What a bundle of contradictions is a man! Surety, humour is the saving grace of us, for without it we should die of vexation.
人真是充滿矛盾啊! 毫無疑問,幽默是惟一幫助我們擺脫矛盾的辦法,要是沒有它,我們就會死于煩惱。
With me, nothing illustrates the contrariness of things better than the matter of sleep.
在我看來,沒有什么比睡眠更能說明事物間的矛盾。
If, for example, my intention is to write an essay, and 1 have before me ink and pens and several sheets of virgin paper, you may depend upon it that before I have gone very far I feel an overpowering desire for sleep, no matter what time of the day it is.
比如,我打算寫一篇文章,面前放好了筆、墨和幾張白紙,準(zhǔn)保沒寫幾個字我就會困得要命,無論當(dāng)時是幾點都會那樣。
I stare at the reproachfully blank paper until sights and sounds become dim and confused, and it is only by an effort of will that I can continue at all.
我瞪著那似乎在譴責(zé)我的白紙,直到眼前一片模糊,聲音也難以辨清,只有靠意志力才能勉強堅持。
Even then, I proceed half-heartedly, in a kind of dream.
即使這時,我也會迷迷糊糊地像在做夢一樣繼續(xù)堅持工作。
But let me be between the sheets at a late hour, and I can do any-thing but sleep.
但是當(dāng)深夜躺在床上,我什么事都能干,只有睡覺無法做到。
Between chime and chime of the clock I can write essays by the score.
隨著時鐘一遍一遍的報時,我可以完成大量的文章。
Fascinating subjects and noble ideas come pell-mell, each with its appropriate imagery and expression.
極有吸引力的主題和崇高的思想紛紛出現(xiàn)在腦海,隨之而來的還有恰如其分的意象和措辭。
Nothing stands between me and half-a-dozen imperishable masterpieces but pens, ink, and paper.
除了筆、墨和紙,什么也不能阻止我寫出半打不朽的杰作。