【原文】
[1] The Olympic Winter Games are a major international sporting event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. [2] The Winter Games have evolved since their inception. Sports and disciplines have been added and some of them, such as Alpine skiing, luge, short track speed skating, freestyle skiing, skeleton, and snowboarding, have earned a permanent spot on the Olympic programme. [3] Some others, including curling and bobsleigh, have been discontinued and later reintroduced. [4]Canadian champion rower Silken Laumann once said, “It’s important to know that at the end of the day it’s not the medals you remember. What you remember is the process—what you learn about yourself by challenging yourself, the experiences you share with other people, the honesty the training demands—those are things nobody can take away from you whether you fi nish twelfth or you’re an Olympic Champion.”
【點(diǎn)評(píng)】
奧運(yùn)會(huì)(包括冬夏兩季)是最著名的國(guó)際運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì),其意義和影響其實(shí)已經(jīng)超過(guò)體育賽事本身,這使得有關(guān)內(nèi)容的閱讀和翻譯別有意義。
[1]中,有 international sporting event、snow and ice、once every four years等要素,譯文要考慮如何將其合理、通順地組織起來(lái),參賽譯文中較為典型的,如“冬奧會(huì)是每四年舉辦一次的冰雪運(yùn)動(dòng)的重要國(guó)際體育賽事”“奧林匹克冬季運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)是每四年舉辦一次的在雪和冰上進(jìn)行的國(guó)際主要賽事”等,其中似乎具備所有要素,但讀起來(lái)過(guò)于冗長(zhǎng),難以通順,主要問(wèn)題出在定語(yǔ)。眾所周知,英文多長(zhǎng)句,中文善短句,特別是對(duì)于定語(yǔ)的處理,要注意“分化”。如:The police are concerned for the safety of the 12-yearold boy who has been missing for three days. 若譯成“警方對(duì)那個(gè)已失蹤3天的12歲男孩的安全感到擔(dān)憂。”,便會(huì)讀來(lái)不暢,不如根據(jù)中文表述習(xí)慣,將其分解、調(diào)整為“那個(gè)12歲的男孩失蹤3天了,警方對(duì)他的安全感到擔(dān)憂?!?。就本句而言,其語(yǔ)法結(jié)構(gòu)為:
后面的held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice均為定語(yǔ),不宜刻板地按原文語(yǔ)序排列翻譯,而不妨將其變通為:冬季奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)是一項(xiàng)重要的國(guó)際冰雪體育賽事,每四年舉行一次。同時(shí),又要注意另一個(gè)極端,如“冬季奧運(yùn)會(huì)是一個(gè)重要的國(guó)際運(yùn)動(dòng)賽事,并于每四年舉辦一次,以在冰雪上運(yùn)動(dòng)為主”“冬奧會(huì)每隔四年舉行一次,它是國(guó)際上的體育盛事,是冰與雪上的體育盛會(huì)”等,顯然又過(guò)于零碎,且多贅語(yǔ)(如下畫(huà)線部分)。
此外,應(yīng)注意的是,專(zhuān)業(yè)名詞(如The Olympic Winter Games)第一次出現(xiàn)時(shí)應(yīng)以正規(guī)的全稱(chēng)形式(如“冬季奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)”,而不是“冬奧運(yùn)”),以后再次出現(xiàn)可簡(jiǎn)略。
[2]中,since their inception是時(shí)間狀語(yǔ),以中文習(xí)慣,一般放在前面。對(duì)于evolved,有參賽者譯成了“演化”“進(jìn)化”“推斷”等,顯然是拘于詞典的解釋?zhuān)鴮?shí)際是指一種“發(fā)展變化”;earned a permanent spot,許多人譯成了“永久的位置”“不變的項(xiàng)目”等,其實(shí),這里應(yīng)根據(jù)體育賽事來(lái)理解,如:Wayne Rooney smashed home a penalty to spark a second-half comeback against Arsenal, and says he’ll now take the role of permanent spot kick taker.(魯尼下半場(chǎng)打進(jìn)點(diǎn)球,點(diǎn)燃了主隊(duì)的反攻浪潮,最終逆轉(zhuǎn)阿森納;現(xiàn)在他將成為曼聯(lián)正式的點(diǎn)球手。)特別是結(jié)合后面的the Olympic programme,便不難看出,這里指的是“冬奧運(yùn)的永久項(xiàng)目”,故此句不妨譯為:自建立之日起,冬奧運(yùn)便不斷發(fā)展變化,比賽項(xiàng)目不斷增加,其中的一些,如高山滑雪、雪橇、短道速滑、自由式滑雪、鋼架雪車(chē)、單板滑雪等,成為冬奧運(yùn)的永久項(xiàng)目。
補(bǔ)充說(shuō)明一點(diǎn),[2]中的sports and disciplines有不少參賽者翻錯(cuò),多數(shù)錯(cuò)在把這里的disciplines理解成了“規(guī)則”。請(qǐng)看這段摘自維基百科Olympic sports條目的英文解釋?zhuān)荒苛巳唬篢he International Olympic Committee (IOC) establishes a hierarchy of sports, disciplines, and events.According to this hierarchy, the Olympic sports can be subdivided into multiple disciplines, which are often assumed to be distinct sports. Examples include swimming and water polo (disciplines of aquatics, represented by the International Swimming Federation), or figure skating and speed skating (disciplines of skating, represented by the International Skating Union). In their turn, disciplinescan be subdivided into events, for which medals are actually awarded. 故而,這里直接譯作“比賽項(xiàng)目”即可。
[3]中,將discontinued and later reintroduced譯成“時(shí)斷時(shí)續(xù)”“被停賽后又重新引進(jìn)了”“它們?cè)欢缺恢兄贡荣?,現(xiàn)今又重新被納入比賽項(xiàng)目”等,嚴(yán)格講,都有不確切之處;同時(shí),這里還應(yīng)體現(xiàn)出“have been… and later”的先后順序。故此句不妨譯為:有些項(xiàng)目,如冰壺和雪車(chē),曾一度取消,后又恢復(fù)。
[4]中,許多參賽者似乎被It’s important to know所困擾,如譯成“重要的是要知道”“知道這些是非常重要的”等,特別是其中的important,是否一定要譯成“重要的”?其實(shí)未必,例如:①I(mǎi)t’s important to know that the three days you spend checking stats add up, and you end up not getting much done.(要知道花費(fèi)三天時(shí)間查閱數(shù)據(jù)會(huì)是什么代價(jià)!到頭來(lái)你會(huì)覺(jué)得得不償失。)②Even if you hire someone else to handle the low-level implementation, it’s important to know what you’re getting into.(即使你雇人處理這些低端事務(wù),你也要對(duì)此有所掌控。)可見(jiàn)其意在強(qiáng)調(diào),可以用相關(guān)詞語(yǔ)和標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)體現(xiàn),而“須知”即可;但若譯成“要知道,其實(shí)到最后重要的不是你記得的那些獎(jiǎng)牌,而是你記住的那些過(guò)程”則意思又有些變化,成了“你應(yīng)當(dāng)記住……”的教誨口吻。
對(duì)at the end of the day,若譯成“在最后一天”“在一天末了”“在結(jié)束的時(shí)候”“在賽程的最后一天”等,顯然過(guò)于拘泥,其實(shí)該短語(yǔ)為“最終”“最后”之意,如:①At the end of the day, he’ll still have to make his own decision.(最終,他畢竟還得自己拿主意。)②So we cannot cheat death because at the end of the day death always wins.(所以,我們并不能愚弄死亡,因?yàn)樵谏谋M頭,死亡會(huì)戰(zhàn)勝一切。)
對(duì)the honesty the training demands中的honesty,許多人譯成了“(培訓(xùn)所要求的)誠(chéng)實(shí)”,似乎沒(méi)錯(cuò),但讀來(lái)別扭;其實(shí)該詞(包括其形容詞honest)有多種含義,如by honest labor(下笨功夫)、an honest countryside(地道的鄉(xiāng)村)、honest work(認(rèn)真工作)等,所以這里也不妨相應(yīng)做些變通。
而nobody can take away from you,很容易譯成“沒(méi)人從你這里奪走”“這些東西都是沒(méi)人能夠從你身上拿走的”等,都過(guò)于字面化,這里可更自然地譯為“非你莫屬”。
后面的twelfth,參賽者大都譯成“第十二”“第十二名”,其實(shí)這是一個(gè)籠統(tǒng)的說(shuō)法,因第十名之后的成績(jī)可謂“出局”了,當(dāng)然也不是“最后一名”,故可不必譯得那么實(shí)。就句式而言,許多人按原文譯成了兩句,如“……不是你所記住的獎(jiǎng)牌。你所記住的是……”“你記住的不是你的獎(jiǎng)牌。你記住的是……”等,其實(shí)這里可以打通處理。類(lèi)似的,如美國(guó)前總統(tǒng)尼克松在1972年訪華時(shí)說(shuō)過(guò)一句名言:What we say here will not be long remembered. What we do here will change the world. 這看似兩句話,在中文里實(shí)為一句,宜用“不是……,而是……”的句式,譯為:我們?cè)谶@里所講的話人們不會(huì)長(zhǎng)久記住,我們?cè)谶@里所做的事卻能改變世界。這樣處理更加自然、通順。
故此,該段不妨譯為:加拿大賽艇冠軍西爾肯·勞曼曾說(shuō):“須知,最終留在記憶中的不是你所獲得的獎(jiǎng)牌,而是拼搏奮斗的歷程,其中既有挑戰(zhàn)自我引發(fā)的感悟、與他人分享的經(jīng)歷,也有認(rèn)真艱苦的訓(xùn)練——這些才非你莫屬,無(wú)論你是獲得奧運(yùn)冠軍還是榜上無(wú)名?!?/p>
體育是生活的一部分,其中蘊(yùn)含了對(duì)生命的磨煉與體驗(yàn);而其相關(guān)的論述,盡管短小,亦體現(xiàn)出翻譯中某些普遍性問(wèn)題。 □
(點(diǎn)評(píng)人:林巍,暨南大學(xué)翻譯學(xué)院特聘教授)
【優(yōu)勝者】
張軍鵬(@Peter) @Miss鄭