II 2011翻译题1 英翻中原来是Virginia Wolf 的散文,难怪翻得我那么痛苦The wit of Jane Austen has for partner the perfection of her taste. Her fool is a fool, her snob is a snob, because he departs from the model of sanity and sense which she has in mind, and conveys to us unmistakably even while she makes us laugh. Never did any novelist make more use of an impeccable sense of human values. It is against the disc of an unerring heart, an unfailing good taste, an almost stern morality, that she shows up those deviations from kindness, truth, and sincerity which are among the most delightful things in English literature. She depicts a Mary Crawford in her mixture of good and bad entirely by this means. She lets her rattle on against the clergy, or in favour of a baronetage and ten thousand a year, with all the ease and spirit possible; but now and again she strikes one note of her own, very quietly, but in perfect tune, and at once all Mary Crawford’s chatter, though it continues to amuse, rings flat. Hence the depth, the beauty, the complexity of her scenes. From suchcontrasts there comes a beauty, a solemnity even, which are not only as remarkable as her wit, but an inseparable part of it. In The Watsons she gives us a foretaste of this power; she makes us wonder why an ordinary act of kindness, as she describes it, becomes so full of meaning. In her masterpieces, the same gift is brought to perfection. Here is nothing out of the way; it is midday in Northamptonshire; a dull young man is talking to rather a weakly young woman on the stairs as they go up to dress for dinner, with housemaids passing. But, from triviality, from commonplace, their words become suddenly full of meaning, and the moment for both one of the most memorable in their lives. It fills itself; it shines; it glows; it hangs before us, deep, trembling, serene for a second; next, the housemaid passes, and this drop, in which all the happiness of life has collected, gently subsides again to become part of the ebb and flow of ordinary existence.What more natural, then, with this insight into their profundity, than that Jane Austen should have chosen to write of the trivialities of day-to-day existence, of parties, picnics, and country dances? No “suggestions to alter her style of writing” from the Prince Regent or Mr. Clarke could tempt her; no romance, no adventure, no politics or intriguecould hold a candle to life on a country-house staircase as she saw it. Indeed, the Prince Regent and his librarian had run their heads against a very formidable obstacle; they were trying to tamper with an incorruptible conscience, to disturb an infallible discretion. The child who formed her sentences so finely when she was fifteen never ceased to form them, and never wrote for the Prince Regent or his Librarian, but for the world at large. She knew exactly what her powers were, and what material they were fitted to deal with as material should be dealt with by a writer whose standard of finality was high简·奥斯丁的才智还以成熟的鉴赏力为它的亲密伙伴。
在她笔下,蠢人之所以为蠢人,势利小人之所以为势利小人,是因为他偏离了她心目中的精神健全和神智正常的规范——这一点,在她使我们发笑的同时,也明白无误地传达给我们了。
哪一位小说家都没有像她这样充分利用了自己对于人的不同流品的明细的感觉。
以自己准确无误的心灵、万无一失的鉴赏力、严峻的道德概念为鉴别标准,她揭发出那些背离了仁慈、诚实、真挚——这些英国文学中令人喜爱的主题——的种种偏向。
她刻画玛利·克劳福《曼斯菲尔公园》中的一个世俗的年轻妇女。
那种善恶交错的性格时,所使用的就完全是这种方法。
简·奥斯丁让她喋喋不体地说她反对当教士、赞成做一个从男爵并且拥有每年一百镑的收入,谈得滔滔不绝、兴致勃勃;但是,作者有时自己插一句话,话说得十分平静而又非常谐调,于是,玛利·克劳福的唠唠叨叨,尽管依然使我们觉得可笑,却一下予变得索然无味了。
正是为此,她笔下的种种场面才具有深度、美感和复杂性。
通过诸如此类的对比,产生了某种美、甚至庄严——这不仅像她的才智一样值得注意,而且它也就是她那才智中的不可分割的一部分。
在《沃特森一家》中,作者让我们对她这种才能预先有所体会,这使我们感到诧异:像她描写的那么一件平平常常的友爱行动,为什么会那样意味深长?在她那些传世杰作之中,这一种天才磨炼到了炉火纯青的地步。
作品里并不存在什么不寻常的事件,不过是在诺桑普顿郡英国英格兰郡名,在伦敦之北。
,某一个中午,一个呆头呆脑的小伙子站在楼梯上,向一个样子柔弱的姑娘谈着话——他们正要上楼去换上赴宴穿的衣服,使女们从他们身边走过。
这一切都是平凡而又琐屑。
但是,他们说的话突然变得大有含意,而这次谈话也就成为他们一生中最值得纪念的时刻。
这个场面一下子具有了实在的内容,它发出光亮,在我们眼前飘动,顷刻之间变得意味深长,颤动着,又平静下来;接着,使女来了,于是,全部人生幸福凝聚于此的这一滴水珠,便悄悄沉入生活的海洋,化为平凡的人生潮汐中的一部分了。
简·奥斯丁既具有这种洞察人物内心奥秘的眼光,那么,她选定了日常生活中的平凡琐事,诸如社交宴集、郊游野餐、乡村舞会之类,作为她的写作内容,岂不是很自然的事吗?摄政王或者克拉克先生“有意请她改变自己的写作路子”的建议引不起她的兴趣(此处的摄政王指乔治四世,英王乔治三世之子,因其父有精神病,于一八一○年为摄政王。
他喜读奥斯丁的小说,曾指使其图书管理员克拉克写信给奥斯丁,示意她写作歌颂王室的历史小说,为奥斯丁拒绝);什么浪漫传奇、冒险故事、政界动态、男女偷情等等,根本不能和她亲眼所见的乡间别墅里楼梯间的生活相比。
确实,摄政王和他的图书管理员碰了一个大钉子;他们竟然企图支配一颗不受腐蚀的良心,搅乱作家那绝对可靠的判断力。
这位作家,当她还是十五岁小姑娘的时候,就写出了她那些细腻优美的文章,而且一生从未停止过写这样的文章;她从来不为什么摄政王和他的图书管理员写作,只为广大世人写作。
她完全明白自己的能力所在,明白自己作为一个对于自己的作品持有高标准的作家,适合于处理什么样的题材。
2 中翻英居然是第三册的,我很无语,我反复看了第二册,第一册只看了几篇,居然就给考了。
第三册完全忽略了。
我曾见过一些人,聪明用功,数理科成绩优异,而语文程度不足以达意,甚至写一封信亦难得通顺,问其故则曰其兴趣不在语文方面。
又有一些人,执笔为文,斐然可诵,而视数理科目如仇人,勉强才能及格,问其故则曰其兴趣不在数理方面。