<p>Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century poet, a philosopher, his works can't be interpreted word by word.</p>
<p>In order to understand &quot;...too much handiwork&quot; or too much lymph in the temperament were making our Western wits fat and mean.&quot;, we need to address what is &quot;lymph&quot;, and the consequence of having too much of it.</p>
<p><strong>Lymph - a body fluid (water).</strong></p>
<p>A web search tells that too much lymph may cause the common disease lymphedema - <strong>swelling (fat)</strong> of a body part caused by a lymphatic fluid buildup in the tissues, and the symptom &quot;is accompanied by languid vital actions, with weakness and slowness in the circulation. <strong>The brain, as part of the system, is also slow, languid, and feeble in its action, and the mental manifestations are proportionally weak</strong>.&quot; (Ref: <a href="http://www.historyofphrenology.org.uk/temperament.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.historyofphrenology.org.uk/temperament.htm</a>)</p>
<p>Note that, in my opinion, &quot;too much lymph in the temperament (a person's nature)&quot; is a hidden gem similar to the Chinese saying &quot;腦子進水了&quot;, which means &quot;凡事不用大腦&quot; or &quot;生性疏懒 - 懒得用腦&quot;.</p>
<p>Finally, who is likely to be criticized for having such a nature/disease - a handicraftsman or a person who sits and performs deskwork (文案工作)?</p>
<p>According to the analysis above, I think the translation is quite accurate in conveying the writer's thoughts.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-03T22:02:16.190Z
2023-09-03T22:02:16.190Z
r13
<p>With a name like Ralph Waldo what can you expect?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lymphatic temperament is a temperament in which the lymphatic system
seems to predominate. The complexion lacks color and the tissues seem
to be of loose texture, resulting in a temperament lacking energy,
inactive, indisposed to exertion or excitement</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The old English from 168 years ago sounds weird, uncouth and disjointed. Also, I have no idea what the vernacular and vocabulary of Chinese 168 years ago might be like.</p>
<p>My personal interpretation of Ralph Waldo's references:</p>
<p>Nature: the nature or character of the written word<br />
too much lymph in the temperament: a temperament lacking energy, inactive, indisposed to exertion or excitement<br />
wits: mind, intelligence<br />
handiwork: any kind of manual work, which, as far as authors are concerned is writing. (No computers or AI 168 years ago!)<br />
mean wits: mean = stingy, mean minds, minds not willing to part with many ideas</p>
<p>Translate the old fashioned English:</p>
<p>&quot;It meets the demand I am always making of what seemed the sterile &amp; stingy Nature,&quot;</p>
<p>to become:</p>
<p>Your book meets the demand I am always making of the nature of writing, which heretofore seemed sterile and stingy.</p>
<p>and translate the above:</p>
<p>你的书满足了我一直以来对写作本质的要求。而在以前，写作似乎是一件又乏味和吝啬的事情。</p>
<p>Translate the second part of this old-fashioned English:</p>
<p>&quot;as if too much handiwork, or too much lymph in the temperament, were making our Western wits fat and mean. &quot;</p>
<p>to become:</p>
<p>It seems, too much work, or a lack of energy, is making Western minds fat and mean. (We have become too stingy to use many words when writing.)</p>
<p>似乎，太多的工作或者缺乏活力让西方人的头脑变得迟钝和。(以至于我们不愿意在写作时多使用一点词汇)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-09-03T11:29:48.970Z
2023-09-03T11:29:48.970Z
Pedroski
<p>&quot;It meets the demand I am always making of what seems the sterile and stingy Nature, as if too much handiwork or too much lymph in the temperament were making our Western wits fat and mean.&quot;--Ralph Waldo Emerson</p>
<p>它满足了我对大自然时常抱有的要求（大自然显得贫瘠而吝啬），仿佛过多的案头工作或是生性疏懒，正在使我们西方的才子们变得既肥胖又平庸似的。--译者：黄继忠（原北京大学英语系副教授）</p>
<p>Handiwork is work done by hands, as in a workshop, why is it translated into 案头工作, which often means clerical work or writing?</p>
<p>&quot;Lymph in the temperament&quot; might mean caprice, why is it 生性疏懒, which means not wanting to work?</p>

<translation>
A short sentence of Ralph Waldo Emerson translated into Chinese
# A short sentence of Ralph Waldo Emerson translated into Chinese

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-09-03)

"It meets the demand I am always making of what seems the sterile and stingy Nature, as if too much handiwork or too much lymph in the temperament were making our Western wits fat and mean."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

它满足了我对大自然时常抱有的要求（大自然显得贫瘠而吝啬），仿佛过多的案头工作或是生性疏懒，正在使我们西方的才子们变得既肥胖又平庸似的。--译者：黄继忠（原北京大学英语系副教授）

Handiwork is work done by hands, as in a workshop, why is it translated into 案头工作, which often means clerical work or writing?

"Lymph in the temperament" might mean caprice, why is it 生性疏懒, which means not wanting to work?

**Tags:** translation


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2023-09-03. Score: 1

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century poet, a philosopher, his works can't be interpreted word by word.

In order to understand "...too much handiwork" or too much lymph in the temperament were making our Western wits fat and mean.", we need to address what is "lymph", and the consequence of having too much of it.

**Lymph - a body fluid (water).**

A web search tells that too much lymph may cause the common disease lymphedema - **swelling (fat)** of a body part caused by a lymphatic fluid buildup in the tissues, and the symptom "is accompanied by languid vital actions, with weakness and slowness in the circulation. **The brain, as part of the system, is also slow, languid, and feeble in its action, and the mental manifestations are proportionally weak**." (Ref: <http://www.historyofphrenology.org.uk/temperament.htm>)

Note that, in my opinion, "too much lymph in the temperament (a person's nature)" is a hidden gem similar to the Chinese saying "腦子進水了", which means "凡事不用大腦" or "生性疏懒 - 懒得用腦".

Finally, who is likely to be criticized for having such a nature/disease - a handicraftsman or a person who sits and performs deskwork (文案工作)?

According to the analysis above, I think the translation is quite accurate in conveying the writer's thoughts.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2023-09-03. Score: 0

With a name like Ralph Waldo what can you expect?

> Lymphatic temperament is a temperament in which the lymphatic system
> seems to predominate. The complexion lacks color and the tissues seem
> to be of loose texture, resulting in a temperament lacking energy,
> inactive, indisposed to exertion or excitement

The old English from 168 years ago sounds weird, uncouth and disjointed. Also, I have no idea what the vernacular and vocabulary of Chinese 168 years ago might be like.

My personal interpretation of Ralph Waldo's references:

Nature: the nature or character of the written word  
too much lymph in the temperament: a temperament lacking energy, inactive, indisposed to exertion or excitement  
wits: mind, intelligence  
handiwork: any kind of manual work, which, as far as authors are concerned is writing. (No computers or AI 168 years ago!)  
mean wits: mean = stingy, mean minds, minds not willing to part with many ideas

Translate the old fashioned English:

"It meets the demand I am always making of what seemed the sterile & stingy Nature,"

to become:

Your book meets the demand I am always making of the nature of writing, which heretofore seemed sterile and stingy.

and translate the above:

你的书满足了我一直以来对写作本质的要求。而在以前，写作似乎是一件又乏味和吝啬的事情。

Translate the second part of this old-fashioned English:

"as if too much handiwork, or too much lymph in the temperament, were making our Western wits fat and mean. "

to become:

It seems, too much work, or a lack of energy, is making Western minds fat and mean. (We have become too stingy to use many words when writing.)

似乎，太多的工作或者缺乏活力让西方人的头脑变得迟钝和。(以至于我们不愿意在写作时多使用一点词汇)


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