我国有一句著名俗话：

生在杭州，吃在广州，死在柳州。 

初译：

It is good to live in Hangzhou, to eat in Guangzhou, and to die in Liuzhou. 

 “生在杭州，吃在广州，死在柳州”在一定程度上折射了汉语的美 – 意合美。初读之，似难合逻辑，再读之，便能让人会意一笑。英语可就缺乏这种美。英语表达讲究逻辑，讲究分析，而逻辑与分析难以兼容“意合”。

译者，比其他人需要更健全，更发达，更成熟的语感。换言之，需要蕴含了美感的语感。 

语感成熟，且含美感，其译文可能是：

There are three best choices in China – living in Hangzhou, eating in Guangzhou and buying a wooden coffin in Liuzhou. 

如此翻译，啰啰嗦嗦，似非翻译，更似“解释”。-- 你也许会如此说。

对了，汉译英，从一种“意合”语言到讲究逻辑和分析的语言，“啰啰嗦嗦”，往往在所难免哦。

一篇题为《飘逸人生》的短文。全文如下：

行路难，但人生之路谁都要走。有的人在赶路，心急切切，步急匆匆。眼中只有目标却忽略了风景。可路迢迢不知哪儿是终点。有的人如游客，不急不慌，走走停停，看花开花落，看云卷云舒。有时也在风中走，雨中行，心却像张开的网，放过焦躁苦恼。

人生之路谁不走？只是走路别忽略了一路的良辰美景。

一个人工作的地方是小的，居住的家是小的，社交的圈子是小的，有的人就越来越不满这缺乏变化的单调。有的人却总是怡然自得，随遇而安。世界浩渺，一个人只能居于一隅。比海洋大的是天空，比天空大的是心灵，因为这小小的心灵内住着一只时起时落的想象鸟。

大碗喝茶解渴，却说不上茶是怎样的好。

一心想得到的东西终于得到了，失去了却很多很多，而失去的原来比得到的可能还要好。

物化了的生命硬如岩石，而那些看似无价值的却永葆着神韵和空灵。

人生旅途上，有人背负着名利急急奔走，有人回归自然，飘逸而行。

现就三篇译文的部分内容按序作对照分析如下：

1/ 行路难，但人生之路谁都要走。

a/ It is difficult to walk, but everyone has to walk on the road of the life.

b/ No matter how difficult the road of life is, everyone has to walk through it for himself.

c/ To go on a journey is often full of hardships, but so long as one lives he proceeds on his life’s journey.

译a将“行路难”译成It is difficult to walk，简单是简单了，却未能译出赅意。这里的“行路”，其实是指“人生之旅”，译b将它译成road of life是可取的，但是，“人生之路谁都要走”的字里行间，尚隐含了“只要你活在这个世上一天，你就得……”的意思。译c作了此发掘，并成功添译了so long as one lives，且将“行路难”三个字，扩展成To go on a journey is often full of hardships，这样再转向his life’s journey这一隐喻表达就显得更加自然。如此翻译，译文便别有一番情调，笔触精确，句意饱满，文意抖擞。

翻译家傅雷在他的翻译实践中深切体验了东西方思维方式的微妙区别。他一针见血地指出：东方人和西方人的思想方式有基本分歧。我人重综合、重归纳、重暗示、重含蓄；西方人则重分析，细微曲折、挖掘惟恐不尽，描写惟恐不周。

傅雷的这个观察告诉我们：汉译英，即从一种“重暗示、重含蓄”的语言到一种“挖掘惟恐不尽，描写惟恐不周”语言的过渡。这种过渡必然“啰啰嗦嗦”。  

2/ 有的人在赶路，心急切切，步急匆匆。眼中只有目标却忽略了风景。可路迢迢不知哪儿是终点；有的人如游客，不急不慌，走走停停，看花开花落，看云卷云舒，有时也在风中走，雨中行，心却像张开的网，放过焦躁苦恼。

a/ They only have the goal in their eyes, neglecting the scenery on the way. However, the road seems endless and they have no idea of where the end is. Others, like the travelers, walk without haste or worry. They take a break from time to time, appreciating the blossoms and the floating clouds. Although sometimes they also have to walk against the wind or in the rain, their hearts, like a stretched net, let the worries and pains go.

b/ Some walk in such a hurry that they only see destinations before them and ignore the beautiful scenery. However, they do not know where the terminal is on the long long road. Some walk as tourists without any haste. They stop occasionally to appreciate the blooming and withering of flowers, the rolling and extension of clouds. Although there are times of heavy storms, their hearts are always like an open net which lets go distresses.

c/ Different people go along differently. Some take hasty steps in anxiety. Obsessed with reaching the next goal in time, they spare no time for sightseeing along the way, nor do they have a clear view of where their long roads end. Others travel leisurely like tourists. They would take time off now and then for a look at blooming flowers or fallen petals. They would stop to admire clouds gathering and dispersing. Even when they go against the wind or are caught in the rain, they never get annoyed, for worries slip off their minds as from an open net.

先说“行路难，但人生之路谁都要走。有的人在赶路，心急切切……”一句，从“行路难，但人生之路谁都要走”到“有的人在赶路，心急切切……”，汉语是能够接受的，虽然句意的转折突兀了一点。然而，译a和译b所作的直译，在两句之间没有任何的“添加”，在native speakers看来，就构成了“语篇层面”上的欠缺。因为英语是一种形合语言，必须用逻辑标记来明示其种种句意之逻辑内涵。 

译c在两句之间添译了Different people go along differently决非“蛇足”，有效增强了行文的coherence 和cohesion。

再说“有的人如游客，不急不慌，走走停停，看花开花落，看云卷云舒”一句。

a/ They take a break from time to time, appreciating the blossoms and the floating clouds.（15 words）

b/ They stop occasionally to appreciate the blooming and withering of flowers, the rolling and extension of clouds. (17 words)

c/ They would take time off now and then for a look at blooming flowers or fallen petals. They would stop to admire clouds gathering and dispersing. (26 words)

以上3句译文的字数有明显变化：15 → 17 → 26。

数字是枯燥的，但是，数字又生动地向我们暗示了汉英表达之微妙区别。从“有的人如游客，不急不慌，走走停停，看花开花落，看云卷云舒”可以看出，句子表达非常疏放随意，一个主语（有的人），便带出了一串谓语。译a和译b，就照这个句型直译。使用一个主语，结果就失却了一份行文之从容，文意也未能得以充分的演绎。译c将原句“一切为二”，They would…的重复，不仅构成了parallelism（平行结构）的对称美，这种形式更好地为其内容（从容自在，潇洒不迫的人生态度）服务。就表层看，译c的take time off now and then for a look at似有累赘之嫌，其实，透出了一种丰满美。尤其是短语now and then，更有一种音韵。从美学角度分析，blooming flowers or fallen petals比blooming and withering of flowers更值得品味，因为，withering of flowers远没有fallen petals所蕴涵的美感。此外，stop to admire clouds gathering and dispersing也译出了“云卷云舒”的动感，不像译b中extension of clouds把“云舒”的动感给译没了。