《醉翁亭记》-- 摘自 （徐英才《英译唐宋八大家散文精选》）
| 醉翁亭记*1 欧阳修 环滁皆山也。其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也*2。山行六七里*3，渐闻水声潺潺，而泄出于两峰之间者，酿泉也*4。峰回路转*5，有亭翼然临于泉上者，醉翁亭也。作亭者谁？山之僧智仙也。名之者谁？太守自谓也。太守与客来饮于此*6，饮少辄醉，而年又最高，故自号曰“醉翁”也。醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也。山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也*7。 若夫日出而林霏开，云归而岩穴暝，晦明变化者，山间之朝暮也。野芳发而幽香，佳木秀而繁阴，风霜高洁，水落而石出者，山间之四时也。朝而往，暮而归，四时之景不同，而乐亦无穷也。 至于负者歌于滁，行者休于树，前者呼，后者应，伛偻提携，往来而不绝者，滁人游也。临溪而渔，溪深而鱼肥；酿泉为酒，泉香而酒冽；山肴野蔌*8，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。宴酣之乐，非丝非竹，射者中*9，弈者胜，觥筹交错，坐起而喧哗者，众宾欢也。苍然白发，颓乎其中者，太守醉也。 已而夕阳在山，人影散乱*10，太守归而宾客从也。树林阴翳，鸣声上下，游人去而禽鸟乐也。然而禽鸟知山林之乐，而不知人之乐；人知从太守游而乐，而不知太守之乐其乐也。醉能同其乐，醒能述其文者，太守也。太守谓谁？庐陵欧阳修也。 The Pavilion of an Old Drunkard Ouyang Xiu The Town of Chu is encircled by hills. However, those in the southwest boast the most fascinating forests and valleys. Yet the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them is Mount Langya. Hiking one to two miles into it, you begin to hear water gurgling, and that gurgling sound will usher you to a natural fountain—the Brewing Spring, from where a stream of water gushes out between two peaks. Rounding the bend and winding along the track, you will see, perched right above the fountain, a pavilion with its roof spreading upward like a big open-winged bird, and that is the Pavilion of an Old Drunkard. Who built it, you may wonder? It is Zhixian, the monk in the mountain! Who named it? The Governor, after his own nickname! Once, the Governor brought his friends here to hobnob. Because he was the most senior and soon got tipsy, he thus referred to himself as “an Old Drunkard”. However, what he is interested in is not to get drunk from the wine, but to get intoxicated with the scenery, for the fun with scenery comes from one’s heart but is enlivened in the cup. When the sun rises, the mist in the forests lifts; when the sky hazes over, the valleys blur. This alternation of brightness and dimness characterizes the mornings and dusks in the hills. When the wild flowers bloom, a faint fragrance permeates; when the sturdy trees flourish, they turn bosky and bowery; when the wind drifts high, frost appears white; when the water recedes, rocks emerge. These shifts typify the four seasons in the hills. And so, the varied scenes of the four seasons you see during your morning visit here or upon your evening home-returning will give you endless pleasure. Therefore, now on this path, which is frequented by all kinds of sightseers from the town, you can see people carrying travel packs and singing; hikers resting under the trees; fellow travelers ahead and those behind calling out to each other; the aged, the infirm, and even the toddlers in arms. The stream is deep, apt to breed fat fish; the water from the fountain is good for brewing aromatic and mellow wine. And now the Governor’s feast is in progress, with dishes of wild game and wild vegetables casually laid out in front. What creates the joyous mood here is not string music, nor flute music, but the moment when all the invited jump up to cheer for a pot-target hitter, or a chess winner, or the vociferous finger-game competitors. Amid them all is the intoxicated silver-haired Governor. Soon the glowing sun sinks toward the hills, slanting and scattering the human shadows. The Governor starts to leave, followed by his guests. The verdant woods are shaded, and the birds, rioting. The retreat of the humans brings cheer to the fowl and birds. Yet the fowl and birds only know the happiness obtained from the hills and woods, but do not understand the humans’ happiness, and the guests only know the happiness of accompanying the Governor, but not that their Governor enjoys his own enjoyments, that is, when drunk, enjoying his guests, and when sober, enjoying writing down his prose. This is the type of Governor he is! And who is he? Ouyang Xiu, a Luling dweller! 翻译注释： 1. “亭”怎么译？用Pavilion 一词来表达中国的“亭子”是不是有点大材小用了？其实并不！因为Pavilion指建筑时可大可小，大则可指有篷顶的音乐厅、舞场、展馆，中则可指公园里供人聚会野餐的棚屋，小则可指花园里的小型装饰建筑（a small, ornamental building in a garden），即“亭子”。 2. 本译文把“环滁皆山也。其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也”译作 The Town of Chu is encircled by hills. However, those in the southwest boast the most fascinating forests and valleys. Yet the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them is Mount Langya. 这里有几个问题值得探讨。 (1) “滁”指的是“滁州城”，因此译作The Town of Chu。 (2) “其西南诸峰，林壑尤美”里的“峰”指的是什么？仅指“山峰”吗？如果仅指“山峰”，那“壑”（山谷）怎么解？山峰上有美丽的树林是可以理解的，山峰上有美丽的“山谷”就说不通了！其实，这个“峰”指的就是“山”。原文在这里避“山”不用，而用“峰”，目的是为了避免重复前一句 “环滁皆山也” 里已经用过的“山”字。 这个“峰”指的是“山”还可以从下一句里看出来。下一句“望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也”里的代词 “之”指的就是前面的“诸峰”，而这些“峰”里“蔚然深秀的是琅琊”。“琅琊”当然是山。既然“琅琊”是山，那么，这正好反过来说明这个代词“之”所替代的前面那些“峰”指的就是“山”。 把这个“峰”理解成“山”，原文开篇三句话 “环滁皆山也。其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也” 就互相有了联系，它们的意思就是“滁州城四面环山，城西南的各个山，树林和山谷特别秀丽，其中远远望去草木繁茂幽深秀丽的那座是琅琊山”。 所以，我们不应该把这个“峰”译成peak。本译文把它译作those，用以指代前面的hills. (3) 另外，“其西南诸峰，林壑尤美”是一个表特性的主谓谓语句，比如“杭州绿茶爽口”，“西湖风景优美”等等，如果仅用“have”把它译成Those in the southwest have the most fascinating forests and valleys，虽然已经译出了“其西南诸峰林壑尤美”这个特性，却因have一词太静态而没有译出那种自豪感。本译文把它译作：However, those in the southwest boast the most fascinating forests and valleys. 用boast一词来表达这种因美而自豪的感觉。 (4) 下面两句都可以用来表达“望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也” ，但本译文认为第二句比较好，因为，英语里一个句子的重点在最后，把Mount Langya放在句子的重要部分--最后，就突出了它。 a. Yet Mount Langya is the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them. b. Yet the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them is Mount Langya. 3. “山行”就是“走山路”，译为to hike。 4. “渐闻水声潺潺，而泄出于两峰之间者，酿泉也”，这里有两个问题值得思考： (1) 既然是“渐闻水声”，那就是先听到“水声”然后才见到“酿泉”，翻译时，这个过程要译出来。本译文用“usher” 来表达这个时间概念，把它译作… and that gurgling sound will usher you to a natural fountain—the Brewing Spring。 (2) “泉”怎样译？是fountain还是spring？这要看你说的“泉”指的是“泉台”还是“泉水”，如果是“泉台”，那就是fountain；如果是“泉水”那就是spring。 5. 本译文把“峰回路转”里的“峰回”译作Rounding the bend，“路转”译作 winding along the track，即“回”了以后还要“转”。 6. Hobnob是个古用词，表示“对饮”、“共饮”的意思。因为《醉翁亭记》是中国古代散文，用在这里无妨。 7. “醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也。山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也”很好理解，但并不好译，特别是其中的“寓之酒”在英语里意思很难捉摸。本译文把这两个句子合二为一译作However, what he is interested in is not to get drunk from the wine, but to get intoxicated with the scenery, for the fun with scenery comes from one’s heart but is enlivened in the cup. 这里的intoxicated是个双关语，既有因酒而“醉”，也有“陶醉”的意思。 8. 这里的game 不是“游戏”或者“比赛”的意思，而是指“猎物”，因此，dishes of wild game and wild vegetables就是“山肴野蔌”。 9. “射中者”的“射”是指古代酒戏“投壶”，众人向酒罐掷物为戏。a pot-target hitter就是“罐子目标（灌口）的击中者”即“投入了罐内的人”。 10. “人影散乱”译为slanting and scattering the human shadows，slant这里是动词，意思是“斜斜地把影子投在…”，scatter也是动词，意思是“把…..分散开”。 英译文摘自 （徐英才《英译唐宋八大家散文精选》） |
