over a barrel.doc

此文档收集于网络，如有侵权，请联系网站删除Over a Barrel在木桶上Every human struggle political, military, social or economic often ends with some of the competitors “over a barrel”. Once they have been put “over a barrel”, there is not much more that they can do. They are in a tight spot, under the control of others, at their mercy. Surrender is often the most advisable thing to do.一切人类斗争政治的，军事的，社会的或是经济的总是以某些竞争者“在木桶上”而结束。一旦他们被放“在木桶上”，他们就无法再做什么了。他们身处困境，被掌控在他人手里，任由他们摆布。投降往往是最明智的选择。The phrase comes from a time strangely enough when a barrel was used to save the life of a person who had almost drowned. You brought him back to life by putting him over a barrel, with his face down, and gently rolling the barrel to get the water out of his lungs.这个短语起源于某一年代很奇怪的是那时木桶被用来救助差点被淹死的人。你把他脸朝下放在木桶上，轻轻滚动木桶以使他肺腔里的水流出来，从而令他重获生机。Of course, that was a critical situation to be in. The man lying flat on his stomach over a barrel could do little for himself; he was at the mercy of those trying to pull him through.当然，那种情况相当危急。肚子朝下趴在木桶上的那个人无法为自己做什么，他的命运完全掌握在那些试图使他渡过难关的人手里。Barrels, as we all know, come in many different sizes, depending on what you keep in them beer, whiskey, dry crackers, biscuits, or other foodstuffs. 正如我们所知,木桶有许多不同的尺寸,这取决于你放在木桶里面的东西啤酒、威士忌、干燥的饼干、小面包、或其他食品。The cracker-barrel that one always saw in old-time grocery stores gave us an American character known as a “cracker-barrel philosopher”. 人们经常在老式杂货店看见的“饼干桶”，造就了一种美国人 “饼干桶哲学家”。You used to find him in small village stores, sitting around a big pot-bellied stove close by the cracker-barrels, smoking a pipe and exchanging jokes, gossip, stories and words of wisdom with his friends. 你过去经常能在小村庄的商店里找到他，他闲坐在一个饼干桶旁边的大斗锅炉前，抽着烟斗，和他的朋友讲笑话、八卦、故事、哲理。More often than not, their words of wisdom added little to mans knowledge or understanding of life and the world. But they thought otherwise, and never stopped offering their opinions as if they came straight from the mouth of Plato or Aristotle.不过通常，他们的“哲理”很难增加人们对生活和世界的认识和了解。但是他们却不以为然，并且还不停地发表着他们的见解，就好像这些智慧之词是直接从柏拉图或者亚里士多德的嘴中说出来一样。These “cracker-barrel philosophers” were as deep, as profound as a village elder described in a very old story.这些“饼干桶哲学家”都知识渊博、见解深刻，就像一个老故事中描述的一位乡村老人一样。It tells of the old mans last hours among his people. He lay on his deathbed, surrounded by his closest friends. The people of the nearby towns considered him a prophet, with a new revelation, a new message from above. They could not accept his death.它讲述的是这位老人临终前的事。老人躺在病床上，他最亲密的朋友们守在旁边。附近小镇的人都把老人当作一位预言家，他总能带来启示和福音，所以他们难以接受老人的离世。The old man began to get weaker and weaker, and so did his mind, which started to wander. The people demanded a last word from him before he departed, some last statement that might show them the way to a more fruitful, more glorious life.老人的身体越来越虚弱，连意识也开始不清醒了。人们希望老人在临走前再说一句话，能够引导他们过上更富足、更荣耀的生活。At his bedside, two men lifted the dying elders head, so that he could make a last declaration. He whispered slowly, “The world is like a barrel.” One of the two men put his ears close to the dying elders mouth. “What did you say, Master?” “The world is like a barrel!” Everybody was stunned. Heaven seemed to have opened. Was this Gods secret, at last?在床边，两个人轻轻抬着他的头，想听听他最后的话。他缓缓地呢喃，“这个世界就像一个木桶。”其中一个人把耳朵贴到他的嘴边，问道，“大师，您刚说什么？”“这个世界就像一个木桶！”所有人都呆了，那一刻，天堂之门似乎已经开启，难道这就是所谓天机？The words quickly spread to all the nearby villages. People kept repeating the words to one another, again and again. Finally, someone said, “The world is like a barrel! Tremendous! But what is its mystery what does it mean?”“天机”迅速在附近的几个村庄传遍了，人们逢人就说，见人就传。后来，有个人说，“这个世界就像一个木桶！说得好！不过我没太明白，这话是什么意思啊？”Soon, everybody was asking the same question. From mouth to mouth, village to village, the question was passed back to where the old man lay dying. Again, his friends lifted his head and whispered to him: “Master, the people want to know, what do your words mean - the world is like a barrel?”很快每个人都在重复同样的问题。一传十、十传百，这个问题很快又传回老人这里来了。他的朋友们又一次抬起他的头，轻轻地问他：“大师，人们都想知道您说的这句话世界就像是一个木桶是什么意思？”At first, the old man remained silent. He didnt not understand what was s