《父爱的尺度》中英文本
我写的随笔《父爱的尺度》成为2008年“韩素英杯”全国青年翻译竞赛的“汉译英”考题，
本文首次发表于2006年6月22日出版的《南方周末》，责任编辑为鄢烈山先生．
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如下是一些参加竞赛考试的专业翻译人员的博客资料．
韩素音翻译比赛的汉译英部分历来都是比较难的，今年的也不例外。我花了一个多月的时间来翻译，其中多半的时间花在了原文理解和谚语翻译上。今天早上把参赛稿用EMS寄了过去，就怕平信会晚，算是争取时间吧。那么下面就简要说一下：
本文节选自2006年6月22日出版的《南方周末》，原题目为《父爱的尺度——写于“父亲节”》，作者陈仓，知名学者、作家，其文多见于《南方周末》和其他报章。本文翻译过程中的难点体现在以下三方面：第一，此为现代汉语中具“随谈”式特征的文章，故译成英语时，句式的处理和把握应当尽量反映以上特点；第二，虽是“随谈”，但文中个别地方又套用经济“术语”，如：无限责任公司、机会成本、预期收益、标杆等，亦使文章的翻译更加难以把握；第三，既是“随谈”，必引俗语、典故或其他带有中国文化特色的词汇，如文中大量的谚语，又如“洋节”、“家严”、“棒喝”等。翻译这篇文章很难,需要很多相关知识,需要一定的思想理论水平.
The Measure of Paternal
Love
In
1924, American President Calvin Coolidge proposed that Father’s Day
be made a national holiday in order to ‘establish more intimate
relations between fathers and their children and to impress upon
fathers the full measure of their obligations’. In 1972, President
Nixon officially signed the proposal to establish Father’s Day.
Since then, the holiday has spread all over the world. Today,
rather imperceptibly, those in urban China, who have traditionally
valued the parents-and-child relationship and stressed fathers’
role in bringing up children, have also adopted this western
holiday.
The
Chinese nuclear family with an only child is like a company of
unlimited liability, because the parents bear unlimited
responsibility for their child's future. As the saying goes, 'The
poor upbringing of a child should be blamed on his or her father.'
A child's faults and failures implicate his or her father, who, in
addition to economic and moral liabilities, is held responsible as
a 'leader' by the family and society at large. Unpredictable are
the benefits of the successful education of an only child, but one
hundred percent sure is the price to pay for a failed one. So
father is an example for his child to follow, an example that is
difficult to set.
Father
used to be respectfully called jiayan, or 'the stern member of my
family' in China, where the traditional culture, ethical code and
customs have designated a precise, rational, minutely defined role
for fathers. 'The Way of the father consists in dignity, and the
Way of the mother, affection.' A father must have due self-respect
in order to be respected by his family and to maintain and execute
his authority as the primary bearer of the responsibility for home
education. 'If a monarch deviates from the Way, his subjects will
go and serve other states; if a father does so, his children will
leave for other places.' That is to say, a father must set a good
example for his children, for otherwise it would be impossible to
unify, instruct and bring them up, or, worse still, they might turn
against him. Just as the mother should be affectionate, so the
father should be strict, stern and serious. But some fathers
interpret the three Ss as corporal punishment with the rod. Yet the
rod, as a Zen master showed us, is not to be used for suppression
or display of authority, but as an incentive, a reminder, or a
source of enlightenment. A father's competence lies not in hot
temper that intimidates his children, but in good judgment that
qualifies him to be their first teacher and
mentor.
All
parents hold high expectations for their children, and will pay any
price to make them come true. While this has indeed led many
children to achieve as much as their parents did or live up to
their expectations, many have let their parents down or even become
exactly the opposite of what their parents wanted them to be.
Sayings go that 'the son of a hero cannot be a coward, and the son
of a scallion seller will sell garlic' and that 'the son of a
soldier learns to use sword and spear early'. But another saying
goes that 'parents cannot ensure their children's goodness'. In the
final analysis, parents should also teach their children according
to their aptitude, giving them the freedom to choose and allowing
them to fulfill their potential by developing their talents and
interests. No one should impose his will on others, including his
children.
Western
education underlines love, care, and encouragement, whereas
traditional Chinese education is stern in appearance and
affectionate in nature. Chinese fathers' sternness with their
children is based on love as the essence and care as the purpose. A
saying goes that 'an unloving father has no devoted child'. That is
to say, a father devoid of love or sense of responsibility will
have a child who is neither an excellent person nor a loving son or
daughter. However, another saying goes that 'parents' love can be a
curse'. Indiscriminate praise and encouragement plus excessive
doting and indulgence may produce an ignorant, insensible loiterer,
or an arrogant, unscrupulous ruffian. Thus it is hard to apply a
proper measure of sternness and affection. Too much of the former
stifles personality, and too much of the latter breeds
vice.
'All
parents are willing to do anything for their children.' To be a
good father is more than something to learn; it is an ordeal, or a
long, difficult and comprehensive test.
原文：
父爱的尺度（节选）
1924年，美国总统卡尔文•柯立芝建议把父亲节作为一个全国性的节日，以便“在父亲和子女间建立更亲密的关系，并且使父亲铭记自己应尽的全部责任”。1972年，尼克松总统正式签署了建立父亲节的议案。后来，这一节日逐渐流传到世界各地。如今，历来重视亲子关系、强调父亲教养责任的中国城市人群，也潜移默化地接受了这个“洋节”。
以独生子女为养育对象的中国式核心家庭类似无限责任公司，父母对子女的前途命运负无限责任。“子不教，父之过”，子女的贤愚、得失、功过牵连其父。父亲不但要负经济、道德等方面的连带责任，而且要被社会和家庭全方位地追究“领导责任”。对独生子女教育成功的收益不可预期，但教育失败的机会成本却是百分之百。因此，父亲是儿女的标杆——尺度，这个“尺度”的分寸很难把握。
父亲雅称“家严”，中国传统文化、礼教、风俗已经对父爱角色作了准确、详尽、合理的定位。“父道尊，母道亲”。父亲必须保持应有的尊严，必须自尊，才能获得家庭的尊重，然后才能保持并实施家庭教育第一责任人的尊严。“君不正，臣投外国，父不正，子奔他乡”。就是说，父亲必须以身作则，否则，无法团结教育子女，履行父亲的管教责任，甚至可能导致父子反目、离心离德。严父慈母是父母亲分别担当的固有角色，严格、严厉、严肃是父亲的应有风格。但有的父亲把一个“严”字衍化为棍棒教育、打骂教育。我从禅宗教育中得到一些启示，“棒喝”的宗旨是刺激、提醒、指点、点化，目的是开悟增慧，而不是压服，更不是展示家长威风。所以，一个称职的父亲重在见识高低，不在脾气大小，不要高人一等，关键是要高人一筹，做孩子的启蒙老师，做孩子的精神向导。
父母无不望子成龙、成凤，并为此不惜一切代价。的确，许多子女受家庭影响，子承父业、光前裕后，成为父母一样的人或父母期望的人，而也有相当多的子女没有实现父母的梦想，没有到达父母的期望值，甚至走向父母愿望的反面。俗话说：“老子英雄儿好汉，老子卖葱儿卖蒜”；“兵家儿早识刀枪”。但俗话也说：“父母难保子孙贤”。说到底，家庭教育也有一个因材施教的问题，给孩子以选择发展道路的自由，让他们根据自己兴趣爱好特长做好他自己。人各有志，不必强求，对儿女也是如此。
西方教育理念强调亲情、呵护、鼓励。中国传统教育理念是“严”在其表，爱在其里。中国式“家严”是父子互动的一种外在动作，慈爱是核心，爱护是目的。俗话说：“父不慈，子不孝”。父亲不慈爱，不负责，所以孩子不出色、不优秀，也不孝敬、依恋父亲。但是，“父母爱如虎，爱谁谁受苦”，对孩子无原则的表扬、鼓励，过度的溺爱、放纵，有可能培养一个无知无能、无所事事、愚钝麻木、胸无大志的庸子，也有可能培养一个目中无人、狂妄自大、无法无天的逆子。所以，严与慈的尺度很难把握，过严压抑个性，过慈助长恶习。
“可怜天下父母心”。做一个合格的父亲岂止是一门学问，实在是一场严峻的考验，是一场漫长的高难度综合考试。
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