看了yymimmo轉的Samuel Ullman 塞缪尔 厄尔曼的
意譯是必須的﹐但意譯的度如何把握﹐可能語言學家有很多探討。 我是寧願直譯的成份多些﹐想知道原文究竟怎麼寫的﹐對於詞藻的優美不太在乎。
一點很不成熟的個人看法。 歡迎討論。
Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life. Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty.
青春不是年齡﹐而是心態﹔青春的標誌不是粉面﹐朱唇﹐柔膝﹐而是意志之本﹐想象之質﹐情感之力﹔是生命源泉的清新活力。青春意味着滿腔豪情﹐勇氣戰勝懦弱﹐敢於冒險﹐銳意進取而非貪圖安逸﹐得過且過。六十歲的老齡人常常青春煥發﹐二十歲的年輕人反而 頹廢早衰。
Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
沒有人僅僅因為歲月的增加而變老。我們老了﹐是因為我們拋棄了理想。歲月可以讓皮膚爬上皺紋﹐但喪失熱情卻使皺紋密 佈于靈魂。懮慮,惶恐,丧失自信,定使心灵扭曲,意气如灰 。
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living. In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.
无论年届古稀,抑或二八芳龄,每個人心中皆存着奇迹的诱惑,對于將來久盛不衰的孩童般的好奇 ﹐以及活着本身游戲般的歡樂。 你我心中都有一臺無線接收器﹔它從他人與神明那裡接收美 ﹐希望﹐歡樂﹐勇氣﹐和力量的時間有多久﹐你的青春就有多久。
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty , but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.
一當那接收天線倒下﹐玩世不恭的冷雪﹐悲觀自弃的寒冰覆蓋你的精神,那麼你即使不過二十歲也是真的老了﹔但是只要你心中那架青春的“天線”一直立着﹐主動攝取樂觀的電波 ﹐ 你就有望﹐即使古稀之年離開人世時也還是年輕人(那不過是一個八十多 歲的青年去了天堂 )。
附原譯﹕
青春不是年华,而是心境;青春不是桃面,丹唇,柔膝,而是深沉的意志,恢宏的想 象,炽热的感情;青春是生命的源泉在不息的涌流。
青春气贯长虹,勇锐盖过怯懦,进取压倒苟安。如此锐气,弱冠后生有之,耳顺之年 ,则亦多见,年岁有加,并非垂老;理想丢弃,方堕暮年。
岁月悠悠,衰微只及肌肤,热忱抛却,颓唐必至灵魂。忧烦,惶恐,丧失自信,定使 心灵扭曲,意气如灰。
无论年届古稀,抑或二八芳龄,心中皆有生命之欢乐,奇迹之诱惑,孩童般天真久盛 不衰。人人心中皆深植一片追求,只要你从天上,人间追求美好,希望,欢乐,勇气 和力量,你就青春永驻,风华长存。
一旦追求消失,锐气如同冰雪覆盖,玩世不恭,自暴自弃油然而生,即使年方二十, 实已老矣。然坚持追求,你就有望在百岁高龄告别尘寰时仍觉年青。