【原文】
吃是过年的主要节目。年菜是标准化了的，家家一律。人口旺的人家要进全猪，连下水带猪头，分别处理下咽。一锅炖肉，加上蘑菇是一碗，加上粉丝又是一碗，加上山药又是一碗，大盆的芥末墩儿，鱼冻儿，肉皮辣酱，成缸的大腌白菜，芥菜疙瘩，——管够，初一不动刀，初五以前不开市，年菜非囤集不可，结果是年菜等于剩菜，吃倒了胃口而后已。
“好吃不过饺子，舒服不过倒着”，这是乡下人说的话，北平人称饺子为“煮饽饽”。……除夕宵夜的那一顿，还有考究，其中一只要放进一块银币，谁吃到那一只主交好运。家里有老祖母的，年年是她老人家幸运的一口咬到。谁都知道其中作了手脚，谁都心里有数。
——摘自梁实秋《北平年景》
本次翻译擂台节选文本源自中国现当代散文家、学者、文学批评家、翻译家梁实秋先生的思乡散文名篇《北平年景》，主要围绕作者回忆儿时20世纪初北平的年味儿，尤其过年吃的风俗。
要英译好这两段，需先了解作者的文风。因文学家兼文论学者双重身份，其文风主要为：取材于生活百态，洞察细微；内容引经据典，内涵丰厚；语言严谨，简洁朴实，严肃谐趣，文采兼顾。
节选原文第一段中“主要节目”一词体现了作者严肃中带有风趣和文采的特点。英译时该用何词？activity？event？或 thing？显然这些词略显寡淡。直译为program，或更能传神达意，因该词本身除了有目标明确的活动之意外，亦有隐喻色彩浓厚的节目之意，其功能对等地保留了原文作者以笔为器、以心为镜、以年为材将北平过年的吃俗当做一档节目来“拍摄”、记录、反映和讲述，进而供读者品鉴的隐喻手法。
“下水”何意？最直白的意思便是进入水中，或乘船时顺流而下之意，或在粤语中同“落水”等等与水有直接关系的含义。参赛投稿中，不少译者将其理解为下锅水煮的意思。然而真是如此？根据前后上下语境可知，其实此处应理解为可食用的牲畜内脏，比如牛下水、羊下水、猪下水、鸭下水等等。英文最合适的对应词便是offal，英文解释为“the entrails and internal organs of an animal used as food”。而一些参赛投稿所使用的 viscera 或 intestine，则属中性词，其意亦包含人体的内脏，故此不够确切。
北京冬奥会2022年2月14日上午举行的自由式滑雪女子坡面障碍技巧资格赛中，谷爱凌（Ailing Eileen Gu）第二跳结束后在休息区等分数时吃起了随身携带的韭菜盒子以补充能量，事后外国记者在采访时向她提问何为韭菜盒子，她一时语塞，不知如何用英语正确表述这一北方传统小吃，在尝试解释韭菜盒子时，向周围的人询问馅儿中的韭菜和粉丝怎么说，略显尬萌，自嘲自己英语今日不在线上。冬奥官网当日晚些的新闻报道中，外国记者用自己的话转述了谷爱凌说的韭菜盒子，即“a kind of rice noodle with Chinese chives”1。可见，外国记者所理解的粉丝在英文中是 rice noodle 。“粉丝”看似一个司空见惯的食品词，英译时却容易出错。要想翻译准确到位，需先了解其主要成分。在北方主要由绿豆或红薯淀粉制作而成，因成品为丝状，故曰粉丝。在南方，除了薯类淀粉之外，亦有大米磨成粉制作而成，因成品为长条状截面粗圆状或细圆状或扁状，故此或叫“粉干”（比如福建福州），或叫“米粉”（比如广西桂林），或叫“米线”（比如云南），或叫“冬粉”（比如台湾）。回到选文段落，讲的是北京“粉丝”，可知主要由绿豆或红薯淀粉制作而成。明确这一点之后，我们大概就可以进行英译了。有参赛投稿译成 vermicelli、bean vermicelli 或 Chinese vermicelli。这样译可好？当然，意大利语词 vermicelli，其所指之物主要成分也是绿豆或红薯淀粉或麦粉或米粉，然而这是意大利语说法。在以往主要以西学东渐、中国文化不自信的背景之下，这种套译有一定的可取性。如今，在不断强调中国文化自信、中国文化走出去以及讲好中国故事的新时代大背景之下，若继续沿用套译策略，则有矮化中国文化之嫌，显得译者自身文化不自信。故此，建议音译为 fensi（如 vermicelli、spaghetti、mah-jong、jiaozi 这些音译词使用的人多了，流传广了，随着国家综合实力上升，自然而然便成了英语世界语言的一部分），或按照南北区域不同的配料做法，可意译为 rice/bean/sweet-potato-thread noodles。
“芥末墩儿”的英译也是一个难点。不了解其为何物及其制作过程，也很难译好。此菜品为老北京特色小食，过年必备凉菜之一。该菜名因其做法而得名。主要食材是大白菜，制作方法是去掉白菜老帮后，将整棵白菜横放切成3-5厘米长的圆墩状，沸水焯后，层层码在坛中，层与层之间放上芥末面和白砂糖，然后加入少许醋，封坛2-4天后便可食用。“芥末墩儿”是专有名词，英译时，若采用释译，比如“preserved/pickled celery cabbages transected in the shape of 3-5cm piers or pillars with mustard, sugar and vinegar”，则显得冗长，放在文中亦会打乱或失去原文并置几个菜名那样的紧凑节奏感。故此，建议使用简短的专有名词化表述，比如百度百科所给的英译词 mustard piers2，或者如果避免歧义，可以稍微补足，即 mustard-preserved and pier-shaped celery cabbage，一定程度保留原词的形象隐喻，之后再进行脚注或尾注。
同样，“肉皮辣酱”的翻译也需要注意。然而，其难点或许不在于译文表述长短的问题，而是在于“皮”的理解。英文中指皮的单词较多，容易混淆，比如 husk、bran、shell、pod、rind、peel、skin 等，皆可指皮，然而含义不一。名词 husk 专指谷物外皮，脱落后成为 bran，即麸皮或糠；shell 主要指壳类皮；pod 指豆荚；rind 和 peel 专指果皮，而 rind 还可以指熏肉类的皮，比如成立于1960年的英国 Mr. Porky（中文为脆脆猪、猪先生脆条或炸猪皮）主打的几款小零食，如脆条Scratching、原味脆条Original Scratching、脆片Crispy Strips，其产品介绍食材时用了 pig rind 或 pork rind。skin则主要指肉皮。猪（肉）皮，既可以用 pork/pig skin，也可以用 pork/pig rind，只不过前者专指生猪身上任何的皮，尤指腹部和后背上的猪皮，后者专指油炸腌制熏过的猪皮小食。3换言之，前者主要指原材料，后者主要指成品。那么，回到北京传统小食“肉皮辣酱”，其制作方法虽略有差异，却主要是将生猪皮洗净、焯水、煮熟，加入辣椒酱调味，之后冷却入盆或装瓶。从中可知，主要使用的是生猪皮。故此，用 pork/pig skin 比较合适。
梁实秋先生的旁征博引和朴实无华的文风在节选段落中亦有体现，即“好吃不过饺子，舒服不过倒着”。要翻译好，实属不易。一方面，这是乡村俗语，读起来朗朗上口，译文选词和句式结构须谨慎，文体要对等，节奏要对等，不能显得太文绉绉。比如有些参赛投稿译为“few pleasures can equal that of eating dumplings and lying on the bed”，就显得文绉绉。还有一些参赛投稿意思大体翻译对了，然而两句话前后音节或词数不等，导致读起来非常别扭。另外，“倒着”何意？有参赛译文译为“lying”（躺、撒谎）、“lying down”（躺下）、“sleeping”（睡）、“slouch down in bed”（无精打采地躺在床上）、“upside down”（颠倒）等等。这些或多或少均不达意。在笔者看来，“倒着”可以理解为向后坐倒在椅背上放松休息，也可以理解为懒洋洋地躺在床上，重在强调一种放松歇息状态。综合考量以上因素，笔者将这句译为“Nothing is tastier than dumpling; nothing is cosier than lolling.”，通俗达意，朗朗上口。
最后，谈谈节选文句式结构。如前所述，梁实秋先生的文风是集文学家散文风格和学者散文风格于一体，同时又具有翻译家身份，故此，句式上严谨却又不失朴实灵动，偶有西化现象，比如文中“的”出现次数不少，这种西化现象正是余光中先生《论“的的不休”》一文所批判的对象。像这样的句式，英译起来相对容易些，比如“年菜是标准化了的”，可译为“The menu for Spring Festival is standardized”。然而选段中朴实灵动形散句式也不少，就比如“一锅炖肉，加上蘑菇是一碗，加上粉丝又是一碗，加上山药又是一碗”这一句，翻译起来可谓不简单。诸多参赛投稿按照中文原来的句式结构进行英译，显得译文句式非常零散，甚至出现因主语或逻辑主语不明导致语义歧义。著名翻译研究学者刘宓庆先生在其著作《新编汉英对比与翻译》（2006）一书中提到过汉英语法区别，大体可归纳为英语以形式为主轴，汉语以意念为主轴。因此，在英译如上句子时，为了避免歧义和句式零散，可以重新整合，将类似项合并，形成一句紧凑的译文，如笔者所译“A pot of stewed meat can turn into different dishes when added with such sustenance as mushrooms, bean-thread noodles or yam.”。
译无定译，法无定法。久久为功，终有所成。共勉之。以上分析为笔者之浅见甚至愚见，仅供各位参考，不当之处还望谅解。
注释：
1. https://olympics.com/en/featured-news/ailing-eileen-gu-exclusive-slopestyle-olympics
2. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%8A%A5%E6%9C%AB%E5%A2%A9%E5%84%BF/2794556?fr=aladdin
3. https://cookindocs.com/pork-rind-vs-skin/
参考译文：
Eating is a major program of Chinese New Year. The menu for Spring Festival is standardized, almost the same for every family. A large household tends to buy a whole hog, including its offal and head, to be processed and cooked separately and then served as food. A pot of stewed meat can turn into different dishes when added with such sustenance as mushrooms, bean-thread noodles or yam. Big basins of “mustard-preserved and pier-shaped celery cabbage”*, fish jelly, and cooked pork skin in chili sauce, and huge vats of pickled cabbages and swedes are traditionally requisite and adequate. Customarily, no knife is used on the first day of the Lunar New Year and no market opens before the fifth. The New Year’s aliments are habitually stocked but probably end up as “leftovers”, rendering the appetite lost ultimately.
As a rustic saying goes, “Nothing is tastier than dumpling; nothing is cosier than lolling.” Dumpling or Jiaozi in Chinese is called by people in Peking as “cooked pastry”. … The midnight meal on the New Year’s Eve is quite particular. A piece of silver coin should be wrapped into one of the dumplings. Good luck is believed to come upon whoever eats that dumpling. If there is an elderly grandmother in a family, she is always lucky every year to bite into a coin-wrapped dumpling. Everyone deep down inside shares a tacit understanding of what was originally intended.
(From “Lunar New Year Festivity in Peking” by LIANG Shiqiu)
* As a traditional cold dish in Beijing, it is known as preserved/pickled celery cabbages transected in the shape of 3-5cm piers or pillars with mustard, sugar and vinegar.
优胜译文：
@阿耳佱
It is a major activity to eat on the Spring Festival. The menu for the Spring Festival is standardized, which is the same for every family. Families with a flourishing population would buy a whole pig, including its offal and head, which are cooked separately. A pot of stewed pork can collocate with mushroom, vermicelli or yam to form a dish. Big basins of mustard mounds, fish jellies, pork skin chili sauce, as well as jars of pickled cabbages and rutabagas are all adequate. The tradition that no knife on the lunar New Year's Day and no business opening before the fifth day of the first Chinese lunar month leads to a must of a hoard of dishes on the Spring Festival, which make the dishes equivalent to leftovers, and people would not give up eating them until disgusting.
“Nothing is more delicious than dumplings, nothing is more comfortable than lying”, this is a saying from country people. Beijingers call dumplings as “sweet pastry” ... The dumplings of the meal on the Spring Festival Eve is fastidious, with one of them has a coin as its filling. The member who eat it will have good luck. Families with old grandmother would always make her eat the special one luckily, while all members know why.
— From Scopes of the Sping Festival by Shiqiu Liang
@syyy.
Eating is the primary program of the Spring Festival. Dishes prepared for the New Year are standardized, which means all families share a similar style. Populous families need a whole pig, process its offal and head respectively, and finally enjoy them. A pot of stew, with the addition of mushroom or bean vermicelli or Chinese yam, can be served as a wonderful dish. Apart from that, large pots of mustard, fish jelly, chili sauce, jars of pickled cabbage, mustard greens-all of these are bountifully provided. Knives are avoided on New Year’s Day and markets aren’t open until the fifth day of the New Year. Due to the fact that meat and vegetables must be stored up, much of them become leftovers, which merely spoil people’s appetites.
“There is nothing more palatable than dumplings; there is nothing more comfortable than lying in bed”, said by countrymen. People in Peiping call dumplings as “boiled pastries”. Moreover, the New Year’s Eve night snack is particular. A cion is put into one of the dumplings, and the very person who eat it will have good luck. If a family has an old grandmother, it’s always she who fortunately eat this dumpling every year. However, everyone knows the secret.
— excerpted from Peiping Year by Liang Shiqiu