(本讲座每周分享英语学习和英汉翻译的独有经验,欢迎关注和分享。)
引言
文学翻译贵在“传神”。所谓“传神”,就是把原文的意思表达得非常准确,意境展现得非常逼真、鲜活,让人读后产生一种拍案叫绝的冲动。 要实现这一目标,除了具备深厚的语言功底,学习和掌握一定的翻译技巧也是非常有益的。
怎样翻译下面的英语句子?怎样翻译才比较传神?
It looks like you were really sawing them away.
相关段落和背景信息:
1969年7月20日是尼尔·阿姆斯特朗和巴兹·奥尔德林驾驶登月舱实施登月的日子。早上醒来的情况如何?以下是指令舱驾驶员、作者麦克·柯林斯的描述:
"Apollo 11, Apollo 11, good morning from the Black Team." Could they be talking to me? It takes me twenty seconds to fumble for the microphone button and answer groggily, "Good morning, Houston...You guys wake up early." "Yes ... looks like you were really sawing them away. " They can tell when we are in a deep sleep by monitoring our heart rates, which dip down to forty or so when we are really zonked.
难点分析和翻译技巧:
这个句子并不复杂,这里的关键点是 saw them away 的理解和翻译。
Saw them away 这种表达方式在常见词典和网上词典里并不容易找到,但它的对等表达方式—— saw logs ,就很容易查到。
美国的The Free Dictionary给出了如下释义:
Saw logs : to snore very loudly or intensely, as during a deep sleep; by extension, to sleep soundly (熟睡时大声打呼噜;引申为睡得很踏实)
并给出了示例:
I was so exhausted after that hike that I was sawing logs in my tent in no time.
所以,这次我们解决问题的思路是:
Sawing them away = sawing logs = snoring = sleeping soundly.
试译:
“‘阿波罗’11号,‘阿波罗’11号,黑队问你们早上好。”他们是在和我说话吗?我花了20秒才摸到了话筒的按钮,然后迷迷糊糊地回答道:“早上好,休斯敦……你们醒得真早。”“嗯, 你们睡得很踏实呀。 ”他们监视着我们的心率,所以知道我们什么时候进入了深度睡眠状态,此时我们的心率会下降到40左右。
下期预告:
怎样翻译下面的英语句子才比较传神?
For $64,000, we're still trying to work out the location of your landing site.
(最近译事繁忙,有时更新不及时,见谅。)
作者简介 :从事英汉口译和笔译37年(译审),出版译著6部;全国第一届和第二届“韩素音青年翻译奖”竞赛一等奖获得者;地道英语和传神翻译的倡导者和实践者。最新译著《我的两次月球之旅》由上海交通大学出版社出版;明年出版译著——《携火奔月》(上海交通大学出版社)。

重温登月惊险之路,欣赏翻译传神之美