My greatest avocation is musing. I can stay by myself for a long time without feeling disconsolate in theleast. Happiness enjoyed alone is a pleasure, so is sorrow tasted privately. In solitude, the mind is not a completeblank; it remains a rich and colorful world. Solitude often induces ecstasy or anguish, and allows thinking towander in a random way. She inspires the mood for poems, passionate or pathetic. She also enables people tothink further and deeper and to have a more thorough understanding and examination of themselves and theirenvironment.
【题材来源】
《平凡的世界》(路遥)
【难点注释】
1．独享欢乐是一种愉快，独自忧伤也是一种愉快：Happiness enjoyed alone is a pleasure，SO is sorrow tastedprivately。注意：l)句子的主语可以直接翻译成enjoying happiness和tasting sorrow，也可以灵活处理后译成happiness enjoyed和sorrow tasted；2)后半句中有对前半句重复的地方，因此可以使用“SO+助动词+主语”的倒装形式来翻译，表示“……也……”；3)“独自忧伤”和“独享欢乐”在翻译时要避免用词重复。

2．纯粹的空白：a complete blank。在这里我们不能把“纯粹的”按照其表面意思译为“pure”，而是根据文章意境，理解为“完全的，彻底的”来修饰“空白”的程度。
3．丰富多彩的世界：a rich and colorful world。
4．大欢乐：ecstasy。“大欢乐”实际上是指“非常欢乐，极度欢喜”，也可以译为“exultation”。
5．大悲痛：anguish。“大悲痛”是指极度悲伤，如果仅仅翻译为9rief是不够的，不能突出它的程度。
6．不依照逻辑进行：to wander in a random way或者to wander in an illogical way。“进行”不能按照字面意思直译为carry on，在这里“思维的进行”实际上是指“思考，漫想”。