abstruse深奥的。
unintelligible难理解的。
touchstone试金石，但是在文中是什么意思呢？
shepherd牧师，牧羊人。
thee古代“你”的意思。
hast是什么意思？
panorama全貌。
take in 欺骗，蒙骗
Saturday, January 25, 2003
In modern life, a philosopher is about the most honored and most unnoticed person in the world, if indeed such a person exists. "Philosopher" has become merely a term of social compliment. Anyone who is abstruse and unintelligible is called "a philosopher." Anyone who is unconcerned with the present is also called "a philosoper." And yet there is some truth in the latter meaning. When Shakespeare made Touchstone say in As You Like It, "Hast any philosophy in thee, shepherd?" he was using it in the second meaning. In this sense, philosophy is but a common, rough and ready outlook on things or on life in general, and every person has more or less of it. Anyone who refuses to take the entire panorama of reality on its surface value, or refuses to believe every word that appears in a newspaper, is more or less a philosopher. He is the fellow who refuses to be taken in.----------------Who Can Best Enjoy Life? by Lin, Yutang.
Friday, January 24, 2003
Some chat about British history
I've just had a Speaking Assisstant Programme, invited by one of my friends. We began by talking on IELTS and ended up with the teacher lecturing us with the British history, which he described as absolutely a big mess. The teacher, Tonny, happened to be born in a town some 35 miles away from York, as he discovered that I was planning to York. He emphasized a lot on the historical value of York city and, especially its old walls that date from about 1 AD, the roman regime time.
York is was a capital of the northen British island at the time of Norman governance. And Norman were people from Normandie, the northwest part of a mainland now called France. But ironically the Norman were not French at that time. They came from Norway and were a group of Norwegen people, who were good sailors as well as invaders to other nations. The Norman, from Normandie in now northwesten France, invaded England after a certain king in England, one of whose remote relative was the then Norman commander of this invasion, died and claimed the kingdom of England. This special relation was due to the fact that the English king that died and the Norman commander of the army shared the same Norwegen ancestors, who invaded the easten coastal areas of England much earlier to this invasion and whose descendents coexisted with the local English people ever since and eventually the king that died had the blood of both the English and the Norwegen.
Already a mess, isn't it? I just have more to tell before I get messed up myself. It is far beyond the capacity of a short piece of narration. Apart from the king's war, he told us other things about the English language. It is really a melting pot because it was influenced by the Norman French, and Norwegen Germantic, and of course Latin, due to early rule of Roman. And I joked that it is now being invaded again by Chinese language, for example kungfu.
I've just had a Speaking Assisstant Programme, invited by one of my friends. We began by talking on IELTS and ended up with the teacher lecturing us with the British history, which he described as absolutely a big mess. The teacher, Tonny, happened to be born in a town some 35 miles away from York, as he discovered that I was planning to York. He emphasized a lot on the historical value of York city and, especially its old walls that date from about 1 AD, the roman regime time.
York is was a capital of the northen British island at the time of Norman governance. And Norman were people from Normandie, the northwest part of a mainland now called France. But ironically the Norman were not French at that time. They came from Norway and were a group of Norwegen people, who were good sailors as well as invaders to other nations. The Norman, from Normandie in now northwesten France, invaded England after a certain king in England, one of whose remote relative was the then Norman commander of this invasion, died and claimed the kingdom of England. This special relation was due to the fact that the English king that died and the Norman commander of the army shared the same Norwegen ancestors, who invaded the easten coastal areas of England much earlier to this invasion and whose descendents coexisted with the local English people ever since and eventually the king that died had the blood of both the English and the Norwegen.
Already a mess, isn't it? I just have more to tell before I get messed up myself. It is far beyond the capacity of a short piece of narration. Apart from the king's war, he told us other things about the English language. It is really a melting pot because it was influenced by the Norman French, and Norwegen Germantic, and of course Latin, due to early rule of Roman. And I joked that it is now being invaded again by Chinese language, for example kungfu.
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
Vocabulary about media
!) For the book's main character, withdrawal is the only means of escape from the crowd, from groupthink, from the mass media.
withdrawal 隐居; groupthink 是什么??
2) The documentary should be required study for all students of mass-media communications, because it illustrates to perfection the way in which illustrations of man's inhumanity to man can mislead public opinion.
sth. be required study for sb. 怎么翻译较好呢?
3) The White House has announced that they normally will not let any member of the news media report on what is going to be in the speech until the president actually delivers it.
deliver a speech 发表演讲. deliver 的用途好象很多.比如运输货物什么的.
4) Belief systems and older cultures expire under a weight of more or less trivial information conveyed by an all-pervasive electronic media.
belief systems and older cultures 信念和传统文化
5) Black had set his heart on the 'News', which he saw as a key part of his plan to build a worldwide media empire.
see...as, look...as好象是一个意思
6) The thought of a quiet ceremony and a small dinner party to follow is becoming more attractive to stars as they watch pulicised marriages like Elizabeth Taylor's being transformed into a media circus.
media circus 在媒体上出丑
7) We were quite upset about the amount of attention this announcement was given, and the amount of media hype that went on around it.
media hype 媒体的大肆宣传
8) Those people ought to be our priority. I don't think they would be best pleased to hear this domestic squabble about the leadership of the Conservative Party being hyped yp by the media at this sort of time.
squabble小争吵, leadership 领导阶层, 类似的有fellowship意思是同伴
9) Reporters were kept away from the group when they arrived from Vietnam amid fears that any media coverage of the event might compromise their safety.
compromise折中;连累,损害. 后者的意思似乎很新鲜,也很好用.
明天登全句翻译:)
!) For the book's main character, withdrawal is the only means of escape from the crowd, from groupthink, from the mass media.
withdrawal 隐居; groupthink 是什么??
2) The documentary should be required study for all students of mass-media communications, because it illustrates to perfection the way in which illustrations of man's inhumanity to man can mislead public opinion.
sth. be required study for sb. 怎么翻译较好呢?
3) The White House has announced that they normally will not let any member of the news media report on what is going to be in the speech until the president actually delivers it.
deliver a speech 发表演讲. deliver 的用途好象很多.比如运输货物什么的.
4) Belief systems and older cultures expire under a weight of more or less trivial information conveyed by an all-pervasive electronic media.
belief systems and older cultures 信念和传统文化
5) Black had set his heart on the 'News', which he saw as a key part of his plan to build a worldwide media empire.
see...as, look...as好象是一个意思
6) The thought of a quiet ceremony and a small dinner party to follow is becoming more attractive to stars as they watch pulicised marriages like Elizabeth Taylor's being transformed into a media circus.
media circus 在媒体上出丑
7) We were quite upset about the amount of attention this announcement was given, and the amount of media hype that went on around it.
media hype 媒体的大肆宣传
8) Those people ought to be our priority. I don't think they would be best pleased to hear this domestic squabble about the leadership of the Conservative Party being hyped yp by the media at this sort of time.
squabble小争吵, leadership 领导阶层, 类似的有fellowship意思是同伴
9) Reporters were kept away from the group when they arrived from Vietnam amid fears that any media coverage of the event might compromise their safety.
compromise折中;连累,损害. 后者的意思似乎很新鲜,也很好用.
明天登全句翻译:)
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Find Thyself
by Lin, Yutang
The only problem unconsciously assumed by all Chinese philosophers to be of any importance is : How shall we enjoy life, and who can best enjoy life? No perfectionism, no straining after the unattainable, no postulating of the unknowable; but taking poor, mortal human nature as it is, how shall we organise our life so that we can work peacefully, endure nobly and live happily?
Who are we? That is the first question. It is a question almost impossible to answer. But we all agree that the busy self occupied in our daily activities is not quite the real self. We are quite sure that we have lost something in the mere pursuit of living. When we watch a person running about looking for something in a field, the wise man can set a puzzle for the spectators to solve: what has that person lost? Some one thinks it is a watch; another thinks it is a diamond brooch; and others will essay other guesses. After all the guesses have failed, the wise man who really does not know what the person is seeking after, tells the company:" I'll tell you. He has lost some breath." And no one can deny that he is right. So we often forget our true self in the pursuit of living, like a bird forgetting its own danger in pursuit of a mantis, which again forgets its own danger in pursuit of another prey, as is so beautifully expressed in a parable by Chuangtse.
by Lin, Yutang
The only problem unconsciously assumed by all Chinese philosophers to be of any importance is : How shall we enjoy life, and who can best enjoy life? No perfectionism, no straining after the unattainable, no postulating of the unknowable; but taking poor, mortal human nature as it is, how shall we organise our life so that we can work peacefully, endure nobly and live happily?
Who are we? That is the first question. It is a question almost impossible to answer. But we all agree that the busy self occupied in our daily activities is not quite the real self. We are quite sure that we have lost something in the mere pursuit of living. When we watch a person running about looking for something in a field, the wise man can set a puzzle for the spectators to solve: what has that person lost? Some one thinks it is a watch; another thinks it is a diamond brooch; and others will essay other guesses. After all the guesses have failed, the wise man who really does not know what the person is seeking after, tells the company:" I'll tell you. He has lost some breath." And no one can deny that he is right. So we often forget our true self in the pursuit of living, like a bird forgetting its own danger in pursuit of a mantis, which again forgets its own danger in pursuit of another prey, as is so beautifully expressed in a parable by Chuangtse.
Monday, January 20, 2003
A few notes on the previous paragraph
proceed from//sim/come from,arise from//这种用法现在似乎看不到
rapidity//sim/speed,agility//opp/sluggishness//似乎可用下文的quickness代替
estimable值得评价的,好象很难找到其他例子
execution在这里应该不是执行的意思
prize//sim/appreciate//用作动词
resolve on doing//sim/decide to do/似乎两者区别不大
should在这里似乎可以换作could
panegyric赞颂//sim/laud//
laudable//sim/praisable//
precipitance//sim/haste//
necessary//sim/essential/important//
proceed from//sim/come from,arise from//这种用法现在似乎看不到
rapidity//sim/speed,agility//opp/sluggishness//似乎可用下文的quickness代替
estimable值得评价的,好象很难找到其他例子
execution在这里应该不是执行的意思
prize//sim/appreciate//用作动词
resolve on doing//sim/decide to do/似乎两者区别不大
should在这里似乎可以换作could
panegyric赞颂//sim/laud//
laudable//sim/praisable//
precipitance//sim/haste//
necessary//sim/essential/important//
Volume I Chapter X
(Mr. Darcy) "The indirect boast;-for you are really proud of your defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which if not estimable, you think at least highly interesting. The power of doing anything with quickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. When you told Mrs. Bennet this morning that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield you should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort of panegyric, of compliment to yourself-and yet what is there so very laudable in a precipitance which must leave very necessary business undone, and can be of no real advantage to yourself or anyone else?"
(Mr. Darcy) "The indirect boast;-for you are really proud of your defects in writing, because you consider them as proceeding from a rapidity of thought and carelessness of execution, which if not estimable, you think at least highly interesting. The power of doing anything with quickness is always much prized by the possessor, and often without any attention to the imperfection of the performance. When you told Mrs. Bennet this morning that if you ever resolved on quitting Netherfield you should be gone in five minutes, you meant it to be a sort of panegyric, of compliment to yourself-and yet what is there so very laudable in a precipitance which must leave very necessary business undone, and can be of no real advantage to yourself or anyone else?"
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
Thursday, January 09, 2003
第一卷 第一章
(班纳特先生) "这人叫什么名字?"
(班纳特夫人) "彬格莱."
"已婚还是未婚?"
"噢!未婚,亲爱的,的的确确! 钻石王老五一个;每年有四五千磅的收入.真是女儿们的福气啊!"
"这从何谈起? 关她们什么事?"
"我的好老爷," 太太回答道, "你怎么这样叫人讨厌! 你该知道我在盘算什么, 他要是挑中我们的一个女儿做老婆,那多好!"
"他住到这儿来, 就是为了这个打算吗?"
"打算! 胡扯, 这是哪的话! 不过, 他就未必不会看中我们中的某一个女儿呢. 所以嘛, 等他一搬过来你就立刻去拜访他."
"我看没这个必要. 你带女儿们去就得啦. 要不你干脆打发她们自己去, 那也许更好些都说不准, 因为你的美貌并不比你的女儿们差, 你去了, 彬格莱先生倒说不准挑中你呢!"
(班纳特先生) "这人叫什么名字?"
(班纳特夫人) "彬格莱."
"已婚还是未婚?"
"噢!未婚,亲爱的,的的确确! 钻石王老五一个;每年有四五千磅的收入.真是女儿们的福气啊!"
"这从何谈起? 关她们什么事?"
"我的好老爷," 太太回答道, "你怎么这样叫人讨厌! 你该知道我在盘算什么, 他要是挑中我们的一个女儿做老婆,那多好!"
"他住到这儿来, 就是为了这个打算吗?"
"打算! 胡扯, 这是哪的话! 不过, 他就未必不会看中我们中的某一个女儿呢. 所以嘛, 等他一搬过来你就立刻去拜访他."
"我看没这个必要. 你带女儿们去就得啦. 要不你干脆打发她们自己去, 那也许更好些都说不准, 因为你的美貌并不比你的女儿们差, 你去了, 彬格莱先生倒说不准挑中你呢!"
Wednesday, January 08, 2003
Selections from Pride and Prejudice
As I have been reading this novel recently I would like to share some of the wonderful pieces of selections with you. Here we go.
Volume I Chapter I
(Mr. Bennet)"What is his name?"
(Mrs. Bennet)"Bingley."
"Is he married or single?"
"Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"
"How so? how can it affect them?"
"My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."
"Is that his design in settling here?"
"Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."
"I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party."
As I have been reading this novel recently I would like to share some of the wonderful pieces of selections with you. Here we go.
Volume I Chapter I
(Mr. Bennet)"What is his name?"
(Mrs. Bennet)"Bingley."
"Is he married or single?"
"Oh! single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"
"How so? how can it affect them?"
"My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome! You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them."
"Is that his design in settling here?"
"Design! nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes."
"I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party."
Read between the lines
Tongue-in-cheek
There is a very interesting Chinese book titledThick and Black Philosophy>, by a scholar named Li Zhong-wu. The author proclaimed that the secret of success is to be thick-skinned and black-hearted. He recounted many incidents in the history of China: During the "Three Kingdom era (commencing 220 AD), for instance, a warlord Cao Cao was said to have been a merciless killer. His motto in life was <Better to deny justice to others than to be denied justice by others>. Li put him up to be a member of the "black" bridage. Another warlord who rivalled Cao Cao was Liu Bei. He was reputed to be able to win sympathy and gain advantage on several occasions, utilising his tears-no doubt a hero of the "thick" contigent. Both achieved limited success. At the end, the "Three Kingdoms" were united under Si Ma-yi. Li explained how this gentleman embodied the two enviable qualities. Hence history presented a grandmaster.
The author also raised many other examples in his book. He further submitted that there are three levels of accomplishment: (1) Thick as the Great Wall and black as charcoal (this is only the very basic level); (2) Thick, but tough, Black but shinny (you may know of a good specimen); (3) Thick, but formless, Black, but invisible (he described this as the highest level: "Examples can only be found among the great sages and moralists in history.")
I am sure not all readers would feel the same way about this book. Some might revere Master Li as the true teacher and arm themselves with the above principles to tackle the world. On the other hand, some might have considered his teachings despicable and so, burned the book. However, I feel the book is not really teaching people to be "thick" and "black", but is only meant to be a piece of satire.
It is a technique in writing to express an idea in a camouflaged or indirect manner if the readers understand the hidden message, we would say that they are "reading between the lines." We may describe the indirect style as being "tongue-in-cheek."
Of course there are also times when the auther does not deliberately try to be tongue-in-cheek, but reveals a message inadvertantly. As long as the readers could decipher the message, we can still say that they "read between the lines."
Tongue-in-cheek
There is a very interesting Chinese book titled
The author also raised many other examples in his book. He further submitted that there are three levels of accomplishment: (1) Thick as the Great Wall and black as charcoal (this is only the very basic level); (2) Thick, but tough, Black but shinny (you may know of a good specimen); (3) Thick, but formless, Black, but invisible (he described this as the highest level: "Examples can only be found among the great sages and moralists in history.")
I am sure not all readers would feel the same way about this book. Some might revere Master Li as the true teacher and arm themselves with the above principles to tackle the world. On the other hand, some might have considered his teachings despicable and so, burned the book. However, I feel the book is not really teaching people to be "thick" and "black", but is only meant to be a piece of satire.
It is a technique in writing to express an idea in a camouflaged or indirect manner if the readers understand the hidden message, we would say that they are "reading between the lines." We may describe the indirect style as being "tongue-in-cheek."
Of course there are also times when the auther does not deliberately try to be tongue-in-cheek, but reveals a message inadvertantly. As long as the readers could decipher the message, we can still say that they "read between the lines."
Tuesday, January 07, 2003
"雨落猫狗"(实在不会翻这一句呢)
一句最普遍而又最古怪的英语口头禅就是用来形容大雨的"Raining cats and dogs"了.这句口头禅的出处受到很多人的争议.
英文有一个代表洪水的字是"Cataclysm", 有人认为这个字的字首是"cat", 被人误解以为和"猫"有关,后来便演变出"Raining cats and dogs"的字句.
又有人指出:在挪威人的传说中有一位雷神名为"奥丁",他有一对招风唤雨的助手,是猫神和狗神,这个传说后来进入了英文的语言里,便造成了以上的口头禅.
不过,最可相信的解释就是有人认为从前在一些排水通道简陋的地方,落大雨之后往往带来洪水泛滥,以致很多猫狗被溺死,便给人一个天上落下猫和狗的感觉.
就像很多其他的口头禅一样,这一句的出处已经没有人去稽考,下倾盆大雨的时候一些中国人会说出一句"赶狗不出门",西方人就会说"Raining cats and dogs",各有其趣.
一句最普遍而又最古怪的英语口头禅就是用来形容大雨的"Raining cats and dogs"了.这句口头禅的出处受到很多人的争议.
英文有一个代表洪水的字是"Cataclysm", 有人认为这个字的字首是"cat", 被人误解以为和"猫"有关,后来便演变出"Raining cats and dogs"的字句.
又有人指出:在挪威人的传说中有一位雷神名为"奥丁",他有一对招风唤雨的助手,是猫神和狗神,这个传说后来进入了英文的语言里,便造成了以上的口头禅.
不过,最可相信的解释就是有人认为从前在一些排水通道简陋的地方,落大雨之后往往带来洪水泛滥,以致很多猫狗被溺死,便给人一个天上落下猫和狗的感觉.
就像很多其他的口头禅一样,这一句的出处已经没有人去稽考,下倾盆大雨的时候一些中国人会说出一句"赶狗不出门",西方人就会说"Raining cats and dogs",各有其趣.
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