《射雕英雄传》终于有英译版了!最难译的不是“九阴白骨爪”

近日，有件资讯开始在江湖上流传——金庸的“射雕”三部曲即将被译为英文。明年2月份《射雕英雄传》的第一卷将要登陆英伦。

金庸，原名查良镛，英文名Louis Cha。1924年生于浙江海宁。金庸曾经和双语君一样，也是一名资讯人。1946年，他进入杭州《东南日报》，负责收听英语的国际资讯广播， 金庸大侠自上世纪五十年代开始创作武侠小说，他笔下“飞雪连天射白鹿，笑书神侠倚碧鸳”的故事早已传遍中原，但是西域读者大多只闻其名，未读其书，因为 波士顿大学比较文学系教授Petrus Liu在最近一篇《石英》杂志（Quartz）的报道中说：

“Translating Jin Yong is often a daunting task because of the complexity of his language, which integrates prose and poetry and makes extensive use of ‘four-character phrases’ and other Chinese idioms in order to recreate the ‘feel’ of traditional Chinese vernacular novels.”

“ 该报道还给西方读者介绍了金庸小说中极难 The characters in Cha’s world — who have colorful names like the “Seven Freaks of the South” — operate in what is known as the jianghu, a term that is familiar to Chinese speakers and any reader of wuxia fiction but difficult to translate into English. The word literally translates as “rivers and lakes,” but is typically used to mean people who live in a world parallel to conventional society, one that operates by its own laws and code of ethics. It is closely linked to another wuxia term, the wulin, or “martial arts forest,” referring to a community of people practicing martial arts.

金庸小说中人物的名字极富特色，比如“江南七怪（Seven Freaks of the South）”等，这些人行走在 “江湖”之中。中国读者熟悉的“江湖”，字面意思为“江和湖”，但其意蕴很难 要用英语原汁原味还原金庸的风格极其困难，虽然也有一些译者尝试，但正式出版的英文版不多。此前正式出版的译本有：

《雪山飞狐》

Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain

这本金庸于1959年开始连载的小说，由在香港城市大学教授 《鹿鼎记》

The Deer and the Cauldron

这本金庸的封笔之作由曾 《书剑恩仇录》

The Book and the Sword

《书剑恩仇录》是金庸先生的第一部武侠小说，由英国记者、作家晏格文（Graham Earnshaw） 这次的“射雕”三部曲的首部《射雕英雄传》第一卷已经译出，正在进行最后阶段的校对，将由英国的MacLehose Press在明年2月出版，目前已经在亚马逊上开始预售，纸质版的价格是14.99英镑。

《射雕英雄传》被译为Legends of the Condor Heroes；《神雕侠侣》被译为Divine Condor, Errant Knight；《倚天屠龙记》则是Heaven Sword, Dragon Sabre。

《射雕英雄传》第一卷的译者是个可爱的英国女孩Anna Holmwood，中文名郝玉青。

郝玉青的父亲是英国人，母亲是瑞典人，她的母语是英文，自小又向母亲学瑞典语。本科时，她在牛津大学读历史。2005年的暑假她参加了一个来中国游学的项目。在邮件采访中，她回忆道：

“I already had an interest in China and Chinese history, but that trip proved to be formative for me. After two months seeing China from north to south and east to west, I came away feeling that the only way I would satisfy my curiosity about the country, its people and the culture would be to learn Chinese.”

“我在此之前就对中国与中国历史感兴趣，但是那次旅行对于我（学中文）起了决定性影响。两个月间我游遍了中国的东南西北。离开的时候我想，只有一种方法能满足我对中国、中国人与中国文化的好奇心，那就是学中文！”

回到牛津后，她选择了攻读当代中国研究方向的硕士，开始努力学习汉语，并先后来北京大学、台湾师范大学做交换生，毕业后就一直致力于向西方读者引进中国作品的工作。

在台北学习时，郝玉青和朋友去敦化南路诚品书店，看到了一个书架摆放的都是金庸的小说，于是便买了一本中文版的《鹿鼎记》。初读时她感到十分纠结，但是随后便渐渐入迷了。

郝玉青最初 目前《射雕英雄传》的第一本已经 “A lot of people are curious about the way I have translated the names of moves or elements of martial arts, but these aren't really the most crucial features of whether or not a translation is successful.”

很多人都很好奇我是怎么 “It’s all about whether the English reader will be drawn into the emotions and the characters, that he or she will be amazed by the prowess of the fighting or caught up in the political intrigues.”

重要的是译文能否让英语读者被书中的情绪和人物吸引，能否让读者被超凡脱俗的武打所震撼，能否将书中的阴谋诡计翻得扣人心弦。

那么郝玉青的译文究竟是怎么样的呢？

我们从出版社要到了样书，给大家分享一段，这是郭靖与女扮男装的黄蓉第一次相识：

A northerly wind was blowing fierce as they left the inn. The boy shivered. “My sincerest gratitude. Farewell.”

出得店来，朔风扑面。那少年似觉寒冷，缩了缩头颈，说道：“叨扰了，再见罢。”

But Guo Jing could not stand to see the boy head into such a cold night wearing such scant clothing. He placed his black sable coat on the boy’s shoulders. “Brother, I feel as if I’ve known you my whole life. Take this against the wind.”

郭靖见他衣衫单薄，心下不忍，当下脱下貂裘，披在他身上，说道：“兄弟，你我一见如故，请把这件衣服穿了去。”

He slipped two ingots of gold into one of the pockets, leaving himself two more for his journey. The boy left without even saying thank you, and began to trudge against the weather, before turning around for one last look.

他身边尚剩下四锭黄金，取出两锭，放在貂裘的袋中。那少年也不道谢，披了貂裘，飘然而去。那少年走出数十步，回过头来。

Guo Jing was standing beside his bridled horse, watching him. The young man waved and Guo Jing ran over to him. “Does my brother need anything?”

见郭靖手牵着红马，站在长街上兀自望着自己，呆呆出神，知他舍不得就此分别，向他招了招手。郭靖快步过去，道：“贤弟可还缺少甚么？”

“I didn’t ask you your name,” he said and smiled. “Yes, we forgot. My family name is Guo, my given name Jing, meaning Serenity. And you?” “My family name is Huang, my given name Rong, meaning Lotus.”

那少年微微一笑，道：“还没请教兄长高姓大名。”郭靖笑道：”真是的，这倒忘了。我姓郭名靖。兄弟你呢？”那少年道：“我姓黄，单名一个蓉字。”

注：译文仍在校对环节，非最终版本。

粗读郝玉青的译本，我感到其译文是流畅的，但有些中文的韵味还是没能用英文传达。而有些原文没有的味道，又不可避免地被英文夹带了进来，就好比在江湖武林中约摸看到些魔兽世界的影子：

飞天蝙蝠柯镇恶是Ke Zhen’e, Suppressor of Evil；

黑风双煞中里的陈玄风是Hurricane Chen；

梅超风则是Cyclone Mei；

东邪黄药师叫做The Eastern Heretic Apothecary Huang；

九阴白骨爪译作Nine Yin Skeleton Claw。

无怪乎郝玉青在本书的译者序中写道：

Many have considered Jin Yong’s world too foreign, too Chinese for an English-speaking readership. Impossible to translate. And yet this story of love, loyalty, honor and the power of the individual against successive corrupt governments and invading forces is as universal as any story could hope to be. The greatest loss that can occur in translation can only come from not translating it at all.

人们认为金庸的世界对于英语读者来说，异域风味太浓了，太中国了。译不了。但这个故事里的爱、忠诚、荣耀、对腐败官府和入侵者的抗争又是每一个故事都渴望拥有的。不译，才是最大的损失。