美國語文第三冊 第41期：有用之才

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"Don't you hate splitting wood?" asked Charlie, as he sat down on a log to hinder Rob for a while.

“你不是討厭劈木頭嗎？”查理一邊說著，一邊坐在一根木頭上，不讓羅伯繼續(xù)干下去。

No, I rather like it.

不，我其實(shí)很喜歡。

When I get hold of a tough old fellow, I say, See here, now, you think you're the stronger, and are going to beat me;

當(dāng)我抓住一根難劈的木頭時(shí)，我會(huì)說，現(xiàn)在，看這里，你認(rèn)為自己很強(qiáng)壯，想要打擊我，是嗎？

so I'll split you up into kindling wood.

可是我會(huì)把你劈成幾半，成為細(xì)小的木柴。

"Pshaw!" said Charlie, laughing; "and it's only a stick of wood."

“哼！”查理笑著說，“它不過是一根木頭而已。”

Yes; but you see I pretend it's a lesson, or a tough job of any kind, and it's nice to conquer it.

是的，但是你看，我把它當(dāng)成一堂課，或者一份艱苦的工作，這樣就很容易戰(zhàn)勝它了。

I don't want to conquer such things; I don't care what becomes of them.

我并不想征服這樣的東西；我不關(guān)心這些事情。

I wish I were a man, and a rich one.

我只想自己是一個(gè)男人，是一個(gè)富翁。

Well, Charlie, if you live long enough you'll be a man, without wishing for it;

好吧，查理，如果你能活到那時(shí)，自然就會(huì)成為一個(gè)男人，無須多想；

and as for the rich part, I mean to be that myself.

至于富翁嘛，我自己也想成為富翁。

You do. How do you expect to get your money? By sawing wood?

你也想。你怎么掙到錢呀？只靠劈木頭？

May be—some of it; that's as good a way as any, so long as it lasts.

也許——有一點(diǎn)吧；只要能夠堅(jiān)持下去，這也是一條不錯(cuò)的路。

I don't care how I get rich, you know, so that it's in an honest and useful way.

你知道嗎，我并不在乎能夠變得多么富有，但是一定要通過正直而有用的途徑獲得財(cái)富。

I'd like to sleep over the next ten years, and wake up to find myself a young man with a splendid education and plenty of money.

我倒希望能好好睡上十年，醒來后發(fā)現(xiàn)自己已經(jīng)成了一個(gè)既有教養(yǎng)又有財(cái)富的年輕人。

Humph! I am not sleepy—a night at a time is enough for me.

哼！我不會(huì)這樣睡過去的——一天只睡一夜，對我來說就足夠了。

I mean to work the next ten years.

我還要工作十年呢。

You see there are things that you've got to work out—you can't sleep them out.

你看，那里還有很多事情等著你去做呢，睡覺可不能幫你完成它們。

"I hate work," said Charlie, "that is, such work as sawing and splitting wood, and doing chores."

“我討厭工作，”查理說，“討厭這些砍柴、劈木頭之類的雜活。”

I'd like to do some big work, like being a clerk in a bank or something of that sort.

我想干一番大事業(yè)，想當(dāng)一個(gè)銀行里的職員，或者類似的工作。

"Wood has to be sawed and split before it can be burned," said Rob.

“木頭只有被鋸掉、被劈碎，才能用來燃燒呀，”羅伯說，

I don't know but I'll be a clerk in a bank some time; I'm working towards it.

我不知道別的，但是有時(shí)候我就像銀行里的職員一樣，

I'm keeping father's accounts for him.

我一直在做這樣的工作。我一直在幫爸爸記賬呢。

How Charlie laughed! I should think that was a long way from being a bank clerk.

查理大笑起來！我想，當(dāng)一個(gè)銀行職員還早著呢，

I suppose your father sells two tables and six chairs, some days, doesn't he?

我猜想，你的父親這幾天賣掉了兩張桌子、六把椅子，是嗎？

"Sometimes more than that, and sometimes not so much,"said Rob, in perfect good humor.

“有時(shí)會(huì)更多些，有時(shí)還賣不到這么多。”羅伯也不失幽默地附和著。

I didn't say I was a bank clerk now.

我并不是說自己現(xiàn)在就是一個(gè)銀行職員。

I said I was working towards it.

我是說自己正朝著那個(gè)目標(biāo)努力。

Am I not nearer it by keeping a little bit of a book than I should be if I didn't keep any book at all?

通過平常記錄小賬，不就是朝著這個(gè)目標(biāo)更近了嘛，這難道不比什么也不做更好嗎？

Not a whit—such things happen, said Charlie, as he started to go.

這樣的事情根本不會(huì)發(fā)生。查理說著便起身準(zhǔn)備走了。

Now, which of these boys, do you think, grew up to be a rich and useful man, and which of them joined a party of tramps before he was thirty years old?

現(xiàn)在，你來想想，這兩個(gè)男孩子中，誰將來長大后會(huì)成為富翁，成為一個(gè)有用之才；誰又會(huì)成為一個(gè)三十歲時(shí)還流浪街頭的人？