今天终于读到了一段不由得心生敬意的文字:“北师大博导投师四川大学重读博士”(详见http://news.sina.com.cn/s/p/2009-12-30/065519365508.shtml)。在寒风瑟瑟的09岁末,“63岁的博导重读博士”真的是一件令人温暖的事情,尽管还只有1天,2009年就过去了。
原以为,“活到老学到老”只是一句激励的话语,今天,一位著作等身的博导,以重返课堂的方式,向后辈诠释了这句话的真正含义;原以为,“学无止境”只是挂在墙上的条幅,今天,一位63岁的博导,以重读博士的方式,向后辈竖起了实践的榜样;原以为,中国的老人都是60岁退休以后(甚至不到60岁)就呆在家里,今天,一对80多、60多的师徒,告诉我们永不停息的教与学让他们的日子过得很充实……
应该记住他们的名字。周流溪,北师大博士生导师、四川大学在读博士;赵振铎,四川大学博士生导师。一对可爱的老人!我相信,感动的,不只我一个人……
[原文]妾身姓窦,小字端云。祖居楚州人氏。我三岁上亡了母亲,七岁上离了父亲。俺父亲将我嫁与蔡婆婆为儿媳妇,改名窦娥。至十七岁与夫成亲,不幸丈夫早亡化,可早三年光景。我今年二十岁也。这南门外有个赛卢医,他少了俺银子,本利兑该二十两,数次索取不还。今日俺婆婆亲自索取了。窦娥也,几时是俺命通时节也呵!
[译文1]I am Dou Duanyun. I am of ancestry living in Chuzhou. I
lost my mother at three, and I
left my father at seven, because he betrothed me to the
child son of Mother Cai. She
named me Dou E. I got married at seventeen,but I
was left alone three years
ago because my husband
died. Tweenty I am this year! Now I am here for my
Mother Cai. She has gone to a Doctor Lu's at the south of the town.
He owns us a debt, but he denied several times to pay
back the Silver he borrowed, let
alone the interest. That 20 liang of Silver
is quite large, so today Mother
Cai herself has gone for that. May I ask the
Hevean, when will the helpless Dou E have a turn?
[译文2]I am Duanyun, and my home was in Chuzhou. When I was three
I lost my mother; and when I was seven I had to leave my father,
for he sent me to Mistress Cai as her son's child-bride, and she
changed my name to Dou E. At seventeen I married; but unluckily my
husband died three years ago. Now I am twenty. There is a Doctor Lu
in town who owes my mother-in-law twenty liang of silver including
interest; and though she has asked him sever times for the money,
he hasn't paid her back. She's gone today to try to collect the the
debt. Ah, when shall I escape from my misery?
在美国的《读者文摘》上看到一则“军营幽默”(Military Jokes):
标题:Deployment
作者:Brian Walker
正文:When the Air Force deployed me overseas, my daughter’s
friend asked her where I was headed.
"Guantánamo Bay," my daughter said.
"Oh,
my God!" her friend shrieked. "What did he do?"
初次看到这几句话,怎么也没有觉得是个Joke。分析了一下,关键是不理解Guantánamo
Bay!上网查了一下,得到以下信息:关塔那摩湾(西班牙语:Bahía de Guantánamo;英语:Guantanamo
Bay)位于古巴东南端关塔那摩省。湾中设有一属于美国海军的关塔那摩湾海军基地(Guantanamo Bay Naval
Base),近年来由于该基地被美军用于拘留在阿富汗与伊拉克等地区的战事中捕获的战犯,而再度受到媒体与民间的关注。
这样一来,就可以理解了。但是,想到一个问题,译成汉语以后,须得采用补偿手段,Guantánamo
Bay不能只译作“关塔那摩湾”了。试译如下:
海外服役
布莱恩·沃克
空军派我到海外服役。女儿的朋友问我会去哪儿。
“关塔那摩湾海军监狱,”女儿答道。
“上帝啊,”她的朋友尖叫道。“他犯了什么事?”
—— 源自列夫·托尔斯泰《战争与和平》
尼古拉和娜塔莎异常兴奋,两人的心砰砰直跳,深深地被朴实而欢快的歌声打动了[……]
“好啊,好啊!大叔,再唱一个,再唱一个!”他一停下来,娜塔莎就急切地喊到。她从座位上跳起,拥抱他,亲吻他。又转身对哥哥说到,“噢!尼古拉,尼古拉!”好像她已经找不到合适的词语来描绘这一切的美妙了。[……]
“大叔”站起身,他的身上好像有两个人似的,其中一个朝着那个满心欢喜的小伙子庄重地笑了笑,小伙子也摆出了一个天真而正式的预备姿势,准备跳上一段民间舞蹈。
“来啊,丫头!”他大声喊到,一边用手“啪、啪”地拍打节奏,一边向娜塔莎招了招手。
娜塔莎用力扔掉裹在身上的披巾,跑到“大叔”面前,双手叉腰,扭动肩膀,热切地渴望着与“大叔”共舞。
这位年轻的伯爵夫人,在哪里学会了这种舞蹈呢?怎么学会的呢?什么时候学的呢?她的家庭教师可是流亡的法国贵妇啊,难道她从每天呼吸的俄罗斯空气中就可以嗅到这种舞蹈的神韵吗。她又是从哪里学到的入场姿势呢?难道说她已经把芭蕾舞的“帕德夏”舞步忘掉很久了吗。但是,她跳舞的情绪、动作对极了,真正跳出了味儿——这是不能模仿的,是教不会的,是俄罗斯的——也是“大叔”希望从她身上看到的。[……]
她跳的非常漂亮,非常非常漂亮。安妮亚·费多萝芙娜见她和“大叔”他们跳了起来,马上把头巾递给了她,她跳舞用得着。安妮亚一边笑,一边泪眼花花儿地看,在挥动的丝巾、丝绒中,这位苗条的、高贵的伯爵夫人扭腰、耸肩,完全进入到了另一个世界里,只有安妮亚、安妮亚的父亲、母亲和姑妈姨妈才能懂得的世界,只有俄罗斯男人、女人才能懂得的世界。
以下原文及译文仅供翻译练习参考,不带任何商业目的,故省略出处。
原文:与此相对的是“啃老族”的出现。作为“80后”的一员,他们选择了逃避。上学时心安理得地花着家里的钱。毕业时却找出各种理由不肯就业,家里托关系给安排了,有以种种借口推托。而他们每天的生活就是中午时才起床,早饭午饭合二为一后,要么上网,要么找同样赋闲的朋友去逛街,还要买回一大堆价格不菲的东西,美其名曰提高生活质量,当然,父母还要为他们埋单。这其中有很多还是普通工薪阶层的家庭,辛苦把孩子养到大学毕业,却还要继续养下去,至于期限,就要看这个孩子何时醒悟了。
译文1:
Reversely there appears a group of youngsters called NEET.
Being born in post-80s last century, they choose to take the refuge
in home, being not currently engaged in employment, education or
training. In the past they had spent the money offered by their
parents without any shames during their university life. And now
they are reluctant to find a job with various excuses after their
graduation from universities. They have even rejected the jobs
arranged by their parents through their social contacts. Their
daily life becomes a routine of getting up at
noon, having their breakfast and lunch at one go, and then idling
away the time of the afternoon in either surfing on the internet
randomly or going shopping with their pals who have no work to do
as well. After their shopping journey, they might take home piles
of luxury items, defending that they also need to improve their
life qualities. But the expenses, of course, will be covered by
their parents. Such things, ironically, have happened mostly in
common families that the total income is not so sufficient. These
families have already had financial difficulties in bringing
Children into university students, and they have to continue
offering a living support to their children who
have graduated from universities. And their being
free from such a burden totally depends on the time when the
children will wake up to reality.
译文2:
Contrary to that is the “Dependent Generation”. Born in the
late 1980s, they tend to avoid competition. While getting all the
money for their daily expenses in school times, they, with various
excuses, refuse to work even if they have the job opportunity their
parents have tried so hard to obtain. Their lives are characterized
by a rather late getting-up at noon time, followed by a whole day
spent on Internet over a simple brunch, or on shopping bunches of
luxuries with close friends, who similarly do not work. To avoid
criticism, they claim they are living a real life, which of course
is supported by their parents. Most of this group come from the
low-income families, which have no choices but continue their
efforts in supporting their children after their college graduation
until a day when their children really understand what they are
doing.
记录两个老师今天讲的例子:
例1. If you
would go up high, then use your own legs! Do not get yourselves
carried aloft; do not seat yourselves on other people's backs and
heads.
译文1.如果你想走到很高之处,就要使用自己的两条腿!不要使自己被旁人拥到高处;不要坐在旁人的背上和头上!
译文2.欲得高处,就需要迈动双腿!不要被拥至高处,更不要坐在他人之背上及头上。
老师的译文将最后一句改为:更不要骑在他人头上!?
例2.It is one
of the world's most urbanized countries, with about 70 percent of
the population living in the 10 largest cities.
译文1. 澳大利亚是世界上最城市化的国家之一,它的人口的70%生活在10个最大的城市中。
译文2.澳大利亚是世界上国家化程度最高的城市之一,70%的人口生活在十大城市。(仔细核对以后确信划线部分确属原文)
老师的译文:澳大利亚是世界上城市最多的国家之一,……
老师向大家提了一个问题:译文可不可以简洁一点?
(2009-10-31 23:43)偶然在http://blog.ifeng.com/article/3152544.html)看到一篇博文,题目是“笑死人的中国式英语”,发现我们的中英标示确实存在很大的问题。请看下面两图:


按照博文作者提供的网址http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/5842424/Sign-language-week-57.html?image=11
至少可以有了两个发现:(1)英国的“每日电讯”有个谈“Sign
Language”的专栏;(2)公示语的问题是世界的问题。
下面再贴两张“笑死人的图片”:

此图摄于伦敦的Temple Avenue;贴图者的评价是:That can't be
right !

此图摄于
California ;贴图者的评价是What's in a
name?
呵呵,Death
Valley意为“死亡之谷”,而Health
Center则可以译为“医疗中心”、“健康中心”。如按箭头所指,“死亡之谷”即为“医疗中心”,“医疗中心”亦即“死亡之谷”,“去,还是不去”,还真是个问题。
点击上面telegraph的链接,可以看到更多“笑死人的图片”。笑过之余,你会同意我的观点:公示语的问题是世界的问题。
此博文的目的在于征求修改意见,欢迎各位看官批评指正:
最近接触到一份材料,讲的是“拿破仑分割德国,把柏林降格为一个小小的盟国,让聚集在柏林的知识分子产生了难以释怀的满腔怨恨。其中,海因里希·冯·克莱斯特(Heinrich
von
Kleist,1777-1811)虽然是描绘人类好恶和柔情的抒情诗人,但他也积极为反法报纸《日耳曼尼亚》(Germania)(报纸的标题本身就有危险)撰写文章,响应阿德特和弗里德里希·简在文章和诗歌中表达的反法仇恨。克莱斯特撰写的宣传性诗篇充满了血腥,鼓励人们杀死在莱茵河东岸的所有法国人”,资料中的英文诗如下:
All that their foot had
trod on
Must be bleached by the
dust of their bones;
Such carrion as is left
by raven and fox
You may give to the
fishes.
Use their corpse to dam
the Rhine;
Let their skeletons
divert its course
Around Trier and the
Palatinate
And let that then
become our frontier!
The lust of the hunt is
like marksmen
On the trail of a
wolf!
Slay them! The court of
world history
Does not inquire into
your motives.
试译如下:
哪里有他们入侵的脚步,
哪里就叫他们粉身碎骨;
把他们的腐尸烂肉
抛给乌鸦、狐狸和鱼腹。
莱茵筑坝,用他们的尸骨,
河流改道,借他们的头颅。
在特里尔和巴拉丁,
把我们的边界构筑!
是猎人,就要勇于追捕,
是射手,就把豺狼屠戮!
世界历史的法庭
不会查问你为何动武。