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笔者：The Chinese text seems to be vague and implicit; the literal version done by my student goes like this: “At the age of twenty, I dashed forward without any apprehension. In my thirties, I strive to hang on to the moment: another New Year is looming.” Could you understand and accept this literal version?
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Bill: The literal version is ok. But I would make a few changes: “At the age of twenty, I dashed forward without any concern for the passing days and years. In my thirties, I strive to hang on to every moment. Unfortunately, another New Year looms on the horizon.”
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由于添加了without any concern for the passing days and years，云飞雾散，朦胧顿消！
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二十岁的时候，我想出名要趁早，一个人到了三十岁还籍籍无名那还活个什么劲儿呀？三十岁之后，名是不指望了，只希望在四十岁的时候能像我老板一样有钱。
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【原译】At the age of twenty, I said, to gain fame, the earlier the better. How dull it should be one is still unknown in her thirties! In my thirties, reputation is no longer my desire. I only have a wish to be as rich as my boss in my forties.
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【改译】At the age of twenty, it’s better to be famous before it’s too late, I believed. What would be the spice of life for a person deserted by fame when approaching thirty? After thirty, fame seems still beyond reach, yet being as rich as my boss at forty becomes my new dream.
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英语既然是重分析的语言，其语法必有其特色。语言学家王力先生曾断言：西洋语法是硬的，没有弹性；中国语法是软的，富有弹性。中国语法以达意为主。所谓“硬”、所谓“没有弹性”，一个重要的标志是：英语是形合（Hypotaxis）语言，在句子的各成分之间必须用形形色色的含逻辑关系的Connectives将其串联起来。而汉语的所谓“软”和“弹性”，就是无须Connectives的串联，而其内部的逻辑关系自明。故汉语又被称为意合（Parataxis）语言。比如朱自清在他的短文《匆匆》中写道：
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燕子去了，有再来的时候；杨柳枯了，有再青的时候；桃花谢了，有再开的时候。但是，聪明的，你告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？其相应的英译是：
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Swallows may have gone, but there is a time of return; willow trees may have died back, but there is a time of regreening; peach blossoms may have fallen, but they will bloom again. Now, you the wise, tell me, why should our days leave us, never to return?
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英译出现了三个but，这三个but在native speakers的心目中是非加不可的。不加，即非正宗英语。让我们回过头再读朱自清原句。假设，将三个“但是”硬性插入，那将是何种滋味？
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英译中的黑体字即Connectives，它们的出现，顿令译文生色。
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另，《一个女人是这样衰老的》全文在频做20岁与30岁的对比，根据英语表达习惯，两项对比间，应用连词while，如At the age of twenty…, while at thirty…。但是，Bill教授对此有不同意见：
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The balance and parallelism is so strong in these statements, I think you could omit the WHILE. However, in the first set, I would probably repeat the phrase AT THE AGE OF THIRTY. Thereafter, even that could be dropped, keeping only AT THIRTY.
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可见，语言有规律可循，但并不存在万能的规律。
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二十岁的时候，挤在人头攒动的公共大巴上，吃着甜筒，挺开心。三十岁之后，看见破旧肮脏的的士都心烦，拜托！油价一跌，就去买车吧，一路开往小康。
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【原译】At the age of twenty, I felt happy squeezed in a crammed bus eating an ice-cream. After I have turned thirty, I hate to look at the dirty, worn-out taxis. Thank goddess! Once the oil price declines, I’ll buy a car to myself and drive all the way to a comfortable life.
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【改译】At the age of twenty, I felt so contented sandwiched in a jammed bus, eating ice cream. After thirty, even the sight of a shabby and sordid taxi may sicken me. Ok! When the oil price goes down, I’ll buy a car and drive along the road of Well-To-Do.
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英语的非人称主语句具有极高的审美价值。由于历史和文化的原因，汉语大量使用无主语句，而少用非人称主语句，不能不说这是汉语的一个遗憾。这种句式令表达简洁自如、形象生动、变化灵活。“看见破旧肮脏的的士都心烦”一句的主语是“我”，汉语常将其省略。而英语却别出心裁以the sight of a shabby and sordid taxi为主语，自然轻巧地带出谓语宾语（may sicken me）。I hate to look at the dirty, worn-out taxis则显得呆板有余，灵巧不足。
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另外，后译中没有使用squeezed，而是使用了sandwiched，词的转义增加行文的辞采，又多一例。
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二十岁的时候，打赌说我这辈子不可能土到死守在一个地方，生活在别处嘛。三十岁之后，我为了在这座城市买个满意又便宜的房子跑断了双腿。
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【原译】At the age of twenty, I bet there was a fat chance that I should rustically live my lifetime in one place. As the saying goes, a beautiful life occurs elsewhere. In my thirties, I spare no strength running for a decent and inexpensive house in the local city.
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【改译】At the age of twenty, I bet that I would never reside in one city the rest of my life. I’d choose to live in different places. After thirty, I run off my legs for searching an apartment, satisfying and cheap.
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在内容和形式的问题上，Nida在20世纪80年代的论点有所发展。在1986年出版的Form One Language to Another（《从一种语言到另一种语言》）一书中，他改变了过去那种“保留内容，改变形式”的提法，而提出了内容和形式兼顾的论点。他认为，功能对等（functional equivalence）的翻译要求“不但是信息内容的对等，而且尽可能地要求形式的对等”（not only the equivalent content of message, but, in so far as possible, an equivalence of the form）。
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为什么Nida把形式的对等提到重要的位置呢？这是因为世界各国的语言，虽然千差万别，但是，各种语言之间存在着某些语言的共性。因而，在语言形式上（在词汇构成、句法结构、表达方式等各方面）也存在着很多相似之处。所以在一定条件下，译文和原文在内容和形式上都一致，并不是不可能的。在这种情况下，就应该尽量保持一致，决不能任意改变形式。
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Nida的这一论点与近代多数翻译家同意的一条原则：Translate literally, if possible, or, appeal to free translation.（陆殿扬译为：如果可能，就直译；否则就采取意译。）Nida的提法更具体，更明确，因而，更具有指导意义。
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