薇拉·凱瑟/文　曹明倫/譯析

After he was settled in his chair， stirring his coffee in a big cup， Mary took out of the oven a pan of kolache stuffed with apricots， examined them anxiously to see whether they had got too dry， put them beside his plate， and then sat down opposite him.

他在那把椅子上坐下，開(kāi)始攪著一大杯咖啡，瑪麗從烤爐里取出一盤(pán)杏仁小圓面包，一邊擔(dān)心地察看是否烤過(guò)了頭，一邊把面包放到他盤(pán)子旁邊，然后在他對(duì)面坐了下來(lái)。

Rosicky asked her in Czech if she wasn’t going to have any coffee.

羅西基用捷克話問(wèn)瑪麗要不要喝點(diǎn)咖啡。

She replied in English， as being somehow the right language for transacting business： “Now what did Doctor Ed say， Anton？ You tell me just what.”

瑪麗用英語(yǔ)答話，不知何故，她覺(jué)得似乎這才是談?wù)掠玫恼Z(yǔ)言?！鞍５箩t(yī)生怎么說(shuō)？你快告訴我，安東?！?/p>

“He said I was to tell you some compliments， but I forgot ’em.” Rosicky’s eyes twinkled.

“他要我跟你問(wèn)個(gè)好，可我把這事給忘了?！绷_西基眨巴著眼睛說(shuō)。

“About you， I mean. What did he say about your asthma？”

“我是問(wèn)你的事。他怎么說(shuō)你的哮喘？”

“He says I ain’t got no asthma.” Rosicky took one of the little rolls in his broad brown fingers. The thickened nail of his right thumb told the story of his past.

“他說(shuō)我沒(méi)有哮喘?！绷_西基用他棕色的大手拿起一個(gè)面包卷。他右手拇指厚厚的指甲記載著他過(guò)去的經(jīng)歷。

“Well， what is the matter？ And don’t try to put me off.”

“嗯，是怎么回事？你可別想敷衍我?！?/p>

“He don’t say nothing much， only I’m a little older， and my heart ain’t so good like it used to be.”

“他沒(méi)多說(shuō)別的，就說(shuō)我上年歲了，心臟沒(méi)以前那么好了?！?/p>

Mary started and brushed her hair back from her temples with both hands as if she were a little out of her mind. From the way she glared， she might have been in a rage with him.

瑪麗猛然一驚，雙手使勁從額前往后捋頭發(fā)，好像她有點(diǎn)兒精神恍惚。從她瞪大的眼睛看，她可能是生他的氣了。

“He says there’s something the matter with your heart？ Doctor Ed says so？”

“他說(shuō)你心臟有毛??？埃德醫(yī)生是這么說(shuō)的？”

“Now don’t yell at me like I was a hog in de garden， Mary. You know I always did like to hear a woman talk soft. He didn’t say anything de matter wid my heart， only it ain’t so young like it used to be， an’ he tell me not to pitch hay or run de corn-sheller.”

“別沖我嚷嚷，瑪麗，我又不是闖進(jìn)你菜園子的豬玀。你知道我愛(ài)聽(tīng)女人輕言細(xì)語(yǔ)地說(shuō)話。他可沒(méi)說(shuō)我心臟有啥毛病，只說(shuō)它不像過(guò)去那樣有勁兒了。他還叫我別再叉草捆子，別再開(kāi)玉米脫粒機(jī)了?！?/p>

Mary wanted to jump up， but she sat still. She admired the way he never under any circumstances raised his voice or spoke roughly. He was city-bred， and she was country-bred; she often said she wanted her boys to have their papa’s nice ways.

瑪麗真想跳起來(lái)，不過(guò)她坐著沒(méi)動(dòng)。她欣賞羅西基說(shuō)話的方式——在任何情況下都不用粗聲惡語(yǔ)。他在城里長(zhǎng)大，而她則是個(gè)鄉(xiāng)下女人，所以她常說(shuō)希望孩子們都像他們的父親這般文雅。

“You never have no pain there， do you？ It’s your breathing and your stomach that’s been wrong. I wouldn’t believe nobody but Doctor Ed about it. I guess I’ll go see him myself. Didn’t he give you no advice？”

“你沒(méi)覺(jué)得過(guò)哪兒痛吧？以前你就是有點(diǎn)兒氣喘，胃有點(diǎn)兒不舒服。這事除了埃德醫(yī)生我誰(shuí)也不信。我想我得親自去問(wèn)問(wèn)他。他沒(méi)叮囑過(guò)你什么嗎？”

“Chust to take it easy like， an’ stay round de house dis winter. I guess you got some carpenter work for me to do. I kin make some new shelves for you， and I want dis long time to build a closet in de boys’ room and make dem two little fellers keep dere clo’es hung up.”

“只說(shuō)別干太累人的活，比如這個(gè)冬天就待在屋里。我想你該有些木工活兒要我干吧？我可以給你做幾個(gè)新廚架，而且我一直都想在孩子們的房間里做個(gè)壁櫥，好讓那兩個(gè)小家伙把衣服給掛起來(lái)?！?/p>

Rosicky drank his coffee from time to time， while he considered. His moustache was of the soft long variety and came down over his mouth like the teeth of a buggy-rake over a bundle of hay. Each time he put down his cup， he ran his blue handkerchief over his lips. When he took a drink of water， he managed very neatly with the back of his hand.

羅西基不時(shí)端起杯子喝口咖啡，心中盤(pán)算著這些事情。他嘴唇上方那溜胡子又長(zhǎng)又軟，像耙草機(jī)那排耙齒一樣耷拉在嘴上。他每次放下杯子后都要用藍(lán)手帕擦擦嘴唇。平時(shí)喝完水后他則會(huì)用手背認(rèn)真地揩揩胡子。

【背景知識(shí)】《鄰居羅西基》是美國(guó)女作家薇拉·凱瑟（1873—1947）于1930年發(fā)表的一篇重要短篇小說(shuō)。小說(shuō)通過(guò)回憶和追述的手法，講述了波希米亞移民羅西基樸素而充實(shí)的一生，展現(xiàn)了拓荒者及其后代善良、樸素、勤勞、熱愛(ài)生活、眷念土地的可貴品質(zhì)。小說(shuō)主題深刻，結(jié)構(gòu)勻稱，筆觸細(xì)膩，文字優(yōu)美，人物性格刻畫(huà)清晰，翻譯時(shí)應(yīng)注意描摹。

【第1—3段】原文第1段狀語(yǔ)從句中的was settled是被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，表示羅西基是在瑪麗服侍下就座的，但這層意思已在上下文中不言而喻，所以翻譯成“坐下”即可。英語(yǔ)被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的使用頻率遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)高于漢語(yǔ)，或者說(shuō)漢語(yǔ)常常用主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)表示被動(dòng)意義，例如：書(shū)讀完了、錢花光了、信寄出去了、論文寫(xiě)了一半。所以我們常把英語(yǔ)被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)翻譯成漢語(yǔ)的主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，例如把“The problem is being studied.”翻譯成“問(wèn)題正在研究”；把“The nominations have been unanimously adopted.”翻譯成“提名已一致通過(guò)”；把“What language is spoken there？”翻譯成“那里講什么語(yǔ)言？”；等等。

【第4—8段】第4段中的’em = them；第6段中的says = said，I ain’t got no asthma = I don’t get any asthma；第8段中的He don’t say nothing much = He doesn’t say anything much。（“節(jié)選二”的譯析曾提醒過(guò)：不規(guī)范英語(yǔ)中的雙重否定仍然表示否定，甚至是加強(qiáng)否定）。

【第9—11段】第11段中的de = the；wid = with；an’ = and。

【第12—13段】第13段中的You never have no pain there = You never have any pain there；“Didn’t he give you no advice？”=“Didn’t he give you any advice？”（不規(guī)范英語(yǔ)中的雙重否定仍然表示否定）。

【第14—15段】第14段中的Chust = Just；an’= and；de = the；dis = this；kin = can；dere clo’es = their clothes。

【小結(jié)】除再次提醒“不規(guī)范英語(yǔ)中的雙重否定仍然表示否定”之外，本次譯析談到了被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的翻譯問(wèn)題。有語(yǔ)法學(xué)家強(qiáng)調(diào)“這種情況值得特別注意”。（參閱張道真《實(shí)用英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)法》第二次修訂本，商務(wù)印書(shū)館，1979，第160頁(yè)）有高校翻譯教科書(shū)用專章討論這個(gè)問(wèn)題，告訴學(xué)生“英語(yǔ)大量使用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，而漢語(yǔ)則很少使用，……英語(yǔ)被動(dòng)句譯成漢語(yǔ)主動(dòng)句，是最常見(jiàn)的方法”。（參閱郭著章《英漢互譯實(shí)用教程》第四版，武漢大學(xué)出版社，2010，第124頁(yè)和第127頁(yè)）漢語(yǔ)當(dāng)然也用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，不少英語(yǔ)用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的語(yǔ)句翻譯成漢語(yǔ)時(shí)也需要用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，但漢語(yǔ)的被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)并非只用一個(gè)“被”字來(lái)表示，有學(xué)者就批評(píng)過(guò)“譯者但看見(jiàn)‘-ed’就‘被’他一下”的譯法。（參閱思果《翻譯研究》，中國(guó)對(duì)外翻譯出版公司，2001，第89頁(yè)）其實(shí)漢語(yǔ)表示被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的用詞（表達(dá)方式）比英語(yǔ)豐富得多，例如：可以把be beaten譯成“挨打”，把be robbed譯成“遭劫”，把be rescued譯成“遇救”，把be employed譯成“受雇”，把be elected譯成“當(dāng)選”，把be approved譯成“獲準(zhǔn)”，把be damaged譯成“給弄壞了”，把be instructed by him譯成“經(jīng)他指點(diǎn)”，把be bothered by affection譯成“為情所困”，等等。