《乔布斯传》翻译笔记:不给我工作我就不走了
《乔布斯传》自问世以来受到了全世界人民的关注,对此沪江英语推出《乔布斯传》翻译笔记系列,让我们在翻译学习中回顾乔帮主的伟大一生。第四章“雅达利和印度”讲述了乔布斯两部分经历:在雅达利电脑游戏公司工作和去往印度找寻精神领袖之旅。乔布斯在雅达利找到了一份工作,有些同事嫌弃他不爱干净身上有味道,有些同事则觉得他身上有着对科技的狂热。在雅达利工作攒了些钱后,乔布斯执意开始了和好友的印度精神之旅,他要去印度找寻精神领袖(guru),找寻自我。乔布斯是怎么在雅达利找到工作的?
【英语原文】
Atari’s founder was a burly entrepreneur named Nolan Bushnell, who was a charismatic visionary with a nice touch of showmanship in him—in other words, another role model waiting to be emulated. After he became famous, he liked driving around in a Rolls, smoking dope, and holding staff meetings in a hot tub. As Jobs would learn to do, he was able to turn charm into a cunning force, to cajole and intimidate and distort reality with the power of his personality. His chief engineer was Al Alcorn, beefy and jovial and a bit more grounded, the house grown-up trying to implement the vision and curb the enthusiasms of Bushnell. Their big hit thus far was a video game called Pong, in which two players tried to volley a blip on a screen with two movable lines that acted as paddles. (If you’re under thirty, ask your parents.)When Jobs arrived in the Atari lobby wearing sandals and demanding a job, Alcorn was the one who was summoned. “I was told, ‘We’ve got a hippie kid in the lobby. He says he’s not going to leave until we hire him. Should we call the cops or let him in?’ I said bring him on in!” “In retrospect, it was weird to hire a dropout from Reed,” Alcorn recalled. “But I saw something in him. He was very intelligent, enthusiastic, excited about tech.” (Chapter 4 Atari and India: Atari)
【沪江译文】
雅达利电脑游戏公司的创始人叫诺兰·布什内尔,他是一个身材魁梧的企业家,一个魅力四射表现力十足的梦想家。换句话说,又是一个人们会竞相模仿的偶像。出名之后,他喜欢开着一辆劳斯莱斯四处转悠,吸毒成瘾,喜欢在按摩浴缸里开员工会议。他身上有一种能力乔布斯后来学到了,那就是能把魅力变成巧妙的说服力,利用人格的力量,哄骗、胁迫和扭曲的手段都用上,改变事实。他手下的总工程师叫阿尔·奥尔康,身材健壮,天性活泼,更加脚踏实地。他是雅达利大家庭的家长,努力实现着布什内尔的愿景,同时又克制着他的热情。他们的经典之作是街机电子游戏《乒乓》(又名跳跳弹子台),这个游戏规则很简单:两个玩家利用两条移动的光标当球拍,互相击打屏幕上的圆点。(要是你没到30岁,那回家问问父母这个游戏是怎么玩的。)当脚穿凉鞋的乔布斯初次来到雅达利找工作的时候,奥尔康也得到了通知。“他们跟我说,大厅里有个嬉皮男孩来找工作,不雇他他就赖着不走了。叫警察还是让他进来?我说把他带进来吧。”他后来回忆道:“现在回头想想,雇个里德学院的退学生真的还蛮奇怪的,不过我在他身上看到了一些东西,他很聪明,对科技有热情有干劲。”
【翻译笔记】
retrospect: 回顾往事,检讨过去
2.描写外貌和个性特征的词汇/短语:
外貌: burly: 身材魁梧的 beefy: 身体健壮的
个性: showmanship: 表现力 cunning force: 说服力 the power of personality: 人格的力量
grounded: 脚踏实地的 jovial: 天性活泼的
3. Atari and Pong: 1972年25岁的诺兰·布什内尔白手起家创业成立雅达利电脑游戏公司,推出风靡全球的电脑游戏《乒乓》。Atari名字起源于日本象棋,指的是象棋中那句杀棋的吆喝声"将军"。雅达利出品的经典雅达利2600是人类历史上生命力最长的游戏机。1998年雅达利全部专利被买断,退出IT业。