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摘 要:中国古典文学是中国文化中不可或缺的组成部分,其中蕴含着深厚的文化底蕴和历史传统,这就要求译者具有较高的翻译水平和娴熟的翻译技巧。而《虬髯客传》是中国古典文学的代表,研究《虬髯客传》的翻译,对于翻译中国古典文学有着广泛的指导意义。本文通过对周劲松《虬髯客传》译本中常用的句子衔接方法进行分析,阐述了古典小说英译中应注意的基本问题。
关键词:《虬髯客传》;句子衔接
1 引言
《虬髯客传》是唐代著名的传奇小说,相传为唐末道士杜光庭所作。《虬髯客传》情节曲折多变,想象瑰丽雄奇,文字洗练优美,其刻画的李靖英武雄才,红拂美丽聪慧,虬髯客慷慨豪爽,被后世誉为“风尘三侠”。
英语是形合语言,句与句之间要通过连接词连接起来,而汉语是意合语言,
常靠语义本身实现句子间的衔接;同时还得考虑语篇整体风格上的衔接。句子衔接手段处理的恰当与否都会影响到全文的衔接。为此,本文选择了周劲松《虬髯客传》的英译本,对其翻译中句子衔接的处理进行分析,观察译文中句子的衔接方式、手段,并和原文对比,为今后小说英译的衔接处理提供参考经验。
周译《虬髯客传》所采用的句子衔接功能可概括为:情节递进、人物刻画。下文将对这两种功能进行分析。
2 情节递进
汉语的递进关系通常是后面的分句在程度、范围、时间或数量等方面更进一步,这些递进复句在译文中的处理也是多变的。例如:
(1)末年愈甚,无复知所负荷,有扶危持颠之心。
As Yangsu lost himself in the ostentation and extravagance more and more and committed himself to his responsibility less and less with days gone by,such a frequent scene has turned from offensive to aggressive and the idea of risking for an usurpation became the frequent load on his mind.
原文中通过使用词语“愈甚”来实现递进,即杨素的腐败程度日益加剧,而译文中通过词组“lost himself in the ostentation and extravagance”的使用来实现这层递进。译文中通过“such a scene”的总括,将句子的连接更加紧凑。同时译文中通过杨素的狂傲和责任“more and more”和“less and less”的对比,对故事情节的发展也起到了推进作用,这样接下来李靖拜谒、红拂出走的出现也十分自然。
(2)客曰:“观李郎之行,贫士也。何以致斯异人?”曰:“靖虽贫,亦有心者焉。他人见问,故不言;兄之问,则不隐耳。”具言其由。
Back in the room,the guest asked:“Brother Li,it seems by your appearance you are not that rich,how should you have such an extraordinary girl in your company?”Lijing answered:“Though a lesser being,I am no lack of ambitions.For this question,I will keep silent before others,but as you are my brother,I will conceal nothing from you.”So honestly,he brought out part and parcel of the whole story.
原文以虬髯客的提问而开头,而译文中出现“back in the room”这样的描写,使读者自然从虬髯客切肉喂驴这一情节回到他俩的再次对话,汉语中这样的连接可以省略,因为汉语的句子主要靠逻辑关系、语义关系来连接,而英语中必须通过这种连接短语或句子的使用来实现。同样起到这种连接作用的还有“so honestly”,表明李靖开始推心置腹的和虬髯客说明他是如何得到红拂女的,首先有了李靖的坦诚布公,之后他俩的兄弟情義才更进一步。
3 人物刻画
在汉语中,描写人物可以有多种角度,由远及近、由前及后、由大到小,而英语中要实现这种多角度描写则不太容易,类似于中国绘画是散点透视,西方绘画是焦点透视,也就是说英语中观察事物仅限于自己的水平视角范围之内,而汉语则不受视线的限制,以不同的角度来描写事物,从整体上把握事物。例如:
(1)公方刷马,忽有一人,中形,赤髯如虬,乘蹇驴而来。投革囊于炉前,取枕欹卧,看张梳头。公怒甚,未决,犹刷马。
Out of the door,Lijing was about to groom their horses,before he found a man of middle height characterized by a beard of fiery bristles coming up on the back of a lame donkey.The man burst in,casting his leather bag in front of the stove and throwing himself directly into the bed,and then,with the head resting on a pillow he scrambled up at hand and the body stretching sideways,he was lying down to enjoy Miss Zhang’s combing.Lijing showed no signs of action towards this but kept grooming the horses,while in his heart,the flame of anger was burning aloud and on the very point of breaking out. 此处描写的是虬髯客的出场,原文中“中形”“乘蹇驴而来”的描写都是从远处着手,而中间又出现“赤髯如虬”这样细十分细节的描写,译文中将这些描写合并为一句,同样描写有大有小,可以说十分准确地再现了原文的情景。如果说前句只是为介绍虬髯客的到来,那么后俩句则将虬髯客、李靖的形象刻画得十分淋漓尽致。
许渊冲在他的书《文学与翻译》中说“译诗除了直译之外,应该多用意译的方法,也就是‘深化、浅化、等化’的译法”。其实这种译法同样适合于小说的翻译。原文中描写虬髯客的动作只是简单地使用“投”“取”“欹”“看”这几个词,而译文中使用“深化”的译法对虬髯客的这些动作进行了放大,如“cast”“scramble”“throw”“enjoy”,随着这些词的出现,虬髯客的豪放也跃然纸上。同样对李靖的描写也是如此,虽然只是“犹刷马”,然而此人并非胆小怯懦。
(1)酒既巡,客曰:“吾有少下酒物,李郎能同之乎?”靖曰:“不敢。”于是开革囊,取一人头并心肝。
After a round of toasts,the guest winked at Lijing and said:“I have something to go with wine,would you share it with me?”“My pleasure,”Lijing answered,though not without doubt.So the guest opened the leather bag and took out what was in it – it was a man’s head and his heart and liver!
钱钟书在《林纾的翻译》中,道出汉字的“虚函数意”(manifold meaning),在古文中对于汉字的理解更是如此。此处对于李靖“不敢”的作答,并非表面意思,一则对于虬髯客的盛意邀请表示感谢,一则对于虬髯客邀请的突然表示不解,而译文中对应的表述为“‘My pleasure,’ Lijing answered,though not without doubt.”经过这样的描写,我们更加深刻的了解到李靖性格中的沉稳谋略。
4 结论
《虬髯客传》以隋末的历史为背景,以古文写就,结构精严,是古典小说的典范。《虬髯客传》周译本,译笔流畅,译文深邃典雅,十分契合原作的精神,对今后古文小说翻译中句子的衔接处理有着极其重要的意义。
参考文献:
[1] 申小龍.人文精神,还是科学主义[M].上海:学林出版社,1989.
[2] 申小龙.汉字与中国文化[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2007.
[3] 许渊冲.翻译的艺术[M].北京:中国对外翻译出版公司,1984.
[4] 钱钟书.七缀集[M].北京:生活·读书·新知三联书店,2015.
关键词:《虬髯客传》;句子衔接
1 引言
《虬髯客传》是唐代著名的传奇小说,相传为唐末道士杜光庭所作。《虬髯客传》情节曲折多变,想象瑰丽雄奇,文字洗练优美,其刻画的李靖英武雄才,红拂美丽聪慧,虬髯客慷慨豪爽,被后世誉为“风尘三侠”。
英语是形合语言,句与句之间要通过连接词连接起来,而汉语是意合语言,
常靠语义本身实现句子间的衔接;同时还得考虑语篇整体风格上的衔接。句子衔接手段处理的恰当与否都会影响到全文的衔接。为此,本文选择了周劲松《虬髯客传》的英译本,对其翻译中句子衔接的处理进行分析,观察译文中句子的衔接方式、手段,并和原文对比,为今后小说英译的衔接处理提供参考经验。
周译《虬髯客传》所采用的句子衔接功能可概括为:情节递进、人物刻画。下文将对这两种功能进行分析。
2 情节递进
汉语的递进关系通常是后面的分句在程度、范围、时间或数量等方面更进一步,这些递进复句在译文中的处理也是多变的。例如:
(1)末年愈甚,无复知所负荷,有扶危持颠之心。
As Yangsu lost himself in the ostentation and extravagance more and more and committed himself to his responsibility less and less with days gone by,such a frequent scene has turned from offensive to aggressive and the idea of risking for an usurpation became the frequent load on his mind.
原文中通过使用词语“愈甚”来实现递进,即杨素的腐败程度日益加剧,而译文中通过词组“lost himself in the ostentation and extravagance”的使用来实现这层递进。译文中通过“such a scene”的总括,将句子的连接更加紧凑。同时译文中通过杨素的狂傲和责任“more and more”和“less and less”的对比,对故事情节的发展也起到了推进作用,这样接下来李靖拜谒、红拂出走的出现也十分自然。
(2)客曰:“观李郎之行,贫士也。何以致斯异人?”曰:“靖虽贫,亦有心者焉。他人见问,故不言;兄之问,则不隐耳。”具言其由。
Back in the room,the guest asked:“Brother Li,it seems by your appearance you are not that rich,how should you have such an extraordinary girl in your company?”Lijing answered:“Though a lesser being,I am no lack of ambitions.For this question,I will keep silent before others,but as you are my brother,I will conceal nothing from you.”So honestly,he brought out part and parcel of the whole story.
原文以虬髯客的提问而开头,而译文中出现“back in the room”这样的描写,使读者自然从虬髯客切肉喂驴这一情节回到他俩的再次对话,汉语中这样的连接可以省略,因为汉语的句子主要靠逻辑关系、语义关系来连接,而英语中必须通过这种连接短语或句子的使用来实现。同样起到这种连接作用的还有“so honestly”,表明李靖开始推心置腹的和虬髯客说明他是如何得到红拂女的,首先有了李靖的坦诚布公,之后他俩的兄弟情義才更进一步。
3 人物刻画
在汉语中,描写人物可以有多种角度,由远及近、由前及后、由大到小,而英语中要实现这种多角度描写则不太容易,类似于中国绘画是散点透视,西方绘画是焦点透视,也就是说英语中观察事物仅限于自己的水平视角范围之内,而汉语则不受视线的限制,以不同的角度来描写事物,从整体上把握事物。例如:
(1)公方刷马,忽有一人,中形,赤髯如虬,乘蹇驴而来。投革囊于炉前,取枕欹卧,看张梳头。公怒甚,未决,犹刷马。
Out of the door,Lijing was about to groom their horses,before he found a man of middle height characterized by a beard of fiery bristles coming up on the back of a lame donkey.The man burst in,casting his leather bag in front of the stove and throwing himself directly into the bed,and then,with the head resting on a pillow he scrambled up at hand and the body stretching sideways,he was lying down to enjoy Miss Zhang’s combing.Lijing showed no signs of action towards this but kept grooming the horses,while in his heart,the flame of anger was burning aloud and on the very point of breaking out. 此处描写的是虬髯客的出场,原文中“中形”“乘蹇驴而来”的描写都是从远处着手,而中间又出现“赤髯如虬”这样细十分细节的描写,译文中将这些描写合并为一句,同样描写有大有小,可以说十分准确地再现了原文的情景。如果说前句只是为介绍虬髯客的到来,那么后俩句则将虬髯客、李靖的形象刻画得十分淋漓尽致。
许渊冲在他的书《文学与翻译》中说“译诗除了直译之外,应该多用意译的方法,也就是‘深化、浅化、等化’的译法”。其实这种译法同样适合于小说的翻译。原文中描写虬髯客的动作只是简单地使用“投”“取”“欹”“看”这几个词,而译文中使用“深化”的译法对虬髯客的这些动作进行了放大,如“cast”“scramble”“throw”“enjoy”,随着这些词的出现,虬髯客的豪放也跃然纸上。同样对李靖的描写也是如此,虽然只是“犹刷马”,然而此人并非胆小怯懦。
(1)酒既巡,客曰:“吾有少下酒物,李郎能同之乎?”靖曰:“不敢。”于是开革囊,取一人头并心肝。
After a round of toasts,the guest winked at Lijing and said:“I have something to go with wine,would you share it with me?”“My pleasure,”Lijing answered,though not without doubt.So the guest opened the leather bag and took out what was in it – it was a man’s head and his heart and liver!
钱钟书在《林纾的翻译》中,道出汉字的“虚函数意”(manifold meaning),在古文中对于汉字的理解更是如此。此处对于李靖“不敢”的作答,并非表面意思,一则对于虬髯客的盛意邀请表示感谢,一则对于虬髯客邀请的突然表示不解,而译文中对应的表述为“‘My pleasure,’ Lijing answered,though not without doubt.”经过这样的描写,我们更加深刻的了解到李靖性格中的沉稳谋略。
4 结论
《虬髯客传》以隋末的历史为背景,以古文写就,结构精严,是古典小说的典范。《虬髯客传》周译本,译笔流畅,译文深邃典雅,十分契合原作的精神,对今后古文小说翻译中句子的衔接处理有着极其重要的意义。
参考文献:
[1] 申小龍.人文精神,还是科学主义[M].上海:学林出版社,1989.
[2] 申小龙.汉字与中国文化[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社,2007.
[3] 许渊冲.翻译的艺术[M].北京:中国对外翻译出版公司,1984.
[4] 钱钟书.七缀集[M].北京:生活·读书·新知三联书店,2015.