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er south of Tian’anmen Square that is a jumble of twisting hutongs and ramshackle houses. On most days, one can find peddlers selling meticulously skinned pineapples, a man offering two kinds of honey — plain and medicinal — and an ornery cobbler who can resole a pair of shoes in as much time as it takes to down a steaming bowl of handshaved noodles. 最能體驗(yàn)到老北京風(fēng)情的地點(diǎn)是前門( Qianmen),它位于天安門廣場(chǎng)的南邊。大多數(shù)日子里,你都能夠在那里見到精心削好皮的賣菠蘿的小販們,和一個(gè)賣兩種蜂蜜 ——純蜜和藥用蜜 ——的男人。 Cradling a brass teapot and watching over three pairs of caged lovebirds, Wu Xiulong, 76, sat in front of the doorway of his courtyard and reminisced about the vendors whose arrival he used to await as a child: the beancake man, the corncob seller, the baker who produced the flakiest flatbread. “Oh, back then they were baked on both sides, so crunchy, with sesame seeds,” he said. “It was so delicious. Now they’re all gone.” 76歲的吳秀龍( Wu Xiulong)坐在自家院兒的門口,邊把玩著一把黃銅茶壺,邊不時(shí)看看籠里的三對(duì)情侶鸚鵡。” Zhao Cai, a 66yearold knife sharpener, is one of the oldtimers who can still be found wandering around with a beatenup toolbox that doubles as a bench. His call is bracing but melodious, although once he sets to work on a blade, the noise of grindstone on metal brings out the old women with their beloved wornout cleavers. 66歲的磨刀師傅趙才( Zhao Cai),是這些傳統(tǒng)行當(dāng)中的仍舊活躍著的老師傅之一。他的吆喝聲激昂又很有旋律感。 “I hate stainless steel,” he said as he pedaled the grindstone. “No one makes knives like they used to.” 他邊踩著滾輪磨刀石,邊說:“我討厭不銹鋼刀具,現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)沒有人再像以前那樣做刀了。 “When you’re good at sharpening knives, you get to know everyone,” he said. 他說:“刀磨得好,你就可以認(rèn)識(shí)每一個(gè)人。就在這位師傅說話的當(dāng)口,身后傳來倒塌的響聲,隨即揚(yáng)起令人窒息的煙塵。他看了看那些正在拆遷的人,說:“這里的有些街道,我已經(jīng)認(rèn)不出來了。從 7月到 10月, 28歲的小李就帶著他唧唧作響的獵物,騎著自行車在這個(gè)城市里轉(zhuǎn)悠。如果這些小昆蟲裝在一個(gè)好看的木制籠子里,還要再加收一美元。他們村里的大多數(shù)人,都從事著買賣蟈蟈兒的營(yíng)生。李海倫無論去到哪里,這些蟲子都會(huì)吸引一大堆人。一個(gè)婦女還說,在昆蟲的鳴叫聲中長(zhǎng)大的小孩子不易為噪音所嚇倒。” Mr. Li, ever the salesman, added his own poetic pitch. He declared that the Chinese had been raising grasshoppers for hundreds of years. Even Qianlong, a Qing dynasty emperor, was a connoisseur of the fighting variety. 李海倫對(duì)自己的營(yíng)生多了份詩意的解釋,他說中國(guó)人養(yǎng)蟈蟈兒已經(jīng)有幾百年的歷史了,甚至清朝的乾隆皇帝也是斗蟈蟈兒的好手?!? (陸潔瑜 譯) 1. 翻譯標(biāo)準(zhǔn) Shouting Vendors Sow Echoes of the Past. 原譯 漸漸遠(yuǎn)去的叫賣聲 試譯 叫賣聲聲話當(dāng)年 分析 林語堂先生認(rèn)為翻譯的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)主要有三個(gè)層次:第一是忠實(shí);第二是通順;第三 是美。 翻譯技巧分析 2. 英漢語言對(duì)比 So, too, are the airconditioners that drown out sales calls and keep residents inside. 試譯 空調(diào)的普及也讓這些叫賣聲慢慢消失,因?yàn)榇蠹叶即粼诜忾]的空調(diào)房聽不見 了。 但直譯成強(qiáng)調(diào)“意合”的漢語時(shí)卻很別扭,這是由于英漢兩種語言各自不同 的造句特點(diǎn)所造成的。 原譯 安裝的空調(diào)也讓這些傳統(tǒng)的吆喝聲慢慢消失,大家也大都在房間里呆著。 原譯 每件蟈蟈兒賣 50美分至 1美元,根據(jù)叫聲的質(zhì)量和買主是否懂行。 A good place to get a taste of old Beijing is Qianmen, a poor but colorful quarter south of Tian’anmen Square that is a jumble of twisting hutongs and ramshackle houses. 原譯 能體驗(yàn)到老北京風(fēng)情的最佳地點(diǎn)是前門( Qianmen),它位于天安門廣場(chǎng)的南邊。 試譯 最能體驗(yàn)到老北京風(fēng)情的地點(diǎn)是前門( Qianmen),它位于天安門廣場(chǎng)的南邊。 分析 由于作者是帶著對(duì)老北京的留戀之情來寫這篇文章,因此原文中的 jumble翻譯 成“隨處可見”要比“充斥”在情感意義上把握得更準(zhǔn)確,而 poor but colorful翻譯成“破落卻別有韻味”也比“貧窮但卻風(fēng)情萬種”更貼切。 How good is he? Customers sometimes foolishly test his handiwork by touching the sharpened edge. “I’ve had ladies draw blood and swear they didn’t feel a thing,” he said. 分析 原文中 his handiwork和 the sharpened edge都是指“他剛磨好的刀”, 因此譯文對(duì)其中一個(gè)詞義作了省略。 6. 增補(bǔ)、省略、重復(fù) 試譯 他磨刀到底有多好?他透露說,有時(shí)街坊傻乎乎地用手去試試剛磨好 的刀,有的主婦的手已經(jīng)被劃破流血了,但還是沒有任何感覺。他們 村里的大多數(shù)人,都從事著買賣蟈蟈兒的營(yíng)生。 Workers in orange vests were tearing signs off nearby buildings, part of a government campaign to make the neighborhood more attractive to tourists who like a bit less visual chaos in their Old Beijing experience. 原譯 穿著橙背心的工人們正在撕下建筑物附近的標(biāo)志,這是政府造城計(jì)劃的一部 分,這一切的改變,希望那些游覽北京的人遠(yuǎn)離以前的“混亂和不堪”。 分析 原譯文中對(duì)原文中的定語從句部分的翻譯沒有按照漢語的思維習(xí)慣來表達(dá), 顯得非常拗口突兀,試講文中嘗試變換視角,重組語言,是譯文的可讀性得 到了提高。 分析 原文中出現(xiàn)了三種時(shí)態(tài)的曲折變化,但翻譯成漢語時(shí)只能通過加上副詞 “有時(shí)、已經(jīng)、還是”等去表示動(dòng)作的進(jìn)行、完成和過去。直到現(xiàn)在,他仍然背著破舊的工具箱走街串巷,一折起來就能當(dāng)板凳用。直到現(xiàn)在,他仍然背著他那一折起來就能當(dāng)板凳用的破舊工具箱走街串巷。 11. 否定句 When they sing, you can’t help but feel happy. 試譯 當(dāng)他們(蟈蟈兒)唱歌的時(shí)候,你會(huì)感到一種由衷的快樂。 12. 名詞從句與狀語從句 The singing hawkers and recyclers are reminders of the days when Beijing was a thickly populated maze of hutongs, or alleys, that crept outward from the grandiose imperial quarters occupied by China’s emperors and the officials and artisans who served them. 原譯 吆喝的小販、走街串巷的收廢品者,構(gòu)成了老北京人共同的記憶。而皇城里,則住著皇帝和他的官員以及能工巧匠。那時(shí)候的老 北京城就像一個(gè)由密密麻麻的胡同小巷串起來的迷宮,這些小街小巷一直從皇 城里延伸出來。 評(píng)析 原句是包含三句名詞性從句的一個(gè)長(zhǎng)句子,譯文對(duì)該長(zhǎng)句進(jìn)行了斷句拆分, 并根據(jù)上下文重復(fù)了從句中的先行詞,使全句的語義層次分明,可讀性增強(qiáng) 了。 試譯 37歲的陳林( Chen Lin)看起來身材瘦削但神采奕奕,他靠回收廢棄的器具 和其他任何含有金屬的東西為生,每天大約賺 5美元。 14. 長(zhǎng)句翻譯 One man who needs no vocal announcement is Li Hailun, a grasshopper salesman whose wares, hundreds of wingless insects imprisoned in round, woven enclosures, produce a deafening, highpitched symphony. 試譯 另一位叫李海倫( Li Hailun)的賣蟈蟈兒的小販從不需要吆喝,因?yàn)樗呢浳?— —數(shù)百只裝在圓形的編織籠子里的無翼昆蟲,能合奏出震耳欲聾的高音交響樂。 15. 習(xí)語翻譯 Stringent laws and urban management officials, known as chengguan, keep them on the run with fines and harassment. 試譯 城市管理者同樣是這些小商販的敵人,這些城管們( chengguan)動(dòng)輒罰款和沒收。本句譯文中把 keep them on the run with fines and harassment翻譯成動(dòng)輒罰款和沒收較形象地描畫了城管們的日常工作狀態(tài)。 分析 譯文需要把乾隆的身份、所處時(shí)代及愛好等文化信息都交待清楚才不影響讀者的閱讀