《幽夢影》―― 林語堂譯, 英漢對照 (全篇連載中)

逐一讀過，很有啟發性，謝謝！

王羲之的書法, 林語堂的翻譯, 妙不可言.

品格――之一

何謂善人？無損於世者則謂之善人；何謂惡人？有害於世者則謂之惡人。
含徵曰：尚有有害於世而反邀善人之譽。此實為好利而顯為名高者，則又惡人之尤。

What is a good man? Simply one whose life is useful to the world.And a bad man is simply one whose life is harmful to others.
Hanchen:There are, however,those who are harmful and yet enjoy a good reputation, and who manage to profit by a show of unselfishness.These are the worst of all.

品格――之二

無善無惡是聖人，善多惡少是賢者，善少惡多是庸人，有惡無善是小人，有善無惡是仙佛
。
（冒）青若曰：昔人云，善可為而不可為。

Those beyond good and evil are sages.Those who have more good than bad in them are distinguished persons.Common men have more evil than good,and the scum and riffraff of society have no good at all. Fairies and buddhas have only good and no evil.
Chinjo:An ancient one said,"One should do good, of course,but there are times when one should not."

品格――之三

昭君以和親而顯，劉(fei4)以下第而傳，可謂之不幸，不可謂之缺憾。
含徵曰：若故折黃雀腿而後醫之，亦不可。
（注）昭君是王嬙的字，她是漢元帝宮女，以貌美而賜匈奴和親而知名；劉是唐文宗時進士，大（太）和二年，舉賢良對策，以勸帝誅滅權奸而不獲取，這裡沒有譯出來正是語堂先生所說的，需要詳加解釋才能使西方讀者明白的事。

Some men and women left a name for posterity because they were victims of some adverse circumstances. One can say that they were most unfortunate, but I doubt that one should express regret for them.
Hanchen: True enough. On the other hand, it would hardly be right to break the leg of a sparrow and then bind it up mercifully.

品格――之四

為濁富不若為清貧，以憂生不若以樂死。
（吳）野人曰：我寧願為濁富。
竹坡曰：我願太奢，願為清富，焉能遂願？

Be clean and poor rather than be filthy rich;accept death cheerily when it comes rather than be worried about life.
Yehjen:I prefer to be filthy rich.
Chupo:My wish is to be clean and rich.But that is hard to come by.Am I wishing too much?

品格――之五

天下唯鬼最富，生前囊無一文，死後每饒楮鏹；天下唯鬼最尊，生前或受欺凌，死後必多跪拜。
野人曰：世於貧士，輒目為窮鬼，則又何也？
（陳）康疇曰：窮鬼若死則並稱尊矣。

It is not bad to be a ghost.One who was penniless has a lot of paper money burnt for his benefit and one who was pushed around all his life is worshiped by people on their knees after his death.
Yehjen:Then why do we speak of a poor scholar as a "poor devil"?
Kangchou:When the poor devil dies,he,too,is honored.

品格――之六

富貴而勞悴，不若安閑之貧賤；貧賤而驕傲，不若謙恭之富貴。
（曹）實庵曰：富貴而又安閑，自能謙恭也。
（許）師六曰：富貴而又謙恭，乃能安閑耳。
竹坡曰：謙恭安閑，乃能長富貴也。
Rather lead a poor but leisurely life than be success and lead a busy one. But better be simple though rich, than be poor and proud.
Shih-an: A man who is rich and at the same time has leisure can afford to be simple.
Shihliu: No. First learn to be simple though rich. Then of course you have leisure galore.
Chupo: To lead a simple and leisurely life makes wealth and position endure.

品格――之七

貧而無諂，富而無驕，古人之所賢也，貧而無驕，富而無諂，今人之所少也，足以知世風之降矣。
（許）耒庵曰：戰國時已有貧賤驕人之說矣。
竹坡曰：有一人一時，而對此諂對彼驕者更難。

The ancients praised those who were proud though poor,and not snobbish though rich.Now in modern days it is difficult to find the poor who are not snobbish and the rich who are not haughty.
Lei-an:We notice that as far back as in the Warring Kingdoms [fifth to third centuries B.C.] there were people who were poor but proud.
Chupo:The most unbearable are those who groved before some and are haughty toward others.

品格――之八

文人每好鄙薄富人，然於詩文之佳者，又往往以金玉珠璣錦繡譽之，則又何也？
含徵曰：富人嫌其慳且俗耳，非嫌其珠玉文綉也。
竹坡曰：不文雖富可鄙，能文雖窮可敬。
雲士曰：竹坡之言是真公道說話。
若金曰：富人之可鄙者在吝，或不好史書，或畏交遊，或趨炎熱而輕忽寒士，若非然者，則富翁大有裨益人處，何可少之？

Scholars often jeer at the rich.Then when they praise a piece of composition,why do they compare it to gold,jade and gems,and brocade?
Hanchen:The rich deserve contempt only when they are uncultured or stingy.We do not object to their peals and jade.
Chupo:It has nothing to do with riches or poverty.It is just a question whether one is educated or not.
Yunshih:What Chupo says is fair.
Jochin:We just want the rich to have respect for learning and culture.They can do a great deal of good when they can see the point.

品格――之九

黑與白交，黑能污白，白不能掩黑；香與臭混，臭能勝香，香不能敵臭，此君子小人相攻之大勢也。
弟木山曰：人必喜白而惡黑，黜臭而取香，此又君子必勝小人之理也，理在又烏論乎勢。
永清曰：當今以臭攻臭者不少。

Black can besmirch white and a bad odor  wipe out a fragrance easily,but not vice versa.This is what happens when a gentleman is confronted by a cad or a sneak.
[Young brother]Mushan:Men after all prefer white to black and the fragrant to what stinks.So in the long run,the gentleman must win.
Yungching:Nowadays it is not at all unusual to find a skunk fighting another skunk

品格――之十

恥之一字，所以治君子；痛之一字，所以治小人。
竹坡曰：若使君子以恥治小人，則有恥且格；小人以痛報君子，則盡忠報國。
語堂曰：這是真知卓見。

Remind a gentleman of shame and threaten a sneak with pain.It always works.
Chupo:Sometimes,though,a gentleman can awaken a sneak with a sense of shame,and a sneak can make a heroic sacrifice for his country by enduring pain.
Yutang:What a wise remark!This is rare perception.

品格――之十一

無益之施捨，莫過於齋僧；無益之詩文，莫過於祝壽。
（殷）簡堂曰：若詩文有筆資，亦未嘗不可。

Nothing is more bootless than to give money to the monks,and nothing quite such a waste of time as writing eulogies on the occasion of someone』s birthday.
Chientang:If one is paid for such writing,why not?

品格――之十二

寧為小人之所罵，毋為君子之所鄙；寧為盲主司之所擯棄，毋為諸名宿之所不知。
若金曰：不為小人所罵便是鄉愚，若為君子所鄙斷非佳生。

I would rather be criticized by the rabble than despised by a gentleman,and rather fail at the imperial examinations than be unknown to great scholars.
Jochin:Not to be criticized by the common herd is to be one of them,and a man despised by a gentleman cannot be a 「fine scholar」.

品格――之十三

傲骨不可無，傲心不可有；無傲骨則近於鄙夫，有傲心不得為君子。
天外曰：道學之言，才人之筆。

A man must have pride in his character [literally 「in his bones」],but not in his heart.Not to have pride in character is to be with the common herd,and to have pride in one』s heart does not belong to a gentleman.
Tienwai:Here is a moral truth expressed beautifully by a gifted writer.

品格――之十四

人非聖賢，安能無所不知。只知其一，惟恐不止其一，復求知其二者，上也；止知其一，因人言始知其二者，次也；止知其一，人言有其二而莫之信者，又其次也；止知其一，惡人言有其二者，斯下之下矣。
星遠曰：兼聽則明，心齋所以深於知也。
永清曰：聖賢大學問，不意於清語得之。

No man can know everything. The best and highest kind of man knows something, but is sure that there is something he does not know and seeks it. Next come those who know one point of view, but admit another point of view when told. Next come those who will not accept it when told, and the lowest are those who know one side of a question and hate to have people tell them the other side.
Shingyuan: It takes an intelligent man to listen.
Yungching: This is really the wisdom of the sages, expressed in a casual conversational .

品格――之十五

武人不苟戰，是為武中之文；文人不迂腐，是為文中之武。
司直曰：是真文人必不迂腐。

A military man who does not talk lightly of war is also a cultured man;a cultured man who does not rest with his smug opinions has something of the conqueror』s spirit.
Szechih:A really cultured man is never smug.

品格――之十六

文人講武事，大都紙上談兵；武將論文章，半屬道聽途說。
（吳）街南曰：今之武將講武事，亦屬紙上談兵；今之文人論文章，大都道聽途說。

A literary man discussing wars and battles is mostly an armchair strategist; a military man who discusses literature relies mostly on rumors picked up from hearsay.
Chiehnan: Nowadays, when a military man discusses wars and battles, it is also mostly armchair strategy, and when a literary man discusses literature, it is also mostly based on rumors picked up from hearsay.

品格――之十七

聖賢者，天地之替身。
A sage speaks for the universe.

品格――之十八

天極不難做，只鬚生仁人君子有才德者二三十人足矣，君一相一冢宰一，及諸路總制撫軍是也。
九煙曰：吳歌有雲，「做天切莫做四月天」，可見天亦有難做之時。
雲士曰：極誕極奇之話，極真極確之話。
語堂曰：天把暴君用雷劈死好了，使千千萬萬人可免於受苦，挨餓，死亡，誰能說上天為甚麼不這樣做？

Is it very difficult for heaven [God] to bring peace to the world? I do not think so. All he needs to do is send into this world about two dozen great, upright men―one to be the king, one to be prime minister, one to be crown prince, and the rest to be provincial governors.
Chiuyuan: It is difficult to be God and satisfy everybody. The proverb says, 「Do not be the sky in April.」
Yunshih: A very true statement, but a strange, striking way of putting it.
Yutang: Or for God just to strike a tyrant dead with a thunderbolt and save millions from suffering, starvation, and death. Who will answer the question of why God did not do it?
[注]張潮是明末清初人，生卒年月不詳。語堂先生說張潮卒年當在1698年，即清康熙三十七年以後。這條說「天極不難做……君一相一冢宰一……」云云，查明清官制均不設宰相一職，而「冢宰」為周官名。《周禮