天下文章乱乱翻

何谓翻译？译字乎译意乎?神似乎形似乎?归化乎异化乎？形式对等乎功能对等乎?功能主义乎文化转向乎？古今文人，中外学者，众说纷云，莫衷一是。窃以为：诘辩或可究本质，何如手底见真章？故设此博客，以练笔发文，切磋译艺。

本博旨在讨论翻译、学习翻译（英汉、汉英、日汉、日英），同时探讨语言运用的方方面面。有志于此道者，欢迎入内赐教。

Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wise

原文：Be wisely worldly, be not worldly wise.

博主：宜洞察世情，忌老于世故

一小段《平凡的世界》翻译

原文：1975年二、三月间，一个平平常常的日子，细蒙蒙的雨丝夹着一星半点的雪花，正纷纷淋淋地向大地飘洒着。时令已快到惊蛰，雪当然再不会存留，往往还没等落地，就已经消失得无踪无影了。黄土高原严寒而漫长的冬天看来就要过去，但那真正温暖的春天还远远地没有到来。

在这样雨雪交加的日子里，如果没有什么紧要事，人们宁愿一整天足不出户。因此，县城的大街小巷倒也比平时少了许多嘈杂。街巷背阴的地方。冬天残留的积雪和冰溜子正在雨点的敲击下蚀化，石板街上到处都漫流着肮脏的污水。风依然是寒冷的。空荡荡的街道上，有时会偶尔走过来一个乡下人，破毡帽护着脑门，胳膊上挽一筐子土豆或萝卜，有气无力地呼唤着买主。唉，城市在这样的日子里完全丧失了生气，变得没有一点可爱之处了。

博主：1975. A light drizzle, along with a dash of snowflakes, was falling onto mother earth on an uneventful day in February or March. It was almost Jing Zhe, or the Waking of Insect season, whch explained why the snowflakes had almost vanished completely before they even touched the earth. On the Loess Plateau, the bitter cold and long drawn-out winter almost seemed over, yet the truly warm spring days were still nowhere in sight.
On such a sleet day, one would rather coop up indoors if one had no errand of great urgency to run. Naturally, the streets saw much less hustle and bustle than on any other ordinary days. In the shade of the streets, the residual snow and icicles from the winter were melting way under the pitter-pattering of raindrops, and filthy water was flowing everywhere on the flagstone streets. The wind remained chilly. The streets felt void of people. Every now and then, a countryfolk peddler would venture into the scene, with a felt hat covering his forehead and a basketful of potatos or carrots on his arm, calling out feebly for potential patrons. On such a day, alas, the city lost its vigour and all traces of its glamour.

艺术就要美

原文：My mind tells me to give up , but my heart won’t let me.
博主：理当放下，情难割舍。

注一：微博看到下面译文：“My mind tells me to give up , but my heart won’t let me. 理智告诉我该放弃了，但我的心却要我继续坚持。”
我觉得翻译不应只译字，也不应只译意思，不然成品必定淡而无味。翻译就是艺术，艺术就要美。英文有英文的美，中文有中文的美。

注二：我的初稿是’理当放弃，情难割舍’。后觉从语调文白来看，放弃不如放手或放下，但从韵律平仄来看，放手又不如放下搭配好，故有此一改。

谁人不过关？

原文：It is impossible that anything so natural, so necessary, and so universal as death, should ever have been designed by Providence as an evil to mankind. – Jonathan Swift

博主：死之一事如此自然，如此必然，世人谁不过这关？既然如此，死就不可能是天谴。

某美国4A广告公司招人广告……据说

原文：If you can only provide what is expected, you will be treated as a supplier; if you can go extra mile, you will be considered as a partner; if you can surprise, you will be wanted; and if you can take them easy, they will think you are genius.

博主：你的作品若不出所期，只合流水作业；若超乎所期，可携手并进；若令人惊艳，属千金难求；若挥洒自如，则堪称旷世奇才矣。

人称平常道，可观世间情

原文：He who has much looked on at the childish satisfaction of other people in their hobbies, will regard his own with only a very ironical indulgence. He will not be heard among the dogmatists. He will have a great and cool allowance for all sorts of people and opinions. If he finds no out-of-the-way truths, he will identify himself with no very burning falsehood. His way takes him along a by-road, not much frequented, but very even and pleasant, which is called Commonplace Lane, and leads to the Belvedere of Common-sense.

博主：彼等酷嗜读书，志得意满，惟不读书者旁观良久，颇觉稚嫩，且思己之作为于彼等不无嘲讽意味，遂深感自得。不读书者行事不守成规，各等人物，各类意见，均可兼容并蓄。若寻不着非凡真理，亦不屑为谬误之拥趸。彼所行之路固偏离大道，少人问津，然平稳喜乐，亦自不妨。此路人称平常道，可观世间情。

Owning Our Story

原文: Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.
Once you see a pattern, you can’t un-see it. Trust me, I’ve tried. But when the same truth keeps repeating itself, it’s hard to pretend that it’s just a coincidence. For example, no matter how hard I try to convince myself that I can function on six hours of sleep, anything less than eight hours leaves me impatient, anxious, and foraging for carbohydrates. It’s a pattern. I also have a terrible procrastination pattern: I always put off writing by reorganizing my entire house and spending way too much time and money buying office supplies and organizing systems. Every single time.

博主：主宰自己的人生，并在过程中学会自尊自重。我们这辈子做的事，不会比这更勇敢的了。

人一旦在自己的行为中看出某些行为模式，就很难不当一回事。这事不骗你，我试过不加理会，可某事如果一再发生，你却硬说是巧合，自己就先过不了自己这关。比如说，我曾告诉自己，只要睡足六小时，一般起居就可无碍，可不管我怎么让自己信服，反正不睡足八小时，就会感到烦躁焦虑，老想找东西吃。这就是行为模式。我也挺会蹉跎磨蹭，这个习惯很不好。我老爱把房子前前后后打扫布置一番；同时，购买办公用品，整理出个条理，都无谓地花了大把大把时间，就只为了把写作的功夫挪后。每次都这样拖，从无例外。

夜歌阿马菲

原文：

Night Song at Amalfi
I asked the heaven of stars
What I should give my love –
It answered me with silence,
Silence above.

I asked the darkened sea
Down where the fishers go –
It answered me with silence,
Silence below.

Oh, I could give him weeping,
Or I could give him song –
But how can I give silence,
My whole life long?

博主：

夜歌阿马菲

我问天上星
何物赠吾爱
天上星不语
不语天上星

再问海中浪
渔人打鱼处
海中浪不语
不语海中浪

妾可使伊泣
亦可赠伊歌
何能长寂寂
无语了一生

余心如花亦如石

The Solitary- Sara Teasdale

My heart has grown rich with the passing of years,
I have less need now than when I was young
To share myself with every comer
Or shape my thoughts into words with my tongue.

It is one to me that they come or go
If I have myself and the drive of my will,
And strength to climb on a summer night
And watch the stars swarm over the hill.

Let them think I love them more than I do,
Let them think I care, though I go alone;
If it lifts their pride, what is it to me
Who am self-complete as a flower or a stone.

孤独

昔时爱将心肺掏
喜把心事付笔墨
阅历今随年月深
方觉内敛亦无妨

若能自在若有心
若有余力夜登山
一睹繁星覆苍穹
彼之来去曷我干

彼可惜余爱其深
亦可爱吾情意重
若使彼等意兴发
误读误判又何妨
余心如花亦如石
自由自在一世界

注：余于诗之一艺全然不通，不会作诗，故无法译诗。译不成诗，退而求其次，译成不押韵的分行散文。游戏之作，博君一笑。

中文人治，英文法制

原文：人道中文人治，随心随意，英文法制，不可乱套。此言似乎不无道理。

博主：Some observe that the Chinese language is man-based while the English language, rule-based, and are thus of the opinion that that constitutes a probable explanation as to why the fomer is highly flexible and the latter, strictly rule-conforming.