《邻居罗西基》（节选三）

文/ 薇拉·凯瑟 译析/曹明伦

He had driven in just when the boys had come back from the barn and were washing up for breakfast.The long table, covered with a bright oilcloth, was set out with dishes waiting for them, and the warm kitchen was full of the smell of coffee and hot biscuit and sausage.Five big handsome boys, running from twenty to twelve,all with what Burleigh called natural good manners—they hadn’t a bit of the painful self-consciousness he himself had to struggle with when he was a lad.One ran to put his horse away, another helped him off with his fur coat and hung it up, and Josephine, the youngest child and the only daughter, quickly set another place under her mother’s direction.

他赶到罗西基家时，那些小伙子们刚从牲口棚回来，正在洗手准备吃早饭。铺着油布的长桌上早已为他们摆好盘子，热气腾腾的厨房里弥漫着咖啡、薄饼和香肠的气味。从十二岁到二十岁，五个英俊的大小伙子都表现出伯利医生称之为落落大方的礼貌，毫无那种让人生厌的腼腆拘束，那种他自己少时不得不与之较劲的羞涩拘泥。一个小伙子跑过来把他的马牵走，另一个帮他脱掉皮大衣并将其挂好，而在妈妈的吩咐下，家里最小的孩子（唯一的女孩儿）约瑟芬很快就在桌旁为他添了个座位。

2With Mary, to feed creatures was the natural expression of affection—her chickens, the calves, her big hungry boys.It was a rare pleasure to feed a young man whom she seldom saw and of whom she was as proud as if he belonged to her.Some country housekeepers would have stopped to spread a white cloth over the oilcloth, to change the thick cups and plates for their best china, and the wooden-handled knives for plated ones.But not Mary.

2对玛丽来说，喂食是她满腔慈爱的自然流露——她喂小鸡，喂小牛，喂她那群饥饿的孩子。而喂一个她平时少见、但却将其视为己出并为之感到自豪的年轻人，则是件令她格外高兴的事。遇到客人登门，有些乡下主妇会停下手中的活，在桌面油布上再铺上洁白的棉桌布，将平时用的杯盘换成家里最好的陶瓷餐具，木柄刀叉也都换成柄上有镀金的全金属刀叉。但玛丽并不这样做。

3“You must take us as you find us,Doctor Ed.I’d be glad to put out my good things for you if you was expected, but I’m glad to get you any way at all.”

3“你来时见到是啥样，就该是啥样，艾德医生。要是早知道你来，我会很高兴为你亮出咱家的好东西。但甭管咋说，你来了我就高兴。”

4He knew she was glad—she threw back her head and spoke out as if she were announcing him to the whole prairie.Rosicky hadn’t said anything at all; he merely smiled his twinkling smile, put some more coal on the fire,and went into his own room to pour the Doctor a little drink in a medicine glass.When they were all seated, he watched his wife’s face from his end of the table and spoke to her in Czech.Then, with the instinct of politeness which seldom failed him, he turned to the Doctor and said slyly: “I was just tellin’ her not to ask you no questions about Mrs.Marshall till you eat some breakfast.My wife, she’s terrible fur to ask questions.”

4伯利医生知道她高兴——她说话时把头一扬，声音之洪亮似乎是要让整个大草原都知道他上她家做客。罗西基一直没吭声，只是眨巴着眼睛微笑，往炉子里加了些煤，去他的房间用服药计量杯为医生斟了杯酒。大家就座后，他从桌子一端望着妻子，用捷克语跟她说了几句话。然后，出于他天生而且很少会忽略的礼貌意识，他调过头来诡秘地对医生说：“我刚才只是吩咐她，先不要向你打听马歇尔太太的事，等你吃点东西再说。我老伴儿就喜欢问长问短。”

【背景知识】《邻居罗西基》是美国女作家薇拉·凯瑟（1873—1947）于1930 年发表的一篇重要短篇小说。小说通过回忆和追述的手法，讲述了波希米亚移民罗西基朴素而充实的一生，展现了拓荒者及其后代善良、朴素、勤劳、热爱生活、眷念土地的可贵品质。小说主题深刻，结构匀称，笔触细腻，文字优美，人物性格刻画清晰，翻译时应注意描摹。

【第1 段】第三句中有个省略了关系代词的定语从句（he himself had to struggle with…），因其先行词self-consciousness 之前已有a bit of 和painful两层定语，所以译者重复了先行词（将其分别译成“腼腆拘束”和“羞涩拘泥”），然后把前两层定语和定语从句分别置于这两个名词词组前面，这样原文的定语在译文中依然是定语，而且译文句子同样明晰（关于这种译法，可参见商务印书馆2013 年版《英汉翻译二十讲》第234—235 页）。

【第2 段】此处的feed creatures 较难处理。有人将其翻译成“喂动物”，笔者也曾译成“喂养生物”，但总感觉与后面紧接着的“喂孩子”显得抵牾。虽从总体上讲，人肯定属于动物或生物，但我们仍习惯于把生物分为动物、植物和人类。故此省略宾语，把feed creatures 译成“喂食”，这样整段译文读起来就感觉自然多了。

【第3 段】后文说玛丽是粗里粗气（rough）的乡下女人，罗西基是斯斯文文（gentle）的城里男人。考虑到说话人的身份，译者在此选用了“啥样”“咱家”和“甭管咋说”等中国各方言区读者都普遍接受的方言词语。笔者提倡英译汉应使用普通话，或者说使用规范的现代汉语（正如我们做汉译英应使用规范的现代英语），至于英语原文的古今雅俗之别，译文可适当选用一些在今天仍具生命力的文言词语和已经融入普通话语域并被各方言区读者普遍接受的方言俚语加以表达。

【第4 段】直接引语中的 tellin’ = telling，fur = for。另请再次注意不规范英语中的双重否定仍然表示否定，如末句中的not to ask you no questions（规范的英语应该说not to ask you any questions）。

【小结】本次译析谈到了多层定语的一种处理方法，谈到了在处理“接近（原文）”和“（译文）自然”这对矛盾时的考量（如feed creatures），还谈到了翻译时如何处理英语原文的古今雅俗之别。总之，只有尽可能地对原文体贴入微，译者行文时方能从容自如。 □