古文的英语翻译 (1)

但愿人长久，千里共婵娟。

We wish each other a long life so as to share the beauty of this graceful moonlight, even though miles apart.

独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。

A lonely stranger in a strange land I am cast, I miss my family all the more on every festive day.

大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物。

The endless river eastward flows; with its huge waves are gone all those gallant heroes of bygone years.

二人同心，其利断金。

If two people are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal.

富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能曲，此之谓大丈夫。

It is a true great man whom no money and rank can confuse, no poverty and hardship can shake, and no power and force can suffocate.

海内存知己，天涯若比邻。

A bosom friend afar brings distance near.

合抱之木，生于毫末，九层之台，起于累土；千里之行始于足下。

A huge tree that fills one’s arms grows from a tiny seedling; a nine-storied tower rises from a heap of earth; a thousand li journey starts with the first step.

祸兮，福之所依；福兮，祸之所伏。

Misfortune, that is where happiness depends; happiness, that is where misfortune underlies.

见贤思齐焉，见不贤而内自省也。

On seeing a man of virtue, try to become his equal; on seeing a man without virtue, examine yourself not to have the same defects.

江山如此多娇，引无数英雄尽折腰。

This land so rich in beauty has made countless heroes bow in homage.

举头望明月，低头思故乡。

Raising my head, I see the moon so bright; withdrawing my eyes, my nostalgia comes around.

俱往矣，数风流人物，还看今朝。

All are past and gone; we look to this age for truly great men.

君子成人之美，不成人之恶。

The gentleman helps others to achieve their moral perfection but not their evil conduct.

君子独立不惭于影，独寝不愧于魂。

A righteous man never feels ashamed to face his shadow when standing alone and to face his soul when sleeping alone.

君子之交淡如水，小人之交甘如醴。君子淡以亲，小人甘以绝。

The friendship between men of virtue is light like water, yet affectionate; the friendship between men without virtue is sweet like wine, yet easily broken.

老吾老以及人之老，幼吾幼以及人之幼。

Expend the respect of the aged in one’s family to that of other families; expend the love of the young ones in one’s family to that of other families.

礼尚往来。往而不来，非礼也；来而不往，亦非礼也。

Propriety suggests reciprocity. It is not propriety not to give out but to receive, or vice versa.

两情若是长久时，又岂在朝朝暮暮。

If love between both sides can last for aye, why need they stay together night and day?

路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索。

The way ahead is long; I see no ending, yet high and low I’ll search with my will unbending.

民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻。

The people are the most important element in a state; next are the gods of land and grain; least is the ruler himself.

千丈之堤，以蝼蚁之穴溃；百尺之屋，以突隙之烟焚。

A long dike will collapse because of an ant-hole in it; a tall building will be burned down by a spark from a chimney’s chink.

锲而舍之，朽木不折，锲而不舍，金石可镂。

Carve but give up half way, even a decayed piece of wood will not break; carve without stop, even metal and stone can be engraved.

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴阳缺，此事古难全。

People have sorrow and joy; they part and meet again. The moon dims or shines; it waxes or wanes. Nothing is perfect, not even in the olden days.

人之于文学也，犹玉之于琢磨也。

Learning and culture are to a person what polished and grinding are to jade.

三人行，必有我师焉。择其善者而从之，其不善者而改之。

Among any three people walking, I will find something to learn for sure. Their good qualities are to be followed, and their shortcomings are to be avoided.

士不可以不弘毅，任重而道远。仁以为己任，不亦重乎？死而后己，不亦远乎？

An educated gentleman cannot but be resolute and broad-minded, for he has taken up a heavy responsibility and a long course. Is it not a heavy responsibility, which is to practice benevolence? Is it not a long course, which will end only with his death?

士之为人，当理不避其难，临患忘利，遗生行义，视死如归。

A moral intellectual is one who escapes no danger in face of truth, discards personal interests in front of disaster, practices righteousness at the expense of life, and looks upon death as going home.

逝者如斯夫！不舍昼夜。

The passage of time is just like the flow of water, which goes on day and night.

顺天者存，逆天者亡。

Those who follow the Heaven’s law will survive; those who go against it will perish.

天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身，行拂乱其所为，所以动心忍性，增益其所不能。

When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a great man, it always first frustrates his spirit and will, exhausts his muscles and bones, exposes him to starvation and poverty, harasses him by troubles and setbacks so as to stimulate his spirit, toughen his nature and enhance his abilities.

天生我才必有用。

Heaven has endowed me with talents for eventual use.

天时不如地利，地利不如人和。

Opportunities vouchsafed by Heaven are less important than terrestrial advantages, which in turn are less important than the unity among people.

天行健，君子以自强不息。

As Heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so must a gentleman ceaselessly strive along.

温故而知新，可以为师矣。

He who by reviewing the old can gain knowledge of the new and is fit to be a teacher.

物格而后知至，知至而后意诚，意诚而后心正，心正而后身修，身修而后家齐，家齐而后治国，国治而后天下平。

Things investigated, genuine knowledge acquired; genuine knowledge acquired ,thoughts purified; thoughts purified, hearts rectified; hearts rectified, personalities cultivated; personalities cultivated, families regulated; families regulated, the states well governed; the states well governed, the whole world will be in peace and tranquil.

相见时难别亦难。

It is unbearable to meet as well as to depart.

学不可以已。青取之于蓝，而青于蓝；冰，水为之，而寒于冰。君子博学而日参省乎己，则知明而行无过矣。

There is never an end to learning. The dye extracted from the indigo is bluer than the plant; so is the ice colder than the water. By broadly learning and constantly examining himself every day, the gentleman sharpens his awareness and makes fewer mistakes.

学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。

Learning without thinking leads to confusion; thinking without learning ends in danger.

学而不厌，诲人不倦。

Never be contented with your study; never be impatient with your teaching.

学如逆水行舟，不进则退。

Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.

有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎。

It is such a delight to have friends coming from afar.

玉不琢，不成器。人不学，不知义。

As a jade without chiseling will not become a useful object, a man without learning will not know the Way.

欲穷千里目，更上一层楼。

We widen our views three hundred miles by ascending one flight of stairs. /

Exhausting my eyes to a thousand li further, I am ascending one more story of the tower.

在天愿做比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝。

In heaven let us be two birds flying ever together, and on earth two trees with branches interlocked forever.

不登高山，不知天之厚也；不临深渊，不知地之厚也。

One can never be aware of the height of the sky or the depth of the earth, if he does not climb up a high mountain or look down into a deep abyss.

大道之行也，天下为公。

A public spirit will rule all under the sky when the great Way prevails.

大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物。

The endless river eastward flows; with its huge waves are gone all those gallant heroes of bygone years.

丹青不知老将近，富贵于我如浮云。

Absorbed in painting, you know not old age is coming; indeed, to me wealth and rank are like clouds scudding.

曲则全，枉则直，洼则盈，敝则新，少则得，多则惑。

To be part is to be whole; to be bent is to be straight; to be hollow is to be filled; to be worn out is to be renewed; to have little is to have more; to have much is to be confused.

访华会引用哪句中国古诗文？昨天中午就有了答案：奥巴马在上海的Town Hall演讲中引用了一句Chinese proverb：Consider the past you shall know the future，显然这是《论语》中的名句“温故而知新”。

美国多位总统都曾引用过的中国古诗文。那么这些古诗文又该如何翻译呢？

1972年2月21日，在周恩来总理参加的晚宴上，美国前总统尼克松在祝酒辞中引用了毛泽东主席的诗词：

Chairman has written: So many deeds cry out to be done, and always urgently; the world rolls on, time presses. Ten thousand years are too long; seize the day, seize the hour！

中方翻译冀朝铸胸有成竹地翻译出：“多少事，从来急；天地转，光阴迫。一万年太久，只争朝夕！”(《满江红?和郭沫若同志》)尼克松接着借题发挥：This is the hour. This is the day for our two people (现在就是我们两国人民只争朝夕的时候了)，赢得了满堂彩。

卡特总统在卸任后，于1981年8月24日到北京访问。当时北京正值盛夏，卡特一下飞机便在“中国通”的指导下念了两句中国古诗：“今世褦襶子，触热到人家”。当时没有互联网，碰上这种难题只能打电话给文学研究所询问这两句“唐诗”的出处。结果已经是下午，所里没有几个人，也帮不上外交部的忙。无奈之中，电话转到文学所主办的《文学遗产》编辑部，当时在场的编辑王学泰先生很有学问，感觉不太像唐诗，翻开《全汉三国晋南北朝诗》，很快找到此诗是晋人程晓所作《嘲热客》：“平生三伏时，道路无行车。闭门避暑卧，出入不相过。今世褦襶子，触热到人家。主人闻客来，颦蹙奈此何。摇扇髀中疾，流汗正滂沱。传戒诸高明，热行宜见诃”。答案揭晓，外交部人士读了全诗拍案叫绝，尤其是“主人闻客来，颦蹙奈此何”这两句，很符合卡特的身份，已经不担任总统了，还来麻烦主人，很不好意思啊。

演员出身的里根总统上台以后的第四年来到北京，在国家主席举行的欢迎晚宴上，里根在祝酒辞中说：Many centuries ago, Wang Po, a famous Chinese poet-philosopher, wrote, "Although we reside in far corners of the world, having a good friend is akin to having a good neighbor." (在许多世纪之前，一位名叫王勃的中国哲学家和诗人写过：“海内存知己、天涯若比邻”)。美国国务院的中国通又为里根在第二天中国总理晚宴上的祝酒辞中加了一句加大互信力度的话：…let us be of the same mind. And as a saying from "The Book of Changes" goes, "If two people are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal."(让我们同心同德，正如《易

经》中所说的那样“二人同心，其利断金”。)顺便说一句，在22年后法国总统希拉克访华，在北大演讲时也引用了“二人同心，其利断金”，却说是孔夫子的格言，证明法国的中国通比美国的中国通差了好几个档次。

老布什总统1989年春访华，在欢迎晚宴上两度展示他作为前任驻华联络处主任的功底。在祝酒辞的一开始，老布什就说：There's a Chinese proverb that says: "One generation plants a tree; the next sits in its shade." (有句中国谚语这样说：前人栽树，后人乘凉)，由此称赞中国人正在栽种改革之树，而且这一代人已经开始收获果实。随后，老布什提到他和芭芭拉在中国旅行的难忘经历，特别是杜甫的老家四川。老布什提到乘船经过三峡的经历时说：…where we relished the history of the Three Kingdoms and could almost hear the poet Li Bo's description of "the monkeys who screamed from the two sides without stopping." (我们想起了三国故事，几乎听到了诗人李白“两岸猿声啼不住”的描述)。

1998年克林顿总统克服了拉链门的心理阴影访问中国，直奔文化古城西安。在仿古迎宾入城仪式上克林顿的讲话也带有厚重的历史感：

Let us give new meaning to the words written in the ancient Book of Rites, what you call the Li Shi: When the great way is followed, all under heaven will be equal(让我们给《礼记》这本历史古书的文字赋予新的意义：当大家走伟大的道路时，世界所有的人都将是平等的)。

克林顿所说的“当大家走伟大的道路时，世界所有的人都将是平等的”是《礼记》的《礼运》篇第一句话“大道之行也，天下为公”。两天后，在北京的国宴上，克林顿在祝酒辞中宣称“我们在以不同的方式坚决维护着孟子的思想”，他所引述的孟子语录是这样一句话： A good citizen in one community will befriend the other citizens of the community; good citizens of the world will befriend of the other citizens of the world ( “一乡之善士斯友一乡之善士，天下之善士斯友天下之善士”)。孟子这段话出自《孟子?万章下》，也就是说，伟大的美国人民和美国领导人很愿意和伟大的中国人民和中国领导人交朋友。这样的话从美国总统口中说出来，当然让中国人十分受用。

小布什文采不高，口齿不清，但是也咬文嚼字地引用过中国古诗词。2005年11月在访问中国之前，他在日本京都发表了关于民主与自由的重头演讲。在演讲的最后，他说Thousands of years before Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln, a Chinese poet wrote that, "the people should be cherished, the people are the root of a country；the root firm, the country is tranquil." (在托马斯·杰斐逊或亚伯拉罕·林肯诞生的几千年前，就有一位中国诗人写道：“人民应该被珍视，人民是国家的根基。根基牢固，国家就安宁)。这句话出自《尚书·夏书》中的“五子之歌”，原文是“民可近，不可下。民惟邦本，本固邦宁”。

可见，美国历届总统在访华期间引用中国古诗文已经成了不成文的惯例。其实奥巴马在访华之前已经引用过，在不久前举行的首轮中美战略与经济对话开幕式上，美国总统奥巴马在致辞中引用了孟子语录。奥巴马这段讲话的英语原文是："Thousands of years ago, the great philosopher Mencius said：'A trail through the mountains, if used, becomes a path in a short time, but, if unused, becomes blocked by grass in an equally short time.’" (山径之蹊间，介然用之而成路；为间不用，则茅塞之矣。今茅塞子之心矣—《孟子?尽心下》)。

除诗文外，肯尼迪在1959年4月竞选总统期间，还在一次演讲中提到了一个中文词汇给他的启示：

When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity. 在中文里crisis这个词是由两个字组成，一个是“危(险)”，另一个是“机”(会)。

1. 几百年来，这幅画辗转流失，但现在我知道，一半放在杭州博物馆，一半放在台湾故宫博物院，我希望两幅画什么时候能合成一幅画。画是如此，人何以堪。

【出处】：此句是对“木犹如此，人何以堪”的化用。出自《世说新语?言语》：桓公北征，经金城，见前为琅邪时种柳，皆已十围，慨然曰：“木犹如此，人何以堪！”攀枝执条，泫然流泪。

【解释】：桓公北征，经过金城时，见到为(琅邪)时种下的柳树，都已经十围了，感慨的说：“树都这样（长这么大了），人就更不用说了！”手抚枝条，留下泪来。

【翻译】：I cherish the same wish not only for the painting but also for people on both sides of the Strait.

【评析】：原文引经据典，是对古语“木犹如此，人何以堪”的化用，其儒雅和厚重言所难及。此句话的翻译重于“达意”。在翻译过程中发生意义的缺失是在所难免的，毕竟两种文化之间有着甚多的差异，某些情况下很难做到意义的完整传达。

2. 我们应该记住这样一条古训：行百里者半九十。

【出处】：《战国策·秦策五》：诗云：“行百里者半九十”，此言末路之难也。

【解释】：走一百里路，走了九十里才算是一半。比喻做事愈接近成功愈要认真对待。

【翻译】：Half of the people who have embarked on a one hundred mile journey may fall by the wayside.

【评析】：考虑到口译时的客观条件和环境，能将意思大致传达已实属不易，哪怕是有一些曲解。但是在做笔译的时候，应该尽量避免。

【参考翻译】：The last part of an endeavor is the hardest to finish.

3. 我深深爱着我的国家，没有一片土地让我这样深情和激动，没有一条河流让我这样沉思和起伏。亦余心之所善兮，虽九死其尤未悔。我将以此明志，做好今后三年的工作。

【出处】：《离骚》

【解释】：这些都是我内心之所珍爱，我即使死九次也绝不改悔！

【翻译】：For the ideal that I hold dear to my heart, I will not regret thousand depth to die.

4. 同时我们要坚定信心，华山再高，顶有过路。

【翻译】：No matter how high the mountain is, one can always ascend to its top.

5. 中国有一句古语：人或加讪，心无疵兮。

【出处】：《子刘子自传》：天与所长，不使施兮；人或加讪，心无疵兮。

【解释】：天赋的才能，不让我来施展啊；即使有人诽谤，我也问心无愧啊！

【翻译】：My conscience stays untainted in spite of rumors and slanders from the outside.

6. 我知道商签协议是一个复杂的过程，但是正因为我们是兄弟，兄弟虽有小忿，不废懿亲，问题总会可以解决的。

【出处】：《左传》

【解释】：尽管兄弟之间存在分歧，但仍应以血缘关系为重。

【翻译】：I understand the negotiation may be a complex process, but differences between brothers cannot sever their blood ties, and I believe that problems will eventually be solved.