《红楼梦》英译诗词赏析
《红楼梦》中的诗词曲赋共约170首。不同译本采用了不同的体裁翻译,一些英译本采用自由体进行翻译。接下来,小编给大家准备了《红楼梦》英译诗词赏析,欢迎大家参考与借鉴。
《红楼梦》英译诗词赏析
例1、 冯紫英唱曲
你是个可人;你是个多情;你是个刁钻古怪鬼精灵;——你是个神仙也不灵。
我说的话儿你全不信,只叫你去背地里细打听,才知道我疼你不疼你!
杨译:You can bill and you can coo,
Be an imp of mischief too,
But a fairy? No, not you,
As my word you doubt.
Ask around and you’ll find out
I love you. yes, I do!
霍译:You’re so exciting,
And so inviting;
You’re my Mary Contrary;
You’re a crazy, mad thing.
You’re my goddess, but oh! You’re deaf to my praying:
Why won’t you listen to what I am saying?
If you don’t believe me, make a small investigation:
You will soon find out the true depth of my admiration.
解析:1)对于这段唱曲,两位译者的译文不论是风格还是遣词造句上差别较大。原文小调活泼俏皮,霍译不免有些沉闷臃肿。此外,investigation、admiration这类大字眼用在民间小调上似乎并不适合。反观杨译,弃“形”求“神”,整个译文节奏轻快,押韵得当,朗朗上口。
2)值得注意的是,对于“刁钻古怪鬼精灵”的处理,霍译其中的“刁钻古怪鬼精灵”被霍克斯译成了“Mary Contrary”,“Mary Contrary”来自英国的一首儿歌,所谓contrary, 指她颇难相处,难按常规捉摸,在这一点上,接近原文的“刁钻古怪鬼精灵”。霍克斯采用的是用目的语中合适的喻体代替源语言中的喻体,这一翻译方法经常被用在两种语言存在文化错位或空缺的情况下。
例2、 警幻仙姑赋(片段)
其素若何:春梅绽雪;其洁若何:秋慧披霜。
其静若何:松生空谷;其艳若何:霞映澄塘。
其文若何:龙游曲沼;其神若何:月射寒江。
杨译:Her whiteness? Spring plum-bloosom glimpsed through snow.
Her purity? Autumn orchids coated with frost.
Her tranquility? A pine in a lonely valley.
Her beauty? Sunset mirrored in a limpid pool.
Her grace? A dragon breasting a winding stream.
Her spirit? Moonlight on a frosty river.
霍译:Her purity I can best show
In plum-trees flowering in the snow;
Her chastity I shall recall
In orchids white at first frost-fall;
Her tranquil nature will prevail
Constant as lone pine in an empty vale;
Her loveliness as dazzled make
As sunset gilding a pellucid lake;
Her loveliness as dazzled make
As sunset gilding a pellucid lake;
Her glittering elegance I can compare
With dragons in an ornamental mere;
Her dreamy soulfulness most seems
Like wintry waters in the moon’s cold beams.
解析: 霍译采取排比结构,大多数诗行为“抑扬格四音步”(iambic tetrameter), 少数行为“抑扬格五音步”(iambic pentameter)。押韵格式为“双行联韵体”(couplet)。译文韵脚密集,且都是双元音或长元音,因此韵味醇厚,给人以强烈的音乐美。杨译译文十分有特色,没有押韵,大胆采取“字对字”译法,甚至都没有使用动词。一般说来,“字对字”译法是不可取的,然而此处却用得十分恰当,而且效果很好。译文富于节奏感,节奏鲜明,语言简练准确。比较以上两个译文,两种译文各有所长。
例3、《红楼梦》曲(片段)
纵然是齐眉举案,
到底意难平。
杨译:Even a pair thought well-matched
May find disappointment.
霍译:Even a wife so courteous and so kind.
No comfort brings to my afflicted mind.
解析:1)这句道出宝玉被骗与宝钗成婚的极大痛苦和始终不屈的反抗的心声。“齐眉举案”的意思为送饭时把托盘肖得跟眉毛一样高。后形容夫妻互相尊敬,相敬如宾。杨译为“ a pair thought well-matched”,是a pair thought to be well-matched的省略,这句话表达的是宝玉与宝钗的结合在他人眼中是金玉良缘,而非他们二人之间的感情写照,虽然未能很好体现相敬如宾的感觉,但也侧面表现了宝黛爱情悲剧的主因主要源自外界,那个封建礼教的社会。而霍译则选择从女方切入,将齐眉举案译成“a wife so courteous and so kind”,没有体现夫妻双方的互动,却体现古代女性在婚姻中的生存状态,一个恭敬和顺的妻子就够了,只不过对于心有所属的宝玉而言仍然无法接受。
2)“意难平”展现了宝玉被骗婚后内心的挣扎与愤懑。杨译为“disappointment”,只道出失望,情感层次不免有些浅了。而霍译采用“afflicted"这一词,它表示苦恼折磨,更深层次地展现了宝玉此刻的心情。如果只是失望,则不会出现后续宝玉的出家行为。
例4、《冬夜即事》诗
松影一庭惟见鹤,
梨花满地不闻莺。
杨译:Only a stork can be seen in the pine-shadowed court,
No oriole sings in the snow which has drifted like pear-blossom.
霍译:Only a stork outside is to be found —
No oroles now, though white flowers mask the ground.
解析:第一句宛若一幅“松鹤图”,霍译没有较好展现这一意境。杨译独出心裁采用构词法,构造出“pine-shadowed”,效果很好。第二句中“梨花”比喻雪,霍译“梨花”译为“white flowers”,不免让不了解中国文化的译文读者不能很好体会这一暗喻修辞的美妙。杨译把暗喻转为明喻,不失为一种好办法。
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