英语修辞格译法(16).doc

英汉互译理论和实践（选修）第九章 英语修辞格的译法（教学安排：2课时）修辞格(figure of speech)是提高语言表达效果的语言艺术。它能使语言生动形象、具体活泼，给人以美的享受。要翻译好英语修辞格，首先要弄清其特点、弄清英汉两种语言在这方面的异同，然后根据具体情况采用恰当的技巧进行翻译。翻译英语修辞格力求译文能有效地再现原文的修辞效果，否则译文即使在大意上与原文差不多，也会使原文的精神和风格受损，削弱语言的表达力。一般说来，修辞格的翻译原则是形似不如神似重要。要做到这一点有时可以采取直译，因为英汉两种语言在修辞手法上存在某些惊人的相似之处；但有时仅靠直译是不行的，因为英汉两种语言还存在着许多差异。无视这些差异而采用直译不但不能保持原文中修辞格的神韵，反而会歪曲原作的意思，造成译文语言晦涩难懂。这时译者就得借助其他翻译技巧，根据具体情况灵活地改换原文的某些修辞手法，使译文符合译入语的语言规范和表述习惯。大致说来修辞格的翻译法有三：直译法、意译法和直译加注法。但是，不管采用什么方法，都应尽量保留原修辞格的语言文化特色，努力传递出各种辞格的结构美、意韵美和音韵美。一、Simile（明喻）simile与汉语的明喻基本相同，用某一事物或情境来比拟另一个事物或情境，使其变抽象为具体、化深奥为浅显、化陌生为熟悉，使描写更加生动形象。英语 simile 的比喻词一般是 like, as（as）等, 汉语明喻的比喻词通常是“好像”、“仿佛”、“一样”、“犹如”、“若”、“似”等。例如：例1原文：They are like streetcars running contentedly on their rails. 译文： 1 直译 当英语和汉语明喻中的喻义和喻体相对应时，可以采取直译。例2原文：Among so many well-dressed and cultured people, the country girl felt like a fish out of water. 译文： 例3原文：Mrs. Macbeth has a heart as hard as flint.译文： 例4原文：Previously, if I had been really interested in a book, I would race from page to page, eager to know what came next. Now, I decide, I had to become a miser with words and stretch every sentence like a poor man spending his last dollar. 译文： 例5as cold as iceas light as featheras bold as a lion as rapid as lighteningas hungry as a wolf applause like thunders as sly as a foxas slow as a turtleas busy as a beeas dirty and greedy as a pig2 改变喻体当英汉明喻中的喻义相同而喻体不同时，翻译时需要改变喻体。例6like a drowned ratlike a rat in a hole like a duck to wateras timid as a rabbitas bitter as wormwoodto spring up like mushrooms dumb as an oyster3 意译英语的明喻在汉语中找不到对等语时，需要意译。比喻形象往往打上各个民族独特文化的烙印，某些英语喻体形象会让中国读者不知所云， 如as wise as a man of Gotham（象戈丹人一样明智） 就让人费解。再如：例7as old as the hillsas thick as thieves as cool as cucumberas sure as a gun as tight as a drumas sharp as a needle 二、Metaphor (暗喻)Metaphor兼有汉语隐喻、借喻及拟物的特点，即把甲事物当作乙事物来描写。如： （1）Experience is the mother of wisdom. （2）She is shedding crocodile tears. 1 直译在翻译英语暗喻时，一般都用直译。例8原文：They were only crying crocodile tears at the old mans funeral because nobody had really liked him.译文： 例9原文：I would my horse had the speed of your tongue.译文： 2 变暗喻为明喻例10原文：Beauty, strength, youth, are flowers but fading soon. Duty, faith, love, are roots, and ever green. 译文： 3 改换喻体改换喻体，使译文符合译入语的表达习惯。例11原文：He was so fond of talking that his comrades nicknamed him “magpie”. 译文： 例12原文：“Dont be scared, chickens!” came her voice with teasing gaiety. 译文： 例13原文：It is regrettable that our appeal remained a dead letter.译文： 例14原文：And I suppose shell tell all the boys, the old cat. 译文： 4 意译当英语的暗喻在汉语中没有相应的比喻，如果直译过来译文读者理解有障碍，就只能意译。例15原文：Its all Greek to me.译文： 三、Metonymy（换喻）、Synecdoche（提喻）和Antonomasia（换称）和汉语的借代辞格相对应，都是不直接说出事物的本来名称，而换用另一个名称或另一个说法。Metonymy用某事物的名称去代表一个更一般的但密切相关的事物。Synecdoche是部分代替整体或整体代替部分，如用hand代表man。Antonomasia是以专有名词指代一类人或食物，其中还包括用名词短语或形容词短语代替专有名词，如：Some mute inglorious Milton here may rest. 某个沉默的、无名诗人也许在此长眠。用the Iron Lady代替Margearet Thatcher等1 直译例16原文：His wife spent all her life on the stage. 译文： 例17原文：Paper and ink cut the throats of men, and the sound of a breath may shake the world. 译文： 2 意译例18原文：Gray hair should be respected. 译文： 例19原文：Great minds think alike. 译文： 例20原文：Didnt you swear youd never again believe anything in trousers?译文： 3 引申当metonymy中以抽象代具体或以具体代替抽象时，用引申法。例22原文：In the modern world salt has many uses beyond the dining table. 译文： 四、Personification（拟人）personification与汉语拟人完全相同，就是赋予物以人的言语属性。这种拟人化的修辞手法读起来使人感到特别形象生动、富有情趣。翻译时一般都可以直译。例23原文：Words pay no debts. 译文： 例24原文：But the Spring never come, nor the Summer. The Autumn gave golden fruit to every garden, but to the Giants garden she gave none. “He is too selfish,” she said. So it was always Winter there, and the North Wind and the Hail, and the Frost, and the Snow danced about through the trees.译文： 例25原文：The weather is smiling on us.原译：天气正对我们微笑。改译： 五、Hyperbole（夸张） Hyperbole与汉语的夸张完全相同，都是为了表达深刻的感受，抒发强烈的感情，通过故意夸大事实来给人留下深刻的印象。例26原文：His words made my blood freeze. 译文： 例27原文：We always have to call them a thousand times.译文： 例28原文：We have hidden a garden full of vegetables where youd never expectin a pie. 译文： 例29原文：If my mother had known of it, shed have died a second time. 译文： 六、Euphemism (委婉)Euphemism就是用转弯抹角的说法来代替直截了当的话，把原来显得粗鲁或令人尴尬的语言温和、含蓄地表达出来，在提及死亡、排泄、性、女性生理周期、宗教信仰、年龄、残疾、人体、生育、职业等方面尤其明显。这在汉语中叫委婉语。例如： 用sanitation engineer替代 用the disadvantaged替代 用industrial action替代例30“死亡”perish 暴卒pass away/pass on/ pass over逝世go to sleep/ fall asleep睡着了sleep the eternal sleep/ sleep the never-ending sleep 永远睡着了be at rest 安息了go to ones final rest 长眠be at peace 心安神泰了close ones eyes 瞑目了go with the tide 随潮而去kick the bucket蹬腿了give up the ghost 灵魂出窍bite the dust 嘴啃泥depart离去be asleep in the arms of God 安睡在上帝的怀抱里be safe in the arms of Jesus 在耶稣的怀抱里得到平安lie in Abrahams bosom 躺在亚伯拉罕的怀抱里1 直译例31原文：The boy used to take things without permission and has just been out of the rehabilitation home in the country. 译文： 例32原文：On the 14th of March, at a quarter to three in the afternoon, the greatest living thinker ceased to think.译文： 例33原文：I am too tired today, for I have done ten cases of criminal operations. 译文： 例34原文：“I used to think I was poor,” she wrote. “Then they told me I wasnt poor; I was needy. Then they said it was self-defeating to think of myself as needy, that I was culturally deprived. Then they told me deprived was a bad image, that I was underprivileged. Then they told me that underprivileged was overused, that I was disadvantaged. I still dont have a dimebut I have a great vocabulary!”译文： 2 意译Where is the powder room? to give the walking ticket 例35原文：He had opened his eyes with the sun at dawn, scratched, done his business like a dog at the roadside, washed at the public fountain译文： 例36原文：A man is helping the police with their business.原译：一位男子正在帮助警察进行调查。改译： 3 借译当英汉两种语言对某一事物用不同的委婉语时，可以互相借用。例37原文：Im afraid she cant act that partshe is a little on the plump side. 译文： 例38原文: He pardoned us off-hand, and allowed us something to live on till he went the way of all flesh.译文： 例39原文：He fed his family on bowls of sunshine.译文： 七、Oxymoron (矛盾修辞法)将相互矛盾的概念和判断巧妙地联系在一起，以便相互映衬，突出事物的特点，表达复杂的思想感情和意味深长的哲理。矛盾修辞手法在英语中常见，但在汉语中很少见。翻译时可以直译。如：sweet sorrowproud humilitypainful pleasurea love-hate relationshipa wise fool cruel kindness 例40原文：It is an open secret that the teacher and the nurse are already of one mind.译文： 例41原文：Make haste slowly. （谚语）译文： 八、Pun (双关)与汉语双关一样，就是用一个词，一句话，或一个语言片段同时表达双重意思：一个是表面的，一是隐含的，并且以隐含的意思为主。恰当的运用这种手法会使语言生动有趣，达到由此及彼的效果。英语pun 和汉语的双关语都可以分为两类：谐音双关（homophonic puns）和语义双关（homographic puns）。前者是利用词意根本不同的谐音词（同音异义词）构成。后者是利用一词多义（同形异义词）的特点来构成。虽然pun和汉语双关在格式和修辞作用上基本相同，但是由于两种语言的语音不同，多义词也很难找到完全对应的词语。例42原文：The driver is safer when the road is dry; The road is safer when the driver is dry. 译文：Pun常用注释译法：字谜游戏例43 原文：-What does that lawyer do after he dies?-Lie still. 译文：那个律师死后干什么？例44原文：-What flower does everybody have?-Tulips.译文： 例45原文：Seven days without water make one weak. 译文： 例46原文：-Why are parliamentary reports called Blue Books? -Because they are never red. 译文： 例47原文：Try our sweet corn, and youll smile from ear to ear. 译文： 九、Allusion（引喻/典故）Allusion与汉语的暗引相近似。其特点是不注明来源和出处，一般多引用人们熟知的关键词或词组，将其融合编织在作者的话语中。引用的东西包括典故、谚语、成语、格言和俗语等。英语引用最多的是源出圣经故事以及希腊、罗马神话、伊索寓言和那些源远流长的谚语、格言等。例如： （1）Grammar may be his heel of Achilles. （2）The project is an economic albatross from the start. 1. 直译当英语的引喻已为汉语读者普遍接受或熟悉时，可以采用直译，如Watergate（水门事件）。例48原文: Today, the Warsaw Pack is not even a paper tiger, and the notion of a protracted nuclear war has become a sick joke. 译文： 2. 加注加注是丰富译入语语言表达法的一种有效方法。它既能传达原文的意思和神韵，又能扩展读者的知识面。尤其当原文所用的典故在上下文中起比较重要的作用时，使用加注能收到较好的效果。 例49原文：Christ, to hear some of those sailors myths, youd think bloody Fort Knox was on every ship that sailed. 译文： 例50原文：They did not reopen the Pandoras Box they had peeked into in 1972. 译文： 例51原文：You want your pound of flesh, dont you?译文： 例52原文：Im as poor as Job, but not so patient.译文： 十、Alliteration（头韵）句子通过词首语音重复取得押韵效果，可以增加语言的节奏感和音乐感，富于表现力，在英语诗歌、散文、谚语、格言、警句中应用广泛，现常用于文章标题和广告语。译成汉语时很难保持原修辞格的形似，绝大多数可以用汉语中别的修辞格来弥补译文的不足。1 保留头韵例53原文：He described the claim in alliterative fashion as composite of fantasy, fallacy and fiction. 译文： 2 意译fair and foulsafe and soundforgive and forget 例54原文：People in America seem to live by the maxim: “Gobble, gulp and go.”译文： 3 用其他修辞格例55原文：He is all fire and fight. 译文： 例56原文：In the past 12 months the world has watched with disbelief and dismay the acceleration of force and violence in the region.译文： 十一、Irony（反语）反语就是把正面意思反过来说或反之的修辞方法，即词语的真实含义往往与其字面意思相反。这种辞格便于挖苦、讽刺、俏皮、幽默。通常反语修辞格直译即可，有时为了醒目或引起读者注意，可将反语词汇用引号标注出。如直译不能解决问题，可采用直译加注法处理。例57原文：What a noble illustration of the tender laws of his favored country!They let the paupers go to sleep!译文： 十二、Paradox（隽语）英语隽语表面上自相矛盾，不合逻辑，甚至是荒谬的，但仔细推敲，却富含真理，意味深长。在翻译时大都可以直译，但因为其通常富含这里，所以要保证其中蕴含的深刻哲理能够得到有效的传递。例58原文：As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. （Holy Bible）译文： 例59原文：He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.译文： 十三、Anticlimax（突降）突降修辞格是指在描述本来正经八百的事物时，在应该推向高潮时却突然转入微不足道或平淡无奇的琐事，即从强到弱、从重到轻、从高到低降调叙述，给读者一个与心理预期完全不同、甚至相反的结语。通常会起到风趣幽默或挖苦讽刺的语言效果。一般可以直译。例60原文：He has been a doctor a y