王蒙《维护团结的人》 -英语翻译教程-中英双语赏析

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维护团结的人

A Man Upholding Unity

王蒙

Wang Meng

🔥提示：本文是一篇讽刺小品，作者讥讽社会上一些无事生非,到处散布流言蜚语挑拨离间的小人。本文主人公的姓名“艾团结”，一语双关，既表示“（喜）爱”又可表示“（妨）碍”，名字虽然是爱团结的意思，而他的实际行动却是有碍团结。作者精心设计安排了这个姓名，翻译时不容回避，然而无法直译，只能采用注解法来处理这个文化差异所造成的难题。（uphold是个好词，政工用的不少）

艾团结悄没声息地走进了老王的家，他压低了声音，对老王说：“老王，不要理他。宰相肚子里撑大船，不跟他一般见识。”

Ai Tuanjie stole into Lao Wang’s home quietly and whispered surreptitiously to him, “Lao Wang, just ignore him. As the saying goes, a Prime Minister’s heart is big enough for a boat to sail. So you needn’t bother to reason with him.”

🎈Ai Tuanjie means the love of unity. It is not a common name for a man. Here it is used in an ironical way. “Ai” can have two meanings: one is “to love” and the other is “to undermine.” “Tuanjie” means unity. So Ai Tuanjie can mean: to love unity or to undermine unity. The latter is what Ai Tuanjie is actually doing.

🎈费心做某事bother to do sth

例如

We just don’t bother to learn another language.

我们只是不想费心费力学另一门语言。

老王莫名其妙，眨了眨眼睛，由于他正忙着打家具，顾不上回答老艾的话。

Lao Wang blinked his eyes in bewilderment. He was busy making furniture and so he didn’t have the time to make any response.

🎈“莫名其妙”即不知道原由，此处指老王一脸困惑，现译作in bewilderment。

🎈忙于……be busy doing sth或be busy with sth/sb

🎈“回答老艾的话”可译作make any response、respond/(give )answer等。

“其实你也早知道了，你不会计较的，你的水平不一样嘛。”

“In fact, you must have heard about it,” he continued. “But you didn’t pay any heed to it, I am sure. You are above all gossip.”

🎈“其实你也早知道了”：联系身边的人的神态，想象“艾团结”说:“不用我说，你肯定早就知道了，但你肯定不会计较的啦，毕竟你的格局可比谣言传的要高”。must have heard是must have done结构，表示一种肯定的推测。“你不会计较”按“你不会在意”之意译作you didn’t pay any heed to it。gossip作名词讲时，表示“流言蜚语”不可数，表示“爱说长道短的人”可数。

老王低下头，拾掇刨子。

Lao Wang stooped to fix the plane.

巴金《木匠老陈》

我那时注意的，并不是他本人，倒是他的那些工具：<什么有轮齿的锯子啦，有两个耳朵的刨子啦，会旋转的钻子啦，像图画里板斧一般的斧子啦>。这些奇怪的东西我以前全没有看见过。

What attracted my attention, however, was not the man himself, but the tools he used, such as the saw with toothed blade, the plane with two ear-like handles, the revolving drill, the hatcher that looked like the broad axe in drawings —things entirely strange to me.

艾团结弯下腰，凑过身去说:“你知道，老周说你的鼻子是假的。”

Ai Tuanjie bent closer and went on, “You know, Lao Zhou said your nose is artificial.”

🎈“弯腰”可用stoop、bent等词译出，注意表达替换。“凑过身去”用比较级closer一词巧妙地译了出来。

🎈artificial: 指模仿天然材料由人工制造的东西，侧重真伪对比。

false: 指因缺失而补上的替代物，有时也指伪装的。

synthetic: 与artificial近义，但前者强调通过化学作用或化学处理把几种物质复制成与原材料截然不同的新产品。

man-made: 指完全用人工制造，不含仿造和真伪对比的意味。

老王鼻子哼一下，没言语。

Lao Wang let out a snort through his nose but kept silent.

🎈嗤之以鼻let out a snort through his nose，也可直接用snort(ed)（作动词，本身便指人因不赞成、不耐烦、觉得可笑等哼鼻子）表示。

艾团结把脸凑得更近一些，哈出来的热气冲到老王的耳朵上:“老周说，你的鼻子是从他家的垃圾堆里找出来，用猪皮胶粘在脸上的。”

Ai Tuanjie moved still closer, breathing hot air into Lao Wang’s ear, “Lao Zhou said your nose was picked up from among the rubbish heap in front of his house and stuck on to your face by the adhesive made of pig skin.”

🎈from among the rubbish heap中出现了双/二重介词from among（从…中），指由两个单一的介词并列,作为一个介词使用并表达一个完整意思的介词.常见的有：from among, from behind, from under, until/till after等。又，in front of是增译成分，这和当时家家户户房屋的布局有关。

老王抬起了头。

This remark finally made Lao Wang look up at him.

🎈“老王抬起了头”前暗含“听到这/这时……”等意，译时要补充出“艾团结的话”和“老王抬头”之间存在的逻辑关系。

“老周还说，你把你原来的鼻子卖给走私商了，没有缴纳赋税。”

He then added, “Lao Zhou also said that you have sold your own nose to a profiteer without paying tax.”

🎈 raise/cut/pay/impose tax增加/削减/缴纳/征收税收

🎈关于“税”

tax指税、税款，例如income tax所得税、tax cuts税款削减

duty指购物税项，尤指进口货物交纳的关税

customs指关税、进口税

tariff指（为使国内工业免遭廉价进口商品冲击而征收的）关税

rates指（英国地方政府征收的）房地产税、房产税。

老王皱起了眉。

Lao Wang knit his brows.

🎈回顾（庐隐《中学时代生活的回忆》）跑到学监处，<皱紧眉头>假称肚子疼……

I went to the proctor with knitted eyebrows, pretending that I was suffering from a stomach-ache.

艾团结说：“不必生气，不必生气，我们都知道嘛，你的鼻子是一等品，是珍品,是原作，他那样说，只能证明他的无知。你是不会计较的,你是不会计较的……”

“Don’t get upset. Don’t, please! “Ai Tuanjie hastened to console him. “We all know that your nose is first-rate. It is a rarity, an original one. What Lao Zhou said only proves his utter ignorance. You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

🎈大多数人在最初接触upset一词时，都是中英对应：upset-沮丧的。但upset表示情绪时，范围没有这么狭窄，除了沮丧，也常表示生气、失望等。hastened to是增译成分，符合艾团结此处碎碎念，借巴掌打人又偷假糖给人的行为

老王又低下了头，同时开始捉摸：“老周背后讲我的坏话究竟是什么意思呢?”

Lao Wang lowered his head again and began to wonder, “What on earth prompted Lao Zhou to talk behind my back like that?”

🎈“老周背后讲我的坏话究竟是什么意思呢?”→老周为什么要讲我的坏话呢？/是什么促使老周说我坏话呢？现译作What on earth prompted Lao Zhou to talk behind my back like that? 其中，on earth常用于疑问词或最高级词后加强语气，意为“到底、究竟”。

艾团结临走的时候强调说:“一定要以团结为重，一定要以团结为重。”

Ai Tuanjie emphasized, “We must first of all uphold unity. Unity comes before anything else.

🎈“以……为重”也就是“把……放在第一位”，还可以用put…first/before everything，priority等。例如：put people’s safety and health first（把人民的生命安全和身体健康放在第一位）。

艾团结离开了老王，又去找老周“维护团结”去了。

With these remarks, Ai Tuanjie left Lao Wang and went to “uphold unity” at Lao Zhou’s.

🎈With these remarks可以理解为“说完这些话，艾团结又……”，也可以理解为“（艾团结又去找老周）说类似的话去了”。

🔥必背词汇

surreptitious         adj.秘密的，鬼鬼祟祟的，偷偷摸摸的

英义

A surreptitious action is done secretly.

例句

He made a surreptitious entrance to the club through the little door in the brick wall.

他从砖墙的小门偷偷进入俱乐部。

bewilderment      un.困惑，糊涂，晕头转向

英义

Bewilderment is the feeling of being bewildered.

例句

He shook his head in bewilderment.

他困惑地摇了摇头。

heed         v.注意，留心

英义

If you take heed of what someone says or if you pay heed to them, you pay attention to them and consider carefully what they say.

例句

But what if the government takes no heed?

但如果政府不理会该怎么办呢？

🔥重点表达

悄没声息地走进了steal into…

宰相肚子里撑大船a Prime Minister’s heart is big enough for a boat to sail

跟他一般见识bother to reason with him

莫名其妙in bewilderment

正忙着打家具was busy making furniture

注意……pay any heed to sth

拾掇刨子fix the plane

鼻子哼一下let out a snort through his nose

从垃圾堆里找出来的was picked up from among the rubbish heap

私商a profiteer

缴纳赋税pay tax

皱起了眉knit one’is brows

是一等品is first-rate

到底、究竟on earth

🔥复盘测试

悄没声息地走进了

宰相肚子里撑大船

跟他一般见识

莫名其妙

正忙着打家具

注意……

拾掇刨子

鼻子哼一下

从垃圾堆里找出来的

私商

缴纳赋税

皱起了眉

是一等品

到底、究竟

🔥表达对比

「困惑」有几种表达？

Lao Wang blinked his eyes in bewilderment.

老王（莫名其妙），眨了眨眼睛……

Alongside the shame, there was a jolting bafflement.

人们在羞耻之余，还（深感困惑）。

I’m totally confused, and I think men are confused about these issues.

我非常（困惑），我认为男性对对这些问题也同样感到困惑。

I was going/falling down this rabbit hole.

我（陷入了困惑）当中。【结合“狡兔三窟”进行理解】

It can mean that someone is disorganised and confused — they are all over the place.

这个短语可以形容某人非常混乱和困惑——他们（非常困惑）。

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