第十节省略法省略是删去一些可有可无的,或违背译文语言习惯的词。
一.从语法角度来看(一)省代词1.省略作主语的人称代词(1)英语中通常每句都有主语,如主语不变,译成汉语时不必重复。
1)He was thin and haggard and he looked miserable. 2)But it’s the way I am, and try as I might, I haven’t been able to change it.3)They had murdered his father, they had taken the best of him, they had crushed his whole family.4)Laura wished now that she was not holding that piece of bread-and-butter, but there was nowhere to put it and she couldn’t possibly throw it away.1)他消瘦而憔悴,()看上去很惨。
2)但我就是这个脾气,()虽然几经努力,()却未能改变过来。
3)他们害死了他的父亲,()榨干了他的精力,()毁了他的全家。
4)这时劳拉宁愿()手里没有这块涂上黄油的面包,拿着又没有地方放,()又不可能扔掉。
作业:1.I am 78 years old; I have been confined to my room with a paralytic stroke for the past 14 months.2. Like his friend he had many wonderful ideas, but he only put a few into practice.3. We can measure the amount of water in a pot, but we can’t measure its heat. We haven’t an instrument for that.4. The Grand Dukes always liked new ideas, and later they were good friends of Galileo.(2)泛指的英语人称代词作主语时,即使是第一个主语,汉译时也可省略。
1)We live and learn.2) You can never tell it’s good to be famous.3) Even as the doctor was recommending rest, he knew that this in itself was not enough, that one could never get real rest without a peaceful mind.4) All those years in the military, where there were certain standards and rules; where young men treated their superiors with respect; where you gave an order and it was obeyed; where a uniform meant you were all onthe same side.1) ()活到老,学到老。
2)()很难说出名是好事。
3)尽管医生建议休息,他也知道休息本身是不够的,如果心情不平静,()是休息不好的。
4)多年来的军队生涯,那里总是有一定的标准和规则;年轻人尊敬上级,()发出的命令,人人遵守;同样的制服就意味着( )站在同一边。
2.省略作宾语的代词1)The more he tried to hide his faults, the more he revealed them.2) She laid her hand lightly on the boy’s a rm as if to thank him for it.3) In fact, Hitler’s “blitz” carried him so far, to the very gate of Leningrad by September, a city he was never to seize.1)他越是要掩盖他的过错,就越是会暴露()。
2)她轻轻地把手放在他的胳膊上,好像表示感谢()。
3)事实上希特勒所进行的“闪电战”曾()深入苏境,九月份已直逼列宁格勒-----一座他始终未能攻陷的城市。
作业:1. I’ve received your letter and read it with delight.2.If you have read these stories, tell them in your own words.3. You must excuse me, I shall not speak of the matter again.4. In fact he showed quite clearly that the Copernican ideas were correct. But he did not say openly that he accepted them.3.省略物主代词1)So the train came, he kissed his little sister lovingly, and put his arms about his mother’s neck and then was away.2) Entering the garden, she felt the flowers were growing in her eyes and in her fingers.3) It was his turn to answer a question. He shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, cast up his eyes to the ceiling, but said nothing.1) 于是火车来了,他爱抚地亲了一下小妹妹,用两条胳膊搂了一下母亲的脖子,然后就走了。
2)走进花园,她觉得眼里和手里都长着花儿。
3)轮到他回答问题。
他耸耸肩,摇摇头,两眼看天花板,一句话也不说。
作业:1.He put up his hand in a salute.2.In my childhood I learned a great deal about Russia.3.He sat , cursing himself, till his phone rang.4.Her dark hair waved untidy across her broadforehead, her face was short, her upper lip short, showing a glint of teeth, her brows were straight and dark, her lashes long and dark, her nose straight..(二)省略非人称的或强势句中的it1.非人称用it1) Outside it was pitch dark and it was raining cats and dogs.2) He glanced at his watch; it was 7:15.3) It was growing dark, as she shut the garden gate.1)外面一团漆黑,大雨倾盆。
2)他一看表,是七点一刻了。
3)她关上园门时,已是暮色苍茫了。
2.强势用it1)It was only then that I began to have doubts whetherI would tell my story to my friends.2)It was with some difficulty that he found the way tohis own house.3)Peter has always enjoyed claiming that it was he and not George, who was the first to reach the summit of the mountain.1)只是在这个时候,我才开始怀疑,我的经历究竟能不能告诉朋友。
2)他费了不少劲才找到了回家的路。
3)彼得一直津津乐道的是,第一个到达山顶的实际上并不是乔治,而是他自己。
作业:1.It was a cold, dark day, the sky overcast.2.It is only shallow people who judge by appearances.3.It is in the plant that we work together with the workers.4.Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.(三)省略连接词1.省略并列连接词1)He looked gloomy and troubled.2)Despite the cold weather with snow and rain, and approaching final exams, students still smile in thecampus.3)He considered National Security Council too large and bulky and thus too leaky, too many people who talked too much.4)Your son or your father or your wife or your cousin or your best friend or your boss or your secretary might tell on you.1)他看上去有些忧愁不安。
2)尽管天气寒冷,雨雪交加,期末考试临近,校园里学生们照常面带笑容。
3)他认为国家安全委员会机构太庞大,人多嘴杂,容易泄密。
4)你的儿子,你的父亲,你的妻子,你的表亲,你的好友,你的上司,你的秘书,都可能告发你。