自考英语二教材英文翻译第五课：Text A Life Is Difficult

Text A Life Is Difficult

This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult--once we truly understand and accept it--then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that(引出同位语从句) life is difficult no longer matters.

Most people do not fully see this truth that life is difficult.

生活是艰难的

这是一条真理，是众多伟大真理之一。一旦我们真正认识了它，才会超越其本身。一旦我们真正认识到生活的艰难所在，真正理解并接受它，生活将不再如那般的艰难，生活是艰难的这一事实，也不会再影响到我们。

大多数人并未真正认识到生活是艰难的这一事实。

Instead they moan more or less incessantly, noisily or subtly, about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, and their difficulties as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. They voice their belief, noisily or subtly, that(引出同位语从句) their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction(痛苦)that should not be and that has somehow been especially visited upon(施加，造成，使遭受)them, or else upon their families, their tribe, their class, their nation, their race or even their species, and not upon others. I know about this moaning because I have done my share.

相反，他们不停地无病呻吟，或是聒噪地，或是微弱地，絮叨着他们所遭遇的种种问题、所承受的负担以及所忍受的苦难，好像生活应该是一帆风顺的。他们或高声抗议，或微弱地嘀咕，认为他们的苦难代表一种特殊的不幸，它不应加诸于他们，现在却降临在他们身上，或是他们家人身上、或是他们的部落、他们的阶级、国家、种族、甚至于他们这一特种身上，而不是别人。我深谙这种埋怨，因为我也曾参与其中。

Life is a series of problems. Do we want to moan about them or solve them? Do we want to teach our children to solve them?

Discipline(磨练)is the basic set of tools we require to solve life#39;s problems. Without discipline，we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems.

生活是由一系列的问题组成的。我们是抱怨它们还是解决它们?我们想教育我们的孩子去解决它们吗?

磨练是我们解决生活问题所需要的一套基本工具，没有它我们什么也解决不了。部分磨练只能解决部分问题，历经磨练，我们才能解决所有问题。

What make life difficult is that the process of confronting and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending upon their nature, evoke in us frustration of grief, sadness, loneliness, guilt, regret, anger, fear, anxiety, anguish, despair. These are uncomfortable feelings, often very uncomfortable, often as painful as any kind of physical pain, sometimes equaling the very worst kind of physical pain. Indeed, it is because of the pain that events or conflicts engender in us all that we call them problems. And since life poses(提出)an endless series of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.

生活的艰辛在于面对和解决问题的痛苦过程。不同性质的问题会让我们产生复杂的情绪：沮丧、悲伤、寂寞、内疚、遗憾、愤怒、恐惧、焦虑、痛苦还有绝望。这些情感上的痛苦和身体上的痛苦一样，有时同最深刻的肉体疼痛一样，让人难受，难以释怀。事实上，正是由那些经历或挣扎冲突在我们的内心引起的疼痛才产生了我们称之为问题的东西。由于生活总会给我们提出一系列无穷无尽的问题，生活才总会充满苦难，带给我们痛并快乐着的体验。

Yet it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the cutting edge(尖端/优势)that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth(引发)our courage and our wisdom; indeed, they create our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually. When we desire to encourage the growth of the human spirit, we challenge and encourage the human capacity(能力;容量;生产能力) to solve problems, just as in school we deliberately set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those things that hurt, instruct.“ It is for this reason that wise people learn not to dread but actually to welcome problems and actually to welcome the pain of problems.

然而，正是在面对和解决这些问题的过程中才让生活有了意义。问题是区别我们成败的界限，也召唤出我们的勇气与智慧，事实上，还创造了我们的勇气与智慧。只有经历了这些问题，我们才会得到精神上和心理上的成长。当我们渴望鼓舞人类精神的时候，我们会挑战自我，振奋精神去解决问题，如同我们在学校里故意设置难题让孩子们来解决一样。只有在经历了对抗和解决的痛苦过程后我们才会学有所得。正如本杰明?富兰克林所言："这些困难会伤害你，也会教导你”。也正因为此，聪明人才不畏痛苦，迎难而上。