詹天佑，字眷誠，號達朝2，1861年4月26日出生于廣州府南?？h。1872年，年僅12歲的詹天佑報考清政府籌辦的“幼童出洋預習班”，并于當年8月辭別父母，遠渡重洋。

Zhan Tianyou was born in Nanhai County of Guangzhou on April 26， 1861. In 1872， at the age of 12， he took an exam run by the Qing government for a class of children to study overseas， bid farewell to his parents in August， and traveled across the ocean.

異國他鄉(xiāng)，生死未卜，少年們都簽下了一份“倘若有疾病，生死各安天命”的免責文書。詹天佑為何要踏上這一“冒險”之旅呢？

In an alien land life was unpredictable3. All the youngsters signed a liability waiver entrusting their health， life and death to their destiny. Why did Zhan Tianyou embark on this risky journey？

詹天佑的父親詹洪原4是一個茶商，后因西方列強侵略、連年戰(zhàn)禍而破產(chǎn)，只能靠種田維持一家生活。在這樣一種家庭氛圍下成長，詹天佑自小深深體會到了當時清朝統(tǒng)治者的腐敗無能，以及下面億萬百姓的無助。

Zhan Tianyou’s father Zhan Hongyuan was a tea merchant. Bankrupted through the invasions of Western powers and by years of war， he had to turn to tilling the land to support his family. The hardships he experienced in childhood5 gave Zhan Tianyou a keen understanding of the corruption and incompetence of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty， and a clear vision of the helplessness of millions of people.

七八歲的時候，詹天佑被送到私塾里讀書。他對那些四書五經(jīng)不感興趣，卻喜歡擺弄一些機械。據(jù)說，他經(jīng)常用一些撿來的小螺絲釘、小齒輪、舊發(fā)條做玩具，還用泥巴捏輪船、起重機。他經(jīng)常站在工廠外面，看著里面的機器、運貨車，一站就是半天。

When he was seven or eight years old， Zhan Tianyou d2b56603e7991ddd3f5b1c400f3cd06eef1765a6c55a4b667400201503195c99was sent to study in an old-style private school. He was not interested in the Confucian Classics but instead liked to play with mechanical apparatus. It is said that he used to make toys with small screws， small gears and old springs he had found， and make ships and cranes with clay. He often stood outside factories and gazed at the machines and wagons inside， often for hours on end.

有一天，他看著家中墻上的掛鐘出了神。掛鐘為什么會嘀嗒嘀嗒走個不停？想著想著，他就動手把掛鐘拆開，想看個究竟。

One day， he looked at the hanging clock on the wall of his home， entranced. How did the hanging clock keep going non-stop？ He dismantled the clock in an attempt to find the answer.

可是，再想按原樣裝起來的時候，怎么擺弄也裝不好了，急得他滿頭大汗。父親看見，雖然有些生氣，還是領著他到縣里的鐘表店，讓他仔細看工匠怎么拆裝鐘表。

But no matter how he tried， his face drenched in sweat， he could not put it back together again. His father got over his first anger6， and took the boy and the clock to a clockmaker in the county seat to let him watch carefully how a craftsman assembled clocks and watches.

1871年底，詹天佑11歲了，已經(jīng)在私塾讀了4年多。同鄉(xiāng)譚伯村匆匆從香港來到南海找到詹天佑的父親詹興洪，說那里正在選拔幼童出洋留學。譚伯村是一位商人，看到詹天佑從小聰明好學，非常喜歡他。

By the end of 1871 Zhan was 11 and had studied at school for over four years. A fellow townsman， Tan Bocun， arrived in a hurry from Hong Kong to Nanhai to seek out Zhan’s father7， saying that young children were being selected there to study overseas. Tan was a businessman and was very fond of the smart young Zhan Tianyou.

譚伯村極力勸詹興洪夫婦送孩子去參加留美考試，并答應在經(jīng)濟上給予資助，還把自己的四女兒許配給詹天佑。這樣，詹天佑才得以去香港參加留學考試。1872年，詹天佑順利通過了考試。

Tan tried earnestly to persuade Zhan’s parents to send their child to sit the exam for a place studying in the United States. He promised to provide financial aid to the family， and even betrothed his fourth daughter to Zhan Tianyou. And so Zhan was able to travel to Hong Kong， sit the exam， and pass it.

初到美國，詹天佑進入一所“諾索布寄宿學?！鄙闲W，學英語。1876年進入紐黑文希爾豪斯中學（丘屋中學），兩年后畢業(yè)，又以全優(yōu)的成績考入耶魯大學土木工程系。

When he first arrived in the US， Zhan was enrolled at a boarding primary school to study English and other subjects. In English he called himself Jeme Tien-Yow8. In 1876 he entered Hillhouse High School in New Haven. Two years later he graduated with excellent scores， and was admitted to the Department of Civil Engineering of Yale University.

在美國留學期間，詹天佑學習非?？炭?，也很注意鍛煉身體，立志為早日報效祖國而學習科學。

During his studies in the US， Zhan Tianyou worked very hard both academically and in physical exercise. He was instilled with a determination to serve his motherland by studying science.

1881年，他以優(yōu)異成績畢業(yè)于耶魯大學土木工程系鐵路工程一科。在清朝總計派出的120名留美官費生中，最后只有兩人順利完成大學學業(yè)并獲得學位，詹天佑是其中的一個，他的畢業(yè)論文《碼頭起重機的研究》獲得很高評價。

1881年，清朝第一批留美學生奉召回國。

In 1881， he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering， specializing in railroad construction， with excellent academic results. Zhan’s graduation thesis， “Study of Dock Cranes” won high praise. Only a few months after his graduation， the first batch of students was recalled to China by the Qing government. Among the 120 students they had sent and funded， Zhan Tianyou was one of only two who managed to complete their undergraduate program and gain a diploma. 9

* 浙大寧波理工學院副教授。

1本文節(jié)選自《大國速度 百年京張》第一章第二節(jié)，講述了詹天佑從出生到遠赴美國留學，并最終以優(yōu)異成績畢業(yè)回國的經(jīng)歷。節(jié)選的這部分譯文，無論是遣詞造句的精準，還是段落重組的巧妙，都充分展現(xiàn)了譯者王之光和英文編輯大衛(wèi)·弗格森在實現(xiàn)譯文可讀性方面的非凡匠心。 2古人取名，字字珠璣，背后蘊含深意，這些講究即使對于中國讀者而言，也常常如隔霧觀花，難窺究竟。詹天佑的字號，若直譯成英文，不了解中國文化背景的讀者可能無法領會其中深意；而加注雖能解釋清楚，但往往會打斷閱讀的流暢性。因此，在翻譯這類具有文化內(nèi)涵的文化專有項時，如果文本的主要功能不是傳達相關文化內(nèi)涵，便可采用省譯。 3相比直譯的譯文“one’s life and death were unpredictable”，弗格森先生修改后的譯文語言更為簡潔，行文更加流暢，準確傳達了“生死未卜”這一成語在此處所蘊含的深意：在異國他鄉(xiāng)，生活中一切事物（包括生與死）都充滿不確定性。

4 詹父還有另一個名字“詹興洪”，對于不熟悉中國古人復雜稱謂系統(tǒng)的讀者而言，容易導致困惑。對后文出現(xiàn)的“詹興洪”，翻譯時作了靈活處理。 5此譯文的精妙之處在于：首先，主語呼應了前文關于詹父的經(jīng)歷，正是這些經(jīng)歷讓詹天佑的童年充滿艱辛，因此相比growing up in such a family atmosphere的直譯，深入理解原文含義后的意譯更為貼切連貫；第二，無生命主語是英語特有的修辭現(xiàn)象，體現(xiàn)了英美人更注重客觀事物或現(xiàn)象對人的作用和影響，更符合講述生平時慣有的客觀語氣，而且結構更為緊湊。

6與直譯為讓步狀語從句的不同在于：現(xiàn)譯文更強調(diào)詹父從最初的生氣，迅速調(diào)整心態(tài)，轉而采取積極的解決之道。這樣的細微差異體現(xiàn)了譯者和編輯更注重“精神而非字詞，意義而非話語，信息而非形式，料子而非樣子”。 7鑒于詹父的另一姓名在此處并非核心信息，因此可以選擇省譯，以保持文本的連貫性和讀者的閱讀體驗。

8在此處增譯詹天佑的英文名，無疑是恰當明智之舉。 9譯文巧妙地將原文的兩個自然段合譯為一，并按時間軸重組相關細節(jié)。這些細節(jié)始終圍繞詹天佑，并服務于其刻苦學習立志報國的主題。陳述細節(jié)時把先發(fā)生的事情或已知的內(nèi)容（舊信息）放在前面，把新信息放在后面，敘述層層推進，符合人的認知規(guī)律，符合簡明英語“信息流動通暢”的基本原則，便于讀者理解。