张爱玲
民国大才女张爱玲自幼喜欢英语，从小立志成为一个双语作家。20岁前后，张爱玲就用英文写了《更衣记》、《中国人的宗教》等文章发表在上海租界的英文报刊上，转头再翻成中文投给本土杂志，一篇文章拿两份稿费。
1956年，张爱玲将《金锁记》扩展成英文长篇 pink tears，后来她将 pink tears改写成 the rouge of the north（《北地胭脂》），之后又将《北地胭脂》翻译成中文版的《怨女》。
这里为大家奉上一小段张爱玲早期的英文习作，和自己的essay相比，用词有没有觉得更精湛一点呢？
the sun parlor
my favourite spot in st. marys 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
林徽因
林徽因是中国著名建筑师、诗人、作家。不仅为中国古代建筑研究奠定了坚实的科学基础，而且在文学上著有散文、诗歌、小说、剧本、译文和书信等，代表作《你是人间四月天》等等。
19岁时，林徽因在1923年12月1日《晨报五周年纪念增刊》上尝试翻译了王尔德的《夜莺与玫瑰》（the nightingale and the rose）
这里节选一段，大家可以感受一下林徽因的翻译功底：
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。”
林语堂
林语堂是我国现代著名作家、学者、翻译家、语言学家，新道家代表人物。早年留学美国、德国，获哈佛大学文学硕士，莱比锡大学语言学博士。他也于1940年和1950年先后两度获得诺贝尔文学奖提名。
这里为大家节选一段1941年，林语堂参加nbc访谈的对话，来感受一下。
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。
胡 适
i can assure you that my government and my people will continue to fight on the war of resistance for an indefinite time to come until china is assured of a just and honorable peace.
我可以保证，我的政府和人民，会一直坚持对日作战，直到我们取得胜利。
宋美龄
we in china, like you, want a better world, not for ourselves alone, but for all mankind, and we must have it.
我中国国民，正与诸君形同，不仅为吾人本身，且更为人类全体，希望有一较佳之世界，实则必须有此较佳之世界。
man’s mettle is tested both in adversity and in success. twice is true of the soul of a nation.
个人之品德，于困厄中验之，亦于成功中验之。以言一国之精神，倍加真确。