野草Wild Grass

夏衍Xia Yan

| 译文摘自张培基《英译中国散文选一》

有这样一个故事。

有人问:世界上什么东西的气力最大?回答纷纭的很,有的说“象”,有的说“狮”,有人开玩笑似的说:是“金刚”,金刚有多少气力,当然大家全不知道。

There is a story which goes like this:

Someone a ed, "What has the greatest strength on earth?" The answers varied. Some said, "The elephant." Some said, "The lion." Some said jokingly, the fierce-browed guardian gods to Buddha. But nobody of course tell how strong the guardian gods were.

要点:
1,“有…”的句型,常用there be 结构来表示,如:我的腿没有毛病。
=There is nothing the matter with my legs.
2,“世界上什么东西的气力最大“译为What is the most powerful thing in the world?,其中on earth和in the world同义,但此处用on earth通常在疑问句或最高级后加强语气~
3,“纷纭“即”多种多样的“用 a variety of,此外它的衍生物various,也灰常常见,不仅表”各种“还可以表”不同“,如Of course, many problems recur at various periods.
当然,有许多问题会在不同的时期反复提出。
4,half-jokingly=半开玩笑性质地,复合词在翻译中也十分常见,不仅生动传神,也大大减短了翻译时句子的长度,使行文简洁~童鞋们平时要多加注意哦
5,另外此“金刚“非彼金刚哦(不要想着大猩猩或者擎天柱了好吗?~)这里指的是守护佛法的天神,经常怒目作勇猛之相,因此译为 fierce-browed guardian gods to Buddha.

综述:本段重点注意复合词的作用,平时多积累

结果,这一切答案完全不对,世界上气力最大的,是植物的种子。一粒种子所可以显现出来的力,简直是超越—切。这儿又是一个故事。

人的头盖骨,结合得非常致密与坚固,生理学家和解剖学者用尽了一切的方法,要把它完整地分出来,都没有这种力气.

All the answers turned out to be wide of the mark. The mightiest thing on earth is the seed of a plant. The great strength which a seed is capable of is simply matchless. Here goes another story:

  The bones forming a human skull are so tightly and perfectly fit together that all physiologists or anatomists, hard as they try, are powerless to take them apart without damaging them.


要点:
1,“这一切答案完全不对”译为All the answers turned out to be wide of the mark.其中 wide of the mark,意即“离谱,不正确”,也可以用far from来译。
2,“人的头盖骨,结合得非常致密与坚固,生理学家和解剖学者用尽了一切的方法,要把它完整地分出来,都没有这种力气.”这5个分句,分着译太过松散,采取合译为一句的方法:①先找出可以串起整个句子的主语——头盖骨,谓语(表语)为“致密与坚固”
②再分析句与句之间的逻辑(一般都为因果关系)——本句意为“头盖骨中的骨头结合得太过紧密,以致于专家无法分解”——用so that 串联
③于是:句子的主干就粗线了~即The bones forming a human skull are so tightly and perfectly fit together that all physiologists or anatomists , are powerless to take them apart without damaging them.
④“用尽了一切的方法” 作为状语出现,译为 hard as they try——as引导的让步状语
(膜拜下大师~
3,“把它完整地分出来”即“把它完好无损地分开”,故译为to take them apart without damaging them

综述:本段注意分句合译~之后见到需要合一的情况,先确定主语和主要动词,再看看是否有隐含的逻辑关系,不重要的部分译为同位语或状语等~ 

后来忽然有人发明了一个方法,就是把一些植物的种子放在要剖析的头盖骨里,给它以温度与湿度,使它发芽,一发芽,这些种子便以可怕的力量,将一切机械力所不能分开的骨骼,完整地分开了,植物种子力量之大,如此如此。
It so happened that, at the suggestion of someone, some seeds of a plant were placed inside a human skull awaiting dissection before heat and moisture were applied to cause them to grow. Once they started to grow, they let loose a terrific force to separate all the skull bones, leaving each of them intact. This would have been impossible with any mechanical power under the sun. See, how powerful the seeds of a plant can be!

要点:
1, It so happened that=刚好,碰巧,此处不宜译作suddenly(表示突如其来地)
2, “后来忽然有人发明了一个方法,就是…”这个句子很明显主要在讲这个“方法”的内容,用it 做主语,来使句子重心转移
3, “使它发芽”译为to cause them grow~也可译为to cause them to put out fresh shoots~
4, 本句又粗线一枚“完整地分开”,译为“separate sth and leave each of them intact”
5, “植物种子力量之大,如此如此。”意即“看,种子的力量是多么多么大!”故译为See, how powerful the seeds of a plant can be!

这,也许特殊了一点,常人不容易理解,那么,你看见笋的成长吗?你看见过被压在瓦砾和石块下面的一颗小草的生成吗?它为着向往阳光,为着达成它的生之意志,不管上面的石块如何重,石块与石块之间如何狭,它必定要曲曲折折地,但是顽强不屈地透到地面上来,它的根往土壤钻,它的芽往地面挺,这是—种不可抗的力,阻止它的石块,结果也被它掀翻,一粒种子的力量的大,如此如此。
This story may be somewhat too unusual for you to understand. Well, have you ever seen the growth of a bamboo shoot? Or the growth of tender grass from under a heap of rubble or rocks? Seeking sunlight and survival, the young plant will labour tenaciously through twists and turns to bring itself to the surface of the ground no matter how heavy the rocks overhead may be or how narrow the opening between them. While striking its roots deep into the soil, the young plant pushes its new shoots above-ground. The irresistible strength it can muster is such as to overturn any rock in its way. See, how powerful a seed can be!

要点:
1,“它为着向往阳光,为着达成它的生之意志,不管上面的石块如何重,石块与石块之间如何狭,它必定要曲曲折折地,但是顽强不屈地透到地面上来,”这是一个意群,为了避免句子太长太长,断句,译为Seeking sunlight and survival, the young plant will labour tenaciously through twists and turns to bring itself to the surface of the ground no matter how heavy the rocks overhead may be or how narrow the opening between them.此句分析如下:
①原句又是多个分句,主语很明显是“它”,主要动词为“顽强不屈地透到地面上”,此处译者用了一个慢启动词labour(努力做,困难地前行)作为谓语,而把“透到地面”作为目的状语,更加突出了小草生长之不易~
②“为着向往阳光,为着达成它的生之意志”意即“为了争取阳光和生存”,故译为状语Seeking sunlight and survival
③“不管…”很明显是个状语,但是句首已经有“为着…”,为了句子结构平衡,只好把它放到句末啦~
④“曲曲折折地”意即“经历很多曲折”,译为 through twists and turns
其实小编我并不推崇大家用这种长句,关于《野草》的翻译还有一个版本,是刘士聪先生写的,相对来说刘译得更加简洁,更符合原文风格,大家有兴趣可以自行百度,在这里我们就对张爷爷的语言功底膜拜一下下就好啦~
2,“它的根往土壤钻,它的芽往地面挺,这是—种不可抗的力,阻止它的石块,结果也被它掀翻,一粒种子的力量的大,如此如此。”原文虽然是一句话,但我们在翻译时,要,断,句。因此译者将其断为三句~

综述:汉译英一定要断句,断句,断句!(说三遍!!

没有一个人将小草叫做“大力士”,但是它的力量之大,的确是世界无比。这种力,是一般人看不见的生命力,只要生命存在,这种力就要显现,上面的石块,丝毫不足以阻挡,因为它是一种“长期抗战”的力,有弹性,能屈能伸的力,有韧性,不达目的不止的力。
Though nobody describes the little grass as a "husky", yet its herculean strength is unrivalled. It is the force of life invisible to the naked eye. It will display itself so long as there is life. The rock is utterly helpless before this force — a force that will forever remain militant, a force that is resilient and can take temporary setbacks calmly, a force that is tenacity itself and will never give up until the goal is reached.

要点:
1,“将…叫做”译为describe …as…
2,herculean源自于希腊神话,原意是宙斯之子大力神赫拉斯科,此处代指“力大无比的”(这种用法我在《谈结婚》中有过总结,童鞋们可以穿越去看~
3,“只要生命存在,这种力就要显现”,中的“只要…就”,用了我们熟悉的so/as long as
4,本句最后有一个排比句,译者在结构上给与了还原,译为三个定语从句,高度保留了原文的强烈的语气,值得学习
3,“有韧性,不达目的不止的力”译为a force that is tenacity itself and will never give up until the goal is reached.其中的itself一词是用来加强前面的抽象名词tenacity的哦,文学翻译中很常见~如:The kitchen itself is almost a separate kingdom within the hotel.(厨房在旅馆里几乎是一个独立王国。)

综述:注意译者此处对排比句的处理~

种子不落在肥土而落在瓦砾中,有生命力的种子决不会悲观和叹气,因为有了阻力才有磨炼。生命开始的一瞬间就带了斗争来的草,才是坚韧的草,也只有这种草,才可为傲然地对那些玻璃棚中养育着的盆花哄笑。
When a seed falls under debris instead of on fertile soil, it never sighs in despair because to meet with obstruction means to temper itself.

要点:
1, 本句乃至全篇,都有对野草,石头拟人化的描写,而张爷爷的译文也很好地表现出了这些修辞格,比如该句中的sigh in despair等,
2, 对于后一句的翻译,书中并没有,现将网上流传的翻译贴上来,供大家参考[Indomitable is the grass that begins its very life with a tough struggle. It is only fit and proper that the proud grass should be jeering at (嘲笑)the potted flowers in a glass house.]

综述:原文作者通过一个普通但富有哲理的故事,表现出种子的力量是不可估量的,从而揭示出民众力量的强大,篇幅短小精悍,语言朴实自然,。翻译时注意拟人手法的灵活翻译~

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