译味译境 |《木兰辞》英译欣赏

商务印书馆英语编辑室 2022-06-09

迪士尼的真人电影《花木兰》就快上映了，一起来欣赏（或温习）一下《木兰辞》的一个英译本吧。

木兰辞

The Ballad of Mulan

(Written in northern China during the domination of the Wei Tartars, Sixth Century AD)

Translated by Arthur Waley

from Chinese Poems (George, Allen and Unwin Ltd. 1946)

唧唧复唧唧，木兰当户织。

不闻机杼声，唯闻女叹息。

问女何所思？问女何所忆？

女亦无所思，女亦无所忆。

昨夜见军帖，可汗大点兵，

军书十二卷，卷卷有爷名。

阿爷无大儿，木兰无长兄，

愿为市鞍马，从此替爷征。

Click, click, for ever click, click;
Mulan sits at the door and weaves.
Listen, and you will not hear the shuttle's sound,
But only hear a girl's sobs and sighs.
“Oh tell me, lady, are you thinking of your love,
Oh tell me, lady, are you longing for your dear?”
“Oh no, oh no, I am not thinking of my love,
Oh no, oh no, I am not longing for my dear.
But last night I read the battle-roll;
The Khan has ordered a great levy of men.
The battle-roll was written in twelve books,
And in each book stood my father's name.
My father's sons are not grown men,
And of all my brothers, none is older than me.
Oh let me to the market to buy saddle and horse,
And ride with the soldiers to take my father's place.”

东市买骏马，西市买鞍鞯，

南市买辔头，北市买长鞭。

朝辞爷娘去，暮宿黄河边。

不闻爷娘唤女声，但闻黄河流水鸣溅溅。

旦辞黄河去，暮至黑山头。

不闻爷娘唤女声，但闻燕山胡骑声啾啾。

万里赴戎机，关山度若飞。

朔气传金柝，寒光照铁衣。

将军百战死，壮士十年归。

In the eastern market she's bought a gallant horse,

In the western market she's bought saddle and cloth.

In the southern market she's bought snaffle and reins,
In the northern market she's bought a tall whip.
In the morning she stole from her father's and mother's house;
At night she was camping by the Yellow River's side.
She could not hear her father and mother calling to her by her name,
But only the voice of the Yellow River as its waters swirled through the night.
At dawn they left the River and went on their way;
At dusk they came to the Black Water's side.
She could not hear her father and mother calling to her by her name,
She could only hear the muffled voices of foreign horsemen riding on the hills of Yen.
A thousand leagues she tramped on the errands of war,
Frontiers and hills she crossed like a bird in flight.
Through the northern air echoed the watchman's tap;
The wintry light gleamed on coats of mail.
The captain had fought a hundred fights, and died;
The warriors in ten years had won their rest.

归来见天子，天子坐明堂。

策勋十二转，赏赐百千强。

可汗问所欲，“木兰不用尚书郎，

愿借明驼千里足，送儿还故乡。”

They went home, they saw the Emperor's face;
The Son of Heaven was seated in the Hall of Light.
The deeds of the brave were recorded in twelve books;
In prizes he gave a hundred thousand cash.
Then spoke the Khan and asked her what she would take.
“Oh, Mulan asks not to be made
A Counsellor at the Khan's court;
I only beg for a camel that can march
A thousand leagues a day,
To take me back to my home.”

爷娘闻女来，出郭相扶将。

阿姊闻妹来，当户理红妆。

小弟闻姊来，磨刀霍霍向猪羊。

When her father and mother heard that she had come,
They went out to the wall and led her back to the house.
When her little sister heard that she had come,
She went to the door and rouged her face afresh.
When her little brother heard that his sister had come,
He sharpened his knife and darted like a flash
Toward the pigs and sheep.

开我东阁门，坐我西阁床。

脱我战时袍，著我旧时裳。

当窗理云鬓，对镜贴花黄。

出门看火伴，火伴皆惊惶。

同行十二年，不知木兰是女郎。

“雄兔脚扑朔，雌兔眼迷离；

两兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌！”

She opened the gate that leads to the eastern tower,
She sat on her bed that stood in the western tower.
She cast aside her heavy soldier's cloak,
And wore again her old-time dress.
She stood at the window and bound her cloudy hair;
She went to the mirror and fastened her yellow combs.
She left the house and met her messmates in the road;
Her messmates were startled out of their wits.
They had marched with her for twelve years of war
And never known that Mulan was a girl.
For the male hare sits with its legs tucked in,
And the female hare is known for her bleary eye;
But set them both scampering side by side,
And who so wise could tell you “This is he”?

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