英语学习之我见【7】英文小说的翻译、词语掌故的翻译及新闻报道的翻译

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英语学习之我见

【7】英文小说的翻译、词语掌故的翻译及新闻报道的翻译

（三）英文小说的翻译

在翻译小说时，应深刻了解作家生活的时代背景、语言特征、写作风格及写作技巧。以美国作家欧内斯特·海明威为例。见习记者的经历为他的主要风格定下了基调。他的语言简单朴实、直截了当。他的作品中没有华丽的辞藻，没有洋洋洒洒的宏论，只有常用的动词和简练的对话，但这不是信手拈来，而是经过他反复推敲，精心安排的，所以能激起读者感情上的强烈反响。海明威在作品中从不介入个人的评论，而是把他故事的各个部分安排得贴切妥当，使读者无法不领受他个人的感受。正是这种特点使他的作品通俗易懂，同时在读者的内心产生强烈的震撼效果，也正是这一点影响了不少他的后续作家。

“THE  KILLERS”

       The basic plot of the story involves two gangsters who enter a small restaurant to wait for a boxer,a Swede named Ole Anderson. Anderson is hiding out for reasons unknown,possibly for winning a fight,and the gangsters are paid to kill him. One of the gangsters goes into the kitchen and ties up the waiter Nick Adams and Sam,the cook. Anderson never arrives,and the gangsters finally leave. George,the owner of the restaurant,sends Nick to a boarding house to warn Anderson about the two men.Nick finds Anderson lying in his bed with all of his clothes on.He tells Anderson what has happened.Anderson does not react,except to say that nothing can be done about the situation.Nick,feeling awful to think about a man waiting for his death and can do nothing to prevent it,decides to leave the town.

               《杀手》

       故事的基本情节是两个歹徒进入一家小餐馆等候一个拳击手，一个叫奥尔·安德森的瑞典人。安德森由于未知的原因躲藏起来，可能是因为赢了一场比赛，歹徒受雇来干掉他。一个歹徒进了厨房把侍者尼克·亚当斯和厨师萨姆捆了起来。安德森没有露面，歹徒们最后离开了。餐馆的老板乔治派尼克去寄宿公寓警告安德森防备这两个人。尼克发现安德森合衣躺在床上。他告诉安德森刚才发生的一切。安德森没有反应，只是说事情到了这种地步，已经束手无策。尼克想到一个人竟然只能等死，而毫无办法阻止，觉得可怕之至，就决定离开这个镇子。

 

THE   KILLERS

          （Part  One）

By Ernest Hemingway

Tr. Cui Guangjian

The door of Henry's lunch-room opened and two men came in.They sat down at the counter.

   “What's yours?”George asked them.

  “I don't know,”said Al.“I don't know what I want to eat.”

     Outside it was getting dark. The street-light came on outside the .The two men at the counter read the menu.From the other end of the counter Nick Adams watched them.He had been talking to George when they came in.

      “I'll have a roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and mashed potatoes，”the first man said.

    “It isn't ready yet.”

    “What the hell do you put it on the card for?”

    “That's the dinner,”George explained.“You can get that at six o'clock.”

    “The clock says twenty minutes past five,”the seconf man said.

   “It's twenty minutes fast.”

   “Oh,to hell with the clock,”the first man said.“What have you got to eat?”

   “I can give you any kind of sandwiches,”George said.“You can have ham and eggs,bacon and eggs,liver and bacon,or a steak.”

     “Give me chicken croquettes with green peas and cream sauce and mashed potatoes.”

     “That's the dinner.”

     “Everything we want's the dinner,eh? That's the way you work it.”

     “I can give you ham and eggs,bacon and eggs,liver―”

    “I'll take ham and eggs,”the man called Al said. He wore a Derby hat and a black overcoat ed across the chest.His face was small and white and he had tight lips.He wore a silk muffle and gloves.

  

                    杀手

              （一）

作者：欧内斯特·海明威

翻译：崔广建

        亨利快餐店的门开着，两个人走了进来。他们坐在柜台旁边。

   “你们要些什么菜？”乔治问他们。

    “我不知道，”艾尔说道：“我不知道我想要点儿什么吃的。

      餐馆外，天色已晚。窗户外，街灯亮了。柜台旁的那两个人看着菜单。尼克·亚当斯从柜台的另一侧打量着他们。他们进来时他一直在和乔治攀谈。

     “我要一份烤猪里脊，外加苹果酱和土豆泥，”第一个人说道。

     “这道菜还没有做出来。”

     “那你究竟为什么还印在这张单子上？”

     “那是正餐，”乔治解释说。“六点钟才上菜。”

    “钟表上显示的是五点二十分，”第二个人说。

    “这个钟快二十分。”

    “噢，该死的钟，”第一个人说道。“你这儿都有什么吃的？”

     “我这儿有各种三明治，”乔治说。“你可以选火腿和鸡蛋，熏肉和鸡蛋，牛肝熏肉，或者牛排。”

    “给我来一份炸鸡饼，外加青豆、奶油沙司和土豆泥。”

     “那是正餐。”

     “我们要的就是正餐，嗯？你们就是这样做生意的。”

     “我给你们提供火腿和鸡蛋，熏肉和鸡蛋，牛肝――”

     “我就要火腿和鸡蛋，”那个叫艾尔的人说道。他头戴一顶礼帽，身穿胸前横扣的大衣。他的脸又小又白，嘴唇紧绷。他围着一条丝巾，戴着一副手套。

　　“Give me bacon and eggs,”said the other man.He was about the same size as Al.Their faces were different,but they were dressed like twins.Both wore overcoats too tight for them.They sat leaning forward,their elbows on the counter.

     “Got anything to drink?”Al asked.

      “Silver beer,bevo,ginger-ale,”George said.

       “I mean you got anything to drink?”

      “Just those I said.”

      “This is a hot town,”said the other.“What do they call it?”

      “Summit.”

      “Ever hear of it?”Al asked his friend.

      “No,”said the friend.

      “What do you do here nights? ”Al asked.

      “They eat the dinner,”his friend said.“They all come here and eat the big dinner.”

     “That's right,”George.

     “So you think that's right?”Al asked George.

      “Sure.”

       “You're a pretty bright  boy,aren't you?”

       “Sure,”said George.

       “Well,you're not,”said the other little man.“Is he,Al?”

      “He's dumb,”said Al.He turned to Nick.“What's your name?”

      “Adams.”

      “Another bright boy,”Al said.“Ain't he a bright boy,Max?”

      “The town's full of bright boys,”Max said.

“我要熏肉和鸡蛋，”另一个人说道。他和艾尔个头差不多。他们的脸型不同，但穿着打扮如同双胞胎。两人的大衣裹得很紧。他们身体前倾，胳膊肘压在柜台上。

      “你们这儿有什么喝的？”艾尔问道。

       “银啤、饮料、姜汁汽水，”乔治说。

        “我的意思是你们有喝的吗？”

        “就那些我说的。”

      “这是个危险的城镇，”另一个说。“你们管它叫什么？”

       “萨米特。”

       “听说过吗？”艾尔问他的朋友。

      “没有，”朋友说道。

      “你们这儿的人夜晚做什么？”艾尔问道。

      “他们吃晚餐，”他的朋友说。“他们都来这儿吃一顿丰盛的晚餐。”

       “说得对，”乔治说。

       “所以你认为我说得对？”艾尔问乔治。

       “当然。”

      “你小子挺机灵嘛，不是吗？”

       “当然，”乔治说。

      “噢，你可不是，”另一个小个子人说。“他是吗，艾尔？”

      “他笨头笨脑，”艾尔说。他转向尼克。“你叫什么名字？”

      “亚当斯。”

      “又一个机灵鬼，”艾尔说。“他难道不是吗，麦克斯？”

      “这个镇子上的人都是鬼精鬼精的，”麦克斯说。

　　（四）词语掌故的翻译

美国词语掌故很难从学术上解释词源、词义和用法，但它通俗有趣，广泛流传，娓娓动听，引人入胜，开阔眼界。这些词语掌故仅从表面意义上很难懂得它们的真正含义，必须认真探究，因为每一个词语都有背后的故事。例如，Achilles heels 一词。希腊诗人荷马给我们留下了许多词语，其中著名的一个是“阿喀琉斯的脚跟”（Achilles heel）。每个人都有自己的“阿喀琉斯脚跟”，即他的弱点。我们年轻时，爱情是弱点，爱情使得我们不能自己。用不了多久我们就会发现爱情使自己“头脚颠倒”（We soon find ourselves turning‘head over heels’），“神魂颠倒”了。

说一个人“脚跟硬”（well-heeled）是说他很有钱。但是说一个人“倒在鞋跟上”（to be down-at-heel）却是指他境遇不佳、衣衫褴褛、破烂不堪、“山穷水尽”（down-and -out）。可见，英语词语掌故的魅力就在这里。

　　（五）新闻报道的翻译

新闻报道的翻译力求简洁明了，力求真实再现，无需添加修饰的词语，让读者一目了然，快速浏览。

News

New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has appealed for new economic talks between the world's industrial and developing nations.Mrs. Gandhi made the appeal in letters to the leaders of seven industrial nations.She urged them to work for solutions to economic problems of developing countries during a meeting next week in Williamsburg,Virginia.Mrs. Gandhi is chairman of the non-aligned movement.

Non-aligned nations have called for negotiations with industrial countries on aid,trade,finance and a new world economic system.The industrialized countries taking part in the Williamsburg meeting are the United States,Canada,Britain,France,West Germany,Italy and Japan.

新闻

新德里

印度总理因吉拉·甘地呼吁召开工业化国家与发展中国家之间新的经济谈判。甘地夫人以书信形式请求七个工业化国家的领导人。她敦促他们下周在弗吉尼亚的威廉斯堡举行的会议上共同解决经济问题。甘地夫人是不结盟运动的主席。

不结盟国家呼吁就援助、贸易、财政及新的世界经济体系与工业化国家展开磋商。参加威廉斯堡会议的工业化国家包括美国、加拿大、英国、法国、西德、意大利和日本。