問：查字典，so
much as是「甚至於」，但以下一句的下半截，我還是讀不懂，先生可以解釋一下嗎？──There is not
in the world so toilsome a trade as the pursuit of fame; life concludes before
you have so much as sketched your work。
答：So
much as三字，不是一固定詞語，意思要看上下文而定。Not so much as或without so much as則是「連……都沒有」的意思，例如：（1）He received the news of his mother's death without so much
as raising an eyebrow（他接到母親去世的消息，眉毛都不動一下）。（2）He did not so much as say hello when I greeted him（我跟他打招呼，他卻連「喂」一聲都不說）。
讀者示下那一句，before
you have so much as意思等於when you have not so much as（你連……都未做好）。全句是說：「世上沒有什麼工作，比追求虛名更加辛苦；你連草圖都未畫好，生命已到了盡頭。」
問：「飛來豔福」和「桃花劫」英文怎樣翻譯呢？
答：「豔」和「桃花」，竊以為可譯作romantic relationship（浪漫關係）和romantic experience（浪漫經歷）。To be blessed with an unexpected romantic relationship就是「飛來豔福」，a romantic experience with disastrous consequences則是「桃花劫」，例如：（1）Blessed with an
unexpected romantic relationship, he was everyone's envy（他豔福飛來，人人羨慕）。（2）The soothsayer told him that he was to have a romantic
experience with disastrous consequences（占卜者說他會遭桃花劫）。