《斯诺精神》英译文赏析 Appreciation of the English Translation of  Spirit of Edgar Snow

《斯诺精神》英译文赏析 Appreciation of the English Translation of Spirit of Edgar Snow

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萧乾所著的《斯诺精神》一文原载于1992年7月3日的《人民日报》,是为纪念斯诺逝世二十周年而作。张培基先生将其翻译为英文,收录其译注的《英译中国现代散文选》。

一、我毕业后,他也辞去了这个兼差,去了延安并写出他的杰作《红星照耀中国》——即《西行漫记》。

  1. Upon my graduation, he resigned the concurrent job and went to Yan’an where he wrote his masterpiece Red Star Over China.

汉语是典型的联动式:辞去、去了、写出,而译成英语就需要变通,否则按联动式译成英语就不地道。把“写出杰作”一句译成从句,这种处理方式很巧妙。

二、除了课堂,对我们更具吸引力的,是他在海淀住宅的那座客厅。

2.We found the reception room in his Haidian residence more appealing than the classroom.

这种翻译是在吃透原文的基础上,把原文揉碎又按照英语的习惯重新组成了一个句子。

三、及至史沫特莱离平返沪后,斯诺才告诉我,那晚我可把史沫特莱窘坏了。她以为我把她认了出来。

3.It was not until Smedley had left Peiping for Shanghai that Snow told me how apprehensive she had been that evening when I chatted about the novel, suspecting that I already knew her true identity.

用it做形式主语是英语中的习惯,这也是在充分了解原文的基础上做出的翻译。汉语喜欢短句,句子之间的关系也较松散,标点符号也不那么严格,但英语就不一样了,英语喜欢长句,句子之间用各种形式连接起来。把后面的一句“她以为我把她认了出来”翻译成了分词,这样句子的主从就很明显了。

四、他说,文学同新闻并不相悖,而是相辅相成的。

4.He told me that instead of being contradictory to each other, literature and journalism were mutually complementary。

汉语喜欢动态和对比,但英语喜欢静态,也不喜欢重复,要主次分明。这样,“相辅相成”是重点,译成了主句; “并不相悖”是次要的,翻译成了介词短语。

五、他去世后,我从露易斯•斯诺的书中知道,他临终时,枕边还放着萧伯纳的书。

5.Later I learned from Louis Snow’s work that when he was on his deathbed, a copy of Bernard Shaw’s work had been found lying by his pillow.

“枕边还放着萧伯纳的书”,这种汉语表达方式,我们中国人一看就明白,但老外却看不懂,在这里就翻译成了英语中常用的被动语态。

六、斯诺认为一个记者绝不可光追逐热门新闻,他还必须把人类的正义事业记在心头 。不能人云亦云,随波 逐流,必 须 有 自 己 独 立 的 见 解 观 点,必 须 有 良 知 和 正 义感。

6.He believed that a journalist should bear in mind the just cause of humanity instead of going after sensational reporting and that he should have independent views, good conscience and sense of justice instead of parroting other people’s opinions and following them blindly.

本来是bear sth in mind这种结构,但宾语太长,就采用了bear in mind sth这种形式。“必须”后面的内容是重点,所以翻译成了主句;而“决不可”、“不能”后面的内容是次要的,所以翻译成了介词短语。这就是英语中的主次分明,结构严谨。再者,汉语喜欢重复,“必须”就重复了三次,英语的should出现了两次。

这只是张培基先生的优秀译文的点滴之处。总之,张培基先生的《英译中国现代散文选》(1-4册)值得细细研读,这是学习汉译英的优秀教材。


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