译文取自Jeanne
Kelly和Nathan
K. Mao的译本
1. 反正去封信问问，不费多少钱。那登广告的人，原是个骗子，因为中国人不来上当，改行不干了，人也早死了。
Atany rate sending off a letter of inquiry won’t cost much, he thought. The man who had placed the advertisement was actuallya swindler. Since no Chinese was ever taken in, he
haddropped it for another line of business and died some time ago.
Sherry的笔记：
At
any rate: used to say that a particular factis true despite what has happened in the past or what may happen in the future
• Well, that’s one good piece of news at anyrate.
• I may be away on business next week but atany rate I'll be back by Friday.
Swindler: cheat,con man (informal), fraud, rogue, shark, trickster
Takein: If you are taken in by someone or something, you are deceived by them, sothat you get a false impression of them.
·know Iwas a naive fool to trust him but he is a real charmer who totally took me in.
我知道我当初幼稚无知，竟然信任他，可是他真是迷人，把我完全给骗了。
Line：the kind of job
someone does 行业
•“What
line of work are you in?” “I'm a teacher.”“你是做哪一行的？”“我是老师。”
•You
meet some very interesting people in my line of business.做我这行可以遇到一些非常有趣的人。
2. 相传爱尔兰人的不动产是奶和屁股；这位是个萧伯纳式既高且瘦的男人，那两项财产的分量又得打折扣。
Itis said that an Irishman’s fortune consists of his two breasts and two buttocks,but this one, being a tall, thin Bernard Shaw-type of man, did not have much breastor buttocks.
Sherry的笔记：
Buttock：either side of a
person's bottom 屁股（的一边）
看到“打折扣”我的第一反应是discount，可这句话又不是真的打折，do not have much 就很简洁了。
3. 他当时在信箱里拿到鸿渐来信，以为邮差寄错了，但地址明明是自己的，好奇拆开一看，莫名其妙，想了半天，快活得跳起来。
Whenhe came upon Fang’s letter in his mailbox, he thought the mailman had made a mistake.But the address was clearly his; so full of curiosity, he opened the letter. Greatlypuzzled, he mulled over it for a while, then leaped for joy.
Sherry的笔记：
Come
upon：偶然碰到(或发现) If you come uponsomeone or something, you meet them or find them by chance.
·I cameupon an irresistible item at a yard sale.
在一次庭院拍卖会上，我偶然发现了一个忍不住想买的东西。
Mull
over：反复思考;仔细琢磨If you mullsomething over, you think about it for a long time before deciding what to do.
·McLarenhad been mulling over an idea to make a movie
麦克拉伦琢磨着要拍一部电影已经有段时间了。
4. 本人素爱中国，办教育的人尤其不愿牟利。方鸿渐盘算一下，想爱尔兰人无疑在捣鬼，自己买张假文凭回去哄人，岂非也成了骗子？
Hehimself had always loved China, and as an educator, he was
particularlyaverse to profit-seeking. Fang mulled it over for a while, suspecting that the Irishmanwas undoubtedly up to tricks. If he boughta bogus diploma and went back to dupe other people with it, wouldn’t he himselfbe a fraud?
Sherry的笔记：
Averse：strongly disliking
or opposed to 反对的；嫌恶的；不愿意的
•Few MPs
are averse to the attention of the media.没有几个下院议员不愿受到媒体关注。
捣鬼：be upto tricks
Bogus：false, not real or
not legal 假的；假冒的，伪造的；非法的
•On
investigation, his claim was found to be bogus.调查发现，他的说法并不属实。
Dupe：to deceive someone,
usually by making them do something they did not intend to do 诱骗，欺骗
•The
girls were duped by drug smugglers into carrying heroin for them.这些女孩受毒品走私贩欺骗为他们运送海洛因。
5. 索性把价钱杀得极低，假如爱尔兰人不肯，这事就算吹了，自己也免做骗子，便复信说：至多出一百美金，先寄三十，文凭到手，再寄余款；此间尚有中国同学三十余人，皆愿照此办法向贵校接洽。
Hemight as well try slashing the price, and if the Irishman refused, he could thenforget the whole thing and avoid turning into a fraud himself. So he replied thathe would pay one hundred U.S. dollars, makinga thirty-dollar down payment, and when the
diplomawas delivered, he would send the rest, and that thirty or more other Chinese studentswere also interested in dealing with “your honorable school” in the same manner.
Sherry的笔记：
砍价：slash theprice
Down
payment：an
amount of money that you pay at the time that you buy something, but which is
only a part of the total cost of that thing. You usually pay the rest of the
cost over a period of time （分期付款的）首期，首付款
•I've
made/put a down payment on a new TV and video.我已经交了新电视机和录影机的首期付款。
Deal
with这里不是处理的意思，是与…做买卖;和…有生意往来If you deal witha particular person or organization, you have business relations with them.
·When Iworked in Florida I dealt with British people all the time...
在佛罗里达工作时，我总与英国人有生意往来。