冯骥才《西式幽默》 -英语翻译教程-中英双语赏析

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西式幽默

Western Humour
冯骥才
Feng Jicai
 
🔥提示:这是一篇讽刺小说,充满了人物形象的细节描写,译时用语应尽力准确、生动,描绘 出与原文具有同样幽默效果的形象。
 
学院请来一位洋教师气长得挺怪,红脸,金发,连鬓大胡须,有几根胡子一直逾过面颊,挨近鼻子; 
Our institute employed an English teacher. He looked very strange — red-faced, golden-haired with a thick growth of whiskers, a few hairs of which going all the way to the nose.
🎈译“洋教师”应指明是哪一个国家或讲哪一种语言的,不但使情节更有真实感,也更符合英语习惯。
🎈look是感官动词,用主动语态。如:It tastes good.尝起来不错。
🎈自始自终、一路上all the way
例句
He stays all the way in the game.
他自始至终参加比赛。

 
他个子足有二米气每进屋门必须低头,才能躲过门框子的拦击,叫人误以为他进门先鞠躬,这不太讲究礼貌了吗? 
He was really tall—no less than six feet five inches. When he came in through the door, he had to lower his head to avoid banging against the door frame. It looked as though he always bowed to you at the door and that was much too polite.
🎈(强调大数量)不少于,多达no less than
🎈英美人量身高以英尺、英寸计,二米约为六英尺五英寸。
🎈came in through the door指从门进屋,came through the door仅指通过门。

 
顶怪的是,他每每与中国学生聊天,聊到可笑之处时,他不笑,脸上也没表情,好像他不喜欢玩笑;
What was more strange about him was that when he chatted with the Chinese students on amusing topics, he did not laugh, nor did his face show any expression as if he had no sense of humour at all.
🎈“顶怪”即“最奇怪”,这里考虑到上下文的衔接,按“更奇怪”之意译作more strange。
🎈结合上下文,这里的“玩笑”不是jokes,应是sense of humour。
🎈注意nor后的倒装。
🎈…感 a sense of
责任感a sense of responsibility
感激a sense of gratitude
成就感 a sense of accomplishment
幽默感a sense of humour

 
可是有时毫不可笑的事,他会冷不防放声大笑,笑得翻江倒海,仰面朝天,几乎连人带椅子要翻过去,喉结在脖子上乱跳,满脸胡子直抖。
However, when talking about topics of the most unamusing nature, he would burst into uncontrollable laughter, roaring while rocking in his chair, almost falling flat on his back, his Adam’s apple dancing up and down in his throat and his whiskers fluttering all over his face.
🎈unamusing:前缀un-用于形容词之前,表示“不”。
🎈of the most unamusing nature属于下述第二种情况:
1、of+某些抽象名词(如interest、use、importance、value、significance),相当于该名词相应的形容词含义,常在句中作表语、后置定语和宾补。可以修饰这些名词的词有some、much、any、great、no、not much、little等。
2、of+某些抽象名词可以表示“性质、质量、颜色、大小、类型、样式、出身、来源、年龄、长度、距离、重量”等,这类名词多数没有其相应的形容词。这一短语还常用来表示人或事物的“内在”特征。
🎈碰到“笑得翻江倒海”这类运用了夸张手法的描写,译时选择表示程度的形容词或者副词即可,不用费劲把“翻江倒海”解释了一遍,效果还不尽如人意。
🎈喉结 Adam’s apple
据圣经故事上说,苹果也给人类带来了麻烦,男人的喉结就是因吃苹果引起的。旧约.创世纪》第3章讲到人类的起源,传说上帝创造人类的始祖亚当和夏娃,在东方的伊甸(Eden)建立了一个园子给他们居住。伊甸园里生长着悦人眼目的各种树木,树上长着各种各样的果实。上帝吩咐亚当说:你可以随意吃园中的各种果子,只是不能吃那棵善恶树上的果实,吃了必定要死。这种“禁果”就是apple。后来,亚当的配偶夏娃听信蛇的诱惑,不顾神谕,吃了善恶树上的禁果,还把这果子给它丈夫吃。亚当因心怀恐惧,吃时仓促,有一片果肉哽在吼中,不上不下,留下个结块,就叫“亚当的苹果Adam’s apple”。两人吃了这果子就心明眼亮,能知善恶美丑。但是由于他们违背了上帝的告戒而被逐出伊甸园。从此,亚当就永远在脖子前端留下“喉结”,作为偷吃禁果的“罪证”。上帝还惩罚亚当,“必汗流满面才能糊口”。//不过也有一说是正当亚当吃的时候,上帝来了,所以亚当急忙吞下去,不料哽在喉咙间了。
(his Adam’s apple dancing up and down in his throat and his whiskers fluttering all over his face是独立主格结构。

 
常使中国学生面面相觑,不知这位洋教师的神经是不是有点问题。
The students would look at each other, wondering if he was out of his mind.
🎈out of his mind:
out of有多种含义,下面列出几种:
①离开:ran out of the office从办公室跑了出去
②失去:out of control失控/out of breath喘不过气/out of speech说不出话来
③来自:She paid for it out of her own pocket.这笔费用是她自掏腰包支付的。
④出自、由于:out of pity处于怜悯心/out of loyalty本着一片忠心
 

一天,洋教师出题,考查学生们用洋文作文的水准,题目极简单,随便议论议论校园内的一事一物,褒贬皆可。
One day, to see how well the Chinese students could write in English, he set them an essay, the topic being MA Comment on Campus Life”― either complimentary or critical. That was simple.
🎈set them an essay:set sb sth(set n n结构)指给某人布置、安排……
🎈, the topic being…也可替换为,the topic of which was…
 

中国学生很灵,一挥而就,
The Chinese students, quick at writing, finished it at one go and turned it in in no time.
🎈一下子;一举;一口气at one go
例句
She blew out the candles at one go.
她一口气把蜡烛全吹灭了。
🎈turned it in in no time中turn in表示上交;in no time表示“立刻、很快”。

 
洋教师阅后,评出了最佳作文一篇,
Having gone through the students’ essays the teacher selected one which he considered as the best.
🎈 the best有“the+adj”表示一类人或物的用法,也有the best+n的用法。
 

学生们听后大为不解,这种通篇说谎的文章怎么能被评为“最佳”?
When he read it out to the students, they were greatly perplexed. Of all the essays, why did he like this one best? Not a single word of it was true.
🎈大声读出;朗读read out…
🎈Of (all)…限定一个范围。
 

原来这篇作文是写学校食堂。写作文的学生来自郊区农村,人很老实,胆子又小,生怕得罪校方,妨碍将来毕业时的分数、评语、分配工作等等,便不顾真假,胡编乱造,竭力美化,唱赞歌。使得一些学生看后愤愤然。
The article was about the institute cafeteria and the author was a peaceable and timid student from a village in the outskirts. In order not to offend the institute authorities—the decisive factor concerning his final grading, evaluation and, most important of all, where he was to go after graduation—he had made up a high-sounding story eulogizing the cafeteria, regardless of reality, thus making his classmates very angry.
🎈 In order not to offend the institute authorities—the decisive factor concerning his final grading, …, where he was to go after graduation—…:破折号中间的成分是the institute authorities的同位语,concerning his final grading…是the decisive factor的后置定语。

 
可是……洋教师明知学校食堂糟糕透顶的状况,为什么偏要选这篇作文?有人直问洋教师。
The teacher, however, was not unaware of the cafeteria’s terrible conditions, but why did he like this essay better? Someone asked.
🎈“明知”按“并非不知”之意,正话反说,译作was not unaware of,增强文章战斗力。往后大家可以将“正(反)话反(正)说”当做一种变换说法、使译文不单调(尤其是碰到要重复译出某一结构)的方法。

 
洋教师说:“这文章写得当然好,而且绝妙无比,你们听——”他拿起作文念起来,
“This is undoubtedly a good essay,” the teacher explained. “Unprecedentedly good! Just listen——”He began to read. 
🎈 undoubtedly、absolutely、of course都可以用。
 

“我们学校最美的地方,不是教室,不是操场,也不是校门口那个带喷水的小花坛,而是食堂。瞧,玻璃干净得几乎叫你看不到它的存在——” 
“The most beautiful spot on campus is not the classroom-building, nor the sports ground, nor the small lawn with the fountain at the gate; the most beautiful spot on campus is our cafeteria. Look! The window panes are so clean that you scarcely notice there is glass there——”
🎈不是…不是…也不是…(而是…)not…nor…nor…(but…)
🎈教学楼the classroom-building(连词符可有可无)
操场/运动场the sports ground
🎈there is glass there包含there be结构和一个指代地点的there。
 

洋教师念到这儿,眼睛调皮地一亮,眉毛一挑,“听听,多么幽默!”
He paused, his eyes flashing with a glint of humour and his brows shooting upward. “Listen! Isn’t it humorous?”
🎈“多么幽默!”译作Isn’t it humorous?。翻译时,有些情况下,反问句和陈述句不一定必须保留原文的句子类型,只要表意相同,将反问句译成陈述句是完全可以的,反之亦然。

 
幽默?怎么会是幽默?大家还没弄明白。
Humorous? But what was humorous about it? The students were puzzled.
🎈上一处“困惑”译作perplexed,此处译作puzzled,体现了表达的多样性。
 

洋教师接着念道:“如果你不小心在学校食堂跌了一跤,你会惊奇地发现你并没跌跤,因为你身上半点尘土也没留下;如果你长期在学校食堂里工作, 恐怕你会把苍蝇是什么样子都忘了……” 
“If you were not careful enough,” the teacher continued, “and had a fall on the floor, you would be amazed to find that you had not fallen at all because you did not get a single particle of dust on your clothes. If you had been working in the cafeteria long enough, you would have forgotten what a fly looks like…”
🎈“if 条件句”有两种情况:真实条件句和虚拟条件句。前者表示对真实可能会出现的情况的假设,所以叫“真实条件句”
例句
If it is raining tomorrow, we will cancel the sports meeting.
如果明天下午,我们将取消运动会。
后者则是虚拟语气中最常见的一类,假设一种不可能发生的情况,本质是对“不会出现、不会发生”的情况的一种假设
例句
If I were you, I would not go.
如果我是你,我不会去。
 

洋教师又停住,舌头“得”地弹一声, 做一个怪脸说,“听呀,还要多幽默,我简直笑得念不下去了。
He stopped, his tongue clicking rapidly to show his admiration. Working up a very funny expression on his face, he went on, “Listen, please! Do you think anyone else could’ve made it more humorous?” He laughed so heartily that he could not continue.
🎈舌头“得”地弹一声:大家能想到这个动作吗?可以自己试一下,会发出“嘚啷”一声。
🎈work up表示“逐渐建立起、发展起”。
例句
The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.
艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。
末句以直接陈述语译出效果似更好。
 

学生们忽然明白了什么。
By now the students seemed to be cottoning on.
🎈明白,领悟,意识到 cotton on
例句
It wasn’t until he started laughing that they cottoned on!
他开始笑起来,他们才明白是怎么回事。
此句也可套用例句句型,译作It wasn’t until then that they cottoned on/got it!

 
洋教师一边笑,一边继续往下念:“食堂天天的饭菜有多么精美、多么丰富、多么解馋!只有在学校食堂里,你才会感到吃饭是一种地道的享受……”
The teacher went on, his reading punctuated by fits of laughter. “How wonderfully the food is cooked here! What a great variety of dishes you have here and how well your appetite is satisfied! In fact it is only at the cafeteria of the institute that you find eating enjoyable…
🎈阵阵fits of
一阵a fit of
大量的、各种各样的a great variety of
 

忽然,学生们爆发起大笑来!
Suddenly the students laughed, rocking the classroom with their laughter.
🎈rocking the classroom是增译成分,形容学生的笑声让整个教室都开始震动,以突出“大笑”的“大”。
 

依照这种思维,我们会从身边发现多少聪明、机智、绝妙、令人捧腹的好文章啊!
Following this logic, God knows how many articles we would be able to produce, articles that are just as well-worded, quick-witted, artfully-conceived and set you rolling with laughter!
🎈谁知道,天晓得God/goodness/Heaven knows…
🎈well-worded指“有良好措辞的”;artfully-conceived指“构思精巧的”。在考场上如果大脑空白,“聪明、机智、绝妙”这三个词用自己能想到的褒义词译出就行了,不一定要百分百符合原意(只是一个不算办法的办法)。
 
🔥必背词汇
frame        cn.(尤指挂在墙上展示的)画框,镜框
英义
The frame of a picture or mirror is the wood, metal, or plastic that is fitted around it, especially when it is displayed or hung on a wall.
例句
Estelle kept a photograph of her mother in a silver frame on the kitchen mantelpiece.
埃丝特尔把母亲的一张镶银框的照片挂在厨房壁炉台上。
 
🔥重点表达
一直逾过面颊,挨近鼻子go all the way to the nose
躲过门框子的拦击avoid banging against the door frame
可笑的amusing
脸上没表情his face show any expression
幽默感a sense of humour
喉结 Adam’s apple
褒贬皆可either complimentary or critical
一下子;一举;一口气at one go
上交turn in
立刻、很快in no time
大声读出;朗读read out…
得罪校方offend the institute authorities
美化eulogize
教学楼the classroom-building
操场/运动场the sports ground
眉毛一挑his brows shooting upward
明白;领悟;意识到cotton on
阵阵fits of
谁知道,天晓得God/goodness/Heaven knows…
 
🔥复盘测试
一直逾过面颊,挨近鼻子
躲过门框子的拦击
可笑的
脸上没表情
幽默感
喉结
褒贬皆可
一下子;一举;一口气
上交
立刻、很快
大声读出;朗读
得罪校方
美化
教学楼
操场/运动场
眉毛一挑
明白;领悟;意识到
阵阵
谁知道,天晓得
🔥表达对比
「笑」有几种表达?
 
顶怪的是,他每每与中国学生聊天,聊到可笑之处时,他不(笑),脸上也没表情,好像他不喜欢玩笑;
What was more strange about him was that when he chatted with the Chinese students on amusing topics, he did not laugh, nor did his face show any expression as if he had no sense of humour at all.
 
那里的工作人员看到这三具奇怪的尸体,不禁问那送来的人:“他们为什么死了还在(笑)?”
There staff saw these three strange corpses, are unable to restrain to ask that sends human: “why did they die have also been smiling? “
 
这一理论遭到了守旧派科学家的普遍(嘲笑)。
This theory is widely derided by conventional scientists.
 
我认为不应该(嘲笑)他的信仰。
I don’t think his faith should be ridiculed.

未经允许不得转载:帕布莉卡 » 冯骥才《西式幽默》 -英语翻译教程-中英双语赏析

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