原文:

只懊悔留学外国,没混个专家的头衔回来,可以声威显赫,把藏有洋老师演讲全部笔记的课程,开它几门,不必像现在帮闲打杂,承办人家剩下来的科目。(钱钟书 - 围城 )

翻译关键词: 混头衔,声威显赫,开课,帮闲打杂

译文

He regretted not having picked up an expert’s title while studying abroad. Then when he came back, he could awe everyone with his authority, giving a few courses from his collection of notes taken in all his foreign professors’ classes. He wouldn’t have to hang around doing odd jobs the way he was now, taking charge of the leftover subjects. (美 Jeanne Kelly, Nathan K.Mao <译> –Fortress Besieged)

翻译笔记:
混头衔

将文中“混个专家的头衔”译为picked up an expert’s title,把一种“胡混而随意获取”的感觉译了出来,正如现如今我们大学里有些童鞋也是为了毕业而毕业混文凭那样有木有?pick up是个很好的词,除了我们已经熟悉得不得了的“捡起、载人等”外,在表达“(尤指偶然地、无意地、容易地)获得;找到;学会;买得”这类意思时也很常见,如:
得到很多信息  pick up a lot of information
得到不少小费  pick up a fair amount in tips
声威显赫
这里也没有采取have a powerful influence之类的直译,而是译为awe everyone with his authority,“让每个人都对他的权威感到敬畏”,这更符合英语的行文习惯。awe表达“对……敬畏;对……望而生畏”时,常见的表达法还有作名词时的be/stand in awe of sb./sth.,如:
黛安娜敬畏她的祖父,但敬佩她的祖母。
While Diana was in awe of her grandfather, she adored her grandmother.
同学们对教授有些敬畏。
The students are a little in awe of their professor.

开课

“开课”通常有两种释义。(1)学校开始上课;(2)设置课程,[主要指高等学校的教师]担任某一课程的教学。很显然,文中表达的自然是“设置课程”。我们将两种用法分开举例说明如下:
(1)学校开始上课begin school; begin classes:
学校九月一日开课。
School will begin on September 1st. 
(2)设置课程,[主要指高等学校的教师]担任某一课程的教学(chiefly in college) give a course; teach a subject:
你下学期开什么课?
Which subjects are you going to teach next term? 
or  What courses are you offering next term?
朱教授这学期给研究生开课。
Prof. Zhou will teach graduate students this term.

帮闲打杂

hang around doing odd jobs,把方鸿渐对“整天转来转去的忙些零碎活”的满腹牢骚和郁闷表达得淋漓尽致。Hang around(或about)在表达“(在某处)闲荡,闲呆着”时很常用,如:

在校园里荡来荡去  hang around the campus
他不再东荡西逛,而是做了些有益的工作。
He stopped hanging around and did something useful.

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