中國(guó)文學(xué)英譯絮談

沙楓

茅盾《春蠶》的兩種英譯

茅盾最有名的長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)，是《子夜》。最有名的短篇，則是《春蠶》。

《子夜》于一九三一年出版?！洞盒Q》則寫(xiě)成于一九三二年。

《子夜》，談的是城市?！洞盒Q》。寫(xiě)的是農(nóng)村。

這一短篇小說(shuō)是這樣開(kāi)頭的：

老通寶坐在“塘路”邊的一塊石頭上，長(zhǎng)旱煙管斜擺在他身邊?！扒迕鳌惫?jié)后的太陽(yáng)已經(jīng)很有力量，老通寶背脊上熱烘烘地，像背著一盆火。“塘路”上拉纖的快班船上的紹興人只穿了一件藍(lán)布單衫，敞開(kāi)了大襟，彎著身子拉，額角上黃豆大的汗粒落到地下。

茅盾的小說(shuō)，向來(lái)以細(xì)致著稱(chēng)，寫(xiě)來(lái)又如抽絲剝繭。

上述一段，寫(xiě)的是外表，接著下面的幾行就有內(nèi)容了：

看著人家那樣辛苦的勞動(dòng)，老通寶覺(jué)得身上更加熱了；熱的有點(diǎn)兒發(fā)癢。他還穿著那件過(guò)冬的破棉襖，他的夾襖還在當(dāng)鋪里，卻不防才得“清明”邊，天就那么熱。

“真是天也變了！”

老通寶心里說(shuō)，就吐一口濃厚的唾沫。

北京出版的茅盾的小說(shuō)英譯本，長(zhǎng)篇有徐孟雄翻譯的《子夜》（Midnight），短篇有美國(guó)人 Shapiro 翻譯的《春蠶及其他短篇》（Spring Silkworms and Other Stories）。而《春蠶》這一篇，又有美國(guó)出版的翟氏父子（Chu Chai and Winberg Chai）的譯文。

上引的幾行，翟氏父子的英譯是這樣的；

At the sight of their strenuous toil, Lao Tung Pao felt even warmer——so warm that he began to be itchy. He was still wearing the tattered padded jacket in which he had passed the winter. His unlined jacket had not yet been redeemed from the pawnshop. Such heat was unexpected so soon after "Clear and Bright".

"Even the weather is changed!" Lao Tung Pao said in his mind, and spat emphatically.

農(nóng)村所說(shuō)的“清明邊”，意是“清明后”，看了英譯就清楚了。

Shapiro 的英譯則是這樣：

The sight of others toiling strenuously made Old Tung Pao feel even warmer; he began to itch. He was till wearing the tattered padded jacket in which he had passed the winter. His unlined jacket had not been redeemed from the pawnshop. Who would have believed it could get so hot right after "Clear and Bright".

"Even the weather's not what it used to be," Old Tung Pao said to himself, and spat emphatically.

兩種譯文，都力求忠實(shí)于原著，出入不大，有些字句幾乎完全相同。的英譯發(fā)表在先，翟氏父子可能參考了才翻譯的。

《春蠶》是這樣結(jié)束的：

就是這么著，因?yàn)榇盒Q熟，老通寶一村的人都增加了債！老通寶家為的養(yǎng)了五張布子的蠶，又采了十多分的好繭子，就此白賠上十五擔(dān)葉的桑地和三十塊錢(qián)的債！一個(gè)月光景的忍饑熬夜還不算！

寥寥數(shù)語(yǔ)，看似輕描淡寫(xiě)，其實(shí)是字字千鈞，包含幾許辛酸！

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