Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighborho

游客2023-12-08  9

问题    Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighborhood would have been Thoreau’s idea of the low levels. The active discipline of heightening one’s perception of what is enduring in nature would have been his idea of the high. What he saved from the low was time and effort he could spend on the high. Thoreau certainly disapproved of starvation, but he would put into feeding himself only as much effort as he would keep him functioning for more important efforts.
   Effort is the gist of it. There is no happiness except as we take on life-engaging difficulties. Short of the impossible, as Yeats put it, the satisfaction we et from a lifetime depends on how high we choose our difficulties. Robert Frost was thinking in something like the same terms when he spoke of "The pleasure of taking pains". The mortal flaw in the advertised version of happiness is in the fact that it purports to be effortless.
   We demand difficulty even in our games. We demand it because without difficulty there can be no game. A game is a way of making something hard for the fun of it. The rules of the game are an arbitrary imposition of difficulty. When someone ruins the fun, he always does so by refusing to play by the rules. It is easier to win if you are free, at your pleasure, to change the wholly arbitrary rules, but the fun is in winning within the rules. No difficulty, no fun.

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答案    努力是问题的关键。不进行艰苦的努力,便无幸福可言。正如叶芝所说,如果不涉及做不到的事,那么.对自己的一生是否满意则取决于选择并克服困难的大小。罗伯特?弗罗斯特说“苦中有乐”,指的也是这个意思。而被有些人吹得天花乱坠的所谓“幸福”,其致命的错误就在于标榜不花气力。
   甚至在游戏中,我们也总是设置障碍。之所以如此,是因为没有障碍则没有游戏本身。游戏就是要人们通过克服所设置的困难从而获得乐趣的。游戏规则就是故意强加的困难。如果没有从游戏中得到乐趣,那一定是有人未按规则行事。随心所欲地改变游戏规则,当然容易取胜,但是乐趣尽失,因为只有按照规则取胜才有乐趣。没有难度,则没有乐趣。

解析    这是篇议论文;谈“苦”中有“乐”;要求译2、3段。
   第一段的基本意思是:“乐”有高、低层次上的区别。第二段说关键在于是否花了力气。第三段以游戏为例说明了“没有苦(对困难的克服)就没有甜(真正的乐趣)”的道理。本题比较容易。这里,仅作简要分析。
   Effort is the gist of it:译者需要理解it指的是上段所说的高、低两个层面的情况。
   life-engaging difficulties是指“需要终生去克服的困难”。
   Short of the impossible;“除了根本无法实现的那些satisfaction以外”。
   how high we choose our difficulties;注意,“high”应是“(困难多)大”,不说“(困难多)高”。
   something like the same terms:“大体意思与此相仿。”全句可译为:……所说的“苦中之乐”(或译为“以苦为乐”、“苦中有乐”)意思与此相仿/大体也是这个意思。
   the advertised version of happiness:“有些人标榜的‘幸福’,(其致命的错误在于鼓吹幸福唾手可得)”。
   “即使在游戏中,我们也要求设置困难。(注意:加了“设置”二字。)之所以这样(注意:改换了说法。),是因为没有困难就无所谓游戏。游戏就是一种为了获得乐趣而故意设置困难的方法(这是直译,成文时需要加工)。游戏规则就是对困难的强加。如果某人没有从游戏中得到乐趣,那肯定是因为没有遵守游戏规则。随心所欲地改变那一套完全人为的规则,就比较容易取胜,但是,游戏的乐趣尽在于依照规则而取胜 (成文时必须再加工,才能与上句意思紧密相连)。没有困难,就没有乐趣。”(请对比参考译文,研究改动之处以及改动的原因。)
   (为了拥有而获取或与人竞争,属于梭罗所谓的低层次。通过主动克制自己来提高对自然界亘古不变的事物的感知能力,是梭罗所谓的高层次思想。他从低层次中积攒下来可用于高层次享受的是时间和心力,梭罗当然不同意忍饥挨饿,但他为了养活自己所花的心力,只要能维持精力以投入更重要的追求,便已足够。)
   心力是关键。如果我们不以毕生的精力来面对困难,就无幸福可言。正如诗人叶芝所说,除了力不能及之外,我们一生所得到的满足感,取决于我们选择何种高层次的困难。诗人罗伯特?弗洛斯特所说的“下苦功的快乐”,表达的也是同样的思想。广告标榜的幸福有其致命的弱点,那就是它声称幸福唾手可得。
   即使在娱乐比赛中我们也要求有难度。这是因为没有难度也就无所谓游戏和比赛。游戏是为了求得乐趣而故意设置困难,游戏规则便是对难度武断的强行规定。捣乱游戏而令人扫兴者,也总是拒绝依规则行事。在国际象棋比赛中,如果可以随心所欲地改变完全人为制定的规则,赢起来肯定容易;但是在规则之中游戏,赢得比赛才会有乐趣。没有困难,也就没有快乐。
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