只有慈禧的女官英语比你好？民国时期国人英文水平到底如何

I should like to tell you a little story which will illustrate this belief. When General Doolittle and his men went to bomb Tokyo, on their return some of your boys had to bail out in the interior of China. One of them later told me that he had to mail out of his ship. And that when he landed on Chinese soil and saw the populace running toward him, he just waved his arm and shouted the only Chinese word he knew, “Mei-kuo, Mei-kuo,” which means “America,”

Literally translated from the Chinese it means “Beautiful country.” This boy said that our people laughed and almost hugged him, and greeted him like a long lost brother. He further told me that the thought that he had come home when he saw our people; and that was the first time he had ever been to China.

I came to your country as a little girl. I know your people. I have lived with them. I spent the formative years of my life amongst your people. I speak your language, not only the language of your hearts, but also your tongue. So coming here today I feel that I am also coming home. 

I believe, however, that it is not only I who am coming home; I feel that if the Chinese people could speak to you in your own tongue, or if you could understand our tongue, they would tell you that basically and fundamentally we are fighting for the same cause; that we have identity of ideals’ that the “four freedoms,” which your President proclaimed to the world, resound throughout our vast land as the gong of freedom, the gong of freedom of the United Nations, and the death knell of the aggressors.

在此，我想说个小故事，来说明此一信念。

杜利特尔将军和部下一起去轰炸东京，回程时有些美国子弟兵不得不在中国内陆跳伞。其中一人后来告诉我，他被迫从飞机跳伞，踏上中国的土地时，看到当地居民跑向他，他就挥着手，喊出他会说的唯一中国话：“美国，美国”，也就是“美利坚”的意思，美国在中国话的意思是“美丽的国家”。这个大男孩说，敝国人民听了都笑起来，拥抱他，像欢迎失散多年的兄弟一般。他还告诉我说，当他看到我们的人民，感觉他已经回到了家，而那是他第一次来到中国。

我来到贵国时是个小女孩，我熟悉贵国人民，我和他们一起生活过。我生命中成长的岁月是和贵国人民一起度过的，我说你们的话，我想的和你们一样，说的也和你们一样。所以今天来到这里，我也感觉我好像回到家了。

不过，我相信不只是我回到家，我觉得，如果中国人民会用你们的语言与你们说话，或是你们能了解我们的语言，他们会告诉你们，根本而言，我们都在为相同的理念奋战。我们有一致的理想；亦即贵国总统向全世界揭示的“四个自由”：自由的钟声、联合国自由的钟声、和侵略者的丧钟响彻我国辽阔的土地。

The Sun Parlor　　

My favourite spot in St. Mary's Hall is the Sun Parlor. It gives me the same impression as its name; a warm, bright room constantly filled with sunshine. It is a rectangular room. The walls are painted in white, but the lower half of them is hidden behind a cover of black wood. In the middle of the room there is a long black table, and around it are many chairs. These are prepared for the girls to have a chance for reading newspapers. In one corner of the room there is a wooden box placed on the shelf. This belongs to the Phoenix Broad, and every girl has the privilege of putting her own themes in it. The box is locked, and we always dream of how we would open this mysterious box and see the things within. On the wall there hang many interesting pictures and records that attract girls' attention every time they pass the Sun Parlor. The room is very bright, because one side of it faces the big glass door that leads to the school gate, and one side of it is composed of three glass doors which face the school garden. Sunlight can reach the room in both directions. When we stand before the glass door, we can see the whole view of our lovely school garden. In winter afternoons, when the pale yellow sunlight lies lazily on the stone ground, we sit beside the steam heaters, with newspapers in our hands. We feel nice and warm and pleasant, and thoroughly enjoy the charm of the "Sun Parlor".

TSANG AI-LING, 1937

"No red rose in all my garden!" he cried, and his beautiful eyes filled with tears.

"Ah, on what little things does happiness depend! I have read all that the wise men have written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is my life made wretched."

青年哭道，“我园中并没有红玫瑰！”他秀眼里满含着泪珠。

“呀！幸福倒靠着这些区区小东西！古圣贤书我已读完，哲学的玄秘我已彻悟，然而因为求一朵红玫瑰不得，我的生活便这样难堪。”

Lin: China is…the oldest self-governing nation in the world. 

林语堂: 中国是世界上最古老的自治国家。

Anchor: Oh, wait a moment. You are pulling my leg. 

主持人：等等。你在开玩笑嘛。

Lin : No, I am quite serious…Mencius long ago said that all men are created equal and any man is capable of development to the moral stature of the saint emperors. And that is about 2500 years ago. Mencius further said that in a state, the people are the most important factor and the king is the least important…Mencius is as modern as Thomas Jefferson. 

林语堂：不，我是认真的。早在2500年前，孟子就提出了人生而平等的理念，“圣人，与我同类者”。孟子还指出，民贵君轻。孟子和托马斯·杰斐逊一样先进。