Winners (胜利者)Winners have different potentials. Achievement is not the most important thing. Authenticity is. [1] The authentic person experiences the reality of himself by knowing himself, being himself [2], and becomes a credible, responsive[3] person. He actualizes his own unprecedented uniqueness and appreciates the uniqueness of others. [4]He does not dedicate his life to a concept of what he imagines he should be[5], rather he is himself and as such[6] he does not use his energy putting on a performance, maintaining pretense, and manipulating others into his games[7]. A winner can reveal himself instead of projecting images [8] that please, provoke, or entice others. He is aware that there is a difference between being loving and acting loving, between being stupid and acting stupid, between being knowledgeable and acting knowledgeable. [9] He does not need to hide behind a mask. He throws off unrealistic self-images of inferiority or superiority [10]. Autonomy does not frighten a winner [11].Everyone has moments of autonomy, if only fleeting. However, a winner is able to sustain his autonomy over ever-increasing periods of time [12]. He may lose ground occasionally [13]. He may even fail. Yet, in spite of setbacks a winner maintains a basic faith in himself [14].A winner is not afraid to do his own thinking and to use his own knowledge. He can separate facts from opinion and doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. He listens to others, evaluates what they say, but comes to his own conclusions. While he can admire and respect other people, he is not totally defined, demolished, bound, or awed by them [15].A winner cares about the world and its peoples. He is not isolated from the general problems of society. [16] He is concerned, compassionate, and committed to improving the quality of life [17]. Even in the face ofnational and international adversity, he does not see himself as totally powerless. He does what he can to make the world a better place. (317)在阅读这篇短文时,应注意它的语言特点:用词平常朴实,句子长短搭配,少用连词,多用排比句,读起来给人的感觉铿锵有声,节奏强烈。
[1] 这里省略了什么?翻译之前必须弄明白。
另外,译者也需要为achievement和authenticity两个词寻找合适的译词。
[2] 这里连续出现三个himself。
较难处理的是reality of himself和being himself。
前者可理解为the real self of him; 而to be oneself中的be是个意义很难把握的词,to be oneself可以理解为to behave as one is really like, not as one pretends to be like。
[3] 注意对responsive一词的正确理解。
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English(LDCE)解释为giving the hoped-for response or results quickly or willingly;《英汉大词典》的注释是:应答的,响应的,易感动的,敏感的,易受影响的,富有同情心的。
但这些汉语词语似乎没有一个能完全包含该英语词在此语境中的宽泛含义。
因此,译文需另觅新词。
[4] actualize意思简单明确,只是汉语表达有点难度,因为原文的动宾关系在汉语里不一定恰当;unprecedented uniqueness则是强调说法,也有表达的问题,不宜译为“史无前例的独特”吧?另外,原句重复了uniqueness,但译文若也原词重复,则效果不很理想,最好能用近义词替换,避免重复。
[5] 注意to后面宾语内部结构的复杂性,what从句中有一个插入语he imagines;这一句的表达非常困难,难在对concept一词以及what从句的处理,两者属同位关系,即what从句的所指也就是concept的内容,但它们的意义都比较虚,汉语表达时扣原文太近则不通,否则,又怕不贴切,真有点左右为难。
[6] as such: properly so named; in the exact meaning of the stated thing.该短语在此起承上作用,即解释什么叫he is himself.[7] to put on a performance: 这里显然是比喻意义,即“演戏”,换言之,是“做给别人看”之意;to manipulate sb/sth,LDCE释义是:to c ontrol or influence for one’s own purpose,含贬义;而game在此的意思应当是a trick or secret plan。
所以,manipulate sb. into one’s games意思应该是to make use of others to achieve his own purposes。
[8] project此处的意思是to express or represent (oneself or one’s qualities) outwardly, esp. in a way that has a favorable effect on others (LDCE)。
To provoke: to make sb. angry or bad-tempered, esp. by continually annoying him; to entice: to persuade (sb.) to do sth. esp. bad by offering sth. pleasant.[9] 翻译好这一句的关键是准确把握好to be和to act的意义及其差别,后者的意思是to behave so as to seem, e.g. Don’t act so stupid![10] unrealistic self-images of inferiority or superiority: 这个宾语理解不难,还是在表达问题。
扣原文太紧则不顺,需要稍微作些调整就能通顺许多。
[11] autonomy: the right of self-government or management of one’s own affairs;但如译为“自治权”不太合适,因为它一般指一个国家内某些州或省或区的“自治权”,指人的时候宜用“自主性”一词。
教学理论上不是有什么“自主性学习”一说吗?另外,这个句子是保留原句的结构呢,还是该调整一下呢?我个人以为调整一个结构效果可能更好。
[12] 翻译本句时,汉语很难用一句话表达原句所包含的信息,例如译为“胜利者能够在不断增加的时间段里保持自主性”就不大通顺,拆开来表达如何?[13] lose ground: 短语中的ground即“阵地”之义,因此,该短语意为“失利”或“退却”。
反义词组为gain ground.[14] maintain a basic belief in oneself: 即“对自己保持一份基本的信心”。
[15] 这一句中的每一个动词意思似乎很明白,但又似乎很难找到准确的译词来表达,需要下一番苦功。
最难处理的词是define, 什么叫“他不完全被别人定义”呢?显然,译者需要对这个词的意思进行引申或推理。
另外,while这个从句不宜译为“当……时候”,其实际意思相当于on one hand, …; on the other hand, …. To demolish: to destroy, or to tear down[16] 这句话如直译为“他不把自己与社会的一般问题隔离开来”就显得非常平淡,如果反过来思维的话,其实际意思就是“他时刻都在关心社会上发生的大问题”,但还是显得不够有力,不妨可以译得更虚一点,如译为“他从不将自己置身于社会之外”如何?[17] 注意:concerned、compassionate和committed这三个词是并列关系,但其后面的to所引导的介词短语是否为三个形容词所共享呢,还是为committed 所独享呢?这是个问题。