­　　親賢臣，遠(yuǎn)小人，此先漢所以興隆也；親小人，遠(yuǎn)賢臣，此后漢所以傾頹也。

­　　The emperors of the Western Han chose their courtiers wisely, and their dynasty flourished. The emperors of the Eastern Han chose poorly, and they doomed the empire to ruin.

­　?。?） flourish 本意指“植物等茁壯成長”，后引申為“to develop well and be successful”“發(fā)展良好或取得成功”，也就是我們常說的“興盛，繁榮”。

­　　The economy is booming and small businesses are flourishing.

­　　經(jīng)濟(jì)開始興盛，小企業(yè)也開始繁榮起來。

­　?。?） doom,“to make someone or something certain to fail, die, be destroyed etc.”“使某人或某事注定失敗、死亡或被毀滅”。常用搭配為be doomed to do sth.“注定要做……”

­　　We are all doomed to die in the end.

­　　我們最終注定要死亡。

­　　先帝在時，每與臣論此事，未嘗不嘆息痛恨于桓、靈也。

­　　Whenever the late Emperor discussed this problem with me, he lamented the failings of Emperors Huan and Ling.

­　?。?） lament “to express feelings of great sadness about something”，“對……感到悲痛”。

­　　The nation lamented the death of its great leader.

­　　整個國家都在為偉大領(lǐng)袖的逝世感到悲痛。

­　　……

­　　臣本布衣，躬耕于南陽，茍全性命于亂世，不求聞達(dá)于諸侯。

­　　I began as a common man, farming in my fields in Nanyang, doing what I could to survive in an age of chaos. I never had any interest in making a name for myself as a noble.

­　?。?）make a name,“If you make a name for yourself or make your name as something, you become well-known for that thing.”指“（因……）而出名”。

­　　He made his name with several collections of short stories.

­　　他因幾本短篇故事集而名聲大噪。

­　　先帝不以臣卑鄙，猥自枉屈，三顧臣于草廬之中，咨臣以當(dāng)世之事，由是感激，遂許先帝以驅(qū)馳。

­　　The late Emperor was not ashamed to visit my cottage and seek my advice. Grateful for his regard, I responded to his appeal and threw myself into his service.

­　　……

­　　先帝知臣謹(jǐn)慎，故臨崩寄臣以大事也。

­　　The late Emperor always appreciated my caution and, in his final days, entrusted me with his cause.

­　?。?0） entrust，“to make someone responsible for doing something important, or for taking care of someone”，“讓某人負(fù)責(zé)做某件重要的事或負(fù)責(zé)照顧某人”，即“把某人或某事托付給……”。

­　　When managers entrust employees with important decisions, they signal their respect for those employees.

­　　當(dāng)經(jīng)理讓員工負(fù)責(zé)做一些重要決定時，是在表達(dá)對他們的尊重。