【2001年8级测试英译汉】
Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighborhood would have been Thoreau’s idea of the low levels1. The active discipline of heightening one’s perception of what is enduring in nature would have been his idea of the high2. 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 would keep him functioning for more important efforts.
Effort is the gist of it3. There is no happiness except as we take on life-engaging difficulties. Short of the impossible, as Yeats put it, the satisfaction we get from a lifetime depends on how high we choose our difficulties4. Robert Frost was thinking in something like the same terms when he spoke of “The pleasure of taking pains”5. The mortal flaw in the advertised version of happiness is in the fact that it purports to be effortless6.
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 of the fun of it. The rules of the game are an arbitrary imposition of difficulty7. When someone ruins the fun, he always does so by refusing to play by the rules. It is easier to win at chess 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.
【概述】
这是一篇说理性的议论文，文章评论美国19世纪哲学家、思想家、作家亨利·大卫·梭罗对人生幸福的看法。用词正式，逻辑严谨，哲理性强。译好这类文章有一定难度，但在近年的8级考试中出现的概率较高，不可忽视。翻译时要注意整篇文章的逻辑关系，特别注意语篇的连贯和衔接。
【翻译要点评析】
1. Thoreau: Henry David Thoreau (1817 — 1862), 美国哲学家、作家、“一个人的乌托邦”的倡导者和实践者，年轻时代师从美国“先验论者”爱默生，其论著在美国有一定影响。idea of the low levels和idea of the high, 是梭罗所理解的“低层次境界”和“高层次境界”。
2. active discipline: 主动律己；heightening one’s perception: 提高自己的感悟能力；what is enduring in nature: 自然界永恒存在之物；在his idea of the high短语中，后边省略了levels,与上句idea of the low levels相对应。
3. gist: 与essence同义，意为“精要；精髓”。此句可译为“全力以赴，便是其精髓所在”。
4. short of: 除……之外。short of the impossible 可译为“除了不可能做的事情之外”。Yeats:William Butter Yeats, 叶芝（1865 — 1939）爱尔兰诗人及剧作家，曾获1923年诺贝尔文学奖。as Yeats put it: 正像叶芝说得那样。
5. Robert Frost: 罗伯特·弗罗斯特（1874——1963），美国著名诗人，曾4次获得美国普利策诗歌奖。taking painbs: 吃苦；努力。例如：It takes pains to learn a foreign language well.学好一门外语非吃苦不可。
6. mortal flaw: 致命的缺陷。advertised 应理解为popular, made known, 即“世人宣扬的”，“世俗的”。Purport:意味着；大意是……。
7. arbitrary imposition of difficulty: 任意施加难度于；人为设定难度。
【参考译文】
梭罗所理解的“低层次境界”是，为了拥有而去拥有，或与所有的邻居明争暗斗而致拥有。他心目中的“高层次境界”，则是这样一种积极的人生戒律，即要使自己对自然界永恒之物的感悟臻于完美。对于从低层次上节省下来的时间和精力，他可以将其致力于对高层次的追求。勿庸置疑，梭罗不赞成忍饥挨饿，但在饮食方面所投入的精力仅裹腹而已，只要可确保他能去从事更为重要的事务，除此，别无他求。
努力才是其精髓。没有磨砺， 何来幸福。 叶芝说过，除了难以可为的事情，人生的幸福大小就在于所选择的难度高低。罗伯特o弗罗斯特也有“以苦为乐”之类的说法，他与叶芝英雄所见略同。世人所宣扬的那种幸福观，其致命错误就在于它认为，幸福似乎可以唾手可得。
甚至于游戏也离不开难度。没有了难度也就没有了游戏。游戏之道恰恰在于难中作乐。游戏规则就是人为设定的难度。不依规则便叫人意兴阑珊。下棋时随心所欲、信马由缰会赢得很爽但没劲儿。唯有进退有尺有度方才趣味横生。不难便无趣儿。
【2001年8级测试汉译英】
乔羽的歌大家都熟悉。但他另外两大爱好却鲜为人知，那就是钓鱼和喝酒。晚年的乔羽喜爱垂钓1，他说，“有水有鱼的地方大都是有好环境的2，好环境便会给人好心情3。我认为最好的钓鱼场所不是舒适的、给你准备好饿鱼的垂钓园4，而是那极其有吸引力的大自然野外天成的场所5。”钓鱼是一项能够陶冶性情的运动6，有益于身心健康7。乔羽说：“钓鱼可分三个阶段8：第一阶段是吃鱼；第二阶段是吃鱼和情趣兼而有之；第三阶段主要是钓趣9，面对一池碧水，将忧心烦恼全都抛在一边，使自己的身心得到充分休息10。”
【概述】
本文原文相对简单，不会造成理解问题。要注意的是在英文表达时，充分认识到英语词汇的多义性，对词义理解透彻，选用恰当的词汇。另外要注意的一点是语体类别。本文属书面语言，应当尽量选用相应的英文书面词汇和表达方式。在这一点上，译文１要比译文２得体的多，试比较。
【翻译要点评析】
“晚年”，可简单地翻译为“old age”，或者具体一点“ one’s later/remaining years”，或者形象一点“ twilight years; closing years”。“喜爱”，较简单口语点就是“like; love; be fond of; be keen on”，较复杂书面点就是“ have a fancy for; have an inclination for”,但是这些表达方式都只是描述了一种状态，是静止的，此处从上下文看，应该是“喜欢上了”的意思，是动态的，用“become fond of; take to; develop a fondness for”等较好。“在……垂钓”为“angle/troll…for fish”;“去垂钓”则为“go fishing/angling”。
此处的“说”和“有”是两个汉语中的高频词，这种词语最容易翻可也最不容易翻好，比如“（断然地）说”就是“assert”；“（揭露地）说”就是“disclose”；“（幸运地）享有”为“be blessed with”；“（骄傲地）拥有”则为“boast”。要翻译好这种词，一要注意平时积累丰富的同义词、近义词词汇，二是要注意在自己翻译或看别人译文时注意揣摩。 “好”也是个高频词，此处不再赘述。“环境”，一般翻译为“environment; surroundings; circumstances; ambience”，“circumstances”侧重处境、状况，“ambience”侧重氛围，都不适合。可用“environment; surroundings”，两词都可指自然周边环境。
“心情”一般翻译为“mood; frame/state of mind”, 间或还可以用“heart; spirit”。心情欢畅愉快则为“be in a happy mood; be in a cheerful frame of mind；be in high spirits; have a light heart”。也可以简单的译为“be filled with joy”。
“comfortable，cozy，snug，restful”， 都含有“舒适的”，“舒服的”意思。“comfortable” 为常用词， 多含“（使身体）舒适的”、“安逸的”之意， “cosy”主要指“温暖而舒适的”、“安逸的”， 含“带热情或友情， 使之舒适而满足的”意思，“snug”指“地方虽不大， 但舒适而安全的”， “restful”指“宁静的”、“（使感到）平静的”，惟有“comfortable”还勉强可用。因为此处“舒适的”指该场所给人以安乐舒服的感觉。“园”指庭园，供人憩息、游乐或观赏的地方， 为“place for public recreation”。译为“ man-made fish-pond”,与下文“an enchanting place in the wild”形成对比，而译为 “commercial fishing centers”，则结合了准备饿鱼之说，也不为过，两者皆可用。
“大自然“一般为“nature”,强调其中诸因素时则用“the elements”;“野外”为“open country; field; outdoors”。“open country”强调野外空旷的地区；“outdoors”强调室外；“field”强调田野。“大自然野外天成的场所”，结合上下文看，实指天然形成、远离人类、未受人工破坏的地方，这样，翻译为“naturally-formed places in the wilderness”就非常恰当了。
“athletics，calisthenics”侧重体育运动；“exercise”指训练、锻炼；此处运动指钓鱼，一种休闲活动它们都不合适。再看“sport”除指运动之外，还可指“an active pastime; recreation”，而“game”也指“an activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime”，都可选。“陶冶” 比喻对人的性格和思想进行培养， 可用“mould; cultivate; exert a favorable influence on sb.”。“性情” 指人的禀性和气质，可用“disposition; temper; temperament”。
“身心”一般翻译为“body and mind”,而“身心健康”则指健康的身体和愉快正常的心态，一般翻译为“sound in body and mind”，“physically and mentally healthy”，或者“physical and intellectual integrity”。可以结合上下文酌情使用。
“分”可用“divide; separate; classify; grade; fall into”。其中“separate”指分开不致混乱；“classify”指按类别分；“grade”指分级、等、类；“divide”指整体分为部分；“fall into”意思是可分为，此处应该用“divide; fall into”。“阶段”可用“stage; phase; period”。“stage”指发展的进程, 阶段或时期；“phase”指有明显特点的发展阶段；而“period”指时期、时代。此处可用“stage；phase”。
“…可分…阶段：第一阶段是…；第二阶段是…；第三阶段主要是…”。可以利用省略结构让表达更为简洁，避免重复。比如“…falls into…stages: the first for…; the second …; and the third ….”另外，此处“情趣”“钓趣”都指的是通过钓鱼而获得的一种乐趣、快乐，宜翻译为“the pleasure of fishing”。
“一池”作为量词可翻译也可省略。“碧”指青绿色，英文为“blue; bluish green; green; azure”。“碧水”不论翻译为blue water; green water都可，如引申一步，翻译为clear water也未尝不可。
【参考译文1】
In his later years (Late in his life), Qiao Yu has become enamored of fishing (developed a penchant / special fondness for fishing). He asserts: “ Mostly speaking, a place with water and fish must necessarily be blessed with a nice setting, which in return keeps people in good mood. I believe that the optimum fishing places are not those commercial fishing centers which provide the fishermen with all the conveniences and where fish are kept hungry for ready capture, but those naturally-formed places in the wilderness which exert a special appeal.” According to him, fishing can constitute an activity conducive to the cultivation of one’s temperament and to one’s health, at once physical and psychological. Qiao Yu claims: “Fishing can be divided into three stages. The first stage consists of mere fish-eating; the second a combination of fish-eating and the pleasure (enjoyment) of fishing; the third primarily the pleasure of fishing when, confronted with a pond of clear water, one puts aside all his troubling vexations and annoyances and enjoys the total relaxation both mentally and physically.”
【参考译文2】
Qiao Yu took to fishing in his old age. He said: “Where there is fish and water, there is good environment, and good environment fills one’s heart with joy. I think the best place for fishing is not a comfortable man-made fish-pond where hungry fish are ready for you, but an enchanting place in the wild where everything is natural.” Fishing is a game that can help improve one’s temperament. It is good for mental and bodily health. Qiao Yu said: “Fishing falls into three stages. The first stage is just for eating fish. The second stage is for enjoying the pleasure of fishing as well as eating fish. The third stage is mainly for the pleasure of fishing-----facing a pool of green water, one casts aside all anxieties and worries and enjoys a good rest, both mental and physical.