张培基英译散文赏析之《欣赏自己》

欣赏自己

On Self-Appreciation

英培安

Ying Pei’an

| 译文摘自张培基《英译中国散文选二》

不怕直说，我是相当欣赏自己的。我承认自己有许多不如人的地方，但也知道并不老是这样差劲。所以，我做了一件事，写了一篇文章，只要自觉还不错我可以乐上几天，遇有人赞，更飘飘然得不像话；甚至还会忘其所以，插上几句自夸的话。

Frankly, I very much appreciate myself. Yes, I admit I’m in many respects not as good as other people, but I don’t think I’m always no good. When I find what I’ve done or written is okay, I’ll remain pleased with myself for quite a few days, and, in case I receive praise for it, I’ll even become so swollen-headed as to add a few words to glorify myself.

要点：

1，“不怕直说”即“坦白来讲，坦白来说”，译为Frankly

2，“我做了一件事，写了一篇文章，只要自觉还不错我可以乐上几天”前两个分句依旧可以看成时间状语“当我做了一件事，写了一篇文章”，并且为了避免句式啰嗦译者将“只要自觉不错”与前句合译，即“当我做了一件自觉不错的事或写了一篇自觉不错的文”译为When I find what I’ve done or written is okay, I’ll remain pleased with myself for quite a few days

3，“飘飘然”“ 忘其所以”都是作“思想上自我膨胀”之意，译为swollen-headed

综述：

有时合译就像是合并同类项~

记住简洁流畅是王道真的，我一点也不谦虚。或者这就是自负吧，恐怕要给人骂了。但有什么不对呢？

True, I’m not modest at all. People may call me conceited. But I think otherwise.

要点：

“但有什么不对呢？”此处反问句译为陈述句，即“我并没有觉得有什么不对”或“我并不以为然”= I think otherwise. 此处表示“估测”，即一种心理揣摩活动，表示一种自我斟酌、不能决断的心理状态，实际上是自我思维的一种辅助活动，因此译为肯定句也是解释的通的

我也欣赏别人，凡是好的东西我都欣赏。只懂得欣赏别人而忘了欣赏自己，岂不是太不公平了？

I also appreciate other people. I appreciate anything good. Isn’t it unfair to forget appreciating myself while appreciating others?

要点：

本处反问句译为了否定开头的一般疑问句~

但是我们华人总是比较谦虚，而且引以为荣。自己的太太叫拙荆，文章曰拙作。如果你当真叫他的太太山芭婆，文章如狗屁，他保证勃然大怒，和你拍桌子绝交。其实，你所说的，和他说的，可能并没什么两样。

We Chinese are generally inclined to be modest, and we take pride in being so. For example, a Chinese will call his own wife zhuojing, meaning “my humble wife”, and his own writings zhuozuo, meaning “my poor writings”. But if you should call his wife a “rustic women” or his writings “trash”, he would, I’m sure, slap the table in a rage and declare he would make a clean break with you. As a matter of fact, there is probably no difference at all between what is said by him and you respectively.

要点：

1，“引以为荣”即“为这样做感到骄傲”= take pride in being so

2，“自己的太太叫拙荆，文章曰拙作”译为For example, a Chinese will call his own wife zhuojing, meaning “my humble wife”, and his own writings zhuozuo, meaning “my poor writings”.其中“拙荆”“拙作”都是中国特有的谦辞，翻译时要在后面进行补译

3，“山芭婆”意即“村夫”，译作rustic women

4,”勃然大怒“=fall into rage/be in a rage

“绝交“=break off / make a clean break with you

5，“他保证勃然大怒，和你拍桌子绝交”一般我们会译为he would, I ‘m sure ,fall into a rage,, striking the table and say he would break off with you,译者以 in a rage 代替 fall into,少了一个动词，句式就简洁多了

综述：

对于英汉习语，我们常用的方法的有异化，归化，补译（即释义法），直译加注，还有省去不译，补译和加注是比较常见也比较保险的方法~

我认为，如果你的东西确是好的，直接说它好，没有什么不对。老王卖瓜，只要卖的是好瓜，为什么不能自卖自夸？老兄，老王是靠卖瓜吃饭的，叫他也学我们书生扭扭捏捏，对自己的瓜谦虚一番，生意还用做么？他保证饿死大吉。

I don’t think it’s wrong for you to freely praise yourself if you’re really worthy of praise. As we know, there is an old Chinese saying disparaging a melon peddler, named Lao Wang, who keeps praising his own goods. Well, why can’t he praise his melons if they are really sweet and juicy? Friends, Lao Wang sells melons for a living. How could he carry on business if he, by imitating the affectations of us intellectuals, were to show false modesty about his melons? He would sure enough die of starvation.

要点：

1，“老王卖瓜”即“老王卖瓜，自卖自夸”，译为As we know, there is an old Chinese saying disparaging a melon peddler, named Lao Wang, who keeps praising his own goods.这又是一个习语，译者对其进行了适当的增益,即As we know, there is an old Chinese saying…，起到了承上启下的作用，便于读者更好的理解

2，“叫他也学我们书生扭扭捏捏，对自己的瓜谦虚一番，生意还用做么？”译为How could he carry on business if he, by imitating the affectations of us intellectuals, were to show false modesty about his melons.其中”学”作“模仿”讲，译为immitate更合适；“我们书生扭扭捏捏”即“我们知识分子装模作样”，故译为the affectations of us intellectuals；“对自己的瓜谦虚一番”即“对自己的瓜表示谦虚”，故译为show false modesty about his melons

要点：

依旧是习语的翻译，对于有文化意蕴的习语，除了保持准确，还要力求保证其风格一致

能欣赏自己，才能敬业乐业，写文章的人，若老是觉得自己的文章不行，我不相信他有信心涂下去。卖文的，更不必说了。

Self-appreciation is therefore the key to professional dedication and enjoyment of work. One will lose confidence in continuing with writing when he ceases to admire his own essays.Needless to say, the same is true of those who make a living with their pen.

要点：

1，“若老是觉得自己的文章不行，我不相信他有信心涂下去。“意即”若是一个人不再欣赏自己的作品，他将没有信心继续写作“译为One will lose confidence in continuing with writing when he ceases to admire his own essays.同时要注意的还有，中文行文时，习惯先因后果，而英文有先果后因的习惯

2，“更不必说“采取反语正译的方法，即”…也一样“，译为the same is true of…

综述：本文语言简洁，虽然篇幅短小，却多处使用习语，给翻译带来了一定难度，译时需要多加注意~平时要注意多积累习语的译法