异类之不一样的成功启示录 第164期:中国谚语反映的信仰

 　　It's a crop that doesn't do very well with something like slavery or wage labor¹.

　　但如果耕种稻田的是奴隶或者是拿工资的农民，那么庄稼收成好坏都与农民没有关系，因此庄稼也就不会有很好的收成。

　　It would be just too easy to leave the gate that controls the irrigation water open a few seconds too long and there goes your field."

　　这不是象打开灌溉的阀门，让它多流一会，流到你的地里那么容易。”

　　The historian David Arkush once compared Russian and Chinese peasants proverbs, and the differences are striking.

　　历史学家大卫·阿古什在对比了中国和俄国的谚语之后，发现二者差别十分明显。

　　"If god does not bring it, the earth will not give it" is a typical Russian proverb.

　　一句具有代表性的俄国谚语说道：“没有老天的恩慈，地里哪来的粮食？”

　　That's a kind of fatalism and pessimism², typical of repressive feudal³ system, where peasants had no reason to believe in the efficacy of their own work.

　　这反映出奴役体制下的宿命论和悲观主义思想。农民找不到任何理由相信，依靠自己的辛勤劳动可以得到很好的回报。

　　On the other hand, Arkush writes, Chinese proverbs are striking in their belief that

　　阿古什写道，另一方面，中国的谚语则反映出他们的信仰：

　　"hard work, shrewd planning and self-reliance or corporation with a small group will in time bring recompense."

　　“一份耕耘，一份收获。”

　　Here are some of the things that penniless peasants would say to one another as they worked 3,000 hours a year in the baking heat and humidity of Chinese rice paddies,

　　这些也是那些每年在闷热且潮湿的田地里不停辛苦劳作的中国农民对他人所说的话：

　　which, by the way, are filled with leeches⁴.

　　（不仅如此，还有许多吸血的蚂蟥）

　　"No food without blood and sweat."

　　“谁知盘中餐,粒粒皆辛苦。”

　　"Farmers are busy; farmers are busy; if farmers weren't busy, where would grain to get to the winter come from?"

　　“只要功夫深，土里出黄金。”

　　"In the winter, the laze man freezes to death."

　　“立冬种，收把种。”

　　"Don't depend on heaven for food, but on your own two hands carrying the load."

　　“不要期待天上会掉馅儿饼。”

　　"Useless to ask about the crops, it all depends on hard work and fertilizer."

　　“地靠人来养，苗靠肥来长。”

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 pessimism   

n.悲观者，悲观主义者，厌世者

参考例句：

• He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
• There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。

3 feudal   

adj.封建的，封地的，领地的

参考例句：

• Feudal rulers ruled over the country several thousand years.封建统治者统治这个国家几千年。
• The feudal system lasted for two thousand years in China.封建制度在中国延续了两千年之久。

4 leeches   

n.水蛭( leech的名词复数 )；蚂蟥；榨取他人脂膏者；医生

参考例句：

• The usurers are leeches;they have drained us dry. 高利贷者是吸血鬼，他们吸干了我们的血汗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Does it run in the genes to live as leeches? 你们家是不是遗传的，都以欺压别人为生？ 来自电影对白