翻譯擂臺（第17期）

【原文】

[1]沈從文在上海中國公學教書時，對女學生張兆和情有獨鐘，于是開始不斷給她寫情書。張兆和出身江南名門，人又漂亮，身后不乏追求者。[2]她覺得老師追學生，很“不正經(jīng)”，于是告到了校長胡適那里。[3]胡適笑著對她說：“這有什么關系？他又沒結(jié)婚?！睆堈缀蜔o言以對。[4]臨走，校長對學生說：“我知道沈從文頑固地愛你！”[5]經(jīng)過沈從文四年的不懈努力，這對師生終成伉儷。這也成為中國文壇的一段佳話。

【點評】

沈從文，中國著名的小說家和文物學家；雖學歷不高，但才情很高。他的《邊城》自然、纏綿、細膩，幾近獲得諾貝爾文學獎。他與張兆和的戀情與婚姻，歷來為人們所樂道。

[1]中，中國公學于1906年4月10日在上海開學，1912年中華民國成立后又得到了孫中山、黃興、宋教仁等的支持，曾改名為民國大學、中國大學，又有北京中國公學、重慶中國公學等，故根據(jù)其性質(zhì)，“上海中國公學”不妨譯為the Chinese National University （Shanghai）。

對“情有獨鐘”，參賽者有各種譯法，如fell in love with her、gave/show special preference/favor to （her）、had a crush on her、had a soft spot for her等，這里不妨稍加解析。fall in love with sb.一般加上at first sight指一見鐘情。preference的本義為a predisposition in favor of something，多指物，如：①As a student of high school, she gave special preference to the subject of physics.（她上中學時，特別喜歡物理課。）②中國古代文人對酒情有獨鐘，宋代女詞人李清照與酒也有很密切的關系。（Ancient Chinese literati showed preference to wine, including female poet Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty.）crush on sb.本義為temporary love of an adolescent，多用于年輕人之間帶有沖動的戀愛，如：Every girl on the campus has a crush on those handsome boys.（校園里的每個女孩都有自己迷戀的瀟灑帥哥。）而have a soft spot for亦多指事物，如：Children usually have a soft spot for sweeties.（兒童一般喜歡吃糖果。）即便指人，一般也是泛指，如：He has a soft spot for pretty girls.（他見了漂亮女孩兒就走不動道了。）故這些用在此處都不很恰當。

就單相思而言，carry a torch for倒是可以考慮，其義為“to be in love with sb., especially sb. who does not love you in return”，但又不完全符合當時情景（因張當時只是礙于師生關系）；相比而言，affection更為恰當，其本義是“a positive feeling of liking; a feeling of liking or caring”，而affection與love的關系是：Love is a special affection for a man or a woman, which is stronger than that for any other person.（愛情是對某個男人或女人比對其他任何人都更為強烈的特殊好感。）

對于“名門”，有的參賽者用了blue blood，該詞指“a member of the aristocracy; from a royal or noble family”，即歐洲的貴族，似不大符合國情。silver spoon in the mouth可以考慮，如：She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and has never done a day’s hard work in her life.（她出生于富貴人家，一生中從未做過一天苦活兒。）更多的參賽者用了renowned ancestry、legendary/prominent/famous/prestige family等，似都可以接受。還有一詞無人問津——estate，指較高的社會地位，如：The new medicare reform appeals to people of estate.（新的醫(yī)療保險改革受到上流社會的歡迎。）至于“追求者”，有的參賽者用了suitor，其義為a man who wants to marry a particular woman，即“求婚者”，似太早了些；而admirer又太有距離感，該詞釋義為“If you are an admirer of someone, you like and respect them or their work very much”，如：She is an admirer of his paintings.（她是他畫作的粉絲。）其中未必有情愛。此處更確切的，應為wooer、hunter、quester、pursuer等。

故[1]不妨譯為：While teaching at the Chinese National University (Shanghai),Mr. Shen Congwen reserved a special affection for a female student, Zhang Zhaohe, whose family was of a high estate in the south of the Yangtze River, and her beauty had attracted quite a number of wooers.

[2]中，前文的“于是開始不斷給她寫情書”不妨調(diào)整到這里，以與后文形成因果關系。“情書”，許多人用了love letters、sugar reports等，固然不錯，但在文學作品中更多用的是billet-doux，該詞源于17世紀的法文。

對于“不正經(jīng)”，有的用了misconduct，該詞意為“unacceptable behavior, especially by a professional person”，是分量很重的一個詞，讓人聯(lián)系到某些不軌行為，如：①His certain misconduct to female students has compromised his position as a teacher.（他對女學生的某些不雅舉止，已經(jīng)使他不配再當教師了。）②李醫(yī)生嚴重瀆職的罪名終于被撤銷了。（Dr. Li was finally cleared of serious professional misconduct.）此處更為恰當?shù)?，應為decent，即得體、正派的。

這里的“校長”有人用了headmaster、principal（許多參賽者將該詞與principle 相混淆），此二詞都是中小學校長，而dean是院長、系主任，顯然不合適。確切的應為chancellor、university president、prex、rector等，而在英美體系，現(xiàn)在用的更多的是Vice-Chancellor，例如：①As Vice-Chancellor I warmly welcome you to La Trobe University.（作為本校校長，熱烈歡迎你們光臨拉托貝大學。）②After the president stepped down, he became Vice-Chancellor of a university.（卸任總統(tǒng)后，他去一所大學當了校長。）值得注意的是，Vice-Chancellor現(xiàn)在通常不再是副校長，而是正校長，因Chancellor 通常由社會名流在名譽上擔任，如香港大學的Chancellor由特首擔任，牛津大學的由英國首相擔任等。故此，[2]不妨譯為：Having constantly received billets-doux from Shen, Zhang thought his indecent behavior is not appropriate for a university lecturer, and went to the office of Vice-Chancellor Hu Shi to lodge a complaint.

[3]中，“胡適笑著對她說，‘這有什么關系？他又沒結(jié)婚’”，對其中的“笑”，許多人用了laugh，其實該詞多用于“a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter; People also sometimes laugh when they feel nervous or are being unfriendly”，即頗有不敬之意，故應以smile 為宜：“usually shows pleasure or amusement; People smile when they are pleased or amused, or when they are being friendly”，即多為善意?！斑@有什么關系？”多被譯成“What does it matter?”“It doesn’t matter!”“What’s the matter?”等，固然不錯，但此處不妨“俏皮”一些，如“What is the fuss?”，即“有何大驚小怪”之意，如英語常說的：I don’t know what all the fuss is about.（我不知道為什么要這樣大驚小怪的。）此語雖略重，但with a smile又加以緩和，“對立而統(tǒng)一”。“他又沒結(jié)婚”，許多人譯成了“He is not married yet.”“He is still single.”等，但此處bachelor更準確，因指a man who has never been married，而single只是此時沒有married或無男女朋友；且bachelor一般認為更認真對待婚姻、更準備結(jié)婚（is more serious about marriage and ready to marry），如：He is the most eligible bachelor in Australia.（他是澳大利亞最為搶手的單身漢。）同時，可將兩句分開，以更富情節(jié)：“What is the fuss?” Hu responded with a smile, “Isn’t it pretty normal for a bachelor?” Zhang was quite at a loss for words.

[4]中，“頑固地愛你”，盡顯民國文人用語風格；略帶夸張與幾分調(diào)侃。有的譯成“I know that he is incorrigibly obstinate in loving you.”“On her leaving, Mr. Hu told her that ‘I know Mr. Shen has been loving you stiff l y”等，似可接受，但其語氣可更為舒緩、暢達：At last, professor Hu said: “For all I know, he stubbornly loves you!”

[5]中，“終成伉儷”，參賽者多譯成became husband and wife、this teacher and his student finally got married、they two finally made a couple等，有的還化用了俗語Mr. Shen shall have Ms. Zhang并注明：“The author borrowed the idiom ‘All shall be well, and Jack shall have Jill’ to make the target language more idiomatic.”但英文中為祝福之語，即“愿天下有情人終成眷屬”，此處似不完全吻合。故此，不妨譯為：After four years of unremitting effort, the lecturer finally married his student, leaving a much told tale in the Chinese literary circle.

此段雖短，卻不乏起伏，峰回路轉(zhuǎn)，此韻味在譯文中亦應盡量有所體現(xiàn)。

據(jù)回憶，在[3]中其實還有一段趣聞：原來，沈從文因為追求不到張兆和已經(jīng)跑到胡適那里哭訴過（……于是張兆和無言以對）。這里不妨添譯上去，以求完整：As a matter of fact, Shen had previously visited his boss to grumble about his failure in winning Zhang’s favor. □

【優(yōu)勝者】

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