Put money in thy purse，《经济学人》英语精读

Put money in thy purse
Why job-hunting do-gooders should ponder the counterfactual
《经济学人》6月2日
板块：International
英语全文请见本文结尾

6月2日这期《经济学人》中，“国际”板块的主题文章是Effective altruism，介绍分析了一种关于慈善活动的主张作法：在进行慈善活动等利他行为（altruism）时，人们应该努力把效果效益最大化（Effective）。

下面讲的Put money in thy purse这篇文章，就主题文章提供了辅助背景，角度是“选择职业”。主标题Put money in thy purse，是一句名言，采用祈使语气，劝告读者“多挣些钱”。

副标题Why job-hunting do-gooders should ponder the counterfactual，是一个名词从句，意思是“如果想做好事，那么，在找工作时，应该考虑那些能多挣钱的工作。”

副标题中的the counterfactual是个抽象说法，意思是“与事实相反的情况”，直译的话，可以称为“反其道而行之”。但为了清楚明白，最好直接把具体的含义翻译出来，也就是“对自己有利的事情”或“能多挣钱的工作”。

标题：《奥赛罗》的台词名句

《经济学人》的文章，经常引用名言名句作为标题。这篇文章的标题Put money in thy purse，就是出自莎士比亚戏剧《奥赛罗》的台词；《经济学人》的目标读者，也就是欧美国家的主流人群，大多都熟知。

这句台词位于剧中第1幕、第3场，是Iago和Roderigo之间的对话。虽然《奥赛罗》整体来说是部悲剧，但这个片段充满了喜剧效果。

这时，Othello刚刚公开Desdemona的婚姻；而Roderigo深深地爱恋Desdemona，听到消息后痛不欲生，想要投河自杀。

Iago意图报复Othello，之前曾答应帮助Roderigo成全对Desdemona的爱恋。看到Roderigo心灰意冷，Iago就劝告Roderigo不要放弃，同时督促Roderigo多多准备钱财、交给自己，好作为继续追求Desdemona的经费。

这句台词所表现的是：Iago在做坏事时、时刻不会忘记从中得到钱财利益。而作为这篇文章的标题，Put money in thy purse多少有些irony的意味：只有自己多挣钱、才能多做善事并把效益最大化。

下面是《奥赛罗》中的原文：

Iago: ... Put money in thy purse; follow thou the wars; defeat thy favor with an usurp'd beard. I say put money in thy purse. It cannot be long that Desdemona should continue her love to the Moor—put money in thy purse—nor he his to her.

Othello Act 1, scene 3, 336–344

其中，thy相当于今天的your，thou相当于you；Moor在当时指非洲西北地区的人，这里特指Othello。

在这段台词中，Iago一面出谋划策，让Roderigo跟随Othello夫妇前去边疆战场（follow thou the wars）、粘上假胡子乔装改扮（defeat thy favor with an usurp'd beard），并告诉Roderigo，虽然结了婚，但Othello和Desdemona的爱情不会长久；与此同时，Iago反复地提醒Roderigo，要多多准备钱财（Put money in thy purse）、供自己开销。

这段视频片段，选自英国National Theater的《奥赛罗》版本。

英语精读：第1段

文章篇幅不长，大约400个单词，分为5个自然段。

WHEN Kit Harris was a student at Oxford University, he was not sure what he wanted to do later. He thought about becoming an actuary—decent pay and hours and the chance to use his training in probability theory. But, though Mr Harris enjoyed solving maths puzzles, he also wanted to help the less fortunate. Dilemma resolved! Naturally, he took a job as a derivatives trader.

第1段从具体的个案入手。多年前，有个名叫Kit Harris的人，在牛津大学读书，但拿不准自己毕业之后应该做什么工作。

一方面，Harris觉得毕业后应该到保险公司当精算师（actuary），原因是，精算师的工作，不但收入不菲、时间轻松，而且，自己学的专业是数学概率论（probability theory），当精算师可以有机会发挥运用自己所接受的教育训练。

另一方面，Harris虽然喜欢做数学难题，但同时也有志于慈善事业，希望能帮助那些不像自己这样幸运的人。

最后，Harris终于解决了这个矛盾（Dilemma ）：选择了金融衍生品的交易员的工作（derivatives trader）。

背景知识、英语词汇

要想全面地理解文章的含义，我们需要了解一些相关背景知识。这一段中包含几个专业名词，如actuary和derivatives trader，除了字面含义，我们还需要知道其背后的保险、证券行业常识。

通常来说，derivatives trader的收入，比actuary还要高出很多。但是，推销金融衍生品却对慈善事业没什么帮助。十年前美国发生次贷危机，导致全球经济衰退，就是由于滥发金融衍生品所导致。因此，在很多人的印象中，金融衍生品只会给世界添乱，而不是让世界更美好。

Actuary和derivatives、以及probability theory等，都属于专业词汇、百科知识，在阅读中能认识就可以了，平常使用的机会不多。从日常实用的角度来说，decent这个单词更值得学习，decent原意主要用来形容人的品格或行为，意思是“待人处事公道正派、值得尊敬”。

同时，decent还有引申含义，可以形容事物，意思相当于“good enough”，即，像样的、相当不错的。在这篇文章中，decent形容的是“pay and hours”，工资收入和工作时间。

除了上面两个含义，decent还有“穿好衣服”的含义。在电影电视中，经常会看到这样的情境，有人晚上或清晨来敲门，房间里的人让对方稍等，称“I’m not decent”，意思是指，自己暂时还没穿好衣服，稍等一会儿再去开门。

另外，Dilemma这个词也值得一说。Dilemma通常会译为“矛盾”，或者更宽泛地译为“问题”。实际上，Dilemma所表示的含义要更加确切具体，指的是“难以做出选择”。

在用法上，Dilemma结合了“左右为难”和“鱼与熊掌”这两个中文成语的含义；既可以指两个同样好的选择（equally undesirable）无法兼得，如“鱼与熊掌”；也可以指两个同样不好的选择（equally undesirable），如“左右为难”。

Dilemma是个抽象概念，在英语中还有很多更形象的说法，例如，把Dilemma比喻成一个长着犄角的野兽，"being on the horns of a dilemma"。

还有表示Dilemma含义的其它形象说法，但在语义上都有局限，仅用于指两个同样不好的选择（equally undesirable），包括：
"Between a rock and a hard place",
"Out of the frying pan into the fire"

有些源于自基督教：
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't"
"Between the devil and the deep blue sea"

还有源于希腊神话荷马史诗的表达方法：
"Between Scylla and Charybdis"

第1段结尾一句中的Naturally，也值得注意。在这里，Naturally是所谓的评注状语，不是描述Harris的行为，而是表达文章作者的态度评论，含义是“理所当然地”。

中文较少使用评注状语，但在英语中却经常出现，除了Naturally，还有inevitably, of course, unsurprisingly, counter-intuitively, doubtless, 以及最常见的obviously, clearly, apparently。有些评注状语不容易翻译成通顺的中文，翻译时经常会略去。

不仅是书面语，评注状语在日常口语中也经常出现。如果想把英语说得、写得更地道，就需要掌握这些评注状语之间的细微差别和用法。

第2段

He reasoned that, though plenty of do-gooders can grab entry-level jobs at non-profit groups, few have the quantitative skills to earn six-figure salaries at a bank. So he could make more of a difference by taking a lucrative job and donating large chunks of salary than by working for a charity directly.

第1段结束时，作者称Harris的选择是Naturally，“理所当然”，但却没有明确说出依据的是什么“道理”。第2段接续前面，介绍了Harris当年做出这一决定的理由根据。

Harris的思路是：非赢利机构的工作，大多门槛比较低，只要想做慈善，很多人都能胜任。但是，要想在银行证券行业工作、挣到十几万、几十万的年薪（six-figure salaries），就需要像自己一样掌握高等数学、量化分析的技能（quantitative skills）；能胜任的人就凤毛麟角了。

因此，自己可以找一份能挣大钱的工作（a lucrative job），再把一部分收入捐给慈善机构，让慈善机构的工作人员用这些钱去直接帮助别人。这样，自己将能够make more of a difference，发挥更大效果、为慈善事业做出更大的实际贡献。

第3段

Shunning his own advice, Mr Harris has since left finance to work for the Centre for Effective Altruism in Oxford. One of its initiatives, 80,000 Hours, advises people on careers they should pick to maximise their impact on the world. It argues such decisions should be based not on how much good a profession does overall, but on how much good an individual would do personally.

第3段，时间从过去转到现在：目前，Harris已经离开金融行业，来到一家慈善机构工作。慈善机构的名称是Centre for Effective Altruism，运营的一个项目称作80,000 Hours。80,000 Hours项目的目的，是为人们提供就业指导，建议人们按照Harris的思路来选择工作，从而把慈善行为的效果最大化。

One woman started her career as a teacher, but doubted she was actually making any impact. Inspired by 80,000 Hours, she decided to work for an investment bank instead, calculating that she would have much more money to donate. Her leftish friends were aghast.

这段的最后，介绍了一个现实生活中的案例：一位女士采纳了80,000 Hours项目的逻辑，没有到学校去教书育人，而是选择到投资银行工作、帮助商业公司上市，然后再捐赠部分收入给慈善机构。

最后两段

Medicine is another obvious profession for do-gooders. It is not one, however, on which 80,000 Hours is very keen. Rich countries have plenty of doctors, and even the best clinicians can see only one patient at a time. So the impact that a single doctor will have is minimal. Gregory Lewis, a public-health researcher, estimates that adding an additional doctor to America’s labour supply would yield health benefits equivalent to only around four lives saved.

第4段和第5段，扩展到更大领域。文章继续分析Harris和80,000 Hours项目所提倡的择业理念，选择医疗行业作为示例。在发达国家，医疗条件目前已经非常优越；根据调查研究，在美国，如果医生总数增加1名，能够挽救4个人的生命。（中低收入国家医生短缺，如果增加1名医生，所挽救的生命数量要远高于此。）

The typical medical student, however, should expect to save closer to no lives at all. Entrance to medical school is competitive. So a student who is accepted would not increase a given country’s total stock of doctors. Instead, she would merely be taking the place of someone who is slightly less qualified. Doctors, though, do make good money, especially in America. A plastic surgeon who donates half of her earnings to charity will probably have much bigger social impact on the margin than an emergency-room doctor who donates none.

而且，在美国等发达国家，医疗行业已经达到了从业人员的饱和，不太可能再增加医生的数量。医学院的招生名额也有限制；如果自己考进了医学院，那么只会挤掉别人当医生的机会，而不会增加医生队伍的人数。

但是，在发达国家，医生是高收入行业，如果有慈善理想、想让世界变得更美好，更有效的作法是：当医生挣钱、然后再捐赠一部分收入。从这个意义上来说，当整形医生要比当急诊医生产生更大的实际效果。

英语全文

Career choices
Put money in thy purse
Why job-hunting do-gooders should ponder the counterfactual

WHEN Kit Harris was a student at Oxford University, he was not sure what he wanted to do later. He thought about becoming an actuary—decent pay and hours and the chance to use his training in probability theory. But, though Mr Harris enjoyed solving maths puzzles, he also wanted to help the less fortunate. Dilemma resolved! Naturally, he took a job as a derivatives trader.

He reasoned that, though plenty of do-gooders can grab entry-level jobs at non-profit groups, few have the quantitative skills to earn six-figure salaries at a bank. So he could make more of a difference by taking a lucrative job and donating large chunks of salary than by working for a charity directly.

Shunning his own advice, Mr Harris has since left finance to work for the Centre for Effective Altruism in Oxford. One of its initiatives, 80,000 Hours, advises people on careers they should pick to maximise their impact on the world. It argues such decisions should be based not on how much good a profession does overall, but on how much good an individual would do personally. One woman started her career as a teacher, but doubted she was actually making any impact. Inspired by 80,000 Hours, she decided to work for an investment bank instead, calculating that she would have much more money to donate. Her leftish friends were aghast.

Medicine is another obvious profession for do-gooders. It is not one, however, on which 80,000 Hours is very keen. Rich countries have plenty of doctors, and even the best clinicians can see only one patient at a time. So the impact that a single doctor will have is minimal. Gregory Lewis, a public-health researcher, estimates that adding an additional doctor to America’s labour supply would yield health benefits equivalent to only around four lives saved.

The typical medical student, however, should expect to save closer to no lives at all. Entrance to medical school is competitive. So a student who is accepted would not increase a given country’s total stock of doctors. Instead, she would merely be taking the place of someone who is slightly less qualified. Doctors, though, do make good money, especially in America. A plastic surgeon who donates half of her earnings to charity will probably have much bigger social impact on the margin than an emergency-room doctor who donates none.

END.

本文作者公众号：阿则外