andrew had the reputation of being a skilled arithmetician; and this was a branch of knowledge that stephenson was now desirous of acquiring 此外,安德魯作為一名有技能的算術(shù)家有一定的聲望,這也是斯蒂芬森現(xiàn)在迫切需求獲得知識(shí)的一部分。
the staple conversation on the farms around was on the uselessness of saving money; and smock-frocked arithmeticians, leaning on their ploughs or hoes, would enter into calculations of great nicety to prove that parish relief was a fuller provision for a man in his old age than any which could result from savings out of their wages during a whole lifetime 附近農(nóng)莊上常談的主要話題是攢錢沒有用處身穿粗布罩衫的數(shù)學(xué)家們,倚著鋤頭或者犁歇息時(shí),就會(huì)開始精確地計(jì)算,來證明人老后教區(qū)提供的全額救濟(jì)金,比一個(gè)人從一生中掙的工資中積攢起來的錢還要更充足。