片言只语看董桥——董桥散文中的英语十例

朋友推荐董桥的散文，我本来对这种老学究式的文章缺乏耐心看下去，殊不知董先生中英文都棒，行文洒脱流畅，语言优美，所以就不知不觉就一口气读了下去。

董先生善于引经据典，古今中外无所不包。让人印象最深的还是他引用的英文短语，可谓隽永深刻，叫人顿获启发。自然，董先生的翻译也是一绝，他能将原句中文化和历史的韵味近乎完美地展现在中国读者面前：


1、Make thy books thy companions；let thy cases and shelves be thy pleasure grounds and gardens. 董译：“以书为友，视满架图书为乐园花圃。”我等普通翻译匠的水平可能就是：将你们的书作为你们的伴侣，把你们的书架和书柜变成快乐的家园。

2、It is not at all suitable for people of great quality to be very learned, but highly necessary for them to know the world and be able to deal with people, and they can't learn that from books but only from experience. “才艺之士不宜太过饱学，反而不可不谙世故、通人情；人情世故书中学不到，全靠阅历。”其中，“才艺之士”，“不谙世故、通人情”均十分达意而又雅致。

3、 “在开往伦敦的火车上，一男在看一叠文稿，一女的一眼瞥见了那叠文稿，就和男的搭起讪来。她说真不好意思，看他的文稿，但又不习惯没东西可读，像赤身裸体似的。男的说，那我就借点东西给遮一遮，虽然他倒觉得女的裸得有格调。”（"Forgive me looking," she said. "but I am not used to being without something to read. It's like being naked." "Allow me to lend you something to cover your nakedness, though I must say you wear it with a good deal of style."）这是典型的英国人的幽默，很难翻译。Wear it 是双关（pun），既可以是“wear something”也可以是“wear nakedness”——什么都不穿也很有格调—— 译得真有格调！

4、Words, sentences, paragraphs that call much attention to themselves are not doing the job they are intended to do. While the reader is paying them due reverence, he is likely to ignore the message they were meant to convey. “文章里诱人的一字、一句、一段，往往只顾引人入胜而不守本分，读者于是叹为观止而忘其所以。”董先生的文字固然引人入胜，但读者绝不会仅仅着迷于文字的色彩而忽略了字里行间丰富的内涵。

5、Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subject only in outline, but that every word tell. “铿然有力之文必简洁。一段之中无赘句，犹如丹青无冗枝，机器无废件。此说不求作者下笔句句精短，摒弃细节，概而述之；但求字字有着落耳。” 这段翻译真是“铿然有力”，简洁明快。不过，“every word tell”译成“字字有声”是否更贴切些？


和情与性有关的幽默往往都会成为经典，中英文均不例外：

6、An archaeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interest he is in her. “妇女以考古学家为夫婿最妙，佳人愈迟暮，彼对之兴趣愈浓矣。”再斗胆改最后一句：“彼之情愈痴矣。” 哈哈，男人都因该学考古，则社会和谐矣！

7、 “战后美国弗吉尼亚州里兹蒙市雕了一座战时首相丘吉尔的雕像。丘翁亲临观礼。有一位身材健美的女士对他说，她天一亮就开车赶了百英里路来看他的胸像的揭幕礼。”（Mr. Churchill, I want you to know I got up at dawn and drove a hundred miles for the unveiling of your bust.）丘吉尔连忙说：“夫人，我想让你知道，我非常乐意回敬一下。”（Madam, I want you to know that I would happily reciprocate the honour.）如果只看中文，很难体会到丘吉尔的幽默，因为“ bust”既是胸像，又可指妇女的胸部，而关键的“reciprocate”一词则是“用同样的方式回报”，“回敬”并不准确，可见翻译之难。

8、“ 英文说I miss you very much, 那是客套；说I miss you，有点真情；去掉一个字，就miss you，简直是甜甜的悄悄话。”

汉语也有异曲同工之妙。

冯巩每次春晚都说：“亲爱的观众们，我想死你们啦！”这是北京油子耍贫嘴，想到死，也就不想了。“亲爱的观众朋友，我想你们”有点像倪萍大妈的煽情，“想你！”那只能是子怡小妹妹嗲嗲的越洋电话中的喃喃细语。

9、 “英国下议院里的男厕有一道长长的解手槽，工党党魁艾德礼有一天先一步进去解手，保守党议员丘吉尔跟着进来。丘翁看清形势，马上走到最远的地方去 小便。艾德礼说：‘我知道你我是政敌，可是，我们实在不必把歧见带进男厕来’（Winston, I know we are political opponent, but we don't have to carry our differences into the gentlemen's lavatory.）。丘吉尔回答说：‘你们这些社会主义信徒一见到任何粗壮坚实的玩意，马上就要政府去约束它、管制它，烦透了。’”（Clement, the trouble with you Socialists is that whenever you see anything in robust and sturdy condition you want the government to regulate it.）

政治家和政客的区别一目了然！　　　
　
10、 “法国文豪大仲马一生放浪形骸，既不自律也不律人，还让自己宠爱过的尤物和儿子相好。有一天儿子抱怨说：你总是把旧情人送给我睡，把新皮靴交给我穿松了才给你穿，闷死人了！大仲马曰：尔当视此为殊荣，证明尔一桩伟岸，双腿秀窄也。”（You should look on it as an honor. It proves you have a thick organ and a narrow foot.）

妙哉！董先生乃是一笔伟岸，文字秀窄也！