日本人的“送禮”

∷林巍 文／譯

原 文

[1]日本人特別愛送禮，從生育、生日、結(jié)婚、探病、搬家、過節(jié)等等，幾乎從未間斷。日語中的“禮物”寫作“土產(chǎn)”，即各地的特產(chǎn)。這從一個側(cè)面反映了日本人的團體意識；以此來聯(lián)絡人際感情，分享體驗，互表祝愿。

[2]日本人送禮物的意義不在于其價值，而在于其時間、場合和方式。而且，日本人很注重禮物的包裝，因為這代表了對收禮人的尊敬。這與中國人不同；中國人更注重禮物本身的價值。

[3] 在日本時，一次分別之際，主人分別送了我們?nèi)幻咳艘环輳陌b上看是非常貴重的禮物，打開一看，原來是一塊手絹。這一點也不表明他的小氣，因為禮物是在此時此刻給的，而且已在包裝上給與了我們足夠的尊重。

[4] 日本人在送禮物時，總不忘加上一句：“不是什么好東西”，哪怕心理覺得的確是好東西。這一點，倒很像中國人。我在澳大利亞時卻完全不同，他們會把要送禮物的價值如實告訴你；如果是花費時間自做的，那更會把其中的周折講出來，唯其如此，才更顯出對你的尊重。

[5] 送禮的數(shù)目，日本人喜歡的是單數(shù)，這與中國人“成雙成對”的文化又大不相同。但也有相同之處：中國人一般不送梨，因為其有“分離”之意；日語中的“梨”發(fā)音與“無し”相同，為“沒有”之意。再有，“四”數(shù)在日本人的送禮中也是避忌的。

[6] 總之，日本人的送禮文化有著其濃郁的特色；既有別于中國更不同于西方，而是其獨特土壤的產(chǎn)物。

譯 文

[1] The Japanese love presenting gifts on various occasions, such as child bearing, birthday, marriage, visiting a patient, moving, festivals … the list goes on. “Miyage”written in Japanese as “gift”, referring to specialties in various locations. Presenting gifts partially re flects Japanese group consciousness, in the way affections can be assured,experience shared and good wishes conveyed.

[2] In Japanese gift presenting, the value of the gift is not as important as its timing, the occasion and the ways of presenting it, for they are carrying much weight of the presenter. Also, packing is much valued by the Japanese as showing respect to the recipient. In contrast,the Chinese probably regard the gift itself as more valuable.

[3] In Japan, in a farewell meeting, the Japanese host presented glamorous gifts to three of us. When we opened the gorgeous packing, only a plain handkerchief appeared, however, given the timing, occasion and packing, the gifts actually carried enough weight and generosity to the guests.

[4] Gift-presenting is normally accompanied by the Japanese way of depreciation—“It’s a mere tri fle”, although it may be worth a lot in their minds. In some way, this is very much like the Chinese, but nothing like westerners, such as Australians.When we were in Australia, people gave us presents, and they don’t mind revealing the values of the gifts and the time they spent on them, just to show their sincerity.

[5] Unlike Chinese, who will always present something in pairs, the Japanese prefer odd numbers. Nevertheless, there is something in common between Japanese and Chinese, such as avoiding the same character “梨” (li)，which means “departing” in Chinese and “nothing” in Japanese respectively; “四”(si / shi) is homonymic to “死”(si / shi), literally means “death” both in Chinese and Japanese, and so on.

[6] In short, the Japanese gift-presenting culture is deeply rooted in its unique soil, and distinguishingly different from both Chinese and western cultures.

譯 注

在[1]中，“……特別愛送禮，從生育、生日、結(jié)婚、探病、搬家、過節(jié)等等”, 意為喜歡在……場合送禮，故 on ... occasions 置前，之后分述；“幾乎從未間斷”，此處沒用almost never ends / on a constant basis 等，而用了... the list goes on,也不失為一種表述方式。日文的“土產(chǎn)”，基本意思為“各地的特產(chǎn)”，其實也不只是特產(chǎn)，有“特定含義的禮物”之意；“團體意識”，英文不妨為group consciousness；“聯(lián)絡人際感情，分享體驗，互表祝愿”，顯出中文對稱、工整的特點，譯為英文時可作適當變通：...in a way affections can be reassured, experience shared and good wishes conveyed. 英國著名哲學家培根(Francis Bacon) 曾寫過類似的句子：Reading makes a full man; conference a ready man;and writing an exact man (讀書使人充實，討論使人機智，筆記使人準確)。

在[2]中，“送禮物的意義”, 這里的“意義”不一定是meaning, 而實為value；“……不在于其價值，而在于其時間、場合和方式”, 可用比較句式...is not as... as... ;“很注重禮物的包裝”，亦不一定pay much attention to packing, 而用了packing is much valued by... , 以更顯其意。

在[3]中，“打開一看，原來是一塊手絹”，When we opened..., a plain handkerchief appeared, 是對當時進行狀態(tài)的一種描述；“這一點也不表明他的小氣，因為禮物是在此時此刻給的，而且已在包裝上給與了我們足夠的尊重”，不必逐字譯出（如“小氣”等），而需重點把握其意，即突出“時機”和“尊重”, 而此處的“尊重”不是一般意義上的respect，revere, esteem 等，而是表達其中的“分量”，故不妨為carry the weight, 整句為 Given the timing, occasion and packing, the gifts actually carried enough weight and generosity to...。

在[4]中，口語的“不是什么好東西”，而英文又不一定為 not goodthing, 而可為 nothing valuable, 但有略顯正式，故不妨為 It’s a mere tri fle.“倒很像中國人”, 若譯為 this is analogous to the Chinese mind, 頗有書卷氣，故可簡化為this is very much like the Chinese.“澳大利亞……不同，……唯其如此，才更顯出對你的尊重”，其中的“澳大利亞”譯為了Australians (澳大利亞人)，并在其前增加了but nothing like westerners, such as... 以顯出兩種文化間的對比；“尊敬”，此處也未用respect, 而是 sincerity。

在[5]中，“日本人喜歡的是單數(shù)，這與中國人‘成雙成對’的文化又大不相同”, 此句的翻譯采用了倒裝句，即將unlike Chinese who will always present something in pairs提前，而其后的中日文詞匯的“相同之處”，則不妨標示出彼此的漢字，并加以注音，以更明確。

在[6] 中，可將其詞序、結(jié)構(gòu)調(diào)節(jié)、整合，即突出“其獨特土壤的產(chǎn)物”，而“產(chǎn)物”亦未必按字面意思譯出，可以動詞處理 ...is deeply rooted in its unique soil,而將“既有別于中國更不同于西方”置后處理——distinguishingly different from both Chinese and western cultures，以更符合英文的表述方式。