泥土的微笑英語分析

  “泥土”一詞並不是指“泥”,而是指“土”、“土地”,所以譯為the earth。smiles表達的是一種歡樂的情緒,而不僅僅是“笑容、微笑”的意思。接下來,小編給大家準備了,歡迎大家參考與借鑑。

  

  我在花園裡種滿了芬芳的玫瑰花,遠遠望去,像一片燃燒的晚霞。我想等朋友來做客的時候,讓他們攜帶些玫瑰回家。

  All over my garden I've planted nothing but roses, fragrant1 and--If looked at from afar--ablaze with color like sunset clouds. I would be very happy if any one of my visiting friends should desire to pick and take some for their homes.

  譯這一句時要注意中文的說話方式:我......玫瑰花,***我或者人們***遠遠望去,***玫瑰***像一片......,我......讓他們......。中文敘事的角度是不停變化的,而且,第一部分“我......玫瑰花”重點是在“種滿了” 上。譯文考慮了這些因素,將“種滿了”用all over my garden放到句首加以突出,使這一部分所表達的意思在語氣的分量上與原文相當。然後用"I"作為主語,把整句串起來,作為這一段敘述的中心。

  “我想”是說我的一種願望,所以譯為I would be very happy if...; should是表示將來的一種可能性;for their homes看似與原文不符,但原文的“帶......回家”並不是說帶回去就完事了,而是說要用玫瑰花裝點居室,帶花為的是***for***美化他們的家。

  我相信朋友捧著火紅的玫瑰漸漸走遠的背影,一定能點燃易感的情懷。

  I trust that any friend of mine carrying the roses would vanish into the distance feeling that his emotion had been rekindled2.

  朋友並非特指哪一位,而是任何一位,所以譯為any friend of mine。“點燃”此處譯為rekindled,而不是kindled,是因為原文含義指人們原先有過的,現已淡忘的“情懷”被重新點燃。

  有一天,一位非常要好的女友來探望我,我知道她平素最喜歡花花草草了,臨別時我說,採一束玫瑰點綴你的閨房,保證十里飄香。

  A close friend came for a visit the other day. I know her to be a lover of flowers and plants, and for that reason I told her at her departure that she should pick a bunch of roses to decorate her boudoir. I promised that the scent3 of the roses would be wafted4 far, far away.

  “探望我”也可以譯為came to visit me,但came for a visit更好,既然是come且visit,被訪者當然就是“我”了,這句也體現了英語介詞多的特點。

  “女友”只譯作friend,而在後面某處說girl friend,是因為英語中girl friend也有“戀愛物件”的意思,為避免誤會,先不譯,而放到後面,譯為That girl friend of mine。況且作者是男是女我們並不知道。

  “平素最喜歡”英語可以說she loves...,但更合乎習慣的說法是she's a lover of...,另如He's a good driver是說他開車開得好。

  for that reason是根據原文的句間含義加上的,把中文的意義關聯,改為英文的形式關聯。

  “十里飄香”:中文用數字往往虛指,此處“十里”便並不表示實際的距離,而是說花香濃郁幽遠,所以譯為would be wafted, far away。

  女友輕輕跨進花園,東聞聞,西嗅嗅,神采飛揚,就是不肯採摘。

  That girl friend of mine, tiptoeing into the garden in high spirits, sniffed5 here and smelt6 there, but in the end she didn't pick a single rose.

  中文是一連串的動詞,譯成英文則需要分清幾個動詞的主次,這裡“東聞聞,西嗅嗅......不肯採摘”是主要動詞,“進花園”不十分重要,所以用了一個分詞短語處理。

  “不肯採摘”譯成英語時必須有賓語,考慮到語句的連貫,再加上語氣方面的緣故,譯成了didn't pick a single rose。

  我說沒關係,多的是,我又不是花店的老闆,不會靠玫瑰賺錢的。

  I said there were so many of them that she could pick as many as she'd like to; I told her that I was not a florist7 and didn't make a living out of them.

  這裡中文的意思是說:你採吧,採多少都沒關係,因為我這裡玫瑰花多的是,而且我又不是開花店的,不以此謀生。中文的意義關聯十分明顯。根據這一分析,英文便把“沒關係”隱去了。

  make a living out of: 從......中謀得生活來源。

  說完我就舉起剪刀準備獻美。女友急忙攔住,高聲叫著不可不可。

  While saying so I raised the scissors for the sacrifice of the flowers, but she vehemently8 stopped me, crying no, no, no!

  while表示的是同時,vehemently表示的是激烈的態度,句末的感嘆號更是表明了阻止剪花的決心,因為英語裡感嘆號用的很少,表示的感情也較為激烈。

  這麼美麗的玫瑰剪下來,讓人心疼。

  To cut such beautiful roses would hurt one, she said.

  讓人心疼:hurt one是使某人傷心的意思,也可以說gives one heartache。

  她抓緊我的袖子叮嚀:千萬不能剪啊,玫瑰是泥土的微笑,誰忍心殺戮美得醉人的微笑?

  With her hands clutching at my sleeves, she told me that by no means should they be cut. Roses are the smiling face of the earth, and who could be so iron-hearted as to destroy a smile so exhilarating?

  這一句的英文分成了兩句,因為從意思上來看,“千萬不能剪啊”有語氣詞在末尾,語氣較重,單獨處理較好。後面的兩個“微笑”相互呼應,放到一起比較合適。

  我的靈魂悚然一驚,醜陋的泥土,卑微的泥土,樸素的泥土,因為玫瑰,露出了驚豔一笑。因為這一笑,讓人愛惜非常。

  My mind was thoroughly9 boggled: the ugly earth, the humble10 earth, the plain earth--it is only because of the roses that it reveals an amazing and bright smile, and it is for the sake of that smile that it wins the care and pity of men.

  “靈魂”實際指的是心靈、良心,所以英文意為mind;

  “悚然”是說由於驚覺、害怕而猶疑,正好是英文boggle的意思。

  下面三個“......的泥土”並列為“露出了驚豔一笑”的主語,“因為”後面則是“這一笑”作主語,“讓人愛惜非常”作謂語。

  “驚豔”指這種微笑出現在如此不起眼的泥土裡,既使人感到意外,有讓人覺得燦爛無比,所以譯為amazing and bright。

  這裡使用了兩個強調句,為的也是突出這種反差。譯這一個句子時考慮得最多的是中文的鬆散結構,怎樣合理地轉換成英文的句子。下面一句裡,這種鬆散的特點可以說發揮到了極致。

  一個朋友在拍賣會上有幸購得一個花瓶,花瓶細頸大肚,碎花藍白調子,流光溢彩。從造型到色彩,整個如唐朝盛世的化身,雍容,華貴,高傲,悠閒,目空一切。

  Of late a friend of mine invited me to appreciate a Tang Dynasty vase that he was fortunate enough to have bought at an auction11. The vase, with its slim neck, plump body, and fine little flowers on a blue and white background, has a noble shape and a rich coloring, elegant, refined, proud, poised12, and supercilious13, an extreme embodiment of the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

  這句的重點是看花瓶,花瓶怎麼來的就不那麼重要,所以譯為從句。句子用了of late開頭,使上下文連線通順,沒有這樣一個短語,英文前後這兩句是銜接不好的。

  at an auction:這裡用介詞at,而不硬套中文用on。

  後半句頗費思量。考慮到英文也可用介詞引導一連串片語作定語,所以便用with引導三個名詞片語,整句其實是把原文的意思融合後譯出的,譯文中的詞或片語並不一定與原文的詞或片語一一對應,如noble shape就兼有“雍容、華貴”和“造型”的意思,rich coloring含“色彩”、“流光溢彩”、“華貴”等幾重意義。所以這句譯時並非詞對詞,那樣很難將原文的所有涵義完全譯出。

  奇怪的是每一個參觀者都小心謹慎,生怕碰壞這盛唐的寶貝。

  I was filled with wonder to think that while everyone present was taking great care not to cause the slightest damage to the Tang treasure,

  filled with wonder:心裡覺得奇怪,很想知道。

  slightest原文中並沒有,來自“小心謹慎”和“生怕”所包含的意思,中文“生怕”後面沒有說出來的下半截話應該是“***生怕***......一點點”。the Tang treasure:原文是“盛唐”,但這個意思已在前文譯出,所以不再重複。