看清宫戏,经常能听到某某军机大臣“南书房行走”、某某大学士“上书房行走”的台词。很多人以为这是一种政治待遇,可以随意出入皇帝读书办公的场所,其实不然。在清朝,“行走”是一个官职,就像后宫里的“常在”和“答应”一样,也是一级干部。“行走”属于临时性机构的官职,往往是由已任要职的官员兼任,一旦临时机构撤销,该官员也就不再“行走”了。

金庸《鹿鼎记》中的韦小宝,虽然不是什么军机大臣,也不是什么大学士,却因为是康熙皇帝的玩伴儿,也可以在上书房行走。当然,韦小宝的“行走”属于地地道道的瞎溜达。

请不要浅读金庸(换一种语言读金庸)(1)

《鹿鼎记》第四回,韦小宝第一次混入上书房,寻找《四十二章经》,无意中撞见了康熙皇帝,才知道原来高高在上的皇帝就是天天和自己摔跤打架的小玄子:

但见房中一排排都是书架,架上都摆满了书,也不知有几千几万本。韦小宝倒抽了口凉气,暗叫:“辣块妈妈不开花,开花养了小娃娃!他奶奶的,皇帝屋里摆了这许多书,整天见的都是书,朝也书(输),晚也(输),还能赌钱吗?”他生长市井,一生之中从来没有见过书房是什么样子,只道房中放得七八本书,就是书房了。从七八本书中捡出一本写有“三十二”或“四十二”几个字的书,想必不难,此刻眼前突然出现了千卷万卷书籍,登时眼花缭乱,不由得手足无措,便想转身逃走。

闵福德(John Minford)英译:

The entire room was lined with bookshelves, and every shelf was stacked with books. There must have been tens of thousands of them. Trinket gasped and muttered silently to himself:

'Hot-piece tamardy! Where on earth am I going to find the Old Turtle's Sutra in amongst this lot?' Trinket had grown up in a very different world from this. In his own hometown, he had never set eyes on a library of any sort. Probably his idea of a library would have been a dozen or so books in a room somewhere. Finding the Sutra from among a dozen or so books might have been a feasible proposition ... but here! He looked around at the sea of books, and his eyes started swimming. He was seized with a sense of panic, and his first instinct was to run.

这一段文字描写的是韦小宝进入皇帝书房后的心理活动,金庸写得活灵活现,闵福德译得如在眼前。原因就是他没有死译、硬译,断然舍弃了“辣块妈妈不开花,开花养了小娃娃!他奶奶的,皇帝屋里摆了这许多书,整天见的都是书,朝也书(输),晚也(输),还能赌钱吗?”这一段话。“辣块妈妈不开花,开花养了小娃娃!”像是市井顽童的顺口溜,翻译出来亦无甚大意义。金庸这样写,不过是为了凸显韦小宝玩世不恭的个性而已,况且这句话恐怕连汉语都无法解释清楚。至于 “书”与“输”的谐音与转义,更是纠缠不清,如果一定要翻译,就必须先要向英语读者解释“书”与“输”同音不同义的问题,这样一来,译文必然会东拉西扯,旁逸斜出。原文中“他奶奶的”,也被闵福德降格译成“Tamardy”(他妈的)了,估计是因为中国人骂人涉及面过于广泛,老北京还有“他大爷的”骂法儿,闵福德无奈之下,只好采取归纳法,一律Tamardy!

闵福德采取省略和归纳的方法,绝不是为了图省事儿,他这样做,恰恰说明他深谙翻译之道。细读闵福德的译文,读者不仅能感受到他深厚的语言功底,还能体会到他严肃的翻译态度。下面这一段还是韦小宝在上书房的所见所感:

韦小宝见那张紫檀木的书桌极大,桌面金镶玉嵌,心想:“桌上镶的黄金白玉,一定不是假货,挖了下来拿去珠宝店,倒有不少银子好卖。”见桌上摊着一本书,左首放着的砚台笔筒也都雕刻精致。椅子上披了锦缎,绣着一条金龙。韦小宝见了这等气派,心中不禁怦怦乱跳,寻思:“他奶奶的,这乌龟皇帝倒会享福!”书桌右首是一只青铜古鼎,烧着檀香,鼎盖的兽头口中袅袅吐出一缕缕青烟。

闵福德英译:

Trinket stared at the massive rosewood table, inlaid with gold and jade.

'That stuff's all real!' He thought to himself. 'All that gold and jade! All those precious stones! If I could somehow pick it all off, I'd get a fortune for it at the jewelers!'

There was a thread bound volume lying open on the table, and to its left all of the paraphernalia of the traditional scholar had been neatly set out: inkstone, calligraphy brush, brush-stand. The chair was spread with a brocade cover, embroidered with a dragon in gold thread. Trinket was utterly overawed and his heart was racing.

'Mother's!' he exclaimed silently to himself. 'Look at the classy stuff this Emperor's got! The lucky turtle!'

To the right of the table stood an antique bronze tripod, and delicate curls of sandalwood incense-smoke drifted out through the perforated mouth of the animal-shaped cover.

这是一段非常严谨扎实的译文,中英文完全对应,毫厘不爽。闵福德不仅没有任何省略,反而在关键地方有所增益。“桌上摊着一本书”,译成There was a book lying open on the table 也就可以了,但闵福德把“书”翻译成了a thread bound volume,也就是线装书,更准确地呈现了中国清代书房的典雅,也更具时代感。

最后一句,“书桌右首是一只青铜古鼎,烧着檀香,鼎盖的兽头口中袅袅吐出一缕缕青烟。” (To the right of the table stood an antique bronze tripod, and delicate curls of sandalwood incense-smoke drifted out through the perforated mouth of the animal-shaped cover. )鼎盖的兽头口中袅袅吐出一缕缕青烟,闵福德在翻译这句话时,特意在“兽头口中”前面加入了一个形容词perforated(有孔的),明确告诉英语读者中国古代香炉的形制。我们在从事对外传播工作的时候,要时时提醒自己,我们所写所说,对自己是常识,对外国读者可能就是知识,一定要站在读者的靴子里想问题。

请不要浅读金庸(换一种语言读金庸)(2)

写到这里,本该收笔,但还是有两个困惑想和读者朋友们讨论一下。一是韦小宝开口闭口的“辣块妈妈”,另一个则是关于上书房设立的时间的问题。

我曾经问过几个扬州和扬州周边的朋友,他们对于“辣块妈妈”的解释五花八门,且均不得要领,甚至还有人根本没有听说过这个说法。我猜想这个“辣块妈妈”很可能相当于东北话中的“哎呀妈呀”,也不知道对不对。

第二个问题,也就是上书房设立的时间问题。这是一个历史研究的范畴,我不是专业人士,不敢乱发议论。据清史资料记载,康熙二十三年(1684年),为教育皇子,康熙帝于宫内设上书房,对皇子进行系统教育。所谓的上书房,实际上就是清代皇宫的私塾。康熙八岁即位,到康熙二十三年应该是三十一岁了,而《鹿鼎记》中,十四、五岁的康熙已经在上书房读书和处理政务了。是金庸先生疏忽了?还是清朝宫内早就有个上书房,只是没有载入史料而已?

把上述疑惑写出来,绝非为了标新立异,挑战前辈高人,而是为了向朋友们请教,也是为自己确立一种读书学习的态度,懂就是懂,不懂就是不懂。子曰:知之为知之,不知为不知,是知也。

作者:王晓辉

来源:中国网

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来源:中国网