Notes

Robert Herrick (1592-1674) is one of the Cavalier poets in the 17th century English. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. Most of their verses were short songs, pretty madrigals, love fancies characterized by lightness of heart and of morals.

To Electra

致爱莱克特拉

by Robert Herrick

罗伯特·赫里克

I dare not ask a kiss,

I dare not beg a smile,

Lest having that, or this,

I might grow proud the while.

No, no, the utmost share

Of my desire shall be

Only to kiss that air

That lately kissed thee.

我不敢妄请一吻，

我不敢奢求一笑；

只怕你一吻一笑，

会令我变得骄傲。

不，不，在我心里

最大的愿望只是

吻那空气已足矣，

因它刚刚吻过你。

Books and friends should be few but good.

读书如交友，应求少而精。

Do as I say.

照我说的做

Fake Money

Jimmy went into a shop, took a toy tank, gave the

shopkeeper fake money and started to leave.

So, the shopkeeper told him, “Excuse me, little boy,

this isn’t real money.” Little Jimmy didn’t reply,

continuing walking out of the shop. The shopkeeper

repeated himself, and Jimmy kept walking.

The third time the shopkeeper called him, “I’m sorry,

young man, but this is not real money.”

Jimmy looked at the tank in his hands, looked at the

shopkeeper and finally said, “And this isn’t a real tank, either.”

假钱
吉米进了一家商店，拿了一个玩具坦克，给了店主假钱就走了

。于是店主告诉他：“对不起，小孩，这不是真钱。”

小吉米没有回答，继续往外走。店主重复自己的话，但吉米继续走。

第三次店主叫住他：“对不起，年轻人，这不是真钱。”

吉米看着手里的坦克，又看着店主最后说：“可这也不是真坦克呀。”

Li Qiang Excuse me, I'm afraid you parked in the wrong spot.

对不起，恐怕您停错位置了。

Charlie Oh, really? Isn't this spot D406?

哦，真的吗？这不是D406号停车位吗？

Li Qiang No, it's D407, which is my parking space.

不是，这是我的停车位，D407号。

Charlie I'm sorry, I must have been confused. I'll move my car immediately.

对不起，我一定是弄混了。我马上把车开走。

Li Qiang It's no big deal, thanks.

没事儿，谢谢啊。

Li Qiang Excuse me, I'm afraid you parked in the wrong spot.

对不起，恐怕您停错位置了。

Charlie Oh, really? Isn't this spot D406?

哦，真的吗？这不是D406号停车位吗？

Li Qiang No, it's D407, which is my parking space.

不是，这是我的停车位，D407号。

Charlie I'm sorry, I must have been confused. I'll move my car immediately.

对不起，我一定是弄混了。我马上把车开走。

Li Qiang It's no big deal, thanks.

没事儿，谢谢啊。

Daniel What is the parking fee per hour here?

这里停车每小时多少钱？

Security guard Ten yuan an hour.

每小时10块钱。

Daniel How much would it be if I park here for an hour and ten minutes?

那要是停了1小时10分钟呢？

Security guard Twenty yuan, sir. Because we charge by the number of hours.

20块钱，先生。因为我们是按小时整点收费的。

Daniel I see. Thanks.

明白了。谢谢。

Time

[Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824.]

Unfathomable Sea! whose waves are years,
Ocean of Time, whose waters of deep woe
Are brackish with the salt of human tears!
Thou shoreless flood, which in thy ebb and flow
Claspest the limits of mortality,
And sick of prey, yet howling on for more,
Vomitest thy wrecks on its inhospitable shore;
Treacherous in calm, and terrible in storm,
Who shall put forth on thee,
Unfathomable Sea?

时间

幽深的海呵！年代是你的浪波；
时间底海呵，充满深沉的悲伤，
你被眼泪的盐水弄得多咸涩！
你的波流浩荡无边，在你的水上
潮汐交替，那就是人生的界限！
你已倦于扑食，但仍在咆哮无餍，
把破碎的船吐在无情的岸沿；
你在平静时险诈，风涛起时可怕，
呵，谁敢航行一只小船，
在你幽深难测的洋面？
（1821年）

雪莱，P. B.（Percy Bysshe Shelley，1792～1822）英国著名民主诗人。出身乡村地主家庭，20岁入牛津大学，因写反宗教的哲学论文被学校开除。投身社会后，又因写诗歌鼓动英国人民革命及支持爱尔兰民族民主运动，而被迫于1818年迁居意大利。在意大利，他仍积极支持意大利人民的民族解放斗争，1822年渡海遇风暴不幸船沉溺死。

Money often unmakes the men who make it.

为富不仁。

How many employees are there in your company?

你们公司有多少员工？