文学翻译(00002)ppt课件.ppt

文学翻译课件
The Unhappy American Way
In the course of my travels in America I have been impressed by a kind of fundamental malaise which seems to me mon and which poses difficult problems for the social reformer. Most social reformers have held the opinion that, if poverty were abolished and there were no more economic insecurity, the millennium would have arrived. But when I look at the faces of people in opulent cars, whether in your country or in mine, I do not see that look of radiant happiness which the aforesaid social reformers had led me to expect. In nine cases out of ten, I see instead a look of boredom and discontent and an almost frantic longing for something that might tickle the jaded palate.
But it is not only the very rich who suffer in this way. Professional men very frequently feel hopelessly thwarted. There is something that they long to do or some public object that they long to work for. But if they were to indulge their wishes in these respects, they fear that they would lose their livelihood. Their wives are equally unsatisfied, for their neighbor, Mrs. So-and-So, has gone ahead more quickly, has a better car, a larger apartment and grander friends.
Life for almost everybody is a petitive struggle where very few can win the race, and those who do not win are unhappy. On social occasions when it is de rigueur to seem cheerful, the necessary demeanor is stimulated by alcohol. But the gaiety does not ring true and anybody who has just one drink too many is apt to lapse into lachrymose melancholy.
美国人的忧郁癖性
我在美国旅行期间,注意到了一种根深蒂固的忧郁症。我觉得这种忧郁症似乎极其普遍,这就给社会改革家出了难题。大多数社会改革家认为,若是消除了贫困,有了经济保障,太平盛世会到来。但是,无论在贵国还是在敝国,看看坐在豪华轿车里的人们的面孔,却见不到社会改革家引导人们期待的那种喜气洋洋的神情。相反,十有八九,我看到的是一副副厌倦不满的神情,以及近乎疯狂的渴望,想找点东西吊起早已发腻的胃口。
然而忍受这般苦楚的还不仅仅是那些富豪们。专业人员也经常感到百般无奈,一筹莫展。他们希望有点事情可做,希望为某项公共事业做点贡献。但是,要想满足这些愿望,又担心会失去生计。他们的太太也同样不满足,因为邻居某某太太转眼间又超到前头去了,有了更豪华的轿车,更宽敞的住宅,更高贵的朋友。
几乎对每个人而言,生活是一场持久竞争,很少有人能成为羸家,而羸不了的人便要
垂头丧气。在按照礼仪需要兴高采烈的社交场合,这种必要的仪态却是靠酒精激发的。但是这种欢乐听上去并不真实,任何人只要多喝一杯,就会悲从中来,潸然泪下。
我想弄清楚