chers, friends and even
those who had used to swagger arrogantly in front of me. I could see none of their faces;
all I could see were the tops of their heads or hats or helmets on their heads. The only faces
I could see would be ingratiating or supplicating – faces that dared not smile to express joy;
faces that dared not refrain from a forced smile when there was no joy at all to justify a
smile; faces that dared not cry to express sorrow; faced that dared not refrain from a
feigned cry when there was no sorrow to justify a cry. I could hear no true voices of my
people. All I could hear would be the feeble, soft, timid and affected voice, like that of a
female Peking opera singer, chanting, “Long live the King!” that would be their language
in toto. “Great is the King, our enlightened lord!” That would be the sole content of their
language. There would be no one above me or on an equal footing with me. I would even
feel bored, lonely and isolated.
Why would people behave like that? Why would they flatter my wife, my children
and my relatives? Because I was king, their master. It would suddenly dawn on me that
living among these flunkeys, including my esteemed elders, teachers and friends, I myself,
too, was nothing but a mere head flunkey.
I am the citizen of the Republic. Being accustomed to the mode of thinking and living
of a republican citizen, I would deeply abhor all servility and flunkeys, including my
esteemed elders, teachers and friends. Dear scientists, please don’t laugh at me. Methinks
the world is very much in need of reform simply because of the presence of these flunkeys,
I would regard it as the deepest disgrace and sorrow of my life to live among the flunkeys
and become their chief. I would rather become a tyrant or an enlightened king so that I
could kill off all my subjects, among them my respected elders, teachers and friends, and
have the flunkey species exterminated once for all. Then, with all my subjects gone, I
would no longer be the king of flunkeys.
If I were king and ultimately ended up becoming no king at all, I would indeed be the
greatest king that had ever breathed since time immemorial. I would join true people all
the world over in giving three cheers for myself.
注释：
《我若为王》是中国现代杰出杂文家聂绀弩（1903－1986）写于1941年的一篇杂文，文字通俗易懂，内容讽刺辛辣，流露了对专制统治者和奴才的蔑视。
(1)“我若为王”译为If I Were King，其中King的前面省略了冠词a 。在职位、头衔、等级等的名词前面大多不用冠词a 或an。
(2)“和影片毫无关系的另外的事”译为something entirely foreign to the film in question ，其中foreign to为成语，作having no relation to 或unconnected with解。又in question 是添加成分，作being talked about（正在讨论的）解。
(3)“我根本不想为王”译为being a king is the last thing I aspire to，其中last 一词作least likely 或most unlikely（最不可能的）解。
(4)“一无所知，一无所能的白痴”译为ignorant or worthless in every way like an idiot，其中in every way作“完全”或“彻头彻尾”解。
(5)“无论他们怎样丑陋，怎样顽劣，怎样……”中的最后一个“怎样”意即“诸如此类的事”或“等等”，现译为or whatnot。英语whatnot作other such things解，为what may not say? 的省略。
(6)“匍匐”在此指俯伏或拜倒动作（表示顺从），现译为prostrate。
(7)“畏葸”做“胆怯”解，现译为timid。
(8)“奴才相”译为servility。英语servility意即slavishness或slave-like deference。
(9)“我以为世界之所以还有待于改进者”译为Methinks the world is very much in need of reform，其中Methinks等于I think或It seems to be，为无人称动词，本为古体词，现常作诙谐打趣用语。
(10)“我若为王，将终于不能为王”译为If I were king and ultimately ended up becoming no king at all，其中ended up是成语，作“告终”解。例如：He never dreamed that he would end up owning such a big fortune.
清 贫
方志敏 ．．網．文．檔．下．載．與．在．線．閱．讀．
我从事革命斗争，已经十余年了。在长期的奋斗中，我一向是过着朴素的生活，
从没有奢侈过。经手的款项，总在数百万元；但为革命而筹集的金钱，是一点一滴地
用之于革命事业。这在国民党的伟人们(1)看来，颇似奇迹，或认为夸张；而矜持不苟，
舍己为公，却是每个共产党员具备的美德。所以，如果有人问身边有没有一些积蓄，
那我可以告诉你一桩趣事(2)：
就在我被俘的那一天——一个最不幸的日子，有两个国民党的兵士，在树林中发
现了我，而且猜到我是什么人的时候，他们满肚子热望在我身上搜出一千或八百大洋
(3)，或者搜出一些金镯金戒指一类的东西，发个意外之财(4)。那知道从我上身摸到下
身，从袄领捏到袜底，除了一只时表和一枝自来水笔之外，一个铜板都没有搜出。他
们于是激怒起来了，猜疑我是把钱藏在那里，不肯拿出来。他们之中有一个左手拿着
一个木柄榴弹，右手拉出榴弹中的引线(5)，双脚拉开一步，作出要抛掷的姿势，用凶
恶的眼光钉住我，威吓地吼道：
“赶快将钱拿出来，不然就是一炸弹，把你炸死去！(6)”
“哼！不要作出那难看的样子来吧！我确实一个铜板都没有存；想从我这里发洋
财，是想错了(7)。”我微笑着淡淡地说。
“你骗谁！(8)像你当大官的人会没有钱！(9)”拿榴弹的兵士坚不相信。
“决不会没有钱的(10)，一定是藏在那里，我是老出门的(11)，骗不得我