Article : 差不多先生传 Part IV

  • We have learnt about the word “差不多”, which means “almost” or “more or less”.
  • We have studied the Part I and Part II and PartIII of the article “差不多先生传” by 胡适 ( Hu Shi ).
  • Today we will continue the article with Part IV.
  • If you have any words that you don’t understand, please post it in the comment section. I will try to explain further.

Part IV

差不多先生传 (The Chronicle of Mr. “More or Less” / “Close Enough”)

有一天,他忽然得了急病,赶快叫家人去请东街的汪医生。

One day, he came down with an acute illness. He sent a family member to fetch Dr. Wong from the Eastern Avenue.

 

那家人急急忙忙地跑去,一时寻不着东街的汪大夫,却把西街牛医王大夫请来了。

The family member, in a hurry, couldn’t find Dr. Wong from the Eastern Avenue, but instead brought back a cow doctor, Dr. Wang from the Western Avenue.

 

差不多先生病在床上,知道寻错了人;但病急了,身上痛苦,心里焦急,等不得了,心里想道:“好在王大夫同汪大夫也差不多,让他试试看罢。”

Mr. Close Enough, as sick as he was lying on the bed, knew that it was not the right doctor, but as he was in such great pain and too worried to wait any longer, he thought, “This Dr. Wang seems to be close enough to the other Dr. Wang. Why not let him have a try?”

 

于是这位牛医王大夫走近床前,用医牛的法子给差不多先生治病。

Thus the wrong Dr. Wang came to his bed, and applied the method he used as a vet to treat cows to Mr. Close Enough.

 

不上一点钟,差不多先生就一命呜呼了。

In less than one hour, Mr. Close Enough was dead.

 

差不多先生差不多要死的时候,一口气断断续续地说道:

When Mr. Close Enough was about to die, he gasped:

 

“活人同死人也差……差……差不多,……凡事只要……差……差……不多……就……好了,……何……何……必……太……太认真呢?”

“A live man… and a dead man… are close enough. As long as… it is close enough, we are fine. Why bother… to be so precise?”

 

他说完了这句格言,方才绝气了。

Having finished his mantra, he took his last breath.

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