第二冊第20篇：工作
It is physically impossible for a well-educated, intellectual, or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts; as physically impossible as(1) it is for him to make his dinner the principal object of them. All healthy people like their dinner, but their dinner is not the main object of their lives. So all healthy-minded people like making money- ought to like it and to enjoy the sensation of winning it; but the main object of their lives is not money; it is something better than money.
一個(gè)受過良好教育，有知識(shí)或有膽識(shí)的人實(shí)在不可能把金錢作為他孜孜以求的主要目標(biāo)，正如他不可能把吃飯當(dāng)作最主要的目標(biāo)一樣。一切健康的人都吃得很香，但是吃飯并不是他們生活的主要目標(biāo)。同樣道理，一切思想健康的人都想得到收入--理所當(dāng)然，并且為得到收入而由衷地高興，然而他們生活的主要目標(biāo)并不是錢，而是比錢更有價(jià)值的東西。
A good soldier, for instance, mainly wishes to do his fighting well. He is glad of his pay- very properly so(2), and justly grumbles when you keep him ten months without it; still, his main notion of life is to win battles, not to be paid for winning them.
例如，一個(gè)優(yōu)秀的士兵總是想把仗打好。他為自己的薪餉感到高興--完全合乎情理，如果你扣發(fā)他十個(gè)月軍餉，他當(dāng)然要抱怨。然而他的生活要旨仍然是奪取戰(zhàn)斗的勝利，而不是為了薪餉去打勝仗。
So of doctors. They like fees no doubt- ought to like them; yet if they are brave and well educated, the en- tire object of their lives is not fees. They, on the whole, desire to cure the sick, and--if they are good doctors, and the choice were fairly put to them(3) --would rather cure their patient and lose their fee than kill him and get it. And so with all other brave and rightly trained men; their work is first, their fee second, very important always, but still second.
醫(yī)生也是這樣。他們當(dāng)然都喜歡收診費(fèi)--理所當(dāng)然，然而，如果他們是有膽識(shí)的、受過良好教育的，那他們生活的全部目標(biāo)就不是為了收費(fèi)?？偟恼f來，他們都想把病人治好，而且--如果他們是好醫(yī)生，同時(shí)公平地要他們作出選擇的話--他們寧愿把病人治愈而得不到診金，也不愿為了診金卻把病人治死。所有其他有膽識(shí)的、受過正當(dāng)培養(yǎng)的人也都是這樣，對(duì)他們來說，工作是第一位的，報(bào)酬則是第二位的，雖然報(bào)酬總是非常重要的，但終究是第二位的。
But in every nation, there is a vast class of people who are cowardly, and more or less stupid. And with these people, just as certainly the fee is first and the work second, as with brave people the work is first and the fee second.
可是，在每一個(gè)國家里都有一大批怯懦的，多少有點(diǎn)愚蠢的人。對(duì)于這些人來說，報(bào)酬是第一位的，工作是第二位的，正如劉于有膽識(shí)的人說來工作是第一位的，而報(bào)酬則是第二位的。
And this is no small distinction. It is the whole distinction. It is the whole distinction in a man. You can- not serve two masters; you must serve one or the other. If your work is first with you, and your fee second, work is your master.
這決不是細(xì)微的差異。這是至關(guān)重要的根本差異。這是區(qū)別一個(gè)人的根本差異。你不能侍奉兩個(gè)主人，你必須擇一而從。如果你的工作是第一位的，報(bào)酬是第二位的，那么工作就是你的主人。
Observe, then, all wise work is mainly threefold in character. It is honest, useful, and cheerful. I hardly know anything more strange than that you recognize honesty in play, and do not in work(4). In your lightest games you have always someone to see what you call "fair play". In boxing you must hit fair; in racing, start fair. Your watchword is fair play; your hatred, foul play. Did it ever strike you that you wanted another watchword also, fair work, and another hatred also , foul work ?
要知道，一切明智的工作大都具有三重性：誠實(shí)、有用和令人愉快。我?guī)缀醪恢肋€有比你在娛樂中講究誠實(shí)而在工作上卻不講誠實(shí)更為奇怪的事了。在最輕松的游戲中你也總要有人支持你所說的"公正比賽"。拳擊時(shí)，你必須按照比賽規(guī)則去打，賽跑時(shí)，起跑要符合規(guī)定。你的口號(hào)是公正比賽，你所憎恨的是不公正比賽。你可曾想到對(duì)待工作你也要有一條口號(hào)，那就是老老實(shí)實(shí)，而你該憎恨的是寡廉鮮恥?
英文注釋：
(1) as physically impossible as...: 是 it is as physically impossible for a well-educated，ntellectual，or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts as...的省略形式，實(shí)際上當(dāng)然不會(huì)采用這種累贅的說法。后面的as所引出的是一個(gè)比較狀語從句。physically impossible作"違反自然法則的，不可能的"解。
(2) very properly so：感到高興是合乎情理的。so代替前面的glad。
(3)if...the choice were fairly put to them：如果他們是好醫(yī)生，同時(shí)公正地要求他們作出選擇的話。這句中用be的虛擬語氣形式Were，因?yàn)樽髡哒J(rèn)為治病收費(fèi)是理所當(dāng)然的，因此所謂公正地要求醫(yī)生作出下列選擇的情況基本上是不存在的。
(4)do not in work：do not后省略了recognize honesty。
