? 原文:

晚上八點(diǎn)鐘,大家等得心都發(fā)霉,安定地絕望,索性不再愁了,準(zhǔn)備睡覺。(錢鐘書 - 圍城 )

?

翻譯關(guān)鍵詞:發(fā)霉,安定地絕望,索性

?

譯文:

By eight o’clock that evening their hearts had all gone numb from waiting, and in a state of calm despair, they decided they might as well stop worrying and get ready for bed.(美 Jeanne Kelly, Nathan K.Mao <譯> –Fortress Besieged)

?

?

翻譯筆記:
發(fā)霉

這里的“發(fā)霉”可不是說食物長霉,而是形容等太久后心情“麻木、失去感覺”。理解了這層意思我們再來看看numb作形容詞時的兩種常見搭配。
* 副詞+: My feet feel completely numb.?
* +介詞: My backside has gone numb from sitting on that hard chair so long. (這就是本次選段譯文中的用法嘍)
? My fingers are numb with cold.
? Her mind became numb with fear.
?

安定地絕望

這次選這個來分析其實(shí)是想要說說翻譯技巧中的增詞法。在很多情況下,英漢詞匯的語義范圍往往有寬窄之分,并非一一對應(yīng),因而就有必要做些增減,使譯文更加通順流暢,符合譯入語的行文習(xí)慣。一般說來當(dāng)漢語詞義比英語寬,漢譯英時要采用增詞法;反之,當(dāng)漢語詞義比英語窄,漢譯英時則要采用減詞法。當(dāng)然,這是一個概略的說法,總之應(yīng)該記住的是:無論增詞還是減詞,增減的是詞,不是意。例如:
安定地絕望 in a state of calm despair?
看糧食,要看中國的農(nóng)業(yè);看農(nóng)業(yè),首先要看市場。
To have a better understanding of the food situation in China we must take a full view of her agriculture, and to know the agriculture we must first look at the food market.?
既然說到了增詞法,我們就再來看一個減詞法的例子做個比較吧:
其經(jīng)營活動多限于市場調(diào)查、信息溝通和采購銷售等。
Such an office’s activities might be limited to market research, communications, sales and purchasing.
?

索性

即“直截了當(dāng)、干脆”,我們可用simply; just; might as well等來表達(dá)。如:

索性捅出來得了。
Why not just let the whole thing out?
既然已經(jīng)做了,索性就把它做完。
Since you have started the job, you might as well finish it.(該回選段譯文)
找了幾個地方都沒找著,索性不再找了。
It was nowhere to be found, so we simply gave it up for lost.

?

點(diǎn)擊進(jìn)入口譯筆譯備考小組>>

(本文由滬江原創(chuàng),轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處)

查看更多【翻譯筆記】系列>>