🔊 Ever since, by his beloved brother’s deathbed, Levin had first glanced into the questions of life and death in the light of these new convictions, as he called them, which had during the period from his twentieth to his thirty-fourth year imperceptibly replaced his childish and youthful beliefs--he had been stricken with horror, not so much of death, as of life, without any knowledge of whence, and why, and how, and what it was. The physical organization, its decay, the indestructibility of matter, the law of the conservation of energy, evolution, were the words which usurped the place of his old belief. These words and the ideas associated with them were very well for intellectual purposes. But for life they yielded nothing, and Levin felt suddenly like a man who has changed his warm fur cloak for a muslin garment, and going for the first time into the frost is immediately convinced, not by reason, but by his whole nature that he is as good as naked, and that he must infallibly perish miserably.

自从在至爱的兄弟临终前,列文第一次以他所谓的新信念--这些信念在他二十岁到三十四岁期间,不知不觉地取代了他童年和青年时代的信仰--的眼光审视生与死的问题以来,他就一直被恐惧所笼罩,与其说是对死亡的恐惧,不如说是对生命的恐惧--对生命的来历、原因、方式和本质一无所知。有机组织、它的衰朽、物质不灭、能量守恒定律、进化论--这些词语取代了他旧日的信仰。这些词语及其相关概念用于理性思考固然很好,但对于生活却毫无助益,列文突然感觉自己就像一个用温暖的皮袍换了一件薄纱衣裳的人,第一次走进严寒,立刻--并非通过理智,而是通过整个身心--确信自己几乎赤裸,必然悲惨地死去。

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imperceptibly /ˌɪmpərˈsɛptɪbli/

adv. 难以察觉地；微妙地➕

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decay /dɪˈkeɪ/

n. 腐烂；衰退➕

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indestructibility /ˌɪndɪˌstrʌktəˈbɪləti/

n. 不灭性；不可毁灭➕

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conservation /ˌkɒnsərˈveɪʃn/

n. 保存；守恒➕

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evolution /ˌiːvəˈluːʃn/

n. 进化；演变➕

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usurped /juːˈzɜːpt/

v. 篡夺；取代➕

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intellectual /ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəl/

adj. 智力的；理智的➕

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yielded /ˈjiːldɪd/

v. 产生；屈服➕

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muslin /ˈmʌzlɪn/

n. 棉布；薄纱织物➕

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infallibly /ɪnˈfæləbli/

adv. 绝对可靠地；万无一失地➕

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perish /ˈperɪʃ/

v. 死亡；毁灭➕

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miserably /ˈmɪzərəbli/

adv. 悲惨地；可怜地➕

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stricken /ˈstrɪkən/

adj. 受打击的；患病的➕

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garment /ˈɡɑːmənt/

n. 衣服；服装➕

🔊 From that moment, though he did not distinctly face it, and still went on living as before, Levin had never lost this sense of terror at his lack of knowledge.

从那一刻起,尽管他没有明确地面对这一点,仍然一如既往地生活,列文却从未失去这种因无知而生的恐惧感。

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distinctly /dɪˈstɪŋktli/

adv. 清楚地；明显地➕

🔊 He vaguely felt, too, that what he called his new convictions were not merely lack of knowledge, but that they were part of a whole order of ideas, in which no knowledge of what he needed was possible.

他隐隐约约地感到,他所谓的新信念不仅仅是无知,它们属于一整套观念体系,而在这个体系中,他所需的知识根本无从获得。

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vaguely /ˈveɪɡli/

adv. 模糊地；含糊地➕

🔊 At first, marriage, with the new joys and duties bound up with it, had completely crowded out these thoughts. But of late, while he was staying in Moscow after his wife’s confinement, with nothing to do, the question that clamored for solution had more and more often, more and more insistently, haunted Levin’s mind.

起初,婚姻以及随之而来的新的喜悦和责任,完全排挤了这些想法。但最近,在妻子分娩后他逗留于莫斯科期间,无所事事,那个迫切要求解答的问题越来越频繁、越来越执拗地萦绕在列文的心头。

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confinement /kənˈfaɪnmənt/

n. 分娩；限制➕

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clamored /ˈklæməd/

v. 喧嚷；强烈要求➕

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haunted /ˈhɔːntɪd/

v. 萦绕；困扰➕

🔊 The question was summed up for him thus: "If I do not accept the answers Christianity gives to the problems of my life, what answers do I accept?" And in the whole arsenal of his convictions, so far from finding any satisfactory answers, he was utterly unable to find anything at all like an answer.

这个问题对他而言可以归纳如下:“如果我不接受基督教对我人生问题的解答,那我接受什么解答？”在他所有的信念宝库中,他不仅找不到任何令人满意的答案,而且根本找不到任何类似答案的东西。

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arsenal /ˈɑːsənl/

n. 军火库；宝库➕

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utterly /ˈʌtəli/

adv. 完全地；绝对地➕

🔊 He was in the position of a man seeking food in toy shops and tool shops. Instinctively, unconsciously, with every book, with every conversation, with every man he met, he was on the lookout for light on these questions and their solution.

他就像一个在玩具店和工具店里寻找食物的人。本能地、无意识地,每读一本书、每进行一次交谈、每遇到一个人,他都在寻找这些问题的答案及其解决之道。

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instinctively /ɪnˈstɪŋktɪvli/

adv. 本能地➕

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unconsciously /ʌnˈkɒnʃəsli/

adv. 无意识地➕

🔊 What puzzled and distracted him above everything was that the majority of men of his age and circle had, like him, exchanged their old beliefs for the same new convictions, and yet saw nothing to lament in this, and were perfectly satisfied and serene. So that, apart from the principal question, Levin was tortured by other questions too. Were these people sincere? he asked himself, or were they playing a part? or was it that they understood the answers science gave to these problems in some different, clearer sense than he did? And he assiduously studied both these men’s opinions and the books which treated of these scientific explanations.

最让他困惑和分心的是,他那个年龄和圈子里的大多数人都像他一样,用同样的新信念取代了旧信仰,却丝毫不为此感到惋惜,反而心满意足、平静安详。因此,除了主要问题之外,列文还被其他问题所折磨。这些人真诚吗？他问自己,还是他们在演戏？或者,他们对科学就这些问题给出的答案的理解,与他不同,更清晰？于是他孜孜不倦地研究这些人的观点以及阐述这些科学解释的书籍。

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lament /ləˈment/

v. 哀悼；惋惜➕

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serene /səˈriːn/

adj. 平静的；安详的➕

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principal /ˈprɪnsəpl/

adj. 主要的；首要的➕

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tortured /ˈtɔːtʃəd/

v. 折磨；拷问➕

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sincere /sɪnˈsɪər/

adj. 真诚的；诚挚的➕

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assiduously /əˈsɪdjuəsli/

adv. 勤奋地；刻苦地➕

🔊 One fact he had found out since these questions had engrossed his mind, was that he had been quite wrong in supposing from the recollections of the circle of his young days at college, that religion had outlived its day, and that it was now practically non-existent. All the people nearest to him who were good in their lives were believers. The old prince, and Lvov, whom he liked so much, and Sergey Ivanovitch, and all the women believed, and his wife believed as simply as he had believed in his earliest childhood, and ninety-nine hundredths of the Russian people, all the working people for whose life he felt the deepest respect, believed.

自从这些问题占据了他的心智以来,他发现了这样一个事实:他基于大学青年时代的回忆而认为宗教已经过时、实际上已不复存在的想法,是完全错误的。他身边所有品行良好的人都是信徒。老亲王、他所喜爱的利沃夫、谢尔盖·伊万诺维奇、所有的女人都信,他的妻子也信,就像他童年早期那样单纯地信,还有百分之九十九的俄罗斯人民,所有那些他对其生活深怀敬意的劳动人民,也都信。

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engrossed /ɪnˈɡrəʊst/

v. 全神贯注；占据（心思）➕

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recollections /ˌrekəˈlekʃnz/

n. 回忆；回想➕

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outlived /ˌaʊtˈlɪvd/

v. 活得比...长；比...持久➕

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practically /ˈpræktɪkli/

adv. 实际上；几乎➕

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non-existent /ˌnɒn ɪɡˈzɪstənt/

adj. 不存在的➕

🔊 Another fact of which he became convinced, after reading many scientific books, was that the men who shared his views had no other construction to put on them, and that they gave no explanation of the questions which he felt he could not live without answering, but simply ignored their existence and attempted to explain other questions of no possible interest to him, such as the evolution of organisms, the materialistic theory of consciousness, and so forth.

在阅读了许多科学书籍之后,他又证实了另一个事实:那些与他看法相同的人对这些信念并没有其他解释,他们对他认为没有答案就无法生存的问题根本不予解释,只是无视它们的存在,试图解释其他他毫无兴趣的问题,比如有机体的进化、意识的唯物主义理论等等。

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materialistic /məˌtɪəriəˈlɪstɪk/

adj. 唯物主义的；物质主义的➕

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consciousness /ˈkɒnʃəsnəs/

n. 意识；知觉➕

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organisms /ˈɔːɡənɪzəmz/

n. 生物体；有机体➕

🔊 Moreover, during his wife’s confinement, something had happened that seemed extraordinary to him. He, an unbeliever, had fallen into praying, and at the moment he prayed, he believed. But that moment had passed, and he could not make his state of mind at that moment fit into the rest of his life. He could not admit that at that moment he knew the truth, and that now he was wrong; for as soon as he began thinking calmly about it, it all fell to pieces. He could not admit that he was mistaken then, for his spiritual condition then was precious to him, and to admit that it was a proof of weakness would have been to desecrate those moments.

此外,在妻子分娩期间,发生了一件在他看来非同寻常的事。他,一个无信仰的人,竟开始祈祷,而在他祈祷的那一刻,他相信了。但那一刻过去了,他无法将那一瞬间的心境融入他其余的生活。他不能承认那一刻他认识到了真理,而现在是错误的；因为一旦他开始冷静地思考这一切,一切就都土崩瓦解了。他也不能承认当时他是错误的,因为当时的精神状态对他来说是珍贵的,承认那是软弱的证据,就等于亵渎了那些时刻。

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extraordinary /ɪkˈstrɔːrdəneri/

adj. 非凡的；惊人的➕

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unbeliever /ˌʌnbɪˈliːvər/

n. 无信仰者；怀疑者➕

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spiritual /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəl/

adj. 精神的；心灵的➕

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precious /ˈpreʃəs/

adj. 珍贵的；宝贵的➕

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desecrate /ˈdesɪkreɪt/

v. 亵渎；玷污➕

🔊 He was miserably divided against himself, and strained all his spiritual forces to the utmost to escape from this condition.

他痛苦地与自己分裂,竭尽全力调动所有精神力量以求摆脱这种状态。

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strained /streɪnd/

v. 竭尽全力；拉紧➕

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utmost /ˈʌtməʊst/

n. 极限；最大可能➕

Part Eight – Chapter eight (第八章)

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