This ignorance, however, is not altogether miserable. Out of it we get the constant pleasure of discovery. Every fact of nature

admin2013-05-19  28

问题     This ignorance, however, is not altogether miserable. Out of it we get the constant pleasure of discovery. Every fact of nature comes to us each spring, if only we are sufficiently ignorant, with the dew still on it. If we have lived half a lifetime without having ever seen a cuckoo, and know it only as a wandering voice, we are all the more delighted at the spectacle of its runaway flight as it hurries from wood to wood conscious of its crimes and at the way in which it halts hawk-like in the wind, its long tail quivering, before it dares descend on a hill-side of fir-trees where avenging presences may lurk. It would be absurd to pretend that the naturalist does not also find pleasure in observing the life of the birds, but his is a steady pleasure, almost a sober and plodding occupation, compared to the morning enthusiasm of the man who sees a cuckoo for the first time, and, behold, the world is made new.
    And, as to that, the happiness even of the naturalist depends in some measure upon his ignorance, which still leaves him new worlds of this kind to conquer. He may have reached the very Z of knowledge in the books, but he still feels half ignorant until he has confirmed each bright particular with his eyes.

选项

答案 不过,这种无知也并非全然不幸,因为正是由于它,我们才能不断尝到发现的乐趣。只要我们是的的确确地无知,那么每年大地春回,自然界的每一种事物都会带着它那清新的露珠重新出现在我们面前。如果我们活了半辈子,对于杜鹃除了听过它那飘忽不定的叫声,从来没有见过它是什么模样,那么,一旦看见它因为自己犯了罪而惶惶不安地从这个林子飞逃向那个林子,或是看见它顶着风、像老鹰似的停留在半空中,它那长长的尾巴颤动着,不敢落下来,生怕有什么鸟儿藏在那山坡上的枞树林里等着要找它报仇。我们才会觉得大大开心。有人想着,博物学家整天观察鸟类,大概就不会觉得有什么趣儿了吧?其实大谬不然——他那持续不断的乐趣几乎已经变成一种安详的职业习惯了吧,不像有人某天早晨突然第一次看见一只杜鹃,不胜雀跃之至,于是,看哪,天地也为之焕然一新了。 说到这儿,甚至连博物学家的快乐在一定程度上也有赖于自己的无知;只有如此,才能给他留出一些新的领域有待他去征服。即使他已经攀登了书本知识的顶峰,他仍会感到自己不过是半通不通,每一个引人注目的细节还必须用自己的亲眼观察来加以一一证实。

解析     谈的是人们因为无知才会对自然、世界抱有一种兴趣,才会去求知,而求知的过程就是充满乐趣的过程。原文的语气好像是作者在同读者聊天,给人一种亲切、随和的感觉。但文字却并不是特别口语化,相反,字里行间透出一种博学之士的严整与典雅,是学者型散文的代表。译者应通过精心选词、择句,较好地传达原文的风格。
Out of:表不原因。
sufficiently:表示“足够地”,  “十分地”,  “充分地”。理解时,建议充分利用各种资源,但表达时,必须跳出这个藩篱,此处可译为“的的确确地(无知)”。
wandering:类似于第二点。译为“飘忽不定”。
we are all the more delighted at:表示“我们对于……感到愈加高兴”。  “At”后接的宾语相当长,为了使行文顺畅,可以将原文的宾语提前。
where avenging presences may lurk:  “presences”具体化,即鸟儿,  “avenging presences”,意为“寻找机会报仇的鸟儿”。因此,整个分句表示“有什么鸟儿藏在那山坡上的枞树林里等着要找它报仇”。
a steady pleasure:表示“持续不断的乐趣”,  “乐趣源源不断”。
a sober and plodding occupation:表示“从事这种职业不会时而狂喜,时而狂怒”,故译为“一种安详的职业”。
the very Z of knowledge:此处出现了比喻的修辞手法,译为“知识的顶峰”。
half ignorant:表示“一知半解”、“半通不通”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/yT4O777K
0

随机试题
最新回复(0)