——香港中文大学翻译系读书笔记系列
更多精彩内容请关注公众号:爱译笔记
金庸小说中的各种“打”如何翻译
这学期的文学翻译课很有趣,我原来选课时是抱着一种我的确喜欢文学翻译所以哪怕这门课没那么实用我也一定要选的心态。没想到,老师讲得很好,很年轻的一个女老师,课程内容充实有趣而实用。其实文学翻译是最能锻炼基本功的,做任何种类的翻译都能用得上。今天我来分享一下其中一小节,金庸小说中各种“打”该如何翻译。
(本文相关素材均来自于厦门大学洪捷《以文類為導向的金庸武俠小說翻譯研究》)
“打” 在武侠小说(martial arts fiction)中可以翻译成哪些英文词呢?
hit, blow, strike, punch, knock, thump, attack, drub, beat...
(1) 打 拳
周綺一聽是徐天宏,刀不砍了,左手一拳打出,結結實實,正中他右胸。(《書劍恩仇錄》)
Zhou Qi no longer tried to make use of the sword, but she thumped him really hard on the chestwith her fist.
这里,“左手一拳打出”用的是thump with her fist,“结结实实”是really hard. thump是指to hit sb/sth hard, especially with your closed hands. 用拳头打,而不是手掌,而且打得比较重。但有时打得重也不都是恶意地打,如:He thumped my shoulder affectionately. 他亲热地捶了一下我的肩膀。thump也可以指重重撞击的声音,a muffled sound. 作动词名词都可以,比如thumped the book on the table.
這時正好錢老本縱身双掌擊落,那病漢左手一拳打出,和他雙掌相碰……(《鹿鼎記》)
Butcher Qian launched into the attack, aiming at him with both palms. Invalid punched out with his left fist at the edges of both of Qian’s palms.
punch意为to hit sb/sth hard with your fist,与thump意思基本一样。he was kicked and punched. 他被拳打脚踢。
廳上那鹽梟聽他罵得惡毒陰損,心下大怒,想衝進房去抓來幾拳打死,卻又不敢進房。(《鹿鼎記》)
This, needless to say, put the salt-smugglers in an even greater fury, and they would have rushed in and given the boy a good drubbing, had they not been too frightened to enter the darkened room.
“几拳打死”怎么翻译呢?老师问我们。beat to death? 不是不可以,但这里译者用的是一个更生动的词drub,它的本义是hit or beat (someone) repeatedly. to beat soundly or thoroughly. 中文叫做“痛打”。
这里值得注意的是,“几拳打死”是个动词词组,但英文翻译成a good drubbing,名词形式。“心下大怒”,也是动词,但英文put...in an even greater fury,也是转化成名词形式。第一个例子中的no longer tried to make use of the sword 也是同样。
中文喜用动词,英文喜用名词,在翻译中这样类似的例子比比皆是。
(2)打 (武器)
趙半山等他踏上船頭,左手一揚,右手一揮,打出三隻金錢鏢、三枝袖箭……
Zhao sent off a flurry of darts and sleeve arrows after him…
send off,寄出,发出。如send off a letter, send off a package.我这学期E-C workshop的英文原文中有一句说父亲为了结盟让女儿跟一个陌生人走,和他结婚,就说的是sent her off with a stranger,这里肯定不能说把她寄走,我翻译成“把她许给陌生人”,老师建议是“差一个陌生人带她走”,有同学建议是“把她卖给了一个陌生人”。我个人采纳了最后一种译法。
而这里,send off又成了“打出”的意思。所以说,中文比英文更爱用动词,动词也更多,更细腻,很多时候,中文里不同的动作在英文中都是同一个词就可以表达了。
flurry,一阵风/雪,或一阵忙乱/活动等。如flurries of snow, a flurry of shots, a flurry of interest in the new product.
周仲英雙臂一振,竄起數尺,斜身落地。章進一棒打在檀木桌邊……
Zhou jumped into the air, landing on the ground just as the club slammed into the sandalwood table.
这里是棍棒和木桌相撞,所以用了一个物与物猛烈撞击的固定短语slam into. 如The plane slammed into the building after losing an engine. 飞机失去一个引擎后猛地撞到那栋建筑物上。
那人空手斗我們兩個,後來我拾了地下石子,不住擲他,他躲避石子,一不留神,腿上被十爺打了一棒……
He fought the two of us bare-handed until finally I picked up some stones and started throwing them at him, and Hunchback Zhang clubbed him on the thigh.
club这里是棍棒名词做动词用,意为用棍棒猛打。to hit hard/beat with a club.
少婦此時又被懷杖打中一下……
The woman was struck on her thigh by the man wielding the staff…
strike,和hit意思基本一样,to hit sb/sth with your hand or a weapon. 如struck him in the face. 掴了他一个耳光。Who struck the first blow? 谁先动手的?
……右臉上熱辣辣的一痛,已給打了一鞭
…he felt a sudden sting on his cheek. It was Liu’s whip.
这里同样,中文里的动词短语“打了一鞭”变成英文中的名词片语“Liu’s whip”。
那根黄金杵打人可厲害得很,須當小心。
Just watch out for that golden cudgel of his!
这里同上。
又打了二三十鞭
twenty or thirty strokes later
stroke指打了一下,a single movement of the arm hitting sb/sth. 如He received three strokes of the cane. 他挨了三记藤鞭。
(3)打得……
再胡言亂語,我打得你皮開肉綻,死去活來。
Any more of that wicked nonsense and I’ll beat you till you’re all blood and cruises!
beat是用力打,to hit sb/sth many times, usually very hard. 如They beat him unconscious. 他们把他打得不省人事。
在下其時酒醉,失手將他打得重傷。
…being drunk at the time, I hit him too hard and hurt him badly.
hit应该是“打”最基本的一个词汇,hit him on the head.打他的头。hit the nail with a hammer. 用锤头敲钉子。
右掌隨出,砰的一聲,將韋小寶打得飛身而起,撞破窗格,直摔入窗外的花園
While his right hand followed with a blow of such giant force that it knocked Trinket flyingthrough the papered lattice of the bedside window and into the garden outside.
knock是强调把人或物打成一个什么状态。如The blow knocked me flat. 那一拳把我打倒在地。The two rooms had been knocked into one. 那两间屋子打通了,成为一间。knock over a glass of water. 打翻一杯水。所以在这里,把韦小宝打得飞起来了,就是用knocked him flying是最恰当的。
以上没有出现,但也有“打”的意思的词,比如blow,它只在做名词时才有“打”的意思,比如The two men were exchanging blows. 互殴。receive a severe blow on the head.头上挨了重重一击。landed a blow on his nose. 对着他的鼻子来了一拳。
attack是指一种抽象意义上的袭击,to use violence to try to hurt or kill sb. 如The man attacked him with a knife. 那个男人持刀向他行凶。A woman was attacked and robbed by a gang of youths. 一位妇女遭到一伙年轻人的袭击和抢劫。
,