对中国诗歌英译的几点思考
国际翻译界有一个共识，即翻译的任务应该是把外语翻译成母语，如果试图把母语翻译成外语，那是一种错误的选择。的确，只要能把外语看懂，人们就不难在母语中找到恰当的词句。一个人外语再好也好不过他的母语。
因此，世界上大多数翻译都是从事将外语翻译成母语的工作。世界上有些汉学家始终保持有这样一种观点：“译者始终都应该把外语翻译成自己的母语，绝不该把母语译成外语。“
为什麽这些汉学家会持有这样一种观点？为何国际翻译界会达成上述的共识？要回答这些问题，我们不妨先想一想这样一个问题：你读到过任何一本由外国译者从其母语翻译成汉语的文学经典吗？
以本文要谈及的诗歌翻译而论，你读到过任何一首由外国译者从其母语翻译成中文的外国诗歌吗？实事求是地讲，面对中国译者和英美译者翻译的同一首中文诗，把英文当作第二语言的中国读者一般很难辨其优劣，或者说很难体味英美译者译文之妙处。
美国著名汉学家，莫言小说的翻译者Jenner也表达了同样的观点。他说：---“如果译者的母语是汉语，那麼他所面临的就是一个几乎不可能完成的任务（尽管不尽然）：既能够驾轻就熟地使用英语，又敏于捕捉英语的句子节奏和语略。
一门语言，如果没有从小就生活在其中，要想达到这种熟练程度是相当困难的，尤其在那些更为口语化的语略中更是这样。但是，用一门外语来生动表现以自己母语创作的文学作品这一根本性难题几乎是难以逾越的。
让我们回到翻译的一般问题上来。有些译者试图将自己的母语译成后天习得的英文。如果一首中国诗同时由中国译者和英美译者来翻译，除少数学贯中西的学者外，以英文作为自己第二语言的中国读者很难辨别其优劣，或者很难体会英美译者译文之地地道道的妙处。
下面我们以毛主席诗词《沁园春·雪》的前十行两个英文译本选用来说明这个问题。
北国风光，千里冰封，万里雪飘。
望长城内外，惟余莽莽；
大河上下，顿失滔滔。
山舞银蛇，原驰蜡象，欲与天公试比高。
须晴日，看红妆素裹，分外妖娆。
许渊冲教授将这前五行诗翻译为：
See what the northern countries show:
Hundreds of leagues ice-bound go;
Thousands of leagues flies snow.
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.
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.
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!
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.”
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.
许在这首诗里选用的词在语义层面上没有错，但却没有转达出一个清晰的意象。这行诗的译文自始自终都有一些蹩脚的错误----采用中式英语来翻译中文诗词，而且都是因为拘泥于字面意义结果造成了用不道地的英语来翻译中文诗。
个人认为Mary Austin Endicott版比许渊冲版更接近文学语言，多用名词和动名词，多用描述性的语言，读起来朗朗上口，美感和音乐感十足；而许渊冲版几乎每行都是一个小句，每行都有动词，读起来好像是几个简单句的拼凑，是直译过来的，缺乏形象性。
江山如此多娇，引无数英雄竞折腰。
惜秦皇汉武，略输文采；
唐宗宋祖，稍逊风骚。
一代天骄，成吉思汗，只识弯弓射大雕。
俱往矣，数风流人物，还看今朝。
许渊冲教授将这前五行诗翻译为：
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
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.
须晴日，看红妆素裹，分外妖娆”如此美妙的诗句。“红”与“素”形成了鲜明色彩对照，竟把严冬雪天写得如此令人陶醉，实在是令人赞叹。
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。
，
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