中英对译:下棋-梁实秋
有一种人我最不喜欢和他下棋,那便是太有涵养的人。杀死他一大块,或是抽了他一个车,他神色自若,不动火,不生气,好像是无关痛痒,使得你觉得索然寡味。君子无所争,下棋却是要争的。当你给对方一个严重威胁的时候,对方的头上青筋暴露,黄豆般的汗珠一颗颗的在额上陈列出来,或哭丧着脸作惨笑,或咕嘟着嘴作吃屎状,或抓耳挠腮,或大叫一声,或长吁短叹,或自怨自艾口中念念有词,或一串串的噎膈打个不休,或红头涨脸如关公,种种现象,不一而足,这时节你“行有余力”便可以点起一枝烟,或啜一碗茶,静静的欣赏对方的苦闷的象征。我想猎人困逐一只野兔的时候,其愉快大概略相仿佛。因此我悟出一点道理,和人下棋的时候,如果有机会使对方受窘,当然无所不用其极,如果被对对方所窘,便努力作出不介意状,因为既不能积极的给对方以烦恼,只好消极的减少对方的乐趣。
The last man I would like to play chess with is a man with too much self-control. When he sees a huge piece of his position taken by his opponent (as in Go), or *a chariot, lost to his opponent[1] through an erroneous move (as in Chinese chess), he remains calm and unruffled, as if nothing whatever has happened. And that air of his will surely make you feel flat and insipid. A real gentleman seldom contests with others; he will, however, seek to do his opponent down in a game of chess. When you put him on the spot, you can expect to see blue veins standing out on his temples and drops of cold sweat the size of soybean appearing on his forehead. He will either wear a wan smile on his long face, or purse his lips in displeasure, or scratch his head, or let out a sharp cry, or sigh and groan, or bitterly repent his folly, or keep hiccupping unceasingly, or flush crimson with shame, and suchlike. And at such a moment, feeling carefree, you can light a cigarette or just take a sip from your teacup and savor the signs of your opponent\'s discomfort. The pleasure you have from it, I believe, is by no means less than that a hunter gets from a deadbeat rabbit at his mercy. And from this I have found out something—when engaged in a game of chess, you should resort to every conceivable means to embarrass your opponent, and try hard to remain calm when you yourself fall into difficulty. If you are unable to cause your opponent to suffer, why not try to let him find as little pleasure as possible from your trouble?