[直译]
In metropolises, a square inch of land is worth a thousand square inch of gold. The price of land is being made higher and higher. Today's land is even higher. The hope of having a little garden is, for the common people, a wild wish, or a pipe dream.
I believe everyone, in effect, has a small garden &his own. And this garden is our very inner world. Human mind needs developing, and their inner world needs developing, too. Apart from the many aspects we all know, what tells humans from animals, I think, is that humans have an inner world. Heart is no more than an important organ, whereas the inner world is full of beautiful sights, which have been gradually formed as the effect of the continuous impact of the outside world. Everyone attaches such great importance to the physical conditions of the heart, of his own, his closest and dearest ones, that a minor disease would cause him great anxiety, but not all of them concern the conditions of their inner world.
[意译]
In metropolises, nothing is more expensive than land. The price of land is sky-rocketing day by day. Today's land becomes so expensive that the hope of having a little garden of one's own is nothing but a wild wish, or pipe dream.
In fact, we all have a small garden of our own. It is nothing but the heart. The mind needs developing, so does the heart. Apart from what we commonly know, the difference between humans and animals, I think, lies in the fact that humans possess the heart. Heart is no more than an important organ of the body, but the heart is full of beautiful sights, having been formed as it takes nourishment from the outside. Many pay attention to the physical conditions of heart, of their own, their closest and dearest ones, so much that a minor condition would cause them great anxiety, but few concern the conditions of the heart.
[解析] 其实:事实上,本来。但是如果把“我想”翻译成“I think,”“I believe”,就不能把“其实”翻译成“in fact”,“as a matter of fact”等;如果用了后者,就不能用前者,因为它们之间冲突很大。
内心世界:这里指情感世界,情绪(emotion, mood),英语中可用“the heart”表示,与“the mind”形成对照。
智力:指人的知识和能力方面,与理智同义,相当于英语的“the mind”,“intellectual”等。切忌从字面出发,把它理解为智能或智力测验中的智力。
景观:指值得观看的景色,有明显的倾向性,即有向他人推销或推荐的意图,因此不能用“landscape”翻译,因为“landscape”缺乏这样的倾向性,是个中性词。