长句的翻译
• 原文各句之间的逻辑关系、表达顺序与汉语完 全一致,因此可按原句顺序译为: • “如果说她早已失掉了那蔚蓝色眼睛的花儿般 的魅力,也失去了她脸儿和身段的冰清玉洁、 苗条多姿的气质和那苹果花似的颜色----二十六 年前这种花容月貌曾迅速而奇妙地影响过艾舍 斯特----那么在四十三岁的今天,她依然是个好 看而忠实的伴侣,只不过两颊淡淡地有点斑驳, 灰蓝色的眼睛也有点饱满了。”
长句的翻译
• 翻译长句时,首先要弄清原文的句法结构,找 出整个句子的中心内容及其各层意思,然后分 析几层意思之间的逻辑关系(因果、时序等), 再按汉语特点和表达方式,正确地译出原文意 思,不必拘泥于原文的形式。长句的译法主要 有以下几种:顺序法、逆序法、分译法、综合 法。
一、顺序法
• 1. If she had long lost the blue-eyed, flowerlike charm, the cool slim purity of face and form , the apple-blossom coloring which had so swiftly and oddly affected Ashurst twenty-six years ago, she was still at fortythree a comely and faithful companion ,whose cheeks were faintly mottled, and whose grey-blue eyes had acquired a certain fullness.
• 2. It was on a Sunday evening, when he was lying in the orchard listening to a blackbird and composing a love poem, that he heard the gate swing to, and saw the girl coming running among the trees, with the red-cheeked, stolid Joe in swift pursuit.
二、逆序法
• 1. It was our view that the United States could be effective in both the tasks by the President---that is, of ending hostilities as well as of making a contribution to a permanent peace in the Middle East---if we conducted ourselves so that we could remain in permanent contact with all of the parties in that region.
• 记者招待会上,问题集中于昨天的选举 结果,总统就此谈了他的看法。他说他 无法解释为什么共和党遭此惨败。这种 一败涂地的局面最终将导致共和党失去 在众议院长期享有的优势。
• 4. When Smith was drunk, he used to beat his wife and daughter, and the next morning with a headache he would rail at the world for its neglect of his genius ,and abuse ,with a good deal of cleverness, and sometimes with perfect reason, the fools,his brother painters.
• 史密斯一喝醉酒,总要打老婆、女儿; 第二天带着头疼发牢骚,抱怨世人不赏 识他的才华;他痛骂同行的画家都是笨 蛋;骂得十分尖刻,有时也还很有些道 理。
四、综合法
• 1. But without Adolf Hitler, who was possessed of a demoniac personality, a granite will, uncanny instincts, a cold ruthlessness, a remarkable intellect, a soaring imagination and ----until toward the end , when drunk with power and success, he overreached himself----an amazing capacity to size up people and situations, there almost certainly would never have been a Third Reich.
• 分析:这是一个It was …that …强调句。 主结构是: It was…that he heard…and saw…
• 用顺序法可译为: • 一个星期天的晚上,他正躺在果园里, 一面聆听画眉鸟的欢唱,一面构思着一 首爱情诗,忽然他听到大门砰得关上, 接着看到那姑娘从树丛中跑过来,面颊 通红、呆头呆脑的乔紧追其后。
• 在这难以想象、无法计算的刹那间,普 罗米修斯挣脱了身上的锁链,又把新的 火种送到人间。这时第一颗原子弹把它 的物质的一部分化为地球上迄今所能释 放出来的最大能量。这个新火种与大约 五十万年前普罗米修斯为造福人类从天 庭盗走的旧火种相比,其威力要大三百 万倍。
• 2. And he knew how ashamed he would have been if she had known his mother and the kind of place in which he was born, and the kind of people among whom he was born.
• 分析:这个句子是由一个主句(句3)、 一个状语从句( 句1)和三个定语从句 (句2、句4、句5)组成的。主句“她依 旧是个好看而忠实的伴侣”是全句的中 心内容。主句前有一个假设状语从句句 (句1),这个状语从句中还包含一个定 语从句(句2),这个定语从句较长,所 以在翻译时最好加破折号放在被修饰词 后面。
• 全句共有五层意思: • 1/她早已失掉了那蔚蓝色眼睛的那种花儿般的 魅力,也失掉了她脸儿和身段的那种冰清玉洁、 苗条多姿的气质和那苹果花似的颜色; • 2/二十六年前这些东西曾迅速而奇妙地影响过 艾舍斯特; • 3/在四十三岁的今天,她依旧是个好看而忠实 的伴侣; • 4/不过两颊淡淡得有点儿斑驳; • 5/灰蓝的眼睛也已经有点儿饱满了。
• 同样,这个句子顺译成:“他知道他该 是多么难堪,如果她知道了他妈,知道 了他出生的那种地方,知道了那种地方 的那些人。”也是不合乎汉语语言习惯 的。
• 应该逆向译为: • “她有这样一位母亲,他出生在这样一 种地方,他出生在这种人中间;这一• 然而,如果没有阿道夫 希特勒,那就几 乎可以肯定不会有第三帝国。因为希特 勒有着恶魔般的性格,花岗岩般的意志, 不可思议的本能,无情的冷酷,杰出的 智力,深远的想象力以及对人和局势惊 人的判断力。这种判断力最后由于权力 和胜利冲昏了头脑而不自量力,终于弄 巧成拙。
• 2.In that infinitesimal fraction of time, inconceivable and immeasurable, during which the first atomic bomb converted a small part of its matter into the greatest burst of energy released on earth up to that time, Prometheus had broken his bonds and brought a new fire down to earth, a fire three million times more powerful than the original fire he snatched from the gods for the benefit of man some five hundred thousand years ago.
• 这一长句如按原文的顺序译出,那就是: • 我们的观点是:美国在总统所提出的两 项任务上是可以有所作为的;这两项任 务是结束敌对行动,为那个地区的永久 和平作出贡献;假如我们能够与那个地 区的各方保持永久的联系的话。
• 显然,这不太符合汉语表达习惯。因此有必要 从后向前倒着译,读起来就自然得多了: • 如果我们采取行动以便能继续与中东各方始终 保持接触,那么我们美国就能有效地担当起总 统所提出的两项任务,那就是在中东结束敌对 行动以及对该地区的永久和平作出贡献。这就 是我们的观点。
• 3. The president said at a news conference dominated by questions on yesterday’s election results that he could not explain why the Republicans had suffered such a widespread defeat, which in the end would deprive the Republican Party of its longheld superiority in the House.