四大古典小说名著之三国演义

1、四大古典小说名著之三国演义第二节 三国演义选段英译1三国是我国的一个历史时代（220-280），三国演义描写的历史事件从自黄巾起义（184）末期开始，到西晋统一魏、蜀、吴三国为止。这一历史时期，与春秋战国一样，群雄逐鹿，各显神通，因而是一个风起云涌、人才辈出的特殊历史时期。三国演义就是以这一时期的历史事件和历史人物为素材写成的一部历史题材小说。三国演义的书名是在三国志通俗演义与三国志演义的基础上缩略而成的，是我国章回小说的开山之作，是在宋元讲史话本的基础上由罗贯中写成的。三国故事最迟在晚唐时期已开始在民间流传，北宋时已有“说三分”的艺人，宋元时代三国故事与三国戏剧十分流行。但三国演义成书时除从

2、宋元讲史话本、流传在民间的三国故事和三国戏剧中吸取营养之外，还参考了陈寿的三国志和裴松之的注。2三国志写于晋代，作者陈寿是三国时期的蜀国人，因而对三国的情况非常熟悉。由于他是个人编史，无法依靠国家藏书机构的史料，许多资料都靠自己搜集，因此三国志中时有失实、讹错和遗漏。裴松之的注补充了许多历史事实，纠正了失实与讹错，使三国志成了一部臻于完善的史书。罗贯中写作三国志演义时，主要在于演绎三国志之义，虽然吸收了讲史话本、民间流传的三国故事和三国戏剧的内容，但剔除了讲史话本中及其它材料中的某些荒诞不经的情节。另外，三国志为纪传体，主要以人物为线索记述历史事件，而三国志演义如果从我国史书的编写体例的角度，

3、可以看成是编年体和记事本末体的揉合，是一种故事性很强的稗官野史。可见，三国演义与红楼梦不同，不是真正现代意义上的小说，不是作者主要依靠自己的想象力构思出来的小说。因此，有人将它称为历史题材小说。3 本书材料均选自北京燕山出版社出版的毛宗岗批评三国演义，是毛纶、毛宗岗父子对一种接近于罗贯中原著的底本进行了增删后的本子。最早出现的三国演义多为二百四十节本，每节前有一句提纲挈领的回目概述本节主要内容，合成一百二十回本时，将两节合并成一回，一句话的回目就变成了两句话。毛宗岗加工整理时，将每回的两句话的回目变成了对偶句，在每回的前面都加上了评语。4 由于三国演义是历史题材小说，理解时，对原文要参考三国志

4、及其它历史典籍进行研读，许多人名、地名、职官名称等也都有历史资料可考。因此，翻译时占有有关史料，随时查阅有关史料是非常必要的。下面从三国演义中选用15段原文，其中5段用于本书，10段用于练习。对本书所选用的5段原文中所涉及的语言文化问题，适当地予以阐释，然后为各段提供一种现成译文，并附上笔者的试笔。54.2.1 话说天下大势，分久必合，合久必分。周末七国分争并入于秦，及秦灭后，楚、汉分争，又并入于汉；汉朝自高祖斩白蛇起义，一统天下，后来光武中兴，传至献帝，遂分为三国。6这是三国演义开篇几句。其中的分久必合，合久必分讲的是我国自有史以来至三国这一段历史时期内的天下大势或发展规律。我国自有史以来到

5、三国为止，经历了夏、商、周、秦、汉等朝代，其中周朝分为西周与东周两个历史时期，东周分为春秋和战国两个历史阶段。春秋时期，虽然出现了诸侯争霸的局面，但周天子仍然是中华民族的天子。到了战国时期东周在很大程度上已经名存实亡。到了战国后期，就形成了战国七雄逐鹿中原的局面。后来秦灭了东周、灭了其他六国，统一了中国，建立了大一统的秦王朝。但秦始皇刚刚统一中国就好大喜功，不知生养休息，反而劳民伤财，筑长城、修运河、建阿房宫，加之实施酷刑、暴政，焚书坑儒，死后不久就爆发了我国历史上著名的陈胜、吴广起义，刘邦、项羽等也乘势而起，于是秦王朝便“二世而终”了。陈胜、吴广起义失败后，刘邦（汉王）便与项羽（楚王）逐鹿中

6、原，以刘胜项败而告终。7汉朝也分西汉与东汉。汉高祖刘邦所建立的汉朝为西汉，光武帝刘秀所建立的汉朝为东汉。西汉末年，王莽摄政，继而僭位。后来爆发了绿林起义，刘秀乘机建立了东汉政权。东汉政权传至汉献帝，又出现了群雄逐鹿的局面，经过无数次战斗，大小诸侯先后被夷平，逐步形成魏、蜀、吴三个独立王国。220年魏王曹丕废汉献帝自己称帝，蜀、吴两国也先后仿而效之，是为三国。所谓东周、西周，东汉、西汉都是根据首都的相对地理位置而言的。西周都于镐京（在今西安市西南），东周都于洛邑（在今洛阳市西），镐京在洛邑之西，洛邑在镐京之东，故前者称为西周，后者称为东周。西汉都于长安，东汉都于洛阳，长安在洛阳之西，洛阳位于长安

7、之东，故名之。84.2.2 Here begins our tale. The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been, in the closing years of the Zhou dynasty, seven kingdoms warred among themselves until the kingdom of Qin prevailed and absorbed the other six. But Qin soon fell, and on its rui

8、ns two opposing kingdoms, Chu and Han, fought for mastery until the kingdom of Han prevailed and absorbed its rival, as Qin had done before. The Han courts rise to power began when the Supreme Ancestor slew a white serpent, inspiring an uprising that ended with Hans ruling a unified empire.9Two hund

9、red years later, after Wang Mangs usurpation, Emperor Guang Wu restored the dynasty, and Han emperors ruled for another two hundred years down to the reign of Xian, after whom the realm split into three kingdoms. (Translated by Moss Roberts)10上段原文没有叙述西周至三国间所发生的所有历史事件，但熟悉中国历史的人，对这些事件一般都有一个粗略的了解，因而作者谈

10、论这段历史时，可以从简。Roberts翻译时补充了一些历史事件，如王莽篡权，遗漏了另一些历史事件如陈胜、吴广起义，绿林起义等。他也没有说明，为什么有西周东周、西汉东汉。当然，他的任务是翻译，作者没说的，他完全可以不提，但如果有意方便英语读者，他也可以将原文没有但影响读者理解的历史事件或其他知识补充出来。他用The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide翻译话说天下大势，分久必合，合久必分，节奏明快，音韵铿锵，译得恰到好处，实为上乘佳译。从总体上看，归化、异化兼而有之。114.2.3 The Chinese histo

11、ry witnessed the empire alternating between unity and division, long and short. At end of the warring state period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, seven powerful kingdoms were fighting against each other until Qin conquered the other six and unified China. When Qin fell apart, the two powers Chu and Ha

12、n were engaged in civil wars until Han conquered the other and unified the country. The Han Dynasty can be traced back to Gaozu, the first emperor, who staged an uprising by slaying a serpent and established a unified empire. During the Western Han (so called for its capital Changan, located to the

13、west of Luoyang), the throne was passed along the family line until it was usurped by Wang Mang, emperor of Xin, which was overthrown by a peasant uprising. Then Emperor Guangwu took the advantage of the chaos and restored the sovereign. Emperor Guang Wu moved the capital from Changan to Luoyang, he

14、nce the Eastern Han. The dynasty passed its throne again along the family line to Emperor Xian when it fell into three kingdoms: Wei, Shu and Wu. 12拙译在王莽篡权之后补叙了农民起义，译出了东汉与西汉及其与都城所在地的关系，补叙了三国的国名：魏、蜀、吴等，但因担心译文篇幅会较多地超出原文，仅提到东周和战国，没有补充这方面的详细信息，也没有补充西周、春秋、陈胜吴广起义等信息。总体上看，增加译文的翻译方式，虽然能减少注释，但增加了篇幅，局部使用比较可取，

15、如果使用得过于频繁就会大幅度地增加译文篇幅，让熟悉汉英两种语言的读者感到奇怪。增加必要的信息可以视为是一种归化译法，目的是通过补充必要的信息以方便译文读者。4.2.4 且说董卓，字仲颖，陇西临洮人也，官拜河东太守，自来骄傲。当日怠慢了玄德，张飞性发，便欲杀之。玄德与关公急止之。13这是三国演义第二回的开头一段，前面说到，刘备引关、张去助卢植，不料朝廷已差董卓接替了卢植。他们正要引军回去，恰遇董卓被黄巾军杀得大败。刘备等慌忙投入战斗，杀败黄巾军，救了董卓。谈话之间，董卓了解到刘备没有官职，因而非常怠慢。刘备等人救了董卓反遭到他的冷遇，使张飞非常气恼。翻译这段文字主要涉及三个方面的古文化：我国古代

16、的姓名文化、职官文化和地理文化。下面仅就引文所涉及的姓名文化作一点说明。文中称刘备为玄德，称其字而不直呼其名，是表示尊敬。关公即关羽，字云长，关公是后人对他尊称。刘备是皇室之胄，在三国演义中被作者视为正统，因而常用尊称。关羽则因其忠义精神受到后人的尊敬，在三国演义中也常用尊称指代，张飞却没有享受到类似的待遇。144.2.5 Governor of Hedong, Dong Zhuo (styled Zhongying), a native of Lintao in Longxi in the far northwest, was a man to whom arrogance came nat

17、urally. His rude treatment of Xuande had provoked Zhang Fei to turn back and seek satisfaction, but Xuande and Lord Guan warned their brother. (Translated by Moss Roberts)15Roberts严格按照原文用汉语拼音翻译人名、地名，连董卓的字都翻译了；用现代英语的职官名称翻译三国演义中的职官名称，既保留了原文的信息，又照顾了读者。用异化、归化的观点看，姓名和地名翻译可视为异化，而职官名称的翻译可视为归化。4.2.6 Born in

18、 Lintao of Longxi, Dong Zhuo, styled Zhongying, was appointed governor of Hedong, an official notorious for his arrogance. On that day, he offended Xuande with arrogant manners. At end of his patience, Zhang Fei nurtured an attempt to kill him. On sensing this, Xuande and Lord Guan stopped Zhang Fei

19、.16我的翻译在人名、地名和职官名称的处理上和Roberts完全相同，但在遣词造句上略有区别。第一句以分词短语开头、以同位语结束，使全句的重心处于句子的中央；最后一句加上on sensing this，增强了译文的逻辑性，方便了读者。4.2.7 且说曹操当日对何进曰：“宦官之祸，古今皆有，但世主不当假之权宠，使至于此。若欲治罪，当除元恶，但付一狱吏足矣，何必纷纷召外兵乎？欲尽诛之，事必宣露，吾料其必败也。”17这是三国演义第三回的开头一段，有关故事情节是，宦官专权，何进欲诛杀他们，何太后不允。国舅何进采用袁绍之策打算召董卓进京，董卓尚未进京，何进就已遇害。何进与大家商议召董卓进京时，曹操提出了

20、上述不同意见。文中世主是对何进的尊称，假是古汉语词，意思是给予，假之权宠意为给他们以权宠。据三国演义第二回，是何太后及其弟何进、何苗等宠信太监张让等，以致酿成祸患。184.2.8 “Eunuchs,” Cao Cao went on, “have been a plague since ancient times. But the founder of the Eastern Han, Emperor Guang Wu, granted them excessive power and favor and sowed the seeds of the crisis that is upon u

21、s today. The remedy is to eliminate the ringleaders. A single bailiff could do it. Why involve regional forces? Any attempt to execute the lot of them is bound to get out and likely to fail for that reason.” (Translated by Moss Roberts)Roberts翻译得十分地道，但将世主理解为光武帝刘秀似乎欠妥，如前所述，世主实际上是对何进的尊称。194.2.9 In the

22、 discussion over the proposal to summon Dong Zhuo into the capital to suppress the eunuches, Cao Cao offered his advise to He Jin, saying: “The eunuchs have been plaguing China ever since their birth. However, Your Lord should not have granted them with such power and favor, giving rise to the plagu

23、e. To punish them, we need only to punish their ringleaders. A single bailiff could do this and it is unnecessary to call in forces stationed in distant localities. Any plan for killing them all will certainly fail, in my opinion. for the difficulty to keep the secret.”我的译文与Roberts的非常近似，但增加了说明有关语境的文

24、字，更正了他认为是刘秀对宦官假以权宠的说法。本打算将最后一句译为：any intention to call outside forces in to kill them all will certainly fail, in my opinion, for the difficulty to keep the secret。但考虑到大家由于受到信、达、雅的影响，可能会认为这样翻译过多地增加原文没有的信息而难以接受。204.2.10 且说董卓欲杀袁绍，李儒止之曰：“事未可定，不可妄杀。”袁绍手提宝刀，辞别百官而出，悬节东门，奔冀州去了。这是第四回的开头一段，与之相关的故事情节是，董卓被何进召入

25、京后擅政专权，图谋不轨，打算废皇帝为弘农王，另立新帝。于是召集大家商议。还没有商议之前，董卓的部下看到反对派丁原的义子吕布十分骁勇，于是劝其作罢。后来董卓用计诱使吕布杀了丁原，收吕布为义子。收了骁将吕布，董卓感到再议废帝立帝之事就没有人敢反对了，于是再次召集大家商议。商议过程中，遭到袁绍的强烈反对，董卓遂欲杀袁绍，被部下劝住。董卓上演废帝立帝一幕，和指鹿为马一样，是想试探一下，看看自己篡夺帝位的时机是否已经成熟。214.2.11 Dong Zhuo started for Yuan Shao, but Li Ru checked him: “Things are not yet under c

26、ontrol. You must not kill rashly.” Thus Yuan Shao left, sword still in hand, after bidding the assembled officials farewell. He hung his credentials on the east gate and fled to the province of Ji. (Translated by Moss Roberts)22Roberts的译文地道可读，将悬节东门译成hung his credentials on the east gate是归化译法，方便了读者。但

27、将董卓欲杀袁绍译成Dong Zhuo started for Yuan Shao似乎于原文有亏。因为董卓当时虽然佩剑在身，自己一般并不与人格斗。如果真的欲杀袁绍也会让吕布去动手，不会亲自动手。但就英语规范而言，此译无可厚非。4.2.12 On seeing Dong Zhuo was going to kill Yuan Shao, Li Ru stopped him, saying: “We should not kill wantonly since we have not secured our control over the local forces yet.” A sword in

28、 hand, Yuan Shao bid his farewell to the others and left the hall. Hanging his credentials on the east gate, he went to Jizhou, where his troops stationed.23我的译文在翻译董卓欲杀袁绍处有别于Roberts。另外，我用拼音翻译冀州并增加了说明性文字，也有别于Roberts。因为冀州古代为九州之一，汉武帝时为十三刺史部之一，跨河北、山东、山西三省的毗邻地区。自汉武帝以降，治所常常变更，辖区也时有变化，是一个行政单位。另外，我的翻译基本上都是整

29、句，注意了句间和句内的衔接。因此，我的译法总体上看是异化。244.2.13 自此每夜入宫，奸淫宫女，夜宿龙床。尝引军出城，行到阳城地方，时当二月，村民社赛，男女皆集。卓命军士围住，尽皆杀之，掠妇女财物，装载车上，悬头千余颗于车下，连轸还都，扬言杀贼大胜而回。25这是第四回中的一段，讲的是董卓的事。有关情节是，董卓废了当时的皇帝，立陈留王为帝，从而成功地上展示了自己已经拥有了能玩皇帝于股掌之中的权利。董卓拥有了这样的至高无上的权力之后便变本加厉地胡作非为，本段就是描写他的某些胡作非为的。文中的阳城为古县名、这里的社赛指在春社时举行的祭祀活动。我国有春、秋二社，本段所言之事发生在早春二月，社赛当为

30、春社的节庆活动。另外，三国演义开头几回中的贼均指黄巾起义军。264.2.14 Dong Zhuo now began to indulge himself freely, debauching the imperial concubines and sleeping in the Emperors bed. One day he took some troops to the city of Yang, a place outside Luoyang. It was the second month when the villagers, men and women, were celebra

31、ting the spring thanksgiving festival in honor of their local god. Dong Zhuo ordered his troops to surround the crowd and beheaded all the men. He seized the women and the goods that the people had with them and loaded everything onto his carts, tying to the sides the severed heads more than one tho

32、usand. As the train reentered the capital Dong Zhuo announced that he was returning from a great victory over some bandits. (Translated by Moss Roberts)27Roberts将阳城译成the city of Yang, a place outside Luoyang，用归化译法将社赛译成the spring thanksgiving festival in honor of their local god，将贼译成bandits，均于原文有亏，虽然就英语规范而言，都是非常地道的。阳城如前所述，乃古