首先上原句“It is very evident what mean andsneaking lives many of you live, for my sight has been whetted by experience;always on the limits, trying to get into business and trying to get out ofdebt, a very ancient slough, called by the Latins æs alienum,another's brass, for some of their coins were made of brass; still living, anddying, and buried by this other's brass; always promising to pay, promising topay, tomorrow, and dying today, insolvent; seeking to curry favor, to getcustom, by how many modes, only not state-prison offenses; lying, flattering,voting, contracting yourselves into a nutshell of civility or dilating into anatmosphere of thin and vaporous generosity, that you may persuade your neighborto let you make his shoes, or his hat, or his coat, or his carriage, or importhis groceries for him; making yourselves sick, that you may lay up somethingagainst a sick day, something to be tucked away in an old chest, or in astocking behind the plastering, or, more safely, in the brick bank; no matter where,no matter how much or how little.”你们许多人过的是何等低卑、躲来躲去的生活啊，这很明显，因为我的眼力已经在阅历的磨刀石上磨利了；你们时常进退维谷，要想做成一笔生意来偿清债务，你们深陷在一个十分古老的泥沼中，拉丁文的所谓aes alienum——别人的铜币中，可不是有些钱币用铜来铸的吗；就在别人的铜钱中，你们生了，死了，最后葬掉了；你们答应了明天偿清，又一个明天偿清，直到死在今天，而债务还未了结；你们求恩，乞怜，请求照顾，用了多少方法总算没有坐牢；你们撒谎，拍马，投票，把自己缩进了一个规规矩矩的硬壳里，或者吹嘘自己，摆出一副稀薄如云雾的慷慨和大度的模样，这才使你们的邻人信任你，允许你们给他们做鞋子，制帽子，或上衣，或车辆，或让你们给他们代买食品；你们在一只破箱笼里，或者在灰泥后面的一只袜子里，塞进了一把钱币，或者塞在银行的砖屋里，那里是更安全了；不管塞在哪里，塞多少，更不管那数目是如何地微少，为了谨防患病而筹钱，反而把你们自己弄得病倒了。
It is very evident what mean andsneaking lives many of you live你们许多人过的是何等低卑、躲来躲去的生活啊，这很明显——使用It is+形容词+从句的句式， It虽然在is （系动词）的前面，但它只是形式主语，真正的主语是从句中的内容（比如在此句中是whatmean and sneaking lives many of you live），还原后的句子顺序是从句+is+形容词，这样会显得头重脚轻，因此使用it is句式。从句的内容是由what引导的感叹句，句式是what+描述对象（mean and sneaking lives）+谓语动词（live）。
for my sight has been whetted byexperience因为我的眼力已经在阅历的磨刀石上磨利了——for常用于介词和连词。此处for后面跟上了一个完整的独立的句子（主谓宾），因此它是连词而不是介词，译为“因为”，介词是无法连接一个独立的句子。
always on the limits你们时常进退维谷——从这里开始，后文的一大串都以非谓语的形式出现：要么是忽略了be动词直接跟上介词或者形容词，要么是非谓语动词的进行时（表主动）或者过去分词（表被动）形式。此处的情况就属于前者，many of you are always on the limits去除manyof you are（主语和谓语），剩下的部分就是非谓语了。
trying to get into business and tryingto get out of debt要想做成一笔生意来偿清债务——非谓语动词是trying。and作为连词连接地位相同的成分，因此两个trying都是非谓语。
a very ancient slough一个十分古老的泥沼——笔者认为其在此处作为“trying to get into business and trying to get out of debt”的同位语，一来用逗号单独隔开，二来从语义上看也不像是来形容many of you的。
called by the Latins æsalienum拉丁文的所谓aes alienum——明显是非谓语，但形容的对象并不是many of you而是a very ancient slough，因此这句是非谓语的同位语的非谓语。
another's brass别人的铜币中——跟æsalienum表达的意思完全相同，只是语言不同而已，笔者判断是同位语。此句应该是非谓语的同位语的非谓语的同位语。
for some of their coins were made ofbrass可不是有些钱币用铜来铸的吗——for后面是一个完整的独立的句子（主谓宾），因此笔者判断for在此处作连词。
still living, and dying, and buried bythis other's brass就在别人的铜钱中，你们生了，死了，最后葬掉了——非谓语，still作副词形容living, dying和buried。
always promising to pay, promising topay, tomorrow, and dying today, insolvent你们答应了明天偿清，又一个明天偿清，直到死在今天，而债务还未了结——仍然是非谓语。句末insolvent也可视为一种非谓语表达，many of you areinsolvent删去many of you are剩下insolvent作为非谓语。
seeking to curry favor, to get custom,by how many modes, only not state-prison offenses你们求恩，乞怜，请求照顾，用了多少方法总算没有坐牢——非谓语。句子开头的两个to都属于seeking。
lying, flattering, voting, contractingyourselves into a nutshell of civility or dilating into an atmosphere of thinand vaporous generosity你们撒谎，拍马，投票，把自己缩进了一个规规矩矩的硬壳里，或者吹嘘自己，摆出一副稀薄如云雾的慷慨和大度的模样——lying, flattering, voting, contracting, dilating同样都是非谓语动词，or和and一样作为连词，or连接了contracting和dilating两个非谓语，and连接了thin和vaporous两个形容词。
that you may persuade your neighbor tolet you make his shoes, or his hat, or his coat, or his carriage, or import hisgroceries for him这才使你们的邻人信任你，允许你们给他们做鞋子，制帽子，或上衣，或车辆，或让你们给他们代买食品——that引导的非谓语的从句。后面的his shoes, his hats等并列成分用连词or连接，再一次体现了连词的作用。
making yourselves sick, that you may layup something against a sick day, something to be tucked away in an old chest,or in a stocking behind the plastering, or, more safely, in the brick bank; nomatter where, no matter how much or how little你们在一只破箱笼里，或者在灰泥后面的一只袜子里，塞进了一把钱币，或者塞在银行的砖屋里，那里是更安全了；不管塞在哪里，塞多少，更不管那数目是如何地微少，为了谨防患病而筹钱，反而把你们自己弄得病倒了——非谓语动词making。后面的内容都属于that引导的从句。more safely插入语，表示“更安全地”，no matter how等效于however，但是两者实际上有着细微的差别。
这段文字比汉弗莱讲的简单一些。笔者打算再写一篇汉弗莱的长难句分析和一篇介绍ΛCDM宇宙学模型的文章。有灵感的话还会写一些其他的