【阅读狄更斯《大卫科波菲尔》原著时，将富有哲理的话抄录如下，并作试译。】
Least said, soonest mended.
多言惹祸，少说为佳
Idleness is the root of all evil.
懒惰乃万恶之源。
What I reaped, I had sown.
种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆。
The way I look at it is, that we are all drawing on to the bottom of the hill, whatever age we are, on account of time never standing still for a single moment. So let us always do a kindness, and be over-rejoiced. To be sure!'
我的看法是，无论我们年龄多大，我们都在向山脚下前进，因为时间一刻也没有静止过。所以我们当常行善事，并且欢欢喜喜。真的要这样!”
'The luxuries of the old country,' said Mr. Micawber, with an intense satisfaction in their renouncement, 'we abandon. The denizens of the forest cannot, of course, expect to participate in the refinements of the land of the Free.'
Micawber先生自信满满地说，“我们自愿放弃老家的种种奢华。既然选择做山野居民，就不要指望能分享一个自由国度的美好生活。”
You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
猪耳朵里出不来真丝钱包（烂泥扶不上墙）。
A crust well earned was sweeter far than a feast inherited.
一份靠辛勤汗水挣来的面包皮远比继承来的一顿盛宴甜美。
Unless we learn to do our duty to those whom we employ, they will never learn to do their duty to us.
除非我们学会对我们雇佣的人如何尽责，就永远不要期待他们学会对我们尽责。
The years glide by silently
岁月无声地流逝。
It's in vain, Trot, to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present.
Trot，回忆过去是徒劳的，除非它对现在有什么影响。
My advice is, never do to-morrow what you can do today. Procrastination is the thief of time. Collar him!
我的忠告是，今天能做的事，决不要明天去做。拖延是时间的小偷。抓住他！
There never were greed and cunning in the world yet, that did not do too much, and overreach themselves. It is as certain as death.
贪婪和诡诈总是做过头，最后弄巧成拙，摔了跟头。这就像死亡一样确定无疑。
Miss Mills replied, on general principles, that the Cottage of content was better than the Palace of cold splendour, and that where love was, all was.
Mills小姐回答道，一般来说，充实的小屋比冷清的宫殿要好，因为哪里有爱，哪里就有一切。
Trifles make the sum of life.
琐事组成人生的全部。
A man must take the fat with the lean; that's what he must make up his mind to, in this life.
想吃瘦肉，就不能嫌弃那些肥膘；这是他这辈子必须有的心态。
Mature affection, homage, devotion, does not easily express itself. Its voice is low. It is modest and retiring, it lies in ambush, waits and waits. .....'in comparison with such sentiments, the light inclinations of very young people are dust, compared to rocks. It is owing to the difficulty of knowing whether they are likely to endure or have any real foundation, that my sister Clarissa and myself have been very undecided how to act..
成熟的感情、崇敬、挚爱，都不会轻易表达出来。它的声音很低。它不露声色，它潜伏着，等待着，... 同这种感情相比，年轻人们的那种情感就象是尘土，而非岩石。由于不知道他们是否会长久，或者真的有什么基础，我妹妹克拉丽莎和我一直拿不定主意应对。
We were to be (h)umble to this person, and humble to that; and to pull off our caps here, and to make bows there; and always to know our place, and abase ourselves before our betters. ... Be umble, and you'll get on ... People like to be above you, keep yourself down.
我们要对这个人卑躬，对那个人屈膝；在这儿摘帽子致敬，在那儿弯腰一躬；我们总是知道自己的位置在哪儿，在比我们优越的人面前表现地谦卑些 ...（爸爸告诉我）谦虚一点，你就会成功……人们喜欢凌驾于你之上，所以低调些吧。
Are tears the dewdrops of the heart?
眼泪是心灵的露珠吗?
Of such slight links is chain of life composed!
生命之链就是由这些细微的环节组成的!
I have been very fortunate in worldly matters; many men have worked much harder, and not succeeded half so well; but I never could have done what I have done, without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one object at a time, no matter how quickly its successor should come upon its heels, which I then formed.
在世俗的事情上，我一直很幸运；许多人比我努力得多，却没有我成功一半；但是，如果没有守时、有条不紊和勤奋的习惯，如果没有下定决心一次专注于一件事，不管后续的事情会多快地接踵而来，我就不可能做到我现在所做的事情。
Some happy talent, and some fortunate opportunity, may form the two sides of the ladder on which some men mount, but the rounds of that ladder must be made of stuff to stand wear and tear; and there is no substitute for thorough-going, ardent, and sincere earnestness.
天才和好运可以构成一些人向上爬的梯子的两边，但是梯子的横板必须用经得起磨损的材料做成；除了彻底、热情和真诚的认真，别无它物。
There can be no disparity in marriage like unsuitability of mind and purpose.
在婚姻中，思想和目的的不一致是最要不得的。
It's very much to be wished that some mothers would leave their daughters alone after marriage, and not be so violently affectionate. They seem to think the only return that can be made them for bringing an unfortunate young woman into the world - God bless my soul, as if she asked to be brought, or wanted to come! - is full liberty to worry her out of it again.
我们非常希望一些母亲在女儿结婚后能让她们单独待着，不要对她们过度溺爱。他们似乎认为，把一个不幸的年轻女人带到这个世界上能够得到的唯一回报 - 天哪，好像是她自己要求被带到这个世界，或自己想来的! - 就是让她百般烦恼直至脱离这个世界。
It has always been in my observation of human nature, that a man who has any good reason to believe in himself never flourishes himself before the faces of other people in order that they may believe in him.
根据我对人性的观察，一个有充分理由自信的人，从来不会在别人面前炫耀自己以便让别人相信他。
It may be profitable to you to reflect, in future, that there never were greed and cunning in the world yet, that did not do too much, and overreach themselves. It is as certain as death.'
将来也许你应该反思一下：世界上还从来没有贪婪和狡诈不做过头而自取其咎的。这和死亡一样肯定。
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