全国第21届韩素音青年翻译奖 英译汉二等奖获奖翻译作品

Envy

Samuel Johnson

Envy is almost the only vice which is practicable at all times, and in every place—the only passion which can never lie quiet for want of irritation; its effects, therefore, are everywhere discoverable, and its attempts always to be dreaded.

It is impossible to mention a name, which any advantageous distinction has made eminent, but some latent animosity will burst out. The wealthy trader, however he may abstract himself from public affairs, will never want those who hint with Shylock, that ships are but boards, and that no man can properly be termed rich whose fortune is at the mercy of the winds. The beauty adorned only with the unambitious graces of innocence and modesty, provokes, whenever she appears, a thousand murmurs of detraction and whispers of suspicion. The genius, even when he endeavours only to entertain with pleasing images of nature, or instruct by uncontested principles of science, yet suffers persecution from innumerable critics, whose acrimony is excited merely by the pain of seeing others pleased—of hearing applauses which another enjoys.

The frequency of envy makes it so familiar that it escapes our notice; nor do we often reflect upon its turpitude or malignity, till we happen to feel its influence. When he that has given no provocation to malice, but by attempting to excel in some useful art, finds himself pursued by multitudes whom he never saw with implacability of personal resentment; when he perceives clamour and malice let loose upon him as a public enemy, and incited by every stratagem of defamation; when he hears the misfortunes of his family or the follies of his youth exposed to the world; and every failure of conduct, or defect of nature, aggravated and ridiculed; he then learns to abhor those artifices at which he only laughed before, and discovers how much the happiness of life would be advanced by the eradication of envy from the human heart.

Envy is, indeed, a stubborn weed of the mind, and seldom yields to the culture of philosophy. There are, however, considerations which, if carefully implanted, and diligently propagated, might in time overpower and repress it, since no one can nurse it for the sake of pleasure, as its effects are only shame, anguish, and perturbation. It is, above all other vices, inconsistent with the character of a social being, because it sacrifices truth and kindness to very weak temptations. He that plunders a wealthy neighbour, gains as much as he takes away, and improves his own condition in the same proportion as he impairs another's; but he that blasts a flourishing reputation, must be content with a small dividend of additional fame, so small as can afford very little consolation to balance the guilt by which it is obtained.

妒忌

塞缪尔·约翰逊

妒忌可谓世间唯一之恶行，随时随地皆可为之——妒忌从不安分，一经刺激便一发不可收；因此，其影响无处不在，其意图令人害怕。

杰出的人才，功成名就之后，总会激起他人心底的憎恨。富裕的商人，虽有可能独善其身于公众视野之外，但总不乏夏洛克式的人物，会阴阳怪气地说商船只不过是几块木板而已，船上的财富随时都可能被海风刮沉，这样的人不能被称为富人。天真无邪、出水芙蓉般的美女，无论何时现身，都会激起流言蜚语、不绝于耳。智慧的天才，哪怕只是想让他人领略美丽的自然景象，或讲授没有争议的科学原理，都会遭到评论者百般攻击。后者言语尖刻，只因痛恨他人之快乐——只因听见他人欣喜的掌声。

妒忌频率之高，令其司空见惯，以致我们见怪不怪。我们也不常思考其邪恶本质，除非我们自己深受其害。当某人并无害人之心，只想在某个领域有所建树，却发现众多自己素昧平生之人义愤填膺；当他察觉自己深陷可畏人言和恶意攻击之中，成为全民公敌，并为每一次恶意中伤愤愤不平；当他听到家门不幸或年轻时的丑事被揭露在光天化日之下；每一次品行不端都被添油加醋和冷嘲热讽；此时，他就会对那些曾经一笑而过的伎俩深恶痛绝，并发现从人性根本上铲除妒忌之心以后，生活将会是何等幸福。

妒忌，其实是思想上的杂草，桀骜不驯，难以屈从于哲理。然而，有一些思想，如若悉心灌输，并勤加宣扬，则有可能及时战胜或抑制妒忌，因为没人会从妒忌寻求快乐，前者能带来的无非是羞愧、痛苦和烦恼。妒忌不同于其他恶行，它与人应有的品格不符，因为它牺牲了真理和善良，追求的却只是虚无的魅惑。抢劫富裕邻居之人，其所得与的所劫一样多，自身的条件也有所改善，损人与利己的程度相当；但诋毁他人名誉之人，则只能苟且于事后之蝇头小名，微不足道，无法抵消所得之内疚。

译者：新东方 朱敏琪