benefits that one need not fear being taken away .

58、Su Dongpo says:”The bright moon in the mountains, the clear breeze on the waters” are the “boundless treasures of the creator,” to be enjoyed by all. But in addition to the creators treasures there are human treasures. Human behavior and sentiment are more interesting than a bright moon or a clear breeze. It can be read like a book or watched like a play on stage. Portrayals in books and stage performances, however life-like they may be , are after all only works of art. But the suit the