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  3. Boasting is a kind of megalomania. Though moralists may call it a human failing, it does, however, serve extremely useful purpos

Boasting is a kind of megalomania. Though moralists may call it a human failing, it does, however, serve extremely useful purpos

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问题     Boasting is a kind of megalomania. Though moralists may call it a human failing, it does, however, serve extremely useful purposes in social intercourse. Without the capacity for boasting, you will be looked down upon by even a rickshaw puller, to say nothing of finding a good job. Because of their earnest and down-to-earth approach to work, Westerners are, in the eyes of Chinese smartiers, next door to idiotic. They are being laughed at by Chinese smartiers for the tremendous amount of energy they put into their activities. While Westerners go about whatever work they do methodically and patiently, never dreaming of reaching great heights in one step, we Chinese are always given to seeking a shortcut and regard the ability to boast as the master key to it. Boasting is an essential art of life just as hyperbole is an indispensable rhetorical figure. The Tang poet Li Bai’s famous lines "The Yellow River comes from the sky" and "My white hair of thirty thousand feet" are examples of hyperbole, which, to those who know little about the art of rhetoric, may sound like a gross exaggeration on the part of the poet.
    That boasting is of extremely great use to one is beyond doubt Man is a queer animal. Suppose you tell someone the plain truth about a certain matter without holding anything back, he will probably laugh at you scornfully instead of returning a congenial response. On the other hand, suppose, penniless as you are, you brag unabashedly to somebody who knows little about you, "Minister So-and-So is a good friend of my father’s," "Politician So-and-So is my grandpa’s sworn brother," "I know a certain business tycoon very well," or "My wife is a nominally adoptive sister of a certain warlord’s fifth concubine." The listener will adore you like a deity or may even, at an opportune moment, respectfully treat you to a big dinner featuring edible bird’s nest. (35%)
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答案 吹牛是一种夸大狂，在道德家看来，也许认为是缺点，可是在处事接物上却是一种呱呱叫的妙用。假使你这一生缺少了吹牛的本领，别说好饭碗找不到，便连黄包车夫也不放你在眼里的。西洋人究竟近乎白痴，什么事都只讲究脚踏实地去做，这样费力气的勾当，我们聪明的中国人，简直连牙齿都要笑掉了。西洋人什么事都讲究按部就班地慢慢来，从来没有平地登天的捷径，而我们中国人专门走捷径，而走捷径的第一个法门，就是善吹牛。吹牛是一件不可轻看的艺术，就如修辞学上不可缺少“张喻”一类的东西一样，像李白什么“黄河之水天上来”，又是什么“白发三千丈”，这在修辞学上就叫作“张喻”，而在不懂修辞学的人看来，就觉得李太白在吹牛了。 而且实际上说来，吹牛对于一个人的确有极大的妙用。人类这个东西，就有这么奇怪，无论什么事，你若老老实实地把实话告诉他，不但不能激起他共鸣的情绪，而且还要轻蔑你冷笑你，假使你见了那摸不清你根底的人，你不管你家里早饭的米是当了被褥换来的，你只要大言不惭的说“某部长是我父亲的好朋友，某政客是我拜把子的叔公，我认得某某巨商，我的太太同某军阀的第五位太太是干姐妹”吹起这一套法螺来，那摸不清你的人，便服服帖帖地向你合十顶礼，说不定碰得巧还恭而且敬地请你大吃一顿燕菜席呢!
解析     本文的原文是中文，出自现代中国女作家庐隐的经典散文《吹牛的妙用》。庐隐原名黄淑仪，又名黄英，笔名庐隐，福建人。她是五四时期著名的作家，与冰心、林徽因齐名，三人被并称为“福州三大才女”。本文的语言透露出明显的讽刺意味，因此翻译时要注意不可只注重文字的表面含义，要选用符合作者表达意图和语气的词句。
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