二十年来,我生活费中至少十分之一二是消耗在书上的。我的房子里比较贵重的东西就是书。下面是小编分享的英译散文《我之于书》赏析,欢迎大家阅读!
《我之于书》
Books and I
夏丐尊
Xia Mianzun
二十年来,我生活费中至少十分之一二是消耗在书上的。我的房子里比较贵重的东西就是书。
For twenty years past, books have eaten into at least 10-20 percent of my pocket. Now the only things of some value under my roof, if any, are my books.
要点:
1,转换主语,是文学翻译常用的方法,可以使句子更加生动,本句以“书”作为主语,以eat up作为谓语,句式灵活,体现了大师深厚的双语功底
2,“十分之一二”此处用10-20 percent而不是我们平时说的one tenth
3,Pocket,常用意口袋,也可以作“钱,收入,财力”
4,Under my roof意为 “房间”,对于同一概念或者一个简单概念采取不同说法也是文学翻译中常见的
5,If any ,if ever意为“即使有也(极少),若有的话,假如有的话”通常来表示少
我一向没有对于任何问题作高深研究的野心,因之所买的书范围较广,宗教,艺术,文学,社会,哲学,历史,生物,各方面差不多都有一点。
Since I have never entertained ambition for making a profound study of any subject, the books I have acquired cover almost everything- religion , art, literature, sociology, philosophy, history , biology, etc.
要点:
1,since 开头,表微弱的因果
2,entertain,常用意“使快乐,招待款待”,此处表“怀有某种想法,希望,看法(常和idea, hope, thought连用),大师此处又是不走寻常路的节奏,一般的咱们可以用“harbor,cherish,owe”~
3,研究一般都用study~“研究某个事物或课题=make study of sth”,“做高深研究”make a profound study of…
4,此处重点说一下cover的用法,大众意思在此不做赘述,翻译中常见的比较小众的意思有“包括,涉及(本文采用的就是这个意思)”“占地,范围为”“足够,足以支付”,此外还有一个常见词coverage,长得很像对不对~这个coverage 君是名词,也可以作“新闻报道”讲,最常见的意思是“覆盖范围”,比如我们常说的“覆盖率”就是coverage rate.
最多的是各国文学名著的译本,与本国古来的诗文集,别的门类只是些概论等类的入门书而已。
Most of them are Chinese translations of literary works by famous foreign writers and anthologies of Chinese poetry and prose through the ages. The rest, often called an outline or introduction, are merely on rudiments of various subjects.
要点:
1,文学名著“literary works/masterpiece”literary(文学的,精通文学的), literacy(一般强调读写能力) ,前者是形容词而后者是名词,注意不要弄混。
2,Through the ages意为“历来,古往今来”.eg, Through the ages, the structural skill and artistic style of Zhaozhou Brige are widely used as a reference point.(千百年来,赵州桥的结构技巧、艺术风格被广泛地借鉴运用)
我不喜欢向别人或图书馆借书。借来的书,在我好像过不来瘾似的,必要是自己买的才满足。
I never care to borrow books from other people or a library. It seems that books bought can better satisfy my bibliomania than books borrowed.
要点:
1,care to “喜欢”,不要再用like了, be fond of 稍微好一些~
2,“过不来瘾”就是“不能满足我的藏书癖”,此句翻译时将两句融合,译为一个比较句,简洁流畅,值得学习。之前我们也讲过把两句合并合并,整理成一句来译的例子,大家可以对比学习,关键是要抓住分句间的逻辑关系。
这也可谓是一种占有的欲望。买到了几册新书,一册一册地加盖藏书印记,我最感到快悦的是这时候。
You may also attribute this to some sort of desire for personal possessions. Whenever I have some new acquisitions, it always gives me great pleasure and satisfaction to stamp my ex-libris on them one-by-one.
要点:
1,“可谓是…”用了attribute to(归因于),此处转换了主语,这在翻译中,也很常见,在下一篇会重点谈到
2,“买到了几册新书,一册一册地加盖藏书印记,我最感到快悦的是这时候”句中动词较多,遇到这种情况时,首先找主要动词,将不主要的动词降级译为从句或非谓语,或者是介词短语。本句“感到快悦”是主角(主要动词),其他的“买”“加盖”都是跑龙套的阿猫阿狗~
3,“使某人产生某种感情”这里用give引出,大家和上一篇的“generate in sb a feeling/sensation of…”一起记
4,Acquisition 原意为“获得,购得物”在此指代“书籍”,正如之前说的,翻译中常用不同说法来指代同一事物
书籍到了我的手里,我的习惯是先看序文,次看目录。页数不多的往往立刻通读,篇幅大的,只把正文任择一二章节略加翻阅,就插在书架上。除小说外,我少有全体读完的大部的书,只凭了购入当时的记忆,知道某册书是何种性质,其中大概有些什么可取的材料而已。
As soon as a new book comes to hand, I always read the preface first and then the table of contents. If it happens to be a thin one, I often finish it at one sitting. Otherwise, I often browse through one or two chapters or sections before putting it onto my bookshelf. I seldom read a thick book from cover to cover unless it is a novel. By dint of the first impression it made on me at the time of buying, I have a rough idea of what a book is about and what useful materials init are available to me.