荒谬的英文、荒谬的英文absurd?
《翻译批评散论》一书,我们不止一次提到过一次,其作者无疑是个有心人!该书中有如下一个十分经典且“好玩”的例证,即:
老张走进房间一看,只见女儿在床上睡成一个“大”字。
Old Zhang went into the room and saw his daughter lying on the bed in the shape of the Chinese character大.
乍看,想必些许读者会认为挺好的,然而,该书的读者可不以为然:
英译文中既然出现了中国字,近乎荒唐!难道英语如此贫乏,三十几万词汇中(恐怕不止)竟无一词能表达“大”字的形状,以至沦落到要靠向汉语借词的地步?
为证其“译”虑,作者曾跟外教亲自展示这一“睡”状,最后得出非常明确的结论:
…lying spread-eagled....
这一实证活灵活现,非常有说服力!为此,我们亦学着“有心人”之样,翻阅陆谷孙先生主编之《英汉大词典》(第二版),且其中“汇集”了如下简洁而熨帖的表达法,旨在说明:英语词汇量足够,无需借用汉语之“大”!比如:
1) asprawl ad. & [一般作表语]a. 摊手伸足地(的);四肢摊开(的)(p.102)
2) He lay sprawled on his back. 他仰面八叉躺着。(p.1104)
3) He lay down with his limbs spread out in a star. 他四肢向外伸展成星状躺下。(p.1965)
4) lie outstretched on the grass 手脚摊开着躺在草地上(p.1389)
5) His legs sprawled out in a V.他的双腿成V字形伸开。(p.1950)
6) Suspects were made to stand spread-eagled against walls until they were exhausted. 犯罪嫌疑人被勒令张开四肢靠墙站着直到筋疲力尽。/Some of the young men lie spread-eagled under the sun. 一些青年人张开四肢躺着晒太阳。(p.1951)
值得一提的是,词条spread-eagle还有个形容词释义:II a. 1. 像张着翅膀的鹰的,伸开四肢躺着的(亦作spread-eagled)。鉴此,作者所给例证还可压缩掉最后那个d字母!
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