A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in; for him the old will do, that has lai

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问题     A man who has at length found something to do will not need to get a new suit to do it in; for him the old will do, that has lain dusty in the garret for an indeterminate period. Old shoes will serve a hero longer than they have served his valet—if a hero ever has a valet—bare feet are older than shoes, and he can make them do. Only they who go to soirees and legislative balls must have new coats, coats to change as often as the man changes in them. But if my jacket and trousers, my hat and shoes, are fit to worship God in, they will do; will they not? Who ever saw his old clothes his old coat, actually worn out, resolved into its primitive elements, so that it was not a deed of charity to bestow it on some poor boy, by him perchance to be bestowed on some poorer still, or shall we say richer, who could do with less? I say, beware of all enterprises that require new clothes, and not rather a new wearer of clothes. If there is not a new man, how can the new clothes be made to fit? If you have any enterprise before you, try it in your old clothes. All men want, not something to do with, but something to do, or rather something to be. Perhaps we should never procure a new suit, however tagged or dirty the old, until we have so conducted, so enterprised or sailed in some way, that we feel like new men in the old, and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles. Our molting season, like that of the fowls, must be a crisis in our lives. The loon retires to solitary ponds to spend it. Thus also the snake casts its slough, and the caterpillar its wormy coat, by an internal industry and expansion; for clothes are but our outmost cuticle and mortal coil. Otherwise we shall be found sailing under false colors, and be inevitably cashiered at last by our own opinion, as well as that of mankind.

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答案 一个人,如果最终找到了一些可做的事情,就会觉得没有必要穿着新衣服去干活,对他来说,旧衣服就够了,它们还放在顶楼上面,落满了灰尘,不知放了多久。英雄较之他的仆从,会将旧鞋穿得时间更长——假定一位英雄曾经有过什么仆从——跟穿鞋的历史相比,赤脚更加悠久,英雄人物赤脚也照样可以。只有那些赶赴晚宴,或者前往市政大厅(立法院聚会的地方)的人一定得换上新装,他们频频更衣就像大厅中的人一拨一拨地进进出出。但是,如果我的上衣和裤子,还有帽子和鞋子,都适合礼拜上帝,这不就行了,难道不是?究竟有谁会瞧一眼他的旧衣服——那旧上装,实在烂得不像样子,已经成了残麻败絮,以至于转赠给一位贫儿也算不得善举,而他呢,或许会再转给一位更加贫乏的人,或者,我们不妨说,一位更加富足的人,因为东西再少他也会照样能够过活。告诉你,一定要当心所有要求穿新衣服,而非穿旧衣服的新人的事业。如果没有全新的人,那些新衣服又是为谁而做?如果你有不少事业可供选择,那么穿着你的旧衣服去进行尝试吧。所有人需要的,不是去应对什么,而是去做什么,或者更重要的是,成为什么人。或许,我们就不该去求取新衣服,不管旧衣服多么褴褛破旧,直到我们以某种方式处事、进取,或者抵达目的,让我们觉得自己是身着旧衣的新人,觉得保有旧衣就像将新酒装入了旧瓶一样。我们换毛的阶段跟飞禽一样,是我们生命中的关键时期。潜鸟会退隐到孤寂的湖畔度过这个阶段,蛇类和蛆虫也会这样蜕去旧皮,这都是蓄积了内部力量潜心以之的结果。因为衣物是我们身外的一层表皮和尘世的负累。要不,我们将会被认为生活在虚伪和掩饰之中,终究会被自己和人类的见识所摈弃。”

解析     who ever是分开的两个词,其中的ever为副词,表示“究竟(用于特殊疑问句以强调语气)”,也就是说这句话其实是一个特殊疑问句,作者强调的含义是“其实几乎没有如此的人”,因此译为“究竟有谁会”起到了强调语气的作用。Primitive elements字面含义为“基本元素”,这里描述的是衣服,指的是布料的基本成分,可译为“残麻败絮”。could do with less中的do表示“生活,过活”。
    这句话中需要注意区分something to do with、something to do和something to be这三部分。something to do with中do with与其后的do存在本质上的差异,后者指“做什么”,前者则指“应对、忍耐、忍受处理”,前者更消极,后者更正面积极;something to be与前两个差别最大,其中的be动词告诉我们这里表示的是“成为什么人”之意,作者连用三个“something to”在句中形成排比,层次分明且显得语气坚定铿锵。
    molting season特指动物脱毛换皮的季节,而人类本身是没有脱毛换皮这样的生理特征的,这里借动物的这一习性指代人类在衣服上脱旧换新,非常形象。名词crisis在这里并非指其最常见的含义“危机”,而是表示“决定性的时刻”,也就是“关键时期”。
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