Neighbour Rosicky (Excerpt VII)《鄰居羅西基》（節選七）

薇拉·凱瑟/文　曹明倫/譯析

After he was settled in his chair， stirring his coffee in a big cup， Mary took out of the oven a pan of kolache stuffed with apricots， examined them anxiously to see whether they had got too dry， put them beside his plate， and then sat down opposite him.

他在那把椅子上坐下，開始攪著一大杯咖啡，瑪麗從烤爐里取出一盤杏仁小圓面包，一邊擔心地察看是否烤過了頭，一邊把面包放到他盤子旁邊，然后在他對面坐了下來。

Rosicky asked her in Czech if she wasn’t going to have any coffee.

羅西基用捷克話問瑪麗要不要喝點咖啡。

She replied in English， as being somehow the right language for transacting business： “Now what did Doctor Ed say， Anton？ You tell me just what.”

瑪麗用英語答話，不知何故，她覺得似乎這才是談正事用的語言。“埃德醫生怎么說？你快告訴我，安東。”

“He said I was to tell you some compliments， but I forgot ’em.” Rosicky’s eyes twinkled.

“他要我跟你問個好，可我把這事給忘了。”羅西基眨巴著眼睛說。

“About you， I mean. What did he say about your asthma？”

“我是問你的事。他怎么說你的哮喘？”

“He says I ain’t got no asthma.” Rosicky took one of the little rolls in his broad brown fingers. The thickened nail of his right thumb told the story of his past.

“他說我沒有哮喘。”羅西基用他棕色的大手拿起一個面包卷。他右手拇指厚厚的指甲記載著他過去的經歷。

“Well， what is the matter？ And don’t try to put me off.”

“嗯，是怎么回事？你可別想敷衍我。”

“He don’t say nothing much， only I’m a little older， and my heart ain’t so good like it used to be.”

“他沒多說別的，就說我上年歲了，心臟沒以前那么好了。”

Mary started and brushed her hair back from her temples with both hands as if she were a little out of her mind. From the way she glared， she might have been in a rage with him.

瑪麗猛然一驚，雙手使勁從額前往后捋頭發，好像她有點兒精神恍惚。從她瞪大的眼睛看，她可能是生他的氣了。

“He says there’s something the matter with your heart？ Doctor Ed says so？”

“他說你心臟有毛病？埃德醫生是這么說的？”

“Now don’t yell at me like I was a hog in de garden， Mary. You know I always did like to hear a woman talk soft. He didn’t say anything de matter wid my heart， only it ain’t so young like it used to be， an’ he tell me not to pitch hay or run de corn-sheller.”

“別沖我嚷嚷，瑪麗，我又不是闖進你菜園子的豬玀。你知道我愛聽女人輕言細語地說話。他可沒說我心臟有啥毛病，只說它不像過去那樣有勁兒了。他還叫我別再叉草捆子，別再開玉米脫粒機了。”

Mary wanted to jump up， but she sat still. She admired the way he never under any circumstances raised his voice or spoke roughly. He was city-bred， and she was country-bred; she often said she wanted her boys to have their papa’s nice ways.

瑪麗真想跳起來，不過她坐著沒動。她欣賞羅西基說話的方式——在任何情況下都不用粗聲惡語。他在城里長大，而她則是個鄉下女人，所以她常說希望孩子們都像他們的父親這般文雅。

“You never have no pain there， do you？ It’s your breathing and your stomach that’s been wrong. I wouldn’t believe nobody but Doctor Ed about it. I guess I’ll go see him myself. Didn’t he give you no advice？”

“你沒覺得過哪兒痛吧？以前你就是有點兒氣喘，胃有點兒不舒服。這事除了埃德醫生我誰也不信。我想我得親自去問問他。他沒叮囑過你什么嗎？”

“Chust to take it easy like， an’ stay round de house dis winter. I guess you got some carpenter work for me to do. I kin make some new shelves for you， and I want dis long time to build a closet in de boys’ room and make dem two little fellers keep dere clo’es hung up.”

“只說別干太累人的活，比如這個冬天就待在屋里。我想你該有些木工活兒要我干吧？我可以給你做幾個新廚架，而且我一直都想在孩子們的房間里做個壁櫥，好讓那兩個小家伙把衣服給掛起來。”

Rosicky drank his coffee from time to time， while he considered. His moustache was of the soft long variety and came down over his mouth like the teeth of a buggy-rake over a bundle of hay. Each time he put down his cup， he ran his blue handkerchief over his lips. When he took a drink of water， he managed very neatly with the back of his hand.

羅西基不時端起杯子喝口咖啡，心中盤算著這些事情。他嘴唇上方那溜胡子又長又軟，像耙草機那排耙齒一樣耷拉在嘴上。他每次放下杯子后都要用藍手帕擦擦嘴唇。平時喝完水后他則會用手背認真地揩揩胡子。

【背景知識】《鄰居羅西基》是美國女作家薇拉·凱瑟（1873—1947）于1930年發表的一篇重要短篇小說。小說通過回憶和追述的手法，講述了波希米亞移民羅西基樸素而充實的一生，展現了拓荒者及其后代善良、樸素、勤勞、熱愛生活、眷念土地的可貴品質。小說主題深刻，結構勻稱，筆觸細膩，文字優美，人物性格刻畫清晰，翻譯時應注意描摹。

【第1—3段】原文第1段狀語從句中的was settled是被動語態，表示羅西基是在瑪麗服侍下就座的，但這層意思已在上下文中不言而喻，所以翻譯成“坐下”即可。英語被動語態的使用頻率遠遠高于漢語，或者說漢語常常用主動語態表示被動意義，例如：書讀完了、錢花光了、信寄出去了、論文寫了一半。所以我們常把英語被動語態翻譯成漢語的主動語態，例如把“The problem is being studied.”翻譯成“問題正在研究”；把“The nominations have been unanimously adopted.”翻譯成“提名已一致通過”；把“What language is spoken there？”翻譯成“那里講什么語言？”；等等。

【第4—8段】第4段中的’em = them；第6段中的says = said，I ain’t got no asthma = I don’t get any asthma；第8段中的He don’t say nothing much = He doesn’t say anything much。（“節選二”的譯析曾提醒過：不規范英語中的雙重否定仍然表示否定，甚至是加強否定）。

【第9—11段】第11段中的de = the；wid = with；an’ = and。

【第12—13段】第13段中的You never have no pain there = You never have any pain there；“Didn’t he give you no advice？”=“Didn’t he give you any advice？”（不規范英語中的雙重否定仍然表示否定）。

【第14—15段】第14段中的Chust = Just；an’= and；de = the；dis = this；kin = can；dere clo’es = their clothes。

【小結】除再次提醒“不規范英語中的雙重否定仍然表示否定”之外，本次譯析談到了被動語態的翻譯問題。有語法學家強調“這種情況值得特別注意”。（參閱張道真《實用英語語法》第二次修訂本，商務印書館，1979，第160頁）有高校翻譯教科書用專章討論這個問題，告訴學生“英語大量使用被動語態，而漢語則很少使用，……英語被動句譯成漢語主動句，是最常見的方法”。（參閱郭著章《英漢互譯實用教程》第四版，武漢大學出版社，2010，第124頁和第127頁）漢語當然也用被動語態，不少英語用被動語態的語句翻譯成漢語時也需要用被動語態，但漢語的被動語態并非只用一個“被”字來表示，有學者就批評過“譯者但看見‘-ed’就‘被’他一下”的譯法。（參閱思果《翻譯研究》，中國對外翻譯出版公司，2001，第89頁）其實漢語表示被動語態的用詞（表達方式）比英語豐富得多，例如：可以把be beaten譯成“挨打”，把be robbed譯成“遭劫”，把be rescued譯成“遇救”，把be employed譯成“受雇”，把be elected譯成“當選”，把be approved譯成“獲準”，把be damaged譯成“給弄壞了”，把be instructed by him譯成“經他指點”，把be bothered by affection譯成“為情所困”，等等。