幽默与民族文化｜「英文观止」

选篇导读

幽默是一切智慧光芒，照耀在古今哲人的灵性中间。凡有幽默的素养者，都是聪明颖悟的。他们会用幽默手腕解决一切疑难问题，并把每一种事态的安排到从容不迫，恰到好处！

本期《英文观止》栏目将带大家感受幽默之于民族文化的重要性。

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Humor is a state of mind. More than that, it is a point of view, a way of looking at life. The flower of humor blooms whenever in the course of development of a nation there is an exuberance of intellect able to flay its own ideals, for humor is nothing but intellect slashing at itself. In any period of history, when mankind was able to perceive its own futility, its own smallness, and its own follies and inconsistencies, a humorist appeared, like Chuangtse of China, Omar Khayyam of Persia, and Aristophanes of Greece. Athens would be infinitely poorer had there been no Aristophanes, and the Chinese intellectual heritage would be infinitely less rich had there been no Chuangtse.

1

Humor is a state of mind. More than that, it is a point of view, a way of looking at life.

humor，指“幽默；幽默感；幽默的话”，e.g. He showed flashes of humor that delighted the audience.

句子分析：作者用“humor is a state of mind, a point of view, a way of……”这样一个句子来定义humor，深层次地剖析了humor在人的一生中扮演着重要的角色。简明扼要，总领下文。

本句译为：幽默是心境之一状态，更进一步，即为一种人生观的观点，一种应对人生的方法。

2

The flower of humor blooms whenever in the course of development of a nation there is an exuberance of intellect able to flay its own ideals, for humor is nothing but intellect slashing at itself. In any period of history, when mankind was able to perceive its own futility, its own smallness, and its own follies and inconsistencies, a humorist appeared, like Chuangtse of China, Omar Khayyam of Persia, and Aristophanes of Greece.

exuberance， 指“精神焕发，精力旺盛”，e.g. She needs to try and control her natural exuberance. 她需要尽力控制自己天生的旺盛精力。

flay，指“剥皮；严厉批评；痛斥”，e.g. She was well-known for flaying public officials in her daily column. 她因在每日专栏里批判政府官员而出名。

slash，指“（用利器）砍，劈”， e.g. We had to slash our way through the undergrowth with sticks. 我们挥舞着木棍一路劈砍，才在密林里开出了一条路，穿了过去。

perceive，指“意识到；觉察到”，e.g. The patient was perceived to have difficulty in breathing. 发现病人呼吸困难。

futility，指“徒劳；无效， e.g. Shame, compunction, sense of futility flooded his whole being. 羞耻、内疚和徒劳的感觉把他整个人都淹没了。

folly，指“愚蠢；愚笨”，e.g. Giving up a secure job seems to be the height of folly. 放弃一份稳定的工作似乎愚蠢至极。

inconsistency，指“不一致；出入”，e.g. There is some inconsistency between the witnesses’ evidence and their earlier statements. 证人的证词与他们先前的陈述有些出入。

句子分析：“whenever in the course……slashing at itself.”阐述了在民族发展过程中幽默存在的必然性以及幽默在民族发展的过程中所发挥的重要作用。“like Chuangtse of China, Omar Khayyam of Persia, and Aristophanes of Greece. ”作者用庄子，亚里士多德的具体例子来论证了大幽默家对民族发展所做的巨大贡献。同时也起到了承上启下的作用。

本句译为：无论何时，当一个民族在发展的过程中生产丰富之智慧足以表露其理想时则开放其幽默之鲜葩，因为幽默没有旁的内容，只是智慧之刀的一晃。历史上任何时期，当人类智慧能领悟自身之空虚、渺小、愚拙、矛盾时，就有一个大幽默家出世，像中国之庄子，波斯之欧玛尔·海亚姆，希腊的亚里士多德。

3

Athens would be infinitely poorer had there been no Aristophanes, and the Chinese intellectual heritage would be infinitely less rich had there been no Chuangtse.

infinitely，指“及其；无限地”e.g. Your English is infinitely better than my German. 你的英语比我的德语好太多了。

intellectual，指“智力的；脑力的”e.g. There are two methods to comprehend the object of intellectual property. 对于知识产权客体，我们可以从两个层面来理解。

heritage，指“遗产”，e.g. The building is part of our national heritage. 这个建筑是我们民族遗产的一部分。

句子分析：这两句从中国和雅典民族入手，假想倘若中国没有庄子，雅典没有亚里士多德，那么他们民族的文化和精神遗产将会贫乏和逊色很多。用这样假设的方法从反面论证了幽默大师们给民族文化带来的巨大贡献。上下文正反论证，环环相扣，联系紧密。

本句译为：雅典民族倘没有亚里士多德，精神上不知要贫乏多少，中国倘没有庄子，智慧的遗产也不知将逊色多少。