See what the northern countries show: Hundreds of leagues ice-bound go; Thousands of leagues flies snow.
2) Behold! Within and without the Great Wall The boundless land is clad in white, And up and down the Yellow River, all The endless waves are lost to sight.
3)Mountains like silver serpents dancing, Highlands like waxy elephants advancing, All try to match the sky in height.
4)Wait till the day is fine And see the fair bask in sparkling sunshine, What an enchanting sight!
一位名为Mary Austin Endicott加拿大学者将这前五行诗翻译为:
All the
country to the north
Is
enclosed in a thousand li of ice
And ten
thousand li of a whirlwind snow.
To one
side and the other of the Great Wall
There reigns
nothing but a vast turmoil.
From the
banks of the Yellow River, both upstream and down,
No longer
can one see the running water.
The
mountain ranges are writhing silver serpents,
Like
glittering elephants the hillocks rise from the plains
And our
height is the height of the skies.
In the
bright weather
The earth
is as charming
As a
red—cheeked girl in a garment of white.
且不说英诗本身的音韵节奏,单比较第一行中“See what the northern countries show: Hundreds
of leagues ice-bound go; Thousands of leagues flies snow.”和“All the country to the north Is enclosed in a thousand li of ice
And ten thousand li of a whirlwind snow.”
两种译法,中国读者除了其字面意义外,很难有什麽联想,而一般以英语为母语的人不会说“See what the northern countries show: Hundreds of
leagues ice-bound go; Thousands of leagues flies snow.
他们一定会说All the country to the
north Is enclosed in a thousand li of ice Is enclosed in a thousand li of ice And
ten thousand li of a whirlwind snow.
5)Our
motherland so rich in beauty Has made countless heroes vie to pay her their duty. 6)But alas! Qin Huang and Han Wu In culture not well bred, And Tang Zong and Song Zu In letters not wide read. 7)And Genghis Khan, proud son of Heaven for a day, Knew only shooting eagles by bending his bows. 8)They have all passed away; Brilliant heroes are those Whom we will see today! 5
一位名为Mary Austin Endicott加拿大学者将这前五行诗翻译为:
Such
is the attraction of her rivers and mountains
That
innumerable heroes have striven in pursuit of her charms.
The
emperors Chi huang and Wou Ti were barely cultured,
The
emperors Tai Tsoung and Tsai Tsou lacked all finer feelings,
Genghis
Khan only knew how to bend his bow against the eagles.
All this
belongs to the past------today for the first time men of
sensibility stand
on this soil.
Mary Austin Endicott在第一行诗里采用一个英语惯用句型such-------that把两句话的意思自然而很道地联系起来,其译法明显高于许氏的中式英语的译法。
且看Endicott氏的译文The earth is as charming As a red—cheeked girl in a garment of white.将大自然的景色用拟人化的方法描写出来了。红妆素裹用a red—cheeked girl来形容,分外妖娆用“charming“一单词来形容从而生动地将大自然妩媚的情形描写出来了。