翻译考试优秀短文翻译：中译英17

　　再狭小范围，就欧洲文化的观点说，歌德确是代表文艺复兴以后近代人的心灵生活及其内在的问题。近代人失去了基督教对一超越上帝虔诚的信仰。人类精神上获得了解放，得到了自由;但也就同时失所依傍，彷徨摸索，苦闷，追求，欲在生活本身的努力中寻得人生的意义与价值。歌德是这时代精神伟大的代表，他的主著《浮士德》是这人生全部的反映与其问题的解决。歌德与其替身浮士德一生生活的内容就是尽量体验这近代人生特殊的精神意义，了解其悲剧而努力以解决其问题，指出解救之道。所以有人称他的浮士德是近代人的圣经。

　　In a narrower sense, viewed in the perspective of European culture, Goethe indeed represents people of the post-Renaissance period in terms of their intellectual life and their inner problems. In modern times people have abandoned their strong Christian faith in an omnipotent God. Their spirit has been emancipated and they have acquired freedom. Yet, on the other hand, they have lost what gave them strength. They are nervously groping in the dark; they are spiritually tormented; they engage in a quest, trying to find the true meaning and value of life through their mundane efforts. Goethe is a great representative of our Zeitgeist. His most important work, Faust, is a reflection of everything in this kind of life and a solution to its problems. All that Goethe and Dr Faust, his stand-in, do throughout their lives is to experience to the fullest the peculiar spirit and meaning of life in modern times, try to understand its tragedy, strive to solve its problems and show people the way of deliverance. This is why his Faust is deemed the Bible of modern times.

　　但歌德与但丁莎士比亚不同的地方，就是他不单是由作品里启示我们人生真相，尤其在他自己的人格与生活中表现了人生广大精微的义谛。

　　But Goethe is different from Dante and Shakespeare, in that he does not merely enlighten us about the true meaning of life through his works. His personal character and behavior does even more in demonstrating the great and subtle truth of life.