近日，为了给7月份将上映的电影《花木兰》预热，制片方放出了刘亦菲20秒试镜片段。
视频中，神仙姐姐念的台词正是中学课本里要求全文背诵的《木兰辞》最后一句：双兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌？
这段台词是：
“Two rabbits running side by side, I think one is a female one is a male, but I cannot be sure.”
《木兰辞》是一首收录在《乐府诗集》里的北朝民歌，与中国文学史上第一部长篇叙事诗《孔雀东南飞》并称为“乐府双璧”。诗中讲述了巾帼英雄花木兰，女扮男装，替父从军的传奇故事。
北朝民歌，语言质朴易懂，又刚健有力。《木兰辞》在体式上使用杂句，近似口语，但又不失押韵。叙事中又带有抒情，画面感极强。
在众多文体中，诗歌翻译可以说是最难的，既要忠实原作，又要考虑译作的美学价值。这首辞的英文翻译有很多版本，国内比较著名的一版是翻译大家许渊冲教授的。
许教授的版本形似英文诗歌，韵脚押韵，aabb和abab两种结构交替出现，我们一起来看看许译的中英文对照节选：
木兰辞
Song of Mulan
许渊冲 译
aabb式选段：
唧唧复唧唧，木兰当户织。
不闻机杼声，唯闻女叹息。
问女何所思？问女何所忆？
女亦无所思，女亦无所忆。
Alack, alas! Alack, alas!
She weaves and sees the shuttle pass.
You cannot hear the shuttle, why?
Its whir is drowned in her deep sigh.
"Oh, what are you thinking about?
Will you tell us? Will you speak out?"
"I have no worry on my mind,
Nor have I grief of any kind.
昨夜见军帖，可汗大点兵，
军书十二卷，卷卷有爷名。
阿爷无大儿，木兰无长兄，
愿为市鞍马，从此替爷征。
I read the battle roll last night;
The Khan has ordered men to fight.
The roll was written in twelve books;
My father's name was in twelve nooks.
My father has no grown-up son,
For elder brother I have none.
I'll get a horse of hardy race
And serve in my father's place."
abab韵脚选段:
万里赴戎机，关山度若飞。
朔气传金柝，寒光照铁衣。
将军百战死，壮士十年归。
For miles and miles the army march along
And cross the mountain barriers as in flight.
The northern wind has chilled the watchman's gong,
Their coat of mail glistens in wintry light.
In ten years they've lost many captains strong,
But battle-hardened warriors come back in delight.
最后一段，也就是开篇试镜里的台词，译者也许是为了保持押韵，对原作内容做了些调整。
雄兔脚扑朔，雌兔眼迷离；
两兔傍地走，安能辨我是雄雌！
Both buck and doe have lilting gait
And both their eyelids palpitate.
When side by side two rabbits go,
Who can tell the buck from the doe?
许老先生的译文很大程度上保持了原作行文，每一句话几乎都能跟原文一一对应，诵读时也因句尾的押韵而朗朗上口。
在尽可能保留原作韵味的同时，还要仿照英式诗歌体，其难度和限制可想而知，正如钱锺书评价许渊冲时说的：“戴着手铐脚镣跳舞”。
那么，外国译者能不能做到呢？
其实，早在一百多年前就已经有人做过尝试，美国传教士丁韪良（William Alexander Parsons Martin）1912年出版的译作Chinese Legends and Lyrics 中就收录了《木兰辞》，不过，丁译删减了原作内容，并更多地使用意译。
丁韪良（William Alexander Parsons Martin）
在韵律格式上丁译采用了传统英式民谣体，四行一节，1、3行四音步，2、4行三音步，abab押韵。可以说丁版更像是用英式歌谣讲了一个东方传说。
▌什么是音步？
英语诗歌中重读与非重读音节的特殊性组合叫做音步。音步是诗歌的节拍。
通常一个音步由一个重读音节和一到两个弱读音节组成。
以莎翁名句为例：
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
这句诗为弱强五步格，所以这么读：
Shall I // com-pare // thee-to // a sum- // mer's day?
（浅色弱读，黑色部分重读）
下面就是丁译的《木兰辞》，大家可以试试划音步来读。
Mulan, The Maiden Chief
丁韪良 译
Say, maiden, at your spinning-wheel,
Why heave that deep-drawn sign?
Is 't fear perchance or love you feel,
Pray tell—oh, tell me why?
Nor fear nor love has moved my soul—
Away such idle thought!
A warrior's glory is the goal
By my ambition sought.
My father's cherished life to save,
My country to redeem,
The dangers of the field I'll brave—
I am not what I seem.
No son has he his troop to lead,
No brother dear have I;
So I must mount my father's steed,
And to the battle hie.
At dawn of day she quits her door,
At evening rests her head
Where loud the mountain torrents roar,
And mail-clad soldiers tread.
The northern plains are gained at last,
The mountains sink from view,
The sun shines cold, and the wintry blast,
It pierces through and through.
A thousand foes around her fall,
And red blood stains the ground,
But Mulan who survives it all,
Returns with glory crowned.
Before the throne they bend the knee,
In the palace of Chang-an,
Full many a knight of high degree,
But the bravest is Mulan.
"Nay Prince," she cries, "my duty's done,
No guerdon I desire,
But let me to my home begone,
To cheer my aged sire."
She nears the door of her father's home,
A chief with trumpet's blare,
But when she doffs her waving plume,
She stands a maiden fair.
读过两位大家的译作，大家更喜欢哪一版呢？许译尊重原著，但韵律稍逊于丁译。丁教士的“手铐脚镣”显然不似许先生的那般沉重，但又似乎太过放飞自我，原意删减大半，连兔子都删没了。
美国诗人罗伯特·弗洛斯特（Robert Frost）曾说：
Poetry is what gets lost in translation.
诗歌就是那在翻译中失去的东西。
虽然有些极端，但这句话确实道出了诗歌翻译之难。惟其如此，那些努力为两种语言搭起桥梁的译诗者，才更显可敬。
（本文来源：中国日报）
,
