中國(guó)文學(xué)英譯絮談

沙楓

“大陣仗”見于《紅樓夢(mèng)》

“大陣仗”，已成這里一些人的口頭禪。也許有人以為這是廣東俗語(yǔ)。其實(shí)，這三個(gè)字，也曾見于曹雪芹的《紅樓夢(mèng)》，在第七回“宴寧府寶玉會(huì)秦鐘”里面。這一段文字如下：

秦氏笑道：“今兒巧，上回寶叔立刻要見的我那兄弟，他今兒也在這里，想在書房里呢，寶叔何不去瞧一瞧？”寶玉聽了，即便下炕要走。尤氏鳳姐都忙說(shuō)：“好生著，忙什么？”一面便吩咐好生小心跟著，別委曲著他，倒比不得跟了老太太過來(lái)就罷了。鳳姐說(shuō)道：“既這么著，何不請(qǐng)進(jìn)這秦小爺來(lái)，我也瞧一瞧。難道我見不得他不成？”尤氏笑道：“罷，罷！可以不必見他，比不得咱們家的孩子們，胡打海摔的慣了。人家的孩子都是斯斯文文的慣了，乍見了你這破落戶，還被人笑話死了呢?！兵P姐笑道：“普天下的人，我不笑話就罷了，竟叫這小孩子笑話我不成？”賈蓉笑道：“不是這話，他生的靦腆，沒見過大陣仗兒，嬸子見了，沒的生氣?！兵P姐道：“憑他什么樣兒的，我也要見一見！別放你娘的屁了。再不帶我看看，給你一頓好嘴巴?！辟Z蓉笑嘻嘻的說(shuō)：“我不敢扭著，就帶他來(lái)。”

鳳姐的潑辣，聞其聲，可見其為人了。

“大陣仗”，怎譯呢？

兩本《紅樓夢(mèng)》英譯本，都沒有譯出。

王際真譯得簡(jiǎn)單之至，未譯對(duì)話，只述大意，上引這么多話，他只用了這樣一句話：

Chin Chung, Chin-shih's brother whom Pao-yu had expressed a desire to meet, happened to be visiting his sister.

McHugh 則譯得詳細(xì)得多，譯了一些對(duì)話，也綜述對(duì)話內(nèi)容，譯文如下：

"My younger brother, for whom you recently asked, happens to be here today. He is probably in the library now. If you like, go and welcome him!"

Pao Yu quickly slid down from the heated divan.

"Why do you not have him come here? I should also like to make his acquaintance," suggested Madame Phoenix. "Or perhaps I should not ask to?"

Mistress Yung tried to dissuade her from her request. The boy was so shy and simple, quite different from the cheeky, lively boys of Chia clan. She would be disappointed and would only be inclined to laugh at him. But Madame Phoenix stuck to her request.

譯者把尤氏所說(shuō)的“可以不必見”，當(dāng)作是鳳姐所說(shuō)的話，譯成“Or perhaps I should not ask to”了。

新出的 Hawkes 的《紅樓夢(mèng)》英譯本，將“賈蓉笑道：‘他生的靦腆，沒見過大陣仗兒，嬸子見了，沒的生氣。’”這段話，譯作：

"He's very, very shy, Auntie", said Jia Rong. "We are afraid that if you saw him it might irritate you."

Hawkes 的新英譯本是全譯本，可是“沒見過大陣仗兒”這一句，還是略去不譯了，有可能是譯者不十分懂得這句話的意義，故略去不譯，以免出錯(cuò)。

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