英文小说佳句欣赏

洋八路

205 【The importance of Living】All human hapiness is sensuous happiness -- By Lin Yutan


-- 人类所有的幸福皆源于感觉。。 视觉，听觉，嗅觉，味觉。。感觉。。有没有道理？林语堂对精神的愉悦不以为然，认为最终还是要归于人体的生理（物理）感觉。。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-19 17:52 编辑 ]

洋八路

206 【The importance of Living】To me, any wife without children is a mistress, and any mistress with children is a wife, no matter what their legal standing is. -- By Lin Yutan

-- 这个观点好像过于极端。。。感觉林先生还是太俗，人生的底色是灰色的，没有意义的，生出再多的小孩也改变不了人生根本的悲哀。。

，

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-19 17:39 编辑 ]

洋八路

207 【Little Dorrit】This old man is always a little old man; if he were ever a big old man, he has shrunk into a little old man; if he were always a little old man, he has dwindled into a less old man. by Charles Dickens.

-- 这个写的有点奇怪，不过也可以看出Dickens的一点文风。。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2012-1-5 12:37 编辑 ]

洋八路

208 【The importance of Living】The strain of keeping up sex appeal necessarily falls upon the nerves of women and not of men. It is also unfair, for by placing a premium upon beauty and youth, middle-aged women are confronted with the hopeless task of fighting their gray hair and time's course. A Chinese poet has already warned us that the fountain of youth is a hoax, that no man can yet 'tie a string to the sun' and hold back its course. Middle-aged women's effort to keep up sex appeal thus becomes an arduous race with the years, which is quite senseless -- By Lin Yutan

-- 讲是这么讲，可也是没办法的事。。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-19 17:24 编辑 ]

洋八路

209 【Little Women】'I should like a lovely house, full of all sorts of luxurious things--nice food, pretty clothes, handsome furniture, pleasant people, and heaps of money.  I am to be mistress of it, and manage it as I like, with plenty of servants, so I never need work a bit.  How I should enjoy it!  For I wouldn't be idle, but do good, and make everyone love me dearly.' -- by Louisa May Alcott

-- 一个小女人的理想生活。。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-19 17:30 编辑 ]

洋八路

210 【Little Women】The clocks were striking midnight and the rooms were very still as a figure glided quietly from bed to bed, smoothing a coverlet here, settling a pillow there, and pausing to look long and tenderly at each unconscious face, to kiss each with lips that mutely blessed, and to pray the fervent prayers which only mothers utter.  As she lifted the curtain to look out into the dreary night, the moon broke suddenly from behind the clouds and shone upon her like a bright, benignant face, which seemed to whisper in the silence, "Be comforted, dear soul!  There is always light behind the clouds. -- by Louisa May Alcott

-- 她要出远门看她在战场上生病的丈夫，出发前的晚上替几个女儿盖好被子。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-20 09:54 编辑 ]

洋八路

211. 【Little Dorrit】Thus, in the ensuing silence, Jeremiah stood scraping his chin and looking at Arthur, as though he were trying to screw his thoughts out of him with an instrument. -- by Charles Dickens

- 想用一个仪器把他的思想从他的脑袋里挖出来。






下图：成都到峨眉的火车上-这个哭闹的小孩天庭饱满，长大以后肯定比他的老爸潇洒。-- The wailing baby, with his flush and affluent bare head, and with its relentless effort to defy the oddity in the train, is bound to have a more promising and handsomer future than his sweating daddy.

洋八路

212 【Little Women】One discovered that money couldn't keep shame and sorrow out of rich people's houses, another that, though she was poor, she was a great deal happier, with her youth, health, and good spirits, than a certain fretful, feeble old lady who couldn't enjoy her comforts, a third that, disagreeable as it was to help get dinner, it was harder still to go begging for it..  -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 穷人的阿Q精神。



下图 - 九寨沟里的鱼：肯定以为天上掉馅饼来了。-- The shoal of fish, apparently excited and cheerful, must have assumed something nice and big falling to their feast.

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-20 17:01 编辑 ]

洋八路

213 【Little Women】a poem:

     I wish we could wash from our hearts and souls
    The stains of the week away,
    And let water and air by their magic make
    Ourselves as pure as they.
    Then on the earth there would be indeed,
    A glorious washing day!
                                             -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 让蓝天碧水洗涤你的身心。。


下图重庆：天桥下，一残疾乐队，很有排场和气势，大人们习以为常，可把那小孩给吓的。。-- Under the traffic bridge, a concert of three disabled men was running ravishingly. They had a passion no less desperate than of a prominent celebrity on a better stage, yet no adults were evidently stirred but an innocent child nearby, who took a shock very remarkable and searched his mother like a chick at fright.

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-21 17:59 编辑 ]

洋八路

214 【Little Women】It was a piteous sight, the once rosy face so changed and vacant, the once busy hands so weak and wasted, the once smiling lips quite dumb, and the once pretty, well-kept hair scattered rough and tangled on the pillow.  All day she lay so, only rousing now and then to mutter, "Water!" with lips so parched they could hardly shape the word.  All day Jo and Meg hovered over her, watching, waiting, hoping, and trusting in God and Mother, and all day the snow fell, the bitter wind raged, and the hours dragged slowly by.  -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 大姐姐生病的情形。。


乐山：蚂蚁行军看大佛。-- Spectators were swarming like a line of ants on track, not for a piece of food, but for the greatest Buddha of awe.

洋八路

215 【Little Women】.. but all of a sudden a change seemed to come over her, and, for a day or two, she was quite unlike herself.  She started when spoken to, blushed when looked at, was very quiet, and sat over her sewing, with a timid, troubled look on her face.  -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 大家猜一下，她是怎么了？




下图：江油李白故居 - 那么傻的人，等铁杆磨成针了，人生也完了；不过这个地方风景上好，边看边磨，既饱眼福，也保身材；再理想一下，如果能有一对相爱男女轮流着磨，肯定可以磨出两辈子的幸福来。--  Only an idiot could think of doing this, as his life would be an absolute waste, as much as the loss of the metal itself, even if the chunk finally reduces into a needle. What is more attractive though is the beautiful scene on the site; you can enjoy the view while grinding your work, thus feeding your eyes and as well keeping your body fit and un-obese. A more fanciful idea is to have a couple of lovers alternating the task on the spot, their happiness would be unquestionably fortified.

洋八路

216 【Little Women】‘Go and eat your dinner, you'll feel better after it.  Men always croak when they are hungry’ -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 我也感觉自己肚子饿的时候容易发脾气。。




下图：悉尼- 看来鸡生比人生更难过，不过上吊也好，至少还可以在阳光下留一全尸。-- A chicken finds its life more unbearable than human’s. Yet hanging itself like this and that ably preserving a wholeness of body under the sun, is deemed a lot more dignified than being cut to pieces.

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2012-1-10 14:23 编辑 ]

洋八路

217 【The Diary of a Young Girl】Everyone thinks I'm showing off when I talk, ridiculous when I'm silent, insolent when I answer, cunning when I have a good idea, lazy when I'm tired, selfish when I eat one bite more than I should, stupid, cowardly, calculating, etc.,etc.  -- Anne Frank.

-- 怎么做都不能讨人的好，人一但有了偏见，打死都不信了。




成都：真不知道他怎么想的，愣是要充当美国犯人? -- curious what actually ticks in his mind when choosing the shirt, he looks more like a prisoner than anybody else.

洋八路

218 【Little Women】Meg had spent the time in working as well as waiting, growing womanly in character, wise in housewifely arts, and prettier than ever, for love is a great beautifier. -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 所以，不恋爱的女人，连眼睛都是灰的。。





悉尼海滩：这只狗比太多的人更懂得如何享受生活。。- She enjoys her dog life far more vigorously than many of the pathetic human species.

洋八路

219 【Little Women】After lunch, people strolled about, by twos and threes, through the house and garden, enjoying the sunshine without and within. -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 老外也有三三两两一说。


悉尼：遇到这群漂亮的蘑菇，长在一颗树上，很象我花园里的一种花。中间蛋黄色，外围蛋白色。看上去应该是可以吃的，树上的嘛，应该毒不到哪里去的，所以，想尝一下。摘了半个，用矿泉水冲了一下，然后一点一点地，象兔子尝鲜，小心咀嚼，肉质松软体贴，轻微的甜味，带点香，在嘴里慢慢扩散；吃完，顺着快乐的本能，采下另一半继续，算凑了一个整数。不过，还是有点担心，于是闭上眼睛静养，体会身体异常，10分钟后仍然感觉清醒，没有特别不祥动静，一高兴，鼓起勇气又吃了一个。。。 --- My eyes were suddenly attracted to a few clutches of mushroom, which were growing marvellously on a bough of an expired tree. It had a shape and colour of a type of flower in my garden, with its centre being egg-yolk yellow and its outward creamy white. It is very tempting to my taste, save my only worry that it could be deadly poisonous. However, I speculated it to be at safe side, for it was sourced from a tree instead of the more hideous debris, and, moreover, it did look like some edible mushrooms I had had before. So, I dared to give a trial. I split half of its soft cap, washed it by the mineral water I brought with me, and started nibbling it in a manner not unlike a rabbit trying a new type of grass. It was very fresh and tender, and its intimacy to of my flesh was second to none. The subtle sweetness and beautiful savour were suffusing explicitly all over the inside of my mouth, of which pleasure, as being shameful as I had to admit, led my instinct to finish the second half. But after the dangerous attempt thus completed, and my best understanding of risk thus recovered, I should still be wary of its negative bodily effect. I therefore closed my eyes and quietly minded any unusual signal from my body. Luckily, after about ten minutes, I was still feeling sober and as fresh and sound as ever before. The test was so much so declared a success, at least on first run, which actually rallied my next courage to consume one piece more.

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-30 13:11 编辑 ]

洋八路

220 【The Importance of Living】Business men who are busy the whole day and immediately go to bed after super, snoring like cows, are not likely to contribute anything to culture. -- Lin Yutang

-- 牛不产生文化，可她有奶呢。文化人写字的笔，林语堂遐想时抽的烟斗，哪个不是商人们交易成的呢？。。有时候想，文化艺术这些东西，也就是一块遮羞布，而且越包，就越文化。。

成都：如果您哪天，脸能笑成这样，脚翘成那样，何愁快乐不能！ -- If one day your face can be smiled into this, and your feet twisted like that, your happiness would never ever be miles away!

洋八路

221 【Little Dorrit】So, from the sea-shore the ocean was no longer to be seen lying asleep in the heat, but its thousand sparkling eyes were open, and its whole breadth was in joyful animation, from the cool sand on the beach to the little sails on the horizon, drifting away like autumn-tinted leaves that had drifted from the trees. -- by Charles Dickens

-- 喜欢海滩的朋友，好好想象一下吧。。



悉尼：这个看起来象什么？- What does this look like? give me at least five answers, and work up yourself to be rewarded by the same number of New Years' presents from me...

再来一碗

照片好看

洋八路

222 【Little Women】On Monday morning the weather was in that undecided state which is more exasperating than a steady pour.  It drizzled a little, shone a little, blew a little, and didn't make up its mind till it was too late for anyone else to make up theirs.  -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 象悉尼的天气，也象俺的心情，捉摸不定。。



藏族五色旗幡：红，黄，兰，白，绿， 各代表什么？ -- this flag has five colours, said to a have special worship purpose in Tibet, got any idea of what is represented by each?

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-29 16:46 编辑 ]

洋八路

223 【The Importance of Livign】If a beauty should have the face of a flower, the voice of a bird, the soul of the moon, the expression of a willow, the charm of an autumn lake, bones of jade and skin of snow, and a heart of poetry, I should be perfectly satisfied. - Tanslated from 张潮 【幽梦影】by 林语堂

-- 想的美！


悉尼：在蜘蛛网的魔咒之中，蜻蜓痛苦着，扭曲着，挣扎着死去；在蜘蛛网的魔咒之中，落叶，因为没有坠入深渊而庆幸，因为仍能接受阳光的最后洗礼而安详。--  Trapped in a cobweb, the dragonfly struggled, trembled and excrutiating its life to finality; trapped in the cobweb, the leave couldn't but cling to its fortune of not falling further to the dreadful abyss, cherish the serenity while enjoying the last streaks of sunshine.

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2011-12-31 15:34 编辑 ]

洋八路

224 【The Importance of Livign】A little injustice in the breast can be drowned by wine; but a great injustice in the world can be drowned only by the sword. - Tanslated from 张潮 【幽梦影】by 林语堂

【幽梦影】原文：胸中小不平，可以酒消之；世间大不平，非剑不能消也。


成都：宽窄巷子，“可遇”酒吧 -- can hardly be found? or can ultimately be found?

洋八路

225 【The Importance of Livign】If there are no books in this world, then nothing need be said, but since there are books, they must be read; if there is no wine, then nothing need be said, but since there is wine, it must be drunk; if there are no famous hills, then nothing need be said, but since there are, they must be visited; if there are no flowers and no moon, then nothing need be said, but since there are, they must be enjoyed and played; if there are no talented men and beautiful women, then nothing need be said, but sinec there are, they must be loved and protected. - Tanslated from 张潮 【幽梦影】by 林语堂

- 【幽梦影】原文： 天下无书则已，有则必当读；无酒则已，有则必当饮；无名山则已，有则必当游；无花月则已，有则必当赏玩；无才子佳人则已，有则必当爱慕怜惜。
好像确实是中文言简意赅？



悉尼：蓝天有白云悠悠，大海有银光闪烁；远看纤纤木桥，缝补梦境之心田。-- In the blue sky, there are white clouds sauntering, on the face of the sea, silvery lights are there sparkling; the wooden bridge, beheld slender, and lone and tender, is weaving a heart theme of dream.

洋八路

226 【The Importance of Livign】 Reading books in one’s youth is like looking at the moon through a crevice; reading books in middle age is like looking at the moon in one’s courtyard; and reading books in old age is like looking at the moon on an open terrace. This is because the depth of benefits of reading varies in proportion to the depth of one’s own experience. - Tanslated from 张潮 【幽梦影】by 林语堂

【幽梦影】原文：少年读书，如隙中窥月；中年读书，如庭中望月；老年读书，如台中玩月；皆以阅历之浅深，为所得之浅深耳。


悉尼：黎明初晓，雾气蒸腾；飞鸟照镜，水鸭先知。-- Dawn is breaking, while mist is swelling; the bird is flying to a mirror, before the duck is testing the water.

洋八路

227 【The Importance of Livign】The essence of travel is to have no duties, no fixed hours, no mail, no inquisitive neighbours, no receiving delegations, and no destination. A good traveler is one who doesn't know where he came from. He does not even know his own name and surname. - by 林语堂

-- 根本就不可能有这样的旅游了 -- 这个时代，每个人时刻被‘电击’着，忘不了自己，更忘不了别人。



上海鲁迅公园：主席说，难就难在认真二字，不过对这个棋局，不认真都难啊。在他们一个个严肃的表情下，可以想象他们的大脑是何等辛苦的劳作。。  - Chairman Mao once said, the most difficult thing among all worldly matters is 'seriousness', but, apparently, you can't be more serious upon the peculiar progress of a chess. Observing their earnest countenance, you can imagine how miserably their brains are suffering from a calculation too complicated.

注：感觉seriousness for '认真’，不够贴切，比较贴近现场，但不贴近愿意，将就着吧。。

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2012-1-1 14:36 编辑 ]

洋八路

228. 【Little Dorrit】He smoked his cigarette out, with his ugly smile so fixed upon his face, that he looked as though he were smoking with his drooping beak of a nose, rather than his mouth; like a fancy in a weird picture.  -- by Charles Dickens


-- 写的那么丑陋， 无疑是一个坏人。。

上海朱家角：这个豆腐，臭得你三日不知肉滋味 -- 干脆改为三日不能上床好了。。 The foul tofu, being such claimed that eating it would make you forget all about the taste of meat for three days, should have a dismal consequence of being kicked out of your bed for three consecutive evenings by your partner, who may not wish to tolerate its killing stench.

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2012-1-2 12:19 编辑 ]

洋八路

229 【Little Women】"That's the right spirit, my dear.  A kiss for a blow is always best, though it's not very easy to give it sometimes," said her mother, with the air of one who had learned the difference between preaching and practicing.  -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 打不还手，而且不但不还手，还'Kiss'对方一下 -- 说起来容易，做起来可是好难。。

后花园昙花（broad-leaved epiphyllum）：这昙花刚好在2012新年开放 （12：30am),短促的生命，安静和苍白，显然没有烟花那样灿烂而辉煌。- The flowers seemed to have been inspired and awaken by the roaring fireworks at new years' eve, accorded its blooming hours on the yearly transition, yet its pale, timid and tranquil beauty didn't appear to so please an earthly creature like me – it looked more like having a whisper, exclusively with the moon in the sky...

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2012-1-4 12:41 编辑 ]

洋八路

230 【Little Women】-- gentlemen really are very necessary aboard ship, to hold on to, or to wait upon one, and as they have nothing to do, it's a mercy to make them useful, otherwise they would smoke themselves to death, I'm afraid. -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 所以，男人是要好好利用的，否则无聊至死。。


--  looking for blood! 嗜血的海浪。。 or looking for fire instead?

[ 本帖最后由 洋八路 于 2012-1-3 16:50 编辑 ]

洋八路

231 【Little Women】I felt a little low in my mind as I sat up in my room after tea, and when the big, muddy, battered-looking bundle was brought to me, I just hugged it and pranced.  It was so homey and refreshing that I sat down on the floor and read and looked and ate and laughed and cried, in my usual absurd way. -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 一个新年礼物，看把她给整的。。

上海，凌晨。。她在大哭，死劲推着那个栏杆，用上海话，我听不太明白，好像是说她的小狗找不到了，都怪这个栏杆，太疏，不够密，让她的宝贝给溜走了。。。 She was crying noisily, pushing hard the rail with all her might, muttering in the famous Shanghainese, which was broken between tears and cost my good efforts to understand, that she couldn’t find her little dog, and that this rail was to be blamed, for letting the dog slip under its loose structure…

洋八路

232. 【Little Dorrit】The anger with which she said it, the more remarkable for being so much under her restraint, fixed Clennam's attention, and kept him on the spot. It flashed out of her dark eyes as they regarded him, quivered in her nostrils, and fired the very breath she exhaled; but her face was otherwise composed into a disdainful serenity, and her attitude was as calmly and haughtily graceful as if she had been in a mood of complete indifference. -- by Charles Dickens

- 愤怒的言辞、眼睛、鼻子和呼吸，可是高傲的脸却镇定自如。。。难于想象？


悉尼：在梦与现实之间，看她如此的恬淡和高雅  --  Between the dream and the reality, the cat is wavering about a threshold of complete indifference and elegance.

洋八路

233 【Little Women】‘Nothing more, except that I don't believe I shall ever marry.  I'm happy as I am, and love my liberty too well to be in a hurry to give it up for any mortal man.’ -- by Louisa May Alcottby

-- 她相当肯定她不会结婚 。。



成都：应该全是捡的，除了他那条弯弯的命。。All things must have been sourced from rubbish, except for his arched life..