同事搬家,收拾出一套旧书送我, 英文版《红楼梦》。 同事说她是我们这个大楼里唯一读过这套书的人。 翻翻看看, 觉得好玩, 抄来两段:
Prologue to the Dream of Red Massions
At the dawn of creation
Who sowed the seeds of love?
From the strong passion of breeze and moonlight
they came
So in this world of sweet longing
On a day of distress, in an hour of loneliness,
Fain would I impart my senseless grief
By singing this Dream of Red Mansions
To mourn the Gold and the Jade.
《红楼梦引子》开辟鸿蒙,谁为情种?都只为风月情浓。趁着这奈何天,伤怀日,寂寥时,试遣愚衷。因此上,演出这怀金悼玉的《红楼梦》。
"I'm the one 'sick with longing,'" he joked. "And yours is the beauty caused 'sities and kingdoms to fall.'" Tai-yu flushed to the tips of her ears. Kniting her sulky brows, her eyes flashing with anger beneath half-drooping lids, she pointed a finger at Pao-yu in accusal. " You really are the limit! Bing such licentious songs in here and, what's more, insuting me with nasty quotations from them. ...
宝玉笑道:"我就是个‘多愁多病身', 你就是那‘倾国倾城貌'。"林黛玉听了,不觉带腮连耳通红,登时直竖起两道似蹙非蹙的眉,瞪了两只似睁非睁的眼,微腮带怒,薄面含嗔,指宝玉道: "你这该死的胡说!好好的把这淫词艳曲弄了来,还学了这些混话来欺负我。...
外文社1978年出版。 Publisher's Note里还有这样的话:"It was the product of class contradictions and class struggles in that period of Chinese feudalism"
- Re: 英文版《红楼梦》posted on 05/01/2004
这是谁翻译的? 文革后期大陆的“集体”翻译? 知道钱钟书翻译过毛选。 - posted on 05/01/2004
杨宪益译的。他和戴乃迭一起译的。
zt :
对于《红楼梦》的译本,私下意见各不相同。其实多数人的结论不是一己阅读心得,无非是以耳代目,道听途说而已。说来有些心虚,因为我也一度怀疑杨宪益的译本:中国人会有给外国人译书的能力?除去《圣经》不谈,又有哪部世界名著,靠外国人替我们译成中文且影响深远?我似乎有些偏向于相信,霍克思的译本更有魅力。
等到看见刘绍铭的有关评论,我的疑心就愈发得到加强。他曾坦言,“杨宪益夫妇译《红楼梦》,呕心沥血,若无霍克思(David Hawkes)译本同时出现分庭抗礼,杨氏文彩不足的地方,常人也不易看出来。可是拿霍氏译文对照一下,不必专家也可以看出杨译技逊一筹。”(《遣愚衷》,三联书店香港分店1987年1月初版,页150)然而,刘的评点没有特别大的说服力,因为他没有给出杨译何以逊色的具体例证。周珏良也厚爱霍译,并曾说“霍译本最大的好处在于它能传原书之神,读来往往使读者不觉它是翻译品。……若不是有Baoyu,Daiyu这两个面生的名字,读来简直像是亨利·詹姆士(Henry James)小说里的章节,可是同原文对读又可看出并不失原意,确是佳译。”(《周珏良文集》,外语教学与研究出版社1994年5月初版,页219,《读霍克斯英译本〈红楼梦〉》)他还说,“……自来读翻译文学作品的,不外两种人。一种是不能读原文的读者,他们要求译文读起来大体象是原著,因之就要求译笔流畅而不晦涩,林(纾)译小说之所以风行一时,就在于他能以当时人们习惯的古文译西洋小说,至于译文对原文有多忠实,此类读者是不大在意的。另一种读者是能读原文的,他们除了要求从译文里得到艺术享受外,不免还要注意到它是否忠实于原著,译笔的特点,要求从这里看出些‘门道’来。我认为霍译本《红楼梦》对这两种读者的要求都是能满足的。”
周珏良不同于刘绍铭,他虽有心褒霍但无贬杨之意。在英文札记《近年来〈红楼梦〉研究概述》(同上,页350)里,他对霍杨二译品评恰当而且公允。他说:
这部小说现有的两个全译本,即霍克斯的《石头记》(The Story of the Stone)和杨宪益与戴乃迭的《红楼梦》(A Dream of Red Mansions),风格迥异但各得其所。虽说霍译本藉雅致取胜,杨氏夫妇译本则以准确见长,但却并不意味一个译本不精确,而另一个欠典雅。其实,两个译本不仅互为补充,而且放在一起,就能让所有无法阅读中文但却对这部书有兴趣的好奇者,得到更加真实和完整的图景,如同披揽原著一般。
想来轻信某种评判的人闻之,偏见应会得到纠正。就个人来言,我则越发觉得,自作聪明猜疑的实属多余,两种译本比较阅读确有必要。
周文尽管已经说到,霍杨翻译曹雪芹所取风格有别,但却没有缕述缘何书名翻译不同。我本以为,杨的自传《漏船载酒忆当年》能够给出答案。孰料他的书对自己翻译几无任何学术性回忆,只是轻描淡写地表白,“很多在国外的朋友不明白我们的处境,他们想,我们的译作有好几百万字之多,一定赚足了稿费。其实我们翻译中国古典文学作品从来没有得到过报酬,也不享有任何版权。惟一的例外是我们翻译的中国古典小说《红楼梦》。那时因为《中国文学》杂志后来从外文出版社分了出去,成为一个独立机构,而我俩是《中国文学》杂志社的人,我们翻译《红楼梦》是在为外单位做事,于是《中国文学》杂志社的党支部书记就要求外文出版社付给我们稿费。这是我们获得工资外稿费收入的惟一一次。”(页191)他没有解释选《红楼梦》舍《石头记》做书名的因由。
1973年企鹅版《石头记》英译本(The Story of the Stone,Also Known as The Dream of the Red Chamber),录有霍克思所撰长篇导言。他开诚布公承认,自己对曹雪芹原著的理解和翻译,获益于吴世昌和赵冈的著述。吴不把如今通行的《红楼梦》等同于《石头记》。他说,“发现曹小说的两部十八世纪手抄本的消息,是在1927年和1933年公布的。两部抄本上都有脂砚斋的评语。第一部十六回,第二部七十八回,都以《石头记》为题,亦即《红楼梦》的旧名。……本书对作者本意和小说结构进行了一些钩沉,它们和现在流行的‘全’本《红楼梦》很不相同,后者是在乾隆朝文字狱的政治压力下,由另一位作者高鹗加以删削、增续和编纂而成的。”(《红楼探源》,北京出版社2000年10月初版,页I-IV)霍从吴说,故选《石头记》而不是《红楼梦》做译本书名。他要译的是曹雪芹,不是高鹗。补续部分译者是他的女婿闵福德(John Minford)。
刘绍铭和闵福德多年共事,曾著文雅谈霍闵翁婿合译金庸轶事。他的一篇文章说,“英译《鹿鼎记》的试行版(两回),1993年在澳洲国立大学学报《东亚史》发表。闵福德私下相告,译者挂的虽然是他一个人的名字,但实际的翻译工作,霍克思教授一直参与其事,第一回《纵横钩党清流祸/峭茜风期月旦评》就是出自他的译笔。”(《情到浓时》,上海三联书店2000年3月初版,页205)我对他的说法坚信不疑,前些时又在短文中旧事重提。没想到霍克思见后不以为然,并于3月27日来信“纠偏”:
战争期间,我离开牛津参军从事文职工作,先是学日语,后来教士兵和即将开赴战场的人学日语。那时我没在牛津,也不是把专业改成日语。1951年从中国回来后,我继续做研究生,两年后即到1953年才结束学业,开始当初级讲师。
你问我金庸时,我本意是说,我替我的女婿翻译出相当一部分《鹿鼎记》,并非“只译出第一章”。书译得很开心,但我确实不是很喜欢武侠小说,最终撒手罢译。我没有小看金庸的意思。我认为,他是一个非常优秀的作家,但当然没法与曹雪芹相提并论!
约翰·闵福德1968年回到英国时,并没提出要与我合译《红楼梦》。他说想自己一人翻译。因为我已与企鹅签订约,要为他们翻译,我就提议他兴许愿意翻译后四十回,而我翻译前八十回。我们分头独立翻译,虽然他有时也来看我,同我讨论他完成的部分。他那会儿不在牛津住。 - Re: 英文版《红楼梦》posted on 05/02/2004
提到杨宪益夫妇我好象觉得时间又倒回去了许多。他们译的“红楼”及《鲁迅选集》曾是我学习英语的读物。他们译的东西中国人读起来比较容易懂。:) Hawks的版本比较难些,不过水平似乎是要高些。记得他把《好了歌》译为 Won Done Song,把“好”与“了”的韵都反映出来了。
不过想想他们的精神还是可嘉,在那个时代,把一生耗尽,翻译出来的东西还不知有没有人读,没名也没利。这些常人是很难做到的。记得从前,老爸让我学好英语,长大为“周总理当翻译”。现在长大了,英语好些了,不过周总理已经不在了,翻译自然也就当不成了。:) - posted on 05/02/2004
Good comprisons about the two versions. Zili seems to have studied them. I have always wanted to learn translation by comparing these two with the original, but never have the time and determination to sit down and do it. Once alone in Heilongjiang Province, I had nothing to do in the evenings, no newspapers to read, no TV to watch, and I thought I finally had the opportunity. But I don't think I finished any page. My mind was so narrowly developed, and once something is written in a language I just feel there is no way it can be rewritten again in another. I may be able to enjoy the version in the other language on its own merits, but I can hardly think them as writing about the same thing. Poor me. - posted on 05/03/2004
刚才兴来“古狗”一番,竟然很轻易地就找到了霍译及杨译的《好了歌》,现列于次,供有兴趣者赏。不难看到,霍译在语言风格比较近于原著疯道人顺口溜似的诗,连韵角(AABA)也保留了。可谓“神形兼似”。杨译则更象一般意义上的诗,或许可以说是“信达雅”。
(Hawkes’ Version)
Won-Done Song
Men all know that salvation should be won,
But with ambition won't have done, have done.
Where are the famous ones of days gone by?
In grassy graves they lie now, every one.
Men all know that salvation should be won,
But with their riches won't have done, have done
Each day they grumble they've not made enough
When they've enough, it's goodnight everyone!
Men all know that salvation should be won,
But with their loving wives they won't have done
The darlings every day protest their love:
But once you're dead, they're off with another one.
Men all know that salvation should be won,
But with their children won't have done, have done
Yet though of parents fond there is no lack,
Of grateful children saw I ne'er one.
(Yangs’ Version)
All men long to be immortals
Yet to riches and rank each aspires;
The great ones of old, where are they now?
Their graves are a mass of briars.
All men long to be immortals,
Yet silver and gold they prize
And grub for money all their lives
Till death seals up their eyes.
All men long to be immortals
Yet dote on the wives they've wed,
Who swear to love their husband evermore
But remarry as soon as he's dead.
All men long to be immortals
Yet with getting sons won't have done.
Although fond parents are legion,
Who ever saw a really filial son?"
- Re: 《好了歌》的两种译本posted on 05/03/2004
I enjoy reading all these translations. Thanks for sharing everyone!
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