《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习(01)

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（01）

In March 1947, the Communists told me I must leave Yenan. They were evacuating their last capital and going into the hills where I was unable to go. Mao told me I might return “when we again have contact with the world”. He thought it would be in about two years. He understated. In less than a year I met Chiense in Paris who told me the time was near for my return. “Events move faster than we thought.” Byt autumn of 1948 I was in Moscow bound for China. Five months I kept asking for my Soviet exit visa. Then, just as Chinese friends arrived who might secure my journey, the Russians arrested me as a “spy” and sent me out through Poland. Five days in jail I wondered what I had stepped on. I never knew.

Six years I lived in America; no Communists in the world would speak tome. Then Moscow “rehabilitated” me, by publishing that the charges had been “without grounds”. Again an invitation came from China. This time it took three years’ legal fight to get my American passport. I had it by spring of 1958. Ten year late!

I was 72 then, living in Los Angeles where I had more friends than anywhere else. I owned a town house, a summer lodge in the mountains, w winter cabin in the desert, a car and a driver’s license to take myself about. I had income to live on for life. Should I go to China now?

I went to Moscow first, my second home for nearly thrity years. My husband’s relatives urged me to stay. “Here you have always a home!” I was moved. I was even more moved when the Writer’s Union made me their guest and sent me for a month to a Rest Home while they got back all the rubles I had lost at the deportation, and an order for a Moscow apartment agina. “Would I care to choose it now?” I thanked them very sincerely but said: “Better wait till I return from Peking.”

Could Peking have the magic Yenan had? Could I adjust to Chinese life at 72? Two months later I told my Chinese friends: “This is not a criticism of any other country, neither the U.S.A. nor the U.S.S.R. But I think the Chinese know better than anyone the way for man. I want to learn and write.”They found an apartment for me in the Peace Committee’s compound.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（02）

When I reached the age of twelve I left the school for ever and got my first fulltime job, as a grocer’s boy. I spent my days carrying heavy loads, but I enjoyed it. It was only my capacity for hard work that saved me from early dismissal, for I could never stomach speaking to my “betters” with the deference my employer thought I should assume.

But the limit was reached on Tuesday my half holiday. On my way home on that day I used to carry a large basket of provisions to the home of my employer’s sister-in-law. As her house was on my way home I never objected to this.

On this particular Tuesday, however, just as we were putting the shutters up, a load of smoked hams was delivered at the shop. “Wait a minute,” said the boss, and he opened the load and took out a ham, which he started to bone and string up.

I waited in growing impatience to get on my way, not for one minute but for quite a considerable time. It was nearly half-past two when the boss finished. He then came to me with the ham, put it in the basket beside me, and instructed me to deliver it to a customer who had it on order.

This meant going a long way out of my road home, so I looked up and said to the boss: “Do you know I finish at two on Tuesday?” I have never seen a man look more astonished than he did then. “What do you mean?” he gasped. I told him I meant that I would deliver the groceries as usual, but not the ham.

He looked at me as if I were some unusual kind of insect and burst into a storm of abuse. But I stood firm. He gave me up as hopeless and tried new tactics. “Go out and got another boy,” he yelled at a shop-assistant.

“Are you going to deliver them or not?” the boss turned to me and asked in a threatening tone. I repeated what I had said before. “Then, out of here,” he shouted, So I got out.

This was the first time I had serious trouble with an employer.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（03）

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of the field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（04）

They tell us, sir, that we are weak — unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our back, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of notions; and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable — and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace — but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to bur ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already on the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, has to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（05）

Proverbs are the popular sayings that brighten so much Latin American talk, the boiled-down wisdom that you are as apt to hear from professors as from peasants, from beggars as from elegances. Brief and colorful, they more often than not carry a sting.

When a neighbor’s dismally unattractive daughter announced her engagement, Imelda remarked, “You know what they say, Senora: ‘There’s no pot so ugly it can’t find a lid.’” And when her son-in-law blustered about how he was going to get even with the boss who had docked his pay, Imelda fixed him with a cold eye and said, “Little fish does not eat big fish.”

One afternoon, I heard Imelda and her daughter arguing in the kitchen. Her daughter had quarreled with her husband’s parents, and Imelda was insisting that she apologized to them. Her daughter objected. “But, Mama, I just can’t swallow them, not even with honey. They talk so big until we need something; then they’re too poor. So today when they wouldn’t even lend us enough to pay for a new bed, all I did was say something that I’ve heard you say a hundred times: ‘If so grand, why so poor? If so poor, why so grand?”

“Impertinent!” snorted Imelda. “Have I not also taught you, ‘What the tongue say, the neck pays for’? I will not have it said that I could never teach my daughter proper respect for her elders. And before you go to beg their pardon, change those trousers for a dress. You know how your mother-in-law feels about pants on a woman. She always says, ‘What was hatched a hen must not try to be a rooster!”

Her daughter made one more try. “But Mama, you often say, ‘If the saint is annoyed, don’t pray to him until he gets over it.’ Can’t I leave it for tomorrow?”

“No, no and no! Remember: ‘If the dose is nasty, swallow it fast.’ You know, my child, you did wrong. But, ‘A gift is the key to open the door closed against you.’ I have a cake in the oven that I was making for the Senora’s dinner, I will explain to the Senora. Now, dear, hurry home and make yourself pretty in your pink dress. By the time you get back, I will have the cake ready for you to take to your mother-in-law. She will be so pleased that she may make your father-in-law pay for the bed. Remember: ‘One hand washes the other, but together they wash the face.’”

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（06）

I took home a briefcase full of troubles. As I sat down on that hot and humid evening, there seemed to be no solutions to the problems thrashing around in my brain. So I picked up a book, settled into a comfortable chair and applied my own special therapy—supper-slow reading.

I spent three or four hours on two short chapters of Personal History by Vincent Sheean—savoring each paragraph, lingering over a sentence, a phrase, or even a single word, building a detailed mental picture of the scene. No longer was I in Sydney, Australia, on a sticky heart-wave night. Relishing every word, I joined foreign correspondent Sheean on a mission to China and another to Russia. I lost myself in the author’s world. And when finally I put in down, my mind was totally refreshed.

Next morning, four words from the book—“take the long view”—were still in my mind. At my desk, I had a long-view look at my problems. Once more, super-slow reading had given me not only pleasure but perspective, and helped me in my everyday affairs.

I discovered its worth years ago….Previously, if I had been really interested in a book, I would race from page to page, eager to know what came next. Now, I decided, I had to become a miser with words and stretch every sentence like a poor man spending his last dollar.

I has stared with the practical object of making my book last. But by the end of the second week I began to realize how much I was getting from super-slow-reading itself. Sometimes just a particular phrase caught my attention, sometimes a sentence. I would read it slowly, analyze it, read it again—perhaps changing down into an even lower gear—and then sit for 20 minutes thinking about it before moving on. I was like a pianist studying a piece of music, phrase by phrase, rehearsing it, trying to discover and recreate exactly what the composer was trying to convey.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（07）

From this motive I began to think seriously of matrimony, and choose my wife, as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well. To do her justice, she was a good-natured, notable woman; and as for breeding there were few country ladies who could show more. She could read any English book without much spelling; but for pickling, preserving, and cookery, none could excel her. She prided herself also upon being an excellent contriver in housekeeping, though I never could find that we grew richer with all her contrivances.

However, we loved each other tenderly, and our fondness increased as we grew old. There was, in fact, nothing that could make us angry with the world or each other. We had an elegant house, situated in a fine country, and a good neighbourhood. The year was spent in moral and rural amusements, in visiting our rich neighbours, and relieving such as were poor. We had no revolutions to fear, more fatigues to undergo; all our adventures were by the fireside, and all our migrations from the blue bed to the brown.

As we lived near the road, we often had the traveler or stranger visit us to taste our gooseberry wine, for which we had great reputation; and I profess, with the veracity of an historian, that I never knew one of them to find fault with it. Our cousins, too, even to the fortieth remove, all remembered their affinity and come very frequently to see us. Some of them did us no great honour by these claims of kindred; as we had the blind, the maimed, and the halt amongst the number. However, my wife always insisted that as they were that same flesh and blood, they should sit with us at the same table. So that if we had not very rich, we generally had very happy friends about us; for this remark will hold good through life, that the poorer the guest, the better pleased he ever is with being treated; and as some men gaze with admiration at the colours of a tulip, or the wing of butterfly, so I was by nature an admirer of happy human faces. However, when any one of our relations was found to be a person of very bad character, a troublesome guest, or one we desired to get rid of, upon his leaving my house I ever took care to lend him a riding-coat or a pair of boots, or sometimes a horse of small value, and I always had the satisfaction of finding he never came back to return them. By this the house was cleared of such as we did not like; but never was the family of Wakefield known to turn the traveler or the poor dependant out of doors.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（08）

Lecture

The traditional pattern of classroom experience at the college level brings the professor and a group of 20 to 30 students together for a 45-to-50-minute class session tow or three times a week. The most common mode of instruction is the lecture. When lectures are the principal method of instruction in larger classes, regular periods may be set aside for small group discussions under the leadership of an assistant instructor. In cases where a small class size encourages informality, lectures may be combined with discussions sessions based on assigned readings, required textbooks, and other outside materials.

Accurate, legible notes are invaluable aids to the student who is enrolled in a lecture course. Notes should be taken during lectures, and when the student is reading the texts prior to each session of the course. The key to good note-taking is to be able to listen a lot and to write only as much as is needed to record the essence of a point or idea presented by the lecturer. Thus, students should endeavor to identify only the main points and ideas being presented and to write them down in outline form. They should also strive to take good notes the first time and not plan to recopy notes—or to do so only when clarity and conciseness demand it. Finally, they should review their notes for about five minutes on the same day that they take them, and go over them again for about half an hour at least once a week, according to a regular schedule or plan. There is no course syllabus to be memorized; instead, the examinations will be base on the material presented in the lectures and textbooks. Reading

Reading skills are equally important. Experts estimate that it is possible for any normal adult English speaker to read 1,000 words a minute (and more), with special training. Yet most students read only about 300 words per minute. The following principles might be helpful for foreign students who whish to increase their reading skill:

1. Always s read faster than is comfortable. The faster your normal rate of reading become, the better your understanding will be.

2. While reading do not allow yourself to regress, but keep reading ahead in very sentence, even when you come across a new word. If some word, term, or phrase has clouded your understanding, you should reread it only after you have read the entire paragraph through once.

3. Read selectively. As you read make a conscious effort to screen the nouns, pronouns, and verbs from the other words, since these are the words that give meaning to what you have read. In effect, you should really read nouns, pronouns, and verbs and merely see the rest of the words in the sentence.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（09）

Joe’s dark eyes searched frantically for Cleo as he marched with the other Negro soldiers up the long thoroughfare towards the boat. Women were running out to the line of march, crying and laughing and kissing the men good-by. But where the hell was Cleo?

Beside him Luke Robinson, big and fat, nibbled from a carton of Baby Ruth candy a he walked. But Joe’s eyes kept traveling up and down the line of civilians on either side of the street. She would be along here somewhere; any second now she would come calmly out of the throng and walk alongside him till they reached the boat. Joe’s mind made a picture of her, and she looked the same as last night when he left her. As he had walked away, with the brisk California night air biting into his warm body, he had turned for one last glimpse of her in the doorway, tiny and smiling and waving good-by.

They had spent last night sitting in the little two-by-four room where they had lived for three months with hardly enough space to move around. He had rented it and sent for her when he came to California and learned that his outfit was training for immediate shipment to Korea, and they had lived there fiercely and desperately, like they were trying to live a whole lifetime. But last night they had sate on the side of the big iron bed, making conversation, half-listening to a portable radio, acting like it was just any night. Playing-acting like in the movies.

It was late in the evening when he asked her, “How’s little Hoey acting lately?” She looked down at herself. “Oh, pal Joey is having himself a ball.” She smiled, took Joe’s hand, and placed it on her belly; and he felt movement and life. His and her life, and he was going away from it and from her, maybe forever.

Cleo said, “He’s trying to tell you good-by, darling.” And she satvery still and seemed to ponder over her own words. And then all of a sudden she burst into tears. She was in his arms and her shoulders shook. “It isn’t fair! Why can’t they qtake the ones that aren’t married?”

He hugged her tight, feeling a great fullness in his throat. “Come on now, stop crying, hon. Cut it out, will you? I’ll be back home before little Joey sees daylight.”

“You may never come back. They’re killing a lot of our boys over there. Oh, Joe, Joe, why did they have to go and start another war?”

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（10）

Old Henry and his wife Phoebe were as fond of each other as it is possible for two old people to be who have nothing else in this life to be fond of. He was a thin old man, seventy when she died, a queer, crotchety person with coarse gray-black hair and beard, quite straggly and unkempt. He looked at you out of dull, fishy, watery eyes that had deep-brown crow’s-feet at the sides. His clothes, like the clothes of many farmers, were aged and angular and baggy, standing out at the pockets, not fitting about the neck, protuberant and worn at elbow and knee. Phoebe Ann was thin and shapeless, a very umbrella of a woman, clad in shabby black, and with a black bonnet for her best wear. As time had passed, and they had only themselves to look after, their movements had become slower and slower, their activities fewer and fewer. The annual keep of pigs had been reduced from five to one grunting porker, and the single horse which Henry now retained was a sleepy animal, not over-nourished and not very clean. The chickens, of which formerly there was a large flock, had almost disappeared, owing to ferrets, foxes, and the lack of proper care, which produces disease. The former healthy garden was now a straggling memory of itself, and the vines and flower-beds that formerly ornamented the windows and dooryard had now become choking thickets. A will had been made which divided the small tax-eaten property equally among the remaining four, so that it was really of no interest to any of them. Yet these two lived together in peace and sympathy, only that now and then old Henry would become unduly cranky, complaining almost invariably that something had been neglected or mislaid which was of no importance at all.

“Phoebe, where’s my corn-knife? You ain’t never minded to let my thins alone no more.”

“Now you hush, Henry,” his wife would caution him in a cracked and squeaky voice. “If you don’t, I’ll leave yuh. I’ll git up and walk out of here some day, and then where would y’l be? Y’ ain’t got anybody but me to look after yuh, so yuh just behave yourself. Your corn-knife’s on the mantel where it’s allus been unless you’ve gone an’ put it summers else.”

Old Henry, who knew his wife would never leave him in any circumstances, used to speculate at times as to what he would do if she were to die. That was the one leaving that he really feared. As he climbed on the chair at night to wind the old, long-pendulumed, double-weighted clock, or when finally to the front and the back door to see that they were safely shut in, it was a comfort to know that Phoebe was there, properly ensconced on her side of the bed, and that if he stirred restlessly in the night, she would be there to ask what he wanted.

“Now, Henry, do lie still! You’re as restless as a chicken.” “Well, I can’t sleep, Phoebe.”

“Well, yuh needn’t roll so, anyhow. Yuh kin let me sleep.”

This usually reduced him to a state of somnolent ease. If she wanted a pail of water, it was a grumbling pleasure for him to get it; and if she did rise first to build the

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fires, he saw that the wood was cut and placed within easy reach. They divided this simple world nicely between them.

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（11）

It was a fine day in early Spring. Bright sunshine flooded the street where a group of boys in Sunday clothes were playing ball. In most of the tenements the windows were up. Clean-shaven men in collarless shirts or in underwear, women with aprons or sloppy pink wrappers leaned on the sills and gazed with aimless interest at the street, the sky, those who were passing below. Thus they would spend most of every Sunday morning through the coming summer and now, in the first flush of mild weather, they had already taken up their posts. The street rang with the animated bickering of the boys at their game, with the click of a girl’s shoes as she shipped rope, with the muted sounds of a dozen unseen radios.

Into this familiar scene came a sudden intruder: an odd-looking ambulance with glazed window. It turned into the street quietly, moved along slowly as the driver searched for a number, and then came to a stop before a rooming house a drab, four-story building of yellowish, soot-stained brick. In the tenement windows above all eyes turned to the ambulance. On the street all games stopped and, in an instant, the ambulance was surrounded by children.

Those who knew why it had come told the others. An hour earlier there had been a police car and, still earlier, two men from the gas company. The odor of gas emanating from the building has been so strong that it had made church-goers sniff as they passed by on the street.

Up above now, in the open windows of the surrounding tenements, new faces had appeared, and eyes were riveted on the doorway of the yellow brick building. No on talked, no one moved away, and no one came down.

When the tow men in the front seat of the ambulance stepped out and walked into the house, one of the boys, a wiry, sallowfaced, blond lad, jerked his thumb and murmured softly to the others: “Oh, mama, ain’t they got the job?”

“They’ll be carrying you down some day, Shortly,” a stoutish lad commented with an attempt at humor.

The door of the rooming house opened again and conversation stopped. Both men came out. They walked to the rear of the ambulance and opened the door. Inside all was dazzling white, excessively sanitary-looking. Piled one on the other were several unpainted pine boxes without covers. The men lifted out the topmost one. The children became very still, even the youngest one ceasing their chatter. The man who was holding the rear of the box rested it for a moment on his hip and thigh, while using his free hand to close the door. They went inside with the smaller youngsters tailing after them. The landlady shut the door and leaned against the jamb with folded arms. “Beat it,” she said.

The men appeared. The box had its anonymous occupant now in its dark, canvas

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shroud. The younger children stared in eager fascination, but it was clear that they could not fully comprehend. The older boys, clumped together, looked on intensely, lips pressed together. The blond boy quickly crossed himself.

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（12）

Thousands of years ago the ancient peoples found out that days were longer in summer than in winter, and nights were shorter. They knew that this had a great deal to do with the changes of the seasons and the growth of plants and animals. They determined through generations of painstaking observation that the day was shortest in the Northern Hemisphere on the 22nd of December, after which it gradually grew longer until the 21st of June, when the day was the longest in the year and the night was the shortest. After that, the day would begin to shorten again gradually. In the beginning, the actual dates of these two days had to be calculated for each individual year, and depended on what kind of calendar was being used.

The first calendar to fix these days on definite dates of the year was the solar calendar, which had 365 days in a year and—every four years—a “leap-year” with one extra day.

To an observer on earth, the sun seems to move farther and farther away from the equator to the north until on June 21st it seems to reach its furthest point north. Then it seems to “pause” for one day before it turns around and goes back. Then it goes further and further south until on December 22nd it appears to “pause” again for one day before swerving back north again. These two days are called the Summer Solstice and the Winter Solstice respectively.

Now we know that all this is caused by the movement of the earth around the sun. as the earth journeys around the sun, it spins on its own axis. This can be illustrated by a simple experiment. If you push a sharp stick through a rubber ball and twirl it with two fingers, the ball spins around I much the same way the earth is spinning at this very moment. The points where the stick comes through the ball correspond to the North and South Poles. If you twirl this ball at night directly in front of a bright light, you will notice that half the ball is lighted up while the other half is in the shade. That is just like our night and day. If you keep the stick strictly vertical to the light and twirl it at an even speed, any spot on the ball’s surface will be in the light and in the shade the same length of time.

If the earth were spinning just like this rubber ball, there would only be day and night on earth, but no seasons, and days would always be the same length as nights—12 hours each. But that is not how the earth spins. It spins with its axis tilted. Its axis is always at the angle to the plane of its orbit—and angle of about 23.5 degrees.

It is this tilting that accounts for our four seasons and the lengthening and shortening of days and nights. For this reason also, the Equator (an imaginary line drawn around the earth at equal distance from the two poles) is not always directly under the sun’s rays. For six months the earth is tilted towards the sun, and the Northern Hemisphere gets more than its share of sunlight every day. Days are longer

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than nights, and what is more, the sun’s rays come down more perpendicularly instead of slanting down.

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（13）

In the beginning, Sanford Carter was ashamed of becoming an army cook. This was not from snobbery, at least not from snobbery of the most direct sort. During the two and a half years Carter had been in the army he had come to hate cooks more and more. They existed for him as a symbol of all that was corrupt, overbearing, stupid, and privileged in army life. The image which came to mind was a fat cook with an enormous sandwich in one hand, and a bottle of beer in the other, sweat pouring down a porcine face, foot on a flour barrel, shouting at the K. P. s ‘Hurry up, you men, I ain’t got all day’. More than once in those two and a half years, driven to exasperation, Carter had been on the verge of throwing his food into a cook’s face as he passed on the serving line. His anger often derived from nothing: the set of a pair of fat lips, the casual heavy thump of the serving spoon into his plate, or the resentful conviction that the cook was not serving him enough. Since life in the army was in most aspects a marriage, this rage over apparently harmless details was not a sign of unbalance. Every soldier found some particular habit of the army spouse impossible to support. Yet Sanford Carter became a cook and, to elaborate the irony, did better as a cook than he had done as anything else. In a few months he rose from a private to a first cook with the rank of Sergeant, Technician. After the fact, it was easy to understand. He had suffered through all his army career from and excess of eagerness. He had wanted to do well, and so he had often been tense at moments when he would better have been relaxed. He was very young, twenty-one, had lived the comparatively gentle life of a middle-class boy, and needed some success in the army to prove to himself that he was not completely worthless.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（14）

Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a dismembered branch of the Appalachian family, and are seen away to the west of the river, swelling up to a noble height and lording it over the surrounding country. Every change of season, every change of weather, indeed, every hour of the day, produces some change in the magical hues and shapes of these mountains, and they are regarded by all the good wives far and near as perfect barometers. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their bold outlines on the clear evening sky; but sometimes when the rest of the landscape is cloudless, they will gather a hood of gray vapors about their summits, which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will glow and light up like a crown of glory.

At the foot of these fairy mountains, the voyager may have descried the light smoke curling up from a village whose shingle-roofs gleam among the trees just where the blue tints of the upland melt away into the fresh green of the nearer landscape. It is a little village of great antiquity, having been founded by some of the Dutch colonists in the early times of the good Peter Stuyvesant (may he rest in peace!), and there were some of the houses of the original settlers standing within a few years, built of small yellow bricks brought from Holland, having latticed window and gable fronts, surmounted with weather-cocks.

In that same village, and in one of these very houses (which, to tell the precise truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years since, while the country was yet a province of Great Britain, a simple good-natured fellow of the name of Rip Van Winkle. He was a descendant of the Van Winkles who figured so gallantly in the chivalrous days of Peter Stuyvesant, and accompanied him to the siege of Fort Christina. He inherited, however, but little of the martial character of his ancestors. I have observed that he was a simple good-natured man; he was, moreover, a kind neighbor and an obedient hen-pecked husband. Indeed, to the latter circumstance night be owing that meekness of spirit which gained him such universal popularity; for those men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad who are under the discipline of shrews at home. Their tempers, doubtless, are rendered pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic tribulation; and a curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffering. A termagant wife may, therefore, in some respects, be considered a tolerable blessing; and if so, Rip Van Winkle was trice bleed.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（15）

Studies serve for delight, for ornament and, for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not heir own use; but that there is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute; nor to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some book are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are like common distilled waters, flashy things. Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man. And therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory; if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets witty; the mathematics subtitle; natural philosophy deep; moral grave’ logic and rhetoric able to contend. Abeunt studia in mores. Nay, there is no stand or impediment in the wit but may be wrought out by fit studies’ like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins’ shooting for the lungs and breast’ gentle walking for the stomach’ riding for the head; and the like. So if a man’s wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the Schoolmen; for they are cyminisectores. If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call up one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers’ case. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（01）

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一九四七年三月，中国党人跟我说，我必须离开延安。他们正在从他们最后的都城撤退，准备上山，那里我是不能去的。对我说：“待我们再和世界有来往时”，我或许可以回来。他认为大约要两年时间。他估计得比较宽。不到一年，我在巴黎遇到了中国人，他们就告诉我说，我回中国的时间快到了。“事态的发展比我们想象的来得快。”一九四八年秋天，我在莫斯科等待着去中国。五个月来，我不断申请苏联的出境签证。后来，就在可能安排我旅行中国的朋友刚刚到达的时候，人把我当作“间谍”逮捕起来，并取道波兰把我驱逐出境。我在监狱呆了五天，当时我一直在想，不知道自己做了什么错事。我始终没弄明白。

我在美国住了六年，任何国家的党人都不愿和我说话。后来，莫斯科“恢复”了我的名誉，宣布对我的指控是“没有根据的”。当时中国再次发出了邀请。这一次我进行了三年的合法斗争才取得我的美国护照。一九五八年春季我拿到了护照。离申请的那一年整整十年啦！

那时我已经七十二岁了，住在洛杉机，我在那里的朋友比在其他地方都多。我在城里有一所住宅，在山上有一幢避暑的住所，在沙漠地带一幢御寒的住所，还有我自己外出用的一辆汽车和一本驾照。我有一份够维持终身生活的收入。我是否应该去中国呢？

我先到了莫斯科——我住了近三十年的第二故乡。我丈夫的亲友要求我留下。“这里永远是你的家”我很受感动。更为感动的是，作家协会邀请我作他们的客人，并把我送到疗养院休养了一个月，同时又替我弄回了我在被驱逐时所损失的卢布，让我在莫斯科得到一套房间。“最好还是等我从北京回来再说。”

北京会有延安所具有的魅力吗？七十二岁的我能适应中国的生活吗？两个月后，我告诉我的中国朋友说：“这不是对其他国家的批评！既不是对美国，也不是对苏联。但是我认为，中国比谁都更懂得怎样待人。我要学习和写作。”他

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们在和平委员会的大院里给我找了一套房间。

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（02）

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我从十二岁那年起就永远离开了学校，并且找到了一份专职工作。最初是在一家食品杂货店里当伙计。我整天扛沉重的货物，不过干得倒也挺带劲。要不是能干重活，我早就给辞退了。因为老板要我毕恭毕敬地跟那些“上等人”说话，这样干，我实在受不了。

但是，有一个礼拜二——是我歇半天班的假日——事情发展到令我难以忍受的地步。每逢礼拜二回家的时候，我经常替老板捎一大篮子吃的东西，给他的嫂子送去。因为顺路，我也从没说过不乐意。

可是，就在这礼拜二，我们正关店门（上门板）的当儿，一批熏火腿送到店里。“等一会儿！”老板说道，说罢便打开火腿包，拿出一只，开始剔骨头，然后用绳子绑起来。

我想回家，越等越不耐烦，那里是等一会儿，一等就是半天。老板弄完时都快二点半了。然后，他就拿着那只火腿走过来，放在我身边的篮子里，叫我给一个订火腿的顾客送去。

这就是说我得多走一大段才能到家，我就抬起头对老板说：“你知道我礼拜二是两点钟下班的吗？”我还没见过有人像他那次那么吃惊的呢。“你什么意思？”他气喘嘘嘘地说。我对他说，我的意思是，像平常那样捎点货倒可以，那只火腿可就不送了。

他盯着我，好像我是一条怪怪的小爬虫，然后暴跳如雷破口大骂起来。可是我丝毫不让步。他拿我没办法，就耍新花招。“出去给我再找一个伙计来，”他对一个店员大声喊道。

“你到底送不送？”老板转过身子，以威胁的口吻问我。我把说过的话又重复了一遍。“那就滚蛋，”他喊道。于是，我就走出来了。这是我头一回和老板真正闹翻了脸。

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（03）

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八十七年前，我们的先辈们在这块上创立了一个新国家，它孕育在自由之中，奉行一切人生来平等的原则。

现在我们正在打一场伟大的内战，以考验这个国家，或者说，以考验任何一个孕育于自由而奉行上述原则的国家是否能够长久生存下去。

我们在这场战争中的一个伟大战场上集会。烈士们为使这个国家能够生存下去而献出了自己的生命，我们在此集会是为了把这个战场的一部分奉献给他们作为最后的安息地。我们这样做是完全应该的，而且也是非常恰当的。

但是，从更广泛的意义上来说，这块土地我们无法奉献，我们也无法将其神圣化，因为，在这里战斗过的勇士们，无论是活着的还是死去的，都已经把这块土地神圣化了，这远不是我们微薄的力量所能左右的。全世界将很少注意到，也不会长久记住我们今天在这里所说的话，但是，全世界永远不会忘记勇士们在这里所做过的事。无宁说，倒是我们这些还活着的人应该在这里把自己奉献给勇士们已如此崇高地推进而未尽的事业；倒是我们应该在这里把自己奉献给仍然留在我们面前的伟大任务，以便使我们从这些光荣的死者身上汲取更多的献身精神，来完成他们已经彻底为之献身的事业；以便使我们在这里下最大的决心，不让这些死者白白牺牲；以便使这个国家在上帝的保佑下得到自由新生，并且使这个归人民所有、由人民治理、为人民办事的在世界上永远存在。

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（04）

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先生们，他们对我们说，我们弱小，无法和这样的强敌抗衡。但是我们何时才会变得更强大呢？是下星期？是明年？还是等到我们完全解除武装，每家住宅都驻扎英国卫兵的时候呢？难道我们要靠犹豫不决、无所作为来聚积力量吗？难道就这样高枕无忧，直到敌人捆住我们的手脚，我们才能获得有效的抵抗手段吗？先生们，如果我们能够善于利用苍天赋予我们的各种手段的话，我们并不弱小。我们有三百万人民，在我们拥有的这样一个国家，为神圣的自由事业而武装起来，敌人派来抗击我们的任何是无法战胜我们的。况且，先生，我们不是孤军作战。有一个主宰民族命运的正义之神，会号召朋友们为我们而战。先生们，战争的胜利不光归于强者，而且也归于机智警惕、主动积极的英勇善战者。再说了，先生们，我们别无选择！要是我们贪生怕死，不敢应战，却要临阵脱逃，现在为时已晚。我们已经没有退路了，要退只有含恨忍辱，沦为奴隶。囚禁我们的锁链已经铸就。波士顿平原上已听到锁链丁铃当啷的响声。战争已无法避免——那就让它来吧！先生们，我再说一遍，那就让它来吧！！！

先生们，避重就轻，大事化小，这些都无济无事。先生们尽管可以高喊和平，和平！——但是依然没有和平！战争实际上已经开始！北方刮来的一阵大风让兵器铿锵作响的声音正回荡在我们耳边。我们的同胞已经上战场了！为什么我们还站在这儿袖手旁观呢？那些先生们究竟想些什么？我们想达到什么目的？不惜以锁链和奴隶为代价换取来的生命会如此可贵？换取来的和平会如此甜美？万能的上帝呀，可不能这样啊！旁人怎么做，我不得而知；至于我呢，不自由毋宁死！

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（05）

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谚语是使拉丁美洲人民言谈生动活泼的流行俗语，是洗练睿智的语言，大学教授说，山野农夫也说；市井乞丐说，名媛闺秀也说。谚语虽简洁明快，却往往带刺。

邻居一个丑八怪的女儿说她订婚了，伊梅尔达就说：“太太，你可听见大伙儿讲开了：‘罐儿再丑，配个盖子不发愁（姑娘再丑，找个汉子不必忧）。’”当伊梅尔达的女婿气势汹汹要找克扣他工资的老板算帐时，她冷眼瞪着他，说：“小鱼吃得了大鱼吗？”

一天下午，我听见伊梅尔达和女儿在厨房争论开了。原来是女儿刚跟公婆吵了嘴，她非要女儿去赔不是不可。做女儿的却偏不依。“可是，娘，他们说的我受不了，就是甜言蜜语也听不下去呀！他们满嘴大话，可是一旦求上他们，却又穷得不得了。就拿今天来说吧，我们想借一点刚够买一张新床的钱，他们却不肯，我只得讲了些你平日讲过几百遍的话：‘既然真阔气，何必又装穷？既然真得穷，何必摆阔气！’”

伊梅尔达哼了一声：“没家教！难道我没有教过你：‘舌头欠债，脖子还钱？’我才不愿意让人家指着脊梁骨，说我根本就不会教女儿尊重长辈。去赔个不是吧，可先得穿上连衣裙，换下身上的男裤。你可知道，你婆婆最讨厌女人穿男人的裤子。她总是唠叨：‘孵时命定是母鸡，不要逞强当公鸡！’”

做女儿的还想争论：“可是，娘，你不是常说：‘得罪了菩萨，也得等菩萨消了气再磕头嘛！’明天再说难道不行吗？”

“不，不，不行！要记住：‘药越难吃，越要快吃。’你知道，孩子，是你错了嘛！不过， ‘大门把你关在外，礼物送到自然开。’我炉里正烤着蛋糕，本想给太太当晚餐的，这我可以跟太太解释解释。好吧，乖孩子，赶紧回家，穿一套粉红色衣服，打扮得漂漂亮亮的。等你回来时，蛋糕也就好了，拿去送给婆婆。婆婆准会很开心，说不定会叫你公公替你们付床钱呢。可得记住：‘有来有往，

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互相利用。’”

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（06）

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我带着满满一皮包伤脑筋的问题回到家里。黄昏时分，既闷热，又潮湿，我坐下来，满脑子翻腾起伏的问题似乎找不到解决办法。我只好拿起一本书，坐在舒适的椅子里，施展自己的特殊疗法了——那就是超慢速阅读。

维森特·谢安的《我的经历》中的短短两章，我就读了三四个小时之久——对每个段落，我仔细品味，一唱三叹；对每个句子，每个短语，甚至是每个词，我都流连徘徊，依依不舍；书中胜境在我脑海里，历历如画，一览无余。这时，我已不再澳洲的悉尼，置身于热浪滚滚、汗流夹背的夜晚了。津津有味地品评每一词句，我已和外国记者谢安一起，首先专程访问了中国，然后又专程访问了。我完全沉浸在作者笔下的世界里，不复自知身在何处了。最后放下书来时，我倦意全消，身心为之一爽。

次日清晨，书上的四个字——从长计议——却仍然在我脑海里萦回不已。于是，凭桌而坐，对昨晚大伤脑筋的问题，也就“从长计议”了。又一次，超慢速阅读不仅使我心旷神怡，而且使我打开眼界，还帮助我处理了日常事务。

几年以前，我就发现了超慢速阅读妙用无穷。在那以前，我要是对一本书真感兴趣，我往往一页一页拼命往下翻，急于想知道下文的究竟。现在，我决定对词汇要像守财奴那样不轻易放过；也要像穷人过日子那样，把每个句子当作身边最后一块铜板，尽量拖延，慢慢消费。

开始我是从实际出发，使我的阅读慢慢拖延下去。但过了两个星期，我就开始领略超慢速阅读本身带给我的益处。吸引我注意的有时是个别的短语；有时却是整个句子。我总是慢条斯理地读，然后分析揣摩，然后又重新阅读——甚至阅读的速度变得比平时更慢——然后静坐默想二十分钟，接着才又往下阅读。我像一个钢琴家，首先一个乐句一个乐句地心领神会乐曲的奥妙，接着操练一番，尽可能想把作曲家要表达的思想感情挖掘出来，并且维妙维肖地使它重新再现。

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（07）

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出于这一动机，我认真地想起娶亲选妻的往事，如同我的妻子挑选结婚礼服一样，她不求礼服外表光滑细腻，但求耐久经穿。说一句公道话，我的妻子脾气好，又能干。说到家教，没有几个乡下妇人比她强，任何英文书她都能不太费劲地读下去。说起腌咸菜，作蜜饯和烹调法，那就更无人能比。在料理家务方面，她自命为好手，尽管我们并不因此而致富。

然而，我们两人相亲相爱，且年纪越大感情越深。实际上，我们夫妇俩从未反目，也从不怨天忧人。我们拥有一座做工讲究的房子，房子坐落在一个环境幽雅的村子里，邻居们都很好。我们整年以田园活动来打发日子，乐而不淫，有时拜访一些有钱的邻居，有时救济一些穷苦的人家。我们没有什么生活变故的事好担心，也不受什么劳累之苦。我们所有冒险的事不过是围着炉子闲谈，所有的乔迁也不过是从一张蓝色的床铺搬到一张棕色的床铺。

因为我们住在大路旁，常有旅客或异乡人来访，品尝我们家酿的醋栗酒。这种好酒为我们赢得美誉。我敢说，尝过的人从没挑剔过。我这句话跟历史学家们所说的话一样一点不假。我们的堂兄弟表兄弟们，那怕远至数十代，都没有忘记与我们之间的亲戚关系，常来看望我们。有些来认亲戚的人却也让我们感到不怎么脸上有光，因为其中有瞎子、有残废人，也有瘸子。但我的妻子总要他们跟我们同桌吃饭，因为他们都是亲骨肉。我们这儿虽然没有富翁阔老，却总有一些非常快乐的朋友，不是有这么一句永恒真理的话——客人越穷，受到款待就越高兴。有些人喜欢郁金花的颜色，有些人喜欢蝴蝶的翅膀，而我却本能地喜欢那种高兴的脸蛋。可是，亲戚中要是有品德败坏的、麻烦的、不受欢迎的，那么当他临别时，我总要刻意借给他一件骑马穿的长褂或者一双靴子，有时也借给他一匹廉价的马匹，从此他就不再来了，借去的东西也不来还了，对此我倒也感到满意。这样一来，家里就没有了我们不欢迎的人。不过，我们威氏一家人从来不把旅客或

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穷亲戚拒之门外。

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（08）

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讲课

由一位教授和二三十名学生每周面授两三次，每次授课时间45到50分钟，是大学程度课堂教学的传统方式。最普通的教学方式是讲课。较大的班以讲课为主要教学方法时，也会拨出一定时间由助教引导进行小组讨论。如果班级小，比较随便，便可以既讲课又讨论指定的读物、规定的教科书和其他课外资料。

学生听课时，要是能准确地记下笔记，且字迹清晰，那是很有用的。学生不但在听课时须作笔记，在课前预习时也应该如此。笔记做得好的关键在于能听进很多内容，并且能写下其要点。所以学生应该努力辨别出老师所讲的主要论点和意见，并把它们写成提纲，他们也应该努力把笔记一次性做好，而不要准备重抄一遍——只有在需要清楚或简洁时才重抄。最后，他们还应该在做笔记的当天看它五分钟，并且按计划安排每星期至少看一次，每次约三十分钟。不要求背讲义；考试就考讲课的资料和教科书。 阅读

阅读能力同样重要。据专家估计，一个操英语的正常成年人，经过特别的训练，可以每分钟读一千个词（甚至更多）。然而，大多数学生每分钟只能读三百个词左右。外国学生如欲提高自己的阅读能力，下列各项原则可能有所帮助：

1、总是要比你觉得舒服的速度去阅读。通常说，你的阅读速度愈快，理解力便会愈佳。

2、阅读时不要回头读，即使遇到一个生词也应继续读下去。如果一个单词或短语你不十分理解，也应等到把整段读完一遍之后回头去重读。

3、要有选择地读。你阅读的时候，要有意识地把名词、代词和动词与别的词分开，因为是这些词才使你所读的内容具有意义。事实上，你应该真正地读这些名词、代词和动词，句子里其余的词只要看一下就行了。

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（09）

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当乔和其他黑人士兵沿着长长的大街走向那艘船的时候，他那双黑色的眼睛在急切地寻找克莱奥。妇女人从人群中跑向队伍行列，喊着，笑着，与男人们亲吻告别。可是克莱奥究竟在哪儿呢？

乔的身边是卢克·鲁滨逊——一个高大肥胖的家伙，他一边走一边嚼着从一个盒子里掏出来的“球王牌”糖果。但是乔的眼睛一直在向街道两侧的人群来回扫视。克莱奥准在这一带的什么地方；她随时就会从拥挤的人群中泰然自若地走出来，与他肩并肩走到船边。乔的脑海里浮现出克莱奥的形象，她看起来和昨天晚上离别的时候完全一样。当他离开她的时候，加利福尼亚夜晚的清新凉爽的空气浸透了他那温暖的身躯，他回头望了她最后一眼，这个体态纤巧的女人站在门口微笑着，向他挥手告别。

他们是坐在那间狭窄的小屋里度过昨天晚上的。他们在这里已住了整整三个月。屋子小得连转身的地方都没有。当他来到加利福尼亚，并且得知他们这支队伍接受训练是为了要立刻开往朝鲜时，他租了这间屋子，并把她接了来。他们在这儿过着放纵的、不顾一切的生活，好像要把一辈子的生活一下子都过完似的。可是，昨天晚上，他们坐在那只铁床边交谈，半听半不听地开着手提式收音机，就像以往任何一个晚上所做的那样，就像在电影中演戏那样。

夜深人静时，他问她：“小乔最近怎么样了？”

她低头看了看自己。“噢，我的小乔变得像一粒球。”她面带微笑，拿起乔的一只手，放在她的肚子上。他感觉到了这个小生命，感觉到胎儿在动。这是他和她的小生命啊！可是他就要离开他们了，也许就要永别了。

克莱奥说：“小宝宝想要跟你告别呢，亲爱的。”她一动不动地坐着，像是在回味自己的话。后来，她突然掉起眼泪。

她躺在他怀里，肩膀抽动着。“太不公平了！他们干嘛不派那些没结过婚的人去呢？”

他紧紧地搂着她，觉得咽喉哽住了。

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“好啦，别哭了，亲爱的，别伤心了，好吗？在小乔出世之前，我就回来啦。” “你可能永远回不来了。在那儿，咱们的小伙子的可真不少。乔呀，乔，他们为什么又要发动战争呢？”

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（10）

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老亨利和他的妻子菲苾，就像世上没有其他什么东西可爱的那样，彼此相爱，简直到了老两口爱得不能再爱的程度。亨利是个瘦瘦的小老头，在她死时是七十一岁，他还是个古里古怪的人，粗糙灰白的头发和胡须都是乱七八糟的。他看你的时候，两眼无神、模糊、湿润，眼梢布满深褐色的皱纹。他的衣服，像许多农夫的衣服一样，又旧又硬又大，口袋凸出，领口不合适，肘部和膝部突起而且都磨破了。菲苾·爱英的身材又瘦又难看，穿一袭寒酸的黑衣服，戴一顶黑帽子，就算是她最好的穿戴了，其样子简直就像一把伞。日子一天天地过去，他们只需要照顾自己了，他们的动作越来越迟缓，活动也越来越少。每年养的猪从一头减少到一头，还是哼哼叫的小毛猪。亨利现在养的唯一的一匹马是只贪睡的牲口，喂得不算太饱，也不怎么干净。从前养的一大群鸡几乎都死光了，要么给黄鼠狼、狐狸叼走，要么缺乏适当的照管而病死。过去郁郁葱葱的花园如今只留下片段的回忆，过去点缀窗户门庭的藤蔓花草如今变成了一丛荆棘。他们已经立了一份遗嘱，把这片快要给税吃光了的薄产平分给四个孩子，但谁都对此不感兴趣。可是这老两口却一起过着宁静而相爱的生活。只是老亨利有时变得过于急躁，老是抱怨什么东西给忘了或找不到了，而这全是鸡毛蒜皮的事。

“菲苾，我的玉米刀哪儿去了？你从来都是不小心，就爱乱动我的东西。” “别吵啦，亨利，”他的妻子会用沙哑尖利的嗓音吓唬他：“你要不听话，我就离开你。有一天我要站起来，从这里走出去，那你怎么办呢？除了我，还有谁来照顾你，所以你还是给我老实点。你的玉米刀就在壁炉架子上的老地方，除非你自己把它放在什么地方去了。”

老亨利知道，他的妻子无论如何都不会离开他的，他往往暗自思量的是，如果她死了的话，他怎么办？那倒是他真的害怕的一种离别。当他晚上爬上椅子去上那架古老的长双摆钟，或者最后去查看前后门有没有关好的时候，知道菲苾舒舒服服地躺在床上，谁在她自己的那一边，知道如果他在半夜翻来复去睡不着，她就会问他要什么，这对他来说就是一种安慰。

“哎，亨利，你安静地躺着！怎么像只鸡似的安静不下来。” “我睡不着，菲苾。”

“那你也用不着这么翻来复去呀。你得让我睡一睡。”

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这番话往往给他带来一丝恬适的睡意。如果她要一桶水的话，他就会嘀嘀咕咕却又高高兴兴地去提；如果她先起床去生火，他就会把木柴劈好放在她方便拿的地方。老两口就这样很好地平分了这个简单的世界。

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（11）

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早春的一个晴天，大街上阳光灿烂。一群穿着假日衣服的小孩子正在街上玩球。这时简易公寓的窗户大多打开了。刚刮过脸的男人穿着汗衫、内衣，女人系着围裙或者披着邋遢的粉红罩衫，他们都靠在窗口漫无目的地望着街头，望着天空和街上的行人。差不多每个星期日早晨，这些人总是这样消遣日子，直到夏天。现在刚刚春到人间，他们便已各就各位了。大街上玩得兴致勃勃的小孩子在嘻嘻哈哈吵吵嚷嚷，跳绳小姑娘们的鞋子发出踢哒踢哒的响声，还有好些收音机传来隐隐约约的声音，这些声音响彻全街。

在这人们习以为常的场面上，突然闯出了一个不速之客：一辆奇行怪状、装着玻璃窗的“救护车”。车子悄悄地开进街道，缓缓移动，司机在寻找门牌号码，随即在一座出租公寓前停下。这是一幢简陋的四层楼房，黄色砖墙上熏满煤烟。窗口上的人目光顿时都转向这辆“救护车”，大街上所有游戏都停了下来，“救护车”前一会儿就围满了孩子。

知情的人正跟别人讲“救护车”的来历。一个小时前，就来过一辆警车。再早些时候，煤气公司有两个人也来过。因为这幢房子里散发出的煤气味太浓了，就连去教堂的人经过时都闻到了。

这时，周围公寓楼的窗口又出现了许多新面孔，这些人眼睛全集中到黄砖房子的门口。谁也不说话，谁也不走开，谁也不下楼来。

“救护车”驾驶室里两个人下车刚进屋，一个身体结实、面色黄黄的金发小孩就翘起大拇指，对其他一些人轻声说：“妈呀，他们又有活干了。”

另一个胖胖的小伙子诙谐地回答说：“矮小子，总有一天他们会把你也抬下去。”

公寓门又开了，谈话也停止了。两位司机从公寓里出来，走到“救护车”后面打开门。里面一片刷白，看上去十分卫生，几口没上漆、没盖子的松木棺材上下堆着。两个人从最上面取下一口。孩子们全都屏息静气，连最小的那个孩子也没吭声。后头那个抬棺材的人把棺材往自己大腿上一搁，腾出一只手关好车门。两人又走进公寓，小孩子们跟在后边。房东太太关上门，紧靠门边，抱着双臂说：“走开”。

抬棺材的人又出来了。棺材里装着一位不知姓名的人，用黑帆布裹着。小孩子

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用急切而迷惘的眼神盯着瞧，显然他们还不能完全理解是怎么一回事。年纪大些的小伙子站在一块，咬紧双唇，全神贯注地望着。金发小胖子立刻在胸口划十字，祈求上帝保佑。

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（12）

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数千年前，古人发现，白天夏季比冬季长，而夜晚则夏季比冬季短。他们知道这种现象与季节变化、动植物生长有很大关系。经过多少代人辛辛苦苦的观察，他们确认，在北半球十二月二十二日的白天最短，过了那天后，白天就逐渐变长，一直到六月二十一日。那天是一年中白天最长、夜晚最短的一天。此后，白天又开始逐渐变短。起初，这两天的具体日期必须每年计算，而且还要看所用的历法的种类而定。

最早把这两天固定在每年一定的日期的年历是阳历，按照这种年历，一年有三百六十五天，每四年有一“闰年”多一天。

在地球上的观测者看来，太阳似乎离开赤道渐渐向北移动。到六月二十一日，移动到北面最远的地方。接着，太阳似乎 “暂停”移动一天，然后就回头渐渐向南移动，直到十二月二十二日，太阳似乎又“暂停”一天，再回过头来往北移动。这两天就分别叫做夏至和冬至。

现在我们知道，所有这些现象都是由于地球绕太阳转动而产生的。地球绕着太阳运行时是围绕自身的轴转动的。这可以用简单的实验来说明。如果把一根尖头棒插入橡皮球，用两个手指使其转动起来，橡皮球的旋转与地球此时此刻的自转极为相似。尖头棒穿过的两处相当于南极和北极。如果夜间正对着明亮的灯光转动，就会发现半个皮球被照亮，而另外半个在阴暗处。这种情况正好与我们的白天夜晚的现象相同。如果使尖头棒完全与灯光垂直，以均匀的速度加以转动，球面的任何一点在亮处和暗处的时间长短是相同的。

如果地球完全像这个橡皮球一样转动，那么，地球上就只有白天和夜晚，没有季节，而白天永远与夜晚一样长——各十二小时。但是，地球并不是那样转动的。它旋转时地轴是倾斜的。地轴同地球轨道平面总是成一个角度——大约二十三度半。

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就是这样的倾斜角度才使得一年有四个季节，有昼夜长短的变化。由于同样的缘故，赤道（离两极距离相等的地方围绕地球的一条假想线）并不总是在阳光垂直照射之下。有六个月的时间，地球向太阳倾斜，北半球就每天得到较多的阳光，白天就比夜晚长。而且，阳光不是斜照，而是以比较直的角度照下来。

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（13）

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一开始，桑弗·卡特觉得在当个炊事兵怪可耻的，这并不是由于势利眼，至少不是那种丝毫不加掩饰的势利眼。他已经在呆了两年半光景，对炊事兵越来越反感。对他来说，他们干的活儿是生活中贪污腐化、专横跋扈、愚蠢和特权集大成的象征。脑子里浮现出来炊事兵的形象是个肥头大耳的家伙，一手拿着挺大一块三明治，一手拎着一瓶啤酒，一张猪头似的脸淌着大汗珠子，一脚蹬在面粉桶上，冲着炊事值勤嚷嚷道：“麻利点，你们这帮家伙，我可没那么多闲工夫！”在那两年半时间里，卡特不止一次在排队领饭的时候，迫于一时激愤，差点儿把饭菜整个朝炊事兵脸上扔去。往往只是为了芝麻大点小事就惹他一肚子火：炊事兵撇着两片厚嘴唇啦；舀菜的大勺不小心铛地一声碰了他的碟子啦；要不就是忿忿不平地认为炊事兵饭量没给足。说真的，生活本来在许多方面就像是一场婚姻；为了明明无关紧要的琐事却乱发一通脾气，这并不是精神错乱的表现，每个士兵都会在这个配角身上发现某种令人难以忍受的怪癖。

不管怎么说，桑弗·卡特还是当上了炊事兵。有讽刺意味的是，他干得还比以往干任何差事都出色。没出几个月，他就从二等兵提升为一等炊事兵，是技术军士。在这种情况下，他的晋升就不难理解了。他自从当兵以来，一直犯有一种过于卖劲的毛病。他总想把事情办好，往往该轻松自在的时刻，也显得紧张。他年轻，刚二十一，曾经享受过中产阶级那种比较恬静文雅的童年生活，当了兵之后，就想做出点象样的成绩来证明自己绝不是个窝囊废。

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《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（14）

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凡是在哈得孙河上游航行过的人，必定记得卡兹吉尔丛山，那是阿巴拉契亚山脉的一支断脉，巍然屹立在河的西岸，高耸云端，威凌四周乡村。每个季节的转换，每次气候的变化，乃至一天中每小时的转变，都会使这些山峦发生千姿百态的变换，因此远近的主妇都把它们当作精确的晴雨表。天空晴朗平静的时候，它们呈现一片兰紫色，其雄浑的轮廓映在傍晚碧空云际；可当万里无云时，山顶上会聚集一团灰雾，在落日的余辉照耀下，像一顶灿烂的王冠放射出五光十色的异彩。

在这神奇的丛山脚下，航行的旅客有时会看见一缕轻烟从一村落里袅袅升起，树丛中显露出农家的木屋顶，那里的郁郁葱葱的山色化作近处一片嫩绿的景色。这座非常古老的小村庄是荷兰殖民者在这个州成立之初建造起来的，那时正值好心的彼得·斯太弗山特（愿他在九泉之下安眠！）开始执政；不久以前，这里还有几所最初来此定居者的房屋，它们都是用荷兰运来的小黄砖造的，格子窗，人字门墙，屋顶装着风信鸡。

好多年前，当这里还是大不列颠管辖的一个州时，在这个村子里，而且就在这样的一所房子里（这所房子，说句老实话，由于历尽沧桑，风吹雨打，已经破烂不堪），这里曾经住过一个淳朴善良、名叫瑞普·凡·温克尔的人。他是凡·温克尔家族的后代，其祖先在彼得·斯太弗山特执政的骑士时代，以勇敢出名，并且还曾经随着彼得围攻过克瑞廷纳要塞。可是，他祖先那种好斗的性格，很少遗传到他身上。刚才我已经说过，他是个淳朴善良的人；非但如此，他还是个和气的邻居和一个驯顺得怕老婆的丈夫。实际上，之所以他那温和的性情处处受人欢迎，可以说是因为怕老婆的结果；一个人在家受惯了泼妇的训斥，到外面就最容易处处随和，事事顺从。这种人的脾气，毫无疑问，就是因为在家庭磨难的熊熊火炉里经受过锻炼，才变得柔软却富有韧性。看起来，要教人养成耐心而坚韧的

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美德，老婆的一次悄悄话抵过全世界的说教。因此，从某些方面来说，有一个泼辣的妻子，也可以看作是相当有福气的；要是这样，瑞普凡温克尔就算是三生有幸了。

《实用翻译教程》英译汉课堂练习（15）

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