美国语文第六册 第258期:印第安耍把戏者(5)（在线收听）

Yet they are the best I can do. I endeavor to recollect all I have ever heard or thought upon a subject, and to express it as neatly as I can.

然而，我能做的也就是这些了。就一个主题，我极力回想所有我曾经听到的或者有关的思考，尽可能恰到好处地表述出来。

Instead of writing on four subjects at a time, it is as much as I can manage, to keep the thread of one discourse clear and unentangled.

我当然不会一次就四个主题侃侃下笔，这远非我能力所及，我能做到的就是使一篇文章的线索清晰和简单化。

I have also time on my hands to correct my opinions and polish my periods; but the one I can not, and the other I will not, do.

我也把有限的时间用在纠正我的观点和修饰词藻上；但是，有的我不能做，而其他的我又不会做。

I am fond of arguing; yet, with a good deal of pains and practice, it is often much as I can do to beat my man, though he may be a very indifferent hand.

我热衷于辩论；然而，借此产生的许多苦恼和经验，通常都会极大地挫伤自我，尽管他也许是非常平庸的一个人。

A common fencer would disarm his adversary in the twinkling of an eye, unless he were a professor like himself.

一般的剑术家会在眨眼之间令对手怒气全消，除非他是一个顾影自怜的教授。

A stroke of wit will sometimes produce this effect, but there is no such power or superiority in sense or reasoning.

风趣有时就有这种效果，但是在理性或推理层面上，没有这样的感染力或优越感。

There is no complete mastery of execution to be shown there; and you hardly know the professor from the impudent pretender or the mere clown.

那里没有显示出对技巧的完美掌握和驾驭，从粗鲁无礼的觊觎高位者或者纯粹行为荒诞不经的人看法出发，你根本无法洞悉这位教授的内心世界。