譯題一:With the NBA’s last two MVPs facing each other on Christmas Day, The Race wonders where exactly that honor fits into the pantheon of accomplishments for Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, particularly since he is playing at a level that regularly prompts the Staples Center faithful to chant in unison for him. Apparently, winning the award means more to the fans than it does to Bryant.
看過(guò)幾位網(wǎng)友的翻譯,覺(jué)得總體上看不錯(cuò),有的譯文甚至相當(dāng)精彩。比如第一段里,把facing each other翻譯成“對(duì)決”,把The Race wonders翻譯成“比賽的懸念”,在此類文章中都十分恰當(dāng)。但有的理解太流于字面上的意思。比較典型的例子是把Pantheon of accomplishments翻譯成“眾神之廳”、“最高成就的眾神廟”等,顯然不妥。我們大家都知道,Pantheon特指“萬(wàn)神殿”——羅馬圓形神廟,供奉所有的神。它和NBA顯然沒(méi)有任何聯(lián)系。而Pantheon還有一個(gè)意思,那就是“(集團(tuán)、個(gè)人、運(yùn)動(dòng)、黨派等推崇的)英雄人物”。緊隨其后的accomplishments則是“成就, 完成, 技藝”的意思。如果我們的思路朝這個(gè)方向發(fā)展,這句話是否可以翻譯成:“比賽的懸念在于,‘這個(gè)獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)對(duì)于球技已達(dá)到登峰造極水平的洛杉磯湖人隊(duì)球星科比•布萊恩特來(lái)說(shuō)究竟意味著什么。”表面上看似乎與原文略有游離,但實(shí)際上,放在整個(gè)上下文中看,既合乎邏輯,語(yǔ)氣也十分連貫。這個(gè)例子也告訴我們,翻譯要像傅雷先生說(shuō)的那樣,要重“神似”。
譯題二:WeCU Technologies is building a mind-reading scanner that can tell if a given traveler is a potential danger - without the subject’s knowledge. WeCU Technologies (pronounced "we see you") is creating a system that would essentially turn the public spaces in airports into vast screening grounds: "The system ... projects images onto airport screens, such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize, company CEO Ehud Givon said.
第二段,我以為feilongmengjiang 的翻譯就相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)。他的翻譯是:
心智掃描儀
WeCU技術(shù)公司正在研制一種“心智掃描儀”,它能在不被旅客察覺(jué)的情況下,判斷某 個(gè)人是不是潛在的危險(xiǎn)分子。WeCU(讀作"we see you"意思是 “我看見(jiàn)你”)技術(shù)公司正在創(chuàng)建的這種系統(tǒng)能將機(jī)場(chǎng)的公共場(chǎng)所變成巨大的掃描背景。公司首席執(zhí)行官 Ehud Givon稱,“該系統(tǒng)把圖像投影到機(jī)場(chǎng)的屏幕上,比如與某恐怖團(tuán)伙相關(guān)的符號(hào),或只有潛在的恐怖分子才能識(shí)別的其它符號(hào)。”
如果說(shuō)有什么不足的話,或許是譯者沒(méi)有把essentially翻譯出來(lái)。Essentially的主要意思是:“本質(zhì)上, 本來(lái), 根本”,但還有一個(gè)次要的意思是“完美”。我覺(jué)得,如果我們把它譯成“完美”就比較準(zhǔn)確地傳達(dá)了原文的意思。我自己的體會(huì)是,決定一個(gè)人翻譯水平的高下,不在于你認(rèn)識(shí)多少單詞,而是在于你有沒(méi)有能力從一個(gè)單詞眾多意思中選取最恰當(dāng)?shù)囊馑�。即所謂判斷力。判斷力強(qiáng)就能既忠實(shí)于原文又通順流暢,判斷力弱,就翻不出好文章。
譯題三:It sucks being an adult. You have to do things like wake up before noon, go to the grocery store on your own, and try to hold down a steady job. Often times said job will require you to give a presentation to more than two people. And some jobs will even require you speak before a full auditorium of rapt listeners. Since you are likely not a member of the NSA, the sweats, shakes, and hives might step up during the speech to be a major hindrance. Fear not. We’ve done the research to make you a better public speaker, now all you have to do is apply the gold we have compiled.
第三段中的It sucks being a adult,大多數(shù)人翻譯成“真沒(méi)勁”、“真郁悶”,都不錯(cuò)。因?yàn)閟uck在美國(guó)俚語(yǔ)中的意思是“使人極度不快”。有的朋友譯為“人到中年愁事多”就不準(zhǔn)確了。還有的網(wǎng)友將more than two people直譯為“兩個(gè)人以上”,也不恰當(dāng)。就像“a couple of……”不一定非得譯成“兩個(gè)”,而是經(jīng)常要譯成“幾個(gè)”一樣,more than two people也要根據(jù)上下文確定其準(zhǔn)確的含義。在我們這個(gè)句子里,作者的著眼點(diǎn)顯然不是“兩個(gè)人”,而是“以上”。雖然三個(gè)人也是“以上”,四個(gè)人也是“以上”,但作者強(qiáng)調(diào)的則是較多的人。因此我以為翻譯成“眾人”為好。由此可見(jiàn),我們翻譯東西的時(shí)候一定不能把目光只放在一個(gè)詞,甚至一個(gè)句上,而應(yīng)該“縱觀全局”。林語(yǔ)堂先生說(shuō)過(guò):“字是死的,有了上下文就活了。”就是這個(gè)意思。
Since you are likely not a member of the NSA, the sweats, shakes, and hives might step up during the speech to be a major hindrance. 有網(wǎng)友直接譯為“……成為演講中的一個(gè)主要障礙”,有人處理為“難免會(huì)緊張、發(fā)抖……”。如果對(duì)這兩種處理方式做一個(gè)評(píng)判,我覺(jué)得后者更好。因?yàn)榈谝环N譯法譯得太死。余光中先生說(shuō),我們搞翻譯,不但要譯其體貌,更重要的是要譯其精神。第一種譯法顯然只注意了“體貌”,忽略了精神。第二種譯法就好多了。
翻譯其實(shí)沒(méi)有一定之規(guī)。我的這些看法未必就都對(duì),僅供大家參考。 |