《浮生六记》英译阅读与讨论(一)
发布时间:2020年02月01日
发布人:nanyuzi  

《浮生六记》英译阅读与讨论(一)


文/刘士聪


沈复的《浮生六记》目前有三个译本:


1. Six Chapters of A Floating Life(林语堂译)

2. Six Records of a Floating Life(Translated by Leonard Pratt and Chiang Su-hui)

3. Chapters from a Floating Life(Translated by Shirley M. Black)


“阅读与讨论”文字,中文取自《浮生六记》(淮茗注释,中州古籍出版社,郑州,2010);英译文取自译本3。


阅读讨论《浮生六记》译文Chapters from a Floating Life,也读原文,了解乾隆朝一个普通文人的家庭生活、夫妻的恩爱与不幸,以及他们的艺术审美情趣。我们惊叹沈复古文修养之好,他的文字,不论是《闺房记乐》还是《坎坷记愁》,让人感动,让人同情。关于译文,译者在其译文《前言》里有一段叙述:


In translating the memoirs I have tried first of all to recreate the subtle emotional atmosphere, at once tragic, passionate and gay, which is, in my opinion, the outstanding characteristic of Shen Fu’s original. I have also tried to be as meticulous as I could in expressing the exact meaning of the Chinese words, at the same time trying to approximate the feeling of the author’s own way of expressing himself. This is a rather difficult job with languages as different from one another as Chinese and English and I do not know that I have even partially succeeded.


这段文字对我们阅读和理解她的译文很重要,她有如下三种尝试:第一,tried... to recreate the subtle emotional atmosphere; 第二,tried to be as meticulous as I could in expressing the exact meaning of the Chinese words;第三,trying to approximate the feeling of the author’s own way of expressing himself。阅读译文时应想到译者的这几条意旨,在她的译文里,我们常常看到的不是字词的对译,而是对语义浓缩的文言进行解读,用英语将其内在含义说透,且行文自然流畅,少有翻译腔。这种译法考虑了译文读者,也展示了一个翻译策略,我们不妨称之为“释义”翻译。


在谈到中国文论和中国古典哲学著作中的术语翻译时,宇文所安说,“……其实没有什么最佳的翻译,只有好的解说。任何翻译都对原文有所改变,而且,任何一种传统的核心概念和术语的翻译都存在这个问题;……”1中国古典文学作品,也包括现当代文学作品,有很多叙述和描写的语汇,习惯上可能不叫“术语”,但它们的翻译,宇文所安的“解说”思想也适用。Shirley M. Black在翻译《浮生六记》时似乎就是这样做的,请阅读时留意。


如,在描写陈芸时有这样的文字:

“其形削肩长颈,瘦不露骨,眉弯目秀,顾盼神飞,唯两齿微露,似非佳相。一种缠绵之态,令人之意也消。”


“顾盼神飞”一词是这样翻译的:Her glance sparkled with intelligence and humour...


《红楼梦》第三回描写探春时也用了这个词:

“第二个削肩细腰,长挑身材,鸭蛋脸儿,俊眼修眉,顾盼神飞,文彩精华,见之忘俗。”


霍克斯2译文:... large, expressive eyes shot out glances that sparkled with animation.


诸如这类词语在英语里难找到对应词,翻译只能对其进行解释,随译者的理解,解释的文字也不尽相同。


《浮生六记》译文对原文有删减,对情节有编排;细观全文,偶尔有误解和误译,翻译这样的文字,任何译者都难免。

 

译例1


【原文】余生乾隆癸未冬十一月二十有二日,正值太平盛世,且在衣冠之家,居苏州沧浪亭畔,天之厚我,可谓至矣。东坡云:“事如春梦了无痕。”苟不记之笔墨,未免有辜彼苍之厚。


【译文】I was born in 1763, at a time of peace and unusual prosperity, in the reign of the Emperor Ch’ien Lung, on the twenty-second day of the eleventh month, in the winter of the year of the sheep. Mine was a full-dress family, one of scholars and gentle-people, who lived near the gardens of the Ts’ang-lang Pavilion, in the city of Soochow.

The gods, I should say, have always been more than generous to me; but, as the poet Su Tung-p’o wrote:

‘Life is like a spring dream

which ends—and leaves no traces.’

By setting down this story of mine, then, I hope to show my gratitude for Heaven’s many favours. (p1)


【简评】可就以上译文思考下面几个问题:


1. 译文第一句语序的变化,译者为什么选择这样译;2“. 太平盛世”译法;3.“ 事如春梦了无痕”译文;4.“ 苟不记之笔墨,未免有辜彼苍之厚”将意义否定的句子译为肯定句。


译例2


【原文】……时但见满室鲜衣,芸独通体素淡,仅新其鞋而已。见其绣制精巧,询为己作,始知其慧心不仅在笔墨也。【背景:乾隆乙未(1775)冬,芸之“堂姐出阁,余又随母往”,作者对所见芸的装束描述如下:】


【译文】The house was gay, on this ceremonious occasion, with the rainbow-hued new robes of the family and the wedding guests. Yuen alone, looked her quiet, simple self, having added nothing to her everyday dress but a pair of bright new shoes. When I had admired the artistry of their embroidery and learned that she had made the shoes herself, I began to understand that Yuen was extremely capable and practical; that reading, writing, and composing poetry were only a few of her many accomplishments. (p5)


【简评】译者运用想象,描写婚礼场景,“满室鲜衣”,译作家人和客人色彩鲜艳的新衣; gay(brightly colored) 和rainbow-hued(in different colors),是意义一致的两个形容词,意为“亮丽、多彩”;“芸独通体素淡”,译文“Yuen alone, looked her quiet, simple self”,不只指芸的穿着,更指她历来以“素淡”为美,意义深一层。“笔墨”,《现代汉语词典》中解释为“指文字或诗文书画等”,译者将其译作“reading, writing, and composing poetry”,很符合原文所指,且具体、确切,译文读者好懂。


译者充分挖掘原文内涵,做符合原文的“解说”和“补偿”,译文不浅不薄,有血有肉有味道,考虑了读者对译文的期盼。


注释:


1. 见《中国文论》导言,第15页。

 

2. 指戴维·霍克斯(David Hawkes,1923—2009),著名汉学家,年轻时即翻译《楚辞》(The Songs of the South),其著作A Little Primer of Tu Fu是颇具权威且广为人知的唐诗翻译作品,而他的译作The Story of the Stone(《红楼梦》)更是身为翻译家的非凡成就,为了全心致力于此翻译计划,他于1971 年辞去牛津大学中文系系主任一职。