之前我們在《早餐英語》中分享過蔡志忠的關于《老子》的漫畫,里面的講的就是大智若愚,這個故事,讓我不禁聯(lián)想到了英語中的一句俗語:ignorance is bliss 直譯過來就是“無知是福”。但這個俗語在使用的時候,也要根據(jù)不同的語境來判斷它到底還是褒義還是貶義的。今天我們就來探知一下這個俗語的淵源還有具體的用法。
New Words:
ignorance n. 無知,愚昧;不知,不懂
fate n. 命運
swiftly adv. 很快地;敏捷地;即刻
paradise n. 天堂
Tooth Fairy 牙仙子(是英國童話里的一個仙子)
Meaning
if you do not know about something, you do not worry about it or get affected by it.
如果你對某事一無所知,那么便不會擔心或是受到其影響
Origin
ignorance is bliss無知即福
人們有時用ignorance is bliss為某人的無知辯護。它出自英國詩人托馬斯·格雷(Thomas Gray, 1716-1771)的詩作《伊頓遠眺》 (Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, 1747 ) :
Yet ah! Why should they know their fate?
Since sorrow never comes too late,
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Thought would destroy their paradise.
No more; where ignorance is bliss,
'Tis folly to be wise.
('Tis 就是 It is 的意思,常常用于人物自言自語的感嘆句)
唉!他們何苦知曉自己的命運?
憂愁從不會姍姍來遲,
快樂總是稍縱即逝。
思慮使他們的天堂塌陷。
天堂不在;無知即福,
大智若愚。
(摘自-《單詞的歷史》)
Example:
A child who believes in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and who would be very upset to find out that neither was real is an example of a child who would think that ignorance was bliss.
一個相信圣誕老人和牙仙的孩子,當他發(fā)現(xiàn)這兩個都不是真的的時候會很不高興,這便是“無知是福的”例子。
Example Sentences:
Sometimes I just decide to ignore the news for a few days. Ignorance is bliss, I tell you. When it comes to what my kids end up eating at their grandparents' house, ignorance is bliss.
有時我只是決定忽略消息幾天。我告訴你,無知是福。當提起我的孩子們在他們祖父母家里吃飯時候,無知是福。
A: I never knew that the kid who mows our lawn has been in trouble with the police.
B: Ignorance is bliss!
A: 我從來不知道給我們修草坪的孩子和警察惹上了麻煩。
B: 無知是福!
Some doctors believe ignorance is bliss and don’t give their patients all the facts.
一些醫(yī)生認為無知是福,便不告訴給病人所有的事實。
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