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上海外国语大学考研高翻
MTI
翻译基础
2017
年真题
一、英译中
翻译划线部分
BOOK III
The whole course of man's
life up to adolescence is a period of weakness;
yet there
comes a time during these
early years when the child's strength overtakes
the demands
upon it, when the growing
creature, though absolutely weak, is relatively
strong. His
needs are not fully
developed and his present strength is more than
enough for them.
He would be a very
feeble man, but he is a strong child.
What is the cause of man's weakness? It
is to be found in the disproportion between
his strength and his desires. It is our
passions that make us weak, for our natural
strength is not enough for their
satisfaction. To limit our desires comes to the
same
thing, therefore, as to increase
our strength. When we can do more than we want, we
have strength enough and to spare, we
are really strong. This is the third stage of
childhood, the stage with which I am
about to deal. I still speak of childhood for want
of a better word; for our scholar is
approaching adolescence, though he has not yet
reached the age of puberty.
About twelve or thirteen the child's
strength increases far more rapidly than his
needs.
The strongest and fiercest of
the passions is still unknown, his physical
development
is still imperfect and
seems to await the call of the will. He is
scarcely aware of
extremes of heat and
cold and braves them with impunity. He needs no
coat, his blood
is warm; no spices,
hunger is his sauce, no food comes amiss at this
age; if he is
sleepy he stretches
himself on the ground and goes to sleep; he finds
all he needs
within his reach; he is
not tormented by any imaginary wants; he cares
nothing what
others think; his desires
are not beyond his grasp; not only is he self-
sufficing, but for
the first and last
time in his life he has more strength than he
needs.
I know beforehand
what you will say. You will not assert that the
child has more
needs than I attribute
to him, but you will deny his strength. You forget
that I am
speaking of my own pupil, not
of those puppets who walk with difficulty from one
room to another, who toil indoors and
carry bundles of paper. Manly strength, you say,
appears only with manhood; the vital
spirits, distilled in their proper vessels and
spreading through the whole body, can
alone make the muscles firm, sensitive, tense,
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and springy, can alone cause real
strength. This is the philosophy of the study; I
appeal to that of experience. In the
country districts, I see big lads hoeing, digging,
guiding the plough, filling the wine-
cask, driving the cart, like their fathers; you
would take them for grown men if their
voices did not betray them. Even in our towns,
iron-workers', tool makers', and
blacksmiths' lads are almost as strong as their
masters
and would be scarcely less
skilful had their training begun earlier. If there
is a
difference, and I do not deny that
there is, it is, I repeat, much less than the
difference
between the stormy passions
of the man and the few wants of the child.
Moreover, it
is not merely a question
of bodily strength, but more especially of
strength of mind,
which reinforces and
directs the bodily strength.
This interval in which the strength of
the individual is in excess of his wants is, as I
have said, relatively though not
absolutely the time of greatest strength. It is
the most
precious time in his life; it
comes but once; it is very short, all too short,
as you will
see when you consider the
importance of using it aright.
He has, therefore, a surplus of
strength and capacity which he will never have
again.
What use shall he make of it? He
will strive to use it in tasks which will help at
need.
He will, so to speak, cast his
present surplus into the storehouse of the future;
the
vigorous child will make provision
for the feeble man; but he will not store his
goods
where thieves may break in, nor
in barns which are not his own. To store them
aright,
they must be in the hands and
the head, they must be stored within himself. This
is the
time for work, instruction, and
inquiry. And note that this is no arbitrary choice
of
mine, it is the way of nature
herself.
Human intelligence
is finite, and not only can no man know
everything, he cannot
even acquire all
the scanty knowledge of others. Since the contrary
of every false
proposition is a truth,
there are as many truths as falsehoods. We must,
therefore,
choose what to teach as well
as when to teach it. Some of the information
within our
reach is false, some is
useless, some merely serves to puff up its
possessor. The small
store which really
contributes to our welfare alone deserves the
study of a wise man,
and therefore of a
child whom one would have wise. He must know not
merely what
is, but what is useful.
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From this small stock we must also
deduct those truths which require a full grown
mind for their understanding, those
which suppose a knowledge of man's relations to
his fellow-men--a knowledge which no
child can acquire; these things, although in
themselves true, lead an inexperienced
mind into mistakes with regard to other
matters.
We are
now confined to a circle, small indeed compared
with the whole of human
thought, but
this circle is still a vast sphere when measured
by the child's mind. Dark
places of the
human understanding, what rash hand shall dare to
raise your veil? What
pitfalls does our
so-called science prepare for the miserable child.
Would you guide
him along this
dangerous path and draw the veil from the face of
nature? Stay your
hand. First make sure
that neither he nor you will become dizzy. Beware
of the
specious charms of error and the
intoxicating fumes of pride. Keep this truth ever
before you--Ignorance never did any one
any harm, error alone is fatal, and we do not
lose our way through ignorance but
through self-confidence.
His progress in geometry may serve as a
test and a true measure of the growth of his
intelligence, but as soon as he can
distinguish between what is useful and what is
useless, much skill and discretion are
required to lead him towards theoretical studies.
For example, would you have him find a
mean proportional between two lines,
contrive that he should require to find
a square equal to a given rectangle; if two mean
proportionals are required, you must
first contrive to interest him in the doubling of
the cube. See how we are gradually
approaching the moral ideas which distinguish
between good and evil. Hitherto we have
known no law but necessity, now we are
considering what is useful; we shall
soon come to what is fitting and right.
Man's diverse powers are
stirred by the same instinct. The bodily activity,
which
seeks an outlet for its energies,
is succeeded by the mental activity which seeks
for
knowledge. Children are first
restless, then curious; and this curiosity,
rightly directed,
is the means of
development for the age with which we are dealing.
Always
distinguish between natural and
acquired tendencies. There is a zeal for learning
which has no other foundation than a
wish to appear learned, and there is another
which springs from man's natural
curiosity about all things far or near which may
affect himself. The innate desire for
comfort and the impossibility of its complete
satisfaction impel him to the endless
search for fresh means of contributing to its
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