The Old Man and His Three Sons冯雪峰Feng Xuefeng🔥提示：《老人和他的三个儿子》实属寓言散文，为了突出其寓意，使用了一些色彩鲜明的形容同，译好这些形容词很重要。一位老人有三个儿子。大儿子是一个非凡的水手:坚强、勇敢、尽职，而且富于冒险精神。An old man had three sons. The eldest was an extraordinary sailor—tough, brave, dutiful and adventurous.🎈一系列形容词：非凡的extraordinary、坚强的tough、勇敢的brave、尽职的dutiful、富于冒险精神的adventurous。老人真的爱他，认为这是一个做父亲的值得骄傲的光荣。The old man loved him indeed, thinking he was the kind of son for a father to be proud of.🎈那种/这种……the kind of…巴金《做一个战士》这便是我们现在需要的战士。This is the kind of fighter we now need.🎈现在分词短语做状语可当做句子衔接的手段之一。可是，在一次暴风雨中，这个儿子以他的大胆和勇猛气葬身于大海的狂涛骇浪里了。But caught in a tempest on the sea this tough and brave son of his was engulfed in the stormy waves.🎈“这个儿子以他的大胆和勇猛”，这句话照字面直译比较困难，译文对此做了调整，将其处理为son的前置定语，表明人物性格特质。二儿子是一个不知道辛苦和疲劳的、力气比一般伙伴都更大的壮健的矿工，又很诚实和守信义，乐意帮助伙伴和朋友，所以矿工们，尤其是青年们，都和他做朋友，以得到他的友谊为快乐。His second son was a strong coal miner, stronger than the other miners. No hard work could ever fatigue him. Besides, he was honest and trustworthy, willing to help others. Therefore, his fellow miners, especially the young ones, sought for his friendship and took pleasure in being friends with him.🎈此句原文一“逗”到底，需要断句，可参考逻辑词为断句点。那父亲也真爱他,尤其是在大儿子死了以后，更认为这是上天给他的最大的弥补。His father cherished him as a godsend—a great compensation for the loss of his eldest son.🎈cherished him as a godsend表示“看成宝贝”的意思，体现了父亲爱二儿子的程度，和原文的“真爱他”不谋而合。可是，不久，二儿子也殉身于自己的勇敢和自我牺牲的行为了，But unfortunately he also lost his life in a brave act of self-sacrifice.🎈“二儿子也殉身于自己的勇敢和自我牺牲的行为了”，原文的两个形容词“勇敢”和“自我牺牲的”，在译文里合并为一个结构，即in a brave act of self-sacrifice,这样既简练又明确。因为这一天他在煤矿中工作，矿坑因为支柱损坏而崩坍，他英勇地撑住一根支柱，救出了许多伙伴，而他自己却被压死了。One day when he was working down the pit, the props, damaged, gave way and the pit caved in. He grasped one prop that was about to fall and held fast to it. Many of the miners got out of danger, but he was crushed in the pit.🎈down the pit中down作介词，表示“在……之下”。🎈give way表示断裂、塌陷（to break or fall down），(being) damaged可理解为prop的修饰语。🎈 坚持…，撑住 hold fast to sth老人的伤痛是不用说的，他马上变成一个非常衰败的软弱的人了。There were no words to describe how grieved the old man was. Soon he became weak and flabby.🎈“老人的伤痛是不用说的”可以作两种理解：一是老人无疑非常悲伤；二是老人的悲伤无法言语（可用beyond一词）。不过， 还剩下一个小儿子，是做父亲的唯一的安慰。However, he had another son—the youngest one—to fall back on.🎈 (其他方法行不通时)转而做，转而使用，转而依靠fall back on例句Unable to defeat him by logical discussion, she fell back on her old habit of criticizing his speech.由于在条理上说不过他，她便转而重施故技，抓住他的演讲不放。老人改变了主意,决心不让小儿子成为一个出众的英雄好汉的人物，因为他实在不能再忍受那种折损儿子的痛苦。This time he changed his mind. He did not encourage him to become a hero, because he could no longer stand the poignancy of losing his last child.🎈“忍受”译作stand，这个词可以表示“经得起（考验）、承得住（痛苦）等”。他叹着气说:“唉，与其因为他有才能而被夺，我宁愿他是一个一无所长的没出息的人呵。” He said with a sigh, “I would rather he be a mediocrity than be a talented person and lose his life.”🎈此处“被夺”指（像老大、老二那样）被夺去生命，译作lose his life；“一无所长的没出息的人”→庸才，译作a mediocrity。这样，老人就亲自教育这个小儿子，釆取了一种连那些老婆婆们教育女娃娃都很少釆用的教育方法。He set about educating him in such a way that even old women would not adopt in educating their granddaughters.🎈开始做、着手set about (doing) sth季羡林《黎明前的北京》我不出去跑步或散步，而是一下床就干活儿。Instead of going out for a jog or walk, I’ll set about my work as soon as I’m out of bed. 而这个小儿子，也真孝顺，果然没有叫父亲失望。And this son of his turned out to be very obedient—he did not let him down.🎈this son of his：如果表示所有关系，通常要用of+形容词性物主代词，如an old friend of mine（我的一位老朋友）。如果不是表示所有关系，可以根据句式得需要使用of+人称代词的宾格形式。🎈使某人失望 let sb down不辜负某人期望live up to the expectations of sb就是说，他让自己成为一个又懦弱又自私而真的一无用处的人了。In other words he became a weak, selfish and worthless person.🎈“懦弱”还可译作coward、spineless（没有骨气的;懦弱的）等词。可是，真没有想到，到了这时候，这个老人感到从来没有过的悲哀和不幸了。It was not until then that the old man found himself a sad and most unfortunate man he had never been.🎈此句是强调句式，not until then是被强调的部分，其中then表示“当时、此时”；found himself a sad and most unfortunate man (he had never been)是find+宾语+宾补的结构。他一边痛悔自己的错误，一边憎恨而又可怜自己的小儿子说：“这就叫做废物，这就叫做脓包，是我一向所痛恨的。He was full of remorse for the mistake he had made. He said in a tone filled with anger and pity for his son, “This is what is called good-for-nothing. He has now become the very kind of person I dislike.🎈He was full of remorse for the mistake he had made. He said…也可处理为Full of remorse for…, he said in a tone…，体现“一边…一边…”之意。good-for-nothing可作形容词，指“一无是处的”，也可作名词，指“一无是处的人、废柴”。the very kind of中very起强调作用。现在因为我自私，亲手把他制造出来了！I am to blame though, for I’ve made him like this with my own doing.🎈 句尾的though理解成“可（能怨谁呢？我才是罪魁祸首，因为是我一手培养的）。”be to blame (for sth)表示对（坏事）负有责任、应被指责。例如：Which driver was to blame for the accident?哪个司机是此次事故的肇事者？嗳，嗳，这样的一个海淹不死、山压不死的人，他活着到底做什么的？”Ai, I wonder if life has any meaning to such a creature, though he is not drowned in the sea, nor buried in the pit.”🎈个人觉得此句可以理解成：“这样一个海淹不死、山压不死的人（倒是安安稳稳地活着，人生却没一点出彩之处）他活着到底有什么意义？”括号中的内容只是为了帮助大家理解原文，此处参考译文根据原文的说法，综合考虑下选择译成了he is not drowned in the sea, nor buried in the pit。大家可以适当增译。这个老人实在无法爱他的小儿子，因为他只能爱波澜壮阔的海和巍峨坚实的山以及像他大儿子二儿子那样的人的。The old man could not bring himself to love his son any more, for he could only love stormy seas, lofty mountains and heroic people like his first two sons.🎈bring himself to意同let/allow himself to…。因此，他现在做父亲的心，不得不无限地痛苦，这是他一度错误的想法和他亲手毁坏了小儿子这件事情的一个惩罚。Being a father, he was now suffering from a broken heart—-a punishment brought on himself for ruining his youngest son as a result of his own mistake.🎈suffer 是“受（苦）”，“受（痛）”，“受（损失）”等的“受”，它的宾语是 distress，pain，loss，grief，insult，defeat，punishment，wrong，hardship，torture，drudgery，injustice，persecution，discouragement，disappointment 等词。suffer from 是“受…的苦”，它的宾语没有限定。但说“患某病”该在病名前面用 suffer from。例如：She is suffering from a headache.🔥必背词汇extraordinary adj.非凡的，优秀的，出色的英义If you describe something or someone as extraordinary, you mean that they have some extremely good or special quality.例句We’ve made extraordinary progress as a society in that regard.在那个方面，我们的社会已经取得了巨大的进步。dutiful adj.顺从的，尽职的，恭敬的英义If you say that someone is dutiful, you mean that they do everything that they are expected to do.例句The inspector dutifully recorded the date in a large red book.检查员很尽职地在一本大红册子上记下了日期。engulf v.常指突然吞没，吞噬英义If one thing engulfs another, it completely covers or hides it, often in a sudden and unexpected way.例句A seven-year-old boy was found dead after a landslide engulfed a block of flats.山体滑坡掩埋了一栋公寓楼，造成一名7岁男孩丧生。tempest cn.暴风雨英义A tempest is a very violent storm.例句Torrential rain and a howling tempest cut a swathe of destruction across the country.狂风暴雨横扫全国，所到之处，一片狼藉。godsend n.天赐之物，助益匪浅的事物英义If you describe something as a godsend, you are emphasizing that it helps you very much.例句Pharmacists are a godsend when you don’t feel sick enough to call the doctor.生病了但不严重、无需求医的时候，药店能帮上大忙。🔥重点表达非凡的extraordinary坚强的tough勇敢的brave尽职的dutiful富于冒险精神的adventurous那种/这种……the kind of…葬身于狂涛骇浪里was engulfed in the stormy waves不知道辛苦和疲劳No hard work could ever fatigue him.诚实honest守信义trustworthy乐于助人willing to help others弥补compensation断裂、塌陷give way坚持…；撑住hold fast to sth(其他方法行不通时)转而做，转而使用，转而依靠fall back on一无所长的没出息的人a mediocrity开始做、着手set about (doing) sth使某人失望 let sb down🔥复盘测试非凡的坚强的勇敢的尽职的富于冒险精神的那种/这种……葬身于狂涛骇浪里不知道辛苦和疲劳诚实守信义乐于助人弥补断裂、塌陷坚持…；撑住(其他方法行不通时)转而做，转而使用，转而依靠一无所长的没出息的人开始做、着手使某人失望🔥表达对比「忍受」有几种表达？老人改变了主意,决心不让小儿子成为一个出众的英雄好汉的人物，因为他实在不能再（忍受）那种折损儿子的痛苦。This time he changed his mind. He did not encourage him to become a hero, because he could no longer stand the poignancy of losing his last child.她能（忍受）一切艰难，痛苦，而达到它所选定的目标。He can endure any hardships or sufferings while striving to attain his chosen objectives.我甚至怨恨它这么多年竟会默默地（忍受）着这一切，而我又立即深深地感到它那种不屈于误解、寂寞的生存的伟大。I have even complained about it having pocketed silently all it had experienced for so many years, but again I am struck by the greatness that lies in its lonely unyielding existence of being misunderstood by people.我再也无法（忍受）他们抽烟了。I can’t put up with their smoking any longer. 这些，又一些，因我的死亡而将使父母及丈夫所遭受到的大劫难，每想起来，便是（不忍），不忍，不忍又不忍。I cannot bear to think of the great adversity to be brought on my parents and husband by my death. No, I can’t, absolutely can’t.
帕布莉卡
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爱是一颗心遇到另一颗心（出处+配图） 
