刚才在英语学习论坛上，看到“莫倾城”网友的一个帖子，介绍他自己翻译的苏轼《江城子·乙卯正月二十日夜记梦》。首先我必须指出，中国古代诗歌的英译，是一件高难度的工作，翻译者必须具备古代汉语、英语、诗歌、音韵等多方面造诣。坦率地讲，我本人远远没有达到这种水平，而且据我观察，在国内几个主要英语学习论坛上，能达到这种水平的人，也很少很少，所以我首先向这位网友表达我的钦佩之情。 但是另一方面，我认为“莫倾城”网友的译文有两个明显缺点，这种缺点即使是英语水平不高的人，也可以很容易地看出来，这就是：第一，英语译文过分拘泥于汉语原文，原文中的每个汉字，几乎都有对应的英语单词，因而英语译文显得比较冗长；第二，英语译文中的某些单词，过于正式，不适合在诗歌中使用，比如ignorant、recognize、presume等，因而文字风格显得有些不协调。我想在这里推荐美国著名汉学家Burton Watson翻译的这首古词，您可以比较一下，他的译文比较简练，风格也比较统一。 汉语原文： 十年生死两茫茫，不思量，自难忘。千里孤坟，无处话凄凉。...

Love really is blind, at least when it comes to looking at others, US researchers reported. College students who reported they were in love were less likely to take careful notice of other attractive men or women, the team at the University of California Los Angeles and dating Web site eHarmony found. "Feeling love for your romantic partner appears to make everybody else less attractive, and the emotion appears to enable you to push thoughts of that tempting other out of your mind," said G...

It might mean toning up your baby Fifty years ago, most people's daily levels of activity were equivalent to walking three to five miles a day; today, the average person fails to cover that distance in a week. It's no wonder the incidence of obesity has soared - with serious implications for health. The culprit? Inertia. What we have gained in convenience from labour-saving devices over the past half-century, we have paid for in terms of a sharp decline in physical activity. We use cars,...

University Professor Yoji Kimura (standing at the back) demonstrates how to measure laughter in Osaka on February 20, 2008. Japanese professor Yoji Kimura believes laughter is a weapon that in healthy doses can end the world's wars. To measure it, the expert on communications has invented a machine to chart out laughter -- and a new unit of "aH" to calculate it. "We have found that children laugh more freely, releasing 10 aH per second, which is about twice as much as an adult," Kimura, a ...

Today I've come back to Hong Kong to stand before you,and account for myself,I've never escaped away from my responsibility. During the past few weeks,I've been with my mother,and my family,and love ones,to show support and care,and at the same time have their support and care for me. I admit most of the photos being circulated on the Internet were taken by me,but these photos were very private,and have not been shown to people,and were never intended to be shown to anyone. Their photos w...

Rieko Saitoh, a publicist for Matsushita Electric Works, demonstrates the company's 'Sleep Room,' in Tokyo in this June 10, 2004 file photo. Hey you! Dozing at your desk! Wake up, go home and get more sleep! That could be the message from a survey released Monday by the National Sleep Foundation. The survey of 1,000 people found participants average six hours and 40 minutes of sleep a night on weeknights, even though they estimated they'd need roughly another 40 minutes of sleep to be at t...

Angelina Jolie names her daughter Shiloh Hollywood actress Halle Berry's decision to call her daughter Nahla had some people perplexed, but baby experts said it mirrored a trend for unusual names which has helped create a new profession -- baby name consultant. Many parents have moved away from giving their children family or unisex names and want their youngsters to have names that stand out from the crowd. An online survey by specialist Web site Babycenter.com found 15 percent of parent...

我几乎从来不翻译文章，因为翻译是一种艺术，不是人人都适合从事翻译工作的。不过，在看到沃伦-巴菲特回答Emory大学商学院学生的这个问题之后，我决定尝试一次。因为这段回答实在太美妙了。如果你原先不尊敬巴菲特，这段回答能让你尊敬他；如果你原先就尊敬巴菲特，这段回答能让你崇拜他。 Emory大学学生： 你怎么定义幸福？你生活中的什么事物使你感觉最幸福？当你做了一笔成功的投资，你会允许自己兴高采烈地享受成功吗？从另一面讲，如果一笔投资失败了，你会不会感觉到同样的失望？或者说，你尝试尽可能地把感情排除出你的工作？ 巴菲特： 我享受我做的事情，我每天都跳着踢踏舞去工作。我和我喜欢的人一起工作，做我喜欢的事情。我唯一希望尽可能避免的事情是解雇员工。我把我的时间用来思考未来，而不是过去。未来是激动人心的。正如伯特兰德-罗素说的，“成功是得到自己想要的，快乐是想要自己得到的。”我出生的那天赢得了卵巢彩票（注：指精子发育为受精卵的过程），你们所有人都一样。我们都很成功，聪明，受过教育。专注于那些你没有的东西是一个可怕的错误。在我们人人拥有的天赋之下，如果你仍然不快乐...

Middle-income families can expect to spend $204,060 on feeding, housing and schooling a child born in 2007 until his or her 18th birthday, the US government reported on Monday. Child care and education costs will represent a larger share of costs for raising the '07 baby through adulthood than they have in the past, the Agriculture Department said in an annual study on child-rearing costs. "The cost of providing food decreased from 24 percent to 17 percent of total child-rearing costs, whi...

Young, single men are fed up with being typecast as immature, insensitive and sex-obsessed, with a survey finding that the majority believe in having a soul mate, aren't scared of commitment, and say real men can cry.A poll of 70,000 men with an average age of 28 debunked many of the standard stereotypes to show that the modern man is driven by a sense of values, loyalty and family.   The survey, by men's lifestyle website AskMen.com, found that 77 percent of respondents look for gi...

今天，我天始新的生活．   今天，我爬出满是失败创伤的老茧．   今天，我重新来到这个世上，我出生在葡萄园中，国内的葡萄任人享用。   今天，我要从最高最密的藤上摘下智慧的果实，这葡萄藤是好几代前的智者种下的。   今天，我要品尝葡萄的美味，还要吞下每一位成功的种子，让新生命在我心里萌牙。   我选择的道路充满机遇，也有辛酸与绝望．失败的同伴数不胜数，叠在一起，比金字塔还高。   然而，我不会像他们一样失败，因为我手中持有航海图，可以领我越过汹涌的大海，抵达梦中的彼岸．   失败不再是我奋斗的代价．它和痛苦都将从我的生命中消失。失败和我，就像水火一样，互不相容。我不再像过去一样接受它们。我要在智慧的指引下，走出失败的阴影，步入富足、健康、快乐的乐园，这些都超出了我以往的梦想． 我要是能长生不老，就可以学到一切，但我不能永生，所以，在有限的人生里，我必须学会忍耐的艺术，因为大自然的行为一向是从容不迫的．造物主创造树中之王橄摊树需要一百年的时间，而洋葱经过短短的九个星期...

中国跳水队曾在雅典奥运上创下连得六枚金牌的记录，其后，他们在2007年的世界锦标赛中摘得7金，在2008年世界泳联跳水世界杯比赛中又一举包揽了所有8块金牌。这一系列举世瞩目的成绩使得中国跳水队赢得了全世界的肯定。跳水“梦之队”的领队周继红表示：“对北京奥运会，我们有充分的信心”。 China's diving stars will be centre-stage in Beijing after their dominance in previous Olympics.   The Chinese diving team won a record six golds in Athens, notching up more golds than any other China sports teams. This was on top of five gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.   Their form since Athens has be...

Triumphantly returning home after their best medal total in a century, British athletes and government officials turn their attention now to the next summer games in four years in London. After Beijing bid farewell to the 2008 Olympics, celebrations broke out in Britain to usher in London's turn to host. 　 英国在北京奥运会上夺得了100年以来历届奥运会最多的奖牌。凯旋归来后，英国的运动员和政府官员开始把注意力转向四年以后在伦敦举行的下一届夏季奥运会上。在北京向2008年奥运会告别之后，英国开始举行庆祝活动，着手准备伦敦主办下届奥运会的活动。 While the world ponders the legacy of the Beijing games, the...