学生译文：At the age of twenty, I was always ready to disclose my age on all occasions and could not wait to speak out the answer until the inquirer finished his words. After I have turned thirty, I hate any inquiry about my age. If you insist, have a guess.

改译：At the age of twenty, I was so ready to reveal my age, telling people about my age frequently before they inquired. After thirty, age became almost a taboo to me. If somebody is so nosy, I respond, “Guess.”

    点评：英语运用词汇的转义（connotation）可谓竭泽而渔，最常用的词汇也可用其转义，而令表达生辉，这就令汉语为母语者暗羡！因为，数千年来，汉语循规蹈矩，为词汇的本义所茧缚，小心翼翼，不敢越雷池一步。“脚趾”，就是脚趾，还能派什么用场？一生中我们使用“脚趾”一词能有几次？然而，打开英语词典，我们见到了别样的风景！对tiptoe（脚趾）一词，英语也不轻易放过。tiptoe用作动词，转义渐生：踮着脚走；蹑手蹑脚地走。如：She tiptoed out of the room so as not to wake the baby. 为了不把婴儿吵醒，她蹑手蹑脚地走出了房间。

但是，这还不够，英语还要更竭泽而渔，对tiptoe进一步引申，于是产生了如下用法：

    a. 用作形容词：He is a man of tiptoe caution. 他是做事战战兢兢的男子。

    b. 用作名词：The students are all on the tiptoe of expectation of the arrival of their international teacher.　学生们翘首盼望外籍教师的来临。

I was really on the tiptoe of excitement when I got to know that that university enrolled me.当我得知，我被那所大学录取的时候，我万分激动！

The children were on tiptoe for vacation to begin. 孩子们急切盼望假期开始。

    遗憾的是，国人学习英语常被词汇的转义弄得晕头转向，在汉英翻译中惯于运用英语词汇的本义，束手束脚，打不开思路。 “三十岁之后，最恨别人问年龄，你要是非问不可，你猜啊。”一句中的“恨”，必译hate，“非问不可”，必译If you insist。如果我们认识英语词汇的这个特点，我们的译文也许就生动活泼得多，地道精彩得多。比如改译中的taboo 和nosy两词就值得我们思考。

    5） 二十岁的时候，一心想和体育系、美术系的男生约会。三十岁之后，我简直认为自己当年是白痴。

    学生译文：When in my twenties, I was only willing to date boys from sports or art department. After thirty, I even thought I had been an idiot before.

    改译：At the age of twenty, I did long to date with the boys from either physical education or the art department. After thirty, it seems so unbelievable that I once idiotically possessed that thought.

    点评：除了不善使用英语词汇的转义之外，对英语词汇的构词的灵活性，我们只是局限于学习，至多是欣赏的层次上，在翻译中如何加以活用，我们也考虑较少。比如原句出现了“白痴”二字，译者只是照搬，将它译成idiot。译idiot固无不可，但是，若使用其副词形式（idiotically），岂不更佳？因为，它不仅显现一种暗示美，而且还折射了别样的强调意味。

    6） 二十岁的时候，有书店必逛，有书必买。三十岁之后，对书店视而不见，直接去了隔壁的美容院。

    学生译文：At the age of twenty, I frequented the bookstores and bought whatever I found. After thirty, I ignored them and went ahead into the nearby beauty parlor.

    改译：At the age of twenty, bookstore was a must for me, and I was a big book buyer. While after thirty, paying no attention to the bookstore, I breeze into the beauty parlor next door.

    点评：美学心理学认为，语言表达精确和模糊既对立，又统一，各有各的审美价值。模糊，与精确一样，透现出一种美。如何通过模糊去获得精确美，是译者不能忘怀的。原句的“有书必买”译成bought whatever I found，似乎很精确，其实无“美”可言，甚至经不起逻辑的推敲。后译在译“有书店必逛，有书必买”时，用了两个“小词”： a must / big book buyer，既轻巧，又含糊，轻巧中透出幽默，含糊中体现了精确！

    另外值得一提的是，后译运用了动词breeze的转义，不仅动词本身很美，而且和名词beauty parlor构成了和谐美，其效果非went ahead into可比。