【翻譯筆記】《圍城》英譯選句 - “想到你”還是“想你”?
? 原文:
鴻漸想起唐曉芙和自己,心像火焰的舌頭突跳而起,說:“想到你還是想你?我們一天要想到不知多少人,親戚、朋友、仇人,以及不相干的見過面的人。真正想一個人,記掛著他,希望跟他接近,這少得很。人事太忙了,不許我們全神貫注,無間斷地懷念一個人。我們一生對于最親愛的人的想念,加起來恐怕不到一點鐘,此外不過是念頭在他身上瞥過,想到而已?!?span style="color: rgb(105, 105, 105);">(錢鐘書 - 圍城 )
翻譯關鍵詞:突跳而起,想到你VS想你,不相干,人事,全神貫注
譯文:
Reminded of himself and Tang Hsiao-fu, Hung-chien’s heart suddenly flared up like a tongue of flame, and he asked, “Think about you or miss you? We must think about any number of people in one day – relatives, friends, enemies, and even people who have nothing to do with us that we’ve met before. To really miss someone, keep him constantly in mind, and wish to be close to him is pretty rare. Life keeps people too busy. It doesn’t allow us to focus our full attention and yearn for someone without interruption. The time we spend in a whole lifetime thinking about the person we love most probably wouldn’t add up to one whole hour. Beyond that our thoughts just brush past him. We’re only thinking about him.”(美 Jeanne Kelly, Nathan K.Mao <譯> –Fortress Besieged)
翻譯筆記:
突跳而起
四字詞在漢譯英中很常見,我們翻譯時重要的還是理解原文,大家注意前文有說到方鴻漸想起了唐曉芙,說明他的感情在一段時間的平靜后又突然爆發(fā),帶有一點點“涌上心頭”的那種味道,我們可以用如譯文中的flare up,也可以用see red、flare out來形容。如:
對他們過去敵人的一切舊恨宿怨頓時涌上心頭。
All the old hatred for their former enemy flared up.
想到你VS想你
話說方鴻漸在這段話里真把兩者的意思條分縷析了一番,雖說這有點像在玩文字游戲,但細細品來,卻不無道理,“想到”是不能與“想”劃等號的。
“想到(think of; call to mind; recall)”一個人,通常用于表達因某些原因突然想起某人。而“想(remember with longing; miss)”表達的更傾向于對某人一直以來的一種懷念、惦記與記掛。兩者的感情色彩顯然是不一樣的。如:
忽然想到一個重要的人
suddenly think of someone important
你走了以后,我們都很想你。
After you left, we all missed you.
不相干
即“不相關涉、無關”,我們常用irrelevant; have nothing to do with來表達,而譯文用的就是后者。又如:
不相干的話
Irrelevant remarks
那件事跟你不相干。
That has nothing to do with you. or It’s none of your business.
人事
“人事”在漢語文章中也是十分常見的多義詞,這次我們統(tǒng)一起來分析一下。
(1)指人世間的事:occurrences in human life; human affairs.(此文即屬該種用法)
(2)關于工作人員的錄用、培養(yǎng)、調配、獎懲等工作:personnel matters。如:
人事任免 appointment and removal of personnel
人事調動 transfer of personnel
(3)人情事理:ways of the world。如:
不懂人事 not know the ways of the world
(4)人的意識對象:consciousness of the outside world。如:
他昏迷過去,不省人事。
He fainted and lost consciousness.
(5)人力能做到的事:what is humanly possible。如:
盡人事 do whatever one is capable of; do one’s best
(6)饋贈的禮物:gift。如:
送人事 give a present
全神貫注
這是一個成語,我們可將其理解為“全副精神集中于……”,除了譯文中的focus one’s full attention或用concentrate one’s attention on; be absorbed (or engrossed) in; be preoccupied with來表達均可。又如:
下棋需要全神貫注。
Chess requires great concentration.
她全神貫注地聽著。
She listened with rapt attention. or She was all ears.
在前兩期《圍城》的翻譯筆記中,有童鞋提出疑問,如:圍城的語言真的可以翻譯出味道來么?怎么用英語講就是有些麻麻的呢?對譯文有個人的見解,這是件好事,證明自己在認真思考。在各類中文的作品中,我們都能讀到許多很傳統(tǒng),或者中文色彩濃厚的詞句,對它們的翻譯處理,尤其難把握,所以對于所有作品的翻譯,大家都褒貶不一,而我還是以為,只要自己用心去體會、去總結,都會是有所收獲的:)
(本文由滬江原創(chuàng),轉載請注明出處)