作者 | 究究谢

来源 | 孔夫子旧书网动态

我向来对儿童文学和民俗方面的书有些兴趣。那天在网上看了《百变小红帽》的介绍和评论,并试读了几页,感觉非常对胃口,就去当当买了一本。

《百变小红帽》源于作者凯瑟琳·奥兰丝汀在哈佛大学的毕业论文,用小红帽故事的流变作为具体实例,叙述了三百年来西方有关女性的话题,有趣而发人深省。该书2006年曾收入三联的“文化生活译丛”,副标题为“一则童话三百年的演变”;现在又收入了“新知文库”,副标题改为“一则童话中的性、道德及演变”。我对这两个丛书一直印象不错,陆续买过不少。译者杨淑智,台湾大学人类学系学士,文化大学新闻研究所硕士,曾任电视台、报社国际新闻编译,空中大学新闻传播类讲师,基督书院大传系翻译学与新闻英文讲师。译有《勇敢笑出来》、《百变小红帽》、《大地的窗口》等书,后者还曾获《联合报》及《中国时报》年度好书奖。

小红帽英文版带翻译(三联版百变小红帽的翻译问题)(1)

小红帽英文版带翻译(三联版百变小红帽的翻译问题)(2)

小红帽英文版带翻译(三联版百变小红帽的翻译问题)(3)

我还获知了该书的英文原版名为 "Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of A Fairy Tale"。 因为找不到电子版,就习惯性地在孔网查了一下,结果发现上海有家店售价仅为45元,干脆也买了回来。五一期间,顺手翻到上次读到的地方,对照新买回来的英文原版,真是不比不知道,一比吓一跳。只好让台湾译者和三联在我心目中的地位又往下降了一降。刺耳的话不多说,直接请感兴趣的书友亲自看两页对照文本吧。(因为没有电子版,我是用华为手机拍照直接提取文字后编辑的,华为的这个OCR功能做得实在不怎么样,尤其是英文识别率太低,我花了不少时间校对,估计还是难免有误。另外,我的译文也只是大致把意思弄出来,用以说明问题,并没有仔细打磨,不妥之处肯定不少,请多谅解和指正。)

Edward Lear's first Book of Nonsense came out in 1846, with odd little line drawings and funny verses -- precursors to his limericks. Aesop's fables had been in print for centuries, but they had been intended for adults. Now they appeared with illustraions clearly aimed at children. In England, an epicenter of the market, books for children featured black-and-white prints, and by the 1860s an innovative entrepreneur by the name of Edmund Evans, along with his star engraver Walter Crane, began experimenting with color. Within the decade, "toy books" in bright colors, cut in playful shapes or sometimes with pop-up figures, became all the rage. An 1863 book by Lydia L. Very, for example, was cut in the form of a standing Red Riding Hood, with the story told between her image on both the front and back covers.

【三联湾译】英国19世纪幽默作家及画家利尔(Edward Lear)的第一本著作《废话连篇的书》(Book of Nonsense)于1846年出版,书中有一些线条简单的图画和有趣的韵文,这是他后来那些五行打油诗的先锋。希腊作家伊索的寓言已经发行了几个世纪,这些寓言起初是写给成人看的,现在它却增加了显然是给儿童看的插画。在堪称书籍市场枢纽的英国,童书都是黑白印刷,到了19世纪60年代,一家名叫伊凡斯的公司才在有名的雕版技术员瓦特·克伦的创新之下,开始实验彩色印刷。接下来十年,“玩具书”均用明亮的色彩印,且书的形状千奇百怪,有时甚至打开书就会有图画自动跳出来,这些书全都风靡一时。例如1863年,维里(Lydia L.Very) 所著的故事书造型就是小红帽的形状。

【我译】爱德华·李尔的第一本《胡诌诗集》(Book of Nonsense)于1846年出版,书中尽是奇特的线描小图和有趣的小诗(即他后来那些五行打油诗的前身)。伊索寓言已经印行了好几百年,不过是给成人读的。如今出的版本配上了插画,显然是面向儿童的。在作为全球童书市场枢纽之一的英国,儿童读物的特色是配有黑白版画;到了19世纪60年代,一位名叫埃德蒙·伊凡斯(Edmund Evans)的创新企业家,和他的明星雕版师沃尔特·克兰(Walter Crane),开始试验彩色印刷。在接下来的十年中,色彩鲜艳、外形好玩(有时还带立体活动图)的“玩具书”大行其道。比如,维里(Lydia L. Very)1863年出的一本书,就做成了站立的小红帽形状,而要讲述的故事就印在封面和封底上。

小红帽英文版带翻译(三联版百变小红帽的翻译问题)(4)

陆谷孙译本

Above all, Walter Crane's immensely popular six-penny books of illustrated fairy tales, which are now collector's items, helped establish the Grimms' fairy tales as the standards that most people know today.

【三联湾译】瓦特·克伦大受欢迎的这些附插画的廉价童话故事书,现在已成了收藏家的最爱,而这些书也奠定了今天脍炙人口的格林童话故事的基础。

【我译】沃尔特·克兰那些廉价的插图本童话故事书——如今都成了收藏家的藏品——帮助格林童话确立了今人熟知的名门正派地位。

At first, however, the Grimms were not concerned with either children or children's books. They were linguists, scholars and folklorists intent on preserving their cultural heritage. Born in the central German province of Hesse, into a large, middle-class Protestant family, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm grew up during the age when today's Germany was a patchwork of territories occupied by France. Scholars by profession, they were deeply tuned to a blossoming German cultural revival, led by such names as Schiller and Goethe. Jacob studied law and comparative linguistics; Wilhelm researched medieval literature and folklore. Over their lifetimes they also studied and collected German song, myth and legend, and they were in the process of compiling an etymological dictionary of the German language when Wilhelm died in 1859. (After almost twenty years of work, he had gotten as far as "Fruit.") In 1812, the year they published their first volume of Children's and Household Tales, Napoleon had been defeated and a rising sense of national pride colored the day. Following in the footsteps of the German romantics, who rekindled interest in German culture, the brothers set out to study and collect the precious tradition of the German folk what they called "natural poetry."

【三联湾译】但是起初格林兄弟并不关心儿童,也未刻意出版儿童读物。他们是语言学家、大学教授和民俗学者,苦心孤诣全在于保卫文化遗产。这两兄弟出生在德国中部的赫塞邦,来自信奉新教的中产家庭,此地今属法国。身为学者专家,格林兄弟深受诗人兼剧作家席勒( Schiller)和歌德(Goethe)主导的德国文化复兴所影响。哥哥雅各研究法律和比较文学;弟弟威廉研究中古世纪文学和民俗。两兄弟终其一生同时钻研、搜集德国歌谣、神话和传说,且编篡德文语源字典,但书未完成威廉便于 1859年过世。(为了这个几乎耗费二十年工夫的任务,他可说是鞠躬尽瘁。)1812 年他们出版第一本《儿童与家庭童话集》时,正值法国霸主拿破仑兵败、德国人的种族优越感如日中天之际。随着德国文化再度燃起浪漫主义的热潮,格林兄弟钻研、搜集他们称之为“自然资产”的德国传统民俗。

【我译】但是,格林兄弟刚开始时既没考虑儿童,也没想要出版儿童读物。他们是语言学家、学者和民俗学家,其初衷是保护文化遗产。威廉·格林和雅各布·格林兄弟俩出生于德国中部赫塞邦,来自一个信奉新教的中产阶级大家庭,在他们所处的那个时代,如今德国这块地盘还被法国占领区分割得七零八落。身为专家学者,格林兄弟对席勒和歌德这些人领导的正在蓬勃发展的德国文化复兴运动深表认同。雅各布研究法律和比较语言学;威廉研究中世纪文学和民俗。两兄弟终其一生还在研究和搜集德国歌谣、神话与传说,并且在共同编篡一部德文语源词典,可惜书还没编完威廉便于 1859年去世了。(他在这项工作上花了将近二十年的工夫,才编到“水果”这个词条。)1812 年,他们出版了第一册《儿童与家庭童话集》,当时正值拿破仑兵败,德国人的民族自豪感呈现出了飙升的势态。随着德国浪漫主义运动再度激发出对德国文化的热情,格林兄弟也开始着手研究和搜集被他们称为“自然诗歌”的德国昔日传统民俗。

Heavily annotated and unillutrated, the Grimms first edition of Children's and Household Tales, published in two volumes in 1812 and 1815, was hardly a light read. Their intention was not to entertain but rather to present a scholarly resource for those interested in German folk tradition and provide a basis for comparison with foreign tales. Indeed they sparked an interest in collecting and documenting folk tales amongst scholars around the world who folowed their lead (or at least, their professed lead) in faithfuly documenting the sources of their tales.

【三联湾译】格林兄弟于1812—1815 年间第一次出版的《儿童与家庭童话集》上下两册中,附加许多不清不楚的注释,因此并不容易读懂。他们撰写这本书的目的不在娱乐,而在为有兴趣研究德国民俗传统的人提供学术资源,及与外国故事做比较。事实上,此举引起全球学者效尤,开始研究、搜集本土民间传说故事。

【我译】格林兄弟于1812年和1815 年分别出版了第一版《儿童与家庭童话集》的上下两册,书中加了大量的注释,也没有配插图,因此可读性不是很强。他们原本就不是为了娱乐大众才编篡这本书的,而是为有兴趣研究德国民俗传统的人提供一种学术资源,并为与外国传说故事进行比较提供基础。事实上,他们引发了全球学者对采集和编录民间传说故事的热情,大家纷纷以他们为榜样(至少是他们自诩为榜样),开始忠实地记录其来源。

But the Grimms were not well off. Hardship shaped their intellectual ambitions, and before long they shifted their emphasis from a scholarly audience to the potentialy more lucrative children's market. While in the preface to their first edition of tales they had proudly claimed to be preserving peasant tradition, in their second edition of 1819 they equaly boasted of improving upon it. They had completed fragment tales; admited to retelling stories more simply and eloquently; and above all took pains to adress the younger reader: "In this new edition, we have carefuly eliminated every phrase not approriate for children." wrote Wilhelm, who nonetheless also advised parental discretion in deciding which tales to read to children at all. An 1823 English translation of selected Grimm tales by Edgar Taylor launched the Grimms' popularity as childrens authors. Finally, in 1825, the Grimms presented their own much shorter edition of selected tales, ilustrated by their brother Ludwig. Issued at Christmas-time, its aim was to turn a handsome profit.

【三联湾译】但格林兄弟的财力不够丰厚。他们在学术上的雄心壮志屡遭磨难,因此不久便从学术领域转入有利可图的童书市场。他们在第一版童话书的序文中,骄傲地夸称保留了口传故事的传统,1819年出第二版时,也夸耀善尽修纂之功。他们将断简残篇的故事补全,用更简练且流畅的方式重述故事内容,威廉甚至忍痛割爱:“在新的这一版中,凡不适合儿童阅读的字句,我们一律审慎地删除。”他还忠告家长慎重分辨哪些故事才适合说给儿童听。1823年,泰勒(Edgar Taylor)将格林兄弟的童话选集译成英文版,结果大受欢迎。1825年,格林兄弟自行出版极短篇故事集,并由其弟路德维希(Ludwig Grimm) 负责插画。这本书特地选在圣诞节上市,希望能大赚一笔。

【我译】但格林兄弟的家底并不厚实。他们学术上的雄心壮志在面对现实困难时也只能作出让步,因此不久便将目标读者从学术界转向了可能更为有利可图的儿童群体。他们在第一版的序文,还在骄傲地夸称保留了农民口传故事的传统,在1819年出第二版时,又夸耀在第一版的基础上作了改进。他们对残缺不全的故事进行了补足;承认以更简洁更流畅的方式对故事进行了重述;更重要的是,威廉还煞费苦心地告诉年轻读者:“在这个新版中,我们审慎地删除了所有不适合儿童阅读的字句。”不过,他还是忠告家长,要慎重地分辨哪些故事才适合读给孩子听。1823年,泰勒(Edgar Taylor)将格林童话集选译成英文,结果让格林兄弟成了大受欢迎的童书作者。最终在1825年,格林兄弟出版了自己编选的一个更短的童话故事集,并请弟弟路德维希(Ludwig Grimm) 配上了插图。这本书特地选在圣诞节上市,希望能大赚一笔。


*本文为孔网书友整理、撰写,未经授权请勿转载

,