Love and Friendship
A
You've been in love,of course!If not,you've got it to come.Love is like the measles;we all have to①go through it.②Also like the measles,we take it②only once.One never need be afraid of catching it②a second time.No,we never sicken with love twice.Cupid spends no second arrow on the same heart.
—Jerome K.Jerome
B
One friend in a lifetime is much;two are many;three are hardly possible.Friendship needs a certain parallelism③of life,a community of thought,a rivalry of aim④.
—Henry Adams
measles n麻疹 parallelism n类似(=similarity)
Cupid n丘比特(爱神) rivalry n竞争(=competition)
中译 恋爱和友谊
A
当然,你们都有过恋爱的经验!如果没有谈过恋爱,你们必然会谈一次的。恋爱宛如麻疹,我们每个人都要经历的。它也如同麻疹一样,一生中只会碰上一次。你不必去担心会碰上第二次。不,我们决不会再度患上恋爱病。爱神不会向同一颗心射上两支箭。
——杰罗姆·K·杰罗姆
B
人生在世,有一友已足矣,若有两友就够多了,如有三友则简直不可能。友谊需有某种相近的生活、共有的思想和共同的竞争目标。
——亨利·亚当斯
原来如此!
A段的作者杰罗姆是英国著名的幽默作家,在“We All Have to Go Through Love”一文中,他以俏皮的口吻把恋爱比作麻疹,并预言要是谁没有谈过恋爱,他必然会谈上一次,如果已谈过一次,就不会碰上第二次。
文中的第一句:You have been in love,of course!好像是在同读者闲谈说笑,增加了亲切感。
B段第一句说明知己不在于多,人生在世,若有一个志同道合的好友已足矣。第二句进一步指出友谊的真谛:朋友间需要有共通的生活、有共有的思想及有共同的竞争目标,反映真正的友谊不同于泛泛之交或酒肉朋友(fair-weather friends)。
增值英语
①all have to go through it
句式 have to与must同义,都是表示“必须”之意。但have to表示外界客观的“要求”,它往往指根据规定应要做某事或由于外来原因迫使“不得不”去做;而must则表示说话人的主观要求或看法,认为“必须”去做。
According to the regulations,all students have toask for leave of absence in advance if they cannot attend lessons.根据校规,所有学生如未能上课必须预先请假。
You mustbe punctual.你必须准时。
注意 must没有过去时态和将来时态,表示过去和将来时态之意时,要用have to,be obliged to,be compelled to等形式代替:
We'll have togo tomorrow.我们明天要离开。
I had to call on a friend yesterday.我昨天要探朋友。
②we all have to go through it…we take it…catching it…
句式 go through it,take it,catching it是表示相同意义的词语,尽管它们形式和用字不同。在修辞学中,此种现象称为“文雅变体”(elegant variation),它是指用另一个词语来代替前面已出现过的词或词组,以避免使用同一个词,给人单调乏味之感。例如,在下句中,films、movies和motion pictures指的同是电影:
The Art Cinema,a movietheater in Hartford,specializes in uncensored films.It is noted for the high quality of its movies;infact,manypeopleconsiderthesemotion picturesgood art.I find the story attractiveand the characters fascinating.我觉得故事和人物都很动人。
Any attempt to dissuade him is uselessand any means to stop him is futile.任何劝阻他的尝试都没用,任何制止他的办法都是徒然。
相反地,在一些平衡或排比句中,故意采用同一个词语,以重复形式来加强对比。也有利用同一句式但不同词汇来达到效果,见32和40页。
③Friendship needs a certain parallelism.
parallelism表示“相似”、“类似”:
There is a striking parallelismbetween these two theories.这两个理论有惊人的相似之处。
The parallelismbetween Hong Kong and Singapore is often exaggerated.香港与新加坡之间的相似地方往往被夸大了。
④…a rivalry of aim
rivalry解作“竞争”、“对抗”,比competition(竞赛)强烈,如:traderivalry商业上的竞争;acute/keenrivalry激烈的角逐。
There will be a bitter rivalrybetween the two competitors.两个竞争对手之间将有一场激烈的竞争。
Political rivalriesbetween different factions have paralyzed the country.各个派系的勾心斗角已使国家瘫痪。