美国语文第六册 第77期:欠债讽诵(5)

 　　The knowing ones eat, as for a race; but a stupid fellow saves his portion; just nibbles¹ a bit, and "keeps the rest for another time." 聪明的孩子会像比赛一样快速吃掉糕饼，而愚蠢的孩子则节省着吃，只是咬一小口，“留起来下次再吃。”

　　Most provident² blockhead! 多么节俭的笨蛋啊！

　　The others, when they have gobbled up their shares, set upon him, plunder³ him, and thrash him for crying out. 当其他孩子已经狼吞虎咽地吃下自己那份后，就会想办法吃他那份，抢他的，把他打得直哭。

　　Before the terms "depreciation," "suspension," and "going into liquidation," were heard, 在听到“贬值”、“中止借贷”和“进行清偿”这些术语之前，

　　there might have been some reason in the practice of "laying up;" but now it denotes the darkest blindness. 储蓄的话或许还有一些理由，但是现在储蓄意味着最盲目。

　　The prudent⁴ men of the present time, are the men in debt. 在现阶段，借债的人倒成了审慎和富有远见的人了。

　　The tendency being to sacrifice creditors⁵ to debtors⁷, 这个趋势就是债主向借主割肉，

　　and the debtor⁶ party acquiring daily new strength, everyone is in haste to get into the favored class. 而借主一方需要的是注入新的活力，每个人都急于迈入受到眷顾的阶层。

　　In any case, the debtor is safe. 无论如何，借主是安全的。

　　He has put his enjoyments⁸ behind him; they are safe; no turns of fortune can disturb them. 他暗自窃喜，他们是安全的。没有任何财富轮转能扰乱他们。

　　The substance he has eaten up, is irrecoverable. The future can not trouble his past. He has nothing to apprehend⁹. 他搞垮的东西已经无可挽救了，未来不会困扰他的过去，他没有什么好担心的。

　　He has anticipated more than fortune would ever have granted him. 财富已经比预期的让他受益更多了，

　　He has tricked fortune; and his creditors—bah! who feels for creditors? What are creditors? 他已经欺骗了财富，当然还有他的债主——呸！有谁会为债主鸣冤叫屈呢？债主都是些什么人？

　　Landlords; a pitiless and unpitiable tribe; all griping extortioners! 地主啊，冷酷和不值得怜悯的一类人；所有应该抓起来的勒索者！

　　What would become of the world of debtors, if it did not steal a march upon this rapacious¹⁰ class? 如果不对这个贪婪的阶层悄悄地进军的话，那么借主的世界会变成什么样子呢？

1 nibbles   

vt.& vi.啃，一点一点地咬（nibble的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• A fish nibbles at the bait. 一条鱼在轻轻地啃鱼饵。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Units of four bits are sometimes referred to as nibbles. 有时将四位数字组成的单元叫做半字节。 来自辞典例句

2 provident   

adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的

参考例句：

• A provident father plans for his children's education.有远见的父亲为自己孩子的教育做长远打算。
• They are provident statesmen.他们是有远见的政治家。

3 plunder   

vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠

参考例句：

• The thieves hid their plunder in the cave.贼把赃物藏在山洞里。
• Trade should not serve as a means of economic plunder.贸易不应当成为经济掠夺的手段。

4 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

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 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。

7 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

8 enjoyments   

愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受

参考例句：

• He is fond of worldly enjoyments. 他喜爱世俗的享乐。
• The humanities and amenities of life had no attraction for him--its peaceful enjoyments no charm. 对他来说，生活中的人情和乐趣并没有吸引力——生活中的恬静的享受也没有魅力。

9 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

10 rapacious   

adj.贪婪的，强夺的

参考例句：

• He had a rapacious appetite for bird's nest soup.他吃燕窝汤吃个没够。
• Rapacious soldiers looted the houses in the defeated city.贪婪的士兵洗劫了被打败的城市。