泥土的微笑 翻译欣赏

花瓶细颈大肚，

< br>碎花蓝白调子，流光溢彩。从造

型到色彩，整个如唐朝盛世的化身，雍容，华贵， 高傲，悠闲，目空一切。朋友请我们大家

观赏。奇怪的是每一个参观者都小心谨慎，生怕 碰坏这盛唐的宝贝。其实不过是一撮泥土，

经过窑烧才千修百炼成瓷中经典。

江南的紫砂壶玲珑剔透，

泥人张的彩塑令人拍案 叫绝，

它们不都是泥土的微笑吗？弥珍弥

贵。即使曾丑陋，即使 曾卑微，即使曾朴素，同样让人肃然起敬。

我懂得了，

即使再平凡的人，

也没有理由被埋没，

只要努 力活出色彩，

一定叫人刮目相看。

Smile of the Earth

All over my garden I've planted nothing but roses, fragrant and--If looked at from afar--ablaze

with

colour

like

sunset

clouds.

I

would

be

very

happy

if

any

one

of

my

visiting

friends

should

desire to pick and take some for their homes. I trust that any friend of mine carrying the roses

would vanish into the distance feeling that his emotion had been rekindled. A close friend came

for a visit the other day. I know her to be a lover of flowers and plants, and for that reason I told

her at her departure that she should pick a bunch of roses to decorate her boudoir. I promised

that the scent of the roses would be wafted far, far away.

That girl friend of mine, tiptoeing into the garden in high spirits, sniffed here and smelt there,

but in the end she didn't pick a single rose. I said there were so many of them that she could pick

as many as she'd like to; I told her that I was not a florist and didn't make a living out of them.

While saying so I raised the scissors for the sacrifice of the flowers, but she vehemently stopped

me, crying no, no, no!

To cut such beautiful roses would hurt one, she said. With her hands clutching at my sleeves,

she told me that by no means should they be cut. Roses are the smiling face of the earth, and

who could be so iron-hearted as to destroy a smile so exhilarating?

My mind was thoroughly boggled: the ugly earth, the humble earth, the plain earth--it is only

because of the roses that it reveals an amazing and bright smile, and it is for the sake of that

smile that it wins the care and pity of men.

Of late a friend of mine invited me to appreciate a Tang Dynasty vase that he was fortunate

enough to have bought at an auction. The vase, with its slim neck, plump body, and fine little

flowers on a blue and white background, has a noble shape and a rich colouring, elegant, refined,

proud, poised, and supercilious, an extreme embodiment of the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. I

was filled with wonder to think that while everyone present was taking great care not to cause

the slightest damage to the Tang treasure, it was to me nothing but an object made of clay. It had

only become a piece of classic art after being baked in a china kiln.

Both

the

exquisiteness

of

the

boccaro

teapots

made

in

south

China,

and

the

shockingly

beautiful sculptures by Clay Sculptor Zhang of Tianjin--aren't they all smiles of the earth? They

are

such

exquisite

treasures

that--even

if

they

look

ugly,

humble,

plain,

or

whatever--they

no

doubt deserve respect and veneration.

Now

I

understand

that

no-one,

however

ordinary,

should

be

condemned

to

anonymity,

and

that anyone who adds a dash of colour to life deserves our respect.

{

解释

}

1

）

泥土的微笑

Smile of the Earth

“泥土”一词并不是指“泥”

，而是 指“土”

、

“土地”

，所以译为

the earth

。

smiles

表达的是

一种欢乐的情绪，而不仅仅是“笑容、微笑”的意思。

2

）

我在花园里种满了芬芳的玫瑰花，远远望去，像一片燃烧的晚霞。我想等朋友来做客的

时候，让他们携带些玫瑰回家。

All

over

my

garden

I've

planted

nothing

but

roses,

fragrant

and--If

looked

at

from

afar--ablaze

with

colour

like

sunset

clouds.

I

would

be

very

happy

if

any

one

of

my

visiting

friends

should

desire to pick and take some for their homes.

解析：

译这一句时要注意中文的说话方式：

我

< br>......

玫瑰花，

（我或者人们）

< br>远远望去，

（玫瑰）

像一片

.. ....

，我

......

让他们

......

。中文叙事的角度是不停变化的，而且，第一部分“我

......

玫

瑰花”重点是在“种满 了”

上。译文考虑了这些因素，将“种满了”用

all over my garden

放到句首加以突出，使这一部分所表达的意思在语气的分量上与原文 相当。然后用

作为

主语，把整句串起来 ，作为这一段叙述的中心。

“我想”是说我的一种愿望，所以译为

I would be very happy if...; should

是表示将来的一种

可能性；

for

their

homes

看似与原文不符，但原文的“带

......

回家”并不是说带回去就完事

了，而是说要用玫瑰花装点居室，带花 为的是

(for)

美化他们的家。

3

）

我相信 朋友捧着火红的玫瑰渐渐走远的背影，一定能点燃易感的情怀。

I trust that any friend of mine carrying the roses would vanish into the distance feeling that his

emotion had been rekindled.

解析：朋友并非特指哪一位，而是任何一位，所以译为

any

friend

of

mine

。

“点燃”此处译

为

rekindled

，而不是

kindled

< br>，是因为原文含义指人们原先有过的，现已淡忘的“情怀”被

重新点燃。

4

）

有一天，

一位非常要好的女友来探望我，

我知道她平 素最喜欢花花草草了，

临别时我说，

采一束玫瑰点缀你的闺房， 保证十里飘香。

A close friend came for a visit the other day. I know her to be a lover of flowers and plants, and

for that reason I told her at her departure that she should pick a bunch of roses to decorate her

boudoir. I promised that the scent of the roses would be wafted far, far away.

解析：

“探望我”

也可以译为

came to visit me

，

但

came for a vi sit

更好，

既然是

come

且

visit

，

被访者 当然就“我”了，这句也体现了英语介词多的特点。

“女友”只译作

friend

，而在后面某处 说

girl

friend

，是因为英语中

girl

friend

也有“恋爱对

象”的意思 ，为避免误会，先不译，而放到后面，译为

That girl friend of mine

。况且作者是

男是女我们并不知道。

< br>

“平素最喜欢”英语可以说

she loves...

，但更合乎习惯的说法是

she's a lover of...

，另如

He's

a good driver

是说他开车开得好。

for that reason

是根据原文的句间含义加上的 ，把中文的意义关联，改为英文的形式关联。

“十里飘香”

：中文用数字往往虚指，此处“十里”便并不表示实际的距离， 而是说花香浓

郁幽远，所以译为

would be wafted, far away

。

5

）

女友轻 轻跨进花园，东闻闻，西嗅嗅，神采飞扬，就是不肯采摘。

That girl friend of mine, tiptoeing into the garden in high spirits, sniffed here and smelt there, but

in the end she didn't pick a single rose.

解析：

中文是一连串的动词，

译成英文则需要分清几个动词的主次，

“东闻闻，

西嗅嗅

. .....

不肯采摘”是主要动词，

“进花园”不十分重要，所 以用了一个分词短语处理。

“不肯 采摘”译成英语时必须有宾语，考虑到语句的连贯，再加上语气方面的缘故，译成了

di dn't pick a single rose

。

6

）

我说没 关系，多的是，我又不是花店的老板，不会靠玫瑰赚钱的。

I said there were so many of them that she could pick as many as she'd like to; I told her that I

was not a florist and didn't make a living out of them.

解析：这里中文的意思是说：你采吧，采多少都没关系，因为我这里玫瑰花多的是，而且我

又不是开花店的，不以此谋生。中文的意义关联十分明显。根据这一分析，英文便把“没关

系”隐去了。

make a living out of:

从

......

中谋得生活来 源。

7

）

说完我就举起剪刀准备献美。女友急忙拦住，高声叫着不可不可。

While saying so I raised the scissors for the sacrifice of the flowers, but she vehemently stopped

me, crying no, no, no!