《大国速度 百年京张》1（续一）From Steam to HSR—100 Years on the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Line (Excerpt)

詹天佑，字眷诚，号达朝2，1861年4月26日出生于广州府南海县。1872年，年仅12岁的詹天佑报考清政府筹办的“幼童出洋预习班”，并于当年8月辞别父母，远渡重洋。

Zhan Tianyou was born in Nanhai County of Guangzhou on April 26， 1861. In 1872， at the age of 12， he took an exam run by the Qing government for a class of children to study overseas， bid farewell to his parents in August， and traveled across the ocean.

异国他乡，生死未卜，少年们都签下了一份“倘若有疾病，生死各安天命”的免责文书。詹天佑为何要踏上这一“冒险”之旅呢？

In an alien land life was unpredictable3. All the youngsters signed a liability waiver entrusting their health， life and death to their destiny. Why did Zhan Tianyou embark on this risky journey？

詹天佑的父亲詹洪原4是一个茶商，后因西方列强侵略、连年战祸而破产，只能靠种田维持一家生活。在这样一种家庭氛围下成长，詹天佑自小深深体会到了当时清朝统治者的腐败无能，以及下面亿万百姓的无助。

Zhan Tianyou’s father Zhan Hongyuan was a tea merchant. Bankrupted through the invasions of Western powers and by years of war， he had to turn to tilling the land to support his family. The hardships he experienced in childhood5 gave Zhan Tianyou a keen understanding of the corruption and incompetence of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty， and a clear vision of the helplessness of millions of people.

七八岁的时候，詹天佑被送到私塾里读书。他对那些四书五经不感兴趣，却喜欢摆弄一些机械。据说，他经常用一些捡来的小螺丝钉、小齿轮、旧发条做玩具，还用泥巴捏轮船、起重机。他经常站在工厂外面，看着里面的机器、运货车，一站就是半天。

When he was seven or eight years old， Zhan Tianyou was sent to study in an old-style private school. He was not interested in the Confucian Classics but instead liked to play with mechanical apparatus. It is said that he used to make toys with small screws， small gears and old springs he had found， and make ships and cranes with clay. He often stood outside factories and gazed at the machines and wagons inside， often for hours on end.

有一天，他看着家中墙上的挂钟出了神。挂钟为什么会嘀嗒嘀嗒走个不停？想着想着，他就动手把挂钟拆开，想看个究竟。

One day， he looked at the hanging clock on the wall of his home， entranced. How did the hanging clock keep going non-stop？ He dismantled the clock in an attempt to find the answer.

可是，再想按原样装起来的时候，怎么摆弄也装不好了，急得他满头大汗。父亲看见，虽然有些生气，还是领着他到县里的钟表店，让他仔细看工匠怎么拆装钟表。

But no matter how he tried， his face drenched in sweat， he could not put it back together again. His father got over his first anger6， and took the boy and the clock to a clockmaker in the county seat to let him watch carefully how a craftsman assembled clocks and watches.

1871年底，詹天佑11岁了，已经在私塾读了4年多。同乡谭伯村匆匆从香港来到南海找到詹天佑的父亲詹兴洪，说那里正在选拔幼童出洋留学。谭伯村是一位商人，看到詹天佑从小聪明好学，非常喜欢他。

By the end of 1871 Zhan was 11 and had studied at school for over four years. A fellow townsman， Tan Bocun， arrived in a hurry from Hong Kong to Nanhai to seek out Zhan’s father7， saying that young children were being selected there to study overseas. Tan was a businessman and was very fond of the smart young Zhan Tianyou.

谭伯村极力劝詹兴洪夫妇送孩子去参加留美考试，并答应在经济上给予资助，还把自己的四女儿许配给詹天佑。这样，詹天佑才得以去香港参加留学考试。1872年，詹天佑顺利通过了考试。

Tan tried earnestly to persuade Zhan’s parents to send their child to sit the exam for a place studying in the United States. He promised to provide financial aid to the family， and even betrothed his fourth daughter to Zhan Tianyou. And so Zhan was able to travel to Hong Kong， sit the exam， and pass it.

初到美国，詹天佑进入一所“诺索布寄宿学校”上小学，学英语。1876年进入纽黑文希尔豪斯中学（丘屋中学），两年后毕业，又以全优的成绩考入耶鲁大学土木工程系。

When he first arrived in the US， Zhan was enrolled at a boarding primary school to study English and other subjects. In English he called himself Jeme Tien-Yow8. In 1876 he entered Hillhouse High School in New Haven. Two years later he graduated with excellent scores， and was admitted to the Department of Civil Engineering of Yale University.

在美国留学期间，詹天佑学习非常刻苦，也很注意锻炼身体，立志为早日报效祖国而学习科学。

During his studies in the US， Zhan Tianyou worked very hard both academically and in physical exercise. He was instilled with a determination to serve his motherland by studying science.

1881年，他以优异成绩毕业于耶鲁大学土木工程系铁路工程一科。在清朝总计派出的120名留美官费生中，最后只有两人顺利完成大学学业并获得学位，詹天佑是其中的一个，他的毕业论文《码头起重机的研究》获得很高评价。

1881年，清朝第一批留美学生奉召回国。

In 1881， he graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering， specializing in railroad construction， with excellent academic results. Zhan’s graduation thesis， “Study of Dock Cranes” won high praise. Only a few months after his graduation， the first batch of students was recalled to China by the Qing government. Among the 120 students they had sent and funded， Zhan Tianyou was one of only two who managed to complete their undergraduate program and gain a diploma. 9

* 浙大宁波理工学院副教授。

1本文节选自《大国速度 百年京张》第一章第二节，讲述了詹天佑从出生到远赴美国留学，并最终以优异成绩毕业回国的经历。节选的这部分译文，无论是遣词造句的精准，还是段落重组的巧妙，都充分展现了译者王之光和英文编辑大卫·弗格森在实现译文可读性方面的非凡匠心。  2古人取名，字字珠玑，背后蕴含深意，这些讲究即使对于中国读者而言，也常常如隔雾观花，难窥究竟。詹天佑的字号，若直译成英文，不了解中国文化背景的读者可能无法领会其中深意；而加注虽能解释清楚，但往往会打断阅读的流畅性。因此，在翻译这类具有文化内涵的文化专有项时，如果文本的主要功能不是传达相关文化内涵，便可采用省译。  3相比直译的译文“one’s life and death were unpredictable”，弗格森先生修改后的译文语言更为简洁，行文更加流畅，准确传达了“生死未卜”这一成语在此处所蕴含的深意：在异国他乡，生活中一切事物（包括生与死）都充满不确定性。

4 詹父还有另一个名字“詹兴洪”，对于不熟悉中国古人复杂称谓系统的读者而言，容易导致困惑。对后文出现的“詹兴洪”，翻译时作了灵活处理。  5此译文的精妙之处在于：首先，主语呼应了前文关于詹父的经历，正是这些经历让詹天佑的童年充满艰辛，因此相比growing up in such a family atmosphere的直译，深入理解原文含义后的意译更为贴切连贯；第二，无生命主语是英语特有的修辞现象，体现了英美人更注重客观事物或现象对人的作用和影响，更符合讲述生平时惯有的客观语气，而且结构更为紧凑。

6与直译为让步状语从句的不同在于：现译文更强调詹父从最初的生气，迅速调整心态，转而采取积极的解决之道。这样的细微差异体现了译者和编辑更注重“精神而非字词，意义而非话语，信息而非形式，料子而非样子”。  7鉴于詹父的另一姓名在此处并非核心信息，因此可以选择省译，以保持文本的连贯性和读者的阅读体验。

8在此处增译詹天佑的英文名，无疑是恰当明智之举。  9译文巧妙地将原文的两个自然段合译为一，并按时间轴重组相关细节。这些细节始终围绕詹天佑，并服务于其刻苦学习立志报国的主题。陈述细节时把先发生的事情或已知的内容（旧信息）放在前面，把新信息放在后面，叙述层层推进，符合人的认知规律，符合简明英语“信息流动通畅”的基本原则，便于读者理解。