美国语文第六册 第73期:欠债讽诵(1)

 　　Debt is of the very highest antiquity¹. 在古代的风俗习惯中，债是非常高级的东西。

　　The first debt in the history of man is the debt of nature, and the first instinct is to put off the payment of it to the last moment. 人类在历史上第一笔欠债，就是对大自然欠下的，人类的第一天性就是拖到最后一刻才还债。

　　Many persons, it will be observed, following the natural procedure, would die before they would pay their debts. 不妨观察一下，许多人都遵循这一自然程序，还没有还债就撒手人寰了。

　　Society is composed of two classes, debtors³ and creditors⁵. 社会是由两个阶层构成的，借主和债主。

　　The creditor⁴ class has been erroneously supposed the more enviable. 债主阶层被错误地认为更令人称羡。

　　Never was there a greater misconception; 再也没有比这更大的误解了。

　　and the hold it yet maintains upon opinion is a remarkable⁶ example of the obstinacy⁷ of error, notwithstanding the plainest lessons of experience. 人们保有这种观念是对错误固执己见的生动例子，尽管经验是最朴素的教训。

　　The debtor² has the sympathies of mankind. 人们对借主抱有悲悯之心，

　　He is seldom spoken of but with expressions of tenderness and compassion—"the poor debtor!"—and "the unfortunate debtor!" 谈到他时都是一副亲切和同情的神情——“可怜的借主！”，还有“不幸的借主！”

　　On the other hand, "harsh" and "hard-hearted" are the epithets⁸ allotted⁹ to the creditor. 另一方面，“冷酷”和“铁石心肠”这些词语则一股脑安到债主头上。

　　Who ever heard the "poor creditor," the "unfortunate creditor" spoken of? 谁听到有人说过“可怜的债主”和“不幸的债主”？

　　No, the creditor never becomes the object of pity, unless he passes into the debtor class. 没有，债主从来不会成为悲悯的目标，除非他沦落到借主阶层。

　　A creditor may be ruined by the poor debtor, but it is not until he becomes unable to pay his own debts, that he begins to be compassionated¹⁰. 一位债主也许会被可怜的借主给毁掉，除非他连自己的债务也无力偿还了，他开始受人同情了，否则是不会的。

　　A debtor is a man of mark. 借主是带某种标志的一类人。

1 antiquity   

n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹

参考例句：

• The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
• There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。

2 debtor   

n.借方，债务人

参考例句：

• He crowded the debtor for payment.他催逼负债人还债。
• The court granted me a lien on my debtor's property.法庭授予我对我债务人财产的留置权。

3 debtors   

n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never in a debtors' prison? 从没有因债务坐过牢么？ 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

4 creditor   

n.债仅人，债主，贷方

参考例句：

• The boss assigned his car to his creditor.那工头把自己的小汽车让与了债权人。
• I had to run away from my creditor whom I made a usurious loan.我借了高利贷不得不四处躲债。

5 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

7 obstinacy   

n.顽固；（病痛等）难治

参考例句：

• It is a very accountable obstinacy.这是一种完全可以理解的固执态度。
• Cindy's anger usually made him stand firm to the point of obstinacy.辛迪一发怒，常常使他坚持自见，并达到执拗的地步。

8 epithets   

n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He insulted me, using rude epithets. 他用粗话诅咒我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He cursed me, using a lot of rude epithets. 他用上许多粗鲁的修饰词来诅咒我。 来自辞典例句

9 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

10 compassionated   

v.同情（compassionate的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• That same hungry heart of hers compassionated her friends. 就是她那颗如饥如渴的心对她的朋友们恻然怜悯。 来自辞典例句
• He is concerned, compassionated and committed to improving his quality of life. 他会把极大的热情和关注投入到提高生活质量上来。 来自互联网