第二册第20篇：工作

20 Work 工作

 

It is physically 1 impossible for a well-educated, intellectual, or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts; as physically impossible as(1) it is for him to make his dinner the principal object of them. All healthy people like their dinner, but their dinner is not the main object of their lives. So all healthy-minded people like making money- ought to like it and to enjoy the sensation of winning it; but the main object of their lives is not money; it is something better than money.

一个受过良好教育，有知识或有胆识的人实在不可能把金钱作为他孜孜以求的主要目标，正如他不可能把吃饭当作最主要的目标一样。一切健康的人都吃得很香，但是吃饭并不是他们生活的主要目标。同样道理，一切思想健康的人都想得到收入--理所当然，并且为得到收入而由衷地高兴，然而他们生活的主要目标并不是钱，而是比钱更有价值的东西。



A good soldier, for instance, mainly wishes to do his fighting well. He is glad of his pay- very properly so(2), and justly grumbles 2 when you keep him ten months without it; still, his main notion of life is to win battles, not to be paid for winning them.

例如，一个优秀的士兵总是想把仗打好。他为自己的薪饷感到高兴--完全合乎情理，如果你扣发他十个月军饷，他当然要抱怨。然而他的生活要旨仍然是夺取战斗的胜利，而不是为了薪饷去打胜仗。



So of doctors. They like fees no doubt- ought to like them; yet if they are brave and well educated, the en- tire object of their lives is not fees. They, on the whole, desire to cure the sick, and--if they are good doctors, and the choice were fairly put to them(3) --would rather cure their patient and lose their fee than kill him and get it. And so with all other brave and rightly trained men; their work is first, their fee second, very important always, but still second.

医生也是这样。他们当然都喜欢收诊费--理所当然，然而，如果他们是有胆识的、受过良好教育的，那他们生活的全部目标就不是为了收费。总的说来，他们都想把病人治好，而且--如果他们是好医生，同时公平地要他们作出选择的话--他们宁愿把病人治愈而得不到诊金，也不愿为了诊金却把病人治死。所有其他有胆识的、受过正当培养的人也都是这样，对他们来说，工作是第一位的，报酬则是第二位的，虽然报酬总是非常重要的，但终究是第二位的。



But in every nation, there is a vast class of people who are cowardly, and more or less stupid. And with these people, just as certainly the fee is first and the work second, as with brave people the work is first and the fee second.

可是，在每一个国家里都有一大批怯懦的，多少有点愚蠢的人。对于这些人来说，报酬是第一位的，工作是第二位的，正如刘于有胆识的人说来工作是第一位的，而报酬则是第二位的。



And this is no small distinction. It is the whole distinction. It is the whole distinction in a man. You can- not serve two masters; you must serve one or the other. If your work is first with you, and your fee second, work is your master.

这决不是细微的差异。这是至关重要的根本差异。这是区别一个人的根本差异。你不能侍奉两个主人，你必须择一而从。如果你的工作是第一位的，报酬是第二位的，那么工作就是你的主人。



Observe, then, all wise work is mainly threefold in character. It is honest, useful, and cheerful. I hardly know anything more strange than that you recognize honesty in play, and do not in work(4). In your lightest games you have always someone to see what you call "fair play". In boxing you must hit fair; in racing 3, start fair. Your watchword is fair play; your hatred 4, foul 5 play. Did it ever strike you that you wanted another watchword also, fair work, and another hatred also , foul work ?

要知道，一切明智的工作大都具有三重性：诚实、有用和令人愉快。我几乎不知道还有比你在娱乐中讲究诚实而在工作上却不讲诚实更为奇怪的事了。在最轻松的游戏中你也总要有人支持你所说的"公正比赛"。拳击时，你必须按照比赛规则去打，赛跑时，起跑要符合规定。你的口号是公正比赛，你所憎恨的是不公正比赛。你可曾想到对待工作你也要有一条口号，那就是老老实实，而你该憎恨的是寡廉鲜耻?

 

英文注释：

(1) as physically impossible as...: 是 it is as physically impossible for a well-educated，ntellectual，or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts as.．．的省略形式，实际上当然不会采用这种累赘的说法。后面的as所引出的是一个比较状语从句。physically impossible作"违反自然法则的，不可能的"解。

(2) very properly so：感到高兴是合乎情理的。so代替前面的glad。

(3)if...the choice were fairly put to them：如果他们是好医生，同时公正地要求他们作出选择的话。这句中用be的虚拟语气形式Were，因为作者认为治病收费是理所当然的，因此所谓公正地要求医生作出下列选择的情况基本上是不存在的。

(4)do not in work：do not后省略了recognize honesty。