Work, instead of being an activity satisfying in itself and pleasurable, became a duty and an obsession.
于是，劳动便成了一种义务，一种烦恼，而不再是一种能使人满足和愉快的活动。
The more it was possible to gain riches by work, the more it became a pure means to the aim of wealth and success.
靠劳动发财致富的可能性越大，劳动就越发变成了一种纯粹的升官发财的手段。
Work became, in Max Weber's terms, the chief factor in a system of "inner-worldly asceticism ," an answer to man's sense of aloneness and isolation.
用马克斯·韦伯的话说，劳动已成为"内心世界禁欲主义"思想体系中的一个主要因素，解决人们内心的寂寞和孤独感的一种办法。
However, work in this sense existed only for the upper and middle classes, those who could amass some capital and employ the work of others.
不过，这种意义的劳动也只是对于那些能够积累一些资本并雇用他人劳动的中、上层阶级而言才存在的，
For the vast majority of those who had only their physical energy to sell, work became nothing but forced labor.
而对于那仅有劳动力可供出卖的绝大多数人来说，劳动只不过是一种强迫劳役。
The worker in the eighteenth or nineteenth century who had to work sixteen hours if he did not want to starve was not doing it because he served the Lord in this way, nor because his success would show that he was among the "chosen " ones,
十八、十九世纪的工人，若是不想饿死，便得一天劳动十六个小时。他这样做，并不是要以此侍奉上帝，也不是为以工作上的成功来证明他属于"上帝的选民"之列，
but because he was forced to sell his energy to those who had the means of exploiting it.
而是因为他迫于无奈，不得不向那些拥有剥削手段的人出卖自己的劳动力。
The first centuries of the modern era find the meaning of work divided into that of duty among the middle class, and that of forced labor among those without property.
现代史开初的几个世纪中，劳动的意义划分为两种：对于中产阶级来说是义务，而对于无产者来说则是强迫劳役。
The religious attitude toward work as a duty, which was still so prevalent in the nineteenth century, has been changing considerably in the last decades.
视劳动为一项义务的宗教观念在十九世纪还十分流行，但最近几十年来，这种宗教观念正经历着重大的演变。
Modern man does not know what to do with himself, how to spend his lifetime meaningfully, and he is driven to work in order to avoid an unbearable boredom.
现代人不知道自己该做些什么，怎样才能有意义地度过自己的一生，只是为了逃避无所事事所造成的寂寞无聊，才被迫去参加劳动。