English-to-Chinese Eternity

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[edit] English-to-Chinese Eternity

This is intended as a teaching/learning tool for Chinese and English students. Readers' contributions in spoken words, changes, corrections are encouraged as under the Wikibooks policy.

From original works contributed to the Public Domain by Ned Snead

THE GOOD WAR 有益的战争

Some time in the late 21st century, way out beyond the Milky Way, Joe meets Willie for the first time in 50 years or more and says, “Hey, the last time I saw you was when you were beheaded on TV. Where have you been since?”

二十一世纪的某一天，在银河系以外的某一个地方，乔与阔别50多载的威利第一次相遇。乔招呼到，“喂，上次见到你还是在电视上你被砍头的时候，发生了什么事？你都到什么地方去了？”

Willie answers, “I got fed up with the whole situation. My only reason for being there was to help those folks, and they just used me to make some silly public statement. I’ve been working over in Andromeda where I get a little more respect.”

威利回答到， “我被那桩事件作弄了。我卷进此事的唯一原因是要帮那些人的忙。他们只是用我作愚蠢的政治宣言。我现在在仙女座工作，那里我能得到多一点的尊敬”。

But Joe wants to know more. “When they held up your head for the camera, I said, ‘Hey, I know that guy.’ What was it like?”

乔想了解更多，追问到：“当他们把你的头对准摄像机时，我喊道， ‘喂，我认识那家伙’。当时你什么感觉？”

Willie shrugs. “No big deal. It only hurt for a few seconds. Nothing like the time I was burned at the stake by the Grand Inquisition. Other times I’ve been in bed for months, begging for morphine. But I’ve been out of touch. What happened after that?”

威利耸耸肩说，“没什么了不起，只痛了几秒钟。比起在大审判时受火刑烧烤时简直是小巫见大巫。那时我曾躺在床上数月祈祷用马啡因止痛。但从那以后我就离开人世，你知道以后发生的事情吗？”。

Joe smiles. “Well, it led to a pretty good war.”

乔笑道：“此后导致了一场有益的战争。”

Willie objects. “I’ve never heard of a good war. What do you mean?”

威利反驳道：“我还从未听说有什么有益的战争，你是指什么？“。

Joe had lived through it. “Well, the USA got steamed up like they were in 1942. They put a big tax on imported oil and used the money to build a fast interstate railway system. The high school and college kids all got bicycles, and the old cars were melted down to make war material. After a few years they got tired of killing and brought all the GI’s home. The War Department turned into a real Department of DE-fense devoted to the defense of all North and South America.”

乔是亲身经历过那场战争的。“嗯，美国象1942年那样头脑发热，它们将大量征收的进口石油税用来修建快速州籍高速铁路系统，高中生和大学生都骑自行车，旧汽车都被熔炼成战争武器。几年后，他们杀人杀厌倦了，将所有美国兵召回家。战争部变成了真正的国防部，用来防守整个北美和南美洲。”

Willie is not convinced. “Did the war settle any of the old feuds?”

威利仍不确信，问倒：“那场战争解决了任何老的争端吗？”

“Of course not. The killing just led to more killing like it always has. It was like another plague in Europe. After a third of the people were dead, those that were left became more valuable. They re-arranged the maps some and rebuilt the cities a little better just like they have for the last 10,000 years.”

“当然没有，与以往一样，凶杀只能导致令一场凶杀。简直就象另一场欧洲大瘟疫。当三分之一的人口灭绝后，剩余的人口变得更真贵了。他们就重新安排了版图，重蹈过去一万年的覆辙，把城市重建的略微好一点。”

MONEY SHOULD BE CRYSTALLIZED SWEAT 金钱-应当是汗水之结晶

Once every thousand years or so, two spirits will get together to compare their experiences. We are eavesdropping on one of their bull sessions.

每隔一千年左右，两位神灵就要相聚一次分享各自的经历。我们窃听到他们的一段吹牛对话。

Willie is saying, “I have lived several times now on that little planet with the Garden of Eden and all the wars, and they do come up with some cute ideas. Have you ever heard of MONEY?”

威利在说：“我在那个有伊甸园和许多战争的行星上已经生活过几次了。他们还真的想出了个伶俐的主意。你听说过‘钱’这个字眼吗？“

Joe is at a total loss.

乔被问得目瞪口呆。

“Well, it’s a sophisticated way of increasing prosperity by letting individuals do what they do best, and trading their labor with others who specialize in different things.”

“嗯，它是一种复杂的方式，通过允许每个人尽其所好来增加个人的财富，再通过商贸渠道来换取由其他特有专长人创造的不同产品。”

Joe says, “Oh yeah, that’s what we did on my Neanderthal tour. The women were seldom able to go hunting, because they were always pregnant or nursing. Most of the babies weren’t fit or lucky enough to grow up, so we had to have lots of them. I had to get in on five conceptions before I ever got big enough to hunt. There was plenty of excitement after that, though. You wouldn’t believe some of the game we tackled, working together. The gals kept the fires going, made the clothes, dried the meat, raised the kids and generally made life worth living.”

乔回道：“啊，对了，那正是我做穴居人时的情形。那时妇女们很少能外出打猎，因为她们不是在怀孕，就是在哺乳期。大多数的婴儿都不健壮或早逝，所以我们不得不生很多婴儿。我受胎了五次才最终长大到可以打猎的年龄。但从那以后生活充满激情。你不能想象我们在一起交锋过的游戏。女人们通常让火焰常燃，缝制衣服，风干肉食，养育孩子，使生活充满生机。”

Willie agrees, “That’s the basic idea, but in my tribe we had a guy who had lost a leg who got to be an expert at making arrowheads. He would trade three beautiful little flint tips for a dead rabbit, and he ate better than most of the hunters. He taught me how to make them, and I was able to travel hundreds of miles without taking time to hunt. The small ones were worth more than the big ones, because they took more time to produce, so I could travel light. Everywhere I stopped I could trade for food, clothes, shoes, and everything I needed.”

威利赞同的说，“那是基本的观念啦。在我们的部落里，有一位断了一条腿的家伙成了制造箭头的好手。他会用三只石头箭头换一只死兔子。他吃的比大多数猎人还好。他教会我作箭头，所以我能行遍百里不用打猎为生。小箭头比大箭头更值钱，因为制作小箭头要花费更长时间。所以我能轻装上阵。每停一站，我都能换取食物，衣服，鞋子，和任何我需要的东西。”

Joe is impressed. “Say, we could use that in the Andromeda Galaxy except that nobody hunts there. They are all vegetarians.”

乔被;深深打动。 “对呀，我可以在仙女座星系采取同样模式，只是那里没人打猎。他们都是食素的。”

Willie has the answer. “We didn’t stick with arrowheads forever. Several thousand years later I lived with a bigger bunch that used gold. We could travel even lighter, because gold is never found in large quantities. It takes a hundred times more work to round up an ounce of gold than it takes to make an ounce of arrowheads. It just takes a few thousand years to get general agreement that an ounce of gold is worth a month of food and lodging.”

威利有了答案。“我们并没有永远使用箭头。几千年以后，我生活在一个更大的群体中，他们用金子。我们可以更加轻装上阵了。因为金子更为稀少。提炼一盎司金子比制作一盎司箭头要费上百倍的力气。也只是经过几千年历史，人们就达成一盎司金子的价值相当于一个月食宿的共识。"

Joe is really fired up now. “I see. Money is just crystallized sweat. Say, we’ve got something like that gold stuff. I can’t wait to give it a try.”

乔此时真的动了真情，"我明白了，钱就是汗水之结晶。你看，我们也有类似金子的东西，我也等不及要试一下。"

But Willie is cautious. “There is still a problem. Later on we got carried away with traveling light and invented paper certificates and credit cards worth a hundred ounces of gold.”

但威利却提醒到："还有一个问题，在那以后，我们对轻装旅行过于热衷，又发明了价值几百盎司的纸币和信用卡。"

Suddenly Joe is concerned. “How do you keep people who haven’t made any arrowheads from printing papers that say they have?”

一时间，乔有些担忧了。"你们怎样保证那些还没有制造出任何箭头的人不去预先印纸币呢？"

Willie sighs, “Well, the government makes that a crime. The only trouble is that there is nobody to keep the government from giving away pieces of paper that nobody did any work for.”

威利叹了口气说："哎，政府将偷印纸币定为犯罪。问题是没人阻止政府乱发还没有人挣得的钞票。"

Joe is amazed. “Why would they do that?”

乔很是惊讶，"他们为什么这样做？"

“Sometimes the ruling class needs to make a good impression on the working people. If they have to win an election to stay in the ruling class, it’s a way to buy votes. I guess it’s better than the old system of kings.”

”有时统治阶层需要在工薪阶层面前留下好的印象。如果他们要想大选取胜，保持统治阶层的地位，这是拉选票的一个途径。我想这总比旧国王系统要好些吧。“

Joe is disappointed. “Sounds like you need an honest government.”

乔很失望，"听上去你们需要一个诚实的政府。"

Willie agrees. “Yeah, we’re working on that.”

威利同意地说："是啊，我们正在往这方面努力。"