人才不是教出来的
Talent Cannot Be “Cultivated”
文、译/ 林巍1
〔1〕人们常说要“培养人才2”，但作为一个教师，根据我个人多年的体会3，认识到人才其实不是“教”出来的，而是“学”出来的。
[1] It is often said that “we should cultivate talent”. According to my experience as a veteran teacher, a talent is not produced by teaching but by learning.
〔2〕所谓“培养”，充其量是教师为学生的发展提供了某些条件和影响4。在相同的条件和影响下，学生的学习和成长结果会有很大不同，证明了一条规律：外因需通过内因而起作用。
[2] The best cultivation a teacher can provide is to offer conditions or exert influence on talent for it to come forth. Under the same circumstances, however, students may turn out quite differently from one another in terms of their studies and attainments, which may prove the rule that external factors act upon the internal factors.
〔3〕考察古今中外5的人才，会发现世界上没有单纯的“教”， 却有单纯的“学”；“教”一定要有对象，“学”却不一定以“教”为前提；“教”不是到处都有，“学”却可随时发生。
[3] By examining various qualified personnel across the board, one may find that there is no such thing as “pure teaching” which has to be conditioned by its object, whereas learning is not preconditioned by teaching and can take place anywhere, at any time.
〔4〕这里的“学”包括读书与应用，前者是吸收别人的经验，后者是积累自己的经验；二者相互作用，良性循环，不断由量变到质变6，形成各类人才。
[4] The process of learning includes reading and application, the former involving learning experiences from others while the latter accumulating personal experience. Various talents consequently emerge as a result of benign interaction and mutual promotion.
〔5〕人才的基本要素是德、才、学、识。以工匠的斧头作比喻，“德”是斧头的质量，“才”是斧刃，“学”是重量，“识”是斧头做功的方向，四样俱全，左右逢源7，才能取得功效；其中没有哪一方面是单纯地靠“教”而没有接受者的参与可以奏效的。
[5] There are four basic components constituting a talent – virtue, capability, knowledge and insight. Talent may bear some functional analogy to an axe, in which virtue is its quality, ability its edge, knowledge its weight and insight directs it to the point. Any achievement is actually the result of the effective combination of these four. However, none of these four qualities can be achieved solely by teaching without the active participation of its receivers.
〔6〕古人讲：“才盛于德，谓之小人；德盛于才，谓之君子；德才兼备，谓之圣人”，即可理解为今日之“人才”。其中，“ 德” 和“ 才” 的次序与比重又不是依外力而硬性形成的。
[6] As the ancient saying goes: “He whose capacity exceeds his virtue is considered to be an inferior man; he whose virtue exceeds his capacity is a superior man; he who possesses both decent virtue and brilliant capacity can be regarded as a sage”, which could be viewed as “talent” by today’s standard. Again, the arrangement and proportions of virtue and capacity can never be imposed by external factors either.
〔7〕所以，归根结底，教育的实质其实不是“教”而是“学”，是引导学生为何和如何有效地“学”8。
[7] Therefore, education is after all not about teaching but about learning – guiding students how to learn more effectively for certain ends.
（选自《英语世界》2016年4期）
注释：
1. 博士，暨南大学翻译学院特聘教授。
2. 这里的“人才”用了英文的 talent, 该词主要有两种含义，即a special natural ability or skill 和 people who have a special natural ability or skill, 本文涉及两方面。
3. 此句似可译成 According to my experience (as a teacher), 但这里将“多年”和“教师”合并为a veteran teacher。
4. “培养”未按字面意思译成 The so-called“cultivation”… 而是鉴于后面的“充其量”一并译为 The best cultivation…, 同时将“学生的发展”作了变通处理。
5. 有多种译法，如 at all times and in all over the world / at all times and in all countries [lands] / both ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign / past and present, at home and abroad / in China or elsewhere, in modern or ancient times 等，这里译得更为简约。
6. 未译成 from quantitative to qualitative change / changes from quantity to quality 等，而是将其揉和为benign interaction and mutual promotion，以更自然、平实。
7. 未具体化成 be able to achieve success one way or another / win or gain advantage from (of) both sides 等，而是将其融入the effective combination of these four。
8. 这里的“为何”、“如何”均可为 ends / causes 等。