（辑自我9月的微博 http://www.weibo.com/2138515221）

说某套公寓让人住得cheerful and gay，想用两个词译出，想了半天后意识到“愉快”不就是“愉悦”+“快乐”吗？所以再次用一个词就搞定了。

 

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you. - Spanish proverb

 

I think age is a very high price to pay for maturity. - Tom Stoppard

 

I agree with everything you say, but I would attack to the death your right to say it. — Tom Stoppard

 

It is not the level of prosperity that makes for happiness but the kinship of heart to heart and the way we look at the world. Both attitudes are within the power, so that a man is happy so long as he chooses to be happy, and no one can stop him. - Alexander Solzhenitzyn

 

Only those who decline to scramble up the career ladder are interesting as human beings. Nothing is more boring than a man with a career. - Alexander Solzhenitzyn

 

As to marriage or celibacy, let a man take the course he will. He will be sure to repent. – Socrates

 

Nature has given us two ears, two eyes, and but one tongue - to the end that we should hear and see more than we speak. - Socrates

 

Be slow to fall into friendship, but when thou art in, continue firm and constant. - Socrates

 

The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. - Socrates

 

It is not hard to understand modern art. If it hangs on a wall it's a painting, and if you can walk around it it's a sculpture. – Tom Stoppard

 

When Harold Pinter was lobbying to have London's Comedy Theatre renamed the Pinter Theatre, Stoppard wrote back: 'Have you thought, instead, of changing your name to Harold Comedy?'

 

Ari tried to slam the door shut, as if to defy the neighbors, as if to add a dramatic coda to the evening, but Zoltan had broken the door in one of his rages, and it barely closed at all. - Z.Z.Packer, Geese

 

croquette，炸丸子：用剁碎的食品，如鸡肉、蔬菜或鱼肉做成的小丸子，通常外裹面包屑放入油中煎炸而成。

 

collard，羽衣甘蓝

 

sake，（日本）清酒

 

对群众来说，不需要很强的政治感，需要他们拥有的，只是一种初级的爱国主义，用得上时，可以随时唤起他们的这种感情，让他们接受更长工作时间和更少定量。甚至在他们变得不满足时——有时确实会——其不满足感也不会带来什么后果。由于缺乏总体上的概念，他们只会专注于一些细枝末节的不如意之事，从来看不到还有更大的罪恶。

 

提个小建议：可规定那些出现打砸抢的城市几年内不许参评“全国文明城市”——免得每年都要抽风似的搞一段时间“创文”，劳民伤财。

 

2008年CNN一位评论者Jack Cafferty的“辱华言论”引起了风波，他那句话是这样的：“I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years." （我觉得从根本上说，他们还是五十年以来没变过的一帮呆子和暴徒）。几年后再回头看这句肇事言论，真是让人心情复杂。

 

This I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. - John Steinbeck

 

I find it valid to understand man as an animal before I am prepared to know him as a man. - John Steinbeck

 

This age makes me so sick that sometimes I am almost impelled to stop at a corner and start calling down curse from Heaven like Jeremiah or Ezra. - George Orwell　　这时代有时让我如此厌恶，以至于几乎忍不住想站在街角开始像耶利米或以斯拉那样，大声喊出来自天国的诅咒。—乔治·奥威尔

 

Reach high, for the stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.

- Pamela Vaull Starr

 

A nation . . . is just a society for hating foreigners. - Olaf Stapledon

 

I am not the smartest or most talented person in the world. But I succeeded because I keep going, and going, and going. - Sylvester Stallone

 

I thought I had reached a point in life where everything would be smooth. But it is not. It just gets more jagged and pitted and filled with turns that take you into the dark recesses of your mind. It never seems to get easy. - Sylvester Stallone

 

A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic. - Joseph Stalin

 

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. - Germain de Stael

 

说某套公寓让人住得cheerful and gay，想用两个词译出，想了半天后意识到“愉快”不就是“愉悦”+“快乐”吗？所以再次用一个词就搞定了。

 

turnstile，十字转门：一种用来控制从一个公共区域到另一个公共区域的通道的机械装置， 典型的样子是从中心一根垂直的柱子上放射状地伸出几根水平的旋转臂，只允许个人走路通过

 

couscous，蒸粗麦粉食品：一种北非传统菜，由肉、炖菜和粗面粉蒸成。

rivulet，小溪，小河。

 

（接上条）汤永宽先生对海明威上一句的译文为：“我们要吃一顿很好的晚餐，喝合作社买来的博讷酒，你从那窗口就能看到橱窗上写着的博讷酒的价钱。”加了三个逗号，总算能让人喘口气。有时候译者可以说给作者遮了丑。不过细究起来，上面后半句译得不算准确。

 

真心觉得海明威的英语不怎么样，例如对话中有这样一句：“We’ll come home and eat here and we’ll have a lovely meal and drink Beanune from the co-operative you can see right out of the window there with the price of the Beanune on the window. ” 试试看，你一口气能读下来吗？

 

每当我觉得自己在路上老老实实地行驶，而后面那辆车用大灯晃我时，我都想象自己开的是一辆007的Aston Martin，于是很从容地打开一个按钮盖，按下按钮，一枚火箭往后呼啸而去——叫你丫晃我！

 

More men fail through lack of purpose rather than lack of talent. - Billy Sunday

 

Be generous! Give to those you love; give to those who love you; give to the fortunate; give to the unfortunate - yes, give especially to those you don't want to give. You will receive abundance for your giving. The more you give, the more you will have! - W. Clement Stone

 

Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to gain control of your estate. – Woody Allen

 

Q. Have you ever taken a serious political stand on anything?

A. Yeah. Sure. For twenty-four hours once I refused to eat grapes. –Woody Alle, Sleeper

 

I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it

through not dying. - Woody Allen 

 

有同学评论我译的卡佛的一篇文章《火》http://www.douban.com/note/78829157/：“这篇文章翻译得像一篇中文作品，不知道是好事还是坏事，现在翻译的东西越来越像中文本身了~！看不到语言上的明显特性，真不知道是该怎么个读法！”一会儿被指责译得不像中文，一会儿被指责译得太像中文，当译者，真是太不容易了。

 

今年我是一颗明星，但明年呢？会是一个黑洞吗？ — 伍迪·艾伦

 

We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend. - Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts. - Abel Stevens

 

Eagles soar, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines. - Elf Sternberg

 

We are all designed for a specific purpose; we all have something for which each of us, and each of us alone, is responsible. - Naomi Stephan

 

对群众来说，不需要很强的政治感，需要他们拥有的，只是一种初级的爱国主义，用得上时，可以随时唤起他们的这种感情，让他们接受更长工作时间和更少定量。甚至在他们变得不满足时——有时确实会——其不满足感也不会带来什么后果。由于缺乏总体上的概念，他们只会专注于一些细枝末节的不如意之事，从来看不到还有更大的罪恶。

 

提个小建议：可规定那些出现打砸抢的城市几年内不许参评“全国文明城市”——免得每年都要抽风似的搞一段时间“创文”，劳民伤财。

 

pie-faced，指人长了一张又圆又平的大脸，也许还带点呆气，我们刚好也有个词：“大饼子脸。”怎么都联想到“饼”上了。这位小狗，一时找不到图片，委屈你来客串一下吧。

 

I've tried in my way, to be free.- Leonard Cohen, Bird on the Wire

 

A smile appears on the faces of most archaic figures, a happiness of expression seeming to transcend that of human beings. - Francis Henry Taylor

 

When I can look Life in the eyes,

Grown calm and very coldly wise,

Life will have given me the Truth,

And taken in exchange---my youth.

- Sara Teasdale

 

英美人经常爱说“六个月”（six months）而不是“半年”（half a year）。我译到时，总是管他的，改成我们更习惯说的“半年”。

 

图雅是互联网早期时的写手，我当年反复读过他的文章，很喜欢。他的文字带点京味儿，能看出其阅历与见识的不凡，同时还经常有一些很新颖的句子，例如我一直记得《拱猪记》中的一句：“她是我的同事，家庭出身不详，本人成份妖精。” http://www.shuku.net/novels/mingjwx/tuyawx/tuya08.html

 

从非洲回来，我似乎患上了“非洲思乡病”，动不动就怀念那片大陆和那里交上的朋友。不过广州倒是有个去处可以纾缓这种思念——环市路的小北附近是旅居广州的非洲人聚居地，尤其是新登峰宾馆这里是广州非洲人夜生活的主要场所，街上的外国人比中国人还多，大多数是黑人。

 

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. - Mother Teresa

 

It is very simple to be happy, but it is very difficult to be simple. - Rabindranath Tagore

 

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. - Rabindranath Tagore

 

The proverb warns that "You should not bite the hand that feeds you." But maybe you should if it prevents you from feeding yourself. - Thomas Szasz

 

卡佛《火》的封面用纸有点小遗憾，就是在手里拿久一点会留下印迹。收到我赠书的一位朋友说：“你是用吃过油条的手把《火》的封面封底都摸过一遍吗？”哪里哪里，我当时只是刚吃了鸡脚。

 

想起前几年，有一阵说是我们集团的大BOSS要去重庆当市委主要领导，当然后来没去，去了我们就看不到那么多好戏了，当然，也可能只是戏码变了而已。有的人，在哪儿都会兴风作浪的。

 

#Trivia# 不用见到musician就译为“音乐家”，其实有时就是指演奏的“乐手”；artist也不一定就是“艺术家”，有时只是指“画家”。

 

The latter part of a man's life is taken up in curing the follies, prejudices, and false opinions he had contracted in the former. - Jonathan Swift

 

Don't throw away the old bucket until you know whether the new one holds water. - Swedish Proverb

 

只要你听我弹过一首曲子，或者隔着窗户看到过我，这种事情在你心里，就不会和其他事情一样，被遗忘得那样快。— 罗伯特·勃朗宁

 

最后我终于找到了，它有一半结冰，一半没有，可是附近一只鸭子也看不到。我绕着这个破湖的边上走，可还是一只鸭子也看不到。我想它们也许的确在附近哪儿，可能就在水边，靠近长草的地方，睡着了还是怎么样。那就是我几乎掉下去的原因，可我一只也找不到。— 塞林格，《麦田里的守望者》

 

自从体育西与黄埔大道路口的“贵州人”改为“食赣佳”，我就再没有吃到酸汤黄骨鱼了，想念得不行。今晚到环市东路动物园附近的“黄果树”终于又吃到了。虽然是我请客，感觉倒像是别人请我，有种感激的感觉。到后来，主要是我，把汤快喝完了。

 

Positive, continuous action toward your goals is the very best antidote to worry. - Brian Tracy

 

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation. - Brian Tracy

 

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat. Lily Tomlin（rat race：卑鄙的竞争, 你死我活的竞争）

 

Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain. - Lily Tomlin

 

In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful. - Leo Tolstoy

 

卡佛的My Father’s Life有多个译本，我最早看到的是女作家丁丽英的译本，原刊《译文》2004年某期，题为《我父亲的一生》http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=43909314，听说黄灿然老师也译过。我译《火》时也用了这个译名，于晓丹老师译《我打电话的地方》中的这篇也是这个译名。此标题当然有点西化，估计会有人很想改为“家父生平”或者“先严行述”。

 

他点着一根烟（也不是想抽）看着她。他看着她可爱依旧的动作，她说你显得累，他说不累，他问她这一向在忙什么，她说哦，没什么。他别扭地坐在椅子边上聊，她则是优雅地躺在躺椅上聊，聊他们认识但不曾关心过的人。他意识到的，主要是外面的雨、房间里柔和的暮色以及其他时候的雨和暮色。— 詹姆斯·瑟伯

 

他很快转过身，很快过去坐在她身边，握住她的一根手指，她看着那根手指而不是他，他也看着那根手指而不是她，两个人都是，似乎它是种很不一般的新东西。 — 詹姆斯·瑟伯，《晚上七点钟》

 

God, I so hate good taste. It is so lacking in courage. It is so tasteless. - Diana Trent

 

I consider exercise vulgar. It makes people smell. - Alec Yuill Thornton

 

美国Iowa州译名有好几个，以前只知道“衣阿华”、“爱荷华”，我个人喜欢用“爱荷华”，但是我译的《复活节游行》出来后，发现都被改成了“艾奥瓦”，因为按照译名规范应该译为“艾奥瓦”。不过卡佛的《火》出来后，发现这次编辑没改，挺好。（卡佛：爱荷华之夏http://www.douban.com/note/65078925/）

 

有豆友在我写的一篇《第三大道的这间酒馆》评论下面写了一句：“看了節選，感覺不對勁，翻譯得有問題吧？然後連你翻譯的卡佛都在猶豫買不買了……”显然是给我的留言，不回复不好，只好写了两个字：“两可”。延伸阅读：《第三大道的这间酒馆》网上选读http://www.douban.com/note/144328441/  《火》网上选读：http://www.douban.com/note/56948534/

 

One martini is alright, two is too many, three is not enough. - James Thurber

 

If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time for others. - Mother Teresa

 

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother Teresa

 

@吴念真老先生 的名作《这些人，那些人》我推荐给周围好几个人看，都说好，前不久推荐给12岁的儿子Mickey看，他也喜欢。但是他也有感慨，说是吴老师的经历太丰富、太坎坷了，所以才能写得那么好，而他自己这十来年都没有什么值得一说的大事。这的确是个问题，我困惑了：需要人为给他加点磨难吗？

 

昨晚睡着后先是做了个愉快的梦，关于西非的。然后心灵感应似的，两点半接到那边一位代理的电话，称船吊频频故障，需要租岸吊。然后等了十来分钟后收到他的邮件，回复，再睡觉。唉，真怀念两年多以前做别的工种时下班就关手机，下班后不需查邮件的日子。可是，我们都回不去了。那谁还说要推迟退休年龄，真坏！

 

"Just don't smile at me, please," Zooey said, evenly, and walked out of the vicinity. "Seymour was always doing that to me. This goddam house is lousy with smilers." – J.D. Salinger, Franny & Zooey

 

Don’t worry about anything, that’s the important thing right now. None of us, none of us is perfect. Just get back on your feet and don’t worry. – Raymond Carver, The Fling

 

楼下有麦记，有时下班后会下去吃份15元的套餐，然后就在那里工作一会儿。前两天又去，觉得吃够了套餐，只来杯咖啡吧，最便宜的12元，拿到后在心里算了笔账：再加三元就可以吃套餐，可以有咖啡，然后还有吃的汉堡、薯条……让我心疼了好久。所以你看，星巴克什么的真的离我很远，管他开在故宫还是灵隐寺呢。

 

我也很想写一本乔治·奥威尔的《一九八四》那样的书，它可以证明我一直在鼓吹的思想：人是不可摧毁的，因为他有争取自由的单纯思想。— 威廉·福克纳

 

《教给孩子人生经验的43种方法》http://www.douban.com/note/238763404/ ，（日）中谷彰宏 著，李若凡 译，当代中国出版社2005版。http://book.douban.com/subject/1269902/

 

Mac had many admirable qualities, but not tact. He was the sort of man who would have tried to cheer Napoleon up by talking about the Winter Sports at Moscow. -P.G.Wodehouse

 

...the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it. - Harry S. Truman

 

A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit. - D. Elton Trueblood （我们说“前人栽树，后人乘凉”）

 

菲茨杰拉德的短篇《刻花玻璃酒缸》是个悲伤的故事，但是开头很漂亮：“历史有粗石器时代，有细石器时代，过了许多年以后又出现了一个刻花玻璃器时代。”译文社出的菲氏短篇集《飞女郎与哲学家》收有这篇，另一位译者姜向明译得很不错，但蔡慧先生译的这篇让我佩服不已，以后要收集蔡先生译的书来看、学习。

 

看过《麦田里的守望者》的人都不会忘记这面中央公园的湖以及那里的鸭子。书中的霍尔顿非常关心那些鸭子到冬天去哪儿了，不仅自己心里琢磨，还老是问的士司机，司机当然都很愕然。

有多少查利·摩尔们都在盘算着下个月换工作呀。他们一辈子可能就换过一两次工作，然后就坐在那里拿以前的工作和现在的做比较，结果总是对后者充满了无尽的鄙视。— F.S.菲茨杰拉德，《戴利林波的堕落》