漢語“把……視為”英語表達種種

胡瀟逸 李延林

在清華大學出版社出版的高等學校教材《新時代交互英語》第三冊第一單元Reading One的Ethnic Boundary Markers一文中有這樣一句話：“Some native Americans physically appear to be Euro-Americans or African Americans and some African Americans would be identified as Euro-Americans or native Americans on the basis of physical appearance alone.”該小段文字可譯成“一些土著美國人看起來很像美籍歐洲人或美籍非洲人，而僅僅靠體貌來判斷的話，一些美籍非洲人就會被誤當成美籍歐洲人或美國土著人。”

從譯文來看，上述原文中的“be identified as”被譯成了“被誤當成”，“被誤當成”是譯者根據上下文的翻譯;其實，“be identified as”并沒有“被誤當成”的意義，而是“被視為”之義，嚴格來講，該表達只是廣義上相當于漢語的“被視為”，是在寫作及日常生活中人們經常使用的一個重要結構，它的主動式的基本義是“把……看作是”“認為……是”“把……說成是”“把……想象成”，等等。從結構上講，英語可以用這樣的結構表達：“主詞+動詞+……+介詞+……”或“主詞+動詞+……+不定式短語+……”，有時甚至還有其他特殊形式。茲作如下分述：

（一）用于褒義表達的“look up to…as…”

（1）我們把他視為學習的光輝榜樣。

We look up to him as a shining example for them to learn from.

（2）人們視他為活雷鋒。

People look up to him as a living Lei Feng.

（二）褒貶皆可的“look on/upon…as…”

（3）我覺得人家把我們看作是一個由飛黃騰達的偽君子組成的家族。

I thought we were looked on as a race of successful hypocrites.（J. Galsworthy）

（4）我們認為那很奇怪。

We look upon that as very strange.

（三）普通用法的“look at…as”

（5）你慢慢做吧，不要把它看成是負擔。

Just take your time.Dont look it as your burden.

（6）老實說，我認為他是個有希望的青年。

To be frank with you，I look at him as a promising youth.

（四）多帶貶義色彩的“keep…as…”

（7）他們把黑人視為奴隸（對待）。

They keep the black people as slaves.

（8）他們把公共財產視為自己的私有財產。

They keep the public property as their private property.

（五）褒貶皆可的“think of…as…”

（9）我認為約翰是個可悲的人，一輩子很少有什么成功。

I think of John as a sad person with little success in his life.

（10）全班同學把他視為班上成績最好的學生。

All his classmates think of him as the best student in the class.

（六）褒貶皆可的“regard…as…”

（11）委員會中的任何一個成員都被認為是能勝任主席這一職位的。

Any member of the committee is regarded as fit to take the chairmanship.

（12）我認為他是個沒有原則的人。

I regard him as being without principles.

（七）褒貶皆可的“consider…as/to be…”

（13）我們認為他屬于那類不務正業的人。

We considered him as belonging to the group of people who are unmindful of their own work.

（14）他們認為我們能干。

They consider us to be able men.

（八）非正式用法且褒貶皆可的“reckon…as/to be…”

（15）他們把她看作是敵人。

They reckoned her as their enemy.

（16）她被當作是我們班拼寫最好的。

She is reckoned to be the best speller in our class.

（九）主動形式表被動意義的“pass for…”

（17）狄克皮膚黝黑，很容易被看成是意大利人或西班牙人。

With his dark skin，Dick could easily pass for an Italian or a Spaniard.

（18）這種繁榮被認為是不可靠的現象。

This kind of prosperity passes for an unreliable phenomenon.

（十）褒貶皆可的“imagine…to be…”

（19）他總是把自己想象成一位優秀演員。

He always imagines himself to be an excellent actor.

（20）她喜歡把自己想象成一名年輕演員。

She likes to imagine herself to be a young actress.

（十一）具有褒義用法的“have…as…”

（21）老師把我們當成自己的好朋友。

The teacher has us as his good friends.

（22）她把她的母親當成自己的啟蒙老師。

She has her mother as her first teacher.

（十二）褒貶皆可的“take…as/to be…”

（23）前幾部書可以看成是整部著作的模式。

The first few books can be taken as the pattern of the whole work.

（24）他把該項工作看成是自己的義務。

He took this work as his duty.

（十三）誤將甲當成乙的“take…for…”（或“mistake…for…”）

（25）他德語說得很好，常被人誤以為是德國人。

She speaks German so well that she is often taken（或“mistaken”） for a native German.

（26）他誤將那個穿紅衣服的姑娘當成他的女朋友。

He mistook/took the girl in red as his girl friend.

（十四）錯把某物當成別的東西的“read…as…”

（27）不能老將沉默誤以為是默許。

Silence cannot always be read as agreement.

（28）援助東歐的主張被認為完全正確。

The proposal for aid to eastern Europe is read as absolutely right.

（十五）把某人想象成某種人的“see…as…”

（29）我實在無法想象他是騙子。

I simply cannot see himself as a crook.

（30）當地人把她視為英雄。

The local people see her as a heroine.

（十六）把某人當作某種人對待的“treat…as…”

（31）處理酗酒的人的最好辦法是把他/她當成病人對待。

The best way to deal with someone who is drunk is to treat him as sick.

（32）大家都把他視為貴賓。

Everybody treats him as a distinguished guest.

（十七）表示看法的“view…as…”

（33）老師們把學習英語視為輕而易舉的事情。

Teachers viewed the study of English as a thing like eating a piece of cake.

（34）他們把導彈看作是一種防衛和威懾力量。

They viewed their missiles as a defensive and deterrent force.

（十八）表示思想認識的“deem…（to be）…”

（35）他們還可設立具有其認為適當的職能的其他委員會.

They may also establish such additional Committees with such functions as it may deem appropriate.

（36）你認為這一計劃明智嗎？

Do you deem this plan to be sensible/advisable？

（十九）表示普遍認為但有所懷疑的“repute…as…”

（37）他被認為是中國最好的外科醫生。

He is reputed as the best surgeon in China.

（38）她被視為一不怕苦二不怕死的人。

She is reputed as the one who is afraid of neither hardship nor death.

（二十）用于褒義的“greet…as…”

（39）當他返回中國時，人們把他當作英雄來歡迎。

Upon her return to China， people greeted him as a hero.

（40）大戰結束后，她為何受到英雄般的歡迎？

Why was she greeted as a hero after the war？

研究漢語字詞的譯法不容易，研究漢語字詞的多種譯法更不容易，其中藏著許許多多的酸甜苦辣。誠然，翻譯工作是個“熬紅眼”的工作，做該工作的人得有一種恒心與毅力，要刻苦地學，堅持不懈地練，學貫中西，博古通今，練就一身富有再創作精神的本領，只有這樣，才能成為駕馭兩種語言、兩種文化的專家或大師，成為各學科、各領域的翻譯大才。

參考文獻：

[1]何炳威.容易誤譯的英語[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，2002.

[2]陳中繩，吳娟.英漢新詞新義佳譯[M].上海：上海翻譯出版公司，1990.

[3]陳忠誠.詞語翻譯叢談[M].北京：中國對外翻譯出版公司，1983.

[4]單其昌.漢英翻譯技巧[M].北京：外語教學與研究出版社，1990.

（胡瀟逸，李延林 ?湖南長沙 ?中南大學外國語學院 ?410083）