贾洪伟老师针对2011年考验英语翻译试题在第一时间给予解析，并给出自己的翻译答案。2011年考研英语翻译试题摘自James Allen于1902年所写的As a Man Thinketh，该书被列为50部“Self-help Classics”的第一部，于2003年出版于美国Nicholas Brealey Publishing。2011年翻译考题系该书第一章As a Man Thinketh前七段的修改而成。现将原文七段附录如下，以供读者诸君参考：

With its theme that “mind is the master weaver,” creating our inner character and outer circumstances, As a Man Thinketh is an in-depth exploration of the central idea of self-help writing. James Allen’s contribution was to take an assumption we all share—that because we are not robots we therefore control our thoughts—and reveal its fallacy. Because most of us believe that mind is separate from matter, we think that thoughts can be hidden and made powerless; this allows us to think one way and act another. However, Allen believed that the unconscious mind generates as much action as the conscious mind, and while we may be able to sustain the illusion of control through the conscious mind alone, in reality we are continually faced with a question: “Why cannot I make myself do this or achieve that?”

In noting that desire and will are sabotaged by the presence of thoughts that do not accord with desire, Allen was led to the startling conclusion: “We do not attract what we want, but what we are.” Achievement happens because you as a person embody the external achievement; you don’t “get” success but become it. There is no gap between mind and matter.

We are the sum of our thoughts

The logic of the book is unassailable: Noble thoughts make a noble person, negative thoughts hammer out a miserable one. To a person mired in negativity, the world looks as if it is made of confusion and fear. On the other hand, Allen noted, when we curtail our negative and destructive

thoughts, “All the world softens towards us, and is ready to help us.”

We attract not only what we love, but also what we fear. His explanation for why this happens is simple: Those thoughts that receive our attention, good or bad, go into the unconscious to become the fuel for later events in the real world. As Emerson commented, “A person is

what he thinks about all day long.”

Our circumstances are us

Part of the fame of Allen’s book is its contention that “Circumstances do not make a person, they reveal him.” This seems an exceedingly heartless comment, a justification for neglect of those in need, and a rationalization of exploitation and abuse, of the superiority of those at the top of the pile and the inferiority of those at the bottom.

This, however, would be a knee-jerk reaction to a subtle argument. Each set of circumstances, however bad, offers a unique opportunity for growth. If circumstances always determined the life and prospects of people, then humanity would never have progressed. In fact, circumstances seem to be designed to bring out the best in us, and if we make the decision that we have been “wronged” then we are unlikely to begin a conscious effort to escape from our situation. Nevertheless, as any biographer knows, a person’s early life and its conditions are often the greatest gift to an individual.

The sobering aspect of Allen’s book is that we have no one else to blame for our present condition except ourselves. The upside is the possibilities contained in knowing that everything is up to us; where before we were experts in the array and fearsomeness of limitations, now we become connoisseurs of what is possible.

原文中的下划线为本文作者贾洪伟所加。原文与试题的改动程度，具体参见本文末附列的试题，请自行比较。由于篇幅所限，两者间的比较从略。

现仅就划线部分语句的翻译问题给予简洁的探讨，并给出贾洪伟老师自己的答案，作为理解该语段的参考，也可作为该题标准答案的比较依据。

第一句是针对全书提出的论点“mind is the master weaver”而提出的理论依据，即：我们不是机器人，因而我们能够控制我们的思维。因此，划线语句可翻译为：

“艾伦的贡献在于：采取了一个我们共同持有的假设，即我们不是机器人，因而我们能够控制我们的思维，并揭示了这一假设的谬误之所在。”

第二句划线语句是针对艾伦的论点“无意识思维能够和下意识思维产生同样的行为”，而发出的思考，可翻译为：

“然而我们可持有这样的假象（错误观念）：只用下意识思维控制行为，可事实上我们不断地面临这样的质疑：为什么我们不能做这件事情而同时完成那件事情呢？”

第三句划线语句针对艾伦提出的主张“环境并未造就人，而是揭示了人的本性”所进行的阐发，可翻译为：

“这一论点似乎证实了人忽视所需环境的正当理由和人类剥削、身处社会上层人士的优越感与下层人士的自卑感之所以存在的合理性。”

第四句划线语句针对环境的错误认识而进行的阐发，可翻译为：

“环境之所以存在，似乎旨在激发我们优秀的品质。但是，如果我们认为：一直以来我们的行为都是‘不正当的’，我们就不能下意识地努力摆脱我们的处境。”

第五句划线语句系针对“艾伦著作的启发：对于当前的处境我们除了自身外别无指责”而给予的阐发，可翻译为：

“本书的正面启发是，知道‘万事取决于自身’这一道理中所带有的各种可能性；以前我们只知道受制于各种局限，而现在我们能够掌控‘万事可为’。”

在充足背景知识的支撑下，我们才能理解文章的主旨涵义，进而悟出划线语句的具体语篇涵义，也才能正确地翻译出来，这正是历年考研翻译的本质特征和难点所在。此外，考生还要注意划线语句中的语篇代词，具有连接上下文的作用，所以在翻译过程中，这些起语篇连贯作用的代词需要根据上文给予还原，这也是考研翻译的得分点之所在，不能忽视。

与2010年相比，2011年考研翻译题明显偏难，出乎考研辅导机构和考生的预期，但如果事前有这个心理预期，考生还不至于手忙脚乱。对此，我多次跟我的学生灌输这一心理预期。就难度而言，2011年考题也十分适合英语专业翻译考生能力的考查。本文只是实事求是地讲，并无指责或吹毛求疵之嫌，因为存在就是合理的。

附录2011年考研翻译试题：

  With its theme that “Mind is the master weaver,” creating our inner character and outer circumstances, the book As a Man Thinking by James Allen is an in-depth exploration of the central idea of self-help writing.

  (46) Allen’s contribution was to take an assumption we all share-that because we are not robots we therefore control our thoughts-and reveal its erroneous nature. Because most of us believe that mind is separate from matter, we think that thoughts can be hidden and made powerless; this allows us to think one way and act another. However, Allen believed that the unconscious mind generates as much action as the conscious mind, and (47) while we may be able to sustain the illusion of control through the conscious mind alone, in reality we are continually faced with a question: “Why cannot I make myself do this or achieve that? ”

  Since desire and will are damaged by the presence of thoughts that do not accord with desire, Allen concluded : “ We do not attract what we want, but what we are.” Achievement happens because you as a person embody the external achievement; you don’t “get” success but become it. There is no gap between mind and matter.

  Part of the fame of Allen’s book is its contention that “Circumstances do not make a person, they reveal him.”(48) This seems a justification for neglect of those in need, and a rationalization of exploitation, of the superiority of those at the top and the inferiority of those at the bottom.

  This, however, would be a knee-jerk reaction to a subtle argument. Each set of circumstances, however bad, offers a unique opportunity for growth. If circumstances always determined the life and prospects of people, then humanity would never have progressed.     

  In fact, (49)circumstances seem to be designed to bring out the best in us and if we feel that we have been “wronged” then we are unlikely to begin a conscious effort to escape from our situation .Nevertheless, as any biographer knows, a person’s early life and its conditions are often the greatest gift to an individual.

The sobering aspect of Allen’s book is that we have no one else to blame for our present condition except ourselves. (50) The upside is the possibilities contained in knowing that everything is up to us; where before we were experts in the array of limitations, now we become authorities of what is possible.