p 168the ancient and the modern

The Ancient and the Modern

Ever seen an abacus（算盘）? You know , those centipede（蜈蚣）-like things with wooden beads

（珠子）in rows . They’re sold mostly in knickknack（小摆设，小玩意）import shops , for wall decoration（用来装饰墙壁的）. But , in fact , an abacus is an adding machine（加法器）, calculator ,

and computer（计算器，并不一定是电脑）. On second thought（仔细一想，进一步考虑之后）, that’

s not quite true . The abacus is just a visual record（直观记录）of the computations（n.计算）going on in the mind of the person using it .

算盘见过没？瞧，不就是一排排木珠，像蜈蚣似的东西。这东西多半在卖进口小饰品的店里出售，用来装饰墙壁的。可实际上，这玩意儿是一种加法器，运算器和计算机。但再仔细一想，事情并非完全如此。算盘只不过是将使用者的心算过程呈现出来。

Millions of people in Asia still use the abacus daily . And it has been in use there for a couple of thousand years or more . Not only is it an effective , practical tool , but it is nice（美观）to look at . Nice to hold and touch（摸起来手感也不错）. Wood and brass（铜质）and ivory（象牙）. And the older they get and the longer they are handled by a human being , the lovelier they get（这东西越旧，被人们使用的时间就越久，也就越招人喜欢）–smooth and dark and polished（擦亮的，圆滑的）. They will last for a lifetime ; they will never need updating ; all the software needed to drive them is between your ears（★在两耳之间=在你的脑子里）; and if they break they can be fixed by an eight-year-old with household tools.

数以百万的亚洲人仍每天在使用算盘。在那里，人们使用算盘已经两千年了，甚至更久。算盘不仅是一个有效实用的工具，而且看起来美观。拿着感觉很好，摸起来手感也不错。木质，铜制，象牙制，一应俱全。这东西越旧，被人们使用的时间就越久，也就越招人喜欢——滑溜溜的，黑黝黝的，亮闪闪的。它可以长久使用，不会过时，所需的驱动软件全在的你的脑袋里。如果坏了，八岁小孩就可以用家常工具把它修好。

The presence（出现）of the abacus puts some kinds of progress in perspective. I remember a time when a Japanese-American computer conglomerate（企业集团）moved into the Chinese market in a big way（大张旗鼓地）. In order to demonstrate（展示）the value（实用性）of its small pocket

calculators（袖珍型计算器）, it arranged a contest ，the great abacus-PC（personal computer个人电脑）shootout（枪战，大决战）. The guy who won–the one with the abacus , of course –was named Chan Kai Kit . Hong Kong Chinese–a senior clerk（高级职员）for a shipping company . It is true that the operator（经营者，操作员）of the little computer did handle the pile（堆）of invoices （n.v.发票，单据）forty-four seconds faster than Chan Kai Kit and his abacus . But the computer got the wrong answer . Seems the machine operator was in too big a hurry（求胜心切）to prove how smart his machine was and fed it fuzzy facts（输入了错误的数据）. Much face was lost（这回脸可丢大了）.

凭心而论，算盘的出现促进了文明的进步。我依然记得有那么一度，日美计算机联合企业大张旗鼓地进军中国市场。为了显示袖珍计算器的优势，人们组织了一场比赛，一场算盘与计算器的大决战。获胜者自然是使用算盘的人，名叫陈佳杰。他是一位香港华人——一船运公司的高级职员。诚然，在运算这一叠发票时，计算器的操作员比陈佳杰和他的算盘快了44秒，但计算器的结果却是错误的。计算器操作员似乎求胜心切，急于展示他的计算器运算得又快又准，结果输入了的数据错误不少。这回脸可丢大了。

Now don’t get me wrong（说到这儿，可别误会了）. Pocket calculators are here to stay , and they have their place . A Luddite(勒德分子：强烈反对机械自动化的人) I am not –machines are not evil in themselves . And a careful（缜密的）, thoughtful man like Chan Kai Kit might do even better with his own pocket calculator instead of his abacus–who knows（这谁又说得准呢）? It’s just that I’m a sentimentalist（多愁善感的人）about the wonders of the human hand and mind . And when I find evidence that it（算盘）can still hold its own（拥有自己的魅力）in the face of（面对....）the wizardry（巫术，魔法）of the electronic circuitry（电子电路图）of little chips（芯片）, I am pleased . It is comforting（令人欣慰的）to know that some very old and very simple ways of getting from one place to another still work .

说到这儿，可别误会了。秀珍计算器仍然会被广泛使用，并且拥有它的市场。我不是一个反机械化的勒德分子。在我看来，计算器本生并没有过错。如果用的是计算器而不是算盘，像

陈佳杰这样细腻缜密的人，结果可能会更好，这谁又说得准呢？我只不过对人类创造出来的奇迹容易动情罢了。算盘在面对集成电路构成的计算器时，还有自己的魅力，我高兴坏了。一些简单奏效的方法仍然有用，这让我可欣慰了。

And ponde r（仔细考量）the fact that an ancient and worn（古老而破旧的）abacus will find its way to the walls of the twentieth century as a thing of art and wonder（作为一件艺术品和神奇之物）, made lovely by its usefulness and made useful by its beauty（因实用而可爱，因可爱而实用）. I have an old wooden bowl and an elderly chopping knife（菜刀）I would stack up against（较量，相匹敌）a food processor any day . It’s the same story（这是同样的道理）.

好好动脑想想吧！古老而破旧的算盘居然能作为一件艺术品和神奇之物挂在20世纪的墙上，因实用而可爱，因可爱而实用。我有一个旧木碗和一把砍刀。不管何时，我都可以拿它们和食品加工器相匹敌。算盘能和计算机相比拼，也就是这个理儿。