英語專八翻譯模擬練習題（5）

　　"On my head pour only the sweet waters of serenity. Give me the gift of the Untroubled Mind." Once，as a young man full of exuberant fancy，I undertook to draw up a catalogue of the acknowledged “goods” of life. As other men sometimes tabulate lists of properties they own or would like to own，I set down my inventory of earthly desirables：health，love，beauty，talent，power，riches， and fametogether with several minor ingredients of what I considered man‘s perfect portion……

　　When my inventory was completed I proudly showed it to a wise elder who had been the mentor and spiritual model of my youth. Perhaps I was trying to impress him with my precocious wisdom and the large universality of my interests. Anyway，I handed him the list. “This，”I told him confidently，“is the sum of mortal goods. Could a man possess them all， he would be as a god.”

　　At the corners of my friend's old eyes，I saw wrinkles of amusement gathering in a patient net. “An excellent list，” he said，pondering it thoughtfully. “Well digested in content and set down in not-unreasonable order. But it appears，my young friend，that you have omitted the most important element of all. You have forgotten the one ingredient lacking which each possession becomes a hideous torment，and your list as a whole an intolerable burden.”

　　“And what，” I asked， peppering my voice with truculence， “is that missing ingredient?”

　　With a pencil stub he crossed out my entire schedule. Then， having demolished my adolescent dream structure at a single stroke， he wrote down three syllables： peace of mind.

　　“This is the gift that God reserves for His special protégés，” he said. “Talent and beauty He gives to many. Wealth is commonplace， fame not rare. But peace of mindthat is His final guerdon of approval， the fondest sign of His love. He bestows it charily. Most men are never blessed with it; others wait all their livesyes， far into advanced agefor this gift to descend upon them.”

　　參考譯文：

　　論平靜的心境

　　“僅把平靜的甘露撒于我頂。賜予我安寧的心境。”

　　當我還是一個富于幻想的青年時，我曾試圖把生活之中公認的“幸福”一一列出來。就像一些人有時把自己擁有的或者想要擁有的東西列成表單，我把世人最想得到的事物列成清單：健康，愛情，美麗，才能，權利。

　　當清單完成以后，我不無驕傲地把它拿給一位睿智的老者看。他是我年少時的導師與精神楷模?；蛟S，我想用我早熟的智慧與廣博的興趣給他留下深刻的印象?？傊野蚜斜磉f到了他手里。我滿是自信地說，“這是人類幸福的總和。如果一個人能擁有這些，他便如神仙那般了。”

　　我看到好友衰老的眼角，愉悅的皺紋耐心地結成網(wǎng)狀。“這是一份出色的表格”他滿是思考地說，“分類良好，順序合理。但是，我年輕的朋友，你把最重要的東西給漏掉了。沒有了它，其他的所得便成了一種恐怖的折磨，你的整個列表也就成為難以忍受的負擔。”

　　“那么，我漏掉了什么?”我有點不服氣的問到。他用鉛筆頭劃掉了我的整個表格，一筆粉碎了我年輕的夢想，然后寫下三個單詞：平靜的心境。

　　“這是上帝為他特殊子民所保留的禮物”，他說“才能與美麗，他賜給了許多人。財富也普通平凡，名望也不稀有。只有平靜的心境，是他給予的最終獎賞，是他最鐘情的愛的像征。他小心翼翼的給予，大部分人無福享受，有些人則等了一生是的，直到老年，才等到這份賜予降臨。