英语哲理散文赏析

英语散文的发展历程十分曲折,散文大家风格多变,兼之中英语言个性殊异,若要成功地把英语散文大家的作品翻译到中文,既须了解英语散文发展的概况,又须注意保证气韵逻辑通畅,文气沛然,才能传神译出,曲尽其妙,令汉语读者获得相同或相近的审美感受。下面本站小编为大家带来英语哲理散文赏析，欢迎大家阅读!

When my husband and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant, Lenny, the piano player, asked, "How did you do it?"

当我和丈夫在我们最喜欢的饭馆庆祝结婚38周年纪念日时，那个弹钢琴的莱尼过来问道：“你们是怎么过过来的?”

knew there was no simple answer, but as the weekend approached, I wondered if one reason might be our ritual of breakfast in bed every Saturday and Sunday.

我知道，对于这个问题无法简简单单地来回答。但随着周末一天天的临近，我开始在想：或许其中的一个原因就是我们每逢星期六和星期天都在床上吃早餐。

It all started with the breakfast tray my mother gave us as a wedding gift. It had a glass top and slatted wooden side pockets for the morning paper e kind you used to see in the movies. Mother loved her movies, and although she rarely had breakfast in bed, she held high hopes for her daughter. My adoring bridegroom took the message to heart.

一切都是从那个早餐托盘开始的，我妈把它作为结婚礼物送给我们。盘面是玻璃的，两边各有一个细长的木制侧袋用来放晨报——就像过去常常在电影中见到的那样。我妈很喜欢那些电影，尽管她自己很少在床上用早餐，却非常希望女儿能这样。深爱着我的新郎把我母亲的话牢记在心里。

Feeling guilty, I suggested we take turns. Despite grumblings -- "hate crumbs in my bed" ---Sunday morning found my spouse eagerly awaiting his tray. Soon these weekend breakfasts became such a part of our lives that I never even thought about them. I only knew we treasured this separate, blissful time read, relax, forget the things we should remember.

出于心里感觉有些愧疚，我提议由我们两个轮流准备早餐。星期天早上，虽然他嘴里嘟嘟囔囔地抱怨着——“我讨厌饭渣弄到床上。”——但我还是见到丈夫在急切地等候他的早餐。周末早餐不久就成为我们生活中的一部分，习以为常也就不去想它了。我只知道我俩都很珍视这段与其他时间有别的幸福时光——看看报、放松一下自己，忘记那些本该记在心里的事情。

Sifting through the years, I recalled how our weekends changed,but that we still preserved the ritual. We started our family (as new parents, we slept after breakfast more than we read), but we always found our way back to where we started, just two for breakfast, one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

细想逝去的岁月，我回忆起我们周末生活的诸多变化，但这个老习惯却依旧保留下来。我们建立起了这个家庭(初为父母时，早饭后的时间我们多半是睡一会儿，而不是阅读)，但是我们总能够找到归路，返回起点——只是两个人的早餐，星期六一次，星期天一次。

When we had more time, my tray became more festive. First it was fruit slices placed in geometric pattern; then came flowers from our garden metimes just one blossom sprouting from a grapefruit half. This arranger of mine had developed a flair for decorating, using everything from amaryllis to the buds of a maple tree. My husband said my cooking inspired him. Mother would have approved. Perhaps it was the Saturday when the big strawberry wore a daisy hat that I began to think, how can I top this? One dark winter night I woke with a vision of a snowman on a tray. That Sunday I scooped a handful of snow and in no time had my man made. With a flourish I put a miniature pinecone on his head.

当我们有了更多的时间，我的早餐托盘上就变得更加具有喜庆色彩。开始时是以几何图形排列的水果片，随后便是从自家花园里摘来的鲜花——有时候只是一朵，开在一半的葡萄柚当中。没想到这竟激发出我在装饰、点缀方面的天赋，各种各样的东西，从孤挺花到枫树的叶芽，都成为我手下的装饰材料。丈夫说我做的早餐启发了他，妈妈也会赞同他的说法。或许是在那个星期六，在一个大草莓上放一个雏菊做帽子之后，我开始在想：我怎么才能够超过它?在一个漆黑的冬夜，我从梦中醒来，眼前仿佛看到有一个雪人站在托盘上。就在那个星期天，我铲来了一捧雪，很快就做好了一个雪人。我轻轻地把一个微型松果按在雪人的头上。

As I delivered the tray, complete with a nicely frozen snowman, I waited for a reaction. There was none but as I headed down the stairs I heard a whoop of laughter and then, "You've won! Yes, sir, you've won the prize!"

我端着早餐上楼，盘面上放着那个冻结实的小雪人，我期待着他的反应——什么也没有——但就在我下楼时，我听到他放声大笑起来，紧接着，他说道：“你赢了!毫无疑问，你得奖了!”

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.

几年前，一个农场主在大西洋沿岸拥有一块土地，他经常贴广告雇佣人手。可是，很多人都不愿意在大西洋岸边的农场干活，他们害怕大西洋上空剧烈的风暴会破坏房屋和庄稼。所以当这个农场主招工面试时，收到的是一连串坚定的拒绝。

Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him.

最后，有一个个头不高、略显瘦弱、已过中年的男人来到农场主面前。“你是个干农活的好手吗?”农场主问他。

"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

“是的，起风的时候我可以睡觉，”那个矮个男人回答道。

Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work.

尽管农场主对他的回答有点迷惑，可苦于没有帮手，于是雇佣了他。那个矮个男人在农场干活很卖力，从天亮一直忙到天黑，因此农场主对他的工作很满意。

Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

一天晚上，海面上刮起了咆哮的大风，农场主从床上跳了起来，抓起灯笼就向旁边雇工住的地方冲去。他晃着那个矮个男人喊道：“起来!刮风暴了!快把东西系好，别刮跑了!”

The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

那个矮个男人在床上翻了一下身，平静地说道：“不，先生，我告诉过你，刮风的时候我可以睡觉。”

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away.

农场主被他的回答激怒了，气得真想当场把他解雇。不过，还是赶紧跑出去应付暴风雨吧。然而，令他惊奇的是，他发现所有的干草垛已经盖好了防水油布，牛在牲口棚里面，小鸡在鸡笼里，门闩好了，百叶窗也关紧了，一切都栓牢了，什么东西都刮不走了。

The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

此刻，农场主才明白了雇工那句话的意思，于是，风刮起来的时候，他也回自己的床上睡觉了。