翻译擂台（第17期）

2018-01-08林巍

英语世界 2017年9期

【原文】

[1]沈从文在上海中国公学教书时，对女学生张兆和情有独钟，于是开始不断给她写情书。张兆和出身江南名门，人又漂亮，身后不乏追求者。[2]她觉得老师追学生，很“不正经”，于是告到了校长胡适那里。[3]胡适笑着对她说：“这有什么关系？他又没结婚。”张兆和无言以对。[4]临走，校长对学生说：“我知道沈从文顽固地爱你！”[5]经过沈从文四年的不懈努力，这对师生终成伉俪。这也成为中国文坛的一段佳话。

【点评】

沈从文，中国著名的小说家和文物学家；虽学历不高，但才情很高。他的《边城》自然、缠绵、细腻，几近获得诺贝尔文学奖。他与张兆和的恋情与婚姻，历来为人们所乐道。

[1]中，中国公学于1906年4月10日在上海开学，1912年中华民国成立后又得到了孙中山、黄兴、宋教仁等的支持，曾改名为民国大学、中国大学，又有北京中国公学、重庆中国公学等，故根据其性质，“上海中国公学”不妨译为the Chinese National University （Shanghai）。

对“情有独钟”，参赛者有各种译法，如fell in love with her、gave/show special preference/favor to （her）、had a crush on her、had a soft spot for her等，这里不妨稍加解析。fall in love with sb.一般加上at first sight指一见钟情。preference的本义为a predisposition in favor of something，多指物，如：①As a student of high school, she gave special preference to the subject of physics.（她上中学时，特别喜欢物理课。）②中国古代文人对酒情有独钟，宋代女词人李清照与酒也有很密切的关系。（Ancient Chinese literati showed preference to wine, including female poet Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty.）crush on sb.本义为temporary love of an adolescent，多用于年轻人之间带有冲动的恋爱，如：Every girl on the campus has a crush on those handsome boys.（校园里的每个女孩都有自己迷恋的潇洒帅哥。）而have a soft spot for亦多指事物，如：Children usually have a soft spot for sweeties.（儿童一般喜欢吃糖果。）即便指人，一般也是泛指，如：He has a soft spot for pretty girls.（他见了漂亮女孩儿就走不动道了。）故这些用在此处都不很恰当。

就单相思而言，carry a torch for倒是可以考虑，其义为“to be in love with sb., especially sb. who does not love you in return”，但又不完全符合当时情景（因张当时只是碍于师生关系）；相比而言，affection更为恰当，其本义是“a positive feeling of liking; a feeling of liking or caring”，而affection与love的关系是：Love is a special affection for a man or a woman, which is stronger than that for any other person.（爱情是对某个男人或女人比对其他任何人都更为强烈的特殊好感。）

对于“名门”，有的参赛者用了blue blood，该词指“a member of the aristocracy; from a royal or noble family”，即欧洲的贵族，似不大符合国情。silver spoon in the mouth可以考虑，如：She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and has never done a day’s hard work in her life.（她出生于富贵人家，一生中从未做过一天苦活儿。）更多的参赛者用了renowned ancestry、legendary/prominent/famous/prestige family等，似都可以接受。还有一词无人问津——estate，指较高的社会地位，如：The new medicare reform appeals to people of estate.（新的医疗保险改革受到上流社会的欢迎。）至于“追求者”，有的参赛者用了suitor，其义为a man who wants to marry a particular woman，即“求婚者”，似太早了些；而admirer又太有距离感，该词释义为“If you are an admirer of someone, you like and respect them or their work very much”，如：She is an admirer of his paintings.（她是他画作的粉丝。）其中未必有情爱。此处更确切的，应为wooer、hunter、quester、pursuer等。

故[1]不妨译为：While teaching at the Chinese National University (Shanghai),Mr. Shen Congwen reserved a special affection for a female student, Zhang Zhaohe, whose family was of a high estate in the south of the Yangtze River, and her beauty had attracted quite a number of wooers.

[2]中，前文的“于是开始不断给她写情书”不妨调整到这里，以与后文形成因果关系。“情书”，许多人用了love letters、sugar reports等，固然不错，但在文学作品中更多用的是billet-doux，该词源于17世纪的法文。

对于“不正经”，有的用了misconduct，该词意为“unacceptable behavior, especially by a professional person”，是分量很重的一个词，让人联系到某些不轨行为，如：①His certain misconduct to female students has compromised his position as a teacher.（他对女学生的某些不雅举止，已经使他不配再当教师了。）②李医生严重渎职的罪名终于被撤销了。（Dr. Li was finally cleared of serious professional misconduct.）此处更为恰当的，应为decent，即得体、正派的。

这里的“校长”有人用了headmaster、principal（许多参赛者将该词与principle 相混淆），此二词都是中小学校长，而dean是院长、系主任，显然不合适。确切的应为chancellor、university president、prex、rector等，而在英美体系，现在用的更多的是Vice-Chancellor，例如：①As Vice-Chancellor I warmly welcome you to La Trobe University.（作为本校校长，热烈欢迎你们光临拉托贝大学。）②After the president stepped down, he became Vice-Chancellor of a university.（卸任总统后，他去一所大学当了校长。）值得注意的是，Vice-Chancellor现在通常不再是副校长，而是正校长，因Chancellor 通常由社会名流在名誉上担任，如香港大学的Chancellor由特首担任，牛津大学的由英国首相担任等。故此，[2]不妨译为：Having constantly received billets-doux from Shen, Zhang thought his indecent behavior is not appropriate for a university lecturer, and went to the office of Vice-Chancellor Hu Shi to lodge a complaint.

[3]中，“胡适笑着对她说，‘这有什么关系？他又没结婚’”，对其中的“笑”，许多人用了laugh，其实该词多用于“a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter; People also sometimes laugh when they feel nervous or are being unfriendly”，即颇有不敬之意，故应以smile 为宜：“usually shows pleasure or amusement; People smile when they are pleased or amused, or when they are being friendly”，即多为善意。“这有什么关系？”多被译成“What does it matter?”“It doesn’t matter!”“What’s the matter?”等，固然不错，但此处不妨“俏皮”一些，如“What is the fuss?”，即“有何大惊小怪”之意，如英语常说的：I don’t know what all the fuss is about.（我不知道为什么要这样大惊小怪的。）此语虽略重，但with a smile又加以缓和，“对立而统一”。“他又没结婚”，许多人译成了“He is not married yet.”“He is still single.”等，但此处bachelor更准确，因指a man who has never been married，而single只是此时没有married或无男女朋友；且bachelor一般认为更认真对待婚姻、更准备结婚（is more serious about marriage and ready to marry），如：He is the most eligible bachelor in Australia.（他是澳大利亚最为抢手的单身汉。）同时，可将两句分开，以更富情节：“What is the fuss?” Hu responded with a smile, “Isn’t it pretty normal for a bachelor?” Zhang was quite at a loss for words.

[4]中，“顽固地爱你”，尽显民国文人用语风格；略带夸张与几分调侃。有的译成“I know that he is incorrigibly obstinate in loving you.”“On her leaving, Mr. Hu told her that ‘I know Mr. Shen has been loving you stiff l y”等，似可接受，但其语气可更为舒缓、畅达：At last, professor Hu said: “For all I know, he stubbornly loves you!”

[5]中，“终成伉俪”，参赛者多译成became husband and wife、this teacher and his student finally got married、they two finally made a couple等，有的还化用了俗语Mr. Shen shall have Ms. Zhang并注明：“The author borrowed the idiom ‘All shall be well, and Jack shall have Jill’ to make the target language more idiomatic.”但英文中为祝福之语，即“愿天下有情人终成眷属”，此处似不完全吻合。故此，不妨译为：After four years of unremitting effort, the lecturer finally married his student, leaving a much told tale in the Chinese literary circle.

此段虽短，却不乏起伏，峰回路转，此韵味在译文中亦应尽量有所体现。

据回忆，在[3]中其实还有一段趣闻：原来，沈从文因为追求不到张兆和已经跑到胡适那里哭诉过（……于是张兆和无言以对）。这里不妨添译上去，以求完整：As a matter of fact, Shen had previously visited his boss to grumble about his failure in winning Zhang’s favor. □