但如果耕種稻田的是奴隸或者是拿工資的農(nóng)民,那么莊稼收成好壞都與農(nóng)民沒(méi)有關(guān)系,因此莊稼也就不會(huì)有很好的收成。
It would be just too easy to leave the gate that controls the irrigation water open a few seconds too long and there goes your field."
這不是象打開(kāi)灌溉的閥門,讓它多流一會(huì),流到你的地里那么容易。”
The historian David Arkush once compared Russian and Chinese peasants proverbs, and the differences are striking.
歷史學(xué)家大衛(wèi)·阿古什在對(duì)比了中國(guó)和俄國(guó)的諺語(yǔ)之后,發(fā)現(xiàn)二者差別十分明顯。
"If god does not bring it, the earth will not give it" is a typical Russian proverb.
一句具有代表性的俄國(guó)諺語(yǔ)說(shuō)道:“沒(méi)有老天的恩慈,地里哪來(lái)的糧食?”
That's a kind of fatalism and pessimism, typical of repressive feudal system, where peasants had no reason to believe in the efficacy of their own work.
這反映出奴役體制下的宿命論和悲觀主義思想。農(nóng)民找不到任何理由相信,依靠自己的辛勤勞動(dòng)可以得到很好的回報(bào)。
On the other hand, Arkush writes, Chinese proverbs are striking in their belief that
阿古什寫道,另一方面,中國(guó)的諺語(yǔ)則反映出他們的信仰:
"hard work, shrewd planning and self-reliance or corporation with a small group will in time bring recompense."
“一份耕耘,一份收獲。”
Here are some of the things that penniless peasants would say to one another as they worked 3,000 hours a year in the baking heat and humidity of Chinese rice paddies,
這些也是那些每年在悶熱且潮濕的田地里不停辛苦勞作的中國(guó)農(nóng)民對(duì)他人所說(shuō)的話:
which, by the way, are filled with leeches.
(不僅如此,還有許多吸血的螞蟥)
"No food without blood and sweat."
“誰(shuí)知盤中餐,粒粒皆辛苦。”
"Farmers are busy; farmers are busy; if farmers weren't busy, where would grain to get to the winter come from?"
“只要功夫深,土里出黃金。”
"In the winter, the laze man freezes to death."
“立冬種,收把種。”
"Don't depend on heaven for food, but on your own two hands carrying the load."
“不要期待天上會(huì)掉餡兒餅。”
"Useless to ask about the crops, it all depends on hard work and fertilizer."
“地靠人來(lái)養(yǎng),苗靠肥來(lái)長(zhǎng)。”