評論
打印
On Lying
論說謊
Now as to the matter of lying.
現在來談一談說謊。
You want to be very careful about lying,otherwise you are nearly sure to get caught,
你們可要特別謹慎地看待說謊；否則十有八九會被揭穿。
once caught, you can never again be,in the eyes of the pure and the good, what you were before.
一旦被揭穿，在善良和淳樸的人們眼中，你就再也不可能是以前的你了。
Many a young person has injured himself permanently through a single clumsy and ill-finished lie,the result of carelessness born of incomplete training.
許多年輕人，僅僅由于一次拙劣難圓的謊言-由于不完備的教育而導致輕率的后果-而使自己長期蒙受損失。
Some authorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all.
一些權威人士認為年輕人根本不該說謊。
That, of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary.
當然，這種說法言之過甚，其實未必如此。
Still, while I can't go quite so far as that,I do maintain, and I believe I am right,
不過，雖然我不能把話講的太過分，我卻堅信-我認為確乎如此，
that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance, precision which alone make the accomplishment graceful and profitable.
在實踐和閱歷使人獲得信心，文雅，嚴謹之前，年輕人運用這門偉大的藝術時應當把握好分寸，因為只有這三點才能使說謊的本領無傷大雅甚至帶來益處。
Patience, diligence, painstaking attention to detail-these are the requirements.
耐心，勤奮，細致入微則是必備素質，
These, in time, will make the student perfect.
經年累月，這些素質便會使學生變得完善起來。
Upon these, and upon these only,may he rely as the sure foundation for future eminence.
憑借這些，也只有憑借這些，他才可能為將來的出類拔萃打下牢固的基礎。
Think what tedious years of study, thought,practice, and experience,went to the equipment of the peerless old master who was able to impose upon the whole world with the lofty and sounding maxim that "truth is mighty and will prevail"-the most majestic compound feature of fact which any of woman born has yet achieved.
試想，要經過學習，思考，實踐，經驗等多么漫長的歲月，那舉世無雙的大師才具備如此的素養，他使得整個世界接受了“真理是強大的，并且終將戰勝一切”這句崇高而響徹云霄的格言-這是關于事實的復雜性所道出的最豪邁的一句話，至今任何一個出自娘胎的人都未有此成就。
For the history of our race and every individual's experience,are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.
原因是我們人類的歷史以及每個人的經歷都深深地印證了這樣的事實:一個真理不難抹殺，一個說的巧妙的謊言則經久不衰。
There is in Boston a monument of the man who discovered the anesthesia.Many people are aware, in these later days,
在波士頓，人們為紀念發現麻醉法的人而立了一座紀念碑：
that he didn't discover it at all,but stole the discovery from another man.
很多人到近期才知道,那個人根本沒有發現麻醉法，而是竊取了另一個人的發現。
Is the truth mighty, and will it prevail?
這個真理強大嗎？它終會取勝嗎？
No, my hearers, the monument is made of hard materials,but the lie it tells will outlast a million years.
唉，非也，聽眾們，雖然紀念碑是用堅硬的材料建造的，而它所散布的謊言卻將比它持久百萬年。
An awkward, feeble, leaky lie is a thing which you ought to make it your unceasing study to avoid;
你們應該不斷研究如果避免制造那些拙劣，無力而又破綻百出的謊言；
such a lie as that has no more real permanence than an average truth.
諸如此類的謊言比起一個普通事實來，決不具有更加真實的永久性。
Why, you might as well tell the truth at once and be done with it.
嗨，你們倒不如既講真話又同真理打交道。
