第三册第15篇：笔

15. Pens 笔

Small as it is, the pen has changed the course of history, shaped the destiny of nations, facilitated the commerce of peoples, imprisoned¹ the elusive² thoughts of man, recorded events, carried news, and done more work for mankind than all other tools or weapons. Progress without it would have been almost impossible. The invention of the wheel and screw, the introduction of steam-power, the use of electricity, all these have changed the lives of millions; but the pen has done more. It has removed mountains. It has prepared the way for all advancement³. Whatever plans have been drawn⁴ up, whatever laws formulated⁵, have come from the pen.
笔虽很小，却已经改变了历史的进程，决定了民族的兴衰，推进了民间的贸易,钳制了难以捉摸的不良思想，记录事件，传播消息，为人类做了比任何其他工具或武器更多的工作。没有它，进步几乎是不可能的。车轮和螺丝的发明，蒸汽机的问世，电力的使用，所有这些都曾改变了亿万人的生活；然而，笔却做得更多。他创造了奇迹。他为所有的前进铺平了道路。任何计划的拟订，任何法律的制定，无一不出自于笔。

Today the pen is more highly esteemed⁶ than ever. The typewriters clicking in every continent are the drudges⁷, the pen is the aristocrat⁸, governing all and giving the final flourish. In the past the pen did all the work, for all writing intended to last for any length of time was valid⁹ only if written with pen and ink. The lawyers took up their pens and wrote the law of the land from the days when papyrus¹⁰ was first used to the day Magna Carta was compiled, and for 500 years after. The most famous letters in the world were written with a pen; and it was with a pen that the greatest thinkers of all time wrote down their thoughts.
今天,笔比以往任何时候都更加受到尊重。在世界各地嘀嗒作响的打字机只不过是奴仆而已,笔才是尊贵的主人，它统治着一切，给予最后的华丽修饰。在过去，笔干着所有的工作,因为所有需要保留任何一段时间的文字,只有用笔和墨水写了才是有效的。从埃及人造的纸莎草纸开始使用时起，直到英国大宪章编成，以及在此后的五百多年中，法学家们拿起笔，写下了国法。甘界上最著名的信件都是用笔写的。历代最伟大的思想家正是用笔才写下了他们的思想。

The Law and the Prophets, the four Gospels, the letters of St Paul, how should we have had these today had they not been preserved for us by the pen? To the pen we owe The Pilgrims Progress, Paradise Lost, The Canterbury Tales; and it was with his pen that Shakespeare shook the world.
摩西五书》、先知预言、《四福音书》及圣保罗的书信，如果没有用笔把它们保存下来，我们今天怎么能拥有这些呢？多亏了笔，我们才能看到《天路历程》、《失乐园》和《坎特伯雷故事集》。莎士比亚也正是用他的笔来震撼世界的。

The servant of the greatest, the pen is the slave of the humblest. The serving maid and schoolboy may drive it as they will.
笔既是伟人们的仆役，也是地位低微的人们的奴隶，侍女和年幼学童都可以随意地使用它。

Behind all we do today is the pen. We cannot sign a cheque or write a letter or buy a house or complete a business transaction without our pen. The editor stirs the world with it, the student would fail to pass his examination without it, a deed is worthless till our name is written with pen and ink, though the signature is there it becomes irrevocable. For the stroke of a pen is legally binding¹¹, and few things are more thrilling or mysterious.
我们今天所做的一切都有笔的功劳。签署支票，写信，购买住宅或完成一项商业上的交易，都得用笔签字。编辑靠它鼓动世界，学生没有它就无法通过考试。在未用沾了墨水的笔签字之前，一份契约是无效的，而一旦有了署名，它就成为不可改变的了。因为大笔一挥是有法律约束力的，很少有比它更加能使人感到激动或神秘的东西了。

With a stroke of the pen Bradshaw sent Charles Stuart to the block. Queen Elizabeth took up her pen and signed a document, which hurried Mary Queen of Scots to her tragic¹² end.
Queen Victoria saved a life with her pen, for, when the Iron Duke gave her a death warrant to sign she wrote Pardoned, so giving a bad soldier a chance to make good. When the Declaration of American Independence was signed John Hancock was the first to write his name. “There, (said he) I guess King George will be able to read that.”
约翰?布拉德肖的笔一挥，查理?斯图亚特便上了断头台。英王伊丽莎白一世拿起笔签署了一个文件，从而加快了苏格兰女王玛丽以悲剧性的方式结束了自己的生命。维多利亚女王用笔赦免了一个人的命。当威灵顿公爵呈给她一份死刑执行书请她签署时，她写了“赦免”二字，于是给了一个不好的军人改过自新的机会。当签署《独立宣言》时，约翰?汉考克第一个署了名，并说到，“瞧吧！我想乔治国王会看到的。”

Our coming into the world is recorded with pen and ink. Before we have been at school a day our name is enrolled¹³ with a pen. We cannot be married till we have signed the register. A pen records our death.
我们降临到这个世界上来，笔就加以记录。在入学以前，笔把我们的名字登记在了学生名册上。没有笔在登记册上签名，我们就不能成婚。笔也记下了我们的死亡。

The next time we take up our pen to write, let us remember that we hold in our hand the most powerful instrument mankind possesses.
下次当我们拿起笔准备书写的时候，我们应该记着，我们手中握着的是人类所拥有的最强有力的工具。
 

1 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

2 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

3 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 drudges   

n.做苦工的人，劳碌的人( drudge的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He drudges daily with no hope of bettering himself. 他每日做苦工，而毫无改善自己境遇的希望。 来自互联网
• I said that professional writers are solitary drudges who seldom see other writers. 我说职业作家是很少能见到其他作家的孤家寡人。 来自互联网

8 aristocrat   

n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物

参考例句：

• He was the quintessential english aristocrat.他是典型的英国贵族。
• He is an aristocrat to the very marrow of his bones.他是一个道道地地的贵族。

9 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

10 papyrus   

n.古以纸草制成之纸

参考例句：

• The Egyptians wrote on papyrus.埃及人书写用薄草纸。
• Since papyrus dries up and crumble,very few documents of ancient Egypt have survived.因草片会干裂成粉末所以古埃及的文件很少保存下来。

11 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

12 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

13 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》