论嫉妒 翻译

E-T-4

Envy by Samuel Johnson 论嫉妒

塞缪尔?约翰逊

Envy is almost the only vice which is practicable at all times, and in every place — the only passion which can never lie quiet for want of irritation; its effects therefore are everywhere discoverable, and its attempts always to be dreaded.

嫉妒是唯一可以时时刻刻都到处作祟的人性缺点，是唯一一种即使不受到刺激也在蠢蠢欲动的强烈感情；其恶劣影响随处可见，所用行径令人胆颤。

所有的人性缺点中，唯有嫉妒无时不在，无处不有。它也是唯一一种即使不受刺激也总在蠢蠢欲动的强烈情感。嫉妒所带来的恶果随处可见，嫉妒行为也令人胆颤心惊。

It is impossible to mention a name which any advantageous distinction has made eminent, but some latent animosity will burst out. The wealthy trader, however he may abstract himself from public affairs, will never want those who hint, with Shylock, that ships are but boards. The beauty, adorned only with the unambitious graces of innocence and modesty, provokes, whenever she appears, a thousand murmurs of detraction. The genius, even when he endeavours only to entertain or instruct, yet suffers persecution from innumerable critics, whose acrimony is excited merely by the pain of seeing others pleased, and of hearing applauses which another enjoys.

每当听到某人因出类拔萃而著名时，一些人就会心生憎恶。一位富商无论怎样与世无争，也会有人像夏洛克那样对他含沙射影道：再大的帆船也会烂成破木板；一位美女就算再低调、清纯、谦逊，所到之处也会受到无数流言蜚语的诋毁；一位天才就算他只是想要娱乐或指导大家，也会遭到无数批评者围攻，这些批评者每当看到他人开怀或者享受到众人的掌声时，内心的痛苦就会化作尖刻的批评。

The frequency of envy makes it so familiar that it escapes our notice; nor do we often reflect upon its turpitude or malignity, till we happen to feel its influence. When he that has given no provocation to malice, but by attempting to excel, finds himself pursued by multitudes whom he never saw, with all the implacability of personal resentment; when he perceives clamour and malice let loose upon him as a public enemy, and incited by every stratagem of defamation; when

he hears the misfortunes of his family, or the follies of his youth, exposed to the world; and every failure of conduct, or defect of nature, aggravated and ridiculed; he then learns to abhor those artifices at which he only laughed before, and discovers how much the happiness of life would be advanced by the eradication of envy from the human heart.

嫉妒的身影无处不在，我们甚至已经对它司空见惯了；除非我们也深受其害，否则也不会对嫉妒之恶进行深思。当有一天，我们发现我们仅仅是想通过毫无恶意的努力来使自己有所擅长，却被一群未曾相识的人们带着难以平息的怨气穷追不舍时；当有一天，我们发现自己成了众人的公敌、批判怨恨及诽谤中伤的对象时；当有一天，我们发现自己的不幸家事或者年少蠢事被曝于众目睽睽之下时；当有一天，我们发现自己曾经的失当言行或者先天缺陷被添油加醋地加以嘲弄时；我们才会真正发现那些曾被自己一笑置之的伎俩是多么令人痛恨，才会真正地发现如果嫉妒可以从人类内心清除的话，生活可以变得多么美好！ 。

Envy is, indeed, a stubborn weed of the mind, and seldom yields to the culture of philosophy. There are, however, considerations which, if carefully implanted and diligently propagated, might in time overpower and repress it, since no one can nurse it for the sake of pleasure, as its effects are only shame, anguish, and perturbation. It is above all other vices inconsistent with the character of a social being, because it sacrifices truth and kindness to very weak temptations. He that plunders a wealthy neighbour gains as much as he takes away, and may improve his own condition in the same proportion as he impairs another's; but he that blasts a flourishing reputation, must be content with a small dividend of additional fame, so small as can afford very little consolation to balance the guilt by which it is obtained.

诚然，嫉妒是内心疯长的野草，很难通过耕种哲理清除掉。但是，如果能将某些观念精心播撒到人们的内心，并辛勤培植的话，就可能会及时遏制嫉妒之势——没有人会为了获得快乐而培植嫉妒，因为它只能让人收获羞愧、痛苦和不安。只要被它稍加诱惑，人们就会失去仁慈的天性，抹杀真理的存在，所以嫉妒是最与社会人的本性相背离的缺点。就算我们从富有的邻居那里抢夺财富，邻居失去多少我们就会得到多少，邻居的生活水平降低多少我们的就可能提高多少；但是当我们损害了别人的美誉时，我们虽然会为得到的一丝名声感到满足，但是这一丝的名声如此微小，还不足以抵消因此而犯下的罪恶呢。

本文来源：https://www.bwwdw.com/article/gxh.html