《水浒传》疫情词的两译本考释*

孙洪波，吴冰雪

(菏泽学院外国语学院，山东 菏泽274015)

《水浒传》中有大量对疫情的描写，这些词笔者统称为疫情词。本文从对比语言学的视角，依据北京大学现代汉语语料库(CCL)检索与疫情相关的词汇做研究。《水浒传》英译史上有两个重要的版本，即沙博理的《水泊好汉》和赛珍珠的《四海之内皆兄弟》。拟通过赛珍珠译本和沙博理译本的平行比较，探讨不同译者对疫情词采取的翻译策略的异同，并分析其原因。

《水浒传》全本共有一百二十回，与疫情相关的词语共出现了19次，包括“瘟疫”、“时疫”、“疟疾”、“热病”。其中“瘟疫”在文中共出现12次，“时疫”共出现2次，“疟疾”共出现3次，“热病”共出现2次。下文主要分析赛珍珠译本和沙博理译本中出现的含有疫情词的句子。需要指出的是，因为赛珍珠译本只翻译了前七十回合，所以在七十回后出现的有关瘟疫、时疫的翻译未找到她的译文，做缺如处理。

一、涉及“瘟疫”的句子

检索CCL中含有“瘟疫”句子在两个英译本中的表现，发现有以下三种情况。

第一种情况是，两个英译本都采用直译，把“瘟疫”译作了plague。见句子(1)—(7)。

(1)嘉佑三年春间，天下[瘟疫]盛行。自江南直至两京，无一处人民不染此症。

Pearl S. Buck: In the spring of the third year of the time called Chia Yu there wasa great plague of sicknessover the whole country and from the region south of the great river to the eastern and to the western capitals there was not one of the people who did not suffer from it.(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: In the third year of the Jia You perioda plaguestruck the land. From the south to the two capitals, not a single hamlet escaped the contagion. (Chapter 1)

“plague”是指瘟疫，赛珍珠与沙博理都使用“plague”一词对“瘟疫”进行了翻译，采取的是直译的方法，保留了原义。

(2)那里医治得住，[瘟疫]越盛。

Pearl S. Buck: Yet how could they all be healed? The plague grew yet more grave……(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: But to no avail. The plague grew worse. (Chapter 1)

赛珍珠与沙博理都使用了“plague”一词对“瘟疫”进行了直译，所不同的是前半句。赛译本使用表示反问语气的特殊疑问句来表示很难实现预期的控制疫情。沙译本直接给出了简洁明了的否定答案，在表述上更为简洁有力。

(3)目今京师[瘟疫]盛行，伤损军民甚多。

Pearl S. Buck: Now is theplagueheavy upon us here in the capital city and many are the soldiers and the people who suffer from it.(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro:Theplagueis raging unabated in the capital. Victims among the soldiers and the people are many.(Chapter 1)

(4)不料其年[瘟疫]转盛。

Pearl S. Buck: But beyond all expectation theplaguegrew yet more heavy. (Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro:But theplagueonly became worse.(Chapter 1)

分析：两译本都用了plague，二者所不同的是，赛译本使用了否定极性词yet这一形式标记来说明发生的不好事件。而沙译本则用worse的词汇义来达成这一目的。

(5)太尉道：“似此如何得见？目今京师[瘟疫]盛行，今上天子特遣下官赍捧御书丹诏，亲奉龙香，来请天师。

Pearl S. Buck: The Commander said,“If it be so, then how shall we see him? The plague in the capital is fierce passing belief and so did the Son Of Heaven bid me to come hither bearing this mandate which was written even by the imperial hand itself. (Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: “I must meet him.A plagueis raging in the capital and the emperor has sent me with an imperial edict and royal incense to invite him to conduct a great prayer service that will dispel the pestilence and save the people. What can I do?”(Chapter 1)

两译本都是用了plague。有趣的是前一句“似此如何得见”的翻译处理颇值得考虑。赛译本采用直译的方式，前件用条件小句，后件用疑问句表达该句意义。而沙译本却采用意译策略，仅用四个词直接表示出该句背后的言外(illocutionary)意义，句子简洁、意义直白、结构紧凑，目的明确。

(6)……丹诏御香，到来山中，宣我往东京做三千六百分罗天大醮，祈禳天下[瘟疫]。

Pearl S. Buck:……and the jade censer and he comes here on the mountain and he would have me go to the capital to make a mass of three thousand six hundred chants and so drive away the plague.(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: The emperor has sent a Marshal Hong here with royal incense and an imperial edict for me to go to the Eastern Capital and conduct a great prayer service that will drive away theplague. (Chapter 1)

(7)……闻人所说：“天师在东京禁院做了七昼夜好事，普施符，禳救灾病，[瘟疫]尽消，军民安泰。”

Pearl S. Buck:……they heard men say, “The Heavenly Teacher Chang said a mass of seven days and seven nights in the imperial palaces and he has written sacred words for many o￡ the people rich and poor to drive out the plague and to heal the sick, and now theplagueis wholly gone and the people and the armies are at peace.”(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: The Divine Teacher held a great prayer service in the Imperial Park for seven days and seven nights and distributed many charms. Now the sick are cured and theplagueis completely gone.(Chapter 1)

第二种情况是赛译本和沙译本均没有译出“瘟疫”。见句(8)和(9)。

(8)文武百官商议，都向待漏院中聚会，伺候早朝奏闻天子，专要祈祷，禳谢[瘟疫]。

Pearl S. Buck:……and all governors both civil and military took council together and they all came into The Hall Of The Water Clock to wait for dawn to come, which was the time of imperial audience, so that they might announce the matter to the Emperor.(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: All the high civil and military officials conferred. They gathered in the Hall of the Water Clock and waited for daybreak, when court would be held, so that they could appeal to the emperor.(Chapter 1)

两译本都没有把最后小句翻译出来。为什么没有翻译出来？没有翻译出来，原句的语义效果是否达成了？其实，在处理长难句或句式复杂难以理解的句子时，译者无论采用增词法还是减词法，其目的都是为了使译文符合原意基础上，达到言简意赅的效果。两译本都没有将该内容译出来。赛译本用the matter指代该事件，而沙译本则用不及物动词appeal，连the matter都省掉了。综合来讲，这两个译本都可取。

(9)钦差内外提点殿前太尉洪信为天使，前往江西信州龙虎山，宣请嗣汉天师张真人星夜来朝祈禳[瘟疫]。

Pearl S. Buck: Then he bade the chief master of ceremonies, who was named Hung Shin, to be his messenger and go to the province of Kiangsi to The Mountain Of Dragons And Tigers and there invite the Taoist Chang Chen Jen, who was descended from the times.(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: He ordered that Marshal Hong Xin go as his emissary to the Dragon and Tiger Mountain in Xinzhou Prefecture of Jiangxi Province and fetch Zhang the Divine Teacher. While incense burned in the imperial hall, the emperor himself placed the edict in Marshal Hong’s hands and told him to set out immediately.(Chapter 1)

赛珍珠和沙博理都未直译“瘟疫”，都采用了归化策略。马艳颖、孙洪波认为，归化是从目的语的视角，把原著带入目的语的文化。而异化则是把读者带入原著文化中。赛译中动词invite后带间接宾语，并且用“who was descended from the times.”描写“张天师”是时代的后裔，带有一定的神学色彩。沙博理则用动词fetch，后接间接宾语“Divine Teacher”代指“张天师”。“Divine Teacher”是道教中一种头衔，如此称谓的人也是代表拥有法力。

第三种情况是，赛译本和沙译本中，有一个译本没有译出“瘟疫”。见句(10)(11)和(12)。

(10)张天师祈禳[瘟疫]洪太尉误走妖魔

Pearl S. Buck: The Heavenly King, Chief of the Taoists, beseeches the Gods to drive away theevil flux. The Commander Hung, in heedlessness, frees the spirits.(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro: Zhang the Divine Teacher Prays to Dispel aPlagueMarshal Hong ReleasesDemons by Mistake(Chapter 1)

赛珍珠用“evil”翻译“瘟疫”。“evil”意思为邪恶；罪恶；恶行；害处；坏处；弊端，暗含隐喻色彩，即，瘟疫是罪恶、邪恶之身。沙博理用“plague”直译“瘟疫”，将原文的故事在回目中进行“提示”。二者相比，前者意在隐喻，含有文化背景因素。后者简单直接，更接地气。

(11)拜罢起居，奏曰：“目今天灾盛行，军民涂炭，日夕不能聊生。以愚臣意，要禳此灾，可宣嗣汉天师星夜临朝，就京师禁院修设三千六百分罗天大醮，奏闻上帝，可以禳保民间[瘟疫]。”

Pearl S. Buck: When he had made his obeisance and had given greeting he said, “Now is theplaguemost cruel and the soldiers and the people suffer very bitterly, nor can they rest from their fear day or night. According to my poor small purpose, if we are to drive out this plague we must call for the great Taoist who is descended direct from the times of Han to come hither and here in the palace let him call a mass for seven days and thus can we make our trouble known to God so that He may drive out thisplagueand so save the people?”(Chapter 1)

Sidney Shapiro:Fan kowtowed, then rose and said: “Theplagueis decimating our soldiers and citizenry. No one is safe. In my humble opinion if thispestilenceis to be ended Your Majesty should summon the Divine Teacher of the Taoists, who comes from a papal line dating back to Han times. Let him travel day and night and rush here to the capital and conduct a great prayer service in the imperial park. In this way the people will be saved.”(Chapter 1)

赛珍珠用“plague”直译“瘟疫”，保留了原义。沙博理首先用“plague”翻译“天灾”，“天灾”即指“瘟疫”，第二次用“pestilence”翻译原文中的“灾”字，“pestilence”有瘟疫(尤指鼠疫)；有害的事物的意思，但在最后并未翻译“瘟疫”一词，同有研究者所说的“缺译”一样，总的来说，该译句符合目的语的表达方式，但与原句的语言结构和隐含意思并不完全一致。赛译更直观。

(12)此时杭州城内[瘟疫]盛行，已病倒六员将佐，是张横、穆弘、孔明、朱贵、杨林、白胜。(第一百一十六回)

Pearl S. Buck: 无

Sidney Shapiro:A plaguewas rampaging in Hangzhou and six of the chieftains were ill and couldn’t march. (Chapter 96)

赛珍珠只翻译了原文的前70章，所以此句在译本并没有。沙博理用“plague”直译“瘟疫”，句子简洁易懂。

二、涉及“时疫”的句子

(13)昨日他的家公因害[时疫]死了，这阎婆无钱津送，停尸在家，没做道理处，央及老身做媒。(第十九回)

Pearl S. Buck: Yesterday this woman’s husband died of a dirediseaseand this woman Yien has not a penny with which to bury him and she has no way to turn for it and so she asked this old woman, who am I, to be go-between to find a man for her daughter. (Chapter 19, p333)

Sidney Shapiro: Yesterday, Old Yan fell ill of the epidemic and died, but his wife has no money to bury him. She doesn’t know what to do, and she’s asked me to find a man to keep Poxi.(Chapter 20)

“disease”是指病，疾病；弊病，赛珍珠采用“disease”直译“时疫”，即指时疫是一种疾病。“epidemic”指流行病；传染病；风尚等的流行，我们通常用“epidemic situation”翻译“疫情，沙博理用“epidemic”直译“时疫”，更贴近原文。

(14)穆弘道：“虞候和吴成各染伤寒[时疫]，现在庄上养病，不能前来。今将关防文书，在此呈上。”(第一百一十一回)

Pearl S. Buck: 无

Sidney Shapiro:“Captain Ye and Wu Cheng both have typhoid fever. They’re bedridden and couldn’t come. But we’ve brought our father’s seal of office and his appointment document.”(Chapter 91)

赛珍珠未翻译。“fever”有发烧，发热；狂热的意思，与原文“伤寒”对应，沙博理用“fever”直译“时疫”，用词灵活。

三、涉及“疟疾”的句子的翻译

(15)那廊下有一个大汉，因害[疟疾]，当不住那寒冷，把一锨火在那里向。(第二十回)

Pearl S. Buck: Now there beneath the porch stood a great fellow and because he was suffering fromchills and a feverand he could not longer endure the chill, he had brought out a shovelful of fiery coals and was there warming himself. (Chapter 22， p372)

Sidney Shapiro: A big fellow, chilled by a malarial attack, was on the veranda huddled over some burning embers on a shovel. (Chapter 22)

“fever”指发烧，发热；狂热，赛珍珠用“fever”翻译“疟疾”，与后文寒冷相对应。“malarial”指患疟疾的；毒气的，沙博理用“malarial”翻译“疟疾”，即保留原义，又照顾目的语的习惯，与原义更加契合。

(16)今欲正要回乡去寻哥哥，不想染患[疟疾]。(第二十二回)

Pearl S. Buck: now today I was even about to go home and seek out my elder brother and I had not thought of falling ill with chills and fever, so that I could not start my journey home.(Chapter 23, p376)

Sidney Shapiro: I intended to go home and see my older brother, but then I caught this malaria and wasn’t able to leave. (Chapter 23)

同例(15)，赛珍珠用“fever”翻译“疟疾”，沙博理用“malarial”翻译“疟疾”。

(17)武松听了，呵呵大笑道：“管营听禀，我去年害了三个月[疟疾]，景阳冈上酒醉里打翻了一只大虫，也只三拳两脚，便自打死了，何况……(第二十七回)

Pearl S. Buck:Wu Sung heard this and he laughed a great ho-ho and he said,Young lord, pray hear what I say humbly to you. Last year I was ill three months with chills and fever. Yet at a time when I was drunken I killed a tiger on The Ching Yang Ridge and I did it with a few kicks of my foot. What then is wrong today?"(Chapter 27, p490)

Sidney Shapiro: Wu Song laughed heartily.“Last year, after a three month bout of malaria, I got drunk and fought a big tiger on Jingyang Ridge. With three punches and two kicks I killed it. What couldn’t I do today!”(Chapter 28)

同上述例(15)例(16)，赛珍珠用“fever”翻译“疟疾”，沙博理用“malarial”翻译“疟疾”。

四、涉及“热病”的句子的翻译

(18)人赚开门来打火，只听得白胜在床上做声。问他老婆时，却说道害[热病]，不曾得汗。从床上拖将起来，见白胜面色红白，就把索子绑了，喝道……(第十七回)

Pearl S. Buck: Then they heard Pei Sheng speak from his bed and they asked his wife of him and she answered, “He has a fever and it has not yet broken into perspiration."(Chapter 17, p285)

Sidney Shapiro:They heard Bai Sheng groaning on the bed. The wife said he had a fever but had not been able to sweat. They hauled him from the bed and tied him up. His face was blotched red and white.

“fever”指发烧，发热；狂热，赛珍珠和沙博理都用“fever”直译“热病”，保留了原义。

(19)管营也笑道：“想是这汉子多管害[热病]了，不曾得汗，故出狂言。不要听他，且把去禁在单身房里。”(第二十七回)

Pearl S. Buck: Again the onlookers on both sides laughed and the chief of the gaol laughed too and he said, “I think this man is surely suffering from a long fever and he has not sweat it out yet and so he is speaking in a delirium. Do not listen to him, but take him back to the solitary cell.”(Chapter 27, p484)

Sidney Shapiro: Again the onlookers laughed, and the warden joined them.Not only were you ill, but you must be still running a high fever to talk so deliriously! Pay no attention to him. Guards, take him back to the single room.”(Chapter 28)

该句中，赛珍珠和沙博理都用“fever”直译“热病”。综上所述，赛珍珠用“plague”、“不译”、“evil”三种方式翻译“瘟疫”；用“disease”、“不译”两种方式翻译“时疫”；用“fever”翻译“疟疾”与“热病”。而沙博理用“plague”、“不译”两种方式翻译“瘟疫”；用“epidemic”、“fever”两种方式翻译“时疫”；用“malarial”翻译“疟疾”；用“fever”翻译“热病”。那么，一个自然的问题是，造成这种现象的原因何在？

五、翻译过程与翻译策略

(一)性别差异

语言由于不同的翻译主体在翻译过程中，在单词的使用、句式的运用、语言处理等方面都会有所不同，从而使译文呈现出各自特点。赛珍珠(1892-1973)是美国女作家，中文是她的母语之一。就《水浒传》书名的翻译来看，直译为“Water Margin”，说明故事发生的处所即可。可是赛珍珠并没有采用这种翻译方式。她尝试过多个方案，但都不满意。直到出版前夕，她才突然有了灵感。因为赛珍珠幼时一直生活的中国，受中国传统儒家思想熏陶，她想到了《论语》中的一句古语：“四海之内皆兄弟也”，她的译本标题由此而来，其作为译者的主体地位显而易见，译者的看法也通过该书名的翻译得到读者的确认。而沙博理是原籍美国的男性作家，深受当时中国国内政治影响，将原译的“hero”改为“outlaw”。在英文中“outlaw”有绿林好汉的意思，从选词的推敲中可以看出，男性译者对英雄的崇拜。

但综合来讲，二者并无高下之分，所以不管是女性译者还是男性译者，在翻译的过程中尽力克服自身性别对翻译心理所带来的影响，使译文用原文风格相吻合。

(二)文化背景不同

语言是情感的载体，既有自然属性，也有社会属性。所以翻译和对外传播文学作品会受到复杂因素的影响(刘云虹，许钧，2014：13)。赛珍珠因其生活环境受到双重文化的影响，一是她自由生活的中国文化环境，二是她也受到基督教的深刻影响。在上述的例(10)中，她用“evil”来翻译“瘟疫”，在基督教中，devil意思为魔鬼、恶魔。在“evil”前文又用“Gods”翻译“张天师、洪太尉”，God意思为上帝，神，代表着正义，存在一定隐喻意，即：正义一定会打败邪恶。而沙博理在翻译称谓时，比如例(10)中的“张天师”翻译为“Zhang the Divine Teacher”，“Divine Teacher”是道教中一种头衔，如此称谓的人也是代表拥有法力。所以，不同的文化背景的译者拥有不同的文化气质。沙博理在翻译过程中保留原作文化中的异质成分，“把读者带入外国情境”，在此处采用了异化策略，处理的恰到好处。

结语

《水浒传》作为一本贴近市井生活的长篇小说，疫情词作为小说《水浒传》的构成要素，毫无疑问它也是推动小说发展的动力之一。从总体上看，赛珍珠多保留原文的风格和语言表达形式，目的在于向外国传递中国特色文化气息，马红军(2003)认为她“尽可能地做了直译，……保留了原作的意义和风格，甚至原封不动地保留了一些即使是中文读者也不很感兴趣的内容……使不懂中文的读者感觉自己在读原著。” 但对文化气息浓厚的词汇没有相应活用，翻译形式上过于冗长，读者很难真正的理解其内涵。所以钟再强(2041：74)认为“赛译《水浒传》能被读者接受，原因是多方面的，并不完全体现在译者出色的综合语言素质方面”。沙博理一般用直译加意译的翻译手法，翻译方式更加多样，一部分进行了删减，浅化了原语的典故和习语，在词汇选择方面更加丰富精准，尽量保留了原文的文体特征，但一定程度上削弱了中国传统文化。总的来说，两位译者各具特色，在翻译《水浒传》疫情词时采用的翻译方式为中华文化的传播提供了丰富的学习借鉴资料。