中國文學(xué)英譯絮談

沙楓

“天若有情天亦老”

《迂叟詩話》說：李長吉歌“天若有情天亦老”，人以為奇絕難對。石曼卿對以詞曰：“月如無恨月常園”，足為勁敵。

“天若有情天亦老”是李賀最有名的句子，出自《金銅仙人辭漢歌》，全詩如下：

茂陵劉郎秋風(fēng)客，夜闖馬嘶曉無跡。
畫欄桂樹懸秋香，三十六宮土花碧。
魏官牽車指千里，東關(guān)酸風(fēng)射眸子。
空將漢月出宮門，憶君清淚如鉛水。
衰蘭送客咸陽道，天若有情天亦老。
攜盤獨出月荒涼，渭城已遠(yuǎn)波聲小。

這首歌，有英人 Graham 與 Frodsham 兩人的英譯。Graham 的譯文如下：

Boy Liu in Leafy Mound, visitor of the autumn wind......
In the night I heard his horse shinny, at sunrise saw no track.
On the cassia tree by the painted rail, the scent of autumn hangs;
In his thirty-six palaces, the dust blooms emerald.
Wei's servants haul the cart, point ahead a thousand miles;
A sour wind shoots from the east pass at my pupils.
The moon of Han in vain with me I come forth at the palace gate;
At your memory the transparent tears are like molten lead.
Withering orchids escort me along the Hsien-yang road;
If heaven too had passions even heaven would grow old.
With the pan in my hands I come forth alone under the desolate moon;
The city on the Wei far back now, quiet the waves.

“天若有情天亦老”，他是譯作“If heaven too had passions even heaven would grow old”，是譯得不錯的。

Frodsham 則把“天若有情天亦老”譯作：

If God could suffer as we do
God too would grow old.

他把“天”譯作“God”，不如譯作“Heaven”。

吳經(jīng)熊與柳無忌也是把“天”譯作“Heaven”的。吳譯是：

If heaven has the feelings of man,
Heaven itself would have grown old.

柳譯是：

If Heaven has feelings,
Heaven will be aged.

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