青岛滨海学院精品课程 英语精品课程 孙敏副教授

第三章 汉译英的标准、可译性与可读性 第一节 翻译得标准 第二节 可译性与可读性 实践一 实践二

第一节 翻译得标准 一、翻译标准概述 （一） 三字标准与三原则 严复：译事三难：信、达、雅。求其信，已大难矣！顾信矣不达，虽译犹不译也，则达尚焉。……译文取明深义，故词句之间，时有所颠倒附益，不斤斤于字比句次，而意义则不倍本文。……至原文词理本深，难于共喻，则当前后引衬，以显其意。凡此经营，皆以为达；为达，即所以为信也。《易》曰：“‘修辞立诚。’子曰：‘辞达而已。’又曰：‘言之无文，行之不远。’三者乃文章正轨，亦即为译事楷模。故信达而外，求其尔雅。” 目录

In translation three are three difficulties, namely, faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance. It is already very difficult to achieve faithfulness. Without expressiveness, mere faithfulness would mean work to no avail (有益).This shows that the latter is quite important in translation…. The translation must express the profound meaning of the original. As for the order of words and that of sentences in the original, there is no need for the translator to stick to them. He may make some change where necessary. But in meaning, the translation must conform to the original…. As for those texts that are hard to understand themselves, he will have to give supplementary remarks where necessary so as to render the corresponding foregoing statements understandable. This is done to achieve expressiveness, or rather faithfulness. The Book of Change says that faithfulness is the first thing in wording. Confucius (551 B. C._479 B.C.) states what speech requires is only expressiveness. Again he says that language without literary grace can not go far and wide. All these three requirements as mentioned above are indispensable both to writing and to translating. Thus elegance must be achieved in addition to faithfulness and expressiveness so that the translation may go far and wide. (This English version is adapted from Ten lectures on Literary Translation by Liu Zhongde (1991), China Translation &Publishing Corporation, 1991.)

林语堂：忠实、通顺、美好 泰特勒：（1） 译文应完全复写出原作得思想。(2) 译文得风格和笔调应与原文的性质相同。(3) 译文应和原文同样流畅。（《论翻译原则》） Translating, in so far as how the translator understands or represents the text, may be classified into two ways, one of taking individual words, and the other of taking sentences, as units for meaning transfer. The former is usually referred to as “word-for-ford” translation and the latter “sentence translation”. Now, we may say explicitly(明确地) and definitely that sentence translation is the correct way whereas word-for-word translation is not. Why? The sentence translator regards the sense of words as something living, and the sentence as something organic, something constructed and governed by an overall meaning. The meaning of individual words in the context of a sentence is the product of interactions and combinations of the senses of all the words in the sentence. The meaning of words could only be derived from looking upon them as living and interrelated things. So the translator has to understand every word of the original text but is not obliged to reproduce each of them in his translation. It is not the individual words but what they combine to mean that the translator should be faithful to. 刘重德：信、达、切 即：（1） 信—保全原文意义； （2） 达—译文通顺易懂； （3）切—切合原文风格

（二） “对等论”与 “感受说” 1．奈达（E.A.Nida）在其《翻译科学初探》一书中将读者引入翻译标准，提出了“动态对等”（dynamic equivalence）, 后来又提出”功能对等”（functional equivalence）作为补充。“对等论”强调读者反应，即译文读者对译文所产生的反应与原文读者所作出的反应基本一致。 “对等论”与我国茅盾先生的“读者感受论”有异曲同工之妙。 2．范仲英：把原文信息的思想内容及表现手法，用译语原原本本地表现出来，使译文读者能得到与原文读者大致相同的感受。 译文读者和原文读者的感受大致相同或近似，就是好的或比较好的译文；相去甚远或完全不同，则质量低劣甚至是不合格的译文。从翻译效果，也就是以译文读者得到的感受如何，来衡量一篇译文的好坏，者酒是翻译的标准。

（三） “意义标准说” 1．利奇（Geoffrey Leech） 提出的“意义标准“说，把意义归纳为七类： (1) 概念意义 （conceptual meaning）； (2) 内涵意义（connotative meaning）; （3）社会意义（social meaning）; （4）情感意义（affective meaning）; (5) 反映意义（reflected meaning）; (6) 搭配意义（collocative meaning）; (7) 主题意义 （thematic meaning）。 其中的（2）至（6）项统称为“联想意义“。 “理想的翻译，酒是将原文的整体交际价值（即所有七中价值）翻译到另一种语言中去”（ An ‘ideal’ translation would be one translating the whole communicative value[ all seven types of meaning] of a text into another language( Leech, Semantics, p.80)。

2. 奈达：翻译意义实指在词汇和句子内容与修辞方式两方面将信息的整个意义翻译过来。（Translating meaning implies translating the total significance of a message in terms of both its lexical or prepositional content and its rhetorical significance.(Nida, Translating Meaning,p.11) (四) 信息标准与多元互补论 辜正坤教授提出勒翻译标准多元化互补理论。 她认为翻译的最高标准是“最佳近似度”，下统一大群具体的标准，其中还可以再区别出主要标准与次要标准。所有这些标准都是相对的、可变的，根据翻译的内容、载体的不同可加以调整，做出取舍，重新组合。比如科技作品的翻译标准不应该与文学作品的翻译标准完全一样，法律文献的翻译标准不能等同于电影剧本的翻译标准。信息标准和多元互补的提出，标志着我国翻译理论又有了新的发展。

二、翻译标准的运用 1．译文必须忠实于原文，即把中文的内容用外文正确地表达出来。不同内容，不同体裁的文章要分别用其相应的语言。 2．译文必须是流畅的外语 译文必须合乎译入外文的语言习惯，让使用这种民族语言的读者正确了解原意。如果不尊重外文的语法习惯，把中文的某些特殊的语法结构硬搬到译文中去，读者就会看不懂。 语言三年文字是表达思想的手段。思想是第一位，手段是为思想服务的。究竟在译文中采取哪种形式才能更好地表达原意，要由译者根据正确表达原意的标准来选择。有时译文可以在形99式上与原文比较接近，有时也可以距离较远。判断译文是否忠实，必须根据外文的习惯，联系上下文，从整体上去看它是否正确地表达了原文的内容和风格，而不是单从形式上去看，一字一句地去比较。片面强调译文必须忠实于原文，忽视译文必须是流畅的外文，不管中外文的差别，只求形似，把中文特有的语法方式硬搬到外文中去，就会犯字对字，句对句死译的毛病，是译文生硬难懂，甚至违反原意；另一方面，片面强调译文必须是流畅的外文，忽视译文必须忠实于原文，就会产生损害原意的所谓“宁顺而不信”的毛病。例如：

（1）从小儿三灾八难，花的银子也照样打出你这么个银人儿来了。（曹雪芹《红楼梦》） You’ve had one trouble after another since you were a boy, the money we’ve spent on you would make a silver statue bigger than you. 例中的“三灾八难”和“银人儿”不可死译成”three mishaps and eight disasters” 和“person made of silver”. (2)小门小户的孩子，都是娇生惯养的哪里见过这个势派？ （曹雪芹《红楼梦》） Children of humble families are well sheltered by their parents. They have never seen anything so grand before. 本例中， “小门小户”意指普通人家，与贾府等豪门大户相对而言，译成 “humble families”较为妥帖。“娇生惯养”一词原指因过分溺爱孩子而将孩子宠坏，一般译为 “to spoil”。但从上下文看，该词没有贬义，仅指孩子未曾见过大世面，故而译未 “well sheltered” 。可见，要忠实地表达原文的意思，必须透过原文字面的表层含义，联系上下文，准确把握词语真正的内涵，才能达到译文的忠实。例如：

（3）武松道：“既是到了，你切在别处等我，我自去熏他。” 施恩道：“这话最好，小弟自有安身去处，望兄长在意切不可轻敌。” （施耐庵《水浒传》） Wu Sung said, “If we have come there, pray /Please wait for me elsewhere. I will go myself and seek him out.” Shih En said, “ These are the best words of all. Your younger brother will go and find a place to rest. But I do pray that Elder Brother will take care not to hold him lightly as an enemy.” 译文不拘泥于原文字句不顾英语本身的表达习惯，不但未能充分表达原文意义，译文本身也不自然。试比较： Wu Song: “When we get there, go somewhere and wait. I’ll find him myself.” Shi En: “Fine. I know just the place. Be careful. Don’t underestimate your foe.”

（4）现在我在街上摆卦摊；好了呢，一天也抓弄个三毛五毛的。老伴儿早死了，儿子拉洋车。（老舍《柳家大院》） I keep a fortune-teller’s stall on the side-walk and can scrape up three or five dimes a day at best. My old gal had long kicked up her heels. My son’s a ricksha-boy. That’s wot he’s.. 本例译文利用了多个英语习语及俚语(scrape up, old gal, kick up her heels)及不规范的发音（rickshaw-boy, wot [what] ,以便模仿原文语言上的地方特色和口语特征。值得一提的是，“儿子拉洋车”一句没有简单地译成“My son pulls the richshaw.”,因为这样的英文表达方式只表明”儿子拉什么“， 句子的中心是 “rickshaw”,而原文的用意是 “儿子是拉洋车的”（My son is a rickshaw man by trade）;但这样译又有些过于明直，句子的中心成了 “by trade”。所以译为 “rickshaw-boy”不多不少,恰到好处。

三、译文评估 下面从译文评价的角度在十个方面对原文和译文加以比较，译文的信度（即对原文忠实之程度）用0－1之间的数值表示（最低为0，最高为1）。 （一）句法结构 原文：他昨天来过这儿了。 译文I: He came here yesterday.[1] 译文II: Yesterday he came here.[0.9] 译文II 将时间副词yesterday置于句首，在英语里，是用来强调的非正常的位置，因此传达了原文所没有的信息，属于“超额翻译”。译文I的副词位置同原文一样处于常位，故而译文I比译文II 的信度高。 （二）词义搭配 原文：人大代表一行五人于春节前视察了这个福利中心。 译文：A group of five NPC representative inspected this welfare centre on the eve of the Spring Festival.[1] 译文II： A group of five NPC representative visited this welfare center on the eve of the Spring Festival.[0.8] 原文的“视察”传达了最大的信息量，决定着全句的信度。译文I 中的 “inspected” 与 “representatives”搭配起来，与原文的意思相符；译文II用 “visit”，意思就有出入。

（三）修辞色彩 原文：香港总督尤德爵士今晨于北京逝世。 译文I: Sir Edward Youde, Governor of Hong Kong, passed away in Beijing this morning.[1] 译文II: Sir Edward Youde, Governor of Hong Kong, died in Beijing this morning.[0.8] 译文III: Sir Edward Youde, Governor of Hong Kong, breathed his last in Beijing this morning.[0.6] 译文IV: Sir Edward Youde, Governor of Hong Kong, kicked the bucket in Beijing this morning.[0.4] “逝世”用 “pass away” 在语体色彩和感情色彩上都与原文相一致。译文II至IV的修辞色彩与原文有不同程度的差异。 （四）风格层次 原文：我不善于讲话，也不习惯发表演说，我一生就没做过教师。 译文I: I’m not good at talking, and I’m not used to giving lectures. I’ve never done any teaching either.[1] 译文II: Talking is not my province, nor is lecturing; never have I taken up teaching as my profession, either.[0.7] 原文是口语体，译文I 从词到句式都是口语体，译文II则是书面语言，属于正式语体。所以两种译文的信度不一样。

（五）逻辑结构 原文：己所不欲，勿施于人。 译文I: Do not do unto others what you do not want to be done by.[1] 译文II: Do unto others as you would be done by.[0.5] 译文II使用了正反表达法，但没有表达出原文的逻辑结构所传达的信息，因为原文的信息焦点在“不欲”二字， 不能轻易改变它。译文I采用了和原文一致的表达方式，所以信度更大一些。 （六）形象变通 原文：瞧你像只落汤鸡！ 译文I: You look like a bedraggled chicken![0.8] 译文II: You look like a drowned rat![1] 译文III: Look! You’re wet through![0.8] 传达原文形象，直译施个办法，但笔削能让译文读者容易接受才行，译文I显然没做到，等于没有传达.译文III 舍弃了原文的比喻形象，只传达了概念意义。译文I和译文III都欠缺原文的形象性，没有充分表达出原文的意思，属于“欠额翻译”。译文II做了变通，改变了原文的喻体，使原文表达的“湿淋淋”的形象通过信的喻体得到了再现，可视为“足额翻译”或“等额翻译”。

（七）心理转换 原文：这是一篇八股文。 译文I: This is a bagu essay.[0.2] 译文II: This is an eight-legged essay.[0.3] 译文III : This is stereotyped writing.[0.5] 这一句的关键词是“八股”。译文I是音译，其实等于没译，全句只传达了essay 一词的意义，所以信度较低。译文II为直译，信息量略有增加，但仍不足以说明原文的意思。译文III属意译，对原文的信息量传达得更多一些，译文读者根据自己得经验，经过一番联想，勉强可以领悟所要传达得意思。三个译文都属于“欠额翻译”。但由于文化背景的差异，有些意义无法百分之百地传达过去，译者就只能最大限度地传达原文的信息量。 （八）社会规范 原文：劳驾，去市场街怎么走？ 译文I: Excuse me, but could you show me the way to Market Street? [1] 译文II: I beg your pardon, sir. Will you be so kind as to tell me how to reach Market Street?[0.8] 译文III: Chap, tell me how to get to Market Street.[0.6] 三个译文在礼貌程度上个有不同。译文III不够礼貌，译文II 客气过分。礼貌程度不同，交际对象产生的心理反应就会不一样，距离原文的信度也就不相同。

（九）双关语义 原文：骄阳下，柳树上，回答他的是一片“知了，知了”的蝉声。（毛炳甫）《剥香蕉皮》） 译文I: Under the scorching sun, from the willow tree, came the confirming reply of the cicada’s chirrup: “See. See…”[0.9] 译文II: …came the cicada’s chirruping, “zing-a-zing-a…”[0.5] 译文III: …came the cicada’s reply, “I see, I see…”[0.7] 译文IV:…came the cicada’s reply, “I know, I know…”[0.4] 原文的“知了”有双关语义，译文I 同时传达出了双重意义，所以信度最大。译文II只传达了基本意义即拟声效果，另一重意义丧失。译文III顾及了语法的完整，妨碍了拟声效果的传达。译文IV只顾附加的双重意义，丧失了基本意义，整体上不合情理。

（十）语义连贯 原文：昨奉大函，诵悉一是。尊稿极佳；唯篇幅甚长，本志地位有限，故不克刊登，良用歉然。 译文I: I received your letter yesterday. I read it and noted its contents. Your article is very good. But it is very long. This magazine has only limited space. Therefore I cannot publish your article. I am very sorry.[0.7] 译文II: I received your letter yesterday. Your article is very good, but I am sorry that owing to pressure of space, I find it too long to be published.[0.9] 译文I 中每句都很短，读起来给人一跳一跳的感觉，显得不连贯，读后不知哪句是重点。译文II就连贯多了，各部分的逻辑关系也明确了，整体的感觉好得多。 译文单从一个方面达到对原文得“信”还远远不够，而应从多方面达到对原文最大限度的忠实。

翻译实践 一、请翻译林语堂先生关于“字译”和“句译”的见解： 按译者对文字的解法与译法不外两种，就是以字为主体，与以句为主体，前者可称为“字译”，后者可称为“句译”。……我们可以明确地说，句译是对的，字译是不对的。因为句译家对于字义是当活的看，是认一句为结构有组织的东西，是有集中的句义为全句的命脉；一句中的字义是互相连贯互相结合而成一“总意义”，此总意义须由活看字义和字的连贯上得来。……译者对于原文有字字了解而无字字译出的责任。译者所应忠实的，不是原文的零字，乃零字所组者的语意。 译者不但须求达意，并且须以传神为目的。译者须忠实于原文之字神句气与言外之意。“字神”就是一字之逻辑意义以外所夹带的情感上之色彩，即一字之暗示力。 ……绝对忠实之不可能，译者所能谋达到之忠实，即比较的忠实之谓。……凡文字有声音之美，有意义之美，有传神之美，有文体形式之美，译者或者顺其意而忘其神，或者得其神而忘其体，决不能把文义、文神、文气、文体及声音之美完全同时译出，这就是因为以上字神的缘故。

Translating, in so far how the translator understands or represents the text, may be classified into two ways, one of taking individual words, and the other of taking sentences, as units for meaning transfer. The former is usually referred to as “word-for-word” translation and the latter “sentence translation”. Now we may say quite explicitly(明确地) and definitely that sentence translation is the correct way whereas word-for-word translation is not. Why? The sentence translator regards the sense of words as something living, and the sentence as something organic, something constructed and governed by an overall meaning. The meaning of individual words in the context of a sentence is the product of interactions and combinations of the senses of all the words in the sentence. The meaning of words could only be derived from looking upon them as living and interrelated things. So the translator has to understand every word of the original text but is not obliged to reproduce each of them in his translation. It is not the individual words but what they combine to meaning that the translator should be faithful to. The translator should to convey the spirit of the original as well as its message. The translation must reproduce the spirit of the words, the tone of the sentence, and what is conveyed from between the lines. By “spirit” of words is

meant the emotive coloring that is implied other than the pure logic sense of the world, i.e., its connotative force. It’s futile to strive for absolute faithfulness in translation. What the translator tries to achieve is the relative faithfulness. Language exhibits its beauty in sound, meaning, image or spirit and in its tone and stylistic form. Often the translator tends to ignore the spirit of the original in his effort you follow its message, or succeed in conveying the spirit of the original but lose the style of it. It’s impossible for him to translate all the elements that constitute the whole beauty- the message, the spirit, the tone, the style and the sound, simply for the reason that words have “spirit”, which is discussed in the second part above.

二、翻译下列句子： 1．中国的万里长城是最伟大的城墙。它东起山海关，西至嘉峪关，全长13400多里。修筑长城的砖石，如果用来扑住宽5米、厚35厘米得马路，那就能环绕地球三四周。 The Great Wall of China is the longest and greatest wall in the world. Starting from Shanhaiguan Pass in the east ending at Jiayuguan Pass in the west, it covers a total length of over 13,400li (6,700kilometers). If the bricks and stones that went into the construction of the Great Wall were used to pave a road five meters wide and 35 centimeters thick, it would encircle the globe three to four times. 2．党八股的第五条罪状是，开中药铺。 The fifth indictment against stereotyped(老调的) writing is that it arranges items under a complicated set of headings, as if starting a Chinese pharmacy.

3．一句话，我们赞成这样的世界，每个国家的人民都扎根于自己的民族文化土壤之中，又汲取其他民族文化的丰富营养。 In short, we are for a world in which every people, rooted in their national cultural values, will be receptive to the abundant benefits of other nations. 4．知己知彼，百战百胜。 Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat. 5．路遥知马力，日久见人心。 A long road tests a horse’s strength and a long task prove a man’s heart.. 6．千里之行，始于足下。 A thousand-li journey is stared by taking the first step. 7．第一个阶段工作所需要的时间是相当长的，绝不是一朝一夕所能完成的。 Even the first phase of task will take quite a long time and by no means be accomplished overnight.

8．中国认死都不怕，还怕困难么？老子说过：“民不畏死，奈何以死惧之？” Will the Chinese cower before difficulties when they are not afraid even of the death? Lao Tze said, “The people fear not death, why threaten them with it? 9．事实胜于雄辩，水落自然石出。 Facts speak louder than words, and the truth will always turn out in the end. 10．俗话说：“看菜吃饭，量体裁衣。 As the saying goes,” One should

第二节 可译性与可读性 可译性（translatability）与可读性（readability）是衡量原文与译文语言难度的两个参数，两者成正比关系。可读性是针对原文向译文语言的转换过程的难易程度而言的，即原文与译文的语言特点愈接近，翻译过程中的语际转换就愈简单，愈容易，此时就说原文具有较大的可译性。 可读性指转换厚的译文对译文读者的易解性（intelligibility）和通顺程度（smoothness, naturalness）而言。一般说来，原文的可译性越强，译文的可读性越大。了解可译性和可读性的原理，有助于提高运用翻译技巧的自觉性。 一、可译性与可读性限度 可译性指的是一种语言译成另一种语言时原文信息得以传达的最大可能性，可译性的大小取决于客观因素对翻译过程中意义转换的限度，称之为“可译性限度”，通俗一点说就是翻译的难度。限制可译性的因素很多，我们主要从语言和文化两个大的方面探讨可译性的问题：

（一）语言文字的限制 决定可译度的首要因素是两种语言本身的差异。汉英两种语言分属两个不同的语系。不同语系语言间的互译比同种语系语言间的互译有着更大的难度，这些难度体现在语音、词汇、句法和篇章各个语言层次上。 一般说来，翻译以保留原文的内容为前提，改变原文的形式，代之以译入语的形式。如翻译技巧中的词语增减、词类转换、句式调整等等。如果翻译在内容和形式两方面都作要求，翻译的难度会大大增加，甚至达到不可译的程度。最典型的例子是诗歌的翻译。诗歌是音韵、词语、句式、意境诸方面的有机结合体，因此译出来的东西也必须是内容和形式的同一体。做到这一点虽然不是不可能，但十分困难。请欣赏辜正坤教授译毛泽东诗词片断：

望长城内外，惟余苍莽，大河上下，顿失滔滔。 山舞银蛇，原驰蜡像，欲与天公试比高。 SNOW 沁园春•雪 北国风光，千里冰封，万里雪飘。 望长城内外，惟余苍莽，大河上下，顿失滔滔。 山舞银蛇，原驰蜡像，欲与天公试比高。 SNOW To the tune of Spring in Garden What a scene is in the north found! A thousand li of the earth is ice-clad aground (地面) Ten thousand li of the sky is snow-bound. Behold! At both sides of the Great Wall An expanse of whiteness conquers all; In the Yellow River, up and down, The surging waves are gone! Like silver snakes the mountain dance, Like wax elephants the highlands bounce, All try to be higher than heaven even once!

译文不仅忠实地表达了原作的思想内容， 也译出了原文的形式—诗体，通过重音及尾韵的安排，使译文读起来朗朗上口，铿锵有力，体现了原作的气势。 但是，绝对地来看，译文并未译出原作的形式，即“沁园春”的格律要求，失去了汉语特有的平仄韵律。如果合着“沁园春”的曲调吟诵译文，肯定和不上曲调节拍。这种由语言的差异引起的内容和形式之间的矛盾有时是无法克服的。如果不牺牲形式上的因素，原文的可译度是零。 可译度障碍在诗歌的翻译当中表现得比较明显。实际上，凡涉及内容与形式相统一的翻译均会遇到类似的难题。此时，要么牺牲原文的一部分形式，要么牺牲一部分意义，要么通过变通、阐释等手段绕过矛盾。例如： —我只会马走日，象走田。 —让你车马炮。 —I only know the most basic moves. —Would you like me to allow you a handicap? 此例中的“马走日”、象走田”和“车马炮”为中国象棋术语，如果借用国际象棋的术语套用，势必语言累赘，语义不清，不如只译其语用意义， 如the basic moves,或借用赛马术语，如allow you a handicap,从而绕过原文形式意义。

（二）文化意义的限制 文化是决定可译度的零译大因素。文化是一种社会现象，任何人类社会都由自己特定的文化传统，通过语言反映出来。文化和语言具有交融关系，不同语言的表达方式都带有各自民族文化的烙印。一般说来， 一篇文章的可译度与其文化含量呈反比：文化内涵越大，可译度越小，翻译的难度越大。 可译度在物质文化方面表现为词语的空缺，如中国的“水饺”在英文里找不到对应词，只好采用音译。 汉语中的词语虽然能在英文里找到功能相似的词语，但各自的文化内涵还是不同的。如中文中的“猫哭耗子”和英文的“shed crocodile tears”表达基本相同的比喻义，但带有不同的地域文化色彩。“豺狼一样凶狠”和 “as fierce as sharks”也是如此，前者带有明显的陆地文化特征，后者带有海洋文化的特征。翻译时，若用原文的比喻直译，则保留了原文的文化含义，译文读者不免要感到陌生，如借用英文原有的比喻，译文的读者当然感到亲切自然， 却无法领略原文文化的独特风味。

中文中的“败走麦城”与英文中的 “to meet one’s Waterloo”都由“遭遇最后的失败”之意，而且二者起源于典故，同术语历史文化的范畴。但用后者翻译前者，会给人文化错位之感；如直译 “to flee Maicheng after defeat”, 读者也会莫名其妙。较安全的办法是意译为“to be totally defeated”, 不过原文的比喻色彩不复存在了。 亲属文化词语方面，也存在可译性障碍。中国文化历来重视尊卑长幼，所以亲属关系死分类很细，很多细类词语在英语里没有对应。虽然有时可以用修饰词解释清楚，但总不能不顾赵元任先生的告诫，把“您好，表妹”译成“Good morning, my female-cousin-on-mother-or paternal-aunt’s-side-younger-than-myself”吧？ 另外，象“阿庆嫂”、“福来哥”之类，有人译成“Sister Ahqing”, “Brother Laifu”, 且不论意思正确与否，在西方的宗教文化背景中，听上去像是神职人员或教徒之间的称谓。 精神文化方面，由于语言间的对应空缺和似是而非的对应，可译性难度较大。如翻译老子的“道”、孔子的“仁”、“八卦的“阴阳”，还有“太极拳”、“武术等。有时需生造词语（Taoism, ren, yin and yang; aijiquan, wushu）, 有时借用英文的近义词（logos (基督教，与神同一的道)， benevolence; shadow boxing, martial arts）.两种译法都不能完全再现原语的文化内涵。 总而言之，翻译过程总是伴随着各种各样的限制，译者由责任采取一切可能的措施来突破这一限制。

二、可读性 可读性即“通俗易懂”或“达”。 可读性的具体内容分为：（1）合乎语法；（2）合乎习惯；（3）合乎语体；（4）含意明确；（5）条理分明。（刘宓庆） 翻译涉及的原文和译文都存在可读性因素，一般的原则是，译文的可读性应尽量接近原文的可读性，即，原文清晰流畅的词句，到了译文中必须做到流畅自然，原文出于修辞原因而故作晦涩艰深的文字，译文也应通过某些手段再现出这种修辞效果。从这层意义上看，可读性与修辞及语体风格又不无关系。下面从三个层次分别讨论： （一）词语翻译中的可读性 各类典故用语、缩略语及具有文化内涵的词语大都“言简意丰”。如果将这类词语的丰富内容全部传达出来，势必造成译语冗长，行文阻滞，所以多采用直译加注、阐释或淡化（虚化）甚至音译等手段加以处理。例如：

（1）五讲四美三热爱：the Five Stresses, Four Points of Beauty and Three Loves-requirements for advocating socialist culture (Note: The five stresses are: stress on decorum, manners, hygiene, discipline and morals. The four points of beauty are: beauty of the mind, language, behavior and environment. The three loves refer to love of the Communist Party, love of socialism and love of our country.) 在文章中出现这种缩略语时， 可以通过阐释或注释的手段解决，如上例。但如果将“五四三办公室”译为英文的标志文字，小小的门派显然无法容纳如此丰富的内容，只能通过淡化或虚化手段进行处理，如可译成“Cultural and Ethics Education Dept.” （2）三个代表： the Three Represents( The CPC represents the fundamental interests of the general public, represents the most advanced social productive force and represents the most advanced human culture of the world.)

（二）句子翻译中的可读性 句子的可读性在很大程度上和语法有关，不合语法的句子当然谈不上可读性，这一点在英译汉当中容易做到，但在汉译英当中却需要格外当心。第二个影响句子可读性的因素是结构安排，汉译英应按照英文习惯组织句式，尽量减少中文句式的影响。英文句子结构较灵活，几乎可以用任意一个实义词来作为句子的开端，而且总能找到一种适当的结构使句子接续下去。但尽管如此，不同的英语句式在衔接能力、句意的中心以及逻辑走向上都会有所不同。在翻译转换中需要频繁地更换主语，改变语序、调整结构。所有这些都是未来保证译文在连贯性、逻辑性、层次性等方面和原文一样清晰流畅，前后照应、条理分明。例如： 或曰：梅以曲为美，直则无姿；以欹为美，正则无景；梅以疏为美，密则无态，固也。

译文I: One may say: with regard to plum sprigs, the beauty lies in their sinuosity while straightness diminishes their grace; the beauty lies in their obliquity while erectness deprives them of their nice shadows; the beauty lies in their obliquity while density eclipses their fascination. All this may be true. 译文II：It is said: the beauty of the branches of a plum tree lies in their crooked shape, there being no charm in ramrod straightness; their beauty lies in their jagged angles, as being upright and straight is not pleasing to the eye; their beauty lies in their sparseness, as dense abundance has no definition. This has long been so.

(三) 篇章翻译中的可读性 从段落及篇章的层次看，影响译文可读性的因素主要是展开方式。在篇章安排上，中英文又明显的不同(参见第一章第三节的“篇章语体对比”部分)，在政论文的谋篇方式上，中文倾向于使用归纳法（inductive）,先分说，后总说；英文倾向于使用演绎法（deductive）,先总说，后分说。另外，中文往往先交代附加性信息，然后才交代最重要的关键信息，而英文瞧好相反，开篇首先亮出主要观点，每段首先点明主题句。 有时，汉译英以段落甚至篇章为翻译单位，对整个篇章的布局进行大调整，以适应译文读者的阅读习惯。这种做法要求译者具有较高的把握全句的能力。（参见第七章第九章和第八章第一节。） 总之，影响可读性的因素很多，从词语的选用道组句谋篇无所不包，译者应熟悉中英文在各个语言层次上的共性和特性，根据不同的文体，采用灵活的手段，板正译文具有和原文大体相等的可读性。

翻译实践 一、翻译下列段落，注意字里行间文化因素的处理： 是的，北平是个都城，而能又好多自己产生的花，菜，水果，这就使人更接近了自然。从它里面说，它没有像伦敦的那些成天冒烟的工厂；从外面说，它紧连着园林、菜圃与农村。采菊东篱下，在这里，确是可以悠然见南山的；大概把“南”字变个“西”或“北”，也没有多少了不得的吧。像我这样一个贫寒的人，或者只有在备品能享受一点清福了。（老舍《想北平》）

The city of Beiping brings its residents into closer contact with nature by growing flowers, vegetables and fruit in large quantities. The city proper is not plagued by factory chimneys such as you find in London giving off volumes of smoke all day long. On the outskirts of the city lie numerous flower gardens, vegetable farms and villages. An ancient Chinese poet by the name of Tao Yuanming says aptly in one of his famous poems, “Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern hedge, I calmly view the southern hills.” To adapt it to life in Beijing, I might as well substitute the word “western” or “northern” for the word “southern” in the line. Beiping is probably the only place for a man of limited means like me to live an easy and carefree life in.

二、翻译下列句子： 1．那人一副若无其事的样子，但他那骨碌碌乱转的眼睛让他露了马脚。 The man seemed quite at ease, but his rolling eyes gave him away(betrayed him). 2．她加班加点，开了三个晚上的夜车，才把活儿赶完。 She managed to finish the job only by working overtime and burning the midnight oil for three nights. 3．车夫没有敢跟他耍滑头的。 None of the rickshaw pullers dared to try any tricks on him. 4．他们也是泥菩萨过河—自身难保。 They themselves are like the clay idol fording(徒涉) the river—it’s as much as they can do to preserve themselves from disaster. 5．你这个人，打破沙锅纹（问）到底，紧着问什么呢？ So many questions about such a little thing. You are the limit. 6．打开板壁说亮话，你到底是什么条件吧！ Let’s be frank and put all our cards on the table. You just tell us what’s in your mind, whatever be it.

7．对新药业，老实讲。我是擀面杖吹火—一窍不通。 To be honest, I don’t know the first thing about the modern drug business. 8．有句老话说：“天网恢恢，疏而不漏。” As an old saying goes: “Heaven’s vengeance (复仇)is slow but sure.”(The mill of God grind slowly but surely. The net of Heaven has large meshes but lets nothing through. Laws have long arms.) 9.喂，不要王婆买瓜啦，把墙造起来再说吧。 Hey, don’t get too engrossed(全神贯注的) in self-admiration, first put up the wall, and then see if it’s so wonderful. 10．办事人员经常要求爷爷告奶奶，那样子业怪可怜的。 People trying to get things done often had to pay obeisance(鞠躬) to the powers that be. It was pitiful.

III. Summary(总结)： 1. 可译性 可译性指的是一种语言译成另一种语言时原文信息得以传达的最大可能性，可译性的大小取决于客观因素对翻译过程中意义转换的限度，也就是翻译的难度。可译性主要受语言文字的限制和文化意义的限制 （1）语言文字的限制 不同语系语言间的互译比同种语系语言间的互译有着更大的难度，这些难度体现在语音、词汇、句法和篇章各个语言层次上。 一般说来，翻译以保留原文的内容为前提，改变原文的形式，代之以译入语的形式。如翻译技巧中的词语增减、词类转换、句式调整等等。如果翻译在内容和形式两方面都作要求，翻译的难度会大大增加，甚至达到不可译的程度。 （2）文化意义的限制 一般说来， 一篇文章的可译度与其文化含量呈反比：文化内涵越大，可译度越小，翻译的难度越大。 2. 可读性 可读性即“通俗易懂”或“达”。 可读性的具体内容分为：（1）合乎语法；（2）合乎习惯；（3）合乎语体；（4）含意明确；（5）条理分明。

IV. Assignment: 翻译下列短语，注意其可读性： 1. 宣传 popularize 2. 物美价廉 economical and good 3.你红光满面。 You look healthy and energetic. 4.他是个 “气管炎”。 He is a hen-pecked man. 6. 假话 artificial flower 7. 假唱 lip-synch 8. 假钞counterfeit money 10. 恶性循环 vicious circle 11.恶性通货膨胀 inflationary spiral 12. 酸奶 yoghurt 13.黄色书籍 pornography book 14. 高等学校 higher school 15．方便面 instant noodles 16. 青春痘 acne (痤疮) 17. 救火 to fight a fire 18.早恋 puppy love 19. 白菜 Chinese cabbage 20. 带绿帽子 to cuckold sb.

END Thank you