第445期:"无用"之树

 　　New Words:

　　lump n.块状；瘤；

　　bump n. 肿块，隆起物；

　　gnarl vi. 咆哮；形成木节

　　plumb¹ line 铅垂线(等于plumb rule）

　　carpenter n. 木匠，木工

　　agile² adj. 敏捷的；机敏的；活泼的

　　Huizi once said to Zhuangzi: I have this giant tree called a Chu tree (the tree of heaven). Its trunk is all lumps and bumps and winds this way and that.

　　惠子对庄子说:我有一棵很大的树, 树名叫做樗;它的主干木瘤盘结。

　　Its branches are all gnarled and twisted. A carpenter's plumb line could never be used on it

　　它的小枝,也都凸凹扭曲完全不合乎绳墨规矩。

　　It grows right beside the road, and no carpenter has ever paid any attention to it.

　　这树就生长在路边,但从来就没有木匠去理会它。

　　The words you have been speaking lately are just like this tree, big and useless. Who's going to listen to you?

　　现在你讲的话就跟这大树一样,大而不当,有谁会采信呢?

　　Have you ever seen a fox or a wildcat? In order to catch their prey³, they are always jumping over things and running all over the place; and although they are very agile. Eventually, they fall into a trap and die.

　　你没有看见过狐狸和野猫吗?为了捕食东蹿西跳功夫很好。结果往往中了机关,死在陷阱里。

　　As for the yak⁴, although it is big like a giant loud hanging in the sky, it couldn't catch a mouse if it wanted to.

　　至于牦牛身体虽大,像天空垂下来的一块云，但是它却不能捉老鼠。

　　You have this great big tree, and you're worried that it's useless. Why not rest under it and use it for shelter and shade?

　　现在你有一棵这样大的树而愁它无用,何不把它种在空旷的地方,你就可以很舒适地在树下盘桓休息。

　　Since the tree is "useless"，no one will come along and chop it down naturally, there's nothing

　　to worry about.

　　这树既然无用,自然也就不会有人来砍伐，自然也就不必操心了。

　　There's nothing the Chu tree(the tree of heaven) could be used for, so it wasn't chopped down. To the Chu tree(the tree of heaven),using uselessness was its greatest advantage.

　　樗树没有什么用处,所以不会被砍伐.这对樗树来说,“无用之用”正是它本身最大的用处。

1 plumb   

adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深

参考例句：

• No one could plumb the mystery.没人能看破这秘密。
• It was unprofitable to plumb that sort of thing.这种事弄个水落石出没有什么好处。

2 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 yak   

n.牦牛

参考例句：

• The most common materials Tibetan jewelry are Yak bone.藏饰最常见的材料当属牦牛骨。
• We can sell yak skin,meat and wool.我们可以卖牦牛的皮、肉和毛。