AComparisonofDifferentVersionsoftheTranslationofPrideandPrejudice

TaoRan

Pride and Prejudice is the master piece of Jane Austen.This work takes the daily life as the source material，different from the popular sentimentalism writing at that time，and gives a vivid reflection of the conservative life under the unenlightened condition in Britain in the 18th to 19th century.Jane was very good at portraying the bright character images during daily ordinary things.No matter Elizabeth or Mr.Darcy who were affirmative by the author or Wickham and Mr.Collins who encountered the satire，Jane made them really moving.She tried to be humorous in dialog art，and always contrasted the characters disposition by humorous languages，which enabled her work to have her own characteristic.The British famous artist and critic T.T.Kebble named Jane Austen as a comedy artist and considered her as the second Shakespeare in pure comedies.Maugham once gave the critics of Pride and Prejudice like this：“ The reasons for a work to became the classical famous work，was not the critics praise，professors elaboration research or serving as the textbook in school，but because one generation and another generation of numerous readers joyfulness and inspiration obtained from the book.Pride and Prejudice，generally speaking，was the most satisfying work in all novels.” At present，there are mainly six versions of Chinese translation for reading，in which Wang Keyis version and Sun Zhilis version are praised highly.Now，we select the first two paragraphs to make a comparative analysis.

1.It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Tr.1： 凡是有錢的單身漢，必定要娶位太太，這已經成了舉世公認的真理。（Wang Keyi）

Tr.2： 一個富有的單身漢所缺少的一定是一位年輕貌美的太太，這已是一條舉世公認的真理。（Wang Jinhua）

Tr.3： 饒有家資的單身男子必定想要娶妻室，這是舉世公認的真情實理。（Zhang Ling，Zhang Yang）

Tr.4： 有錢的單身漢總要娶位太太，這是一條舉世公認的真理。（Sun Zhili）

Tr.5： 舉世公認，一個擁有一大筆財產的單身男人，必定想娶一個女人做太太，這已成為一條真理。（Yi Hai）

Tr.6： 公認有這樣一個真理：一個擁有大筆家產的單身漢必然需要一個妻子。（Wang Zuoliang）

This is the most popular sentence in the whole English novel.The source text is full of irony revealed from the two aspects.Firstly，the author used a lot of formal words and expressions，such as “truth universally acknowledged”，“in possession of”，“be in want of” to express，however，a mundane idea.Secondly，the main clause “It is a truth universally acknowledged” seems to be like an objective law universally applied.Nevertheless，in the subordinate clause，the intonation suddenly turns down and becomes undramatic which forms of an obvious contrast with the main clause，and so established the humorous ironic tone of the novel.In all those versions，the translators all emphasized the satire of “舉世公認的真理”，while，the 3rd，4th and 6th ones are a little bit flat，although it maybe expressed simply and clearly.Further more，the word “凡是” in the 1st version is to some degree the best in increasing the ironic tone of the original text.In the 2nd version，the author plus a sense of “年輕貌美” to the word “wife” which does not exist in the original text.So from the ironic aspect the 1st and 5th versions are slightly better，while，the 1st one is more concise and comprehensive.

Another difference of the six versions of translation lies in how to translate the word “wife”.The 1st，2nd，4th and 5th versions all translated it into “太太”，while the 3rd and 6th versions take it as “妻子” or more formally “妻室”.The word “妻子” is related to the traditional Chinese culture，and more from the aspect of male power.However，the word “太太” is more modern and fashion and whats more，it reveals of the social status and respect of the wife of a man in possession of a good fortune in the 19th century.

2.However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood，this truth is so well fixed in the minds of surrounding families，that he is considered as rightful of some one or other of their daughters.

Tr.1： 這樣的單身漢，每逢新搬到一個地方，四鄰八舍雖然完全不了解他的性情如何，見解如何，可是，既然這樣的一條真理早已在人們心目中根深蒂固，因此人們總是把他看作是自己某個女兒理所應得的一筆財產。（Wang Keyi ）

Tr.2： 不管這樣一個單身漢的感情或者看法如何地鮮為他的鄰居所知，這條真理在周圍住戶們的腦子里卻是根深蒂固的，乃至總有這個或者那個鄰居把他看作了他們某個女兒的理所應得的財產。（Wang Jinhua）

Tr.3： 正是因為這個真情實理家喻戶曉深入人心，這種人一般到什么地方，盡管他的感覺見解如何街坊四鄰毫不了解，他就被人當成了自己的這個或者那個女兒的一筆應得的財產。（Zhang Ling，Zhang Yang ）

Tr.4： 這條真理還真夠深入人心的，每逢這樣的單身漢新搬到一個地方，四鄰八舍盡管對他的性情見識一無所知，卻把他視為自己某一個女兒的合法財產。（Sun Zhili）

Tr.5： 當這樣一個單身男人初到一個地方住下來，他的左鄰右舍還不了解他的性情如何觀念怎樣的時候，他們就會把他看做某個女兒的一筆正當的財產，因為以上那句至理名言已深深銘刻在他們的內心。（Yi Hai）

Tr.6： 不論這樣一個人在進入本區之初，其感情和見解如何難知，附近的人家已經深信上述真理，總把他當作他們之中某個女兒的合法財產看待。（Wang Zuoliang）

All the six versions are influenced by the rule of faithful，so they maybe not so clear and coherent when reading.When translating the word “neighborhood”，the 1st and 4th versions take it as “四鄰八舍”，the 3rd and 5th one take it as “街坊四鄰” or “左鄰右舍” which have a similar meaning in Chinese，the 6th one take it as “附近的人家” and the 2nd just take it simply as “鄰居”.To review the original text in Chapter 8，it is easily to find out that when Jane got sick in Netherfield Park，Elizabeth walked for about three or four miles to see her which concludes that Netherfield Park is not so close to the Bennets，so the version of “四鄰八舍” may be more proper.

There is also a truth that Pride and Prejudice is a master piece of feminism culture，which，in this paragraph can be easily concluded by using of the passive voice “he is considered… ” .All of the six versions are translated by using passive voice in the approach of “把” sentence pattern or “被” sentence pattern in Chinese，but there is also a little bit difference.Except the 3rd version，all the other ones take the “把” sentence pattern which means that they emphasized more of the neighbors actions and weakening the mans receiving of it.However，the 3rd one emphasized more of the mans situation.From this aspect，the other five versions are better in expressing the feminism of the source text in translation.

References：

[1]Austen J.Pride and Prejudice.Oxford：Oxford University Press，1970.

[2]簡·奧斯丁.傲慢與偏見[M].張玲，張揚，譯.北京：人民文學出版社，1993.

[3]簡·奧斯丁.傲慢與偏見[M].孫致禮，譯.南京：南京譯林出版社，2000.

[4]簡·奧斯丁.傲慢與偏見[M].王科一，譯.上海：上海譯文出版社，2002.

[5]簡·奧斯丁.傲慢與偏見[M].王晉華，譯.北岳文藝出版社，2003.

作者簡介：

陶然，女，1987年10月出生，安徽銅陵人，碩士研究生，助教，研究方向：英語教學和翻譯理論與實踐。