Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience — Page 11
Some things are really necessaries of life in some circles, the most helpless and diseased, which in others are luxuries merely, and in others still are entirely unknown.
某些东西在某些圈子里——那些最无助、最病弱的圈子——实为生活必需品,而在另一些圈子里不过是奢侈品,在还有一些圈子里则完全闻所未闻。
The whole ground of human life seems to some to have been gone over by their predecessors, both the heights and the valleys, and all things to have been cared for.
在某些人看来,人类生活的整片领域似乎已被前人走遍,无论高峰还是低谷,一切事物都已被关照周全。
According to Evelyn, "the wise Solomon prescribed ordinances for the very distances of trees; and the Roman prætors have decided how often you may go into your neighbor's land to gather the acorns which fall on it without trespass, and what share belongs to that neighbor."
据伊夫林所言,"睿智的所罗门甚至为树木之间的距离制定了法规;而罗马大法官也裁定了你可以在不构成侵入的情况下多少次进入邻居的土地去拾取落在那里的橡子,以及其中多少份额应归属于那位邻居。"
Hippocrates has even left directions how we should cut our nails; that is, even with the ends of the fingers, neither shorter nor longer.
希波克拉底甚至留下了如何剪指甲的指导——即与指尖齐平,不长不短。
Undoubtedly the very tedium and ennui which presume to have exhausted the variety and the joys of life are as old as Adam.
毫无疑问,那种自以为已将生活的多彩与欢乐消耗殆尽的厌倦与无聊,与人类本身一样古老。
But man's capacities have never been measured; nor are we to judge of what he can do by any precedents, so little has been tried.
然而人类的能力从未被丈量过;我们也不应以任何先例来判断他所能做到的,因为被尝试过的实在太少。
Whatever have been thy failures hitherto, "be not afflicted, my child, for who shall assign to thee what thou hast left undone?"
无论你迄今经历了怎样的失败,"勿要悲伤,我的孩子,因为谁能将你尚未完成之事归咎于你呢?"
We might try our lives by a thousand simple tests; as, for instance, that the same sun which ripens my beans illumines at once a system of earths like ours.
我们可以用千种简单的尺度来检验我们的生活;譬如,那使我的豆子成熟的同一个太阳,也同时照耀着一整套与我们相似的星球世界。
If I had remembered this it would have prevented some mistakes.
若我时刻铭记于此,便可避免一些错误。
Vocabulary
- 某些
- mǒu xiē — Some; certain unspecified ones among a group
- 东西
- dōng xi — Thing; object; stuff
- 在
- zài — At; in; on; to be located at
- 圈子
- quān zi — Circle; social group; clique
- 里
- lǐ — Inside; within; in
- 那些
- nà xiē — Those; referring to previously mentioned items
- 最
- zuì — Most; superlative degree marker
- 无助
- wú zhù — Helpless; without aid or support
- 病弱
- bìng ruò — Sickly and weak; frail due to illness
- 的
- de — Structural particle indicating possession or modification
- 实为
- shí wéi — Actually is; in reality amounts to
- 生活
- shēng huó — Life; daily living; livelihood
- 必需品
- bì xū pǐn — Necessity; essential item one cannot do without
- 而
- ér — While; but; and; connecting contrasting clauses
- 另一些
- lìng yī xiē — Other ones; another portion of a group
- 不过
- bù guò — Only; merely; however; no more than
- 是
- shì — To be; is; am; are
- 奢侈品
- shē chǐ pǐn — Luxury goods; non-essential extravagant items
- 还有
- hái yǒu — And also; furthermore; there are still more
- 一些
- yī xiē — Some; a few; a certain amount
- 则
- zé — Then; in that case; on the other hand
- 完全
- wán quán — Completely; entirely; totally
- 闻所未闻
- wén suǒ wèi wén — Unheard of; never heard of before
- 人
- rén — Person; human being; people
- 看来
- kàn lái — It seems; it appears; looking at it
- 人类
- rén lèi — Humanity; humankind; the human race
- 整片
- zhěng piàn — Entire expanse; whole area or stretch
- 领域
- lǐng yù — Domain; field; area of knowledge or activity
- 似乎
- sì hū — Seemingly; as if; it appears that
- 已
- yǐ — Already; previously completed action marker
- 被
- bèi — Passive voice marker; by (someone)
- 前人
- qián rén — Predecessors; people of earlier generations
- 走遍
- zǒu biàn — To travel all over; to traverse everywhere
- 无论
- wú lùn — Regardless of; no matter what or how
- 高峰
- gāo fēng — Peak; summit; highest point
- 还是
- hái shì — Or; still; whether...or...
- 低谷
- dī gǔ — Valley; low point; trough
- 一切
- yī qiè — Everything; all things without exception
- 事物
- shì wù — Things; matters; objects in the world
- 都
- dōu — All; both; every; without exception
- 关照
- guān zhào — To look after; to attend to; to care for
- 周全
- zhōu quán — Thorough; comprehensive; well-considered
- 据
- jù — According to; based on; per
- 所言
- suǒ yán — What was said; according to one's words
- 睿智
- ruì zhì — Wise; sagacious; having profound wisdom
- 甚至
- shèn zhì — Even; going so far as to
- 为
- wèi — For; on behalf of; in order to
- 树木
- shù mù — Trees; woody plants collectively
- 之间
- zhī jiān — Between; among; in the middle of
- 距离
- jù lí — Distance; gap; space between two points
- 制定
- zhì dìng — To formulate; to establish rules or plans
- 了
- le — Particle indicating completed action or change
- 法规
- fǎ guī — Laws and regulations; legal rules
- 大法官
- dà fǎ guān — Chief Justice; high-ranking judicial official
- 也
- yě — Also; too; as well
- 裁定
- cái dìng — To rule; to make a judicial determination
- 你
- nǐ — You; second person singular pronoun
- 可以
- kě yǐ — Can; may; to be allowed to
- 不
- bù — No; not; negation marker
- 构成
- gòu chéng — To constitute; to form; to make up
- 侵入
- qīn rù — To intrude; to trespass; to invade
- 情况
- qíng kuàng — Situation; circumstances; condition
- 下
- xià — Under; below; in a certain condition
- 多少
- duō shao — How many; how much; some amount
- 次
- cì — Times; occurrences; measure word for actions
- 进入
- jìn rù — To enter; to go into; to access
- 邻居
- lín jū — Neighbor; person living nearby
- 土地
- tǔ dì — Land; soil; territory; ground
- 去
- qù — To go; to leave; directional complement
- 拾取
- shí qǔ — To pick up; to collect from the ground
- 落
- luò — To fall; to drop; fallen
- 那里
- nà lǐ — There; at that place
- 橡子
- xiàng zi — Acorn; the nut of an oak tree
- 以及
- yǐ jí — As well as; and; together with
- 其中
- qí zhōng — Among them; within it; thereof
- 份额
- fèn é — Share; portion; allocated amount
- 应
- yīng — Should; ought to; must
- 归属
- guī shǔ — To belong to; ownership; affiliation
- 于
- yú — To; at; in; preposition of location or direction
- 那位
- nà wèi — That person; polite reference to that individual
- 留下
- liú xià — To leave behind; to remain; to bequeath
- 如何
- rú hé — How; in what way; what to do
- 剪
- jiǎn — To cut; to trim with scissors
- 指甲
- zhǐ jia — Fingernail; toenail
- 指导
- zhǐ dǎo — Guidance; instruction; to guide or direct
- 即
- jí — That is; namely; immediately; i.e.
- 与
- yǔ — And; with; together with
- 指尖
- zhǐ jiān — Fingertip; tip of the finger
- 齐平
- qí píng — Level with; flush with; even with
- 长
- cháng — Long; length; grown out
- 短
- duǎn — Short; brief; lacking in length
- 毫无疑问
- háo wú yí wèn — Without doubt; undoubtedly; unquestionably
- 那种
- nà zhǒng — That kind of; that type of
- 自以为
- zì yǐ wéi — To think of oneself as; to assume wrongly
- 多彩
- duō cǎi — Colorful; varied; rich in color or variety
- 欢乐
- huān lè — Joy; happiness; cheerful delight
- 消耗
- xiāo hào — To consume; to exhaust; to deplete
- 殆尽
- dài jìn — Completely exhausted; nearly all used up
- 厌倦
- yàn juàn — Weariness; boredom; fed up with something
- 无聊
- wú liáo — Boredom; tedium; having nothing to do
- 本身
- běn shēn — Itself; in itself; per se
- 一样
- yī yàng — The same; alike; just as; equally
- 古老
- gǔ lǎo — Ancient; old; time-honored
- 然而
- rán ér — However; yet; but; nevertheless
- 能力
- néng lì — Ability; capability; capacity to do something
- 从未
- cóng wèi — Never; at no time; not ever
- 丈量
- zhàng liáng — To measure; to survey land or distance
- 过
- guò — Experiential aspect marker; to have done before
- 我们
- wǒ men — We; us; our group
- 不应
- bù yīng — Should not; ought not to
- 以
- yǐ — Using; with; by means of
- 任何
- rèn hé — Any; whatever; whichever
- 先例
- xiān lì — Precedent; previous example to follow
- 来
- lái — To come; used to indicate purpose
- 判断
- pàn duàn — To judge; to determine; judgment
- 他
- tā — He; him; third person masculine singular
- 所能
- suǒ néng — What one is capable of; one's potential
- 做到
- zuò dào — To achieve; to accomplish; to manage to do
- 因为
- yīn wèi — Because; since; due to
- 尝试
- cháng shì — To attempt; to try; an attempt
- 实在
- shí zài — Really; truly; in reality; indeed
- 太少
- tài shǎo — Too few; too little; insufficient amount
- 迄今
- qì jīn — Up to now; so far; until the present
- 经历
- jīng lì — Experience; to go through; to undergo
- 怎样
- zěn yàng — How; in what way; what kind
- 失败
- shī bài — Failure; to fail; defeat
- 勿要
- wù yào — Must not; do not; a prohibition
- 悲伤
- bēi shāng — Sadness; grief; sorrowful
- 我的
- wǒ de — My; mine; belonging to me
- 孩子
- hái zi — Child; children; kid
- 谁
- shéi — Who; whom; whoever
- 尚未
- shàng wèi — Not yet; still not; has yet to
- 完成
- wán chéng — To complete; to finish; to accomplish
- 归咎
- guī jiù — To blame; to attribute fault to someone
- 呢
- ne — Modal particle for rhetorical or continuing questions
- 用
- yòng — To use; with; by means of
- 千种
- qiān zhǒng — A thousand kinds; countless varieties
- 简单
- jiǎn dān — Simple; easy; uncomplicated
- 尺度
- chǐ dù — Scale; measure; standard of judgment
- 检验
- jiǎn yàn — To test; to verify; to inspect
- 譬如
- pì rú — For example; for instance; such as
- 那
- nà — That; the; referring to something distant
- 使
- shǐ — To cause; to make; to enable
- 豆子
- dòu zi — Beans; legume seeds
- 成熟
- chéng shú — Ripe; mature; fully developed
- 同一个
- tóng yī gè — The same one; one and the same
- 太阳
- tài yáng — The sun; sunlight
- 同时
- tóng shí — Simultaneously; at the same time
- 照耀
- zhào yào — To shine upon; to illuminate brilliantly
- 着
- zhe — Ongoing aspect particle; in the state of
- 一整套
- yī zhěng tào — A complete set; an entire system of things
- 相似
- xiāng sì — Similar; resembling; alike
- 星球
- xīng qiú — Planet; celestial body; heavenly sphere
- 世界
- shì jiè — World; the earth; the universe
- 若
- ruò — If; supposing; should; in case
- 我
- wǒ — I; me; first person singular pronoun
- 时刻
- shí kè — Moment; constantly; at all times
- 铭记
- míng jì — To engrave in memory; to keep firmly in mind
- 于此
- yú cǐ — Here; at this point; in this regard
- 便可
- biàn kě — Then one can; thereby able to
- 避免
- bì miǎn — To avoid; to prevent; to avert
- 错误
- cuò wù — Error; mistake; wrong; incorrect
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