A drought can begin at any moment. And low prices brought on by foreign competition can make the whole enterprise unprofitable.

VOA: standard.2010.06.17

But the Lady is hoarding that natural gift just as that unprofitable servant had buried his talent in the earth.

但小姐隐藏了大自然的礼物,就好像仆人在世上埋没了他的才华。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

It's possible that in merely reading and in merely amassing more and more knowledge, Milton's doing little more than the unprofitable servant in Matthew 25.

弥尔顿不可能,仅仅读书和积累知识，他所做的就像,马修25中的那个无益的仆人所做的一样。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

The men who stood around and did nothing until they were called to act earned precisely the same amount as those who had been laboring in the vineyard all day. They're not punished for their unprofitable expectation.

那些站在那里什么都没干,直到有人来催的人和那些在葡萄园里,干了一整天的人拿的钱一样多,他们没有因为没有上进心。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

the parable of the unprofitable servant, the parable of the talents.

无益的仆人的寓言，才能的寓言。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

As a model of economic activity or as a kind of vocation guide, this parable couldn't be more opposed -- or to some wouldn't seem more opposed - to the parable of the unprofitable servant.

作为一种经济活动,或者职业引导的典型,这则寓言于那个没获利的仆人的,寓言截然相反。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

It's perfectly inscrutable as far as I'm concerned. But I think I can say with absolute certainty that one of its possible significances cannot be that the unprofitable servant should have waited to make his investment.

这对我来说很神秘，但我可以说,我很确信,它可能的含义之一,不会是让那个无益的仆人去等。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选

And for Milton, whose temperament up to this point inclined him obviously to hesitation, to postponement, and to merely the anticipation of profit, the pressure applied by this parable of the unprofitable servant may very well have seemed utterly unbearable.

对于弥尔顿来说，这是性格使然,他读到这里会犹豫，会止步不前，会对利益有所期待，这则寓言中毫无收益的仆人,给了他无尽的压力。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选