林皓的博客－－一句英文近三百字:Understanding is the essence of English learni
一句英文近三百字—— Understanding is the essence of English learning我有个体会，即：学习英语，重在对其不断的理解。其实做翻译也无外乎，始于理解。如果你不能理解那句话，或误解了，无论如何你都译不好。很少有自知之明的英文学习者敢说，自己对英语理解透彻，无须努力。许多英语大家取得公认成就之后，仍一生孜孜不倦地不断学习。所谓学海无涯即是此意。在文字的阅读上，理解的障碍要么在词意上要么在结构上。前者且抛开不谈，专论英文的结构。英文句式多样，结构组合变化无穷。其中有一类句子称为圆周句（ periodic Sentence ）。 这种句式的特点是整句中的一些成份放在最后，使得读者要读完最后一个字才能把整句弄清楚。正如 H.J. Rose 所言的：“ It is the long and frequently involved type of sentence, needing skill to handle it properly, in which the construction begun with the first word is not completed until the last.” 以下句为例：
Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man's life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.
( The Life of Dr. JohnsonJames Boswell)
整个句子结构是： had…that; had… that , the world…ever exhibited. 。 前面两句式一直在做铺陈，只有到最后才将句子意思展出来。读者忍不住绷紧弦一直往下读，直到最后悬疑解决才能松口气。再看一句更为典型，也是我目前读到的最优美，最富结构美，最长的一句话：
That a man in exile should flatter basely those who have power to recall him is understandable ， Ovid did as much ； that a prime minister in difficult times should show himself neither heroic nor self-consistent is no more than to be expected of the vast majority of statesmen; that the influential adviser of an impressionable and unbalanced young prince should allow his master’s favours to take the form of making him prodigiously wealthy is not remarkable, we may discount the tales of Seneca using extortion to add to his riches; that, having flattered, he should bespatter with abuse the object of his sometime adoration is certainly not commendable, but shows no deep depravity, merely a desire to swim with the current; that, being the most popular author of the day and master of an eloquence calculated to make the worst case appear passable, he should frame an elaborate justification of a matricide, may be passed over as one of the hard necessities of his position; but when the man who has done and is doing all this takes the tone of a rigid moralist and a seeker after uncompromising virtue, preaching, from his palace, simplicity and the plainest living with almost the unction of a St. Francis praising Holy Poverty, refusing all knowledge that does not tend to edification, and proclaiming, in verse worthy of a better man than Nero’s hack, that the true king is he who fears nothing and desires nothing, the gorge of the reader rises and he turns for relief to someone who either made his life fit his doctrine or, if he behaved unworthily of the best that was in him, at least laid no claim to be a spiritual guide.
一句话竟然长达 286 字！耐心看完，你会为作者营造句子的匠心倾倒。有如建筑中的巴洛克风格。我想起小时候在小镇上学，梅子时节下雨较多，水注在地上，平地或小坡起许多小水沟。而我们总喜欢筑小土坝，等到黄色的水流要没过小土坝时，孩子们猛地把坝打开，于是“洪水”就挟势，直冲而下，会冲走路上许多东西。于是我们这时便快意地看着。前面的所有努力都是为这一下的冲击力，坝筑得越高，放开时水力越大。而作圆周句给我筑坝的感觉。看到最后一句便展颜而笑了。我们可以来分析一下这句话的结构：
A.
(1)That a man …is understandable; Ovid did as much.
(2)That a prime minister … is no more than to be expected of …
.(3) That the influential adviser … is not remarkable; we may discount the tales of Seneca using extortion
(4)That, having flattered, …is certainly not commendable, but shows no deep depravity,
(5)That, being the most popular author …, may be passed over as one of the hard necessities of his position;
B.
but when the man who has done and is doing all this takes the tone of a rigid moralist and a seeker after uncompromising virtue,
preaching , from his palace, … the unction of a St. Francis
refusing all knowledge that …,
proclaiming , in verse …, the gorge of the reader rises
and he turns for relief to someone who
either made his life fit his doctrine
or, if he behaved unworthily of the best that was in him, at least laid no claim to be a spiritual guide.
这一长句，分两层，第一层用一系列以 That 打头的排比句，假装让步，实则一直在“筑坝”给 younger Seneca 找理由，进行“宽恕”，而第二层 BUT 突起，连用三个 ing 句式，一下子将他自己的武器投入出去，痛斥了 younger Seneca 的伪善劣行。看完之后，真是让人荡气回肠。有如看了部侦探片。
英语文章许久以来在文风上有两种：一种讲究辞仗，工于词藻，巧于结构；一种是讲求简洁，有力，通俗。而且两种思潮轮流出现。如前提的 Samuel Johnson 就是一位写圆周句的高手，那时他是 18 世纪文坛旗手，自然其风格也代表那个时代；当到了 18 世纪末 19 世纪初，诗歌在浪漫主义的如华滋华斯等人手里都平白如话，直抒胸臆了。其实文字由繁入简长期看是个趋势，越来越散文化，功用化，但审美上就要差了。想想中文也莫不如此，除诗歌之外的文体，最美的是汉赋，极为宏华，而次骈文，再次散文，到了白话，也真的平白如话，懂是好懂了，美感却缺了。
不禁说有点离题。本人其实对两种文风都看重，只要得体，文章要想写得好都得费心经营。但觉得繁杂的句子也要学会去分析，理解并欣赏。读些难的，对心智也是个锻炼，什么都可以简单，但头脑，智力不能。
魔鬼字典摘录（三）
ANTIPATHY, n. The sentiment inspired by one's friend's friend.
APHORISM, n. Predigested wisdom.
The flabby wine-skin of his brain
Yields to some pathologic strain,
And voids from its unstored abysm
The driblet of an aphorism.
\"The Mad Philosopher,\" 1697
APOLOGIZE, v.i. To lay the foundation for a future offence.
APOSTATE, n. A leech who, having penetrated the shell of a turtle
only to find that the creature has long been dead, deems it expedient
to form a new attachment to a fresh turtle.
APOTHECARY, n. The physician's accomplice, undertaker's benefactor
and grave worm's provider.
When Jove sent blessings to all men that are,
And Mercury conveyed them in a jar,
That friend of tricksters introduced by stealth
Disease for the apothecary's health,
Whose gratitude impelled him to proclaim:
\"My deadliest drug shall bear my patron's name!\"
G.J.
APPEAL, v.t. In law, to put the dice into the box for another throw.
APPETITE, n. An instinct thoughtfully implanted by Providence as a
solution to the labor question.
APPLAUSE, n. The echo of a platitude.
APRIL FOOL, n. The March fool with another month added to his folly.
ARCHBISHOP, n. An ecclesiastical dignitary one point holier than a
bishop.
If I were a jolly archbishop,
On Fridays I'd eat all the fish up --
Salmon and flounders and smelts;
On other days everything else.
Jodo Rem
posted on 2007-06-24 02:28 林皓
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