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I hear and I forget : 不闻不若闻之

多年前在一英文课本内看到了一段非常有意思的文字:

I hear and I forget;
I see and I remember;
I do and I understand.
   -- Confucius

这段简洁的文字一针见血地道出了学习的窍门!它对我的学习生涯有很大的帮助。然而,我找了好多年却找不到这段原文。刚写了个求助,但几分钟后却让我谷歌(Google)到了!(可能以前还不太会用搜寻器…)其原出处可能意译自于以下文字:

不闻不若闻之,闻之不若见之,见之不若知之,知之不若行之。学至于行之而止矣。
   -- 《荀子·儒效》

故这段文字出自儒家的重要代表人物荀子,并非直接出自于孔子。但这段文字的直译与以上那段英文有些许出入。硬要直译的话,可这么译:

To ignore it is not better than to hear it;
To hear it is not better than to see it;
To see it is not better than to understand it;
To understand it is not better than to practise it.
Once you have practised it you can stop.

这直译肯定不太好。以下这样意译念起来较顺畅:

To hear it is better than to ignore it;
To see it is better than to hear it;
To understand it is better than to see it;
To practise it is better than to understand it.
You will truly master it after putting it into practice.

若有更好的翻译,请指教!这里有许多 To ... it,有点多余,但拿掉又怕文法不对,可能还有办法改进。还是我搞错了,“I hear and I forget ..." 可能出自于他处?

荀子的儒效篇里还有其他不错的文字,如以下文字就与以上的相对应:

故闻之而不见,虽博必谬;见之而不知,虽识必妄;知之而不行,虽敦必困。不闻不见,则难当,非仁也。

仅共勉之。要找类似的哲学思想,可看看锦绣中华之一页,有许多不错的资源。

谢谢Jia提供了许多宝贵意见!

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