英汉互译中直译与意译的美感体现

石红梅

(吉首大学外国语学院,湖南张家界427000)

英汉互译中直译与意译的美感体现

石红梅

(吉首大学外国语学院,湖南张家界427000)

直译和意译是翻译的两种最根本的策略与方法,各自的魅力在译文中交相辉映。文章从理论和实践两方面分析各自的特点,论述直译之美在于流畅,而意译之美在于形式、意象、意境和修辞上的创新。

直译;流畅;意译;创新

在翻译界,直译与意译一直被看作是翻译的两种最根本的策略和方法,然而两者还是各有其特点和魅力的。论文将从理论和实践两方面分析两者各自的特点,探讨其魅力所在。

一、直译之美在于流畅

美国翻译学家韦努蒂(Venuti)说得好,翻译的伦理就是差异的伦理,翻译就是要保持原文的语言和文化差异,不要用本土的语言文化和价值观去压制原文的他性话语[1](P74-75)。他所倡导的就是反归化式译论。本雅明(Benjamin)也认为“只有直译才是真实的保证”[2](P35-38)。美国翻译理论家奈达对翻译提出了“三字方针”——closest,natural,equivalent(Nida,1997)[3](P55-61)。这些应该说对直译而言更为贴切。因为只有直译才有可能真正做到在风格上最贴近,在表述上最自然,在风格、形式诸方面最对等。

(一)形式对等

这种流畅之美是靠形式上对等达到的,而这种遣词造句上的对等在英汉互译中又是不胜枚举,足可效法的。

1.雪莱“Mutability”中的首章如下翻译就是用词对等:

Theflowerthatsmilestoday/Tomorrow dies;/All that we wish to stay,/Tempts and then flies./What is this world's delight?/Lightning that mocks the night,/Brief even as bright

今天还微笑的花朵,/明天就会凋谢,/我们希望留下的一切/诱一诱人就飞,/什么是这世间的欢乐?/(那是)嘲笑黑夜的闪电,/虽明亮,却短暂。(查良铮)

2.形式上的对等还表现在句式上的对等,如圣经中这一段关于爱的语录就是很好的例子:

Love is patient,love is kind,it does not envy,it does not boast.It is not proud,it is not rude,it is not self-seeking,it is not easily angered.It keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects,always trusts,always hopes,always perseveres.

爱是恒久忍耐,又有恩慈;爱是不嫉妒;爱是不自夸,不张狂,不作害羞的事,不求自己的益处,不轻易发怒;不计算人的恶,不喜欢不义,只喜欢真理;凡事宽容,凡事相信,凡事盼望,凡事忍耐。其中尤以4个“凡事”译得惟妙惟肖,神形兼备。

3.王佐良教授所译培根散文“Of Love”中的警句,也是典型的例子:

Nuptial love maketh mankind;friendly love perfecteth;but wanton love corrupteth,and embaseth it.

夫妻的爱,使人类繁衍。朋友的爱,致人以完善。但那荒淫纵欲的爱,却只会使人堕落毁灭。

4.赵甑陶教授所译李白《静夜思》堪称佳例:

床前明月光,疑是地上霜,举头望明月,低头思故乡。

Moonlight before my bed/Could it be frost(instead)?/Heading up I watch the moon,/Heading down I think of my home.

5.英国翻译家Maude所译托尔斯泰《复活》第一章第一段与中文译本比较,也是直译的典型佳品:

Though hundreds of thousands had done their very best to disfigure the small piece of land on which they were crowded together,paving the ground with stones,scraping away every sprouting blade of grass,lopping off the branches of trees,driving away birds and beasts,filling the air with the smoke of coal and oil still spring was spring,even in the town.(Resurrection by Lev Tolstov)

虽说成千上万的人拼命糟蹋他们所集居的那块小小的土地,在地面铺上石块,拔除每一片刚萌发的草叶,砍伐树枝,赶走一切飞禽走兽,让空气中充满煤和油烟的气味,春天还是春天——即使在这个小镇上。

(二)风格贴近

直译的流畅美还表现在风格上的贴近。

1.修辞格对等

保持原作的风格,重点在于保持原有的修辞格。例如,下面的广告词就在修辞上各具特色,直译时可力求形似、对等,译出特色:

原文:

a.One of the greatest pleasures in life is simply to be treated as an individual.To speak and be heard.To ask and be helped.(parallelism)

b.No problems too large;No business too small.(parallelism and omission)

c.Unlike me,my Rolex never needs a rest.(personification)

d.Double delicious;Double your pleasure.(parallelism)

e.We have hidden a garden full of vegetables where you never expect.In a pie.(hyperbole)

f.The choice is yours.The honour is ours.(parallelism)

译文:

a.人生最大的乐趣无过于受到尊重,说话有人听,求助有人帮。

b.没有不做的小生意,没有解决不了的大问题。(IBM公司)

c.不像我,我的劳力士表永远不要休息。

d.口味多多,快乐多多。

e.我们把满园蔬菜藏在一个你意想不到的地方——一块馅饼里。

f.任君选择,不胜荣幸。诗的翻译也是如此,例如,彭斯的“一朵红红的玫瑰花”中第一章:

A Red,Red Rose by Robert Burns:O my luve is like a red,red rose,/That's never sprung in June;/O my luve is like the melodie/That's sweetly played in tune.

啊,我的爱人像一朵红红的玫瑰花,/它在六月里初开;/啊,我的爱人像一支美丽的乐曲,/它美妙地演奏起来。(袁可嘉译)

2.句子长短与行文节奏恰当

这种流畅美还表现在对原文句子长短与行文节奏的考虑。诗人卞之琳在译莎翁的剧本时就特别注意这一点,用翻译家和译评家江枫先生的话来说,就是“以顿代步,一步一趋”[4](P84-85)。卞老所译“哈姆雷特”中那段脍炙人口的独白就是雄辩的说明:

To be or not to be:that is the question:/Whether it is nobler in mind to suffer,/The slings and the arrows of outrageous fortune,/Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,/And by apposing end them…

活下去还是不活,这是问题:/要做到高贵,究竟该忍气吞声/来容受这狂暴的命运的矢交呢/还是挺身反抗这无边的苦恼/扫它个干净?……

3.风格相同

这种流畅美还应表现在风格上相同。美国人Edward Connynham翻译的诗人徐志摩的《再别康桥》和作家梁实秋翻译的John Suckling的“A Ballad upon a Wedding”《婚礼曲》,均可谓达到了惟妙惟肖、淋漓尽致的地步[5](P125-127)。首先,来欣赏一下《再别康桥》中的三章:

原文:

那河畔的金柳,/是夕阳中的新娘;/波光里的艳影,/在我的心头荡漾。

软泥上的青草,/绿油油的在水底招摇,/在康河的柔波里,/我甘心作一条水草。

那榆荫下的一潭,/不是清泉,是天上虹,/揉碎在浮藻间,/沉淀着彩虹似的梦。

译文:

The river bank golden willows/Like brides in a setting sun./Beautiful shadows in bright waves/Waving in my heart.

The soft mud's green grass,/Bright green,waving on the river bottom./Would I were a blade of water grass,/In the river Cam's gentle waves.

That lake under the Elm shadow,/Not a clear fountain but a rainbow in heaven/Twisted into floating weeds./Precipitating rainbow dreams.

接着,来品味一下《婚礼曲》的译文:原文:

A Ballad upon a Wedding

The maid——and thereby hangs a tale;/For such a maid no Whitsun-ale/Could ever yet produce;/No grape,that's kindly ripe,could be/So sound,so plump,so soft as she,/Nor half s full of juice.

Her finger was so small and the ring/Would not stay on,which they did bring;/It was so too wide a peck;/And to say truth(for it out must),/It looked like the great collar(just)/About our young colt's neck.

Her feet beneath her petticoat,/Like little mice stole in and out,/As if they fear the light;/But oh,she dances such a way/No sun upon Easter day/Is half so fine a light.

Her cheeks so rare as white was on,/No daisy makes comparison/(Who sees them is undone)./For streaks of red were mingled there/Such as are on Katherine pear/(The tide that's next to sun.)

Her lips were red,and one was thin/Compared to that was next her chin/(Some bee had stung it newly);/But,Dick,her eyes so guard her face/I dar'st no more upon them gaze/Than on the sun in July.

Her mouth so small,when she does speak,/Thou'dst swear her teeth her words did break,/That they might passage get;/But she so handled still the matter,/They came as good as ours,or better,/And are not spent a whit.

(by Sir.John Suckling)

译文:

婚 礼 曲

讲到新娘(说来话长)/像她那样的姑娘,/圣灵降临庆祝会上也未见过;/没有成熟的葡萄像她那样红润,/那样圆实,那样丰满,那样细嫩,/浆汁有一半那样多。

她的手指又细又长,/戒指戴上去就要溜掉,/因为太松了一点;/老实说(非说不可)/恰似小马驹颈上套着/一只大项圈。

她裙下露出的两只脚/老鼠似的出出进进地跑/像是怕外面的光亮/但是她的舞步翩翩/太阳在复活节那一天,/也没有那样美丽的景象。

她的两颊白得出奇,/没有雏菊能和她相比;/令人一看魂儿飞上了天;/因为那白里还带着红色/活像枝头小梨一个朝着太阳那一边。

她的唇是红的,一片很薄,/挨近下巴那片就厚得多/(必是才被蜜蜂蜇伤);/但是,狄克,她的两眼保护着脸,/我不敢多看一眼/有如对着七月的太阳。

她的嘴好小,说起话来/她的牙齿要把字儿咬碎/以便从嘴里挤送出去;/但是她处理得很得体,/谈吐不比我们差,/而且一点也不吃力。

黄雨石先生曾经说,“诗不可译”,因为“意境难描”,“再现无方”,“韵律各异”,翻译诗歌就是“知其不可译而译之”[6](P414)。对于一般的译者而言,由于缺少了对诗、对自然的领悟,又囿于英汉理解和表达能力的限制,翻译诗歌确实是很难的事情。诗人闻一多在20世纪20年代曾提倡现代诗歌应有“音乐的美”、“绘画的美”和“建筑的美”,而《再别康桥》一诗,可以说是“三美”具备,堪称徐志摩诗作中的绝唱。原诗描绘了一幅幅流动的画面,构成了一处处美妙的意境,融气氛、感情、景象于一体,景中有情,情中有景,细致入微地将诗人对康桥的爱恋,对往昔生活的憧憬表现得真挚、浓郁、隽永,表现出诗人高度的艺术技巧。Edward Connynham的译诗有着同样的风格,语言清新秀丽,节奏轻柔委婉,和谐自然,伴随着情感的起伏跳跃,犹如一曲悦耳徐缓的散板,轻盈婉转,拨动着读者的心弦。康桥可以说是诗人徐志摩“最心爱的对象”,而Edward Connynham在译诗中对它的描绘是成功的,没有描坏它,没有说过分。通过动静结合、虚实相间的几个意象(“willow”、“shadow”、“rainbow”等)及通篇的音韵(“setting sun”、“bottom”、“heaven”等)和节奏的运用,再加上美丽逼真的描绘,把诗人的感情表达得淋漓尽致。

John Suckling原作多取主从结构,语法、逻辑严密,犹如一颗大树,主干粗壮明显,枝条交错蔓生,而梁实秋的译文则多取平行结构,犹如从泉眼奔涌而出的流水,节奏感强,层次分明。梁实秋掌握了原文的内涵,对词的色彩情状(如“Who sees them is undone”译为“令人一看魂儿飞上了天”等)的分寸掌握得好,词义延伸十分得当,其译文既不违背原文的本意,与原文的形式和内涵基本对应,又流畅、可读,体现了原文的优雅与细腻的风格,同时充分展现了译者深厚的母语素养和极强的表达能力。由此可见,上面两位学者确实将直译的流畅美升华到了近乎完美的境界。

威斯利(Samuel Wesley)说得好:“Style is the dress of thought;a modest dress,Neat,but not gaudy,will true critics please.”(风格是思想的外衣;合身的衣裳整洁而不花俏,深受行家好评。)

西亚多·沙瓦利说得更明确:Style is the essential characteristic of every piece of writing,the outcome of the writer's personality,and his emotion at the moment,and nosingle paragraph can be put together without revealing in some degree of the nature of its author.(风格是作品的本质特征,作家个性的体现,和感情的流露,任何一篇作品无不在一定程度上揭示出作家的天性。)[7](P201-203)

徐志摩的恬淡与深沉,萨克林(Suckling)的细腻与优雅给译者带来了困难。奈达说得好:Source texts also differ greatly in the excellence of style.Generally,an excellent style also means greater problem for translation in doing justice to the associative meanings.[8](P131)(原文的风格美是大相径庭的。一般来说,越是优雅的文体,要公正译出原义,难度就会越大。)

上述选诗非得由这些高手来转译,他们用地道的译语和优雅的风格,将原诗演绎得酣畅淋漓,读起来朗朗上口,韵味十足。

二、意译之美在于创新

选择意译是因为“译入语”与“目的语”之间在遣词造句、语法修辞和写作风格上差异明显,在形式上无法对等,在风格上难以贴近,在表达上难以自然流畅等原因。意译之美在于创新(recreation)。不言而喻,这种创新是多方面的,用许钧教授的话来说,就是“去字梏,重组句,建空间”。而用吕俊先生的话来说,就是“一种文化、思想、意识形态在另一种文化、思想、意识形态环境里的改造、变形或再创作”。[9](P59)笔者认为,概括起来,这种创新主要表现在下述方面:

(一)形式创新

美国20世纪女诗人Lowell翻译的张贵妃《赠张云容舞》就是很好的例子:原文:

罗袖动香香不已,红蕖袅袅秋烟里,轻云岭上乍摇风,嫩柳池边初拂水。译文:

Dancing

Wide sleeves sway./Scents,/Sweet scents/Incessant coming.

It is red lilies,/Lotus lilies,/Floating up,/Out of autumn mist.

Thin clouds/Puffed,/Fluttered,/Blown on a rippling wind/Through a mountain pass.

Young willow shoots/Touching,/Brushing,/The water/Of the garden pool.

由格律诗到自由体(free verse),由四行一句变四节(stanza)五句,遣词(puffed,fluttered,touching,brushing)造句(每stanza各为一句,第一节除外)、修辞(重复,利用节奏分行,用分词保持原诗动感)与原文相比毫无逊色之处。

(二)意象和意境创新

意境,简而言之,“乃谓意中之境”。最早见于王昌龄的《诗格》,把“境”分三种,“一曰物境……二曰情境……三曰意境。亦张之于意,而思之于心,则得其真也”[10](P43)。王佐良先生在其《英诗的境界》一书中开宗明义,指出:“所谓境界,是指作品所展示的情感和精神世界。”[11](P12-13)应该说也就是我们所说的意境。“意象”与“意境”是有区别的。“意象”是指具体的事物(image)在特定的环境中在人的头脑(意)产生的印象,所以意随象生,“境生意外”。故真正有意境的诗,得意(义)忘象(表言)。赖力行教授在其《中国古代文论史》中写到:“诗歌的意境产生自意象又超于意象,所以诗可意会而不可言传,不免曲高和寡。”[12](P161-162)

Bynner在翻译唐诗《枫桥夜泊》(张继)时,在意境的再造上就很成功:

月落乌啼霜满天,江枫渔火对愁眠。姑苏城外寒山寺,夜半钟声到客船。

While I watch the moon go down,/a crow caws through the frost;/Under the shadows of maple-trees a/fisherman moves with his/torch;/And I hear from beyond Suzhou from/the temple on cold/Mountain,/Ringing for me here in my boat/the midnight bell.

“对愁眠”译成“moves with his torch”,动静相映,意境更美。(吕叔湘)

(三)修辞创新

1.转换增添修辞格

李发全在英译李白《春思》第一二行时,就省去原诗的比喻,改成补语形式:

燕草碧如诗,秦桑低绿枝。

In north,Yan,silky grass grows blue and rank;

In south,Qin,green mulberries shoot long and lank.

英谚的翻译有时也需要作修辞格的转换:

The web of our life is of a mingled yarn,good and ill together.

生活就像一团乱麻,有苦也有乐。

在译文中,英语中的暗喻转换成汉语中的明喻。

2.转换标题

初大告教授在英译101《中华隽词》时别出心裁,根据其不同内容,将全部词牌另换标题,如李煜的《虞美人》(春花秋月何时了)译成了“The Everlasting Sorrow”;苏轼的《水调歌头》(明月几时有)译成了“Drinking in the Mid-Autumn Night,and thinking of my younger brother,Su Zhe”(中秋夜饮——兼怀子由)[13](P38-39)。其他,如“Uncle Tom's Cabin”译成“红菱艳”;“G one with the wind”译成“飘”;这些都是根据中西文化特点而意译的,具有画龙点睛,言简意赅的创新美。

3.变换句读

汉语言学家王力先生说得好“:西洋语法是硬的,没有弹性;中国语法是软的,富于弹性……唯其中文是软的,所以中国语法以达意为主,如初序的目的格可以做次序的主格,又如不相关的两件事可以硬凑在一起,不用任何连词……所以英国人写文章时,往往化零为整。而中国人则化整为零。”[14](P8-10)

英籍华裔女作家韩素音女士在“The Morning Deluge”《(黎明的洪涛》)一书中英译毛泽东《沁园春·长沙》一词时,就对原词变换句读,大加合并。上半阙中第一至四行就合并成一个长句:

原文:

独立寒秋,/湘江北去,/橘子洲头,/看万山红遍。译文:

Alone,standing in autumn's chill/Asthe Hsiang River/Flows north past Orange Island,/I see the red-stained thousand hills/with crimson forests trooping.

这样改写能使译文更加流畅,浑然一体,毫无凝滞之处。反之,也是一样,在翻译下面这个英文长句时,要“化零为整”,拆译成多句:

原文:

The contrast between this knowledge and understanding of Kissinger's tactics and this uncertainty about his strategy is characteristic of most of what is written and said,not just about his role in Middle East but about a whole range of Kissinger's ventures,including the most important he has undertaken.

译文:

基辛格不仅在中东起了作用,而且还从事了一系列的冒险活动,还包括一些重要的冒险活动。

(第一层意思译成第一句)对此人们曾经写过不少文章。发表过不少言论。(第二层意思译成第二句)。但这些文章和言论大部分都有一个特点,就是既反映出对他的策略有所认识和了解,又表现出对他的策略捉摸不透。

显然,这个长句变成了4个汉语分句,读起来十分顺畅。

在翻译实践中,直译与意译并行不悖,常常彼此交织,各自的魅力交相辉映。直译会散发出自然、流畅和恬淡的阵阵清香;意译可闪烁出别出心裁和创新的光环。因此,在翻译过程中,不可以说此处只能直译,彼处只可意译。关键在于将原文反复咀嚼,融会于心,心领神会,自然而然地将原文译成地道的译文。

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Abstract:Literal and liberal translations are the most essential strategies and methods in translation,with their artistic charm adding radiance and beauty to each other.Based on both theory and practice,this paper analyses their characteristics respectively and expounds that literal translation is good at ease and grace,while the aesthetic feeling of liberal translation lies in the recreation of form,artistic conception,image and rhetoric.

Key words:literal translation;ease and grace;liberal translation;recreation

(责任编辑 白 晨)

Preservation of Beauty in Both Literal and Liberal English-Chinese T ranslation

SHI Hong-mei
(College of Foreign Languages,Jishou University,Zhangjiajie,Hunan 427000,China)

H 315.9

A

1672-9951(2010)05-0028-05

2010-04-27

湖南省2009年哲学社会科学基金课题阶段性研究成果(09YBB336)

石红梅(1970-),女,湖南吉首人,吉首大学外国语学院副教授,硕士。