美国语文第六册 第73期:欠债讽诵(1)

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　　The first debt in the history of man is the debt of nature, and the first instinct is to put off the payment of it to the last moment. 人类在历史上第一笔欠债，就是对大自然欠下的，人类的第一天性就是拖到最后一刻才还债。

　　Many persons, it will be observed, following the natural procedure, would die before they would pay their debts. 不妨观察一下，许多人都遵循这一自然程序，还没有还债就撒手人寰了。

　　Society is composed of two classes, debtors³ and creditors⁵. 社会是由两个阶层构成的，借主和债主。

　　The creditor⁴ class has been erroneously supposed the more enviable. 债主阶层被错误地认为更令人称羡。

　　Never was there a greater misconception; 再也没有比这更大的误解了。

　　and the hold it yet maintains upon opinion is a remarkable⁶ example of the obstinacy⁷ of error, notwithstanding the plainest lessons of experience. 人们保有这种观念是对错误固执己见的生动例子，尽管经验是最朴素的教训。

　　The debtor² has the sympathies of mankind. 人们对借主抱有悲悯之心，

　　He is seldom spoken of but with expressions of tenderness and compassion—"the poor debtor!"—and "the unfortunate debtor!" 谈到他时都是一副亲切和同情的神情——“可怜的借主！”，还有“不幸的借主！”

　　On the other hand, "harsh" and "hard-hearted" are the epithets⁸ allotted⁹ to the creditor. 另一方面，“冷酷”和“铁石心肠”这些词语则一股脑安到债主头上。

　　Who ever heard the "poor creditor," the "unfortunate creditor" spoken of? 谁听到有人说过“可怜的债主”和“不幸的债主”？

　　No, the creditor never becomes the object of pity, unless he passes into the debtor class. 没有，债主从来不会成为悲悯的目标，除非他沦落到借主阶层。

　　A creditor may be ruined by the poor debtor, but it is not until he becomes unable to pay his own debts, that he begins to be compassionated¹⁰. 一位债主也许会被可怜的借主给毁掉，除非他连自己的债务也无力偿还了，他开始受人同情了，否则是不会的。

　　A debtor is a man of mark. 借主是带某种标志的一类人。

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