散書偶感

何為

Random Thoughts on Giving away Books

Hei Wei

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乍一聽來，“散書”的說法很費解。那天京華老友在長話中說，他們有些上年紀的同行，正在散書或考慮散書。他就是其中的一個。原來“散書”之說，出自一位德高 望重的世紀老人，前輩作家，大意謂少年是集書的時候，老年是散書的時候。是啊，人到老年，有些事不能不考慮該如何處理了。

The idea of giving away one’s books sounds rather puzzling at first. The other day, my friend Jing Huatold me over the long-distance that some of his elderly colleagues were giving away or considering giving away the books they owned and that he himself was doing the same. The idea originated with a venerable old veteran writer, who said something to the effect that youth is the time for collecting books and old age for giving away books. Yes, getting on in years, one needs to ponder over the question of how to deal with certain things in life.

要點：

1，“偶感”即“突然興起的感想”或“隨機的感想”譯為random thoughts即可

2，“在長話中說”即“在長途電話中說”譯為 told me over the long-distance，其中the long distance =the long distance phone call

3,“大意謂”即“大意指”或“大概意思是說”譯為something to the effect that,這個表達在第一冊也出現(xiàn)過，說明還是比較常用的

4，getting on in years意為“上了年紀”如：I am getting on in years and have difficulty getting about.? 我已步垂老之年,行動多有不便.

綜述:本段有些詞需要深入理解，注意“上了年紀”的表達~

散書也是近年來我常常想到的問題。我的所謂藏書，實在并無足道，不過從幼時學文開始，數(shù)十年文學生涯中，相偕而來的書日益增多?，F(xiàn)在隻能將書刊雜亂地到處堆置，倘若集中起來，也是一個小小的書城。

In recent years, I, too, have often turned over in my mind the question of books though, in fact, my so-called private library is not worth mentioning. Nevertheless, it has kept accumulating in the scores of years of my literary career. Now, piled up in a jumble here and there in my house,they add up to quite a large number though.

要點：

1，“散書也是近年來我常常想到的問題”譯為In recent years, I, too, have often turned over in my mind the question of books，其中turn over in my mind 意為“在我腦海里翻轉(zhuǎn)”，此處表示“常常想到”，生動！

2，“…我的所謂藏書”與前文組成讓步的關系，增譯關聯(lián)詞though，使行文結(jié)構(gòu)更加清晰

3，“倘若集中起來，也是一個小小的書城”意即“然而（這些書）加起來的數(shù)量也是很可觀的”譯為they add up to quite a large number though。

綜述：

turn over in my mind以及第三點，都顯示出了譯者不拘于原文，從寫作角度出發(fā)來組織譯文的“境界”，值得學習。

那年我的工作調(diào)到福州，搬家最苦最累的是搬書。到福州數(shù)年，“文革”期間我的書幸而未遭劫，及至下放到偏僻的閩北山區(qū)，全部書籍都隨卡車裝去，那真是一種磨 難。兩年后忽又調(diào)回省城，于是所有的書又裝車回到福州。長途漫漫，車上馱著沉重的書，山一程，水一程，書上沾著山野的露水，帶著青草的味。直至數(shù)年后，那整箱整箱的書又運回上海，重返我離去的地方。以我多年的生命，繞了一個難以索解的怪圈。全靠我家老二的強勞力和靈巧聰慧，才能保全顛沛流離中的舊書。在焚書的年代，保存舊書無異是一筆小財富。

Years ago, when I was transferred to a new post in Fuzhou, the capital city of Fujian Province, the removal of my books gave me a big headache. During the several years when I was in that city, my books were lucky enough to survive the disaster of the so-called “Cultural Revolution”. But, whenI was sent to do manual labour in the remote mountains of northern Fujian, all the books had to go with me by truck, which plunged me into a world of trouble. Two years later, when I was suddenly transferred back to Fuzhou, the books had to be loaded on a truck again fora long ride over mountains and rivers, exposing themselves to the dew drops of the mountain area and inhaling the aroma of green grass. It was not until some years later that the books, then packed in boxes, were at last transported back to Shanghai, the place where I had originally come from. I owe the safety of my books to the efforts of my second son, who is physically strong and bright and clever. Books that have survived the age of obscurantism are without doubt an invaluable asset.

要點：

1，“搬家最苦最累的是搬書”譯為the removal of my books gave me a big headache，譯者避免了直譯的啰嗦，巧妙地將原文意思表現(xiàn)了出來~

2，“下放到偏僻的閩北山區(qū)”譯為I was sent to do manual labour in the remote mountains of northern Fujian，譯者在此用do manual labour為“下放”做了一個小小的解釋，便于外國讀者理解

3，“長途漫漫，車上馱著沉重的書，山一程，水一程”將意思整合下，合譯為a long ride over mountains and rivers，簡潔流暢

4，“焚書的年代”，可譯為the age of book-burning,,現(xiàn)譯the age of obscurantism(愚昧)

綜述:本段雖長，但語言都比較容易理解，因此難度不大，但若要譯得和張爺爺一樣流暢，還需要費費腦細胞~

這些舊書伴隨我一生。在我的人生道路上相伴愈久，依戀之情也愈深。一般說來，私人藏書大致可分三類：待讀又不可不讀的書，可讀可不讀的書，不讀的書。最后一類最簡單，論斤賣掉當紙漿即可。第二類最難處理，大體上總要過目一遍，常常為一本書的去留煞費躊躇。書是有感情的，總是藕斷絲連的依依不舍，恨起來快刀斬亂麻統(tǒng)統(tǒng)散掉。我年輕時曾說過，書是最忠實的，只要你不離棄，它永不背叛你。啊，我的書！

All my books are my life-long companions. The longer the companionship, the more profound my attachment for them. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of books in my private collection, namely, books for required reading that have not yet been read,books for optional reading and books unworthy of reading. Books of the last kind can be disposed of easily, that is, by selling them off cheap as waster paper bound for the pulp mill. The second kind of books are most difficult to handle. I generally give a glance into them before making a difficult decision on whether to keep them or not. Books are emotional and always reluctant to part from me. And sometimes, in a fit of impatience, I will even feel like resolutely doing away them all at once. As I said in my young days, books are most faithful and will never betray you so long as you don’t abandon them. Oh, my books!

要點：

1，“待讀又不可不讀的書”即“需要讀但是還沒讀的書”譯為books for required reading that have not yet been read，其中required 作“必須的”解

2，“可讀可不讀的”即“選擇性閱讀的”，譯為books for optional reading

3，“論斤賣掉當紙漿即可”譯為by selling them off cheap as waster paper bound for the pulp mill.，譯者再一次擺脫行文束縛，用cheap代替by jin，表示“論斤賣”,用as waste paper bond for the pulp(紙漿) mill，表示“紙漿”，站在理解的高度重新組織行文的做法，也有助于讀者的理解

4，“恨起來快刀斬亂麻統(tǒng)統(tǒng)散掉”即“有時一陣心煩，就想立刻把它們都散掉”譯為sometimes, in a fit of impatience, I will even feel like resolutely doing away them all at once.

綜述：諸如“可讀可不讀的”“快刀斬亂麻”之類的詞都是要在理解的基礎上去翻譯。

說到第一類書，古典文學名著的精品以外，有許多文友們著作的簽名本，也有自己喜歡的雜書，都是非保留不可的，生也有涯，將來不得而知。

散書的年紀到了。我也想有所行動，然而那些山積的舊書，倘若分門別類，分批分散出去，從包扎裝箱到郵寄，如此繁雜的體力勞動，現(xiàn)在我是無能為力了。幸而我故紙堆里有價值的東西不多，姑且等一等再說。

Books of the first kind consist ofmany autographed copies of works by my literary friends and miscellaneous favorite books of mine as well as luxe editions of literary classics. They are to be kept intact by all means. But, as there is a limit to human life, the future of these books is unknown.

It is high time for me to give away my collected books. But it is beyond my power to do the toilsome labour of sorting out piles upon piles of books and then doing all the wrapping, packing and mailing. Fortunately, there are few things of much worth among piles of my musty old books. So I might as welltake it easy.

要點：

1，“有許多文友們著作的簽名本”即“有許多文友們簽名的本”譯為many autographed copies of works by my literary friends

2，“…然而那些山積的舊書，倘若分門別類，分批分散出去，從包扎裝箱到郵寄，如此繁雜的體力勞動，現(xiàn)在我是無能為力了”翻譯時先找到句子主干，可避免譯出來的文字過于松散，本句主干即“我已經(jīng)無力做這些繁重的活了，（比如）…”，因此譯為But it is beyond my power to do the toilsome labour of…

3，“故紙堆”即“舊書堆”此處譯者增譯musty（發(fā)霉的）增強了文章的表現(xiàn)力

4，take it easy意即“沉住氣”，用在此處較wait更貼合原文意思。

綜述：

本篇文章語言平實，少有生澀難譯的字眼，因此難度不大，但如果流暢地譯下來，也是需要一番功夫滴~在這方面還是要向大師多多學習，此外，從寫作的高度，根據(jù)意思重新組織行文，也是作為譯者必不可少的技能，是我們今后努力的方向。