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原文:

死掉老婆還是最經(jīng)濟(jì)的事,雖然喪葬要一筆費(fèi)用,可是離婚不要贍養(yǎng)費(fèi)么?重婚不要兩處開(kāi)銷么?(錢鐘書 - 圍城 )

翻譯關(guān)鍵詞:經(jīng)濟(jì)的,一筆(費(fèi)用),重婚

譯文:

Having one’s wife die is most economical. A funeral does cost a certain amount of money, but then doesn’t a divorce require alimony? And if he keeps a mistress, doesn’t he have to support two households?(美 Jeanne Kelly, Nathan K.Mao <譯> –Fortress Besieged)

翻譯筆記:

經(jīng)濟(jì)的

這里所說(shuō)“經(jīng)濟(jì)的”實(shí)際是要表達(dá)“節(jié)約的、合算的”?,F(xiàn)在,economic作“經(jīng)濟(jì)(學(xué))上的”解,economical作“節(jié)約的”解,如:
economic help(經(jīng)濟(jì)援助), economic point of view(經(jīng)濟(jì)觀點(diǎn)), economic espionage(經(jīng)濟(jì)間諜), economic penetration(經(jīng)濟(jì)侵入)
economical use(節(jié)約的用法), economical meal(節(jié)約的一餐), an economical car(節(jié)能車)

一筆(費(fèi)用)

在表示“數(shù)量、數(shù)額”時(shí),amount只可用在不可數(shù)的東西,不可用在可數(shù)的東西,如可以說(shuō)a large amount of literature,不可說(shuō)a large amount of books,該把a(bǔ)mount改作number。再如:
a large (small) amount of money 一大(?。┕P錢
a prescribed amount of work 規(guī)定的工作量
use a certain amount of diplomacy 施展一些外交手腕
Quite a number of people have applied for this job.
有相當(dāng)多的人申請(qǐng)這一工作。
重婚
這里實(shí)際上指的是“包二奶”咯,“重婚”的另一種說(shuō)法常常用bigamy來(lái)表達(dá),重婚罪也可以直接說(shuō)bigamy。而mistress有“情婦”之意,keep a mistress常作“養(yǎng)著一個(gè)情婦”解。

(本文由滬江原創(chuàng),轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處)

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