本书简介:
《沉思录》是古罗马皇帝奥勒留写给自己的书,内容大部分是他在鞍马劳顿中写成的。作品来自奥勒留对身羁宫廷的自己和自己所处混乱世界的感受,追求一种冷静而达观的生活。这部著作是斯多葛学派的一个里程碑,亦是温总理放在枕边,读了不下百遍的书。
本书原文由古希腊文而作,英文版选择比较权威的George Long的版本,中文版选择何怀宏的版本作参考。笔记中的英文释义摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

 作者简介:
马可•奥勒留(Marcus Aurelius,公元121—180年),著名的“帝王哲学家”,古罗马帝国皇帝,在希腊文学和拉丁文学、修辞、哲学、法律、绘画方面受过很好的教育,晚期斯多葛学派代表人物之一。奥勒留也许是西方历史上唯一的一位哲学家皇帝。他是一个比他的帝国更加完美的人,他的勤奋工作最终并没有能够挽救古罗马,但是他的《沉思录》却成为西方历史上的伟大名著。

卷一:品质闪烁在良好的传承中(3)
 小编语:在卷一中,奥勒留回忆自己身边之人所教会自己的东西,George Long的翻译十分精炼,有些看起来也许不成句子,仅仅是一些词组和短语,但就在字里行间,我们可以感受到作者的思考与自省。如果要作为翻译练习的话,需要注意添加动词及调整语序,使你的翻译语句通顺,易于理解。
从这期选的两段文字中,奥勒留学到的是遇到任何事都宠辱不惊的态度,是一种仁爱的气质。对于现在的我们来说,也是不可缺少的品质。面对人生中的挫折变故,需要我们有一颗坚强的心支撑自己,仁爱同样是我国传统文化中的核心思想。真正的谦逊不是假仁假义博取他人的赞美和奉承,而是一种“大音希声,大象无形”,往往在不经意间体现一个人的修养和境界。

1.9 From Apollonius I learned freedom of will and undeviating steadiness of purpose; and to look to nothing else, not even for a moment, except to reason; and to be always the same, in sharp pains, on the occasion of the loss of a child, and in long illness; and to see clearly in a living example that the same man can be both most resolute and yielding, and not peevish in giving his instruction; and to have had before my eyes a man who clearly considered his experience and his skill in expounding philosophical principles as the smallest of his merits; and from him I learned how to receive from friends what are esteemed favours, without being either humbled by them or letting them pass unnoticed.

 Notes:

peevish [adj] easily annoyed by unimportant things; bad-tempered
expound [v] ~sth (sb)| ~on sth (formal) to explain sth by talking about it in detail.
    e.g.: He expounded his views on the subject to me at great length. (他详细地想我阐述了他对这个主题的看法。)
           We listened as she expounded on the government new policies. (我们听着她对政府新政策的阐述。)
esteem [UN] (formal) great respect and admiration; a good opinion of sb;
           [V] (formal) (not used in the grogressive tenses) ①[VN][usually passive] to respect and admire sb/sth very much. e.g.: a highly esteemed scientist ②[VN-N](old-fashioned, formal) to think of sb/sth in a particular way.

1.10 From Sextus, a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family governed in a fatherly manner, and the idea of living conformably to nature; and gravity without affectation, and to look carefully after the interests of friends, and to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who form opinions without consideration: he had the power of readily accommodating himself to all, so that intercourse with him was more agreeable than any flattery; and at the same time he was most highly venerated by those who associated with him: and he had the faculty both of discovering and ordering, in an intelligent and methodical way, the principles necessary for life; and he never showed anger or any other passion, but was entirely free from passion, and also most affectionate; and he could express approbation without noisy display, and he possessed much knowledge without ostentation.

 Notes:
flattery  [UN] praise that is not sincere, especially in order to obtain sth from sb.
          【IDM】Flattery will get you everywhere/ nowhere: praise that is not sincere will/ will not get what you want.
venerate [V][VN] ~sb/sth (as sth)(formal) to home and show a lot of respect for sb/sth, especially sb/sth that is considered to be holy or very important.
approbation [N][V](formal) approval or agreement .
ostentation [UN](disapproving) an exaggerated display of wealth, knowledge or skill that is made in order to impress people.

 看了笔记注释之后,先尝试自己翻译一下吧,参考译文见下:

中文翻译:
1.9 从阿珀洛尼厄斯,我懂得了意志的自由,和目标的坚定不移;懂得了在任何时候都要依赖理性,而不依赖任何别的东西;懂得了在失子和久病的剧烈痛苦中镇定如常;从他,我也清楚地看到了一个既坚定又灵活,在教导人时毫不暴躁的活的榜样;看到了一个清醒地不以他解释各种哲学原则时的经验和艺术自傲的人;从他,我也学会了如何从值得尊敬的朋友那里得到好感而又丝毫不显得卑微,或者对他们置若罔闻。
1.10 从塞克斯都,我看到了一种仁爱的气质,一个以慈爱方式管理家庭的榜样和合乎自然地生活的观念,看到了毫无矫饰的庄严,为朋友谋利的细心,对无知者和那些不假思索发表意见的人的容忍:他有一种能使自己和所有人欣然相处的能力,以致和他交往的愉快胜过任何奉承,同时,他又受到那些与其交往者的高度尊敬。他具有一种以明智和系统的方式发现和整理必要的生活原则的能力,他从不表现任何愤怒或别的激情,完全避免了激情而同时又温柔宽厚,他能够表示嘉许而毫不罗嗦,拥有渊博知识而毫不矜夸。

回顾:《沉思录》读书笔记系列>>