中國(guó)文學(xué)英譯絮談

沙楓

杜牧詩(shī)中的“紅”與“白”

杜牧是唐朝比較有名的詩(shī)人，但其作品之英譯，并不多見(jiàn)，不像李白、杜甫、白居易、王維、李商隱等人的詩(shī)之有英譯專(zhuān)集。

前些時(shí)，看了他的《山行》一詩(shī)的三種英譯，一首見(jiàn)于 Kotewall 譯的“The Penguin Book of Chinese Verse”，一首見(jiàn)于 Rexroth 譯的“Love and the Turning Year: One Hundred More Poems from the Chinese”，一首見(jiàn)于吳經(jīng)熊的“The Four Seasons of Tang Poetry”。

原詩(shī)為：

遠(yuǎn)上寒山石徑斜，白云生處有人家。
停車(chē)坐愛(ài)楓林晚，霜葉紅于二月花。

Kotewall 的英譯如下：

After I climb the chill mountain's steep stone paths,
Deep in the white clouds there are homes of men.
I stop my carriage, and sit to admire the maple-grove at nightfall,
Whose frozen leaves are redder than the flowers of early Spring.

譯者把“霜葉”譯作“frozen leaves”雖似夸張，卻具特色。

Rexroth 的英譯如下：

I climb the cold mountain by
A steep path through the rocks,
To my little cabin in
The place where the clouds are born.
I halt my cart and look out
Over the forest of maples
In the sunset.
The frozen leaves are more brilliant than
Any flowers of Spring.

譯者是把“有人家”譯作“有我家”（my little cabin）了。

吳經(jīng)熊的英譯如下：

Driving up the cold mountain
Among the coils of a rocky path,
I find in the depth of the white clouds
Several families are leading a quiet life.
I halt my carriage and sit awhile
To admire the maples in the eventide.
How the frost has dyed their leaves
To a deeper crimson than the flowers of March!

“霜葉”的英譯，加上“Dyed”（染）字，有其主觀。

最近又看到了 Graham 的英譯。在“Poems of Late Tang”一書(shū)中，Graham 的英譯如下：

Far up the cold mountain the stony path slopes;
Where the white clouds are born there are homes of men.
Stop the carriage, sit and enjoy the evening in the maple wood;
The frosty leaves are redder than the second month's flowers.

“坐”字，Graham也是譯為“sit”。

“霜葉”，Graham 譯作“Frozen leaves”，吳經(jīng)熊譯作“the frost has dyed their leaves”，羅旭龢譯作“Frozen leaves”，Rexroth 譯作“Frosted leaves”，四人譯法，是各個(gè)不同的。

在“霜葉紅于二月花”中，一個(gè)“紅”字，紅得出色。

在杜牧的一些詩(shī)中，所用的色彩字眼，也是突出的，固不限于“紅”這一瑰麗的色澤。例如：“公道世間惟白發(fā)，貴人頭上不曾饒?！?/p>

這一個(gè)“白”字，又何嘗不刺眼？這兩句詩(shī)，有吳經(jīng)熊的英譯：

In the world only the white hair is just and fair,
For it does not spare even the heads of the great!

據(jù)吳經(jīng)熊說(shuō)，他有一個(gè)朋友把這兩句英譯改成四行如下：

In this world only the white hair
Is just and fair;
For it does not spare
Even the head of a millionaire!

經(jīng)此一改，反更生動(dòng)。一個(gè)“millionaire”承前押后，一連四行，皆押韻也。

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