年近花甲的哲学教授在上最后一课。当课快结束时他拿出了一个大玻璃瓶，又先后拿出一袋核桃，一袋莲子。他说："我今天给你们做一个实验，希望你们每个人能一辈子记住这个实验结果。"

　　在座的同学当时都很奇怪，哲学课还能做实验？

　　老教授把核桃倒进玻璃杯中，直到一个也塞不进去为止。这时候他问："现在杯子满了吗？" 学过哲学的同学已经有了几分辩证法的思维。"如果说装核桃的话，它已经装满了。"教授又拿出莲子， 用莲子填充核桃剩下的空间。

　　老教授笑着问："你们能从这个实验中概括出什么道理吗？"

　　同学们一个个开始发言，有人说这说明了世界上没有绝对的满，只有相对的满。有人说这说明了时间像海绵里的水，只要想挤，总可以挤出来的。还有人说这说明了空间可以无限细分。

　　最后，老教授说："你们说的都很有道理，不过还没有说出我想要大家领会的道理来。你们是否可以反过来想一想，如果我先装的是莲子而不是核桃。那么莲子装满后还能再装下核桃吗？你们想想看，人生有时候是不是也是如此，我们经常被许多无关紧要的琐事所困扰，看着人生沉埋与这些琐碎的事物之中。到了最后，却往往忽略了去做那些真正对自己重要的事情。结果，白白浪费了许多宝贵的时间。所以，我希望大家能够记住这个实验，如果莲子先塞满了，就装不下核桃了。"

　　一片静默之中，同学们都陷入了沉思。

　　摘自《中国青年》2004 第三期

　　参考译文：

　　An Experiment by a Philosophy Professor

　　华中农业大学 龚献静 刘万云 译

　　It was the last lecture by a philosophy professor approaching the age of 60. When the lecture was drawing to its end, the professor took out a big glass bottle, then a sack of walnuts, afterwards a sack of lotus seeds. He said, "Today I'll make an experiment for you and I hope its result will give every one of you a life-long memory."

　　At that moment, the students present felt very strange, doubting there would be any experiment in philosophy lectures.

　　The elderly professor poured the walnuts into glass cup till there was no room for another walnut. Then he asked: "Is the glass full now?" The students, who armed with some knowledge of philosophy, had already been conditioned to think in a dialectical way, answered: "As far as filling the cup with walnuts is concerned, it is already filled to its capacity." Afterwards the professor took out the lotus seeds to fill up the space between and among the walnuts.

　　Wearing a smile, the professor asked: "Can you gain some morals from the experiment?"

　　The students take turns in voicing their opinions： some said there was no absolute but only relative fullness in the world; some said time like water absorbed into the sponge could always be squeezed out with a willing spirit, some of the rest said the space could be infinitely divided into infinitesimal portions.

　　In the end, the senior professor said, "All you have said does make sense, but what I would like you to see through still fails to be brought to light. Can we reverse our thinking? What if in the first place I put inside the lotus seeds instead of the walnuts? When the lotus seeds filled the cup, would there be any room for walnuts? Don't you think sometimes human circumstances are quite similar to this? We tend to be obsessed with numerous trivialities and find ourselves steeped in such trifles. Consequently, things that do matter to us escape our notice, which results in a great amount of valuable time flying in vain. So I hope the experiment can leave an indelible impression upon your mind. Should we firstly fill the cup with lotus seeds to its capacity, there would be no room for walnuts at all".

　　Silence reigned and all the students were sunk in deep thoughts.

　　翻译注解：

　　一、这是一篇告诉人生哲理的文章，出现的人物是教授和大学生，他们的身份决定了文章应用较正式的语体，对话部分出现在课堂上，选词应用较正式的书面词汇。例如：

　　1. "如果说装核桃的话，它已经装满了。" 译为："As far as filling the cup with walnuts is concerned, it is already filled to its capacity." 此句用了词组"As far as...be concerned"，贴切自然。"它已经装满了"译为："it is already filled to its capacity"比译为"it is already full"更为正式和严谨，也体现了具有辨证思维的大学生说话的特点。

　　2. "我希望大家能够记住这个实验，如果莲子先塞满了，就装不下核桃了。" 译为："I hope the experiment can leave an indelible impression upon your mind. Should we firstly fill the cup with lotus seeds to its capacity, there would be no room for walnuts at all." 把"我希望大家能够记住这个实验"译为"I hope the experiment can leave an indelible impression upon your mind."要比仅仅译为 "I hope that you can remember this experiment."更符合教授说话的特点。 把 "如果莲子先塞满了，就装不下核桃了" 译为: "Should we firstly fill the cup with lotus seeds to its capacity, there would be no room for walnuts at all." 这种虚拟语气句, 要比译为: "If we at first fill the cup with lotus seeds, there will be no room for walnuts at all." 这种简单的假设条件句, 更能体现一个哲学教授说话的非绝对性的辨证特点。

　　二、在翻译时，不能只从词语的表面意思去找相对应的英语单词，要从整篇文章的意义来考虑，注意汉语词语所蕴涵的意义，从而在翻译时适当地增词、减词或改变译法。例如：

　　1. 文章的标题"哲学教授的实验课"，读完文章就可知并不是一门课程，所以在翻译时没有必要把"课"翻译出来，应直接译为"An Experiment by a Philosophy Professor"。由于这个实验目的是给人人生启迪，而不是自然科学的实验，因此可以在"experiment"前面加上"enlightening" 或"thought-provoking" 之类的词。

　　2."用莲子填充核桃剩下的空间"译为"to fill up the space between and among the walnuts"而不译为: "to fill the rest space left by walnuts"就是充分考虑汉语所表达的内涵，若译为"to fill the rest space left by walnuts"就容易误认为"去填核桃没填满而留下的剩余空间"。而文中所译，则不会产生误解。

　　三、注意选词，我们在查词典时会发现一个汉语词语会有很多相对应的英语单词和表达形式，因此在翻译时应根据所翻译文章的文体及上下文等选出最佳的词。例如：

　　1. "学过哲学的同学已经有了几分辩证法的思维" 此句中把"学过哲学"译为"armed with some knowledge of philosophy"就比译为"having learned some knowledge of philosophy" 要贴切。特别是把 "已经有了几分辩证法的思维" 译为"had already been conditioned to think in a dialectical way,"可谓是点睛之笔。比译为"had a kind of dialectical way of thinking"更能体现当时的语境且更生动形象。 "be conditioned to"表示 "在特定情况下条件反射性地去(做某事)"，此词组在《新编大学英语》第二册中出现过。

　　2. "一袋核桃，一袋莲子" 中"一袋" 可以译为"a bag of, a sack of , a pouch of"其中只有"a sack of"最符合文义。

　　3. "人生有时候是不是也是如此" "看着人生沉埋与这些琐碎的事物之中"这两句子都含有"人生"一词，但其内涵却是不一样的。根据上下文，这两句中的"人生"并非指我们通常所说的"life journey" ，前一句中 "人生"指"人类生活的境况"， 所以译为"human circumstances"而后一句中的"人生"指的是"我们怎样在过生活"，所以直接翻译为"we"。

　　4. "到了最后" 根据字面意义可以译为"finally, lastly, at last ,ultimately , in the end"等。 但根据上下文，句中的"最后"并非表示顺序，而是表示"结果"，所以应译为"consequently"。

　　四、注意汉语和英语词语所传达的文化内涵。例如原文中的"年近花甲"在英语中找不到一对一的词，根据汉语的文化内涵，"花甲"指"60岁"，所以译为"approaching the age of 60"。再如"老教授"不能直接译为 "old professor"，因为在英语中 "old"具有 "useless"的文化内涵，所以应译为"senior" 或 "elderly" 以表示尊重。

　　五、翻译时应注意对篇章整体风格的理解，从而达到最佳翻译效果，并尽量避免中国式英语。以下也是对第一段的翻译，与参考译文相比，就可知谁优谁劣。

　　A philosophy professor, approaching the age of sixty, was having his last lecture. Before he finished his lecture, he took out a glass vase, a small bag of walnuts, a small bag of lotus seeds and said: "Today I'll make an experiment and hope that all of you can remember the result of this experiment."

　　(文/蒋晔；英语辅导报大学二年级版 03～04学年第41； 版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)