高级英语第11课

Lesson Eleven

On Getting off to Sleep

谈睡眠

人真是充满矛盾啊

!

毫无疑问，幽默是惟一帮助我们摆脱矛盾的

办法，要是没有它，我们就会死于 烦恼。

What a bundle of contradictions is a man! Surely, humor

is the saving grace of us, for without it we should die of

vexation.

=Life is full of contradictions! It is no doubt that humor is

the

only

way

to

get

us

out

of

it;

otherwise,

we

will

be

annoyed to death.

saving grace

[1]

上帝拯救灵魂的恩典

[2] a redeeming quality or characteristic

可资弥补的特点；可取之处

在我看来，没有什么比睡眠更能说明事物间的矛盾。

With

me,

nothing

illustrates

the

contrariness

of

things

better than the matter of sleep.

=From my point of view, sleeping best explains [serves as

the best example] the oppositions between things.

比如，我打算写一篇文章，面前放好了笔、墨和几张白纸，准 保

没写几个字我就会困得要命，无论当时是几点都会那样。

If, for example, my intention is to write an essay, and 1

have before me ink and pens and several sheets of virgin

paper, you may depend upon it that before I have gone

very far I feel an overpowering desire for sleep, no matter

what time of the day it is.

Virgin paper=blank paper

I bet [ it is not uncertain/ you can be sure] that I will be

desperate for sleep before I have written a few words on

the paper.

Overpower

[1]

压服

,

击败

Police overpowered the criminal and took him away.

警察制服了那罪犯并把他带走了。

[2] (

感情等

)

< br>压倒

;

使无法忍受

The smell of the garbage overpowered me.

垃圾的臭味使我无法忍受。

我瞪着那似乎在谴责我的白纸，

直到 眼前一片模糊，

声音也难以

辨清，只有靠意志力才能勉强坚持。

I stare at the reproachfully blank paper until sights and

sounds become dim and confused, and it is only by an

effort of will that I can continue at all.

=I look straight into the paper as if it was blaming me for

failing to write a good essay. I

keep looking until I can

hardly

see and voice clearly. It is the perseverance that

keeps me going.

即使这时，我也会迷迷糊糊地像在做梦一样继续坚持工作。

Even then, I proceed half- heartedly, in a kind of dream.

=Even

at

this

point,

I

will

go

on

with

my

work

in

a

dreamlike manner.

但是当深夜躺在床上，我什么事都能干，只有睡觉无法做到。

But let me be between the sheets at a late hour, and I can

do anything but sleep.

=But

if

I

lie

in

the

bed

in

midnight,

I

can

do

anything

other than sleep.

随着时钟一遍一遍的报时，我可以完成大量的文章。

Between chime and chime of the clock I can write essays

by the score.

=with the strikes of the clock, I can finish writing a large

number of essays.

极有吸引力的主题和崇高的思想纷纷出现在脑海，

有恰如其分的意象和措辞。

Fascinating

subjects

and

noble

ideas

come

pell-mell,

each with its appropriate imagery and expression.

=Not only the attractive subjects and brilliant ideas but

also suitable images and words will jump into my minds

in a rushing way.

除了笔、墨和纸，什么也不能阻止我写出半打不朽的杰作。

Nothing

stands

between

me

and

half-a-dozen

imperishable masterpieces but pens, ink, and paper.

=I

can

easily

produce

half

a

dozen

enduring

and

outstanding works if only I had pen, ink and paper.

Nothing

stands

between

A

and

B

means

there

are

no

barriers between them.

如 果，

我们的思想和主观意象对于来世的人来说真的就像我们的

书 本和图片一样是有形的、

摸得着的，

那么我在来世会比在今生< /p>

获得更高的声誉。

If

it

be

true

that

our

thoughts

and

mental

images

are

perfectly tangible things, like our books and pictures, to

the inhabitants of the next world, then I am making for

myself a better reputation there than I am in this place.

=Unfortunately, the people [residents] of the next world

cannot

feel and touch our thoughts and images in our

minds, otherwise, I would be more famous there than in

this world, because there are lots of thoughts and images

in my mind that I can

’

t write down on paper.

只要我 躺在床上有一两个小时睡不着觉，

我就能令自己满意地解

决人类 一切的疑虑。

Give me a restless hour or two in bed and I can solve, to

my own satisfaction, all the doubts of humanity.

=As

long

as

I

spend

two

hours

in

bed

sleepless,

I

can

resolve all the doubts of human beings in a satisfactory

way.

如果我有兴致的话，

我可以谱写出宏伟的交响乐，

描绘出壮丽 的

画卷。

When

I

am

in

the

humour

I

can

compose

grand

symphonies, and paint magnificent pictures.

=when I am in the mood,

我就是莎士比亚、< /p>

贝多芬和米开朗基罗。

但这一切仍无法令我满

意，因为我还是无法入睡。

I

am,

at

once,

Shakespeare,

Beethoven,

and

Michael

Angelo; yet it gives me no satisfaction; for the one thing I

cannot do is to go to sleep.

=I am Shakespeare, and at the same time I am Beethoven

and

Michael

Angelo.

But

all

this

fails

to

satisfy

me

because I cannot sleep.

一旦到了上床睡觉时间，五个摄取 知识的港口就要关闭的时候，

我认识的大多数人似乎都能很容易就忘却了他们在尘世的作 用，

很快进入梦乡，而我却不能。

Once

in

bed,

when

it

is

time

to

close

the

five

ports

of

knowledge, most folks I know seem to find no difficulty in

plunging their earthly parts into oblivion.

=Once lying in the bed when all the five senses are about

to

shut,

most

people

I

know

have

no

difficulty

falling

asleep, easily forgetting the parts they play in the world,

while I cannot do so.

Oblivion=[1]the state of being unaware or unconscious of

what is happening

无意识

< br>（或无知觉）

的状态，

不省人事

[2] the

state of being forgotten, especially by the public

（尤指）被（公众）忘却的状态

they drank themselves into oblivion.

他们用酒把自己灌得不

省人事。

his name will fade into oblivion.

他的名字将从人们的记忆中

消失。

对我来说，

睡眼就像一个忸怩羞怯的情妇，

喜欢反复无常地挑逗

男人，

让男人不停地向她求爱——“惟恐让 男人得的太容易而显

得自己身价太低。”

It

is

not

so

with

me,

to

whom

sleep

is

a

coy

mistress,

much

given

to

a

teasing

inconsistency

and

for

ever

demanding

to

be

wooed

—

too

light

winning

make

the prize light

=For me, to fall asleep is not easy. For me, sleep is just

like a shy lover who tends to tease her man and demands

to be courted continuously, for fear that if something is

won easily, it won

’

t be treasured/cherished.

我曾诧异地读过一些大肆吹捧那些好战的超人、

世界和平的巨大

威胁者，诸如克伦威尔、拿破仑之类的文章，文章里说他们“ 钢

铁般的意志”使他们一躺下就能熟睡，并在某一特定时间醒来，

精神抖擞。

I used to read, with wonder, those sycophantic stories of

the warlike supermen, the great troublers of the world's

peace, Cromwell, Napoleon, and the like, who, thanks to

their

immediately into deep sleep, to wake up, refreshed, at a

given time.

=Out of curiosity, I used to read those stories written in a

flattering way of such supermen of war as Cromwell and

Napoleon, the

peace-threatening people. I was told that

these people could easily get to sleep with their so-called

iron will and get up feeling energetic.

这些故事给了我很大的震动，

我决心 像他们那样做。

于是上床后，

我就紧咬牙关，

< br>在黑暗中尽可能显得意志坚定，

命令睡眠立刻到

来。

Taking

these

fables

to

heart,

I

would

resolve

to

do

likewise, and, going to bed, would clench my teeth, look

as determined as possible in the darkness, and command

the immediate presence of sleep.

=I am so shocked by these stories that I am determined to

do the same. Lying in bed, I clench my teeth and stay as

determined

as

possible

in

the

darkness

and

command

that sleep come immediately.

但是，天哪

！高度集中的精力让我比 任何时候都清醒，我不得

不在折磨人的失眠中捱过几个钟头。

But alas! The very act of concentration seemed to make

me more wakeful than ever, and I would pass hours in

tormenting sleeplessness.

=But, my god, I become all the more sober than ever and

I

have

to

spend

a

couple

of

torturing

hours

in

this

sleepless night.

我忽略了拥有“钢 铁般意志”的必要性，

我自己的意志力中很少

或干脆没有这种特 殊的金属性质。

I had overlooked the necessity of having an

own powers

of will having little or none

of this peculiar

metallic quality.

但是同这些具有钢铁般意志的人生活在一起会是多么不舒服啊！

But

how

uncomfortable

it

must

have

been

living

with

these iron-willed folks!

谁愿意劝告他们，与他们争辩呢？

Who would want to remonstrate and argue with them?

那还不如用大铁锤打铁砧。

It

would

be

worse

than

beating

an

anvil

with

a

sledge