Evolution and Ethics
(1894)
•
By
Thomas Henry Huxley
（1st
paragraph of the
original）
•It may
be safely assumed that, two thousand years ago, before Caesar set
foot in southern Britain, the whole country-side visible from the
windows of the room in which I write, was in what is called "the
state of nature." Except, it may be, by raising a few sepulchral
mounds, such as those which still, here and there, break the
flowing contours of the downs, man's hands had made no mark upon
it; and the thin veil of vegetation which overspread the
broad-backed heights and the shelving sides of the coombs was
unaffected by his industry. The native grasses and weeds, the
scattered patches of gorse, contended with one another for the
possession of the scanty surface soil; they fought against the
droughts of summer, the frosts of winter, and the furious gales
which swept, with unbroken force, now from the Atlantic, and now
from the North Sea, at all times of the year; they filled up, as
they best might, the gaps made in their ranks by all sorts of
underground and overground animal ravagers. One year with another,
an average population, the floating balance of the unceasing
struggle for existence among the indigenous plants, maintained
itself. It is as little to be doubted, that an essentially similar
state of nature prevailed, in this region, for many thousand years
before the coming of Caesar; and there is no assignable reason for
denying that it might continue to exist through an equally
prolonged futurity, except for the intervention of
man.
Notes:
sepulchral : dismal, gloomy,
melancholy
contour: outline
coomb:
a deep hollow or valley, esp. on the side of a hill; a valley
running up from the sea
gorse:
any of several spiny (having thorns) yellow-flowered shrubs,
characteristic of healthy places
ravage: devastate, lay waste,
plunder
indigenous: born or produced in a
particular land or region, native or belonging naturally to (a
region, a soil, etc.), not introduced
(Two Chinese
Versions)
严复译《天演论》（1898年）
•
胥黎独处一室之中，在英伦之南，背山而面野。槛外诸境，历历如在几下。乃悬想二千年前，当罗马大将恺彻未到时，此间有何景物。计惟有天造草昧，人功未施，其借征人境者，不过几处荒坟，散见坡陀起伏间。而灌木丛林，蒙茸山麓，未经删治如今日者，则无疑也。怒生之草，交加之藤，势如争长相雄，各据一抔壤土。夏与畏日争，冬与严霜争，四时之内，飘风怒吹，或西发西洋，或东起北海，旁午交扇，无时而息。上有鸟兽之践啄，下有蚁蝝之啮伤。憔悴孤虚，旋生旋灭。菀枯顷刻，莫可究详。是离离者亦各尽天能，以自存种族而已。数亩之内，战事炽然，强者后亡，弱者先绝。年年岁岁，偏有留遗。未知始自何年，更不知止于何代。苟人事不施于其间，则莽莽榛榛，长此互相吞并，混逐蔓延而已，而诘之者谁耶?
《进化与伦理》（白话译本），科学出版社，1971年
可以有把握地想象，二千年前，当凯撒到达不列颠南部之前，从我正在写作的这间屋子的窗口可以看到整个原野是一种所谓“自然状态”。也许除了若干突起的坟墓已在几处破坏了连绵的丘陵的轮廓以外，此地未经人工修葺整治。薄薄的植被笼罩着广阔的高地和峡谷的斜坡，还没有受到人的劳动的影响。本地的牧草和杂草，分散在一小块一小块土地上的金雀花，为了占据贫乏的表面土壤而互相竞争着；它们同夏季的烈日斗争，同冬季的严霜斗争，同一年四季从大西洋或北海不断吹来的狂风斗争；它们尽其最大可能来弥补为各种地上和地下动物所造成的破坏。年复一年，在本地植物中不停的生存竞争，在不平衡的状态下，维持了它们自己的通常种群数量。无可怀疑，凯撒到来之前的几千年，在这个地区主要的是类似的自然状态占优势；除非由于人的干预，也没有可以申明的理由来否定它能够经过同样长的将来继续生存下去。
–
严复（1853-1921）在《天演论》卷首的《译例言》中提出了“信、达、雅”的翻译标准。
“译”事三难：信、达、雅。求其信，已大难矣。顾信矣不达，虽译犹不译也，则达尚焉。……译文取明深意，故词句之间，时有所颠倒附益，斤斤于字比句次，而意义则不倍本文。……至原文词理本深，难于共喻，则当前思后衬，以显其意。凡此经营，皆以为达：为达，即以为信也。
易曰：“修辞立诚”。子曰“辞达而已！”又曰：“言之无文，行之不远”。三者乃文章正轨，亦即为译事楷模。故信达而外，求其尔雅。此不仅期以行远已耳。实则精理微言。用汉以前子法句法。则为达易。用近世利俗文字。则求达难。往往抑义就词。毫厘千里。审则于斯二者之间。夫固有所不得已也。岂钓奇哉......
新理踵出。明目纷繁。索之中文。渺不可得。即有牵合。终嫌参差。译者遇此。独有自具衡量。即义定名......一名之立。旬月踟蹰......
《天演论·译例言》
Translation has to do three difficult things: to be faithful,
expressive and elegant. For a translation to be faithful to the
original is difficult enough, and yet if it is not expressive, it
is tantamount to having no translation. Hence expressiveness should
also be required too
…
The Book of Change says that the first
requisite of rhetoric is truthfulness. Confucius says that
expressiveness is all that matters in language. He adds that is
one's language lacks grace, it won't go far. These three qualities,
then, are the criteria of good writing and, i believe, of good
translation too. Hence besides faithfulness and expressiveness, I
also aim at elegance. I strive for elegance not just to make my
translations travel far, but to express the original writer's ideas
better, for I find that subtle thoughts are better expressed in the
vocabulary and syntax of pre-han prose than those of the vulgar
writings of today. Using the latter often leads to distrotion of
meaning, which, however slight, results in vast misunderstanding,
Weighing the pros and cons, I opted for the former, as a matter of
necessity, not trying to be different
...
New ideas come one after another, with a
multiplicity of new names. No equivalents can be found for them in
Chinese. Straining for resemblances, one gets only contrarieties.
The translator is obliged to use his own discretion, doing his best
to find a term suited to the sense ... A single term often took
weeks and months of deliberation ...
(王佐良译)
据考证，支谦（公元三世纪）的《法句经·序》三百字的序文是我国现存古籍中最早谈到翻译标准的文章，是“信达雅”翻译思想的雏形。
-
“天竺言语，与汉异音。云其书为天书，语为天语。名物不同，传实不易……”——“信”的概念；
-
“其传经者，当令易晓……今传胡义，实宜径达。”——“达”的概念；
-
“老氏称：美言不信，信言不美；仲尼亦云，书不尽言言不尽意，明圣人意，深邃无极”。”——“雅”的概念。
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