06 Chaucer
乔叟
导读
本文出自作者戴登逝世前不久出版的《寓言》（The Fables）的序言中最后部分。书的内容为古希腊、罗马与部分乔叟诗的翻译。序文除了在批评史上的价值外，就文章本身而论，也是活泼可爱和富于个人情调的优秀散文。
In the first place, as he is the father of English poet ry, so I hold him in the same degree of veneration as the Grecians held Homer, or the Romans Virgil. He is a per petual fountain of good sense; learn'd in all sciences;and, therefore, speaks properly on all subjects. As he knew what to say, so he knows also when to leave off; a continence which is practiced by few writers, and scarcely by any of the ancients, excepting Virgil and Horace...
He must have been a Man of a most wonderful com prehensive Nature, because, as it has been truly ob served of him, he has taken into the compass of his Canterbury Tales the various Manners and Humors (as we now call them) of the whole English Nation, in his Age. Not a single Character has escaped him. All his Pilgrims are severally distinguished from each other; and not only in their inclinations, but in their very phys iognomies
and persons. Baptista Porta could not have described their natures better than by the marks which the Poet gives them. The Matter and Manner of their Tales, and of their Telling, are so suited to their different Educations, Humors, and Callings, that each of them would be improper in any other mouth. Even the grave and serious Characters are distin guished by their several sorts of Gravity: their Discours es are such as belong to their Age, their Calling, and their Breeding; such as are becoming of them, and of them only. Some of his Persons are Vicious, and some Vertuous;some are unlearned, or (as Chaucer calls them) lewd, and some are learned. Even the ribaldry of the Low Characters is different: the Reeve, the Miller, and the Cook, are several men, and distinguished from each other as much as the mincing Lady-Prioress and the broad-speaking, gaptoothed Wife of Bath. But enough of this; there is such a variety of Game springing up before me, that I am distracted in my Choice, and know not which to follow. ' Tis sufficient to say, according to the Proverb, that here is God's plenty.
首先，他既为英国诗歌之父，故我对他的崇仰之深，也正如希腊人之对（于）荷马，罗马人之对维吉尔。他实在是聪明见识的不尽源泉，各门学问全都在行；因而不论谈到什么，总是那么妥帖恰当。他不但懂得该谈什么，而且懂得何时应当收笔；这一节制美德（而这样一种适可而止的态度）很少作家，甚至很少古人，能够做到，维吉尔与贺拉斯算是例外（除了维吉尔与贺拉斯之外很少有作家能做到，甚至是古人都很难做得到）……
以个人论，他必曾是一位壮奇伟丽、涵育万有的雄才。人们说他在《坎特伯雷故事集》中曾把他那时代整个英国的作风和气质（我们现在最好用这些名词）尽行摄入无遗，确为不易之论。没有一个人物逃脱了他的犀利目光。他笔下的众多香客，面貌各异，无一相同；不仅他们的习性是这样，就是面貌体态，也无不是如此。诗人据其性情所给予这些人的勾勒，虽巴帕蒂沙·包尔塔也无以超过。各篇故事，不论内容形式，乃至其写法，无不与各叙述人的教养、气质与职业等，一一相称，口吻一换，便会立即见出不妥。即使庄矜人物，他们的端肃之状，也各异趣：他们的出言吐属，也只是他们的时代才有，他们的职业与他们的教养才有；一切非常适合他们，而且仅仅适合他们。诗中人物也是各式各类，或正或邪，或文或野（野字在乔叟那里常用“俚”字）。即使下层人的粗话谑浪，也不一律：其中管家、磨坊主、厨师等，也绝不相类，其间的差异，殊不亚于那咬文嚼字、装腔作势的尼庵住持与粗声大气、豁牙漏缝的巴斯女人。凡此种种，无须细表。读时但觉兔起鹘落，鸢飞鱼跃，逐不胜逐，罔知所从。谚语中富比天乡一语，已把这种胜状表达尽了。
Cloze
完形填空
A “scientistic” view of language was dominant 1 philosophers and linguists who affected to develop a scientific analysis of human thought and behavior in the early part of this century. Under the force of this view, it was perhaps inevitable that the art of rhetoric should pass from the status of being regarded 2 of questionable worth (because although it might be both a source of pleasure and a means to urge people to right action, it might also be a means to distort truth and a source of misguided action) to the status of 3 wholly condemned. If people are regarded only as machines guided by logic as they were by these “scientistic” thinkers, rhetoric is likely to be held in low regard: for the most obvious truth about rhetoric is that it speaks to the whole person. It presents its arguments first to the person as a rational being, because persuasive discourse, if honestly conceived, always has a basis in reasoning. Logical argument is the plot, as it 4, of any speech or essay that is respectfully intended to persuade people. Yet it is a characterizing feature of rhetoric that it goes 5 this and appeals to the parts of our nature that are involved in feeling, desiring, acting, and suffering. It recalls relevant instances of the emotional reactions of people to circumstances real or fictional— that are similar to our own circum stances. Such is the purpose of both historical accounts and fables in persuasive discourse: they indicate literally or symbolically how people may react emotionally, 6 hope or fear, to particular circum stances. A speech attempting to persuade people can achieve little 7 it takes 8 account the aspect of their being related to such hopes and fears.
Key
1. among 2. as 3. being 4. were 5. beyond 6. with
7. unless 8. into
Translation Practices
翻译练习
(1) Textual Translation（篇章翻译）
The common belief of some linguists that each language is a perfect vehicle for the thoughts of the nation speaking it is in some ways the exact counterpart of the conviction of the Manchester school of economics that supply and demand will regulate everything for the best. Just as economists were blind to the numerous cases in which the law of supply and demand left actual wants unsatisfied, so also many linguists are deaf to those instances in which the very nature of a language calls forth misunderstandings in everyday conversation, and in which, consequently, a word has to be modified or defined in order to present the idea intended by the speaker: “He took his stick— no, not John's, but his own.” No language is perfect, and if we admit this truth, we must also admit that it is not unreasonable to investi gate the relative merits of different languages or of different details in languages.
(2) Sentence Translation（句子翻译）
① 子曰：“三年学，不至于谷，不易得也。”
② 子曰：“不在其位，不谋其政。”
③ 子曰：“学如不及，犹恐失之。”
参考译文
（1）某些语言学家的共同信念是每一种语言都是传达使用该语言之民族的思想的完美工具。这种信念同曼彻斯特经济学学派认为供给与需求会把一切调节到最佳状态的信条在某种程度上是极其相似的。正如经济学家对于供求法则不能使实际需求得到满足的许多事例视而不见一样，许多语言学家对于在日常谈话中由于语言本性而引起的误解，为了传达说话人的本意而不得不对言词进行修改或解释的种种实例，听而不闻。例如，为了表达说话人打算表达的思想而这样说：“他取他的手杖——不，不是约翰的手杖，而是他自己的手杖。”没有一种语言是完美无缺的；如果承认这个真理，那么也必须承认，调查研究不同语言之间或者各种语言的不同细节之间的相对的优点，并不是无稽之谈、全无道理的。
(2) ① Confucius said, “It's difficult to find a man who has already studied three years but cannot gain an official post.”
② Confucius said, “Think of nothing concerning a post you don't enjoy.”
③ Confucius said, “Study is just like race. You're always afraid of being unable to catch up. Yet when you catch up, you'll be afraid of being overtaken.”
Emulation
美文自己写得出——学生仿写
仿写范例
Language, Literature and Life
No one in the world is, perhaps, luckier than I am, for I am a student of English language and literature. With this privilege, I am able to enjoy the beauty of language, wander in the world of literature, and have a deep understanding of life. The great influence they have exerted on me, in turn, helps me get a close and clear comprehension about the relationship among them.
First things first, I cannot imagine what the human life would be without language. It is a design feature which distinguishes men from animals, promotes the development of human history and creates the modern civilization. Suppose we went back to the prehistoric age, in which presumably no language was available, the basic communication would become a big problem, let alone the creation of literature or the recording of human history. Life, in this period, is just to survive or repeat the simple life circle, which is meaningless and have no difference from that of other creatures. In this sense, no language, no life, no civilization.
Secondly, just as language has left significant influence on the human history, so do the literature. Bible, Shakespeare and works of Greek and Roman, the three sources of language, have greatly enriched our language, enlightened our mind and dramatically changed our life. The Adam's apple, Pandora's box and tit for tat, the language in Bible; the famous characters Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Julia in Shakespeare's masterpieces; the legend of Helen and Achilles Heel in Greek's works, all of them are familiar to us as the pulsation in our blood. Therefore, if there were no literature, our language would have been much poorer and our life more colorless and boring.
Also, life has provided fertile soil for the language and literature. On one hand, with the advance of society, new terms and idioms have entered our language, such as computer, avian flu, terrorist, long time no see, as rich as Bill Gates, SARS, H1N1. By absorbing everything new, language can always be able to keep its pace with the time. On the other hand, life is an inexhaustible magic box for literature creation. Fiction, poem, essay, prose or drama, all can be viewed as a recreation of real life in this way or another. Just as an American writer put it: “All literature is a kind of reflection of life, a mirror of life.” How can one deny that the purely invented man, Hamlet, is not as vivid as Napoleon or Barack Obama? Once language and literature have lost its ability to accept new things in life, they would have become a pool of still water. Only constant moving can keep their freshness and vitality.
It is never too exaggerated to emphasize the close connections among the three. The benefit of language and literature to life is what necessary nutrition is to human beings. Life, in return, contributes a lot to prepare rich and colorful materials for language and literature. As for me, by learning language and literature, I have learned much more of the logic of life and enjoy my life in the process of appreciating beauty.