The author’s great love of his native country. —
作者对自己的祖国深深的热爱。 —

His master’s observations upon the constitution and administration of England, as described by the author, with parallel cases and comparisons. —
他的主人对英国的宪法和行政管理的观察，通过作者的描述，进行类比和比较。 —

His master’s observations upon human nature.
他的主人对人性的观察。

The reader may be disposed to wonder how I could prevail on myself to give so free a representation of my own species, among a race of mortals who are already too apt to conceive the vilest opinion of humankind, from that entire congruity between me and their Yahoos. —
读者也许会惊讶于我如何能够让自己对我的种族进行如此自由的描绘，尤其是在那些本来就很容易对人类持有最卑劣看法的凡人中间。 —

But I must freely confess, that the many virtues of those excellent quadrupeds, placed in opposite view to human corruptions, had so far opened my eyes and enlarged my understanding, that I began to view the actions and passions of man in a very different light, and to think the honour of my own kind not worth managing; —
但我必须真诚地承认，那些优秀四足动物的众多品质，与人类的堕落形成了鲜明对比，这些启发了我，开阔了我的视野，使我开始以非常不同的方式看待人类的行动和情感，并且认为自己种族的荣誉并不值得维护。 —

which, besides, it was impossible for me to do, before a person of so acute a judgment as my master, who daily convinced me of a thousand faults in myself, whereof I had not the least perception before, and which, with us, would never be numbered even among human infirmities. —
此外，这是我以前不可能做到的事情，在我主人这样敏锐判断的人面前，他每天都会让我看到我自己的无数个缺点，这些以前我完全没有察觉到的缺点，在我们这里甚至不能算作人类的弱点。 —

I had likewise learned, from his example, an utter detestation of all falsehood or disguise; —
从他的榜样中，我也学到了对一切谎言和伪装的彻底厌恶。 —

and truth appeared so amiable to me, that I determined upon sacrificing every thing to it.
而事实对我来说是如此可爱，我决定为了事实而牺牲一切。

Let me deal so candidly with the reader as to confess that there was yet a much stronger motive for the freedom I took in my representation of things. —
让我对读者如实相告，我在对事物的描述中采取这样率直的方式还有更强烈的动机。 —

I had not yet been a year in this country before I contracted such a love and veneration for the inhabitants, that I entered on a firm resolution never to return to humankind, but to pass the rest of my life among these admirable Houyhnhnms, in the contemplation and practice of every virtue, where I could have no example or incitement to vice. —
我在这个国家只呆了不到一年，就对这些居民产生了如此的爱和崇敬，以至于我立下了坚决的决心永远不回到人类中去，而是在这些令人赞叹的豪因姆人中度过余生，沉浸在每一种美德的思考和实践中，在那里我将没有恶的榜样或激励。 —

But it was decreed by fortune, my perpetual enemy, that so great a felicity should not fall to my share. —
但命运，我的永恒敌人，却宣布这么幸福的境遇不属于我。 —

However, it is now some comfort to reflect, that in what I said of my countrymen, I extenuated their faults as much as I durst before so strict an examiner; —
然而，现在我反思起来，对于我的同胞，我在这个严苛的检查者面前尽量淡化了他们的错误； —

and upon every article gave as favourable a turn as the matter would bear. —
并且在每一个问题上，我尽可能地给予了最好的解释。 —

For, indeed, who is there alive that will not be swayed by his bias and partiality to the place of his birth?
事实上，谁活着不会被自己出生的地方所偏爱和偏袒呢？

I have related the substance of several conversations I had with my master during the greatest part of the time I had the honour to be in his service; —
我讲述了我与我的主人在我担任他的随从期间的几次谈话的要点； —

but have, indeed, for brevity sake, omitted much more than is here set down.
为了简洁起见，我省略了比这里所列的更多内容。

When I had answered all his questions, and his curiosity seemed to be fully satisfied, he sent for me one morning early, and commanded me to sit down at some distance (an honour which he had never before conferred upon me). —
当我回答完他所有的问题，他的好奇心似乎被充分满足时，一天早上他叫我来，命令我坐到离他远一些的地方（这是他以前从未给过我的荣誉）。 —

He said, “he had been very seriously considering my whole story, as far as it related both to myself and my country; —
他说：“他非常认真地考虑了我的整个故事，以及它如何与我个人和我的国家相关； —

that he looked upon us as a sort of animals, to whose share, by what accident he could not conjecture, some small pittance of reason had fallen, whereof we made no other use, than by its assistance, to aggravate our natural corruptions, and to acquire new ones, which nature had not given us; —
他将我们看作一种动物，他无法猜测是通过什么样的意外事故使我们获得了一点点理性，我们对此没有其他用途，只是通过理性的帮助来加重我们的固有堕落，并获得自然所没有赐予我们的新堕落； —

that we disarmed ourselves of the few abilities she had bestowed; —
他认为我们剥夺了天生赋予我们的一点点能力； —

had been very successful in multiplying our original wants, and seemed to spend our whole lives in vain endeavours to supply them by our own inventions; —
我们在增加原始需求方面非常成功，并似乎把整个生命都浪费在徒劳的努力中，试图通过我们自己的发明来满足这些需求； —

that, as to myself, it was manifest I had neither the strength nor agility of a common Yahoo; —
对于我自己而言，显然我没有普通雅虎的力量和敏捷； —

that I walked infirmly on my hinder feet; —
我用后脚行走时摇摇晃晃； —

had found out a contrivance to make my claws of no use or defence, and to remove the hair from my chin, which was intended as a shelter from the sun and the weather: —
我发明了一个方法，使我的爪子毫无用处或防御功能，并除去了下巴上的毛发，本来是用来遮阳和避雨的。” —

lastly, that I could neither run with speed, nor climb trees like my brethren,” as he called them, “the Yahoos in his country.
最后，我既不能像他所称的“我的同胞”——他国家的雅虎那样跑得快，也不能像他们那样爬树。

“That our institutions of government and law were plainly owing to our gross defects in reason, and by consequence in virtue; —
我们的政府和法律机构显然是因为我们在理性上的严重缺陷，因而在道德上存在问题。 —

because reason alone is sufficient to govern a rational creature; —
因为理性本身足以管理一个理性的生物； —

which was, therefore, a character we had no pretence to challenge, even from the account I had given of my own people; —
因此，我们没有任何理由要求这样的特权，哪怕我已经向他描述过我的同胞了。 —

although he manifestly perceived, that, in order to favour them, I had concealed many particulars, and often said the thing which was not.
虽然他明显注意到，为了让他们受益，我隐瞒了很多细节，经常说了不是真的事情。

“He was the more confirmed in this opinion, because, he observed, that as I agreed in every feature of my body with other Yahoos, except where it was to my real disadvantage in point of strength, speed, and activity, the shortness of my claws, and some other particulars where nature had no part; —
“他更加坚信这一观点，因为他观察到，除了我在实力、速度和活动性方面的真正劣势，爪子短小和其他自然条件下的细节之外，我的身体特征与其他雅虎完全一致； —

so from the representation I had given him of our lives, our manners, and our actions, he found as near a resemblance in the disposition of our minds. —
所以从我们的生活，礼仪和行为的描述中，他在我们的心态中发现了相似之处。 —

” He said, “the Yahoos were known to hate one another, more than they did any different species of animals; —
“他说， Yahoos 众所周知比他们对其他动物物种更加互相憎恨； —

and the reason usually assigned was, the odiousness of their own shapes, which all could see in the rest, but not in themselves. —
而通常的原因是，他们自己形状的可憎，其他人都能看得到，但自己却看不见。 —

He had therefore begun to think it not unwise in us to cover our bodies, and by that invention conceal many of our deformities from each other, which would else be hardly supportable. —
因此，他开始认为我们用衣物遮盖身体并隐藏我们的丑陋是明智的，否则彼此之间的不和将难以忍受。 —

But he now found he had been mistaken, and that the dissensions of those brutes in his country were owing to the same cause with ours, as I had described them. —
但他现在发现他错了，他们国家里那些野兽之间的分歧与我描述的是同样的原因。 —

For if,” said he, “you throw among five Yahoos as much food as would be sufficient for fifty, they will, instead of eating peaceably, fall together by the ears, each single one impatient to have all to itself; —
因为， ”他说，“如果你在五只 Yahoos 中投入足够供五十只食物，他们将不是和平地吃，而是争相争夺，每一只都迫不及待地想要全部都归自己所有； —

and therefore a servant was usually employed to stand by while they were feeding abroad, and those kept at home were tied at a distance from each other: —
因此通常会雇佣一个仆人在它们外出进食时守候，而那些留在家里的则被绑在彼此相隔一段距离的地方。 —

that if a cow died of age or accident, before a Houyhnhnm could secure it for his own Yahoos, those in the neighbourhood would come in herds to seize it, and then would ensue such a battle as I had described, with terrible wounds made by their claws on both sides, although they seldom were able to kill one another, for want of such convenient instruments of death as we had invented. —
因此，即使是在一个侯赫纳姆争取为他自己的雅虎保护牛时，如果一头牛因年老或意外死亡，附近的雅虎群体也会前来抢夺，然后会发生我所描述的恐怖战斗，双方的爪子会造成可怕的伤口，尽管它们很少能够互相杀死，因为它们缺乏我们发明的便利的杀伤工具。 —

At other times, the like battles have been fought between the Yahoos of several neighbourhoods, without any visible cause; —
其他时候，有时候各个地区的雅虎之间会发生类似的战斗，没有明显的原因； —

those of one district watching all opportunities to surprise the next, before they are prepared. —
一个地区的雅虎会等待一切机会突袭下一个地区，而后者却没有做好准备。 —

But if they find their project has miscarried, they return home, and, for want of enemies, engage in what I call a civil war among themselves.
但如果他们发现他们的计划失败了，他们就会回家，由于缺乏敌人，陷入我所称之为内战的局面。

“That in some fields of his country there are certain shining stones of several colours, whereof the Yahoos are violently fond: —
“在他的国家的某些领域，有一些彩色的闪烁石头，雅虎们对此非常痴迷： —

and when part of these stones is fixed in the earth, as it sometimes happens, they will dig with their claws for whole days to get them out; —
有时候，当这些石头的一部分被固定在地里时，它们会用爪子挖上整整一天来将它们取出； —

then carry them away, and hide them by heaps in their kennels; —
然后带走它们，堆放在它们的窝里藏起来； —

but still looking round with great caution, for fear their comrades should find out their treasure. —
但仍然非常小心地四处张望，害怕同伴发现它们的宝藏。 —

” My master said, “he could never discover the reason of this unnatural appetite, or how these stones could be of any use to a Yahoo; —
”我的主人说，“他从来没有发现这种不自然的欲望的原因，也不知道这些石头对一只雅虎有什么用处； —

but now he believed it might proceed from the same principle of avarice which I had ascribed to mankind. —
但是现在他相信它可能源于我所归因于人类的贪婪原则。 —

That he had once, by way of experiment, privately removed a heap of these stones from the place where one of his Yahoos had buried it; —
他曾经进行过一次实验，私下搬走了一堆这些石头，这些石头是一只他的雅虎埋起来的地方。” —

whereupon the sordid animal, missing his treasure, by his loud lamenting brought the whole herd to the place, there miserably howled, then fell to biting and tearing the rest, began to pine away, would neither eat, nor sleep, nor work, till he ordered a servant privately to convey the stones into the same hole, and hide them as before; —
于是那只肮脏的动物因为失去了宝藏而大声痛哭，把整个群体都引来了，它们可怜兮兮地嚎叫着，然后开始咬嚼并撕裂其他动物，开始憔悴不堪，不吃不睡不工作，直到他私下命令一个仆人将石头再次放入同一个洞里，并像之前那样隐藏起来； —

which, when his Yahoo had found, he presently recovered his spirits and good humour, but took good care to remove them to a better hiding place, and has ever since been a very serviceable brute.”
当他的雅虎找到了那些石头后，他立刻恢复了精神和好心情，但他小心翼翼地把它们移到了更安全的藏匿地点，自那以后一直是一个非常有用的生物。

My master further assured me, which I also observed myself, “that in the fields where the shining stones abound, the fiercest and most frequent battles are fought, occasioned by perpetual inroads of the neighbouring Yahoos.”
我的主人进一步向我保证，我也亲眼看到了，”那些闪烁的石头聚集的那些领域里，发生着最凶猛和频繁的战斗，是由于邻近的雅虎不断侵略造成的。

He said, “it was common, when two Yahoos discovered such a stone in a field, and were contending which of them should be the proprietor, a third would take the advantage, and carry it away from them both; —
他说，”当两只雅虎在田地里发现这样的石头，并争夺谁是所有者时，第三只雅虎会占据优势，把它从他们两个手中夺走。 —

” which my master would needs contend to have some kind of resemblance with our suits at law; —
”我的主人坚持认为这有些类似于我们的诉讼程序； —

wherein I thought it for our credit not to undeceive him; —
我认为不告诉他实情对我们有利； —

since the decision he mentioned was much more equitable than many decrees among us; —
因为他提到的裁决比我们很多裁决更公正； —

because the plaintiff and defendant there lost nothing beside the stone they contended for: —
因为在那个裁决中，原告和被告都只是失去争夺的石头，仅此而已： —

whereas our courts of equity would never have dismissed the cause, while either of them had any thing left.
而我们的衡平法庭则决不会在他们中任何一方还剩下任何东西时就撤销案件。

My master, continuing his discourse, said, “there was nothing that rendered the Yahoos more odious, than their undistinguishing appetite to devour every thing that came in their way, whether herbs, roots, berries, the corrupted flesh of animals, or all mingled together: —
我的主人继续他的论述，说：“没有什么能让雅虎人更令人讨厌的了，就是他们对任何落入他们手中的东西都没有区分的欲望，无论是草、根、浆果、腐烂的动物肉，还是混在一起的食物： —

and it was peculiar in their temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by rapine or stealth, at a greater distance, than much better food provided for them at home. —
而且他们的气质很特别，更喜欢通过劫掠或偷窃获得远处的食物，而不是在家中得到更好的食物。 —

If their prey held out, they would eat till they were ready to burst; —
如果他们的猎物还够，他们会一直吃到胀破为止； —

after which, nature had pointed out to them a certain root that gave them a general evacuation.
之后，大自然向他们指出了一种根，能够让他们获得整体排毒效果。

“There was also another kind of root, very juicy, but somewhat rare and difficult to be found, which the Yahoos sought for with much eagerness, and would suck it with great delight; —
还有一种根，非常多汁，但相对罕见和难以寻找，雅虎们非常热衷于寻找它，并以极大的愉悦吮吸它； —

it produced in them the same effects that wine has upon us. —
它在他们身上产生了与我们对酒的效果相同的效果。 —

It would make them sometimes hug, and sometimes tear one another; —
它会让他们有时互相拥抱，有时互相撕咬； —

they would howl, and grin, and chatter, and reel, and tumble, and then fall asleep in the mud.”
他们会呼叫、龇牙、咀嚼、晃晃悠悠地行走，然后在泥泞中睡着。

I did indeed observe that the Yahoos were the only animals in this country subject to any diseases; —
确实观察到雅虎是这个国家唯一患病的动物； —

which, however, were much fewer than horses have among us, and contracted, not by any ill-treatment they meet with, but by the nastiness and greediness of that sordid brute. —
然而，这些疾病比我们马匹身上的少得多，并且没有因受到任何虐待而感染，而是由那种卑鄙畜生的肮脏和贪婪导致。 —

Neither has their language any more than a general appellation for those maladies, which is borrowed from the name of the beast, and called hnea-yahoo, or Yahoo’s evil; —
他们的语言也没有比我们多描述那些疾病的特定名称，只是借用了这种动物的名字，称之为雅虎之恶，或雅虎的邪恶。 —

and the cure prescribed is a mixture of their own dung and urine, forcibly put down the Yahoo’s throat. —
治疗的方法是将它们自己的粪便和尿液混合，强行灌入雅虎的喉咙里。 —

This I have since often known to have been taken with success, and do here freely recommend it to my countrymen for the public good, as an admirable specific against all diseases produced by repletion.
我后来经常听说这种方法被成功地采用，因此我在这里为了公共利益自由地推荐给我的同胞，作为一个对由于饮食过度引起的所有疾病的绝妙特效。

“As to learning, government, arts, manufactures, and the like,” my master confessed, “he could find little or no resemblance between the Yahoos of that country and those in ours; —
至于学问、政府、艺术、制造业等等，我主人承认，“他很难在那个国家的雅虎与我们这里的雅虎之间找到多少相似之处； —

for he only meant to observe what parity there was in our natures. —
因为他只是想观察我们的本质是否类似。 —

He had heard, indeed, some curious Houyhnhnms observe, that in most herds there was a sort of ruling Yahoo (as among us there is generally some leading or principal stag in a park), who was always more deformed in body, and mischievous in disposition, than any of the rest; —
他确实听说过一些有趣的豪因恩姆（Houyhnhnm）观察到，大多数群体中都有一种统治着的雅虎（就像我们公园里通常有一只领导或主要的鹿），它在身体上总是更加畸形，性情更加恶劣，比其他成员更加凶残； —

that this leader had usually a favourite as like himself as he could get, whose employment was to lick his master’s feet and posteriors, and drive the female Yahoos to his kennel; —
这个领导经常有一个喜爱者，就像自己一样，他的职责是舔他主人的脚和屁股，把雌性雅虎赶到狗窝。 —

for which he was now and then rewarded with a piece of ass’s flesh. —
为此，偶尔他会得到一块驴肉作为奖励。 —

This favourite is hated by the whole herd, and therefore, to protect himself, keeps always near the person of his leader. —
这个喜爱者被整个群体所憎恨，因此为了自保，他总是靠近领导的人。 —

He usually continues in office till a worse can be found; —
他通常会一直任职，直到找到一个更差的人。 —

but the very moment he is discarded, his successor, at the head of all the Yahoos in that district, young and old, male and female, come in a body, and discharge their excrements upon him from head to foot. —
但是一旦他被解雇，他的继任者将带领该地区的所有雅虎，不分年龄、性别，集体向他身上的从头到脚排泄物。 —

But how far this might be applicable to our courts, and favourites, and ministers of state, my master said I could best determine.”
但是关于这点在我们的法庭、宠儿和国家部长们是否适用，我主人说我最能确定。

I durst make no return to this malicious insinuation, which debased human understanding below the sagacity of a common hound, who has judgment enough to distinguish and follow the cry of the ablest dog in the pack, without being ever mistaken.
我不敢对这种恶意的暗示作出回应，这种言辞将人类的理解屈尊到了普通猎犬的领悟能力以下，即使是能够辨别并追随一群中最聪明的狗的呼声，也绝不会犯错误。

My master told me, “there were some qualities remarkable in the Yahoos, which he had not observed me to mention, or at least very slightly, in the accounts I had given of humankind. —
主人告诉我，“雅虎身上有一些特质非常显著，而我在对人类的描述中似乎没有或者只轻描淡写地提到过。” —

” He said, “those animals, like other brutes, had their females in common; —
“他说那些动物，像其他畜生一样，它们的雌雄是共有的； —

but in this they differed, that the she Yahoo would admit the males while she was pregnant; —
但是不同的是，雌性雅虎在怀孕时会接纳雄性； —

and that the hes would quarrel and fight with the females, as fiercely as with each other; —
并且雄性会和雌性激烈地争斗，就像他们彼此之间争斗一样； —

both which practices were such degrees of infamous brutality, as no other sensitive creature ever arrived at.
这两种行为都是极为可耻的野蛮行径，其他有感知能力的生物从来没有达到过这种程度。

“Another thing he wondered at in the Yahoos, was their strange disposition to nastiness and dirt; —
“雅虎身上另一个他惊奇的地方是它们对肮脏和污垢的奇怪倾向； —

whereas there appears to be a natural love of cleanliness in all other animals. —
而其他动物似乎都有一种对清洁的天然喜爱。” —

” As to the two former accusations, I was glad to let them pass without any reply, because I had not a word to offer upon them in defence of my species, which otherwise I certainly had done from my own inclinations. —
“至于前两项指控，我很高兴没有做任何辩解就让它们过去，因为我无法为我的种族提供任何辩护的词语，尽管从我的本性来说，我肯定会这样做。 —

But I could have easily vindicated humankind from the imputation of singularity upon the last article, if there had been any swine in that country (as unluckily for me there were not), which, although it may be a sweeter quadruped than a Yahoo, cannot, I humbly conceive, in justice, pretend to more cleanliness; —
但如果那个国家有一些猪（不幸的是，对我来说没有），我本可以轻而易举地证明人类不是在最后一条中的奇怪行为，虽然它可能比雅虎更甜蜜，但我谦卑地认为，以公正的观点来看，它不可能更加干净； —

and so his honour himself must have owned, if he had seen their filthy way of feeding, and their custom of wallowing and sleeping in the mud.
而且他的尊贵应该承认，如果他见过它们肮脏的进食方式，以及它们在泥中打滚和睡觉的习惯，那种兽性是多么令人厌恶。

My master likewise mentioned another quality which his servants had discovered in several Yahoos, and to him was wholly unaccountable. —
我的主人还提到了他的仆人在几只雅虎身上发现的另一种特质，这种特质对他来说完全无法理解。” —

He said, “a fancy would sometimes take a Yahoo to retire into a corner, to lie down, and howl, and groan, and spurn away all that came near him, although he were young and fat, wanted neither food nor water, nor did the servant imagine what could possibly ail him. —
他说，“有时候，一种怪癖会让雅虎退到角落里，躺下来，嚎叫、呻吟，并踢开所有靠近他的东西，尽管他年轻肥胖，既不缺食物也不缺水，仆人也不明白他到底得了什么病。 —

And the only remedy they found was, to set him to hard work, after which he would infallibly come to himself. —
他们唯一的解决办法就是让他努力工作，然后他必定会恢复正常。 —

” To this I was silent out of partiality to my own kind; —
出于对自己种族的偏爱，我对此保持沉默。 —

yet here I could plainly discover the true seeds of spleen, which only seizes on the lazy, the luxurious, and the rich; —
然而在这里，我可以清楚地发现脾气暴躁的真正根源，这只会发生在懒惰、奢侈和富人身上；如果他们被迫接受相同的生活方式，我可以确保会治愈他们。 —

who, if they were forced to undergo the same regimen, I would undertake for the cure.
尊敬的先生还注意到，“一只雌性雅虎经常会站在堤岸或灌木丛后观看经过的年轻雄性，然后出现并躲藏，做出许多古怪的姿态和表情，此时人们会闻到她极为恶臭的气味；

His honour had further observed, “that a female Yahoo would often stand behind a bank or a bush, to gaze on the young males passing by, and then appear, and hide, using many antic gestures and grimaces, at which time it was observed that she had a most offensive smell; —
这种行为被认为是雌性雅虎的特征。 —

and when any of the males advanced, would slowly retire, looking often back, and with a counterfeit show of fear, run off into some convenient place, where she knew the male would follow her.
当任何一只雄性向前迈进时，她会慢慢地退缩，经常回头看着，并假装害怕地逃到某个方便的地方，她知道雄性会跟着她走。

“At other times, if a female stranger came among them, three or four of her own sex would get about her, and stare, and chatter, and grin, and smell her all over; —
“而在其他时候，如果有一只陌生的雌性来到它们中间，她身边会有三四只同类围着她，盯着她看，嘁嘁喳喳地说个不停，咧着嘴笑个不停，嗅着她的全身； —

and then turn off with gestures, that seemed to express contempt and disdain.”
然后带着一副似乎表达轻蔑和鄙视的手势走开。”

Perhaps my master might refine a little in these speculations, which he had drawn from what he observed himself, or had been told him by others; —
也许我主人对这些观察得到的思考会更加深入，这些思考他要么是根据自己的观察得出的，要么是别人告诉他的。 —

however, I could not reflect without some amazement, and much sorrow, that the rudiments of lewdness, coquetry, censure, and scandal, should have place by instinct in womankind.
然而，我不能不感到惊讶和悲伤的是，淫荡、妖艳、苛评和流言蜚语的根源居然在女性中凭借本能存在。

I expected every moment that my master would accuse the Yahoos of those unnatural appetites in both sexes, so common among us. —
我期待着我的主人会谴责人类中普遍存在的这种不自然的两性欲望。 —

But nature, it seems, has not been so expert a school-mistress; —
但是，自然似乎并不是一个如此熟练的教师； —

and these politer pleasures are entirely the productions of art and reason on our side of the globe.
而这些更加文明的享乐完全是我们这个地球半球上艺术和理性的产物。