英譯現(xiàn)代散文●雜感集（節(jié)錄） ◎ 黃藥眠

雜感集(節(jié)錄)

Random Thoughts(Excerpt)

◎　黃藥眠

◎　Huang Yaomian

拂曉前的燈光，盡管明亮，但怎能同剛出來(lái)的磅礴的晨曦爭(zhēng)勝呢?

Predawn lamplight, bright as it is, can never outshine the majestic rising sun.

金剛石雖然能發(fā)出閃灼的亮光，可是沒(méi)有熱。

Diamond glitters but gives off no heat.

愛夸耀過(guò)去成績(jī)的人，大概對(duì)于未來(lái)已沒(méi)有多大的興趣了吧!

He who is given to bragging about his past achievements must have lost interest in his own future.

燃燒著的木柴是決不懊悔它自己之成為灰燼的。

Firewood, while burning, never regrets having itself reduced to ashes.

更多的事前考慮，就可以有更少的事后追悔。

More thinking beforehand, less after-the-event remorse.

讓偏見守著心靈，那么真理的聲音就難于流進(jìn)他的耳朵里了。

A prejudiced mind keeps the voice of truth from entering the ear.

謙虛的工作者常易取得熱情的支持，浮夸的工作者則常受到冷淡的對(duì)待。

Modesty will win warm support; boastfulness will be cold shouldered.

陀螺盡管轉(zhuǎn)得勤，但就是沒(méi)有前進(jìn)!

A top makes no headway no matter how hard it spins.

你出生入死得來(lái)的榮譽(yù)，也許會(huì)在衣香鬢影的歡樂(lè)的華筵中歡笑掉。

The honor you have gained by going through fire and water may be lost amidst gay laughter at a joyous grand banquet graced by gorgeously dressed women.

歡笑掉的東西，難道能用眼淚哭得回來(lái)么?

Can that which is lost in the midst of the gay laughter be regained by tears of regret?

寧可預(yù)告少而貢獻(xiàn)多，切勿先作許多諾言，而最后只能拿出半杯涼水。

Few promises and more contributions, rather than more promises and few contributions.

你單純，因?yàn)槟愠藶闊o(wú)產(chǎn)階級(jí)和勞動(dòng)人民而奮斗終身以外，便沒(méi)有任何別的要求和欲望。你復(fù)雜，因?yàn)槟銓?duì)于敵人的陰謀詭計(jì)、威脅恫嚇、利誘和美人計(jì)，都能一一予以識(shí)破，加以反擊，獲得勝利。

You are simple because you have no wants apart from dedicating your life to the welfare of the proletariat and the working people. You are complicated because you can defeat your enemy by seeing through one by one his plots, threats, lures and sex-traps.

逃跑必然會(huì)引起追擊，讓子彈從背后射進(jìn)去是可恥的。

Running away will inevitably result in the pursuit and attack of the enemy; it is disgraceful to be hit in the back by a bullet.

嫉妒別人的才能，也許正好說(shuō)明自己的無(wú)能。

Showing jealousy of other people's abilities is clear proof of your own incompetence.

面盆里泛起一些漣漪，我們覺(jué)得不值一提，但在螞蟻看來(lái)，那簡(jiǎn)直像是汪洋大海軒然大波了。

Ripples on a basin of water mean nothing at all to man, but are like wild waves over a boundless sea to ants.

時(shí)間到哪里去了呢?有些人的時(shí)間是遺失在拈花弄草的游戲中，有些人是遺失在消散的閑談和香煙的迷霧中。這些人不知道浪費(fèi)時(shí)間，就等于浪費(fèi)生命。 有些人，我認(rèn)識(shí)他很久，但始終陌生;有些人，我同他很熟，但始終沒(méi)有成為朋友;有些人，我同他做了很久的朋友，但后來(lái)才發(fā)現(xiàn)彼此還沒(méi)有真正的認(rèn)識(shí)。

Where is time gone? Some fool away their time in playing a game of womanizing; some trifle away their time in chit-chat amidst cigarette smoke. They don't know that wasting time means wasting life. Some whom I have known for a long time are strangers yet. Some with whom I am well acquainted have never become friends with me. Some have been friends of mine for a long time, but we still don't really know each other.

不過(guò)有些人，我同他才第一次見面，一下子就認(rèn)出他是同志。

Some, nevertheless, are immediately found to be real comrades though we meet for the first time.

蜈蚣蛇蝎是毒蟲，但用得其當(dāng)不也能以毒攻毒地治病么?

Centipedes, snakes and scorpions are venomous, but, when properly used, they cure disease by combating poison with poison, don't they?

釘子如果沒(méi)有錘子在后面不斷督促，釘子就釘不進(jìn)墻里去。

A nail will never be driven into a wall without repeated hammering from behind.

不成熟的東西也有值得稱贊的地方，因?yàn)樗m幼稚，但包含有未來(lái)。 在交響樂(lè)隊(duì)里工作的人們，絕不會(huì)因?yàn)檩喌絼e人在彈奏而感到自己受到冷遇。

Things immature also have aspects worthy of our praise, because, though puerile, they embody the future. Members of a symphony orchestra never feel left out in the cold when it is others' turn to play their musical instruments.

因?yàn)榻豁憳?lè)團(tuán)是一個(gè)整體。

It is because a symphony orchestra is a whole.

無(wú)私的人，總希望從自己手里能給人們散布出更多的幸福。

A selfless man always thinks of handing out more happiness to others.

老頭兒不要靠過(guò)去的老本，青年人也不要去預(yù)支未來(lái)的幸福。

Old people should not rest on their laurels, nor should young people enjoy in advance their future happiness.

你老去計(jì)較從人民那里獲得了多少東西，你為什么不計(jì)算一下，你欠了人民多少東西?

You often bother about how much you are getting from the people. Why not figure out how much you owe them?

我不愿做清淺平靜的湖水，自我欣賞其清潔。我寧愿跟著洪流，夾著泥沙、石塊，滾滾東流，而歸于海。

I hate to be a calm lake which is limpid and shallow and indulge in admiring myself for being so clean. I would rather follow the mighty torrent and surge eastward along with mud, sand and rocks until I reach the sea.

不要光看到挺拔遒勁的松樹的枝杈，更重要的是要看到它插入泥土深處的根系啊! 拉著牛尾巴不能使它向后退，揪著牛耳朵也不能使它向前進(jìn)。

Behold not only the straight and sturdy branches of a pine tree, but, more importantly, its roots deep in the soil. You cannot make a cow move backward by pulling it by the tail, nor can you make it move forward by dragging it by the ear.

牽牛就得牽在牛鼻子上。

A cow is to be led by the nose.

黃藥眠(1903—1987)，作家、教授、文藝評(píng)論家，原名黃訪、黃恍，廣東梅縣人。解放前從事教師、編輯、記者等工作，出版有小說(shuō)、詩(shī)歌、散文等專集。解放后任中國(guó)文學(xué)藝術(shù)聯(lián)合會(huì)副秘書長(zhǎng)、民盟中央委員、北京師范大學(xué)中文系教授等職，著有多種散文集。他寫的《雜感集》是一組格言式的雜文，三言兩語(yǔ)，寓意深刻，發(fā)人深思。