我的書齋生活
My Private Library

邵洵美
Shao Xunmei

| 譯文摘自張培基《英譯中國散文選二》

你們簡直可以說，洵美是生活在書齋里的：會客室里是書，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：
1，“簡直可以說”即“不妨說”譯為may as well(做…倒也無妨)。
2,“你們簡直可以說，洵美是生活在書齋里的”整句話理解為“你們不妨說，詢美是個書蟲”，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“洵美是個書蟲”即貼切，又生動形象，這個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，沒有地方擺稿紙，也沒有地方擺硯臺，我又不會用鋼筆寫文章。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：
1，“我又不會用鋼筆寫文章”應(yīng)按“硯臺是我必須的，因為我寫文章只用毛筆，不會用鋼筆”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。

這個小房間里還有兩只安樂椅；一個書架，里面是我最心愛的書籍，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；偶然在看書的時候想到自己不久要窮得不成個樣子，它就會顯示給你一個最偉大的希望——所以有幾個晚上，我簡直就呆對著這張畫。
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：
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，“它就會顯示給你一個最偉大的希望”意即“它會讓你看到光明的未來并使你振作”，譯為Then the painting will cheer me up with bright hopes。
5，“我簡直就呆對著這張畫”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。一定要最真實地表達(dá)出作者的意思。

這個小房間，長不滿十五尺，寬不滿十尺，關(guān)于現(xiàn)代詩的書籍，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，看過了又隨便丟；假使為了寫一篇文章，需要參考時，每每費半個一個鐘頭去尋覓。
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：
1，“不滿”可按“大約，左右”來理解，譯為about。
2,“長不滿十五尺，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必備技能。此外，這個表示“長…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。”原文句式相同，兩兩對仗，譯者亦采用結(jié)構(gòu)相同的英文來譯，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），這點我們之前也見過，在《虎》中，譯者將“后來父親房內(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，每每費半個一個鐘頭去尋覓（書）”合譯為一句了。

通常一個人有了這許多放書的房間，他便總會為他們?nèi)≡S多雅致的名字：?什么室，什么齋，什么樓之類。一半當(dāng)然為了借這個機會可以寫些大字，叫做匾的人刻好了掛起來；一半也是為自己或是家人找書的時候容易辨別。我卻懶得花這種心思，所以像上面所說的那個房間，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：
1，“給..起名”即assign names to。
2，“一半當(dāng)然為了借這個機會可以寫些大字，叫做匾的人刻好了掛起來；一半也是為自己或是家人找書的時候容易辨別?！奔础耙话霝榱搜b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，很考驗中文理解和雙語轉(zhuǎn)換能力，同時要注意一些固定表達(dá)的積累如“長…寬…”,“給…起名”等。

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