《永久的憧憬和追求–萧红》 -英语翻译教程-中英双语赏析

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永久的憧憬和追求–萧红

My Longing and Yearning –Xiao Hong

🔥注释：萧红（1911-1942），黑龙江省呼兰县人，官僚地主家庭出身，是才华横溢的女作家。本文是她应美国友人斯诺之约而写的小传。文章诉说她如何在祖父在关怀和抚育下度过寂寞的幼女时代。

🔥学习建议：文中列出了两种译文(选自《张培基散文选》和《散文佳作108篇》)，句子解析部分只针对译文1。大家可自行从选词、句式、冗长or精简、直译or意译、修辞手法等角度对两种译文进行供对比赏析。两种译文没有对错之分，都是学习的好材料，可以借鉴模仿。

🔥说明：对于翻译学习者来讲，除了积累表达和运用翻译技巧，对不同的译文进行对比也是一种好的学习方式。

🔥对比时注意

①自己想不到的地方

②各译文的不同之处。

提供多种译文版本的材料真的很难得，请一定珍惜这些材料并进行对比赏析，这会让翻译学习有一个质的提升。本期活动会穿插几篇提供两种译文的文章，供大家学习。

一九一一年，在一个小县城里边，我生在一个小地主的家里。那县城差不多就是中国的最东最北部——黑龙江省——所以一年之中，倒有四个月飘着白雪。

译文1：In 1911, I was born into a petty Landlord family in a remote county town in Heilongjiang Province—a town situated virtually at the northeastern tip of China. We had snow there for as long as one third of a year.

译文2：In 1911 I was born into a small landlord family in a small county town in Heilongjiang—China’s far northeastern province where it snowed for four months of the year.

🎈“那县城差不多就是中国的最东最北部——黑龙江省——”意即“那县城在黑龙江省，差不多位于中国的东北角”。现译为in a remote town in Heilongjiang Province—a town situated virtually at the northeastern tip of china，其中以remote（偏僻的、边远的）表达“小”，便于烘托原文的气氛；at the northeastern tip of China比in China’s northeastern part灵活顺口。

🎈as long as one third of a year是as…as…结构，意为”和……一样”，表示同级的比较。

父亲常常为着贪婪而失掉了人性。

译文1：Father, driven by avarice, often became very unfeeling.

译文2：Father was almost inhumanly avaricious.

🎈常常为着贪婪而失掉了人性→由于贪婪变得没有人性。译文用“driven by受……驱使”表示原因。

他对待仆人，对待自己的儿女，以及对待我的祖父都是同样的吝啬而疏远，甚至于无情。

译文1：He would treat his servants, his own children and even my grandpa alike with meanness and indifference, not to say with ruthlessness.

译文2：To his servants, his children and even his own father, he was just as miserly and indifferent, or heartless for that matter.

🎈“甚至于无情”译为not to say with ruthlessness，其中not to say是英语成语，意即and almost或and perhaps even。

Q：not to say我查到的意思是“说不上”，把“甚至……”翻成not to say……会不会有点不太贴切？

🎈not to say同if not。本来的意义是“如果不是”，但是实际意义往往是“更上一层楼，甚至是…”。

例如

He bullied his opponents and impugned their integrity, if not their patriotism.

他威吓对手们，否定他们的正直，甚至否定他们的爱国心。

Their behavior was reproachable, if not criminal.

他们的行为是恶劣的，甚至是罪恶的。

Q：这句怎么看出来用would这个时态的？

🎈例如：He would drink a cup of tea after lunch when he was in the college. 他上大学的时候饭后常常会再喝一杯茶。（这里的would表示过去经常做什么事情，不能简单的看成是will 的过去时态，类似的意思有use to，不过use to是表示过去常常做什么，而现在却不做了）

🎈alike是副词，表示都。例如The techniques are being applied almost everywhere by big and small firms alike.无论在大公司还是小公司，这些技术的应用几乎无处不在。

有一次，为着房屋租金的事情，父亲把房客的全套的马车赶了过来。

译文1：Once, due to a dispute over house rent, he took away by force a tenant’s horse-drawn cart and drove it home.

译文2：Once because a tenant failed to pay his rent, Father detained his cart and horses.

🎈dispute和argue的区别：dispute指“激烈争辩”，含有“相持不下”或“未得解决”之意，侧重对分歧进行激烈的讨论，带一定感情色彩，常隐含“各持己见”或“争论不休”意味；argue则指提出理由或证据为自己的看法或立场辩护，着重说理、论证和企图说服。

🎈此句“为着”仍同“因为，由于”。

🎈把房客的全套的马车赶了过来→带走马车+把马车赶回自己家，是两个动作，故译为took away (the cart)+ drove (it) home。作者写这句话的意图在于说明父亲的没有人性， “by force 强行”则强调了父亲的“无情、无人性”。

Q：父亲把房客的全套的马车赶了过来he took away by force a tenant’s horse-drawn cart and drove it home.为何省译“全套的”？

🎈全套=马+车。已经有了horse和cart，可以不译。

房客的家属们哭着诉说着，向我的祖父跪了下来，于是祖父把两匹棕色的马从车上解下来还了回去。

译文1：The tenant’s family came to see grandpa and, dropping to their knees, tearfully related their troubles. Grandpa unharnessed the two chestnut horses and returned them to tenant.

译文2：The tenant’s family knelt in front of Grandpa, pleading for mercy with tears in their eyes. Grandpa unharnessed the two brown horses from the cart and gave them back to the tenant.

🎈房客的家属们哭着诉说着，向我的祖父跪了下来→理解为“房客的家属们来找到祖父，向祖父跪下，哭诉他们的困难”。故译为The tenant’s family came to see grandpa and, dropping to their knees, tearfully related their troubles.

🎈“哭着诉说着”译为tearfully related their troubles，其中related意同told。

🎈“棕色的马”译为chestnut horses。英语常用chestnut指马的棕色，或棕色的马.

为着这匹马，父亲向祖父起着终夜的争吵。

译文1：That touched off a night-long quarrel between father and grandpa.

译文2：Over this Father wrangled with him for the whole night.

🎈译文touched off是成语，作“激起”、“引起”解。

🎈常见的“争论”：

Q：为了这匹马，父亲向祖父起着终夜的争吵，对象发出者是父亲，译文是that touched off a night long quarrel between father and grandpa ，只说了父亲和祖父之间有争吵，并没有说是谁发起的，这样属不属于表意不清呀

🎈俩人的事。一个巴掌拍不响。

“两匹马，咱们是算不了什么的，穷人，这匹马就是命根。”祖父这样说着，而父亲还是争吵。

译文1：“The two horses mean nothing to us, but everything to the poor,” argued grandpa. Father, however, refused to listen.

译文2：“Two horses don’t mean much to us,” said Grandpa, “but they are the life-blood to the poor.” Father bickered on.

🎈“穷人，这匹马就是命根”译为they mean everything to the poor，其中everything和前面的nothing相互应。

🎈而父亲还是争吵→父亲不听劝。此处未将“争吵”译为continue to argue，避免与“argued grandpa”中的argue重复。

九岁时，母亲死去。父亲也就更变了样，

译文1：Mother died when I was nine. From then on father went from bad to worse.

译文2：When I was nine years old Mother died and Father became worse.

🎈“父亲也就更变了样”译为From then on father went from bad to worse，其中from then on是连接上句的添加成分。又went from bad to worse是成语，作“越来越坏”、“每况俞下”解。

偶然打碎了一只杯子，他就要骂到使人发抖的程度。

译文1：Even a mere cup accidentally broken by someone would send him into such a violent rage that we all shivered with fear.

译文2：If you accidentally broke a small thing like a cup, he would keep throwing curses at you until you shivered all over.

🎈“even a mere cup”中的even和mere突出强调了父亲的变本加厉，即：哪怕就是一只杯子，也要骂上半天。

🎈（偶然打碎了一只杯子，）他就要骂到使人发抖的程度→（打碎杯子这件事）使父亲暴怒，现译作send him into such a violent rage that we all shivered with fear。其中包含such a/an… + that结构。

后来就连父亲的眼睛也转了弯，每从他的身边经过，我就像自己的身上生了针剌一样；他斜视着你，他那高傲的眼光从鼻梁经过嘴角而后往下流着。

译文1：Later, whenever I happened to walk past him, he would even have his eyes directed sideways, which made me feel like being pricked all over on thorns. When he looked askance at me, superciliousness gushed from his eyes down the bridge of his nose and then off the corners of his mouth.

译文2：Later even his eyes could cast crooked glances. Whenever I passed by him, he would eye me sideways with his arrogant look streaming down the bridge of his nose and then off the comer of his mouth, making me feel as if pricked on needles.

🎈眼睛转了弯→不正眼看，即斜眼看，现译为have his eyes directed sideways，此处有have sth. done的结构。

🎈“就像自己的身上生了针剌一样”译为feel like being pricked all over on thorns，其中feel like是短语动词，作“如同”解，介词on常用来指人体受到伤害的原因。

🎈每从他的身边经过→偶然路过父亲身旁，故译作happened to walk past him。

🎈译文superciliousness gushed from his eyes…是隐喻，指superciliousness像液体等一样流出。

🎈off是“离开“之意，即then superciliousness gushed off the corners of his mouth。

所以每每在大雪中的黄昏里，围着暖炉，围着祖父，听着祖父读着诗篇，看着祖父读着诗篇时微红的嘴唇。

译文1：Often of a snowy evening, we children would hang about grandpa by a heating stove, listening to him reading poems aloud and meanwhile watching his busy ruddy lips.

译文2：In snowy evenings I would sit with Grandpa by the stove, listening to him reading poems, watching his pink lips while he was reading.

🎈译文Often of a snowy evening中的of 等于on，但有“经常”的含义。

🎈“围着暖炉，围着祖父，听着祖父读着诗篇，看着祖父读着诗篇时微红的嘴唇”译为would hang about grandpa by a heating stove, listening to him ready poems aloud and meanwhile watching his busy ruddy lips，其中hang about或hang around为动词短语，作“待在……身边”解，通常有亲密、友好的含义；by表示在……旁。busy一词描述祖父的嘴唇不断张合，以代替“读着诗篇时”。

Q：hang about with sb =hang around with sb表示“（和某人）长时间待在一起，泡在一块儿”。为何原文是hang about grandpa，没有with呢？字典上hang about表示“（在某处附近）等待，逗留，闲荡”。

🎈书上原注释写的是hang about。自己要用hang about with。

🎈we children是口语中的常见表达。

例句

We children played in the river.

我们小孩子在河边玩耍嬉戏。

父亲打了我的时候，我就在祖父的房里，一直面向着窗子，从黄昏到深夜——窗外的白雪，好像白棉花一样飘着；而暖炉上水壶的盖子，则像伴奏的乐器似的振动着。

译文1：Whenever father had given me a beating, I would seek solace in grandpa’s room where I would stay gazing out of the window from dusk till late into the night while snowflakes were flying like cotton and the lid of the kettle over the heating stove rattling like a musical instrument playing an accompaniment.

译文2：When Father beat me, I would go to Grandpa’s room and stood by the window from evening till late into the night, watching the white snow falling like cotton, while the lid of the kettle over the stove clinked like a musical instrument playing accompaniment.

🎈whenever引导时间状语从句时，表示“每当；一……就……”，与when用法相似，但whenever语气更强烈；whenever引导让步状语从句时，表示“无论何时”，相当于at whatever time, no matter when。

🎈“打了我”译作give a beating。beat me除了“打我”，还有“把我打败，击败我”的意思。

🎈“父亲打了我的时候，我就在祖父的房里”→译文增译“我就在祖父房里寻求慰藉seek solace。

🎈一直面向着窗子→看向窗子（外面），故译作stay gazing out of the window

🎈late into the night到深夜

例句

This means to work or study late into the night.

这个习语的意思是工作或学习到深夜。

🎈“暖炉上水壶的盖子，则像伴奏乐器似的振动着”译为and the lid of the kettle over the heating stove rattling like a musical instrument playing an accompaniment, 其中rattling表达“振动”，而不用vibrating等，因to rattle不仅指“振动”，而且指格格作响声，与“伴奏乐器”的比喻相互应。此处，省略be。

祖父时时把多纹的两手放在我的肩上，而后又放在我头上，我的耳边便响着这样的声音: “快快长吧！长大就好了。”

译文1：Grandpa would place his wrinkled hand on my shoulder and then on my head, saying, “Grow up quick, poor child! You’ll be all right after you’ve grown up.”

译文2：Grandpa would put his wrinkled hand on my shoulder and then my head, saying into my ear: “Grow quickly, my child. When you are grown, things will be better.”

🎈“saying……”是伴随状语。

🎈增译“poor child”，意为“我可怜的孩子”，体现祖父对我的疼惜。

二十岁那年，我就逃出了父亲的家庭。

译文1：I fled from home at twenty.

译文2：At the age of twenty I fled home.

🎈在二十岁at twenty

在某人二十多岁的时候 in one’s twenties

直到现在还是过着流浪的生活。

译文1：And so far I still live the life of a vagrant.

译文2：Even today I am still wandering around like a hobo.

🎈过着流浪的生活live the life of a vagrant

“长大”是“长大了”，而没有“好”。

译文1：True, I’ve “grown up”, but I’m not yet “all right”.

译文2：“Grown” as I am, but things are not any “better”.

🎈“长大”是“长大了”，而没有“好”

译时补充出主语I。

可是从祖父那里，知道了人生除掉了冰冷和憎恶而外，还有温暖和爱。

译文1：Nevertheless, from grandpa I’ve learned that apart from coldness and hatred, there is also warmth and love in life.

译文2：However, from Grandpa I have learned that in life there is not only coldness and hatred, but also warmth and love.

🎈apart from

·中文“除了…之外”，可以有两个意思，一个是“以…为例外”（“把…除外不算在内”），一个是“有了…，还加上（别的）”。

·英文的apart from也同样有这两个大不相同的意义。

前面一个意思。

例句

Apart from her, we were all in agreement.

除了她一个人不同意，我们大家都一致同意。

This movie house has a reduced price, apart from Saturday and Sunday.

这家电影院有减价票，但是星期六和星期天不减。

Apart from the cost, the plan was a good one.

成本高了一点，但计划还是不错的。

后面一个意思。

例句

Quite apart from the time it would take, I can’t afford it.

不但时间要拖得很长，而且我也负担不起。

Who else went there apart from you?

除了你，去那里的还有谁？

There are other problems with that car apart from its cost.

这辆车不但价钱高，而且还有其他一些问题。

所以我就向这“温暖”和“爱”的方面，怀着永久的憧憬和追求。

译文1：Hence my everlasting dream and pursuit of this “warmth” and “love”.

译文2：For that “warmth” and “love” I will keep longing and yearning.

Q: hence的用法

🎈①hence后面可以直接放上一个名词成分，形成一个没有谓语动词的特殊句型，表示“因为前面说过的缘故，所以有了…”。

例句

Hence my surprise. 所以我感到惊讶。

Hence my letter. 所以我就写这封信。

Hence the fact that… 因此…

②hence也可以作为一个普通的副词（“因此”、“由此”）放在正常的句子中起作用。

例句

These cars have become cheaper, and hence affordable to more people.

这些汽车变得更为便宜，因而为更多的人所买得起。

③ hence还有“从现在算起”的副词意义。

例句

The property must be vacated 12 days hence.

该不动产应该自现在起12天内腾出。

🎈这句话解释了题目的由来。

🔥必背词汇

everlasting        adj.永恒不变的，永不停止的

英义

If you describe something as everlasting, you mean that it seems never to change or end.

例句

I have loved you with an everlasting love!

我对你的爱从未改变！

vagrant        cn.流浪汉，漂泊者，乞丐

英义

A vagrant is someone who moves a lot from place to place because they have no permanent home or job, and have to ask for or steal things in order to live.

例句

He lived on the street as a vagrant.

他以在大街上乞讨为生。

avarice        un.贪财，贪婪，贪得无厌

英义

Avarice is extremely strong desire for money and possessions. E.g. 例句

He paid a month’s rent in advance, just enough to satisfy the landlord’s avarice.

他预交了一个月的房租，正好满足房东的贪心。

🔥重点表达

永远的憧憬和追求Everlasting Dream and Pursuit

生在一个小地主的家里was born into a petty Landlord family

在一个小县城里in a remote county town

有四个月for as long as one third of a year

为着贪婪driven by avarice

对待……都是同样的吝啬而疏远，甚至于无情treat… with meanness and indifference, not to say with ruthlessness

强行 by force

起着终夜的争吵 touch off a night-long quarrel

跪了下来dropping to their knees

哭诉他们的困难tearfully related their troubles

棕色的马chestnut horses

对A算不了什么，但是B的命根 mean nothing to A,but everything to B

越来越坏，每况日下 go from bad to worse

他就要骂到使人发抖的程度send him into such a violent rage that we all shivered with fear

眼睛也转了弯have his eyes directed sideways

像自己的身上生了针剌一样 feel like being pricked all over on thorns

斜视着你looked askance at me

高傲的眼光从鼻梁经过嘴角而后往下流着superciliousness gushed from his eyes down the bridge of his nose and then off the corners of his mouth

每每在大雪中的黄昏里Often of a snowy evening

暖炉 a heating stove

从黄昏到深夜from dusk till late into the night

面向着窗子stay gazing out of the window

像伴奏乐器似的振动着rattling like a musical instrument playing an accompaniment

长大就好了You’ll be all right after you’ve grown up.

在二十岁at twenty

在某人二十多岁的时候 in one’s twenties

过着流浪的生活live the life of a vagrant

除了 apart from

待在……身边 hang around/about

🔥复盘测试

永远的憧憬和追求

生在一个小地主的家里

在一个小县城里

有四个月

为着贪婪

对待……都是同样的吝啬而疏远，甚至于无情

强行

起着终夜的争吵

跪了下来

哭诉他们的困难

棕色的马

对A算不了什么，但是B的命根

越来越坏，每况日下

他就要骂到使人发抖的程度

眼睛也转了弯

像自己的身上生了针剌一样

斜视着你

高傲的眼光从鼻梁经过嘴角而后往下流着每每在大雪中的黄昏里

暖炉

从黄昏到深夜

面向着窗子

像伴奏乐器似的振动着

长大就好了

在二十岁

在某人二十多岁的时候

过着流浪的生活

除了

待在……身边

🔥表达对比

「勃然大怒」有几种译法？

偶然打碎了一只杯子，他就要（骂到使人发抖的程度）。

Even a mere cup accidentally broken by someone would send him into such a violent rage that we all shivered with fear.

当约翰发现他妻子不等他就外出时，便莫名奇妙地（勃然大怒）并且砸坏了家具。

When John found that his wife had gone out without waiting for him, he got into a blind fury and smashed the furniture up.

当他得知妻子有外遇时，他（勃然大怒）。

When he knew his wife had an affair with others, he flew off the handle.

玛丽看到孩子们在取笑那位残废的女孩时，(勃然大怒)。

It made Mary’s blood boil to see the children make fun of the crippled girl.

天神终于知道了事情的真相，(勃然大怒)。

Knew the truth of the thing at last, the Sky God flew into a rage.

未经允许不得转载：帕布莉卡 » 《永久的憧憬和追求–萧红》 -英语翻译教程-中英双语赏析