译中国 | 王晓辉：八戒也能说“论语”

《敢问路在何方——〈西游记〉英译品读》是中国网总编辑王晓辉继《换一种语言读金庸》《丹青难写是精神——〈红楼梦〉英译品读》《一时多少豪杰——〈三国演义〉英译品读》之后完成的又一部跨语言文化交流专著。本书延续作者轻松诙谐的写作风格，内容上见微知著，是一部品读中国古典文学英译的力作。该书近期将由外文出版社重磅推出，并收入“译中国”文库“经典品译”系列。

《西游记》人物中，八戒最为可爱，也最接地气，是毫无争议的第二主角。他坚定地跟随唐僧西行，但在危险面前也会恐惧退缩；既想功德圆满修成正果，又贪恋人间酒色财气；饭量大心更大，天塌下来也能照吃照睡；说话幽默风趣，偶尔还能咬文嚼字。

猪八戒原名猪刚鬣，本来位列仙班，是上界天河里的天蓬元帅。因为酒醉调戏嫦娥，被玉帝打了二千锤，贬下凡尘。投胎时一个马虎，走错了道路，竟然投了个猪胎，结果就变成了我们熟悉的猪八戒的形象。也是机缘巧合，他遇上了前往大唐长安寻找取经人的观世音菩萨。

《西游记》第八回（“我佛造经传极乐 观音奉旨上长安”），观世音菩萨和猪八戒有这样一段对话：

菩萨道：“古人云：‘若要有前程，莫做没前程。’你既上界违法，今又不改凶心，伤生造孽，却不是二罪俱罚？”那怪道：“前程！前程！若依你，教我嗑风！常言道：‘依着官法打杀，依着佛法饿杀。’去也！去也！还不如捉个行人，肥腻腻的吃他家娘！管甚么二罪、三罪、千罪、万罪！”

这段对话写得非常生动。面对菩萨的点化，猪八戒依旧执迷不悟，而且还很强硬，一副活猪不怕开水烫的架势。

余国藩教授的译文：

The Bodhisattva said, "There is an old saying:

'If you want to have a future,

Don't act heedless of the future.'You have already transgressed in the Region Above, and yet you have not changed your violent ways but indulge in the taking of life. Don't you know that both crimes will be punished?""The future! The future!" said the fiend. "If I listen to you, I might as well feed on the wind! The proverb says,'If you follow the law of the court, you'll be beaten to death;If you follow the law of Buddha, you'll be starved to death!'Let me go! Let me go! I would much prefer catching a few travelers and munching on the plump and juicy lady of the family. Why should I care about two crimes, three crimes, a thousand crimes, or ten thousand crimes?"

《西游记》精彩之处就在于对话，这是多少代说书人千锤百炼的结果。

余国藩教授文中的两句谚语翻译得非常精彩，逐字逐句，丝丝入扣。“若要有前程，莫做没前程”译成“If you want to have a future, don't act heedless of the future”。“依着官法打杀，依着佛法饿杀”翻译成“If you follow the law of the court, you'll be beaten to death; If you follow the law of Buddha, you'll be starved to death”。原文和译文连首尾的字都对应上了。

但猪八戒说的“还不如捉个行人，肥腻腻的吃他家娘”这句话，余教授的翻译有些令人不解。“I would much prefer catching a few travelers and munching on the plump and juicy lady of the family. ”既然是捉了个行人，为啥又去“啃家中那个丰满多汁的女士”呢？比照詹纳尔教授的译文，感觉也是一头雾水。詹纳尔的译文是“Clear off! Clear off! If you don't I'll capture this pilgrim and eat this plump and tender old woman”。按照这个意思，猪八戒是要把木叉行者抓起来然后吃掉观音菩萨这个“又肥又嫩的老女人（this plump and tender old woman）”。从上下文看，八戒对观音菩萨还是心怀敬畏的，不会与菩萨叫板；观音菩萨的形象大家都很熟悉，绝对不是“plump and tender old woman”！

为什么两位翻译大家都没能处理好“肥腻腻的吃他家娘”这句话呢？我能想到的原因是，余国藩教授是香港人，詹纳尔教授是英国人，两人都不熟悉中国北方的“国骂”。“吃他家娘”并不是真的要吃谁的娘，而是“吃他娘的”。八戒的意思是，拉倒吧，老子才不管那么多，抓个行人，美滋滋、香喷喷吃他个娘的！

理解了八戒的意思，我们不妨这样来翻译这句话：

去也！去也！还不如捉个行人，肥腻腻的吃他家娘！管甚么二罪、三罪、千罪、万罪！

Forget it! Forget it! I would much prefer catching a traveler and eating him. Damn, it's cool!

千万不要以为八戒只会说粗话，他要是真想好好说话时，还是振振有词的。我们接着看他与观音菩萨的对话：

菩萨道：“‘人有善愿，天必从之。’汝若肯皈依正果，自有养身之处。世有五谷，尽能济饥，为何吃人度日？”

怪物闻言，似梦方觉。向菩萨施礼道：“我欲从正，奈何‘获罪于天，无所祷也’！”菩萨道：“我领了佛旨，上东土寻取经人。你可跟他做个徒弟，往西天走一遭来，将功折罪，管教你脱离灾瘴。”那怪满口道：“愿随！愿随！”菩萨才与他摩顶受戒，指身为姓，就姓了猪，替他起个法名，就叫做猪悟能。

余国藩教授的译文：

"There is a saying," said the Bodhisattva,

"'A man with good intent
Will win Heaven's assent.'If you are willing to return to the fruits of truth, there will be means to sustain your body. There are five kinds of grain in this world and they all can relieve hunger. Why do you need to pass the time by devouring humans?"When the fiend heard these words, he was like one who woke from a dream, and he said to the Bodhisattva, "I would very much like to follow the truth. But 'since I have offended Heaven, even my prayers are of little avail.'" "I have received the decree from Buddha to go to the Land of the East to find a scripture pilgrim," said the Bodhisattva. "You can follow him as his disciple and make a trip to the Western Heaven; your merit will cancel out your sins, and you will surely be delivered from your calamities." "I'm willing. I'm willing," promised the fiend with enthusiasm. The Bodhisattva then touched his head and gave him the instructions. Pointing to his body as a sign, she gave him the surname "Zhu" and the religious name "Wuneng."

“人有善愿，天必从之。”语出明代《增广贤文》，原文是“人有善愿，天必佑之”，《西游记》作者化而用之。余教授把这句谚语单独提出来，译成对称押韵的两行，朗朗上口，神形兼备：

A man with good intent

Will win Heaven's assent.

最让我感到有趣的是孔夫子的话竟然从八戒的嘴里冒了出来。“获罪于天，无所祷也”，出自《论语·八佾》。卫国大夫王孙贾问孔子：“‘与其媚于奥，宁媚于灶。’何谓也？”子曰：“不然，获罪于天，无所祷也。” “奥”是居室的西南隅，地位尊贵，为家中尊者所居；“灶”指“五祀之神”之一的灶神。王孙贾用这句话提醒孔子，与其讨好尊贵的奥，不如讨好当事的灶，讨好有名无实的卫国国君，还不如结交握有实权的重臣来得实惠。孔夫子断然拒绝了王孙贾的暗示，他说：“不是这样，如果得罪了上天，就没有地方可以祈祷了。”

《论语》的译本很多，兹将几位名家的译法罗列于此，供大家学习参考。

余国藩教授的译文：

But 'since I have offended Heaven, even my prayers are of little avail'.

詹纳尔教授的译文：

A sinner against Heaven has nowhere to pray to.

中国外文局原局长林戊荪先生的译文：

That is not so, because if you have offended Heaven, there is no one you can turn to in your prayer.

苏慧廉（Soothill）所译《论语》（The Analects of Confucius）：

He who sins against Heaven has nowhere left for prayer.

中西方文化不同，宗教各异，但有些谚语却是非常相似。《圣经·新约·马太福音》中有这样一句话：“... but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. (St. Matthew 12:31)” 惟亵渎圣灵，总不得赦免。意思相近但不相同，表达方式十分接近，翻译时亦可套用。

说出“获罪于天，无所祷也”这样文绉绉的话来，可不像是猪八戒，倒像是一位念过私塾的儒生，这也让我对八戒刮目相看。他这样说，其实是在以退为进，展现了极高的情商，既表达了自己虔诚谦卑的态度，又促使观音菩萨马上表态，接引他走上正途。果然，观音菩萨毫不犹豫地为他摩顶受戒。此后，他跟随唐三藏踏上西行取经之路，最后修成正果，成为净坛使者，在民间受喜爱的程度甚至不亚于大师兄孙悟空。

（以上内容节选自《敢问路在何方——〈西游记〉英译品读》）

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供稿：中国网

编辑：吴泽权

译介中华经典  传播文明精髓

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