论说文是一种常见的文体,我们平时接触到的社论、评论、演说、说理性的小品文、随笔以及社科类的论著和研究报告等都属于论说文。论说文总的特点是逻辑性强,说理性强,语言庄重规范,但是政论文、演说和小品文之间又各不相同。这里所说的论文翻译包括了社会科学领域各个方面的著说。它的目的在于阐述某种观点,逻辑性强,结构严谨,风格庄严,采用很真实的语体,难词、长句多。
 
英译中
Where neither religion nor philosophy can serve to maintain a healthy spirit and a moral basis for society, a vigorous national patriotism has sometimes served as a substitute. But the empire destroyed patriotism; it was cosmopolitan in its tendencies, and swamped the narrow but very real devotion to the city, which had been the main source of the strength of the earlier republic. Patriotism needs stress and adversity to develop its best features. It almost presupposes that the state has dangerous enemies and aspirations that have yet to be fulfilled. But under the empire the Romans absorbed all their old neighbors and foes; Syrian and Spaniard, Briton and Numidian, were all made Romans of a sort. There was no peril from the external barbarian for two hundred years. The Parthian Empire was slowly dwindling in strength; the Germans had not yet learnt to combine; they might perhaps check an invading army they could be no serious danger to the state. In short, there was no adequate object against which the patriotic impulse could be directed, and it gradually dwindled away into a vague and unfruitful pride. When external matters at last became serious, in the third century after Christ, there is no trace whatever of any sense of national duty among the heterogeneous “Romans” of the day.
当宗教和哲学都无法维系健康的社会精神和道德基础时,强烈的爱国主义精神有时候可以充当某种替代品。帝国已经摧毁了爱国主义精神;它越来越趋向世界化,从而淹没了人们对罗马城狭隘但却非常真切的热爱,而这种爱正是共和国先前主要的力量来源。爱国精神需要在压力和逆境中才能充分发展。它的先决条件几乎就是国家面临着危险的敌人以及还有未竟的目标。但是罗马人的帝国已经把他们以前所有的邻居和敌人都吸引进来了;叙利亚人、西班牙人、不列颠人和努米底亚人都成了罗马人的一部分。两百年来,外面的蛮族没有构成什么危险。帕提亚帝国的实力正在逐渐削弱;日耳曼人没有学会联合起来,他们也许会迎击来犯的军队,但却无法对罗马构成严重的威胁。一言蔽之,爱国激情缺乏适当的目标引导,逐渐衰退成了一种模糊而无益的自豪感。公元3世纪,当外患严重起来时,在当时由各种族组成的所谓的“罗马人”身上已经抄不到任何对国家的责任感了。
 
This is our hope. This is the faith which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
这就是我们的希望。我正是怀抱这一信念回到南方的。有了这个信念,我们就能将绝望的大山劈凿成一块希望的石子。有了这个信念,我们就能把我们国家不和的喧嚣变成友爱的美丽乐章。有了这个信念,我们就能一同工作,一同祈祷,一同斗争,同去坐牢,一同为自由而战,因为我们知道终有一天我们将获得自由。
 
中译英
中华民族不但以刻苦耐劳著称于世,同时又是酷爱自由、富于革命传统的民族。以汉族的历史为例,可以证明中国人民是不能忍受黑暗势力的统治的,他们每次都能用革命的手段达到推翻和改造这种统治的目的。在汉族的数千年的历史上,有过大小几百次的农民起义,反抗地主和贵族的黑暗统治。而多数朝代的更换,都是由于农民起义的力量才能得到成功的。中华民族的各族人民都反对外来民族的压迫。他们赞成平等的联合,而不赞成互相压迫。在中华民族几千年的历史中,产生了很多的民族英雄和革命领袖。所以,中华民族又是一个有光荣的革命传统和优秀的历史遗产的民族。
The Chinese nation is known throughout the world not only for its industriousness and stamina, but also for its ardent love of freedom and its rich revolutionary traditions. The history of Han people, for instance, demonstrates that the Chinese never submit to tyrannical rule but invariably use revolutionary means to overthrow or change it in the thousands of years of Han history, there have been hundreds of peasant uprisings, great and small, against the dark rule of the landlords and the nobility. And most dynastic changes came about as a result of such peasant uprisings. All the nationalities of China have resisted foreign oppression and have invariably resorted to rebellion to shake it off. They favor a union on the basis of equality but are against the oppression of one nationality by another. During the thousands of years of recorded history, the Chinese nation has given birth to many national heroes and revolutionary leader. Thus the Chinese nation has a glorious revolutionary tradition and a splendid historical heritage.
同志们,朋友们!世界要和平,人民要合作,国家要发展,社会要进步,是时代的潮流。上个世纪,人类经历了两次世界大战的浩劫,也经历了冷战对峙的磨难,付出了巨大的代价。中国人民和各国人民,都不愿看到世界上任何地区再发生新的热战、冷战和动乱,都不愿看到任何国家或国家集团再推行新的霸权和强权,都不愿看到南北之间的发展差距、贫富鸿沟再扩大下去。中国人民和各国人民都渴望世界持久和平,渴望过上稳定安宁的生活,渴望建立公正合理的国际新秩序,渴望实现国际关系的民主化,渴望促进共同发展和共同繁荣,共创人类美好的未来。
Comrades and Friends! The world needs peace. The people want cooperation. Nations aspire for development. Society seeks progress. This is the trend of our times. In the last century, mankind underwent the scourge of two world wars and endured the hardships of the Cold War and confrontation, thus paying a heavy price. The people of China and of all other countries hate to see any new hot war or cold war or turmoil break out in any part of the world, hate to see any country or group of countries pushing hegemonism and power politics and hate to see any further widening of the development gap between North and South or the gap between the rich and the poor. The people of China and the rest of the world all long for a lasting world peace and for a stable and peaceful life. They aspire for a fair and rational new international order and for democracy in international relations. They yearn for common development and prosperity for all and are willing to work together for a better future.