The Man Who Dies Thus Rich Dies Disgraced

10 The Man Who Dies Thus Rich Dies Disgraced

The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth,which was free to him to administer during life,will pass away“unwept,unhonoured,and unsung,”no matter to what uses he leaves the dross which he cannot take with him.Of such as these the public verdict will then be:“The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.

—Andrew Carnegie

available adj可用的     dross n渣滓;废料(=waste)

administer v运用;处理

verdict n裁决;论断(=judgement)

unwept,unhonoured and unsung[文学语言,罕用]不会受到别人的哀悼、尊敬和歌颂

disgraced adj丢脸的;受耻辱的(=humiliated)

中译 死时富有 死也蒙羞

一个人在弥留之际如果还留下成千上万的、在他生前可随意动用的财富,那么,不管他将那些带不去的、对他来说已毫无价值的钱财用于何处,他死后“不会有人为他哭泣,也不会受到世人的尊敬和歌颂”。对于这样的人,公众的论断会是:“死到临头还那么富有,死得并不光彩。”

——安德鲁·卡内基

原来如此!

本篇指出,世上有些吝啬鬼和守财奴,家财万贯,却未能善用和造福人类,死后变成粪土,这类人临死也会被大众耻笑。美国钢铁大王卡内基的一句至理名言:“The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced”深深地感动了当今电脑大亨世界富豪比尔·盖茨(Bill Gates),使他慷慨解囊,于1999年宣布捐出大部分家财以造福社会。

在英语中,关于金钱再多如不善用也无意义的谚语颇多,下面略举数例,以见一斑:

The money the miser hoards will do him no good.(守财奴积得之钱财对自己毫无用处。)

Much coin,much care.(财富多,烦恼亦多。)

Little wealth,little care.(财富少,烦恼亦少。)

增值英语

①millions of available wealth

available是形容词,解“可供使用的”、“可获得的”,一般用作表语,但也可作定语。

I hope to see as much as possible in the short timeavailable.(或the availableshort time.)我希望在可供使用的短时间内尽量多看一些东西。

These dataare readily availablefor reference.这些资料随时可供参考。

②Of such as these the public verdict will be…

句式 这是个倒装句,但没有一般倒装句的强调作用,只是修辞上较文雅的说法;正常语序是:The public verdict of such as these(指of such people)will be…。

For such hypocrites as these,the advice will be,“Judge not,and you will not be judged.”|The advice for such hypocrites as these will be,“Judge not,and you will not be judged.”对这种伪君子来说,忠告是:“不要批评别人,就不会被批评。”

这也可以是一般的词序调动:

To such people like him,we must learn to say no.|We must learn to say no to such people like him.对他这类人,我们需懂得拒绝他。

For these criminals,the punishment should be heavier.|The punishment for these criminalsshould be heavier.对这些罪犯,刑罚应该重一点。

③The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced

句式 此句采用排比对照(parallelism and antithesis)修辞手法,故读来有一种音韵美。类似的例子有:

He who laughslastlaughsbest.[谚]笑得最后的人,笑得最好。(意为最后胜利才是真正值得高兴)

He who makesno mistakes,makesnothing.[谚]不犯错误之人,一事无成。

disgrace既可用作动词,也可用作名词;disgraced则为形容词,解“失去威望”的。

He was publicly disgraced.(v)他被当众羞辱。

Having committed a serious crime,he has to bear disgrace. (n)他犯了大罪,得忍受耻辱。

The disgracedleader finally stepped down.(adj)名誉扫地的领导人最后下了台。

注意 disgrace的另一形容词为disgraceful,解作“可耻的;丢脸的”。

What disgracefulbehaviour!多么可耻的行为!