例4:冤家宜解不宜结。[16]

译文:

(1)If enmity is not settled amicably there is no end to it.①

(2)Better to get rid of an enmity than keep it alive.②

(3)It’s better to end a feud than to start another.[17]

(4)The knot of hatred should be opened，not tightened.[18]

例4的译文(1)和(2)为意译，是有道词典中的译文。杨宪益和戴乃迭(Gladys Yang)翻译的译文(3)与原文信息有些出入:译文涉及两桩仇怨“a feud”和“another”，而原文讲的是一桩仇怨，这一桩仇怨最好是了结了，不要越结越深。这句话其实并不好翻译，关键在于如何正确理解原文，找出隐含的信息，将其清晰化。原文是一个暗喻，把一对冤家比喻成一个结，结怨和解怨就好像打结和解开绳结。再来看看沙博理(Sidney Shapiro)翻译的译文(4)，笔者认为他对原文的理解最为透彻。沙博理在译文中巧妙地加入原文的隐含信息“结(the knot)”，补全了逻辑上的断层，化虚为实，形神兼备。

例5:专家走的时候留下话，叫四女爹娘再不要生育了，说李震宇的兔唇，对这个家庭的遗传基因已经是个严重警告，继续生养，只能是自酿苦果，后果不堪。[19]

译文:

(1)reap as one has sown③

(2)pay the piper④

(3)eat one’s own bitter fruit⑤

(4)When the expert was about to depart，he informed Fourth Girl’s parents that they should have no further said that Universe Shocking Li’s hare lip represented a serious augury about the family’s genes.If they kept on having children，they were destined tosavour the bitter fruit from the tree that they themselves had plantedand the consequences would be unimaginably catastrophic.[20]

“自酿苦果”是作者综合“自食苦果”和“自酿苦酒”而来，再加上更常用的“自食其果”，这几个成语意思都差不多。原文有一点逻辑不通，但不影响读者理解。如果原文是“自酿苦酒”，那就比较好翻译:“savour the bitter wine brewed by oneself”。但是“自食其果”或者“自食苦果”反倒不好翻译。例5的译文(1)和(2)为归化翻译，也是有道词典中的译文。译文(2)中的“pay the piper”，给中国文化增添了并不常见的风笛手。译文(3)属于直译，但与原文信息有些出入:“savour one’s own bitter fruit”，这个“苦果”是从哪里来？是买来的吗？来看看译文(4)就好理解了。对原文比较合理的解释是:一个人辛辛苦苦地种下了一棵树，但没想到这棵树结出来的却是苦果，他又不得不吃这棵树上结出来的苦果。由此可见，只有原文理解到位，翻译出来的译文才会自然。

例6:盖士人读书，第一要有志，第二要有识，第三要有恒。有志则断不甘为下流；有识则知学问无尽，不敢以一得自足，如河伯之观海，如井蛙之窥天，皆无识者也；有恒则断无不成之事。[21]

译文:When a scholar peruses the books，first and foremost he should be ambitious，secondly he should be sapient and thirdly ambitious man is never willing to remain sapient man knows thatthe sea of knowledge is therefore does he dare to feel self-satisfied with his accidental academic River God held that all the beauty throughout the world gathered along the two banks of the river and the frog at the bottom of the well believed that the sky was only as big as the mouth of the well-the two were both man who perseveres can accomplish anything.(贺龙平译)

“学问无尽”，看似简单，其实不好翻译。如果想当然译成“knowledge/learning is endless/boundless”之类，译文别扭:“knowledge”和“learning”是不可数名词，无所谓边界或者界限。正确翻译，关键在于理解。“学问无尽”，意思就是“学问的海洋无穷无尽”，或者说“学海无涯”。“学海无涯”很好翻译:The sea of knowledge is boundless。问题在于译者能不能跨越思维上的断层，在理解时想到隐含的信息“海洋”，化虚为实。

汉语的哲学背景是儒、道、佛的悟性。悟性思维借助形象、灵感、联想、想象等思维形式，把感性材料组织起来，使之构成有条理的知识，具有直觉性、形象性、主观性、整体性、模糊性等特征，悟性往往导致语言中过度的模糊化，语段多以“形散而神聚”为特征，汉语重悟性的突出表现是意合。[22]英语的哲学背景是古希腊亚里士多德的严密的形式逻辑，即理性思维。理性思维借助逻辑，运用概念、判断、推理等思维形式，探索、揭示事物的本质和内在联系，具有逻辑性、抽象性、客观性、分析性、确定性等特征。[23]由“直觉性”到“逻辑性”，由“主观性”到“客观性”，由“整体性”到“分析性”，由“模糊性”到“确定性”，译者需要对原文无其词但有其意的内容进行补偿，这也就是曹明伦所说的“隐性深度翻译”[24]，也只有将语意逻辑补充完整，才能达到乔治·斯坦纳(George Steiner)所说的“形式上和实质上的平衡”。[25]

文章来源：《文学教育》 网址: http://www.wxjybjb.cn/qikandaodu/2021/0627/1313.html