英文早读第199篇，选自巴菲特年度信，友才翻译。
1977 Letter
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.
1977年度信
伯克希尔哈撒韦公司
To the Stockholders of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.:
致伯克希尔哈撒韦公司股东
Operating earnings in 1977 of 21,904,000, or 22.54 per share, were moderately better than anticipated a year ago. Of these earnings, 1.43 per share resulted from substantial realized capital gains by Blue Chip Stamps which, to the extent of our proportional interest in that company, are included in our operating earnings figure. Capital gains or losses realized directly by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. or its insurance subsidiaries are not included in our calculation of operating earnings. While too much attention should not be paid to the figure for any single year, over the longer term the record regarding aggregate capital gains or losses obviously is of significance.
1977年的营业收益为21,904,000美元，即每股22.54美元，略高于一年前的预期。在这些收益中，每股1.43美元来自蓝芯票证公司大量已实现的资本利得，按我们在该公司所占的权益比例计算，这部分收益已包含在我们的营业收益数据中。伯克希尔哈撒韦公司或其保险子公司直接实现的资本利得或损失，并未计入我们营业收益的计算之中。尽管不应过度关注某一年的具体数据，但从较长时期来看，累计资本利得或损失的记录显然具有重要意义。
Textile operations came in well below forecast, while the results of the Illinois National Bank as well as the operating earnings attributable to our equity interest in Blue Chip Stamps were about as anticipated. However, insurance operations, led again by the truly outstanding results of Phil Liesche’s managerial group at National Indemnity Company, were even better than our optimistic expectations.
纺织业务的表现远低于预期，尽管伊利诺伊国民银行的业绩以及我们在蓝芯票证公司股权所带来的营业收益与预期大致相符。不过，保险业务再次凭借国民赔偿公司菲尔利舍管理团队的卓越表现，取得了比我们乐观预期还要好的成绩。
Most companies define “record” earnings as a new high in earnings per share. Since businesses customarily add from year to year to their equity base, we find nothing particularly noteworthy in a management performance combining, say, a 10% increase in equity capital and a 5% increase in earnings per share. After all, even a totally dormant savings account will produce steadily rising interest earnings each year because of compounding.
大多数公司将创纪录收益定义为每股收益达到新高。由于企业通常逐年增加其权益基础，我们认为，若管理层在权益资本增长10%的同时，仅实现每股收益5%的增长，这种表现并无特别值得关注之处。毕竟，即使是一个完全闲置的储蓄账户，由于复利的作用，每年也会产生稳步增长的利息收益。
1.anticipate：预见；预料
2.customarily：习惯上；习俗上
3.dormant：潜伏的；冬眠的；暂停活动的
