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1. On the morning of April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln lay dying in a hall bedroom of a cheap lodging house directly across the street from Ford's Theater, where John Wilkes Booth had shot him. Lincoln's long body lay stretched diagonally across a sagging bed that was too short for him. A cheap reproduction of Rosa Bonheur's famous painting The Horse Fair hung above the bed, and a dismal gas jet flickered yellow light.
1.1865年4月15日清晨,亚伯拉罕.林肯奄奄一息地躺在(lay dying)福特戏院对面一家廉价客栈(a cheap lodging house)的卧房里。约翰·威尔克斯·布斯枪杀(shoot-shot-shot)了他。那张下陷的床(a sagging bed)对身材修长的林肯而言实在太短了。床的上方，挂着一件罗莎·邦赫的名画《马市》(the horse fair)的廉价仿制品(reprdoduction)，一盏阴暗的(dismal)煤气灯发出(flicker)惨淡的黄晕。
2. As Lincoln lay dying, Secretary of War Stanton said, "There lies the most perfect ruler of men that the world has ever seen."
2.当林肯奄奄一息地躺着(lay dying)时，陆军部长斯坦顿说：“躺在这里的，是世界上有史以来最完美的元首。”
3. What was the secret of Lincoln's success in dealing with people? I studied the life of Abraham Lincoln for ten years and devoted all of three years to writing and rewriting a book entitled Lincoln the Unknown. I believe I have made as detailed and exhaustive a study of Lincoln's personality and home life as it is possible for any being to make. I made a special study of Lincoln's method of dealing with people. Did he indulge in criticism? Oh, yes. As a young man in the Pigeon Creek Valley of Indiana, he not only criticized but he wrote letters and poems ridiculing people and dropped these letters on the country roads where they were sure to be found. One of these letters aroused resentments that burned for a lifetime.
3.林肯待人方面成功的秘诀是什么？我花了十年的时间研究亚伯拉罕·林肯的一生，并投入(devote to n. or doing sth)了整整三年的时间(all of three years)写作和润色一本叫做(entitled)《林肯不为人知的一面》的书。我相信我已经尽了人类一切的可能(as it is possible for any being to make)，对林肯的个性和他的家庭生活，做了详尽和透彻的研究(detailed and exhoustive a study)。关于林肯待人的方法我还做了特别的研究。(make a study of v. 仔细研究)林肯热衷于(indulge in)批评吗？是的，年轻时，他住在印第安纳州的鸽溪谷；他不但批评他人，还写信做诗揶揄(ridicule)别人，他把写好的信扔到乡间街道上故意让人看到，其中有一封信所引起的怨恨（arouse resentment），延续了一辈子。
4. Even after Lincoln had become a practicing lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, he attacked his opponents openly in letters published in the newspapers. But he did this just once too often.
4.林肯在伊利诺斯州的春田镇，挂牌做了律师后(had become a practicing lawyer)，甚至投书给报社，公开攻击他的对手，但是像这样的事他只做了一次(just once too often; once too often 次数太多)。
5. In the autumn of 1842 he ridiculed a vain, pugnacious politician by the name of James Shields. Lincoln damned him through an anonymous letter published in Springfield Journal. The town roared with laughter. Shields, sensitive and proud, boiled with indignation. He found out who wrote the letter, leaped on his horse, started after Lincoln, and challenged him to fight a duel. Lincoln didn't want to fight. He was opposed to dueling, but he couldn't get out of it and save his honor. He was given the choice of weapons. Since he had very long arms, he chose cavalry broadswords and took lessons in sword fighting from a West Point graduate; and, on the appointed day, he and Shields met on a sandbar in the Mississippi River, prepared to fight to the death; but, at the last minute, their seconds interrupted and stopped the duel.
5.1842年秋季，林肯讥笑(ridicule)一个自大好斗的政客(a vain, pugnacious politician)，这人叫(by the name of)詹姆斯·西尔滋。林肯在春田的报上，刊登出一封匿名信讽刺(damn)他，令镇上的人都捧腹大笑(roar with laughter 哄堂大笑)起来。西尔滋是个敏感（sensitive）和骄傲的人，他怒火中烧。他查出写这封信的人是谁，跳上了马，去找林肯(start after sb. )，要和他作一次决斗(to fight a duel)。林肯不想打架，反对决斗(he was opposed to dueling)，可是为了自己的面子又不能退出（get out of it）。对方给他选择武器的自由。林肯手臂特别长，就选了骑兵用的大砍刀，他向一位西点军校毕业生学习刀术(took lessons in sword fighting)。到了指定的日期(on the appointed day)，他和西尔滋在密西西比河的河滩上碰头，准备决一死战(to the death准备决战到底)，就在最后一刻（at the last minute），他们双方的助阵者(their seconds)介入并阻止了决斗。
6. That was the most lurid personal incident in Lincoln's life. It taught him an invaluable lesson in the art of dealing with people. Never again did he write an insulting letter. Never again did he ridicule anyone. (两句由Never引导的倒装句。) And from that time on, he almost never criticized anybody for anything.
6.在林肯的一生中，这是件最可怕的个人事件(the most lurid personal incident)。在做人的艺术方面，林肯学到了无价的一课。他再没有写过侮辱人的信，也没有取笑过任何人。从那时起（from that time on），他几乎没有因任何事而批评任何人。
7. Time after time, during the Civil War, Lincoln put a new general at the head of the Army of the Potomac, and each one in turn-McClellan, Pope, Burnside, Hooker, Meade-blundered tragically and drove Lincoln to pacing the floor in despair. Half the nation savagely condemned these incompetent generals, but Lincoln, "with malice toward none, with charity for all," held his peace. One of his favorite quotations was "Judge not, that ye be not judged". And when Mrs. Lincoln and others spoke harshly of the southern people, Lincoln replied: "Don't criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances." He had learned by bitter experience that sharp criticisms and rebukes almost invariably end in futility.
7.美国内战的时候，林肯屡次(time after time)委派新将领（依次有柯克林、波伯、伯恩赛德、胡克、米德），统帅“波多马克”军队，可是他们都相继惨败而归（blundered tragically），使林肯绝望地（in despair）在地板上踱步。有一半的国人都在痛骂(savagely condesmned)这些差劲的将领，可是林肯因为“不怨恨任何人，对所有人宽容”（with malice toward none, with charity for all），一声也不吭(保持平静)。他最喜欢引用的一句格言(quotation)是，“不要批评别人，别人(ye)才不会评议你”。当林肯太太和其他人非议(spoke harshly of)南方人士时，林肯总是这样回答：”不要批评他们，我们在相同的情形下，也会像他们一样。”他已经从他的痛苦经验中明白，尖锐的批评、指责(sharp criticisms and rebukes)从来都是(almost invariably)无果而终(end in futility)。
8. Theodore Roosevelt said that when he, as President, was confronted with a perplexing problem, he used to lean back and look up at a large painting of Lincoln which hung above his desk in the White House and ask himself, "What would Lincoln do if he were in my shoes? (虚拟语气) How would he solve this problem? "(虚拟语气) The next time we are tempted to admonish somebody, let's pull a five-dollar bill out of our pocket, look at Lincoln's picture on the bill,-and ask, "How would Lincoln handle this problem if he had it? "(虚拟语气)
8.西奥多·罗斯福说过，他任总统时，每逢遇到棘手的问题，他常会往后一靠，抬头望望他白宫办公桌墙上那张林肯的巨幅画像，并自问：“如果林肯处在我目前的情形(in my shoes, shoe 偏意 [pl.]所处的地位; 境遇)，他会怎么办？他将怎样解决这个问题？”下次我们如果忍不住(be tempted to do sth)要训诫某人时，不妨从口袋拿出一张五元的钞票，看看钞票上林肯的像问自己：“如果林肯遇到这种事，他会如何解决这个问题呢？”
9. Do you know someone you would like to change and regulate and improve? Good! That is fine. I am all in favor of it. But why not begin on yourself? From a purely selfish standpoint, that is a lot more profitable than trying to improve others-yes, and a lot less dangerous. "Don't complain about the snow on your neighbor's roof," said Confucius(孔夫子), "when your own doorstep is unclean."
9.你愿意你认识的人有所改变、调整(regulate)和改进吗？如果是，那很好。我完全赞同(I am all in favor of it)。但为何不从你自己开始呢？站到纯自私的立场上，这要比改进别人获益更多--没错，而且风险更小。孔夫子说过：“如果你的门阶不干净，就不要对你邻居家屋顶上的雪大发牢骚。”（“不能正其身，如正人何？”）
10. When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity. If you and I want to stir up a resentment tomorrow that may rankle across the decades and endure until death, just let us indulge in a little stinging criticism-no matter how certain we are that it is justified.
10.当我们与人相处时，应该记住，我们所接触的不是逻辑生物(creatures of logic)，而是情感生物(creatures of emotion)，会因为偏见(with prejudices)而怒发冲冠(bristle)，也会被骄傲与虚荣心所激励。如果你我明天要造成(stir up 引起; 激起)一种历经数十年，直至死亡才会消失的反感，只要轻轻吐出一句恶毒的评语(a little stinging criticism)就得了--不论你多么肯定自己那样做事理所当然的。
11. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain-and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
11.任何一个愚蠢的人，都会批评人、斥责人、抱怨人，绝大多数蠢人都是这样。若要做到了解和宽恕别人，那就需在性格、自制力(self-control)上下功夫。
12."A great man shows his greatness," said Carlyle, "by the way he treats little men." And Dr. Johnson said: "God himself, sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of his days." Why should you and I?
12.卡莱尔曾经说：”看一个伟人的伟大之处，就是看他如何对待卑微之人(little men)。”约翰逊博士也说过：“上帝在一个人的末日之前是不会给他下结论的。“那么你我又为什么要批评人呢？
