張培基英譯散文賞析之《書房》

書房
My study
何爲
Hewei
| 譯文摘自張培基《英譯中國散文選二》

書房，是讀書人心目中的一個私人領地，一個精神家園，一個智慧的世界。到過幾位朋友家的書房，儘管大小各不相同，陳設各異，但四壁書櫥架上，層層疊疊的書籍，或排成整齊的行列，或縱橫交錯如阡陌叢林，滿屋子到處是書，則大體相同。新時期以來，各種多卷本全套硬麪精裝的文集，形形色色的選集，足以令書房生輝。其間不乏名著佳作，可作爲文化積累，但也難免混雜一些文化垃圾。當然，這些都無礙於書房主人坐擁書城之樂。
The study is to a scholar his private domain, his spiritual home and his intellectual world. I’ve been to the studies of several friends. Though of different sizes and with different furnishings, they are nevertheless about the same in boasting a roomful of books. Books shelved in bookcases lining the four walls. Books either piled up one upon another, or displayed in neat rows, or laid out in disorder like fields with crisscross footpaths or a jungle. In recent years, the appearance of various multivolume collected works in deluxe editions as well as selected works of every description has added to the splendor of a study. Among them there is no lack of great classics and master writings. On the other hand, some trash is inevitably mixed with them too. But that doesn’t hinder the owner of the study from enjoying the company of his library.
要點：
1，“但四壁書櫥架上，層層疊疊的書籍，或排成整齊的行列，或縱橫交錯如阡陌叢林，滿屋子到處是書，則大體相同”這句話看似結構鬆散，其實暗藏玄機，我們可以把“滿屋子到處是書，則大體相同”看成總括的中心句與上句“儘管…”接應，將“但四壁書架上…叢林”是描述書房具體情況的分句~故可拆譯，譯爲三個分句。
2，“滿屋子到處是書，則大體相同“提前，譯爲they are nevertheless about the same in boasting a roomful of books,其中boast相當於have,但其中包含有”自豪“的內涵，之前我們總結過表示”有…“的詞，常見的有possess ,own，以及feature在一定語境下也可以表示”有“，童鞋們平時也要注意積累這些常見的表述~
3，“四壁書櫥架上“在原文中作狀語，但因其包含的信息量比較大，且意思獨立，因此單獨拿出來譯爲Books shelved in bookcases lining the four walls.避免句子太過複雜冗長
4，“…層層疊疊的書籍，或排成整齊的行列，或縱橫交錯如阡陌叢林“譯爲Books either piled up one upon another, or displayed in neat rows, or laid out in disorder like fields with crisscross footpaths or a jungle.譯者將在原文中作形容詞的”層層疊疊的“進行轉換，譯爲動詞~體現了靈活性，另，”縱橫交錯如阡陌叢林“意即”縱橫交錯地擺着，像是田間的小路或是叢林“ 譯爲or laid out in disorder like fields with crisscross footpaths or a jungle.
5，“不乏有…”=there is no lack of
6,” 坐擁書城之樂”即“享受擁有私人藏書館的樂趣”譯爲enjoying the company of his library.

綜述：
注意本段對於長句拆分來譯的方法~

書房永遠是令人嚮往的去處。
A study is always a place of enormous appeal to us.
要點：be+抽象名詞=形容詞，是文學翻譯中常用的手法，延長行文的長度，以獲得更好的行文效果

我從事筆耕數十年，從來沒有一間自己的書房，一間獨立的、完整的、名副其實的書房。我多次遷居，從大城市直到外省人煙稀少的小山村。每次搬家時，惟有書籍最累人，也最難捨棄。我愛書，說不上藏書豐富，日積月累倒也可觀，幾經遷移，不但沒有損失，反而日益增多，因爲居處的侷限，每每有書滿爲患之感。現在我的臥室就是書房，羣書延伸到小衛生間的大書架上，無法騰出一室作書房。
I’ve been engaged in writing for several decades, but I’ve never had a study of my own – a study that is independent, intact and true to its name, that is. I’ve moved many times, once even away from a big city to a remote small mountain village in another province. Whenever I moved, my books, cumbersome as they were, turned out to be the last thing for me to part with. I’m a bibliophile. My collection of books is far from being a big private library, but it keeps growing from day to day. Several times of house moving did not disperse my collection. On the country, it has become larger with each passing day until my small dwelling is overcrowded with them. Now the shelves of books in my study-cum-bedroom extend as far as the tiny toilet. No room is available to serve specifically as a study.
要點：
1，“一間獨立的、完整的、名副其實的書房”譯爲a study that is independent, intact and true to its name, that is.其中“名副其實的“= true to its name，句末的that is意爲“換言之”
2，“我愛書”譯爲. I’m a bibliophile.也是很有新意的，
3，“我的臥室就是書房”即“我的臥室兼書房”譯爲my study-cum-bedroom，其中cum是介詞，作“兼做”解
4，“每次搬家時，惟有書籍最累人，也最難捨棄。”即“每次搬家，儘管我的書是最笨重的，它們卻是我最難捨棄的”翻譯時增譯關聯詞“儘管“使得行文更加流暢~

綜述：本段句式雖然我們基本可以順下來，但大師譯得還是很出彩，值得多多學習~

然而，在我的文學生涯中，一度也有一間自己的書房。所謂書房，其實是一間貯藏室。那幢在本世紀初落成的陳舊宅第，開間很大，樓下一間屋子就可作爲街道辦的託兒所。我的一家住在三樓一大間，按今日標準，至少可分成三間，真是大而無當。不過房門外，緊靠樓梯，有一間貯藏室，倒是極爲難得的。門一關，可與全家的生活區完全隔絕，避免尚在幼年的孩子們往來干擾。
However, in the course of my career as a writer, I did once own a study, or, to be exact, a storeroom turned study. I was then living in an old house built at the turn of the century. It was quite roomy, so much so that the ground floor served even as a neighborhood nursery. I and family lived in a room on the third floor, which was really big but impractical because, according to today’s standard, it could have been divided into at least three rooms. Fortunately, close to the staircase just outside my room, there was a storeroom, which I regarded as something of great rarity to me because sitting inside it behind the closed door I could cut myself off from my family and work without any disturbance from my small kids.
要點：
1，“所謂書房，其實是一間貯藏室。“譯爲to be exact, a storeroom turned study.其中storeroom turned study 即”由儲藏室改造的書房“，和《西歐的夏天》中castle turned hotel（城堡改造的旅館）構造原理是一樣一樣滴~
2，“大而無當“= big but impractical
3，“房門外，緊靠樓梯”= close to the staircase just outside my room，多狀語時並列譯出來也是一種方法~
4,” 極爲難得的（事）“= something of great rarity
這貯藏室於是成了我一生中唯一的書房，也許稱之爲小作坊更爲貼切。狹長逼仄的一小間，北窗下靠牆置一舊書桌，進門處兀立兩隻疊起來的玻璃書櫃，都是原先住戶廢棄的傢俱。除了窗下書桌可容納我的一把舊藤椅，就沒有多餘的空間了。不過，這樣的一間書房，一個人躲在裏面寫作，思想很集中。我利用一切節假日、下班後的全部業餘時間，獨處斗室，創作的思維和想象空間都很廣闊。
The storeroom was the only study I’ve ever had in my life. Perhaps it could be aptly called a workshop. It was long, narrow and small. An old desk stood against a wall under the northern window. Two piled-up glass bookcases rose erect near the entrance. They were the furniture abandoned by a former resident. There was no room for anything else besides my old cane chair placed before the desk under the window. However, enjoying the privacy of a so-called study like this, I could do writing with high concentration. All festivals and holidays as well as all after-hours spare time would find me confined in solitude to the tiny room to experience the delight of giving free rein to my literary thought and imagination.
要點：
1，“狹長逼仄的一小間，北窗下靠牆置一舊書桌，進門處兀立兩隻疊起來的玻璃書櫃，都是原先住戶廢棄的傢俱。”每個分句的信息都很複雜，修飾成分很多，因此譯者又採用了分譯的方法處理此句，譯爲4個分句
2，’這樣的一間書房，一個人躲在裏面寫作，思想很集中”譯爲enjoying the privacy of a so-called study like this, I could do writing with high concentration.其中“一個人躲在裏面…”譯者並沒有按照字面意思直譯，而是意譯爲enjoying the privacy of，比直譯更加貼切
3，“創作的思維和想象空間都很廣闊“即”任憑自己的的創作思維和想象力自由馳騁“譯爲giving free rein to my literary thought and imagination.

綜述：注意本段的拆譯和意譯哦，良好的拆分和意譯都是建立在紮實的中文功底上的~

五十年代的上海寒冬臘月，氣候比現在冷得多。寒夜，窗上玻璃結滿冰凌，呵氣如霧。我拉上窗簾，以炭盆烤火取暖，讓身邊的小水壺在炭火上嘶嘶作響，伴隨我逐漸投入創作境界。室內四壁都伸手可及，我在牆釘上掛着幾條繩索，以便掛上大小紙片。紙片上有創作素材的零星記錄，有詞海語林偶得的一鱗半爪，也有已成篇尚待修改的原稿。短短几年，我在這作坊裏，寫了不少長短文章，其中有些小文，至今還受到讀者的青睞，這是我想不到的。
In the fifties, Shanghai was much colder in winter than now. the window panes would ice up and one’s breath would freeze in the cold air. I would, with the window curtains drawn together, warm myself by a charcoal brazier over which a small kettle was sizzling away, and gradually move into the best state of readiness for creative writing. On the four walls, which I could easily reach by holding out my hand, I had several strings with scraps of paper hung on them stretched between nails. On these scraps of paper, I kept jottings of fragmentary materials for creative work, some linguistic gems and my original manuscripts awaiting revision. In this workshop, I turned out in a few years a large number of articles, both long and short, and, to my great surprise, some of the short essays I then wrote are today still to the lignin of the reading public.
要點：
1，“五十年代的上海…“譯爲 In the fifties, Shanghai was…中文關於時間的表述譯成英文時，大部分是做狀語的，這一點在《西歐的夏天》中也有體現，有時也作主語，如《我對於運動會的感想》中The third time, however, found me rising to my feet in spite of myself to join my fellow students in cheering like mad.
(看到第三次，我也不知不覺的站起來，跟着我們的同學們拼命的喊那助威的“呼聲”)
2，”我拉上窗簾，以炭盆烤火取暖，讓身邊的小水壺在炭火上嘶嘶作響，伴隨我逐漸投入創作境界。”多動詞句，以“我“作爲核心，譯爲I would, with the window curtains drawn together, warm myself by a charcoal brazier over which a small kettle was sizzling away, and gradually move into the best state of readiness for creative writing.其中注意找準其他名詞與核心主語的關係~
3，” 逐漸投入創作境界“即”逐漸進入創作的最佳狀態“，譯爲gradually move into the best state of readiness for creative writing. the best state of readiness意爲”最佳的準備狀態“。
4,” 室內四壁都伸手可及，我在牆壁上…”中前一句的主語“牆壁”在後一句中作狀語，宜進行合譯，將“室內四壁都伸手可及”譯爲“在伸手可及的牆壁上”
5，“詞海語林偶得的一鱗半爪“即”可供學習參考的隻言片語“譯爲some linguistic gems，也可以譯爲some useful words and expressions

綜述：再次回顧了合譯~

我很想念那間小書房。有幾次偕孩子們路過其地，孩子們如今都到了中年，每次我總要指點方位，告訴他們，那幾乎不復可辨的三層樓上，過去是我們一家住過的地方。昨日偶經該處，發現舊屋原址上屹立着聳天高樓，舊居了無痕跡。我在夜色中頻頻回首仰望，悵然重溫我的那個書房舊夢。
How I cherish the memory of the small study! Whenever I passed by the former residence with my children, who have now reached middle age, I never failed to show them the location of our old home and tell them that the third floor of the building which had changed beyond recognition had once been our home. Yesterday, when passing by the same place, I found that the old building was nowhere to be found and that a high-rise had been erected on its site. In the deepening dusk, I repeatedly turned round to look up at the towering structure and wistfully relived the old days I had spent in the small study.
要點：
1，否定詞+fail to do意爲“必然會…”,如I never failed to call my parents every week.
我每個星期都給我父母打電話。
2，不復可辨= beyond recognition
3，“了無痕跡“即”無跡可尋“，譯爲was nowhere to be found

綜述：何爲的散文語言一向考究錘鍊，很考驗譯者的文字功底~