赏析钱钟书写给林书武的三封英语信-2
时间：2019-01-03 作者：英语课 分类：英文语法词汇
英语课
第二封信
My Dear Lin1, May
Excuse this belated reply to your very kind May Day greetings. It’s almost literally 1 “a day after the fair”. What with fixing the mosquito net (蚊帐), queuing for sweets at the co-op store, fetching & distributing letters, & the thousand and one odds 2 and ends which eat away ones time, the red letter day was over before I know where I was. Well, here go my best wishes in which my wife joins. Your letter makes me ashamed. I feel guilty like a swindler who has won your “gratitude 3” without doing anything to earn it. Your characteristic generosity 4 has led you to overestimate 5 the aids to study I gave. Yes, vocabulary is important. Pedagogues 6 (卖弄学问者) used to distinguish a pupils active or writing & speaking vocabulary. As you know, the latter is far more extensive than the former. How to turn the supinely passive into the nimbly active—that’s the big problem. However, enough of shop talk. Tomorrow to the battle & more power to your elbow!?
Yours Sincerely,
林：
5月1日承蒙来信祝贺节日，迟复为歉。称之为“定期集市后的一天”，此语非虚。安蚊帐，在合作社小店排队买糖果，往邮局取信，回来分发，以及忙乎耗费时间的没完没了的琐事，不知不觉中纪念日已经过去了。在此，我和妻子向你致以最良好的祝愿。你的来信，使我感到惭愧。我像个骗子，没干什么就获得了你的感谢，感到内疚。我对你的学习，帮助甚少，你特有的忠厚，使你过高估计这种帮助。是的，词汇是重要的。教师通常把词汇分为积极的和消极的词汇，前者为写和说的词汇，后者为阅读的词汇。正如你所知道的，学生的词汇中，后者远比前者多得多。如何把呆板的消极词汇变成灵活的积极词汇，这是个大问题。但有关行内的议论，就说这么多吧。明天就要投入战斗了，加油干!
钱钟书谨上 5月2日
注解：
1、此信写于1972年5月2日，距上封信近一年。
2、Excuse my late arrival, 或Excuse me for coming late都可以说，但中国学生似乎更喜欢采用后一个句型。所以信中说Excuse this belated reply, 更显得新颖。
3、这是一个复杂句。Thousand and one odds and ends, 极言琐事繁多。Red letter day: 日历上节日、纪念日都是用红色字体印，故称。这个句子定是神来之笔，百读不厌。
4、Well是个多义词。作为感叹词，也可以表达多种意思，不能一律译作、“嗳”、“嗯”、“啊”。这里信中用来改变话题。
5、Or,除了常见的“或者”义之外，这里是“等于”、“即”的意思。
6、How to ……是个话题，that是主话。这样的写法突出重点，又很生动。7、两句都是不完全句。前一个常用，如快下课时说，Enough for the time being(暂时就谈这么多)， So much for today(今天就讲这么多)。后一个是口号式句，简洁有力。
My Dear Lin1, May
Excuse this belated reply to your very kind May Day greetings. It’s almost literally 1 “a day after the fair”. What with fixing the mosquito net (蚊帐), queuing for sweets at the co-op store, fetching & distributing letters, & the thousand and one odds 2 and ends which eat away ones time, the red letter day was over before I know where I was. Well, here go my best wishes in which my wife joins. Your letter makes me ashamed. I feel guilty like a swindler who has won your “gratitude 3” without doing anything to earn it. Your characteristic generosity 4 has led you to overestimate 5 the aids to study I gave. Yes, vocabulary is important. Pedagogues 6 (卖弄学问者) used to distinguish a pupils active or writing & speaking vocabulary. As you know, the latter is far more extensive than the former. How to turn the supinely passive into the nimbly active—that’s the big problem. However, enough of shop talk. Tomorrow to the battle & more power to your elbow!?
Yours Sincerely,
林：
5月1日承蒙来信祝贺节日，迟复为歉。称之为“定期集市后的一天”，此语非虚。安蚊帐，在合作社小店排队买糖果，往邮局取信，回来分发，以及忙乎耗费时间的没完没了的琐事，不知不觉中纪念日已经过去了。在此，我和妻子向你致以最良好的祝愿。你的来信，使我感到惭愧。我像个骗子，没干什么就获得了你的感谢，感到内疚。我对你的学习，帮助甚少，你特有的忠厚，使你过高估计这种帮助。是的，词汇是重要的。教师通常把词汇分为积极的和消极的词汇，前者为写和说的词汇，后者为阅读的词汇。正如你所知道的，学生的词汇中，后者远比前者多得多。如何把呆板的消极词汇变成灵活的积极词汇，这是个大问题。但有关行内的议论，就说这么多吧。明天就要投入战斗了，加油干!
钱钟书谨上 5月2日
注解：
1、此信写于1972年5月2日，距上封信近一年。
2、Excuse my late arrival, 或Excuse me for coming late都可以说，但中国学生似乎更喜欢采用后一个句型。所以信中说Excuse this belated reply, 更显得新颖。
3、这是一个复杂句。Thousand and one odds and ends, 极言琐事繁多。Red letter day: 日历上节日、纪念日都是用红色字体印，故称。这个句子定是神来之笔，百读不厌。
4、Well是个多义词。作为感叹词，也可以表达多种意思，不能一律译作、“嗳”、“嗯”、“啊”。这里信中用来改变话题。
5、Or,除了常见的“或者”义之外，这里是“等于”、“即”的意思。
6、How to ……是个话题，that是主话。这样的写法突出重点，又很生动。7、两句都是不完全句。前一个常用，如快下课时说，Enough for the time being(暂时就谈这么多)， So much for today(今天就讲这么多)。后一个是口号式句，简洁有力。
adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实
- He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
- Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。
n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别
- The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
- Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？
adj.感激，感谢
- I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
- She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为
- We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
- We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。
v.估计过高，过高评价
- Don't overestimate seriousness of the problem.别把问题看重了。
- We overestimate our influence and our nuisance value.我们过高地估计了自己的影响力和破坏作用。