“想得开想不开”：英语如何巧妙表达

胡适先生写过一篇杂文《差不多先生传》——不知道大家记不记得台湾版《恶作剧之吻》中的湘琴就曾在课堂上讲过这篇课文，当然讲得一塌糊涂……胡适先生的笔下的“差不多先生”（Mr. about-the-Same）是位“得道”高僧，号圆通。他看得破，想得通，一生不肯认真，是个有德行的人！咱们今天就一起顿悟一下这些词组的翻译吧~

原文：他死后，大家都很称赞差不多先生样样事情看得破，想得通；大家都说他一生不肯认真，不肯算账，不肯计较，真是一位有德行的人。于是大家给他取个死后的法号，叫他做圆通大师。

译文：After Mr. Cha Buduo’s death, people all praised him for his way of seeing through things and his philosophical approach to life. They say that he refused to take things seriously all his life and that he was never calculating or particular about personal gains or losses. So they called him a virtuous man and honored him with posthumous reverent title Master of Easy-Going.

1. “看得破”
这里译为seeing through things，其实就是“看穿”的意思。同类动词还有penetrate; fathom; get behind等。

e.g. The girl saw through his trick right off. 女孩一眼就看破了他的诡计。

注意see-through用连字符连起来，是形容词，表示“透明的”，那么see-through dress，就是透视装。

2. “想得通”
很简单，这里就译为philosophical approach to life，“某种哲学地看待生活的态度”，也就是“想得开”“达观”或“随遇而安”，这里要philosopher和philosophical不止表示“哲学家、哲学的”这两个基本意思，还有“乐观的、达观的”这样的引申义。

常见的表达法还有not take to heart; take philosophically; try to look on the bright side of things; philosophical about things; optimistic。

e.g. This old lady always looks on the bright side of things. 这老太太最想得通了。

一般口语中说“你真想得开”，就会说You are such a philosopher.

3. “不肯算账，不肯计较”
never calculating or particular about personal gains or losses，这里的“算账”和“计较”所针对的对象是“得失”——personal gains or losses，所以一定要注意“算账”这个词不要仅仅用calculate，因为这样会造成误会，以为差不多先生不肯用算盘算数哦。

4. “圆通大师”—Master of Easy-Going：
easy-going的形容词用法大家都清楚，意为“随和、开朗、好相处”，这里用作名词意义。
寺里的住持 The Father Prior （注意跟God一样要大写，可以用Father Christmas联想，反正圣诞节也近了）

上面说了“想得通”，那么“想不通”、“想不开”的表达法有哪些呢：
take things too hard;
take things badly;
take a matter to heart

e.g. Don’t take such small things to heart. 别为这些小事想不开。