翻譯擂臺(tái)(第13期)
【原文】
[1]又到歲末年初了。[2]中文“年”的本義是指豐收,俗語說“人壽年豐”。[3]在古代,由于稻禾一年收獲一次,所以又引申出了“歲”的意思,代表一年四季,后來又表示一個(gè)人的年齡。[4]在西方,人們通常有“新年許愿”,即希望在新的一年有所進(jìn)步。[5]其實(shí),這種許愿不必太多,能做到一兩件小事就好。例如,最簡(jiǎn)單的,保證在與人交談時(shí)不再看手機(jī),等等?!军c(diǎn)評(píng)】
新年是一個(gè)新起點(diǎn),總給人帶來希望,中外皆然。但知其緣由,辨其含義,方可寄語情懷。
[1]中,“歲末年初”,許多人譯成“It’s time again for us to see the old year out and welcome the new year in.”“We have come once again to the time of bidding farewell to the old year and welcoming the new.”等,似乎可以,但有些過“實(shí)”。固然,習(xí)近平主席在新年賀詞中有“在這辭舊迎新的美好時(shí)刻”,可譯成“At this beautiful moment to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new.”或“At this happy moment of ringing out the old year and ringing in the new.”,但那是在特定的除夕時(shí)刻講的,就一般表述而言不妨簡(jiǎn)化些:New Year is once again approaching.
[2]中,對(duì)于“年”的解釋、翻譯,參賽者有著各種各樣的表述。一般而言,以英文解釋中文詞語時(shí),可先用拼音(斜體)以便能讀出,最好附以漢字(括號(hào)內(nèi))以知原字,但對(duì)于頗長(zhǎng)的原文句子,可酌情略去中文,再以“or …”加以釋譯。“本義”,可用original meaning、literally、in a literal sense等,如:This word should not be taken in its literal sense.(該詞不能按本義去理解。)在語序上,亦可根據(jù)語境做些靈活處理?!叭藟勰曦S”,有的譯成people live a long life and have good harvest、people long for longevity and the harvest is extraordinarily abundant等,其實(shí),“壽”與“年豐”結(jié)合,這里可理解為泛指過好日子。故該句不妨譯為:Originally, the character nian (年) in Chinese denoted the amount of crops gathered. There is a saying ren shou nian feng(人壽年豐), or “people enjoy good health and the land yields bumper harvests”.
[3]中,“稻禾”,許多人譯成了rice、grain,其實(shí)這里所豐收的是泛指“作物”,故可用crops;而這里的“歲”實(shí)則指的是year,其主語仍然是“年”;“年齡”則是the age of a person,故此句不妨譯為:Since thecrops were reaped once a year in ancient times, the word also came to mean “year”,referring to the four seasons, and consequently the age of a person.
[4]中,“新年許愿”,許多人譯成了New Year wishes、make a good wish for new year等,其實(shí)英語中固定用語為New Year’s resolutions或者start the New Year right;“即希望……”是對(duì)前面的進(jìn)一步說明;而這里“新的一年”可避免再用New Year,不妨變通一下,如the coming year、Nouvel An 等。故此句不妨譯為:In the West, people are likely to make “New Year’s resolutions”, wishing for self-improvement in the coming year.
[5]中,“小事”可謂時(shí)下流行說的“定個(gè)小目標(biāo)”,一般譯成了small goal/target/ change、little thing、tiny adjustment等,似乎都可。做好“小事”,已經(jīng)成為一種西方文化,如英文常說的:“Forget the overreaching, hard-toachieve goals. Just think small.”(放棄那些自不量力、難以實(shí)現(xiàn)的大目標(biāo),考慮一些小目標(biāo)就好了。)美國(guó)心理學(xué)家羅伯特·莫勒(Robert Maurer)還寫過一本很有影響的書《小事改變?nèi)松罚∣ne Small Step Can Change Your Life),其中極力推崇日本的kaizen的概念,書中解釋道:Kaizen is the art of making great and lasting change through small, steady increments. Kaizen is the tortoise versus the hare.(kaizen是通過小事產(chǎn)生大的持久變化的藝術(shù);一種龜兔賽跑。)意思是“以慢勝快”“以小撥大”。而根據(jù)有關(guān)日文辭典,kaizen是“改善”,其本義為“物事のむだなこと、悪いことを取り除いて、よりよいものにかえること”,即“去掉無用無益的東西而變得越來越好”,這是一個(gè)漸進(jìn)的過程,如“體質(zhì)の改善を図る”(to gradually improve one’s health),很符合英文的improvement、 betterment,其實(shí)質(zhì)是a change for the better、progress in development,所以很容易被戰(zhàn)后的美國(guó)所接受,作為一種指導(dǎo)理念,在日后的經(jīng)濟(jì)恢復(fù)中也卓有成效,故其“小”意亦不妨譯為the simplest thing。同時(shí),此書還引用了老子的“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”(千里之行,始于足下。),屬同一哲理。故此,不妨譯為:The idea of what should change, in fact, doesn’t have to be broad, one or two of the simplest things will do—for example, promising not to check your smartphone when talking to others and so on.
對(duì)于歲月的流逝,各個(gè)年齡段的感覺是不同的;但對(duì)于新日子的期許總是好的,特別是在漢英兩種語言之間的轉(zhuǎn)換,也算是一種跨越時(shí)空的感悟吧。
(點(diǎn)評(píng)人:林巍,暨南大學(xué)翻譯學(xué)院特聘教授)
【優(yōu)勝者】
@hallelujah8 @Maria @fengjunqing2008054