Neighbour Rosicky (Excerpt XI)《邻居罗西基》（节选十一）

On that very day he began to think seriously about the articles he had read in the Bohemian papers， describing prosperous Czech farming communities in the West. He believed he would like to go out there as a farm hand; it was hardly possible that he could ever have land of his own. His people had always been workmen， his father and grandfather had worked in shops. His mother’s parents had lived in the country， but they rented their farm and had a hard time to get along. Nobody in his family had ever owned any land，—that belonged to a different station of life altogether. Anton’s mother died when he was little， and he was sent into the country to her parents. He stayed with them until he was twelve， and formed those ties with the earth and the farm animals and growing things which are never made at all unless they are made early. After his grandfather died， he went back to live with his father and stepmother， but she was very hard on him， and his father helped him to get passage to London.

就从那一天起，他开始认真考虑他在波希米亚文报纸上读到过的那些文章，那些描述捷克移民在西部建立起富裕农场社区的文章。他当时只想去那里当一个农场工人，因为能拥有一块自己的土地几乎是非分之想。他的父辈都是工人，他父亲和祖父曾在车间里干活。外祖父母倒是生活在乡下，但他们种租来的地，日子过得很艰辛。他家族中没人曾拥有过任何土地，因为土地属于另一个阶层的人。母亲死的时候罗西基还小，他被送到了他外祖父母在乡下的家里。他在乡下一直待到十二岁，所以与土地、农畜和庄稼有一种特殊的联系，一种只有在童年才能与之建立的联系。外祖父死后，他回到父亲和继母身边生活，但继母对他很刻薄，于是父亲设法帮他乘船去了伦敦。

After that Fourth of July day in Park Place， the desire to return to the country never left him. To work on another man’s farm would be all he asked; to see the sun rise and set and to plant things and watch them grow. He was a very simple man. He was like a tree that has not many roots， but one tap-root that goes down deep. He subscribed for a Bohemian paper printed in Chicago， then for one printed in Omaha. His mind got farther and farther west. He began to save a little money to buy his liberty. When he was thirty-five， there was a great meeting in New York of Bohemian athletic societies， and Rosicky left the tailor shop and went home with the Omaha delegates to try his fortune in another part of the world.

在公园广场度过那个独立日之后，回到乡下的欲望就一直萦绕在他心头。他所向往的就是在别人的农场上干活，清晨看日出，傍晚看日落，种各种各样的庄稼，守护着它们成长。他是个非常纯朴的人，就像一棵根须不多但主根扎得很深的树。他先后订阅了两份分别在芝加哥和奥马哈出版的波希米亚文报纸。他的心朝着西部越飞越远。他开始攒钱，想买回他的自由。他三十五岁那年，波希米亚人的体育社团在纽约举办了一次盛大的运动会，罗西基乘机辞掉了服装厂的工作，随来参加运动会的奥马哈代表团一起回到了内布拉斯加州，想在世界的另一个地方碰碰运气。

Perhaps the fact that his own youth was well over before he began to have a family was one reason why Rosicky was so fond of his boys. He had almost a grandfather’s indulgence for them. He had never had to worry about any of them—except， just now， a little about Rudolph.

罗西基的青春时代在他成家之前就早已过去，兴许这就是他特别宠爱自家孩子的一个原因。他对孩子们有一种近乎于老祖父般的宽容，从来都无需为他们当中的任何一个担心，可眼下他得稍稍为鲁道夫操操心了。

【背景知识】《邻居罗西基》是美国女作家薇拉·凯瑟（1873—1947）于1830年发表的一篇重要短篇小说。小说通过回忆和追述的手法，讲述了波希米亚移民罗西基朴素而充实的一生，展现了拓荒者及其后代善良、朴素、勤劳、热爱生活、眷念土地的可贵品质。小说主题深刻，结构匀称，笔触细腻，文字优美，人物性格刻画清晰，翻译时应注意描摹。

【第1段】注意参考译文第一句中的“……读到过的那些文章，那些描述捷克移民在西部建立起富裕农场社区的文章”和第七句中的“……有一种特殊的联系，一种只有在童年才能与之建立的联系”，对照相应的原文，可见“文章”（articles）和“联系”（ties）在译文中都被重复了一遍，部分修饰或限制这两个名词的定语被放在了重复的名词之前。（关于这种译法，请参见商务印书馆2013年版《英汉翻译二十讲》第17讲和第18讲）。

【第2段】上次评析我们提到了译文要讲究遣词选字，讲究音韵节奏，并引用了朱光潜先生一段话：“文字传神，大半要靠声音节奏……对于文学作品无论是阅读或是翻译，如果没有抓住它的声音节奏，就不免把它的精华完全失去。”美国译学家尤金·奈达（1914—2011）在其Language and Culture： Context in Translation（《语言与文化——翻译中的语境》）一书中也持这样的看法，他认为：文学语篇通常会表现出统一、平衡、节奏和谐等美学特征（p.59），除诗歌之外，好的散文体语篇（prose）也应该有语音和语义的跌宕起伏（p.63），翻译这类语篇，译者在字词和句法方面的偏差可以原谅，但营造不出原文的气氛则不可饶恕（p.74）。参考译文把to see the sun rise and set翻译成“清晨看日出，傍晚看日落”就是秉承这种理念。

【第3段】我曾说过，“我们不能因为奈达说‘译者在字词和句法方面的偏差可以原谅’，就对这种‘偏差’熟视无睹，听之任之”（商务印书馆《英汉翻译二十讲》2013年版第80页，2019年增订版第106页）。有个优秀译本把此段第一句译成了“也许是在成家前他的青春时代就早已过去，所以他格外疼爱孩子”（北京燕山出版社《薇拉·凯瑟精选集》2004年版第310页）。从译文在句首用“也许”对应原文句首的Perhaps来看，该译者本来是力图“在字词和句法方面”不出偏差，但这种完全按照原文词序安排的译法往往会令译者顾此失彼，此句译文忽略了原文中的one reason（一个原因）恐怕就属于这正情况。

【小结】本次译析介绍了美国译学家尤金·奈达的一种看法，但需要提醒读者的是，奈达说“译者在字词和句法方面的偏差可以原谅”，是为了强调“营造不出原文的气氛则不可饶恕”。其实我们做翻译还是要追求译文在意义、语气、感情和文体风格（包括原文营造的气氛）等诸方面尽可能地接近原文。