自由成就了他
——饒宗頤 Rao Zongyi: Freedom Made the Man

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不久前，他的去世引起了廣泛的報(bào)道，特別是在學(xué)術(shù)界，人們不禁嘆道：最后一位百科全書式的人物走了，一個時(shí)代結(jié)束了。

Not long ago, his death attracted widespread coverage, especially in academia, where people could not help but sigh: the last encyclopedic figure has gone, together with his era.

[2]他是饒宗頤。蹊蹺的是，作為著名的學(xué)者，人們有時(shí)又很難把他歸類于某個學(xué)科，因?yàn)樗婕暗膶W(xué)科和領(lǐng)域?qū)嵲谔珡V了。他曾對自己的學(xué)生說，你們要跟我學(xué)，到頭來會很慘——弄到“無家可歸”2 這里的“無家可歸”顯然是一種比喻，不宜簡單地譯成be homeless and without a place of refuge、get the key of the street、without a roof等，而實(shí)際指的是后面的“沒有了固定學(xué)科”，故不妨譯為out of scholarship。，即沒有了固定學(xué)科?？墒?，現(xiàn)在有了結(jié)論：跨學(xué)術(shù)領(lǐng)域的曠世通才。

[2]Strangely, Mr.Rao Zongyi, famous scholar as he is, may sometimes be hard to classify into certain disciplines since his academic career had extended so broadly.He told his students,“If you want to follow me, you may end up miserably—find yourselves ‘out of scholarship’”.The world, however, has now concluded: he was a generalist of remarkable talent in modern times.

[3]在我看來，饒公所以能夠取得如此成就，全在“自由”二字。

[3]It seems to me that his accomplishments relied on nothing other than“freedom”.

[4]首先是心靈上的自由。1917年他生于廣東潮州的首富之家，卻沒有任何紈绔子弟的習(xí)氣，而是傾心閱讀。剛?cè)氤踔?，發(fā)現(xiàn)老師教的他全已學(xué)過，毫無興趣，于是毅然退了學(xué)，埋頭自家巨大的藏書樓里?？此乒陋?dú)，但他卻在書中徜徉于古往今來，極大滿足了他的求知欲3 “滿足求知欲”，一般可譯成satisfy the thirst for knowledge、quench the thirst for knowledge等，但這里不妨將其變通為stimulated his thirst for knowledge，以更突出其對知識的興趣。?！叭f古不磨意，中流自在心”。日后，他說，自己后來所以能做成點(diǎn)事情4 將此處的動賓結(jié)構(gòu)短語變譯為帶有定語的名詞短語a competent scholar，以更切其意。，就在于沒有繼續(xù)上學(xué)5 “上學(xué)”，通常譯成go to school、attend school、be at school等，但這里根據(jù)其句式，不妨用schooling，同時(shí)將后面的“更因沒有上大學(xué)”譯為括號中的（let alone at a university），以作補(bǔ)充處理。、更因沒有上大學(xué)。

[4]Most free of all was his mind.Born into the richest family in Chaozhou,Guangdong Province of China in 1917,he was free of any naughty child’s bad habits but enamored of reading.Entering junior high school, he found what the teachers taught was nothing newer than the books he had already read at home,which bored him to death.Determinedly,he dropped out of school and buried himself in his family’s huge library.The now-lonely figure wandered through books from ancient to modern times,which greatly stimulated his thirst for knowledge.“My free mind remains as it is despite the abrasion of the ages”, as he later put it,“and my absence of schooling (let alone at a university) has shaped me as a competent scholar”.

[5]在學(xué)術(shù)上，他也毫無學(xué)科的禁忌——從上古到明清，從國學(xué)到西學(xué)，從研究到藝術(shù)……在書林學(xué)海中，他獨(dú)來獨(dú)往，任意馳騁6 “任意馳騁”字面意思be free to gallop、any ride，若譯成roamed willfully / single handedly，又顯重復(fù)，其實(shí)roam即可表明其意。。他去日本發(fā)掘罕見甲骨文，寫出驚世著作；赴印度研究梵文、佛學(xué)，被特聘為學(xué)術(shù)研究員；到法國開拓跨文化的比較，獲得“儒林漢學(xué)特賞”（相當(dāng)于西方漢學(xué)諾貝爾獎）。

[5]Academically, he was not bound by any boundaries—he roamed single handedly from the palaeolithic to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, from Chinese learning to Western culture, from research to artistic activities… In the vast ocean of knowledge, he traveled tens of thousands of miles alone and freely: in Japan he explored rare oracles in writing an outstanding book; in India he studied Sanskrit and Buddhism and was appointed as an invited researcher;in France he developed comparative cross-cultural studies and was rewarded the Special Sinology Prize (known as the Nobel Prize in Sinology).

[6]若以現(xiàn)代學(xué)科而論，饒公的學(xué)術(shù)成就，似可主要納入下述領(lǐng)域：史學(xué)、甲骨學(xué)、考古學(xué)、金石學(xué)、楚辭學(xué)、敦煌學(xué)、哲學(xué)、宗教、詞學(xué)、目錄學(xué)、書畫、音樂等。但他自己并不這樣認(rèn)為，而是一向主張打通學(xué)科，左右逢源；以學(xué)問積淀藝術(shù)，用藝術(shù)滋補(bǔ)學(xué)問。著名的西泠印社，一向秉承藝術(shù)與學(xué)養(yǎng)并舉的傳統(tǒng)，于是推選饒公做社長，非他莫屬7 “非他莫屬”，似可譯成nobody else is worthy except him、he could be the next big thing等，但這里可稍加變通，點(diǎn)明為as its perfect president。。同時(shí)，他還通曉英語、法語、德語、日語、印地語、梵文、阿拉伯語文、巴比倫古楔形文字等。

[6]According to modern disciplines,Mr.Rao’s academic achievements may be classified into the following fields:history, oracle-bone inscriptions, archaeology, epigraphy, songs of the south,studies of the Dunhuang Caves, philosophy, religion, Ci poetry, bibliography,painting and calligraphy, music and so on.However, he himself would disagree since he always promoted an inter-disciplinary approach to integrating resources in research, removing barriers between learning and art so as to mutually benefit each other.The well-known Xiling Seal Engravers’ Society, forever upholding the tradition of endorsing learning and art on an equal footing, selected Mr.Rao as its perfect president.Meanwhile, he was also proficient in English, French,German, Japanese, Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic and ancient Babylon cuneiform.

[7]就性格而言，饒公身上充滿了好奇心、孩童心和自在心8 這三“心”的核心是“自在心”，故不宜并列譯出，而是將其融化在句子中。。他在學(xué)問中尋找樂趣，在玩笑中講究學(xué)問；他少年老成，作文如長者，老來又活潑風(fēng)趣，酷似頑童；他因境而形9 “因境而形”包含了后面“在天為云，在地為水”的內(nèi)容，故可不必譯得太“實(shí)”，如he could become a cloud when in heaven and water on earth等，可統(tǒng)而化之為：He was very open to changes in ambience and progress.，在天為云，在地為水，隨心所欲不逾矩。他不計(jì)功名，卻功成名就。

[7]In terms of personality, Mr.Rao,filled with child-like curiosity, had always followed his own free will.He found fun in learning and cracked jokes with knowledge.He produced mature writings in his childhood, and became light, lively and funny when he got old.He was very open to changes in ambience and progress; in a sense, he never refused whatever his heart desired for the right cause.He couldn’t have cared less about honor and fame, but has been widely recognized for his extraordinary achievements.

[8]在客觀上，還要?dú)w結(jié)于他所處的自由學(xué)術(shù)環(huán)境。1949年，他陰差陽錯10 “陰差陽錯”有多種譯法，如a strange combination of circumstances、by accident、for all the wrong reasons、it’s a rearrangement of yin and yang 等，但此處分解成了accidental和Blessed by God。，因一場大病滯留、定居在了香港，從此躲過了內(nèi)地發(fā)生的一系列政治運(yùn)動和文化浩劫。人算不如天算。

[8]Objectively, he owed much to his free academic environment.In 1949, an accidental but serious illness hampered his journey home and made him a citizen of Hong Kong.Blessed by God, he was forever immune from a series of political turmoils and cultural catastrophes happening on the Chinese Mainland.

[9]當(dāng)年，只有小學(xué)文憑的他，卻受聘于各著名大學(xué)，這恐怕也是當(dāng)今中國教育體制所不能允許的。在這個意義上，他的成功又不是可以簡單復(fù)制的。11 此句譯文的詞序做了較大調(diào)整，即將其提前譯出，而將上句的“當(dāng)今中國教育體制所不能允許的”置后處理，以更加通順、自然。

[9]In those years, with just a primary school certificate, he could be hired by several prestigious universities as a lecturer and professor.It would be extremely difficult for his success story to be simply replicated, as today China’s educational system would hardly permit such a case to happen.

[10]回看中國現(xiàn)代文化史，上一位這樣的學(xué)術(shù)通才，要追溯到在91年前12 此處在譯文中與原文中括弧里的“1927年”互換了位置，才更符合原義，更易表達(dá)，顯出中英文的不同特點(diǎn)。（1927年）去世13 “去世”通常意義上是passed away、died、demised、departed、went aloft、went off等，但這里似乎是“反其義”而譯為in his final year of life，以更宜與“上一位這樣的學(xué)術(shù)通才”相關(guān)聯(lián)和比較。的王國維先生。陳寅恪稱贊他的“自由之思想，獨(dú)立之精神”。兩位大師可謂心犀相通。饒公的百年壽命整是王公的一倍，學(xué)術(shù)成果自然更加豐厚；但在治學(xué)方面，饒公既有“古法”，又有“新意”14 這里沒有按通常意義上“既有……又有……”的句式譯出，而是據(jù)其語境，將其整合為 refreshing ideas on classical scholarship，并將詞序調(diào)整，以更易表述。，實(shí)乃接續(xù)了王公的瀟灑風(fēng)范，并且將其發(fā)揮到了極致，令后人難以企及。

[10]In retrospect, the last such academic talent in modern China’s cultural history can be traced back to 1927 (91 years ago) when Mr.Wang Guowei,in his final year of life, was praised by Chen Yinque for his“freedom of thought and spirit of independence”.The two masters’ hearts beat in common.Surely, Mr.Rao’s academic achievements are far more abundant than Mr.Wang’s, given his life-span was twice as long; in approaching learning, however, Mr.Rao had thoroughly inherited Mr.Wang’s unconventional legacy—constantly refreshing ideas on classical scholarship—and used his talents to the utmost, which will be hard to match for generations to come.