1. What a bundle of contradictions is a man! Surely, humour is the saving grace of us, for without it we should die of vexation. With me, nothing illustrates the contrariness of things better than the　matter of sleep. If, for example, my intention is to write an essay, and I have before me ink and pens and several sheets of virgin paper, you may depend upon it that before I have gone very far I　feel an overpowering desire for sleep, no matter what time of the day it is. I stare at the reproachfully blank paper until sights and sounds become dim and confused, and it is only by an effort of will that I can continue at all. Even then, I proceed half-heartedly, in a kind of dream. But let me be between the sheets at a late hour, and I can do anything but sleep. Between chime and chime of the clock I can write essays by the score. Fascinating subjects and noble ideas come pell-mell, each with its appropriate imagery and expression. Nothing stands between me and half-a-dozen imperishable masterpieces but pens, ink, and paper.
    1)人真是集矛盾之大成! 毫无问题，幽默是唯一的救命草。要是没有它，我们就会死于烦恼。就我而言，能最好地说明事物的对立性的莫过于睡眠一事了。例如，假如我打算写文章，眼前放着笔、墨水和几张白纸，那准保没写几个字我就困得要命，不管是在什么时候都会这样。我瞪着那谴责我的白纸，直到眼前一片模糊，声音也难以分辨，只有靠意志力才能勉强坚持。即使这时，我也是像在做梦一样半心半意地干着。可是要让我在很晚的时候躺在被子里，那我除了睡不着觉别的什么事都能干。随着时钟一遍一遍的报时声，我可以二十篇二十篇文章地往外写。极有吸引力的题目和崇高的思想纷至沓来，都伴有恰如其分的意象和措词。要是有钢笔、墨水和纸，什么也拦不住我写出半打不朽的杰作来。

    2. If it be true that our thoughts and mental images are perfectly tangible things, like our books and pictures, to the inhabitants of the next world, then I am making for myself a better reputation there than I am in this place. Give me a restless hour or two in bed and I can solve, to my own satisfaction, all the doubts of humanity. When I am in the humour I can compose grand symphonies, and paint magnificent pictures. I am, at once, Shakespeare, Beethoven, and Michael Angelo; yet it gives me no satisfaction; for the one thing I cannot do is to go to sleep.
    2)如果我们的思想和头脑中的意象真的如书籍和图画一样是可以使来世的人摸得着的东西的话，那么我就在为自己在那个世界中取得比这个世界中更好的声望。只要我躺在床上有一两个小时睡不着觉，我就能令自己满意地解决人类的一切疑虑。如果我有此心情，我能谱写出宏伟的交响乐、画出壮丽的画卷，我既是莎士比亚、贝多芬，又是米开朗基罗。然而这一切都不能使我满足，因为我唯一做不到的事就是睡着觉。