名师翻译讲堂 |《汉英翻译二十讲》：走出翻译误区，避免中式英语

大家好，这是我的新书《汉英翻译二十讲》。我为什么要写这本书呢？我写这本书是为了让读者对翻译有一种全新的认识。目前翻译界对翻译有许多误解，许多人把目光集中在单词的对应、句型的对应上，这种认识导致许多人陷入误区、不能自拔，极大影响了翻译的质量的提高。

由于中英文在语言层面有极大的差异，注重单词和句型的翻译是死路一条，只能制造另类语言，产生语无伦次的后果。虽然这种理念的冠冕堂皇的依据是忠实原文，但实际结果是毫无忠实性可言。

从本质上说，翻译就是翻译意思，着眼点在于如何以一种文字表达原文的意思，而不必关心单词或句型如何转换。为了尽可能确切地反映原本的信息，我们经常需要摆脱原文单词和表达方式的束缚。

这本书就是让读者走出误区，摆脱沉迷于单词和句型的惯性。学会新思维，是提升翻译能力的第一步。希望这本书能帮助我们的读者迈出全新的一步。

《汉英翻译二十讲》

选文典型，翻译考究

实战经验，细致讲评，教你避免中式英语

“

既有可圈可点的灵活译笔，也不乏值得称道的严谨译法，力坚的译文在文学语言和普通文字间艰难地寻找恰到好处的那一点，规避过度自由的弊端，同时也力避死守原文的通病。——叶子南

” 

每讲内容含原文、译文、讲评三个部分。汉语原文选用的是丰子恺、沈从文、夏丏尊、余秋雨等文人学者的经典散文；英语译文地道，由经验丰富的蔡力坚老师翻译。

每一讲的翻译讲评围绕一个话题展开，比如用词、结构、语境等，并通过对重点例句的多版本译文的对比、分析和探讨，讲解汉译英的难点，提示要注意的问题，指导读者在汉英翻译时走出中式思维，译出地道的英文。

作者简介

蔡力坚，蒙特雷国际研究学院教授，曾任联合国秘书处高级译审，长期从事翻译工作。出版有《英汉实意翻译案例讲评》（外文出版社，2011年）、《翻译研修实用指南》（北京大学出版社，2014）、《公文翻译：译·注·评》（清华大学出版社，2016）、《商务翻译：译·注·评》（合著，2018）等。

精彩试读

白马湖之冬

Winter at Lake Baima

夏丏尊

Xia Mianzun

在我过去四十余年的生涯中，冬的情味尝得最深刻的，要算十年前初移居白马湖的时候了。十年以来，白马湖已成了一个小村落，当我移居的时候，还是一片荒野。春晖中学的新建筑巍然矗立于湖的那一面，湖的这一面的山脚下是小小的几间新平屋，住着我和刘君心如两家。此外两三里内没有人烟。一家人于阴历十一月下旬从热闹的杭州移居这荒凉的山野，宛如投身于极带中。

The winter chill I experienced some ten years ago by Lake Baima remains the most vivid memory about winter in my forty-plus years of life. When my family moved there, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere, though a small village has sprung up since then. On the other side of the lake there was a new classroom building on the campus of Chunhui Middle School. On our side at the foot of a hill stood a couple of single-level cottages. We were neighbors only with another family－the Lius, and there were no other families within a radius of two miles. Moving from the bustling city of Hangzhou to this desolate wilderness in the dead of winter was like arriving in the North Pole.

那里的风，差不多日日有的，呼呼作响，好像虎吼。屋宇虽系新建，构造却极粗率，风从门窗隙缝中来，分外尖削，把门缝窗隙厚厚地用纸糊了，椽缝中却仍有透入。风刮得厉害的时候，天未夜就把大门关上，全家吃毕夜饭即睡入被窝里，静听寒风的怒号，湖水的澎湃。

Over there, the wind howled almost daily, like a tiger's roar. It pierced through the cracks around window and door frames. Our home was poorly built though it was new. Even after we sealed off all visible cracks with layers upon layers of paper, the wind still managed to squeeze in, especially through ceiling cracks. On particularly windy days, we would shut the doors before dusk and get into bed immediately after supper, wrapping ourselves up in warm quilts, while listening to the roar of piercing gusts and the bellows of surging waves on the lake. 

靠山的小后轩，算是我的书斋，在全屋子中风最小的一间，我常把头上的罗宋帽拉得低低地，在洋灯下工作至夜深。松涛如吼，霜月当窗，饥鼠吱吱在承尘上奔窜。我于这种时候深感到萧瑟的诗趣，常独自拨划着炉灰，不肯就睡，把自己拟诸山水画中的人物，作种种幽邈的遐想。

The room in the rear facing the hill－the one most likely to dodge the brunt of high winds－served as my study. I often sat there by a kerosene lamp until midnight with my hat pulled all the way down to cover as much of my forehead as possible. The wind would rumble through the thick vegetation outside. The moon would stare right through my frost-covered window. Hungry rats would race on the ceiling. At this moment and amidst this desolation I often found myself poetically inspired. Instead of retiring to bed, I would sit alone, sketch with ash from the stove, visualize myself in a landscape picture, and let my imagination fly.

现在白马湖到处都是树木了，当时尚一株树木都未种。月亮与太阳都是整个儿的，从上山起直要照到下山为止。在太阳好的时候，只要不刮风，那真和暖得不像冬天。一家人都坐在庭间曝日，甚至于吃午饭也在屋外，像夏天的晚饭一样。日光晒到哪里，就把椅凳移到哪里，忽然寒风来了，只好逃难似地各自带了椅凳逃入室中，急急把门关上。

……

译文讲评 

【例句】日光晒到哪里，就把椅凳移到哪里，忽然寒风来了，只好逃难似地各自带了椅凳逃入室中，急急把门关上。

【讨论译文】Where there was sunshine, there we would move our chairs. When the cold wind came, however, we would scamper indoors like refugees, each carrying a chair or stool and hastily closing the doors behind us.

第一句的译文据称是模仿下列成语的句式：“Where there's a will, there's a way.”（有志者事竟成。）可是这两者的结构不一样，后半句用了“there we would move our chairs”，与前面不对应，与成语用法也不对应，失去了该成语的组合特征，无法引起译者所希望的联想。正常套用该成语的例子（后半句也用there's )，如：“Where there's life, there's hope.” “Where there's love, there's courage.” “Where there's wildfire, there's smoke.” “Where there's tea，there's hope.” “Where there's light，there's darkness.” 等等。所以讨论译文是不通的，如果要把它说得通，那应该是：“We would move our chairs where there was sunshine”。

另外，译者将“逃难似地……逃入室中”译成scamper indoors like refugees，可是不想一想refugees真的是这样逃的吗？虽然中文里确实用了“逃难似地”，似乎相当于“像难民那样”，也就是译者翻译的like refugees，但作者在这里强调的是进入室内的速度快，而不是说其他方面如同难民。

笔者反复说过，翻译最忌讳的就是只看字面，而不看实意，只看局部，而不看整体。中文里用“逃难似地” 来表示逃跑速度快是正常用法，但在英语里说scamper indoors like refugees就非常莫名其妙，因为速度不是难民逃跑的特征，难民逃跑可以快也可以慢，其特征是流离失所，背井离乡，无家可归。那么，人家跑进自己家里怎么可能会like refugees?这就是不加思索、照搬原文用法带来的荒唐结果。

【参考译文】As the sun moved across the sky, we would have to move our tables and chairs around also and always stay where we could soak up the sun. When it suddenly became blustery, we would rush to seek refuge indoors.

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