背影The Sight of Father’s Back

朱自清Zhu Ziqing

| 譯文摘自張培基《英譯中國(guó)散文選一》

我與父親不相見(jiàn)已二年余了,我最不能忘記的是他的背影。那年冬天,祖母死了,父親的差使也交卸了,正是禍不單行的日子,我從北京到徐州,打算跟著父親奔喪回家。到了徐州見(jiàn)著父親,看見(jiàn)滿院狼藉的東西,又想起祖母,不禁簌簌地流下眼淚。
It is more than two years since I last saw father, and what I can never forget is the sight of his back. Misfortunes never come singly. In the winter of more than two years ago, grandma died and father lost his job. I left Beijing for Xuzhou to join father in hastening home to attend grandma’s funeral. When I met father in Xuzhou, the sight of the disorderly mess in his courtyard and the thought of grandma started tears trickling down my cheeks.

要點(diǎn):
1、“禍不單行”= Misfortunes never come singly.關(guān)于災(zāi)難,災(zāi)禍的說(shuō)法有好幾種,文學(xué)翻譯中常用“misfortune, mishap, suffering”表自然災(zāi)害時(shí)有disaster, catastrophe, calamity
2、”那年冬天“親們的第一反應(yīng)一定是in that winter,然而并,不,是,因?yàn)榍拔牟](méi)有提及那一年具體是哪一年,而that 只指代前面提到過(guò)的事物,所以要在winter后面解釋一下。
3、join sb in dong sth=和某人一起做某事,join通常表示參加某種集體活動(dòng),也可以指參加軍隊(duì),社團(tuán),是翻譯中很常見(jiàn)的一個(gè)詞,對(duì)于這種用法多多的詞,親們找一本權(quán)威詞典把他的直系血親(變形,意思,用法)和旁系血親(同義詞,辨析)全部摸透。
4、hasten通常意為“催促,加速”但后面加了地名就是“趕往某地”了
5、“到了徐州見(jiàn)著父親”這是一個(gè)多動(dòng)詞的句子,在文學(xué)翻譯中很常見(jiàn),翻之前要先確定主要?jiǎng)釉~,將其定為謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞,其他不重要的降級(jí)為從句或非謂語(yǔ)結(jié)構(gòu),再不重要譯為介詞?!暗搅恕焙汀耙?jiàn)到”都不是主要?jiǎng)釉~,所以他倆的出場(chǎng)方式就是“從句+介詞短語(yǔ)“
6、“看見(jiàn)滿院狼藉的東西,又想起祖母,不禁簌簌地流下眼淚。”對(duì)于這半部分的處理也值得學(xué)習(xí),將動(dòng)詞轉(zhuǎn)換成名詞,使行文更加流暢
7、trickle意為“使緩慢流淌,使慢慢移動(dòng)“,很好地體現(xiàn)了“簌簌”之意,文學(xué)翻譯對(duì)于這種小詞的運(yùn)用是其區(qū)別于非文學(xué)翻譯的一大特征,,使人感覺(jué)那個(gè)流淚之人就在眼前。要做好文學(xué)翻譯,平時(shí)就要多積累這類(lèi)小詞,比如“看”也分很多種:squint是“斜視,瞇著眼看“,goggle是”瞪視“他們所表達(dá)的韻味是單單用see 和 look無(wú)法達(dá)到的。

綜述:本段注意多動(dòng)詞的句的譯法,join的用法,以及譯者對(duì)于動(dòng)詞的選用,動(dòng)詞選得好,,整篇文章都會(huì)“活”起來(lái)。

父親說(shuō):“事已如此,不必難過(guò),好在天無(wú)絕人之路!”
Father said, “Now that things‘ve come to such a pass, it’s no use crying. Fortunately, Heaven always leaves one a way out.”

1、”天無(wú)絕人之路“采用反語(yǔ)正譯法,意為”上天總會(huì)給人一條出路“

綜述:“反語(yǔ)正譯”應(yīng)該是首次粗線,意思是源語(yǔ)言從反面表達(dá)(即表達(dá)一個(gè)否定的意思),由于二者語(yǔ)言習(xí)慣的差異,翻譯過(guò)來(lái)后采用正面表達(dá)。有時(shí)為了使語(yǔ)氣更加強(qiáng)烈,表述更加準(zhǔn)確到位,也會(huì)采用這種方法。如“男兒有淚不輕彈”譯為?Men only weep when deeply hurt.

回家變賣(mài)典質(zhì),父親還了虧空;又借了錢(qián)辦了喪事。這些日子,家中光景很是慘淡,一半為了喪事,一半為了父親的賦閑。喪事完畢,父親要到南京謀事,我也要回到北京念書(shū),我們便同行。
After arriving home in Yangzhou, father paid off debts by selling or pawning things. He also borrowed money to meet the funeral expenses. Between grandma’s funeral and father’s unemployment, our family was then in reduced circumstances. After the funeral was over, father was to go to Nanjing to look for a job and I was to return to Beijing to study, so we started out together.

要點(diǎn):
1、“一半為了喪事,一半為了父親的賦閑“譯為” Between grandma’s funeral and father’s unemployment“,”between…and…”意為“半因…,半因…”
2、start out意為“起初,最初,開(kāi)始時(shí)“”開(kāi)始(生活,職業(yè)或重要階段)“”出發(fā),啟程“,start也是一個(gè)出鏡率很高的詞~要把他的七大姑八大姨統(tǒng)統(tǒng)搞明白~
3、pawn“典當(dāng),抵押品“,他的小伙伴是pledge有木有很驚訝,,
4、“光景慘淡“譯為be in reduced circumstances“,可以按固定搭配來(lái)記,意為”境況不濟(jì),生活拮據(jù)“,此外 reduce有很多用法也值得大家注意,比如葉圣陶《我坐了木船》中”無(wú)可奈何只好出此下策“就用了be reduced to sth 這個(gè)用法,意為“被迫從事…”

綜述:本段重點(diǎn)關(guān)注start, reduce的多種用法,有時(shí)候你以為你對(duì)某個(gè)詞很熟悉,其實(shí)并沒(méi)有,老老實(shí)實(shí)查字典,套用一句話“你以為你以為的就是你以為的嗎“看看張爺爺?shù)纳⑽陌蓗\(≧▽≦)/~

到南京時(shí),有朋友約去游逛,勾留了一日;第二日上午便須渡江到浦口,下午上車(chē)北去。
I spent the first day in Nanjing strolling about with some friends at their invitation, and was ferrying across the Yangtse River to Pukou the next morning and thence taking a train for Beijing on the afternoon of the same day.

1、stroll about 意為“散步,漫步“
如Strolling about these gardens , with the tree shadows swaying on the white wall.
白墻上樹(shù)影婆娑,池塘中柳枝起舞。
意思相近的詞還有amble ,wander ,ramble
2、at their invitation意為“接受某人邀請(qǐng)“,譯文將原文中的動(dòng)詞轉(zhuǎn)譯為名詞,這種詞性轉(zhuǎn)換也是翻譯中常用的手段
比如:“我們不承諾放棄使用武力“=”our non-commitment to renouncing the use of force”中”承諾“和”放棄“都做了名詞化處理
3、ferry 原意“渡船,擺渡“,ferry across the river 譯為”渡江“
4、thence,這個(gè)陌生的兄弟是副詞~,意為“從那里,然后,隨之“,比如He hitched south towards Italy, and thence into France. 他搭乘便車(chē)往南去意大利,然后從那里進(jìn)入法國(guó)。有點(diǎn)類(lèi)似于thereafter(此后),therefrom(由此,從那兒),
說(shuō)到副詞們,他們也是一個(gè)奇妙的世界,它們對(duì)于文學(xué)翻譯的貢獻(xiàn)也是功不可沒(méi)。

綜述:這短短的一句包含的信息量很大,因此我們花了比較大的篇幅來(lái)講,主要是因?yàn)樗褂玫脑~匯,如果不使用這些詞匯,譯文的篇幅可能還要長(zhǎng)。。。

父親因?yàn)槭旅Γ疽颜f(shuō)定不送我,叫旅館里一個(gè)熟識(shí)的茶房陪我同去。他再三囑咐茶房,甚是仔細(xì)。但他終于不放心,怕茶房不妥貼,頗躊躇了一會(huì)。其實(shí)那年我已二十歲,北京來(lái)往過(guò)兩三次,是沒(méi)有甚么要緊的了。他躊躇了一會(huì),終于決定還是自己送我去。我兩三回勸他不必去;他只說(shuō),“不要緊,他們?nèi)ゲ缓?”
Father said he was too busy to go and see me off at the railway station, but would ask a hotel waiter that he knew to accompany me there instead. He urged the waiter again and again to take good care of me, but still did not quite trust him. He hesitated for quite a while about what to do. As a matter of fact, nothing would matter at all because I was then twenty and had already travelled on Beijing-Pukou Railway a couple of times. After some wavering, he finally decided that he himself would accompany me to the station. I repeatedly tried to talk him out of it, but he only said, “Never mind! It won’t do to trust guys like those hotel boys!”

1、“urged the waiter again and again“意為”再三叮囑“,表示”再三“的詞組還有“repeatedly, over and over again, time after time”
2、這段出現(xiàn)了兩個(gè)“猶豫,躊躇“,分別用了hesitate(強(qiáng)調(diào)遲疑,顧慮,常與about, over一起用) 和 waver(常與between, on, over連用,意思和hesitate差不多),其他表猶豫的詞還有”boggle(畏縮不前,因膽怯而猶豫),falter(因缺乏信心而猶豫),用時(shí)要分清語(yǔ)境
3、“勸某人不要做某事“=talk sb out of sth,新表述get√
4、”兩三回”就是“再三“,用到了上面提到過(guò)的repeatedly
5、本段“怕他不妥帖”和“他們?nèi)ゲ缓谩敝械摹巴滋?、“去不好”其深層含義都是“不相信”,都表達(dá)了對(duì)茶房的不信任感,因此,譯文兩處都用了trust。

綜述:有些詞帶有強(qiáng)烈的中國(guó)色彩,而英文中并沒(méi)有十分對(duì)應(yīng)的詞,常用方法就是結(jié)合背景分析他的具體含義和感情色彩。

我們過(guò)了江,進(jìn)了車(chē)站。我買(mǎi)票,他忙著照看行李。行李太多了,得向腳夫行些小費(fèi),才可過(guò)去。他便又忙著和他們講價(jià)錢(qián)。我那時(shí)真是太聰明過(guò)分,總覺(jué)得他說(shuō)話不大漂亮,非得自己插嘴不可。但他終于講定了價(jià)錢(qián);就送我上車(chē)。他給我揀定了靠車(chē)門(mén)的一張椅子;我將他給我做的紫毛大衣鋪好坐位。
We entered the railway station after crossing the River. While I was at the booking office buying a ticket, father saw to my luggage. There was quite a bit of luggage and he had to bargain with the porter over the fee. I was then such a smart aleck that I frowned upon the way father was haggling and was on the verge of chipping in a few words when the bargain was finally clinched. Getting on the train with me, he picked me a seat close to the carriage door. I spread on the seat the brownish fur-lined overcoat he had got tailor made for me.

要點(diǎn):
1、 ?See to意為“注意,照看照料,保證”
2、 “小費(fèi)”在這里并譯作了fee而非tip, 前者主要指專(zhuān)門(mén)職業(yè)的傭金,后者指給服務(wù)生額外的費(fèi)用。
3、 smart aleck 意為“自作聰明的人”,這句話中的“聰明”是反話哦。
4、 “總覺(jué)得他說(shuō)話不大漂亮”即嫌父親不會(huì)講價(jià)錢(qián),frown upon 意為“不贊成,反對(duì)”
5、 Verge 作名詞時(shí)意為“瀕于…,即將…”常用于on the verge of (接近于,瀕于),此外verge還有動(dòng)詞意思”接近,瀕于“
6、 Chip 這個(gè)詞大家可能經(jīng)??吹剿拿~形式“薯片~“(吃貨們,沸騰起來(lái)),他的動(dòng)詞形式我們也要注意起來(lái)”打破,鏟掉,清除“,而chip in 意為”插嘴,湊錢(qián)”,chip away=削弱,這也屬于一個(gè)小詞~表示”插嘴”的詞還有interrupt ,cut in ,break in~

綜述:本段關(guān)注譯者精準(zhǔn)的用詞和靈活的句式。

聲明:本雙語(yǔ)文章的中文評(píng)析系滬江英語(yǔ)原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容,轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處。中文評(píng)析僅代表作者個(gè)人觀點(diǎn),僅供參考。如有不妥之處,歡迎指正。
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