李清照声声慢英译赏析
李清照声声慢英译赏析
《声声慢》是南宋著名女词人李清照的代表作之一,全词借描写残秋所见、所闻、所感,抒发作者因国破家亡、天涯沦落而产生的孤寂落寞、悲凉愁苦的心绪,具有浓厚的时代色彩。全词一字一泪风格深沉凝重,极富艺术感染力。下面是这首著名宋词的英译赏析,欢迎阅读!
《声声慢》 李清照
寻寻觅觅,冷冷清清,凄凄惨惨戚戚。
乍暖还寒时候,最难将息。
三杯两盏淡酒,怎敌他,晚来风急!
雁过也,正伤心,却是旧时相识。
满地黄花堆积,憔悴损,如今有谁堪摘?
守着窗儿,独自怎生得黑!
梧桐更兼细雨,到黄昏、点点滴滴。
这次第,怎一个愁字了得!
下面是《声声慢》各句的 英译赏析
例1、 寻寻觅觅,冷冷清清,凄凄惨惨戚戚。
林译:So dim, so dark,/ So dense, so dull,/ So damp, so dank,/ So dead!
杨译:Seeking, seeking,/ Chilly and quiet,/ Desolate, painful and miserable.
徐译:I?ve a sense of something missing I must seek./ Everything about me looks dismal and bleak. / Nothing that gives me pleasure, I can find.
许译:I look for what I miss;/ I know not what it is./ I feel so sad, so drear,/ So lonely, without cheer.
解析:1)林译全部选用单音节词,押头韵,且词语的选用层层递进,可谓独具匠心。?dim?和?dark?表明天色已晚, ?dense?和?dull?展现了浓重不化,寻觅不得的忧愁和失落,继而?damp?和?dank?渲染阴冷凄苦的氛围,最后?dead?推向高潮,体现了词人绝望无助,凄凉痛苦的内心。译文言语简练,内涵丰富。
2)杨译用七个形容词对应七对叠字,生动形象地展现了词人情感的变化,由表及里,层层深入。
3)徐译,相较而言,不免显得不够简短。译者另辟蹊径,将词诗歌化,但由于句子偏长,翻译得过于明白,失去了原词的意境。
4)许译增加了主语,点明了寻觅之物是?what I miss?,似乎过于直白,少了原词的委婉朦胧之感。译者韵脚的选择十分用心,?miss?与汉语?觅?音似,?cheer?与?戚?相似。
例2、 乍暖还寒时候,最难将息。
林译:The weather, now warm, now cold,/ Makes it harder/ Than ever to forget!
杨译:Even when it?s warmer there is still a chill, / It is most difficult to keep well.
徐译:Even the weather has proved most unkind. / It is warm, but abruptly it turns cold again. / An unbroken rest-most difficult to obtain.
许译:How hard is it / To keep me fit / In this lingering cold!
解析:这两句说明天气突然转暖,却仍然寒意未消。变化无常的天气,也影响着人们的心情。而词人此时生活颠沛流离,心中愁思满满,更兼无常的天气,更难休息和修养。
1)林译将?最难将息?译成?最难忘记?,与原词的意思出入较大。
2)杨译较为完整地呈现了原词的意境和意思。
3)徐译译文明白易懂,但不够含蓄委婉。
4)许译调整了原词的语序,?lingering cold?点明了?还寒?,但未说明?乍暖?,丢失了原文信息。
例3、 三杯两盏淡酒,怎敌他、晚来风急?
林译:How can a few cups of thin wine/ Bring warmth against/ The chilly winds of sunset?
杨译:Three or two cups of light wine, / How can they ward off the strong morning wind?
徐译:Three cups of thin wine would utterly fail- / To cope with the rising evening gale.
许译:By cup on cup/ Of wine so dry/ Oh, how could I/ Endure at dusk the drift/ Of wind so swift?
解析:1)三杯两盏只是一个笼统的概念,翻译方式多样,四位译者的翻译都可以。
2)原文的?敌?字,选词巧妙,生动传神,而四位译者对?敌?的处理,完全不同。相比较而言徐译的?cope with?和许译的?endure?力度不够,不及其他两位译者选用的?ward off?和?against?。
3)有三位译者保留原文的反问句式。反问、设问、感叹等句式语气都较为强烈,一般的翻译做法是与原文句式保持一致。且在译文风格上,许译相较于他者,风格较为不同,尤为突出的是?Oh, how could I?,使译文更具英诗风格。
例4、 雁过也,正伤心、却是旧时相识。
林译:I recognize the geese flying overhead:/ My old friends, / Bring not the old memories back!
杨译:Wild geese fly past, while I?m broken-hearted; / But I recognize they are my old friends.
徐译:Myself, into woe, a flight of wild geese has thrown./ But with them, very familiar I have grown.
许译:It breaks my heart, alas,/ To see the wild geese pass, / Foe they are my acquaintances of old.
解析:1)自古鸿雁传书,雁是古时人们互通书信的重要工具。亲人分离,山河破碎,正伤痛,又看到雁飞过,恐怕传递的又是坏消息,更何况还是旧相识。旧愁新苦涌上心头,更添悲痛。
2)这一句,虽短短十二个字,情感却是不断变化的。纵观四中译文,大部分不能传递出文字深层次含义,雁、伤心、旧相识之间的关系表达地不够紧密。唯有林译独辟蹊径,对原文进行了较大改动,特别是最后一句?bring not the old memories back!?道出了旧相识却反增其悲的原因。
例5、满地黄花堆积,憔悴损、而今有谁堪摘?
林译:Let fallen flowers lie where they fall./ To what purpose/ And for whom should I decorate?
杨译:Fallen chrysanthemums piled up on the ground,/ So withered,/ Who would pluck them?
徐译:About the ground, chrysanthemums are bestrewn./ Gathering into heaps-bruised-withering soon. / With myself in utter misery and gloom, / Who cares to save them from their approaching doom?
许译:The ground is covered with yellow flowers,/ Faded and fallen in showers. / Who will pick them up now?
解析:1)词人以花喻人,凋零的菊花,散落在地,无人问津。自己也同样如此,山河破碎,身世浮沉,无人怜惜。
2)?满地黄花堆积?中较为难翻的是?堆积?这个词。林译只是表明花落,并未体现?堆积?二字。徐译虽然将原词意思完整表达出,但言语不够精简。许译的?Faded and fallen in showers?,可谓佳译,十分生动形象。至于?黄花?一词,原文指代黄色菊花,林译?fallen flowers?过于笼统,?chrysanthemum?和?yellow flowers?都可以,但前者个人觉得比较生僻,且发音略微艰涩,用作译文不太符合诗歌朗朗上口的特点,也并非指黄色菊花。
3)?憔悴损?不仅是菊花凋谢枯萎,也代表词人自己身体瘦弱,面色蜡黄。林译和徐译体现了由物及人的一个转变,但徐译语言略显臃肿。
例6、守着窗儿,独自怎生得黑?
林译:By the window shut, / Guarding it alone,/ To see the sky has turned so black!
杨译:Leaning on the window,/ How can I pass the time till night alone?
徐译:Standing by the window-watching in anguish stark,/ Could I bear alone the sight until it is dark?
许译:Sitting alone at the window, how/ Could I but quicken/ The pace of darkness that won?t thicken?
解析:1)这两句描写出词人孤苦寂寞,连熬到天黑都觉不易。
2)林译对原词有所误解,一处是?守着窗儿?的守,不应是?guard?作守卫,守护的意思。其他译者的?lean on?,? stand by?, ?sit at?都可以。另一处是后面的?独自怎生得黑?,原词的意思是难以熬到天黑,而不是林译中的?the sky has turned so black?,天色已是一片漆黑。
3)徐译和许译对后一句动词的处理比较好,选用了?bear?和 ?quicken?两个词,生动形象地再现了词人寂寞冷清,度日如年的心态,杨译的?pass?相较则略显平淡。
例7、梧桐更兼细雨,到黄昏、点点滴滴。
林译:And the drizzle on the kola nut/ Keeps on droning:/ Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat!
杨译:The drizzle falls on the wutong trees, / Raindrops drip down at dusk.
徐译:Against the tung and plane trees, the wind rises high./ The drizzle becomes trickles, as even draws nigh.
许译:On plane?s broad leaves a fine rain drizzles/ As twilight grizzles.
解析:1)雨打梧桐,是中国古典诗词中一个十分典型的文化意象,秋雨淅沥,满绪愁思。此句翻译内容较为容易,但若是传神则较为困难,特别是?点点滴滴?这一拟声词。
2)许译的?drizzle?, ?grizzle?和徐译的?drizzle?, ?trickle?都采用了拟声词,保留了原文的意境,且注重押韵,展现原词的音韵美。
3) 林译更为生动传神。?droning?体现了秋雨单调低沉的声音,而最后的.?pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat?拟声词更是神来之笔,不仅富有音乐美,画面感也十分强烈。
例8、这次第,怎一个愁字了得!
林译:Is this the kind of mood and moment/ To be expressed / By one word ?sad?
杨译:At a time like this, / What immense sorrow I must hear!
徐译:How, in the word ?Miserable?, can one find-/ The total effects of all these on the mind!
许译:Oh, what can I do with a grief/ Beyond belief!
解析:1)?这次第?总概上文,笔锋急收,?怎一个愁字了得?,情感喷薄而出。愁的不仅是自己的孤苦寂寞,更是国破家亡的痛心疾首。?这次第?三词概括了上述的种种情景,四位译者的译文皆可,但值得一提的是林译?Is this the kind of mood and moment?在表意的同时兼顾押头韵,体现译者深厚的功底。
2)?愁?字为此句字眼,四位译者对?愁?字的处理各不相同。林译选择?sad?,虽然用引号括出,表明其暗含深意,但仍然略显单薄。杨译选用?immense sorrow?,增加了程度修饰成分体现悲痛的深重。徐译的?Miserable?在体现悲痛的同时,选择使用引号和大写这一方式凸显这一词。许译?a grief beyond belief?对原词进行了一定的转化,特别是后面的?beyond belief?较好体现词人的愁思。
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