原文:
鸿渐想起唐晓芙和自己,心像火焰的舌头突跳而起,说:“想到你还是想你?我们一天要想到不知多少人,亲戚、朋友、仇人,以及不相干的见过面的人。真正想一个人,记挂着他,希望跟他接近,这少得很。人事太忙了,不许我们全神贯注,无间断地怀念一个人。我们一生对于最亲爱的人的想念,加起来恐怕不到一点钟,此外不过是念头在他身上瞥过,想到而已。”(钱钟书 - 《围城》)
翻译关键词:突跳而起,想到你VS想你,不相干,人事,全神贯注
译文:
Reminded of himself and Tang Hsiao-fu, Hung-chien's heart suddenly flared up like a tongue of flame, and he asked, "Think about you or miss you? We must think about any number of people in one day – relatives, friends, enemies, and even people who have nothing to do with us that we've met before. To really miss someone, keep him constantly in mind, and wish to be close to him is pretty rare. Life keeps people too busy. It doesn't allow us to focus our full attention and yearn for someone without interruption. The time we spend in a whole lifetime thinking about the person we love most probably wouldn't add up to one whole hour. Beyond that our thoughts just brush past him. We're only thinking about him." (美 Jeanne Kelly, Nathan K.Mao <译> –Fortress Besieged)
翻译笔记:
突跳而起
这四字词在汉译英中很常见,我们翻译时重要的还是理解原文,大家注意前文有说到方鸿渐想起了唐晓芙,说明他的感情在一段时间的平静后又突然爆发,带有一点点“涌上心头”的那种味道,我们可以用如译文中的flare up,也可以用see red、flare out来形容。如:
对他们过去敌人的一切旧恨宿怨顿时涌上心头。
All the old hatred for their former enemy flared up.
想到你VS想你
话说方鸿渐在这段话里真把两者的意思条分缕析了一番,虽说这有点像在玩文字游戏,但细细品来,却不无道理,“想到”是不能与“想”划等号的。
“想到(think of; call to mind; recall)”一个人,通常用于表达因某些原因突然想起某人。而“想(remember with longing; miss)”表达的更倾向于对某人一直以来的一种怀念、惦记与记挂。两者的感情色彩显然是不一样的。如:忽然想到一个重要的人 suddenly think of someone important
你走了以后,我们都很想你。
After you left, we all missed you.
不相干
即“不相关涉、无关”,我们常用irrelevant; have nothing to do with来表达,而译文用的就是后者。又如:
不相干的话 irrelevant remarks
那件事跟你不相干。
That has nothing to do with you. or It's none of your business.
人事
“人事”在汉语文章中也是十分常见的多义词,这次我们统一起来分析一下。
(1)指人世间的事:occurrences in human life; human affairs.(此文即属该种用法)
(2)关于工作人员的录用、培养、调配、奖惩等工作:personnel matters。如:
人事任免 appointment and removal of personnel
人事调动 transfer of personnel
(3)人情事理:ways of the world,如:
不懂人事 not know the ways of the world
(4)人的意识对象:consciousness of the outside world,如:
他昏迷过去,不省人事。
He fainted and lost consciousness.
(5)人力能做到的事:what is humanly possible,如:
尽人事 do whatever one is capable of; do one's best
(6)馈赠的礼物:gift,如:
送人事 give a present
全神贯注
这是一个成语,我们可将其理解为“全副精神集中于……”,除了译文中的focus one's full attention或用concentrate one's attention on; be absorbed (or engrossed) in; be preoccupied with来表达均可。又如:
下棋需要全神贯注。
Chess requires great concentration.
她全神贯注地听着。
She listened with rapt attention. or She was all ears.
相关阅读
(来源:沪江英语 编辑:崔旭燕)