高级笔译翻译精读训练营(2)

           旅行的唯一方法是步行(1)
　　The past ages of man have all been carefully labelled by anthropologists. Descriptions like "Palaeolithic Man". "Neolithic Man", etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label "Legless Man". Histories of the time will go something like this:" In the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large building to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth-dwellers of that time because of their extraordinary way of life. In those days,people thought nothing of travelling hundreds of miles each day.But the surprising thing is that they didn't use their legs even when they went on holiday.They built cable railways, ski-lifts(滑雪索道) and roads to the top of every huge mountain.All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks."

[注释]

1.anthropologist：人类学家

2.palaeolithic：旧石器时代的

[译文]

　　人类学家小心翼翼地将人类以往的每一个时代都贴上标签。 例如，“旧石器时代人”、“新石器时代人”等说法就简洁地概括了 一个个完整的时代。当人类学家把他们的目光投向20世纪的时 候，他们肯定会选择“无腿人”这个标签。这段时期的历史大致会 这样记载：“在20世纪，人类忘记了如何使用他们的腿。男子和 女子从很小的时候起就坐在小汽车、公共汽车和火车里来来去 去。所有的高层建筑里都装有电梯和自动扶梯，以避免人们步行。 这种状况强加在这个时期地球居民的身上，是由于他们非同寻常 的生活方式。那时，人们没有想到每天旅行几百英里这类事情。 但是，令人惊奇的是，他们即使去度假也不用他们的腿。他们建 造缆索铁路，滑雪索道和道路通向每座大山的顶峰。地球上所有 的风景区都被大型停车场糟蹋了。”