六級翻譯第一套 洞庭湖

原文：

洞庭湖位于湖南省東北部，面積很大，但湖水很淺。洞庭湖是長江的蓄洪池，湖的大小很大程度上取決于季節(jié)變化。湖北和湖南兩省因其與湖的相對位置而得名，湖北意為“湖的北邊”，而湖南則為“湖的南邊”。洞庭湖作為龍舟賽的發(fā)源地，在中國文化中享有盛名。據(jù)說龍舟賽始于洞庭湖東岸。為的是搜尋楚國愛國詩人屈原的遺體。龍舟賽與洞庭湖及周邊的美景，每年都吸引著成千上萬來自全國和世界各地的游客。

解析：

這段話共有七個句子。

【第一句】洞庭湖位于湖南省東北部，面積很大，但湖水很淺。

這句話描述洞庭湖的概況。可以放在一句話中翻譯，將“面積很大，但湖水很淺作狀語”，但如果不知如何寫，可簡化拆成兩句話翻譯。 其中主語洞庭湖譯為Dongting Lake，核心謂語為位于，是be located in/be situated in?！懊娣e”在英語中無完全對應(yīng)譯文，但在這，指的是湖泊大小，故可翻為size。描述湖水“淺”常用形容詞shallow, 如想不到這一單詞，也可翻為not deep。

故這句話可翻為：

Dongting Lake is located in the northeast of Hunan Province. It is big in size, but the water is not very deep.

更高級的翻譯是：

Enormous in its size, yet extremely shallow in its depth, Dongting Lake is located in northeastern Hunan province.

【第二句】洞庭湖是長江的蓄洪池，湖的大小很大程度上取決于季節(jié)變化。

這句話是進一步說明洞庭湖的面積問題。這個句子可以翻譯成兩個簡單句，但是也可以把其中暗藏的因果關(guān)系翻譯出來，形成一個復(fù)雜句。蓄洪池，標(biāo)準的英文翻譯是flood basin，但是如果不知道這個詞匯的話，可以用簡單的單詞通過解釋把這個詞翻譯出來。另外，取決于，這個詞組的翻譯是depend on。

故這句話可翻為：

Dongting Lake stores the floods of the Yangtze River. The size of the lake depends largely on the change of seasons.

更高級的翻譯是：

Owing to the fact that Dongting Lake is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, the area that the lake covers depends on the season.

【第三句】湖北和湖南兩省因其與湖的相對位置而得名，湖北意為“湖的北邊”，而湖南則為“湖的南邊”。

這個句子是介紹與洞庭湖相關(guān)的兩個省份的情況。“因 … 得名”的英文是be name after，而如果這個詞組反應(yīng)不出來的話，也可以用簡單的說法來替代，“名字來自于 …”。而在翻譯湖南湖北名字的意思這兩個并列的短句的時候，可以在后面句子里省略be動詞。

故這句話可翻為：

The names of Hubei and Hunan Province come from their relative locations to the lake.

更高級的翻譯是：

The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their relative locations to the lake: Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan, "South of the Lake".

【第四句】洞庭湖作為龍舟賽的發(fā)源地，在中國文化中享有盛名。

這句話的難點在于發(fā)源地的翻譯，place of origin，而如果沒法給出準確的翻譯的話，也可以用birthplace進行替代。所謂“享有盛名”，也就是“非常有名”的意思，進行一個簡單的轉(zhuǎn)化之后，就會好翻很多。

故這句話可翻為：

As the birthplace of dragon boat races, Dongting Lake is very famous in Chinese culture.

更高級的翻譯是：

Dongting Lake is celebrated in Chinese culture as the place of origin of dragon boat racing.

【第五句】據(jù)說龍舟賽始于洞庭湖東岸。

【第六句】為的是搜尋楚國愛國詩人屈原的遺體。

據(jù)說，可以被翻譯為it is said that。而東岸，則是需要一個稍微有點難度的單詞，shore，表示湖的岸。當(dāng)然，如果不知道這個單詞的話，也能用eastern side of the lake表示湖的東邊，畢竟龍舟賽只可能在水里進行，不可能在陸地上進行。

第五句和第六句在翻譯的時候可以組合成一個句子，因為第六句實際上是省略了和前一句一樣的主語，“龍舟賽”。愛國，patriotic。這個單詞稍難，如果用country-loving，雖然不如patriotic精確，但是在語法上也沒錯

故這兩句話可翻為：

It is said that dragon boat races started on the eastern side of the lake, in order to look for the body of Qu Yuan, a country-loving poet in the state of Chu.

更高級的翻譯是：

Dragon boat racing is said to have begun on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake as a search for the body of Qu Yuan, a patriotic Chu poet.

【第七句】龍舟賽與洞庭湖及周邊的美景，每年都吸引著成千上萬來自全國和世界各地的游客。

這句話的主語是詞組龍舟賽與…美景，而謂語是吸引著。

故整句話可翻為：

Dragon boat races and the beautiful scenery around Dongting Lake attract thousands of tourists from all over China and the world every year.

更高級的翻譯是：

Dragon boat racing and Dongting Lake, with the gorgeous scenery around it, attract thousands of tourists across China and the globe every year.

全文翻譯

【過關(guān)版】

Dongting Lake is located in the northeast of Hunan Province. It is big in size, but the water is not deep. Dongting Lake stores the floods of the Yangtze River. The size of the lake depends largely on the change of seasons. The name of Hubei and Hunan Province come from their relative locations to the lake. Hubei means “the north of the lake”, while Hunan means “the south of the lake”. As the birthplace of dragon boat races, Dongting Lake is very famous in Chinese culture. It is said that dragon boat races started on the eastern side of the lake, in order to look for the body of Qu Yuan, a country-loving poet in the state of Chu. Dragon boat races and the beautiful scenery around Dongting Lake attract thousands of tourists from all over China and the world every year.

【高分版】

Enormous in its size, yet extremely shallow in its depth, Dongting Lake is located in northeastern Hunan province. Owing to the fact that Dongting Lake is a flood basin of the Yangtze River, the area that the lake covers depends on the season. The provinces of Hubei and Hunan are named after their relative locations to the lake: Hubei means "North of the Lake" and Hunan, "South of the Lake". Dongting Lake is celebrated in Chinese culture as the place of origin of dragon boat racing. Dragon boat racing is said to have begun on the eastern shores of Dongting Lake as a search for the body of Qu Yuan, a patriotic Chu poet. Dragon boat racing and Dongting Lake, with the gorgeous scenery around it, attract thousands of tourists across China and the globe every year.