要想翻译好，先要人品好

读者君，

您好。

我是今天广东英语新闻栏目公众号的撰稿人，同事们都管我叫交哥；我之前也写过几篇文章，分享了我的一些有用没用的翻译经验。有兴趣的读者可以浏览文末的链接。

前些天看了小林公众号上的一篇文章，标题是“要想摄影好，先要人品好”，我当时就觉得很有意思，就想仿写一篇。

人品一：慎独。翻译的门槛其实很低，墙上一块砖头砸下来，砸中的很多人都可能是英语八级的；这就要求每个译者都要严肃认真地对待自己的作品，而不是随便就制造文字垃圾出来；而只有严格要求自己，精益求精，才有提高的前提。有时候我接的稿件价格不一，甚至是免费，可当决心要做的时候，从来没有因为价格便宜而随便做；在这个行当里呆久了，你自然很珍惜你的羽毛。遇到一些重要的稿件，在翻完以后，如果时间允许的话，我都会先让译文躺上一段时间，然后再捡起来看，看里面还有没有字句不是那么舒服的地方。

人品二：心灵美。其实翻译每一段话，换不同的译者，甚至是同一个译者在不同的阶段，译出来的东西都可能不一样。因为翻译本质是一种再创作。心灵美就体现在你有没有从读者的角度考虑问题。

我举一个例子，是我参加韩素音翻译大赛的稿子，开篇有一句话：“传统村落是指拥有物质形态和非物质形态文化遗产，具有较高的历史、文化、科学、艺术、社会、经济价值的村落。”我的译文如下：A traditional village, also known as an ancient village, is a clustered human settlement that enjoys both tangible and intangible cultural heritages. It is in fact an invaluable asset in helping us understand an ancient society: its history, culture, societal structure, economic practice, and a developmental stage in its science and art.

这里面有两个有意思的点，首先 a clustered human settlement 是原文没有，而我主动加入的，我很坚持，我认为原文写得不好，英文这个信息点加入以后能提升原文；其次就是“具有较高的历史、文化、科学、艺术、社会、经济价值的村落”，长长的修饰语，在英文处理中肯定要变，要不然会让读者特别不舒服。

人品三：果敢。在文字的王国里，每一个译员都是国王（女皇），无时无刻不在做决定。为什么用这个词，而不用那个词？将句子结构倒置过来有什么好处？我自己在翻译和审校的过程中，发现对长句子的处理就是对译员果敢能力的试金石。以前在亚运会的时候一位领导曾经说过一句话，“领导一犯傻，我就傻干”，这句话给我印象非常深刻；在你的专业领域，稿子交到了你的手上，你已经退无可退，可能稿子的原文质量就有问题，或者表述不清楚，可你不能傻干，而是要勇敢地出手把原文想要表达的意思翻译出来。

人品四：责任心。这层道理不言而喻，不详谈。

人品五：承认自己的不懂。以前在学翻译的时候，老师跟我们说，好的翻译应该 know anything of something and something of anything， 即知识面既要专，也要杂。我还记得当时初到亚组委时候工作时的狼狈，因为自己修改完的稿件反馈到其他业务部门总会被质疑，“不懂瞎改”。电视转播、反兴奋剂与检验检疫是三个有代表性的领域，有很多专门的术语。自己就不服气，阅读了大量英文原版的材料，问各自行业里的专家，后来自己翻出来的材料就能被顺利通过。现在自己做稿件翻译的时候，还是会很勤快地查阅资料，字典或是上网。有时候我甚至觉得翻译大部分是体力活，而弄懂文字背后真正的意思才是翻译的趣味所在。

翻译是一种孤独的修行。您可能对这个行当不太了解，没关系，只要您知道我做翻译能自娱自乐就好！一乐！

祝好！希望这篇小文能给你带来思考与启发。您的点赞与转发对我们很重要。谢谢您，也祝您每天进步一点点。

以下是我在2015年参加韩素音全国翻译大赛的作品，最后我是获得了优秀奖。我记得当初做这篇稿件翻译的时候着实费了很大气力。为了怕您阅读的时候觉得闷，我挑了一些自己拍的客家民居照片，是我2015年在梅州大埔县百侯村拍的，希望您喜欢。

原文：保护古村落就是保护“根性文化”  

传统村落是指拥有物质形态和非物质形态文化遗产，具有较高的历史、文化、科学、艺术、社会、经济价值的村落。但近年来，随着城镇化快速推进，以传统村落为代表的传统文化正在淡化，乃至消失。对传统村落历史建筑进行保护性抢救，并对传统街巷和周边环境进行整治，可防止传统村落无人化、空心化。  

古村落是历史文化遗存的特有形式之一，是地方历史经济发展水平的象征和民俗文化的集中代表。古村落文化是传统文化的重要组成部分，它直接体现出中华姓氏的血缘文化、聚族文化、伦理观念、祖宗崇拜、典章制度、堪舆风水、建筑艺术、地域特色等。  

古村落是传统耕读文化和农业经济的标志，在当前城市化巨大浪潮的冲击之下，古村落不可避免地被急功近利所觊觎和包围。之所以强调保护古村落，不是为了复古，更不是为了倡导过去的宗族居住生活模式，而是为了了解和保留一种久远的文明传统，最终是为了体现现代人的一份历史文化责任感。  

古村落与其说是老建筑，倒不如说是一座座承载了历史变迁的活建筑文化遗产，任凭世事变迁，斗转星移，古村落依然岿然不动，用无比顽强的生命力向人们诉说着村落的沧桑变迁，尽管曾经酷暑寒冬，风雪雨霜，但是古老的身躯依然支撑着生命的张力，和生生不息的人并肩生存，从这点上说，沧桑的古村落也是一种无形的精神安慰。在城市进入现代化的今天，对待古村落的态度也就是我们对待文化的态度。一座古村落的被改造或者消失，也许很多人没有感觉出丢了什么，但是，历史遗产少了一座古老的古村落，就少了些历史文化痕迹，就少了对历史文化的触摸感，也就很容易遗忘历史，遗忘了历史，很难谈文化延承，同时失去的还有附加在古村落上的文化魂灵。看一个地方有没有文化底蕴，有没有文化割裂感，不仅要看辉煌灿烂的文物遗留，还可以从一座座古村落上感受出来，从古村落高大的厅堂、精致的雕饰、上等的用材，古朴浑厚、巧夺天工的建筑造型上感受出来。

台湾作家龙应台曾写过一篇和大树保护有关的文章：一条计划中的道路要穿过一位老人家门口，要砍倒一株老樟树。树小的时候，老人家还是孩子；现在，她人老了，树也大了。如果树能留下，老太太愿意把自己的一部分房子捐出来，经过协调，工程部门同意留树。龙应台感慨道:“人们承认了：树，才是一个地方里真正的原住民，驱赶原住民，你是要三思而行的；不得不挪动时，你是要深刻道歉的。”对于古村落，不得不改造和推倒时，同样需要三思而行。   

英文译文

To protect ancient villages as an effective way to protect cultural roots

A traditional village, also known as an ancient village, is a clustered human settlement that enjoys both tangible and intangible cultural heritages. It is in fact an invaluable asset in helping us understand an ancient society: its history, culture, societal structure, economic practice, and a developmental stage in its science and art. However, in recent years, owing to rapid urbanization, these ancient villages and the culture they represent have gradually gone out of focus and finally slipped our memory. It is therefore imperative that measures be put in place to protect and rescue the historic buildings in these villages, renovate the village streets, and improve their environment so as to prevent these traditional villages from becoming totally uninhabitable and even bare.

Being a specific form of historical and cultural relics, an ancient village embodies the folk culture of a local community and reflects the level of its economic development during a particular period of time. And as an important part of Chinese traditional culture in general, these ancient villages are also direct manifestations of consanguinity and tribal culture at one time, where kinsfolk who shared the same family name dwelt together in one place, and as a consequence their villages showcased their ethical ideas, ancestral worship custom, institutional system, popular belief in geomancy or feng shui, architectural art, and other regional characteristics.

The impact of current urbanization drive is felt most keenly in ancient villages. As a symbol of ancient farming-and-studying culture with a dominant agricultural economy, ancient villages are now held hostage by the anxiety and covetousness for instant benefit and quick success. The proposal to protect ancient villages is not about a nostalgic sentiment in favor of a return to the old ways, nor is it our advocacy of the outdated lifestyle of a patriarchal clan. It is rather an effective way to understand and preserve a time-honored civilization. It is ultimately a social and historical responsibility that we, as modern people, must shoulder and cannot shirk.

Ancient villages, rather than merely clusters of old buildings, are in truth living architectural legacies that have survived the ups and downs of time. Regardless of centuries of harsh weather conditions and countless vicissitudes of life, these age-old and weather-worn villages are still standing firm and proud, bursting with enormous potency and potential for revitalization. Their enduring attributes and survival stories have always been a spiritual comfort to generations of local people.

Today most of our cities have entered the era of modernization, and the way we modern people deal with ancient villages actually indicates the attitude we adopt towards our own culture. Perhaps not very many people will be left with a sense of loss when a particular old village has been reconstructed beyond recognition or completely demolished. However, the wound might be too deep to heal. When an ancient village ceases to exist, a particular historical and cultural fragment is then lost forever. When we are no longer in touch with our past, we may easily forget our history, and it is in vain for a nation with a forgotten history to talk about cultural continuity. The quintessence of a culture and its line of uninterrupted development associated with a particular locality can indeed be seen in impressive cultural relics handed down from a past era; but we can also feel the innermost “cultural soul” in these ancient villages, in its vast village halls, elaborate decorative carvings, first-class materials used in construction, simple yet elegant architectural design and superb craftsmanship.

Lung Ying-tai, an essayist and cultural critic from Taiwan, once wrote an article about an old camphor tree. The story goes that there was a plan to build a new road that would go past the front door of an old lady’s house; and a camphor tree, which was very much in the way, had to be chopped down. But the old lady had a great affection for the tree: it was a small tree when she was a little girl; and now it was a very big tree and she was an old woman. In order to save the tree from being cut down, the old lady decided to sacrifice part of her house in exchange for the tree. After serious negotiations, the construction team finally agreed to leave the old camphor tree alone. Lung Ying-tai commented not without a sigh, “People have eventually come to acknowledge that trees too are like indigenous people. You must think thrice before you try to remove them from their native land. And you must make sincere apologies to the locals even if you have plenty of reasons for doing so.” The same goes for ancient villages. We must also think thrice before we make up our mind to transform an ancient village or raze it to the ground.

作者简介：

何海交，理科生读广外，英国利兹大学应用翻译硕士，后有超过十年英汉互译经验，原广州亚运会组委会笔译主管，现为广东广播电视台英语新闻栏目编辑。

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