07年“高级英语”课文逐句翻译（12）

　　工 作

　　Lesson Thirteen Work

　　究竟工作是幸福还是痛苦的源泉，这可能是一个难以回答的问题。

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

　　毫无疑问有许多工作是非常令人厌烦的，而且过多的工作总是十分痛苦的事。

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

　　然而我认为，只要不过量，对多数人来说即使是最枯燥的工作也比终日无所事事要好些。

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

　　工作给人的愉快的程度多种多样，从仅仅是消烦解闷到产生巨大的快乐，这会随工作的性质和工作者的能力而异。

　　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.

　　大多数人不得不从事的工作本身大都无乐趣可言，但即使是这样的工作也有一些很大的好处。

　　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，工作可将一天的许多时间占满，人们不必再费神来决定应干些什么，大多数人在可以自由地按自己的愿望打发时间时，常常会不知所措，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.

　　而他们的决定又总是受到干扰，觉得干别的什么事也许会更令人愉快。

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

　　能够有意义地利用闲暇时间是文明发展到最高阶段的结果，而目前很少有人能达到这一层次。

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

　　何况作出选择本身就是件令人厌烦的事。

　　Moreover the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome.

　　除了那些具有非凡主动性的人，其他的人肯定有人乐于被告诉一天中的每时每刻该做什么，当然命令他们做的事不能太令人厌烦。

　　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.

　　多数无所事事的阔佬免遭从事单调乏味工作之苦，但代价是莫名其妙的无聊。

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

　　有时他们去非洲猎取巨兽或环绕世界飞行来解闷，但这类刺激的数量有限，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.

　　因此较为明智的阔佬们工作起来几乎像穷人一样卖力，而有钱的女人则大多忙于她们自以为具有震撼世界般重要性的无数琐事。

　　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.

　　因此人们愿意工作，首先因为工作可防止产生无聊感。比起终日无所事事而造成的无聊来，人们在干着虽必要但缺乏兴趣的工作时所感到的枯燥无聊就不值一提了。

　　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.

　　与工作的这一好处相关的还有一个好处，那就是假日到来会令人感到更加美妙。只要一个人的工作不至于累得他体力不支，那么他就会从他的闲暇时间里得到无所事事的人绝对得不到的极大乐趣。

　　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.

　　多数有报酬的工作和某些没有报酬的工作还有第二个好处，那就是它们提供了成功的机会和实现抱负的可能。

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

　　在多数工作中，收入的多少是衡量成功与否的标准，当我们这个资本主义社会继续存在时，这是不可避免的。

　　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况下收入才不再被用作当然的衡量标准。

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

　　人们想增加收入当然是出自钱多了可以获得更多的舒适享受这一愿望，但同样也出自想获得成功的愿望。

　　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.

　　无论工作多么枯燥单调，如果它是能够使人逐渐成名的手段，无论是在世界上出名还是就在自己的圈子里出名，那么这工作就不再难以忍受了。

　　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.

　　归根结底，幸福的最重要的因素之一是有始终如一的目的。而对多数人来说这样的目的主要来自他们的工作。

　　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.

　　在这一点上，终日从事家务的妇女便远不如男子幸运，也没有走出家庭参加工作的妇女幸运。

　　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.

　　家庭妇女没有工资，无法改善自己的状况，她所干的一切在她的丈夫看来都是理所当然的（她的丈夫对此几乎是熟视无睹），丈夫欣赏的不是她干的家务活，而是她的其他品质。

　　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.

　　当然对那些有足够的钱可以把住宅和花园搞得十分漂亮而成为邻居们的羡慕对象的女人来说，情况就不一样，但这样的女人相对来说数量较少，对于大多数妇女，家务带给她们的满足远不如其他工作带给男子或职业妇女的满足。

　　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.

　　多数工作都能使人满意地消磨掉时间，而且给人们实现抱负提供某种令人满意的途径，虽然这途径不起眼。一般说来这种满足足以使一个即使工作枯燥无味的人也比无事可做的人感到快乐。但如果从事的是有趣的工作，就能给人带来比仅仅是解闷高级得多的满足。

　　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.

　　有兴趣的工作可以按其包含乐趣的大小顺序排列，我先谈小有乐趣的工作，最后谈那些值得伟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.

　　两个使