翻譯擂臺（第17期）

【原文】

[1]沈從文在上海中國公學教書時，對女學生張兆和情有獨鐘，于是開始不斷給她寫情書。張兆和出身江南名門，人又漂亮，身后不乏追求者。[2]她覺得老師追學生，很“不正經”，于是告到了校長胡適那里。[3]胡適笑著對她說：“這有什么關系？他又沒結婚。”張兆和無言以對。[4]臨走，校長對學生說：“我知道沈從文頑固地愛你！”[5]經過沈從文四年的不懈努力，這對師生終成伉儷。這也成為中國文壇的一段佳話。

【點評】

沈從文，中國著名的小說家和文物學家；雖學歷不高，但才情很高。他的《邊城》自然、纏綿、細膩，幾近獲得諾貝爾文學獎。他與張兆和的戀情與婚姻，歷來為人們所樂道。

[1]中，中國公學于1906年4月10日在上海開學，1912年中華民國成立后又得到了孫中山、黃興、宋教仁等的支持，曾改名為民國大學、中國大學，又有北京中國公學、重慶中國公學等，故根據其性質，“上海中國公學”不妨譯為the Chinese National University （Shanghai）。

對“情有獨鐘”，參賽者有各種譯法，如fell in love with her、gave/show special preference/favor to （her）、had a crush on her、had a soft spot for her等，這里不妨稍加解析。fall in love with sb.一般加上at first sight指一見鐘情。preference的本義為a predisposition in favor of something，多指物，如：①As a student of high school, she gave special preference to the subject of physics.（她上中學時，特別喜歡物理課。）②中國古代文人對酒情有獨鐘，宋代女詞人李清照與酒也有很密切的關系。（Ancient Chinese literati showed preference to wine, including female poet Li Qingzhao in the Song Dynasty.）crush on sb.本義為temporary love of an adolescent，多用于年輕人之間帶有沖動的戀愛，如：Every girl on the campus has a crush on those handsome boys.（校園里的每個女孩都有自己迷戀的瀟灑帥哥。）而have a soft spot for亦多指事物，如：Children usually have a soft spot for sweeties.（兒童一般喜歡吃糖果。）即便指人，一般也是泛指，如：He has a soft spot for pretty girls.（他見了漂亮女孩兒就走不動道了。）故這些用在此處都不很恰當。

就單相思而言，carry a torch for倒是可以考慮，其義為“to be in love with sb., especially sb. who does not love you in return”，但又不完全符合當時情景（因張當時只是礙于師生關系）；相比而言，affection更為恰當，其本義是“a positive feeling of liking; a feeling of liking or caring”，而affection與love的關系是：Love is a special affection for a man or a woman, which is stronger than that for any other person.（愛情是對某個男人或女人比對其他任何人都更為強烈的特殊好感。）

對于“名門”，有的參賽者用了blue blood，該詞指“a member of the aristocracy; from a royal or noble family”，即歐洲的貴族，似不大符合國情。silver spoon in the mouth可以考慮，如：She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and has never done a day’s hard work in her life.（她出生于富貴人家，一生中從未做過一天苦活兒。）更多的參賽者用了renowned ancestry、legendary/prominent/famous/prestige family等，似都可以接受。還有一詞無人問津——estate，指較高的社會地位，如：The new medicare reform appeals to people of estate.（新的醫療保險改革受到上流社會的歡迎。）至于“追求者”，有的參賽者用了suitor，其義為a man who wants to marry a particular woman，即“求婚者”，似太早了些；而admirer又太有距離感，該詞釋義為“If you are an admirer of someone, you like and respect them or their work very much”，如：She is an admirer of his paintings.（她是他畫作的粉絲。）其中未必有情愛。此處更確切的，應為wooer、hunter、quester、pursuer等。

故[1]不妨譯為：While teaching at the Chinese National University (Shanghai),Mr. Shen Congwen reserved a special affection for a female student, Zhang Zhaohe, whose family was of a high estate in the south of the Yangtze River, and her beauty had attracted quite a number of wooers.

[2]中，前文的“于是開始不斷給她寫情書”不妨調整到這里，以與后文形成因果關系。“情書”，許多人用了love letters、sugar reports等，固然不錯，但在文學作品中更多用的是billet-doux，該詞源于17世紀的法文。

對于“不正經”，有的用了misconduct，該詞意為“unacceptable behavior, especially by a professional person”，是分量很重的一個詞，讓人聯系到某些不軌行為，如：①His certain misconduct to female students has compromised his position as a teacher.（他對女學生的某些不雅舉止，已經使他不配再當教師了。）②李醫生嚴重瀆職的罪名終于被撤銷了。（Dr. Li was finally cleared of serious professional misconduct.）此處更為恰當的，應為decent，即得體、正派的。

這里的“校長”有人用了headmaster、principal（許多參賽者將該詞與principle 相混淆），此二詞都是中小學校長，而dean是院長、系主任，顯然不合適。確切的應為chancellor、university president、prex、rector等，而在英美體系，現在用的更多的是Vice-Chancellor，例如：①As Vice-Chancellor I warmly welcome you to La Trobe University.（作為本校校長，熱烈歡迎你們光臨拉托貝大學。）②After the president stepped down, he became Vice-Chancellor of a university.（卸任總統后，他去一所大學當了校長。）值得注意的是，Vice-Chancellor現在通常不再是副校長，而是正校長，因Chancellor 通常由社會名流在名譽上擔任，如香港大學的Chancellor由特首擔任，牛津大學的由英國首相擔任等。故此，[2]不妨譯為：Having constantly received billets-doux from Shen, Zhang thought his indecent behavior is not appropriate for a university lecturer, and went to the office of Vice-Chancellor Hu Shi to lodge a complaint.

[3]中，“胡適笑著對她說，‘這有什么關系？他又沒結婚’”，對其中的“笑”，許多人用了laugh，其實該詞多用于“a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter; People also sometimes laugh when they feel nervous or are being unfriendly”，即頗有不敬之意，故應以smile 為宜：“usually shows pleasure or amusement; People smile when they are pleased or amused, or when they are being friendly”，即多為善意。“這有什么關系？”多被譯成“What does it matter?”“It doesn’t matter!”“What’s the matter?”等，固然不錯，但此處不妨“俏皮”一些，如“What is the fuss?”，即“有何大驚小怪”之意，如英語常說的：I don’t know what all the fuss is about.（我不知道為什么要這樣大驚小怪的。）此語雖略重，但with a smile又加以緩和，“對立而統一”。“他又沒結婚”，許多人譯成了“He is not married yet.”“He is still single.”等，但此處bachelor更準確，因指a man who has never been married，而single只是此時沒有married或無男女朋友；且bachelor一般認為更認真對待婚姻、更準備結婚（is more serious about marriage and ready to marry），如：He is the most eligible bachelor in Australia.（他是澳大利亞最為搶手的單身漢。）同時，可將兩句分開，以更富情節：“What is the fuss?” Hu responded with a smile, “Isn’t it pretty normal for a bachelor?” Zhang was quite at a loss for words.

[4]中，“頑固地愛你”，盡顯民國文人用語風格；略帶夸張與幾分調侃。有的譯成“I know that he is incorrigibly obstinate in loving you.”“On her leaving, Mr. Hu told her that ‘I know Mr. Shen has been loving you stiff l y”等，似可接受，但其語氣可更為舒緩、暢達：At last, professor Hu said: “For all I know, he stubbornly loves you!”

[5]中，“終成伉儷”，參賽者多譯成became husband and wife、this teacher and his student finally got married、they two finally made a couple等，有的還化用了俗語Mr. Shen shall have Ms. Zhang并注明：“The author borrowed the idiom ‘All shall be well, and Jack shall have Jill’ to make the target language more idiomatic.”但英文中為祝福之語，即“愿天下有情人終成眷屬”，此處似不完全吻合。故此，不妨譯為：After four years of unremitting effort, the lecturer finally married his student, leaving a much told tale in the Chinese literary circle.

此段雖短，卻不乏起伏，峰回路轉，此韻味在譯文中亦應盡量有所體現。

據回憶，在[3]中其實還有一段趣聞：原來，沈從文因為追求不到張兆和已經跑到胡適那里哭訴過（……于是張兆和無言以對）。這里不妨添譯上去，以求完整：As a matter of fact, Shen had previously visited his boss to grumble about his failure in winning Zhang’s favor. □

【優勝者】

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