译味（Translating the Taste）

情景与典故相融，造成混成效应；正话反说，增强修辞效果。且看李白少年时的一首小诗--《白微时》。小序旨在交代背景：白微时，募县小吏，入令卧内，尝驱牛经堂下，令妻怒，将加诘责，白亟以诗谢云。

李白在县令手下当差，打搅县令太太午休，肯定要解释的。“谢”即谢罪，但是李白哪里是谢罪，明明是挑逗性的讽刺和反击。“白亟以诗谢云”遂译作“So I tried to beg her pardon with this poem”。前两行“素面倚栏钩， 娇声出外头。”点名县令太太午休时的状态，“娇声”有故作娇羞的意味，官太太嘛！故而以“seemingly coy”对应原文。“出外头”故作声势的意图就更明显了，译文以“comes out”等值应对。后两行充分体现了李白的语用意图，李白游戏人生的态度自幼而然。“若非是织女，何得问牵牛。”典故用得妙！牛郎织女是一对恋人，妇孺皆知，而李白牵牛出场，自然也是牛郎。李白以否定句设问，更是增强了反讽效果，而反问恰恰预设了“牛郎织女”的关系。这是对“令妻怒”的最好回应。“If you are not the weaving maid, / Why should you ask the herding boy?”机智如此，县令太太怒而不能言，白白地让李白吃了豆腐。

素面倚栏钩，

娇声出外头。

若非是织女，

何得问牵牛。

When I Was Low

When I was low, I was employed as a county clerk. I once drove an ox outside the bedroom of the magistrate. His wife got angry and would blame me. So I tried to beg her pardon with this poem.

By the net hook shows your fair face;

Your voice comes out, seemingly coy.

If you are not the weaving maid,

Why should you ask the herding boy?

文本自足，文化人都能读懂。当然对于欠缺中国文化背景的读者，可以以注释扩展，不过这是另一个文本了。如牛郎织女，可如此注释：

*the weaving maid: Weaver Maid, Vega, in Chinese mythology, a fairy who stole out of the sky and fell in love with Cowherd and was married to him. When found, Weaver Maid was taken away and kept away from Cowherd by Queen Mother, who made the Silver River (the Milky Way) with her hair pin. They could only meet once a year at Magpie Bridge magpies made for them on the seventh day of the seventh moon.

*the herding boy: Cowherd, Weaver’s husband in the mythology. Pai Li was playfully referring to himself playing the part of the herding boy and taking the magistrate’s wife as Weaver, his lover.