我的書齋生活
My Private Library

邵洵美
Shao Xunmei

| 譯文摘自張培基《英譯中國(guó)散文選二》

你們簡(jiǎn)直可以說(shuō)，洵美是生活在書齋里的：會(huì)客室里是書，臥房里是書，樓梯邊上也是書，連三層樓上的洗澡間里也是書。所以 一定要我指出哪一間是書齋，那可不容易。
You may as well call me a bookworm. I have books everywhere in my home – in the drawing room and the bedroom, on either side of the staircase, and even in the bathroom on the third floor. So it’s next to impossible for me to point out exactly where my study is.

要點(diǎn)：
1，“簡(jiǎn)直可以說(shuō)”即“不妨說(shuō)”譯為may as well(做…倒也無(wú)妨)。
2,“你們簡(jiǎn)直可以說(shuō)，洵美是生活在書齋里的”整句話理解為“你們不妨說(shuō)，詢美是個(gè)書蟲(chóng)”，譯為You may as well call me a bookworm. Bookworm指“在書齋埋頭學(xué)習(xí)的人”在此意為“生活在書齋的人”。
3，it’s next to impossible譯為“…簡(jiǎn)直是不可能的”，Next to 在此意為“幾乎，近乎”。

綜述：將“洵美是生活在書齋里的”轉(zhuǎn)化為“洵美是個(gè)書蟲(chóng)”即貼切，又生動(dòng)形象，這個(gè)譯法值得我們琢磨和學(xué)習(xí)。

也許在我臥房隔壁的一間最像，中間有只書桌，可是書桌上又堆滿了書，沒(méi)有地方擺稿紙，也沒(méi)有地方擺硯臺(tái)，我又不會(huì)用鋼筆寫文章。用鋼筆寫，我總嫌太滑，太快；它幾乎不容你思想。我喜歡毛筆，它總伴著你，有時(shí)也許比你快一步，可是你總追得到。
Maybe it’s the room next to my bedroom. In the middle of it stands nothing but a desk piled high with lots of books so that there is practically no room for me to place my writing paper and the inkstone. The inkstone is indispensable to me because I always use a writing brush instead of a pen in doing my writing. I find the pen too slippery and moving a bit too fast, thus leaving little time for me to do more thinking. I prefer the writing brush because I can always keep pace with it. Though it sometimes may also move along a bit too fast, yet I can always catch up.

要點(diǎn)：
1，“我又不會(huì)用鋼筆寫文章”應(yīng)按“硯臺(tái)是我必須的，因?yàn)槲覍懳恼轮挥妹P，不會(huì)用鋼筆”理解，意譯為The inkstone is indispensable to me because I always use a writing brush instead of a pen in doing my writing。
2，“它總伴著你”意即“它總和你思維的步調(diào)一致”譯為I can always keep pace with it。

綜述：注意以上不太好理解的兩句，這類句子本文還有不少，需要注意。

這個(gè)小房間里還有兩只安樂(lè)椅；一個(gè)書架，里面是我最心愛(ài)的書籍，不肯借人的。墻上只有一張水仙畫，淺淡的筆姿給你一種清高的空氣；偶然在看書的時(shí)候想到自己不久要窮得不成個(gè)樣子，它就會(huì)顯示給你一個(gè)最偉大的希望——所以有幾個(gè)晚上，我簡(jiǎn)直就呆對(duì)著這張畫。
There are only two armchairs in the room plus a bookcase holding my most favorite books, which are not to be borrowed by anybody. Hanging on the wall is a painting of narcissi done with light touches of ink imparting an air of moral superiority. Occasionally, while I am reading, I suddenly realize I’ll soon face penury. Then the painting will cheer me up with bright hopes. On several nights, I just sat in this room staring at it blankly.

要點(diǎn)：
1，plus此處意為“外加”等于and。
2，“淺淡的筆姿”即“淡淡的墨跡”，譯為light touches of ink。
3，“清高”即“清白高潔”主要是道德上的操行清高，因此譯為moral superiority。
4，“它就會(huì)顯示給你一個(gè)最偉大的希望”意即“它會(huì)讓你看到光明的未來(lái)并使你振作”，譯為Then the painting will cheer me up with bright hopes。
5，“我簡(jiǎn)直就呆對(duì)著這張畫”即“我就只是直直地盯著這幅畫”譯為I just sat in this room staring at it blankly。

綜述：理解理解，還是重在理解。一定要最真實(shí)地表達(dá)出作者的意思。

這個(gè)小房間，長(zhǎng)不滿十五尺，寬不滿十尺，關(guān)于現(xiàn)代詩(shī)的書籍，我都放在里面：?書架里放不下，便放在桌子上；桌子上放不下，便堆在椅子里；椅子里放不下，便疊在地上。理由是我從不整理我的書籍，買到了新書就隨便放，看過(guò)了又隨便丟；假使為了寫一篇文章，需要參考時(shí)，每每費(fèi)半個(gè)一個(gè)鐘頭去尋覓。
The little room is about 5 meters in length and 3 meters in width. I keep all books on modern poetry there. Then the bookcase is full, I put them on the desk. Then the desk is full, I pile them up on the chairs. When the chairs are full, I pile them up on the floor. I never sort them out. I lay aside casually new acquisitions as well as books I’ve just finished reading. Consequently, it often takes me couple of hours to hunt down a book for reference when I am writing.

要點(diǎn)：
1，“不滿”可按“大約，左右”來(lái)理解，譯為about。
2,“長(zhǎng)不滿十五尺，寬不滿十尺” 譯為The little room is about 5 meters in length and 3 meters in width三尺等于一米，因此15尺=5米，10尺=3米，單位換算也是翻譯的一個(gè)必備技能。此外，這個(gè)表示“長(zhǎng)…寬…”的固定句式也是需要記住的。
?3，“書架里放不下，便放在桌子上；桌子上放不下，便堆在椅子里；椅子里放不下，便疊在地上?！痹木涫较嗤瑑蓛蓪?duì)仗，譯者亦采用結(jié)構(gòu)相同的英文來(lái)譯，最大限度地體現(xiàn)了原文的風(fēng)格。
4，“買到了新書就隨便放，看過(guò)了又隨便丟”譯為I lay aside casually new acquisitions as well as books I’ve just finished reading.其中把“隨便放”和“隨便丟”都譯為lay aside casually.此外，將“買到了新書新書”譯為new acquisitions（新獲得的事物），這點(diǎn)我們之前也見(jiàn)過(guò)，在《虎》中，譯者將“后來(lái)父親房?jī)?nèi)多了一張虎皮椅墊“譯為From then on, my father had a new acquisition in his room—namely, the tiger-skin chair cushion,中a new acquisition較something new確切，前者能更加確切地表達(dá)”新增添的東西“。
5，“hunt down a book for reference”即“找某本書作為參考” ,譯者將原句“需要參考時(shí)，每每費(fèi)半個(gè)一個(gè)鐘頭去尋覓（書）”合譯為一句了。

通常一個(gè)人有了這許多放書的房間，他便總會(huì)為他們?nèi)≡S多雅致的名字：?什么室，什么齋，什么樓之類。一半當(dāng)然為了借這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)可以寫些大字，叫做匾的人刻好了掛起來(lái)；一半也是為自己或是家人找書的時(shí)候容易辨別。我卻懶得花這種心思，所以像上面所說(shuō)的那個(gè)房間，我們便叫作“樓上書房”。樓下的叫作“樓下 書房”；三層樓的叫作“三層樓書房”。
Generally speaking, with so many rooms for storing books, one will assign to each an elegant name, to be inscribed on a horizontal board hung above the door, partly for show and partly for convenience. I, nevertheless, have never been in a mood for doing the same. I just call the above-mentioned room “Upstairs Study”, the room downstairs “Downstairs Study” and the bathroom on the third floor “Third-floor Study”.

要點(diǎn)：
1，“給..起名”即assign names to。
2，“一半當(dāng)然為了借這個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)可以寫些大字，叫做匾的人刻好了掛起來(lái)；一半也是為自己或是家人找書的時(shí)候容易辨別。”即“一半為了裝飾，一般為了方便”，意譯為partly for show and partly for convenience。
3，“我卻懶得花這種心思”意為“我卻無(wú)心這樣做”，意譯為I, nevertheless, have never been in a mood for doing the same。

綜述：以上兩段意譯的部分比較多，很考驗(yàn)中文理解和雙語(yǔ)轉(zhuǎn)換能力，同時(shí)要注意一些固定表達(dá)的積累如“長(zhǎng)…寬…”,“給…起名”等。

聲明:本雙語(yǔ)文章的中文評(píng)析系滬江英語(yǔ)原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容,轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處。中文評(píng)析僅代表作者個(gè)人觀點(diǎn)，如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。