精品美文分享 乞丐缘何遭受鄙夷
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今天给大家带来的是乔治奥威尔的短篇评论
文章题目叫做
《为什么乞丐遭受鄙夷》
乔治.奥威尔，我想就不需要多介绍了，英国当代著名的小说家、社会评论家，记者。
代表作《动物庄园》和《1984》影响巨大
奥威尔的文笔简洁明了，不像多数西方小说家、散文家采用繁冗华丽的修辞、复杂的语法，他的文章短句居多，语法结构简单，然而其观点、思想却十分犀利、独到。
下面就看一下这篇短文
Why Are Beggars Despised?
by George Orwell
It is worth saying something about the social position of beggars,
关于乞丐的社会地位问题，值得讨论一下
for when one has consorted with them,
当你与他们厮混
and found that they are ordinary human beings,
就会发现他们就是普通人
one cannot help being struck by the curious attitude that society takes towards them.
你就会忍不住感到吃惊，由于社会对待他们的奇怪态度。
People seem to feel that there is some essential difference between beggars and ordinary "working" men.
人们好像感觉乞丐和普通有工作的人有着一些本质的区别
They are a race apart—outcasts, like criminals and prostitutes.
乞丐就像单独的一个种群 - 被遗弃者，就像罪犯和妓女
Working men "work,"
工作的人在干活
beggars do not "work"; they are parasites, worthless in their very nature.
乞丐不干活，他们是寄生虫，就这一性质而言（他们）毫无价值。
It is taken for granted that a beggar does not "earn" his living, as a bricklayer or a literary critic "earns" his.
我们想当然的认为乞丐不赚钱过活，不像泥瓦匠或者文学评论者那样赚钱过日子。
He is a mere social excrescence, tolerated because we live in a humane age, but essentially despicable.
乞丐就是存粹的社会毒瘤，被（社会）包容，只是因为我们生活在一个人道的（仁慈的）时代，但基本上是被鄙夷的。
Yet if one looks closely one sees that there is noessential difference between a beggar's livelihood and that of numberless respectable people.
但如果你进一步观察，你就能发现，乞丐的生计和无数值得尊敬的人们的生计，没有本质的区别
Beggars do not work, it is said; but, then, what is work?
乞丐不工作，话虽如此，但是，那么，什么又是工作呢？
A navvy works by swinging a pick.
建筑工人在工作，挥舞着鹤嘴锄。
An accountant works by adding up figures.
会计在工作，计算着数字
A beggar works by standing out of doors in all weathers and getting varicose veins, chronic bronchitis, etc.
乞丐无论刮风下雨，露天站在街头工作，身患静脉曲张，慢性支气管炎等等。
It is a trade like any other; quite useless, of course--but, then, many reputable trades are quite useless.
这份职业和其他任何职业没什么两样；当然，非常没有价值。
然而，许多好名声的职业，也相当的没有价值。
And as a social type a beggar compares well with scores of others.
作为一种社会类型，乞丐可以与许许多多其他的类型做个比较。
He is honest compared with the sellers of most patent medicines,
乞丐，比起大多数专利药品的销售员，更诚实。
high-minded compared with a Sunday newspaper proprietor,
比起星期日报纸的业主更高尚
amiable compared with a hire-purchase tout
比起兜售分期付款的小贩更亲切，
in short, a parasite, but a fairly harmless parasite.
简而言之，（乞丐）是寄生虫，但却是相当无害的寄生虫。
He seldom extracts more than a bare living from the community,
他很少向社会索取超过其勉强维持生计所需的，
and, what should justify him according to our ethical ideas,
he pays for it over and over in suffering.
而且，为了符合我们的道德观，他一次又一次的遭受痛苦，以此为代价，来使其（乞讨行为）正当化
I do not think there is anything about a beggar that sets him in a different class from other people, or gives most modern men the right to despise him.
我并不认为乞丐有任何的一样东西，让他与其他人群区分开来，以及让大多数现代人有权对他鄙视。
Then the question arises, Why are beggars despised?--for they are despised, universally.
那么问题来了，为社么乞丐们遭受鄙夷？ 他们普遍地遭到鄙视？
I believe it is for the simple reason that they fail to earn a decent living.
我相信有一个简单的理由，那就是他们没法挣钱过体面的生活。
In practice nobody cares whether work is useful or useless, productive or parasitic;
在实际生活中，没人关心一份职业是否有用没用，有建设性还是寄生型的？
the sole thing demanded is that it shall be profitable.
（职业）唯一需要的就是看它能不能牟利。
In all the modern talk about energy, efficiency, social service and the rest of it,
在现代讨论有关能源，效率，社会服务和其他方面，
what meaning is there except "Get money, get it legally, and get a lot of it"?
有意义的无非就是“能不能挣钱，合法的挣钱，多多的挣钱”？
Money has become the grand test of virtue.
金钱变成了关于品德（评价）的大考
By this test beggars fail, and for this they are despised.
乞丐们没法通过这样的大考，所以他们被鄙视
If one could earn even ten pounds a week at begging, it would become a respectable profession immediately.
如果一个人通过行乞能在一周内挣到十英镑，乞讨立马就能变成一份受人尊敬的职业。
A beggar, looked at realistically, is simply a businessman, getting his living, like other businessmen, in the way that comes to hand.
一个乞丐，从现实角度看，就是一个生意人，像其他生意人一样，通过双手来谋得生计。
He has not, more than most modern people, sold his honor;
（并且）他没有像大多数现代人（那样），出卖自己的尊严。
he has merely made the mistake of choosing a trade at which it is impossible to grow rich.(1933)
他只是错误的选择了一份职业，该职业不可能让其财富（获得）增长。
写于1933年，乔治.奥威尔。
