沪江英语第一届翻译大赛初赛已经结束，感谢各位翻译学习者的关注和参与。大赛的初赛原文是对英国文豪莎士比亚的著名的十四行诗 Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day （《能否把你比作夏日璀璨》）一段赏析片段。本次的初赛译文由口译名师韩刚老师（去韩刚老师的主页看看>>>）提供，供大家参考！初赛20位入围选手名单>>>

【初赛原文】

This is definitely the most quoted line in all of English literature, so much so that you’ve probably seen it as a parody more often that you’ve seen it written out straight — for example, “Shall I compare thee to a bale of hay.” It’s one of the few poems that is just so cliché that, if a guy recited it to his girlfriend on a date, even the most love-sick of recipients would roll their eyes in disgust.

But when Shakespeare’s talking about “love,” he’s not talking about romantic love or feminine beauty– the first 126 sonnets in Shakespeare’s work are generally understood to be addressed towards a man, and many of the surrounding pieces are actually encouraging procreation.  Shakespeare isn’t wooing a beautiful woman; he’s telling a wealthy young ponz exactly what he wants to hear: that he’s just so damn sexy that it’d be pretty much the worst thing in the world if he didn’t have kids.

So if you’re a lady reading this, if any guy offers to compare you to a summer’s day, say “no, ’cause I’m not a dude.”  If you’re a guy, don’t offer to compare your lady to a summer’s day.  If you’re a man whose wife is trying to convince you that it’s time to have kids then…uh, that’s actually fine. Nicely done.

【参考译文】（韩刚老师提供）

这绝对是英语文学中被引用最多的一句话，这句话往往不以原形出现，更多时候是人们对它的拙劣模仿，如：“我能把你比作一捆干草吗？” 这句话出自莎士比亚的一首诗，像这首经人们反复吟诵而成为陈词滥调的诗为数不多。倘若一位男士在约会时向女友吟诵起这首诗，无论她如何渴慕爱情，听后也势必会很不屑地翻一翻白眼。

不过，莎士比亚所谈及的“爱”并非指浪漫爱情或女性阴柔之美，人们一般认为，他的前126首十四行诗是写给男性的，而且许多首都是在鼓励生育后代。莎士比亚笔下的诗不是“窈窕淑女、君子好逑”般的卿卿我我，而是向富家子弟娓娓道出顺耳忠言：像你这般风流倜傥，如果没有子嗣岂不是世间一大憾事！

如果你是一位女士，当有男子将你比作夏日时，要跟他说“别这么说，我可是女的。”如果你是一位男士，不要主动将你的心上人比作夏日。如果你是一位已婚男士，当妻子苦口婆心地提出该要孩子时，那么这个时候打这个比方是没问题的，而且十分贴切。                          

【沪江英语小编点评】                

初赛的这段文字偏文学性，参赛的同学们在开始翻译前，至少要对莎士比亚的这句Shall I compare thee to a Summer's day 有所耳闻，否则整个译文的思路就会比较偏离。小编在这里总结下大家比较集中的易错点：

1. so much so that you’ve probably seen it as a parody more often that you’ve seen it written out straight

是直接原文引用还是拙劣模仿？结合背景知识和下一句我们可以看出，这句话的指的是“我们看到仿文的次数比原文还多”。     

2. It’s one of the few poems that is just so cliché that....

成为陈词滥调的到底是仿句还是原句？从句中的poem中得到的信息，是包含原句的十四行诗第十八首变成了陈词滥调。

3. he’s telling a wealthy young ponz exactly what he wants to hear

很多同学在看到初赛原文都来询问小编，这里的ponz 是不是拼写错误？也有很多同学将这个单词直接音译成庞斯。其实根据收录各种俚语、简写、俗语词汇的外国网站Urban Dictionary 的解释，ponz 指的是：A person who has little to no qualities that make them interesting to other people or a certain group of people. 简而言之是无趣的人。

4. If you’re a man whose wife is trying to convince you that it’s time to have kids then…uh, that’s actually fine.

是妻子引用这句诗劝说男子，还是男士自己背这句诗给妻子听？根据上文的内容我们可以清晰地理解两点：（1）这句诗是念给男子听的；（2）它是用来鼓励生育的。所以结合上下文，应该是女士引用此诗来劝说自己的丈夫该要个孩子，这样才会应情应景。