特定理解基础上的变通——第二届世界中医翻译大赛点评

 

文/林巍

 

此次世界中医翻译大赛，共收到有效参赛译文近三百份，总体质量比上届有所提高。广州医科大学基础部英语教研室教师进行了匿名初评和复评，后由世界中医药学会联合会翻译专业委员会组织中医翻译专家评出一、二、三等奖及优秀奖（获奖名单见世界中医药学会联合会网站）。本文拟从“词语变通”和“行文变通”两方面，对此次翻译大赛译文作一点评。

 

词语变通

 

翻译中首先遇到的是词语和词组，在汉英翻译中，则要在“字词”与word和phrase之间不断转换，而它们多有对等之处。在该文的特定中医语境里，一些看似简单的词语亦有多种选择，需慎重对待。如，[1]中的“疾病”，参赛者用了disease、sickness、illness、ailment 等，似都可以，但分析起来，disease是有某种特定病因并有可识别的体征和症状的病症，包括任何躯体畸形或不能正常发挥的功能，但不包括物理性损伤（尽管后者可导致疾病）。illness主要是指not feeling well，如：The apparent cause of his illness was excessive drinking, but the real cause was his deep grief at his wife’s death.（他生病的表面原因是饮酒过度，但实际原因是丧妻之痛。）sickness意为the state of being ill or unhealthy，与illness 类似。ailment为“小病”（not serious illness）。相比之下，malady则为any unwholesome or desperate condition，即更严重的疾病，但现在更常用在社会方面，指serious problem in society（社会顽疾）等。然而，此处的“疾病”与前面的“生命”是一个动态过程，就“医学”（包括中西医）而言，实则是“治病”的过程，故宜为treating sickness/diseases等。

 

同样在[1]中，对“自然科学”一般都译成了natural science，固然不错，但在学术表述上更多地译为physical science，如：Mathematics broke away from philosophy and became tied to physical science.（数学从哲学中分出来而且和自然科学联系在一起。）对于“一门综合学科”，有的参赛者意识到了其特殊性，故用了a special discipline、a distinct subject in the academic field等，显然又过于“复杂化”了，不如简化为an interdisciplinary practice等。

 

[2]中的“实证医学”和“道理医学”是另一问题集中点，前者是西医已有术语，后者为中医性质而造。可参赛者对于前者亦多有不知，如译成empirical medicine、technical science、demonstrated medicine等，实属不该。对于后者，则可仁者见仁，但也应尽量符合其语境和表述形式，有的如philosophical medicine、Taoist medicine、rational medicine 等，在语境上固然“有道理”，但鉴于前面西医的evidence-based medicine，此处不妨相应译为reason-based medicine 等。

 

对于[3]中的“ 中医学家”， 许多参赛者用了the scholar/expert of Chinese doctor，其实在西方，西医被称为orthodox medicine（正统医学），这与其说是医学的分类，不如说是一种社会文化的认知（即为社会大众所认可），而中医属于alternative medicine (complementary medicine, fringe medicine)，即另类医学，或补救医学、替代医学等，界定了西医（正统医学）和中医（一种另类医学），中医医生可称为doctor of Chinese medicine，而此处更确切的译法应为scholar of TCM。

 

同段，对于“甚至用哲学的语言和规律来解释人体的生理、病理现象”，参赛者译成Even we use philosophical language and laws to explain physiological and pathological appearances of body、It even interprets physiological and pathological phenomena of human body with language and rules used in philosophical ideas、We explained the physiological and pathological phenomena of human body with the language and guidance of philosophy（其中的下画线为作者所加，下同）等，其中都把“规律”与laws、rules、guidance 等自然联系起来，其实要作具体分析。此处主要指中医是一种哲学性很强的传统医学，其概念充斥着哲学的因素，故不妨以TCM explains physiological and pathological phenomena of the human body in philosophical language and patterns/conceptualization来表述。

 

在[5]、[6]中，多处涉及“阴阳”概念，这可说是中医哲学理念的基石。《黄帝内经·素问·上古天真论》述：“人生有形，不离阴阳。”“善诊者，察色按脉，先别阴阳。”因而阴阳是对自然界和事物发展规律中相互对立又相辅相成两方面的高度概括，这已为英语世界所广泛熟知。从阴阳这一基本性质出发，翻译中所作出的相应变通，尽管各异，但应不致相去甚远。较为典型的参赛译文，如将“从阴阳则生，逆之则死”译成“If you follow yin and yang you will be alive; otherwise you will die”“following yin and yang leads you to life; opposing yin and yang results in death”等，固然较为贴近原文，但还可稍加变通，如所“从”的其实不只是yin、yang，而是其法则（principle）。然而，有的译成“Human will be alive if complying with the natural laws, or will die”“Men will survive when they are compliant the law of nature, or they are doomed to die”等，则似乎又变通得“过”了，因yin and yang与naturallaws、law of nature毕竟不是一回事。同时，此处的“生”和“死”也可作些变通，如不妨译为Obedience to the principle of yin-yang cultivates life and resistance to it speeds up demise等。以此类推，[6]中的“阴阳交感”“阴阳互根”“孤阳不生”“孤阴不长”“重阴必阳”“重阳必阴”等，其翻译可能在细节上各有不同（如将“交感”译成communicating，将“互根”译成as mutual foundation，将“不生”译成not to breed，将“不长”译成not to grow，将“必阳”译成must be yang，将“必阴”译成has to be yin等），但整体意思仍为“interaction of yin and yang”“mutual rooting of yin and yang”“solitary yang failing to grow, solitary yin failing to increase”“extreme yin turning into yang, extreme yang turning into yin”等，故都属可接受范畴。

 

同时，[5]中的“夫病已成而后药之”的“药”不是名词（medicine、remedy、drug），而是动词，即curing… with medicine，但在此处，顺其句式，又不妨将其变通为名词medication，将该句译为Medication after the contraction of illness等。

 

[7]中的“五脏”属中医用语，有的译成wu zang、five zang-organs等，其实也未尝不可，但接续中需有说明或注释，如：The general name of the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney. Each of five Zang organs functions to transform and store essence and qi, but also has its own responsibility and connects with the corresponding limb and sense organ.而若依此体例，后面的“心”“肝”“脾”“肺”“肾”亦应先标出xin、gan、pi、fei、shen，因这些毕竟是中医里的概念，而后再对应其西医概念hear、liver、spleen、lungs、kidneys，因二者之间并不完全相等。同时，此处的“对等”，也未必是equivalence、equivalent、reciprocity、reciprocal、equity等；考虑到是两种医学系统间的概念转换，不妨用mutually translatable between the two medical systems。

 

同理，[9]中的“命门”则更是一个典型的中医概念，还未在英语世界广为人知，故最好先以其中文形式（拼音）出现，ming men，再作释译，如...which may be understood as “a place where congenital essence is stored, ...”，以收既变且通之效。

 

同时，对于该段中的“元气”，有的译成yuan qi、innate energy、essential qi、 the primordial energy等，似都可接受，但参照相关的汉英中医词典，以primordial qi为宜。至于“真火”，许多人按其字面意思译成the true fire、the real fire、living energy等，显然没有了解其中医里的特定涵义——kidney-yang、the energy of kidney-yang。类似的，还有“真水”，kidney-yin、the energy of kidney-yin；“真气”，the vital qi；“真喘”，dyspnea of excess type；“真意”，pure thoughts等。

 

至于[8]中对“心脏”的客观描述，则属西医范畴，应严格遵循其已有英文术语，特别是“心壁”“心肌”“心内膜”“心包”等不可臆造。

 

行文变通

 

文章是包括题目的，这个简单的事实似乎并未被每个参赛者所意识或重视， 直接体现在对标题的漏译和误译。没有标题，不成为完整的文章，所以通常在初评环节即被淘汰。而标题翻译的质量所以重要，因其直接反映译者对于原文的理解，并影响全文。

 

很多人将标题译成Traditional Chinese Medicine Philosophy、The Philosophy of Chinese Medicine、On the Philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine 等，若回译过去，便是“中医的哲学”，显然与原文的“哲学意义上的中医”有误差；而A philosophical Chinese doctor 则相去甚远；Philosophically Traditional Chinese Medicine有语法问题；On Traditional Chinese Medicine from an Aspect of Philosophical Significance不够简练。所以，较为适宜的，为The Philosophical Aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine、Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Philosophical Aspect、Traditional Chinese Medicine in Its Philosophical Sense等。

 

在[1]中，“……因为在生命和疾病过程中，不仅需要健康和病理知识，而且涉及大量的心理、社会和文化因素，所以是一门综合学科”，许多参赛译文采用了这样的句式：“Because in the process of both life and disease, not only healthy and pathology knowledge are needed, but also refer to a quantity of psychological, social and cultural factors, medicine is a comprehensive discipline.”“In the process of life and disease, it not only needs health and pathological knowledge, but also involves a large number of psychological, social and cultural factors. As a result, medicine is also a comprehensive subject.”且不论其中的语法错误，就其行文来讲，过于“零碎”。须知，与中文的“意合”不同，英文重“形合”，即是将句子成分之间用语言形式手段（如连词、介词、代词等）连接起来，形成完整逻辑关系，英文定义为：The dependent or subordinate construction or relationship of clauses with connective, for example, “I shall despair if you don’t come”. 故对此需有形合的意识，要着眼整句、甚至整段，如译为：Medicine is regarded as a special physical science since the process of living and treating sickness requires not only a knowledge of health and pathology but also involves many psychological, social and cultural factors, resulting in a comprehensive discipline.从而将原意加以整合。

 

在[2]中，“中西医学的根本属性是相同的，即治病、防病、救死扶伤，保护和增进人类健康，但是在哲学意义上，二者却迥然不同。”一句，一般参赛译文，如“The basic attribute of traditional Chinese and Western Medicine is the same, namely the treatment and prevention of disease, life-saving, protection and promotion of human health, but in the sense of philosophy, the two are very different.”“Both traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine origin from the same root, which is curing diseases, preventing diseases, healing the wounded and rescuing the dying, coupled with protecting and enhancing human’s health. However, in terms of philosophy meanings, traditional Chinese medicine possesses huge differences with western medicine.”分析起来，原文强调两种医学在“根本属性”和“哲学意义”上的不同，但这些译文却将此重点埋没了。对此，不妨采用“Fundamentally, …; Philosophically, …”的句式，以突出主题，如：Fundamentally, both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine (WM) aim at preventing and curing diseases, protecting and improving people’s health. Philosophically, however, the two medicines are quite different.同时，值得说明的是，当Traditional Chinese Medicine和Western Medicine首次出现时，应在后面括弧中加上简称（TCM）（WM），以便下次出现时使用，从而避免整篇使用全称。

 

在同段，“……如果说，当代西医是以‘技术科学’为基础和中介的‘实证医学’，那么中医就是以中国传统哲学为主导的‘道理医学’”，对于其中的衔接部分（下画线），很多参赛译文处理欠佳，如“If we say contemporary WM is evidence-based, builds on technology and science and using them as a medium, then categorically TCM is a ‘reason medicine’ that develops its doctrines on the bedrock of Chinese traditional philosophy.”“Contemporary Western medicine is an empirical medicine that taking technical science as basis and intermediary, while TCM is a theoretical medicine which is dominated by traditional Chinese philosophy.”等，不免显得冗赘。其实，不妨使用过去分词短语：While modern WM is defined as “evidence-based” supported and mediated by scientific technology, TCM can be called “reason-based” oriented by traditional Chinese philosophy.从而使句子简化、通畅。

 

在[3]中，“我国古代医学无论从思想上还是方法上，都紧紧依赖于哲学，甚至……”，其中，对于“依赖于哲学”大都顺从原文，译成“… whose tenets and methods are highly dependent on philosophy…”“Ancient Chinese Medicine relies closely on philosophy for thoughts and methodology…”“…our ancient medicine was based closely on philosophy no matter on thoughts or measures”等，其实不妨使用动名词形式，将状语提前：“Relying heavily on philosophy in terms of thought and methodology, …”以使句子更加平衡。

 

在[4]中，对于“应当说，文化涵盖了哲学；哲学是文化的重要组成部分”，一般译成“It should be said that culture contains philosophy and philosophy is a significant component part of culture.”“It should be mentioned that culture covers philosophy and philosophy is the significant component of culture.”“It goes without saying that culture covers everything, including philosophy, which reversely stands as an essential part of culture.”等，应当说都是可接受的，但整个句式，特别是对“涵盖”“是”等词语可有更多推敲，如：We can posit that culture embodies philosophy, which is in fact part of any culture and constitutes one of its essential components.

 

[5]的“此段论述，与其说是医学，在某种意义上，不如说是哲学或安邦治国之道”，对于其中的“与其说……，不如说……”，参赛者一般用了不同的表述，如“This treatise relatively shows the way of philosophy and administration rather than medicine.”“It is more like a discussion about philosophy or the way to govern a country rather than medicine in a sense.”等，都有一定效果，亦有缺陷；其实，不妨采用“… is not so much… as…or…”的句式，译为：What this paragraph expounds is actually not so much medicine as philosophy or a way of governing a state.

 

[6]中，对“……若不是在中医的语境里”，较为典型的译文，如If takes out of the context of TCM、… if not used in Chinese Traditional Medicine language environment、If they are separated from the TCM context等，显然是动词上出了问题；不妨使用read 的被动语态“… if these were not read in the context of TCM”更确切。

 

[8]中的“尖端向左前下方”，有个词序的问题，很多参赛者未能很好把握， 如… with its small end pointing to front bottom-left、with the tip pointing to the lower front-left、with its tip toward the front lower left side等；实则，中英文里表示方向的词序，许多情况下是相反的，故不妨译为：“…with the pointed end (apex) directed downwards, forwards, and to the left.” 同时，“开窍于舌”，被许多人译成tongue is the sense organ of it、the tongue is acting as the window of the heart、it has an orifice which is the tongue等，似乎都有一定道理，但在目前流行的汉英中医教材里，一般译为opens/opens into/at the heart等。探究起来，五脏开窍之说，源自《黄帝内经》，指五脏与人体官窍有着相对应的关系，即肝开窍于目，心开窍于舌，脾开窍于口，肺开窍于鼻，肾开窍于耳及二阴，在英语翻译实践中，逐渐形成了比较稳定的表述，故可跟从。同时，还应参照一些中医翻译专家的通常表述，如李照国、方廷钰、谢竹藩、朱忠宝等学者的译著。

 

其实，翻译中这种词语和行文的变通，即为某种意义上的translation shifts，其核心仍是“万变不离其宗”。

 

中医翻译，作为一种特定的医学翻译，涉及许多历史、文化、哲学和社会知识，因而使其翻译体现出特殊的性质与技巧。故有志于中医翻译者，需不断提高相关素质与技能，以取得理想效果。

 

参考文献

 

[1] 朗文当代高级英语辞典，第四版[Z]，北京：外语教学与研究出版社；2009.

 

[2] Martin, Oxford Concise English-Chinese Medical Dictionary [Z]. England: Oxford University Press, 2000: 459.