悦读｜夏衍《野草》（双语）

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散文名篇《野草》精劲凝练，是二十世纪四十年代初夏衍为在桂林出版的进步杂文刊物《野草》撰写的发刊词，它还有一个标题《种子的力》。本篇创作的历史背景是：日本侵略者步步紧逼，国民党采取不抵抗主义步步退让，中华民族处于生死存亡的危急关头。文章将种子和野草极其顽强的生命力作为人民大众爱国抗战伟大力量的象征和托喻，激励国人增强自信，为取得国家民族解放的最终胜利而顽强抗争。今天推荐的英文译本出自著名翻译家张培基先生，请大家一起赏习。

（朗读：广东外语外贸大学高级翻译学院 倪萍）

野草

Wild Grass

文/夏衍

译/张培基

有这样一个故事。

There is a story which goes like this:

有人问：世界上什么东西的气力最大①？回答纷纭的很，有的说“象”，有的说“狮”，有人开玩笑似的说：是“金刚②”，金刚有多少气力，当然大家全不知道。

Someone asked, "What has the greatest strength on earth?" The answers varied. Some said, "The elephant." Some said, "The lion." Some said jokingly, "The fierce-browed guardian gods to Buddha." But nobody of course tell how strong the guardian gods were.

结果，这一切答案完全不对③，世界上气力最大的，是植物的种子。一粒种子所可以显现出来的力，简直是超越一切，这儿又是一个故事。

All the answers turned out to be wide of the mark. The mightiest thing on earth is the seed of a plant. The great strength which a seed is capable of is simply matchless. Here goes another story:

人的头盖骨，结合得非常致密与坚固，生理学家和解剖学者用尽了一切的方法，要把它完整地分出来④，都没有这种力气，后来忽然有人发明了一个方法，就是把一些植物的种子放在要剖析的头盖骨里，给它以温度与湿度，使它发芽⑤，一发芽，这些种子便以可怕的力量，将一切机械力所不能分开的骨骼，完整地分开了，植物种子力量之大，如此如此。

The bones forming a human skull are so tightly and perfectly fit together that all physiologists or anatomists, hard as they try, fail to take them apart without damaging them. It so happened that, at the suggestion of someone, some seeds of a plant were placed inside a human skull awaiting dissection before heat and moisture were applied to cause them to grow. Once they started to grow, they let loose a terrific force to separate all the skull bones, leaving each of them intact. This would have been impossible with any mechanical power under the sun. See, how powerful the seeds of a plant can be!

(Credit: Photo)

这，也许特殊了一点，常人不容易理解，那么，你看见笋的成长吗？你看见过被压在瓦砾和石块下面的一颗小草的生成吗？它为着向往阳光，为着达成它的生之意志⑥，不管上面的石块如何重，石块与石块之间如何狭，它必定要曲曲折折地，但是顽强不屈地透到地面上来，它的根往土壤钻，它的芽往地面挺，这是一种不可抗的力，阻止它的石块，结果也被它掀翻，一粒种子的力量的大，如此如此。

This story may be somewhat too unusual for you to understand. Well, have you ever seen the growth of a bamboo shoot? Or the growth of tender grass from under a heap of rubble or rocks? Seeking sunlight and survival, the young plant will labour tenaciously through twists and turns to bring itself to the surface of the ground no matter how heavy the rocks overhead may be or how narrow the opening between them. While striking its roots deep into the soil, the young plant pushes its new shoots aboveground. The irresistible strength it can muster is such as to overturn any rock in its way. See, how powerful a seed can be!

没有一个人将小草叫做“大力士”⑦，但是它的力量之大，的确是世界无比，这种力，是一般人看不见的生命力，只要生命存在，这种力就要显现，上面的石块，丝毫不足以阻挡，因为它是一种“长期抗战”的力，有弹性，能屈能伸的力，有韧性，不达目的不止的力⑧。

Though nobody describes the little grass as a "husky", yet its herculean strength is unrivalled. It is the force of life invisible to the naked eye. It will display itself so long as there is life. The rock is utterly helpless before this force — a force that will forever remain militant, a force that is resilient and can take temporary setbacks calmly, a force that is tenacity itself and will never give up until the goal is reached.

种子不落在肥土而落在瓦砾中，有生命力的种子决不会悲观和叹气，因为有了阻力才有磨炼。生命开始的一瞬间就带了斗争来的草，才是坚韧的草，也只有这种草，才可以傲然地对那些玻璃棚中养育着的盆花哄笑。

When a seed falls under debris instead of on fertile soil, it never sighs in despair because to meet with obstruction means to temper itself.

注释：

①“世界上什么东西的气力最大”译为 What has the greatest strength on earth，其中 on earth 和 in the world 同义，但在此用 on earth 较为合适，因 on earth 为成语，通常用于疑问词或最高级词后加强语气。

②“金刚”是“金刚力士”之略，指守护佛法的天神，常怒目作勇猛之相。现把它意译为 the fierce-browed guardian gods to Buddha，其中 fierce-browed 的意思是“怒目横眉”。

③“结果，这一切答案完全不对”译为 All the answers turned out to be wide of the mark，其中 wide of the mark 或 far from the mark 为成语，意即“离谱”“不正确”。

④“把它完整地分出来”即“把它完好无损地分开”，故译为 to take them apart without damaging them 。

⑤“使它发芽”的译文为 to cause them to grow 。也可译为 to cause them to put out fresh shoots 。

⑥“为着向往阳光，为着达成它的生之意志”实际上的意思是“为了争取阳光和生存”，故译为 seeking sunlight and survival 即可。

⑦“没有一个人将小草叫做‘大力士’”译为 Though nobody describes the little grass as a "husky"，其中 describe…as 的意思是“把……说成”“把……称为”，husky 的意思是“高大强壮的人”。

⑧“有韧性，不达目的不止的力”译为 a force that is tenacity itself and will never give up until the goal is reached，其中 itself 一词用来加强前面的抽象名词 tenacity，属习惯用法。

南京农业大学实习生

汤媛媛、巩明霞、朱翔宇 整理

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