本次招募译者只收到了两份完整的试译稿，由mjsophia和 dianarthemis完成。所幸的是两位译者的水平都还可以，本书篇幅也并不长，两位译者就足够了。 试译文段落的难点并不在语法结构上；专有名词有几个，也很容易查到；从译者的表现来看，结合上下文理解一些词句的确切意思，倒是比较有挑战性的。现试详述如下，欢迎大家讨论。 1. It may, perhaps, be useful to remind them that their elders have not always had beds of roses, and that too often they have had to breast both wind and sea after spending their best years in port, unable to make a start. 这句话的比喻意义是比较明显的。用Google搜索“bed of roses”并没有发现它有什么明显的特殊含义，在UrbanDictionary上搜索（[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bed+of+roses](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bed+of+roses)），解释是“an easy life, a pleasant place to work or stay”。可以翻译成“轻松愉快的生活”之类，不过在这种情况下我个人比较喜欢直译。后面一句动词breast做“to contend with resolutely（韦氏）”解，可以翻译成“挺胸直面”等一类意思。 2. In art a vocation is everything, and a vocation needs no one, for God aids. 这句话关键在vocation这个词。各辞典释义稍有些微的区别，不过大致是“天赋的使命感”这类意思。 3. The young composers who were thus politely invited to be seated included, among others, ..., and the writer of these lines.