以下是来自北京外国语大学2013年的真题，翻译练习(难度：★★★★)
Shakespeare starts by assuming1&2 that to make yourself powerless is to invite an attack. This does not mean that everyone will turn against3 you, but in all probability4 someone will. If you throw away your weapons, some less scrupulous5 person will pick them up. If you turn the other cheek, you will get a harder blow on it than you got on the first one. This does not always happen, but it is to be expected, and you ought not to complain if it does happen. The second blow is, so to speak6, part of the act of turning the other cheek. First of all, therefore, there is the vulgar7, common-sense moral: “Don’t relinquish8 power, don’t give away your lands.” But there is also another moral. Shakespeare never utters it in so many words, and it does not very much matter whether he was fully aware of it: “Give away your lands if you want to, but don’t expect to gain happiness by doing so. Probably you won’t gain happiness. If you live for others, you must live for others, and not as a roundabout9 way of getting an advantage for yourself.”
难点词句解析：
1. assume v.假定;假设;认为
e.g. It is generally assumed that stress is caused by too much work. 普遍认为，紧张是工作过重所致。
2. starts by doing sth. 惯用搭配。以做某事开始，先做某事。
相似辨析：
start with 从...开始(后接名词)
e.g. We all start with preconceived notions of what we want from life.
我们开始时都对自己想从生活中得到什么抱有一些预想。
to start with (给出首要理由)首先，第一;起初，开始时
e.g. She wasn’t keen on the idea to start with. 她一开始并不喜欢这个主意。
3. turn against sb (使)与…反目成仇，变得敌对
e.g. She turned against her old friend. 她与老朋友翻脸了。
4. in all probability 十有八九，很可能
e.g. In all probability he failed to understand the consequences of his actions. 他很可能未了解到行动的后果。
5. scrupulous a.审慎正直的;恪守道德规范的
e.g. He was scrupulous in all his business dealings. 他在所做的一切商业交易中都是清白的。
6. so to speak 可以说;可谓
7. vulgar a.庸俗的;粗俗的;粗野的;不雅的 *此处意译为粗浅的
8. relinquish v.(尤指不情愿地)放弃
e.g. He was forced to relinquish control of the company. 他被迫放弃对公司的控制权。
9. roundabout a.迂回的;间接的;兜圈子的
e.g. It was a difficult and roundabout trip. 这是一次艰难而曲折的旅行。
节选出处：Lear, Tolstoy and the Fool George Orwell, Polemic, 7. March 1947.
翻译参考
莎士比亚一开始就认为，自己放弃权利就等于招引攻击。这并不意味着人人都会与你为敌，但一些人很可能会攻击你。如果你扔掉了你的武器，那么一些不太正直的人就会捡起它们。别人打你一耳光，如果你把你的另一半脸伸出去，那么你挨的打可能比第一次更重。这并不总是发生，但却在所难免。如果真的发生了，你也没什么可抱怨的。可以这么说，第二个耳光是你把另一半脸伸给对方的结果。因此，一开始就有了这样一个略显粗浅而又颇富常识性的认识：“不要放弃你的权利，也不要交出你的土地。”但它还有另一层寓意。莎士比亚没有用长长的篇幅来表述，甚至这层寓意是否完全明了也无关紧要：“如果你愿意，你可以交出你的土地，但是别指望借此得到幸福。很可能你不会得到幸福。如果你为别人而活，那你只能为别人而活，而无法把这当成是一条牟取私利的迂回道路”。
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