翻译漫谈(九)25 点体会我在 1984 年出版的《英汉翻译练习集》前言中归纳了我在英译汉实践中的 25 点体会。其中绝大多数是我对英汉两种语言各自特点的生疏。这些生疏对我后来的工作,无论是英译汉,还是汉译英,都是有关怀的。如今我就把这 25 点体会连同有关的译例说一说。 ⒈一词多义。弄清原文的意思,在汉语中选用适当的词语。例如: Born in 1879 in Ulm, Germany, Albert Einstein was two years old when his parents moved to Munich, where his father opened a business in electrical supplies. 阿尔伯特爱因斯坦于 1879 年诞生在德国的乌尔姆城。在他两岁的时候,父母移居慕尼黑。他的父亲在慕尼黑开了一家工厂,生产电气器材。〔句中 business 一词,据有关资料介绍是指 factory,而不是 store,故译作“工厂”。〕 ⒉英语名词和介词用得多,汉语动词用得多。 Psychologically there are two dangers to be guarded against in old age. One of these is undue absorption in the past. 从心理方面来说,到了老年,有两种危险倾向需要留意防止。一是过分地怀念过去。〔如译作“对过去的过分怀念”,则不顺。〕 ⒊英语代词用得多,汉语实词用得多。在一个句子里,英语可以先出代词,后出实词;汉语则先出实词,后出代词。 One day, while I was playing with my new doll, Miss Sullivan put my big rag doll into my lap also, spelled “d-o-l-l” and tried to make me understand that “d-o-l-l” applied to both. 有一天我正在玩一个新娃娃,沙利文小姐把我的大布娃娃也放在我腿上,然后写了“d-o-l-l”这几个字母,她是想让我知道“d-o-l-l”既可以指新娃娃,也可以指旧娃娃。〔如译作“指二者”,就不顺;如译作“两个都指”,意思既不清楚,句子也压不住。〕 If they are disappointed at one place, the drillers go to another. 钻探石油的人假如在一个地方得不到预期的结果,便到另一个地方去钻探。 ⒋英语动词有时态,时间概念往往通过时态表现出来:汉语动词没有时态,表示不同的时间,往往需要加时间状语。 It is like a dream to me now, floating through my mind in slow motion. Many children were playing close to the water, and we were stunned by the...