1. She is a colleague of mine, quiet and beautiful, who speaks slowly in an undertone. What she says often strikes a responsive chord to make the addressee wonder how and when she managed to see things through.
她是我的一位同事，美麗而安靜，說話也是慢聲細語的。她的話總能說到人的心里去，使得對方總在想，什么時候就被她給看透了呢。
2. She hasn't achieved much for her to be proud, nor has she imperfections subject to criticism. She married the one she loves though he is a man of the common run. They lead an uneventful, regular life with such routine as a daily gymnastic session, an afternoon nap, and a weekend family outing. She never makes extra demands on her child's studies.
她的成就雖不足以讓她夸耀，卻也無可挑剔。她嫁給了她的所愛，一個普通的男人，日子過得波瀾不驚；每天都會午睡，做健美操，生活得很有規律；一到周末全家人就一起出去旅行；她對孩子的學習成績沒有太高的要求。
3. As to her colleagues, she doesn't feel envy at those who have won honors, nor does she show contempt for those who have made mistakes. She looks with cold eyes on those who are mean and snobbish, but never allows herself to be annoyed, for she is sure they don't have a good frame of mind nor will they come to a good end. She is extremely clever with a mind as clear as a mirror. It's always my belief she's quite capable of making her life much more fruitful, but she has made no effort in that direction. By contrast, many people around her have done all they can to scrape a decent living without being able to come up to their expectations.
對于同事，她從不嫉妒他們取得的榮譽，也從不鄙薄那些犯錯誤的人；她冷眼看待勢利小人，從不因為他們而煩惱，因為她認為那些沒有好心態的人不會有好結果。她聰明絕頂，我相信她有能力使她的人生更加精彩，然而她卻沒刻意去做。相反，她周圍的很多人使盡了渾身解數要過上像樣的生活，卻都不能所愿。

4. A rare chance brought us together in a conversation. I was told her life had been greatly influenced by what her father said to her. That was when she studied at junior middle school. Her weak constitution prevented her from attending any physical exercises. On the other hand, she did so well in her studies that she always came out first in examinations. An occasional failure to achieve the top in any of the subjects would cause a severe self-criticism, which showed how strong her desire was to outshine others.
一次難得的機會讓我們有了一次交談，她告訴我她父親的一句話對她的一生有著重要的影響。那時她還在上初中，體質不好，無法參加體育運動。但在學習方面她卻是出類拔萃的，偶爾一門功課沒得第一都會令她自責，這表明她有多么強烈的愿望想超越其他人。
5. Her father told her it was most suitable for her not to target on excellence but to do just well enough. She followed his advice faithfully. The result was quite rewarding. She not only acquired good marks on each subject without much effort but also regained strength to keep a good constitution. She made plans for enrolling at an ordinary college when she graduated high school. As she was not burdened with worries, she was at her best during the entrance examinations. Her good performance entitled her to enter a prestigious university. Upon graduation she found a job suited to her special training in a medium-sized city instead of a great metropolis, only because it was convenient for her and her parents to take care of each other. That's all she told me about herself. Her narration went on unhurriedly just as she did in pursuing her smooth course of life...
父親告訴她，對她而言，不必事事追求優秀，做到良好即可。她聽從了父親的話，結果非常有效。她輕松地保持每門功課都良好，同時體質也恢復到了良好的狀態。高中畢業考大學時，她給自己定位于一所普通大學。由于沒有了壓力，她發揮出自己的最佳狀態，結果以優異的成績考入一所重點大學。畢業時，她在一座中等城市而不是大都市里找了一份和自己專業對口的工作，這樣她和父親互相照顧起來很方便。她向我娓娓道來，就如她那不急不緩般筑就的順暢人生一樣......
6. Such a life draws little attention of writers or playwrights because it is too colorless to be the theme of a story or a play. They are more interested in sharp contrasts: a successful career resulting in family break-up; splendor casting a shadow of depravity; happiness being closely followed by death, etc. In short, every good thing is always accompanied by something bad or faulty.
如此的人生故事往往不被小說家或劇作家看好，因為這不能使他們的作品跌宕起伏。他們更感興趣的是尖銳的沖突：事業有成卻家庭破裂，輝煌背后隱藏著墮落，幸福也總是被死亡尾隨，等等?？傊?，每件好事都會有厄運相隨。
7. So is life, unfortunately—it seems oddly unbalanced. When a person excels in a particular aspect, he is always weak hopelessly in another. Or rather, precisely because he has an irretrievable shortcoming, he is determined to achieve excellence in some other aspect.
生活何嘗不是這樣，難以平衡。一個人如果在某一方面非常優秀，那么他在其他方面往往就毫無優勢?；蛘?，正因為他不可彌補的缺憾使得他在一些方面更加奮進而取得成就。
8. In this light we can say a life that's fairly well led is actually perfect. If all aspects of a person's life—his career, his love affair, his personality, his mentality and physique—attain a fairly good level, it is really the most satisfactory, isn't it?
就此我們可以說，良好的生活狀態其實就是完美的。如果一個人的事業、愛情、個性、心境、體魄等人生的各個方面都達到良好，那誰還能說他的人生不完美呢？