文/ 薇拉·凱瑟 譯析/曹明倫

He had driven in just when the boys had come back from the barn and were washing up for breakfast.The long table, covered with a bright oilcloth, was set out with dishes waiting for them, and the warm kitchen was full of the smell of coffee and hot biscuit and sausage.Five big handsome boys, running from twenty to twelve,all with what Burleigh called natural good manners—they hadn’t a bit of the painful self-consciousness he himself had to struggle with when he was a lad.One ran to put his horse away, another helped him off with his fur coat and hung it up, and Josephine, the youngest child and the only daughter, quickly set another place under her mother’s direction.

他趕到羅西基家時，那些小伙子們剛從牲口棚回來，正在洗手準(zhǔn)備吃早飯。鋪著油布的長桌上早已為他們擺好盤子，熱氣騰騰的廚房里彌漫著咖啡、薄餅和香腸的氣味。從十二歲到二十歲，五個英俊的大小伙子都表現(xiàn)出伯利醫(yī)生稱之為落落大方的禮貌，毫無那種讓人生厭的靦腆拘束，那種他自己少時不得不與之較勁的羞澀拘泥。一個小伙子跑過來把他的馬牽走，另一個幫他脫掉皮大衣并將其掛好，而在媽媽的吩咐下，家里最小的孩子（唯一的女孩兒）約瑟芬很快就在桌旁為他添了個座位。

2With Mary, to feed creatures was the natural expression of affection—her chickens, the calves, her big hungry boys.It was a rare pleasure to feed a young man whom she seldom saw and of whom she was as proud as if he belonged to her.Some country housekeepers would have stopped to spread a white cloth over the oilcloth, to change the thick cups and plates for their best china, and the wooden-handled knives for plated ones.But not Mary.

2對瑪麗來說，喂食是她滿腔慈愛的自然流露——她喂小雞，喂小牛，喂她那群饑餓的孩子。而喂一個她平時少見、但卻將其視為己出并為之感到自豪的年輕人，則是件令她格外高興的事。遇到客人登門，有些鄉(xiāng)下主婦會停下手中的活，在桌面油布上再鋪上潔白的棉桌布，將平時用的杯盤換成家里最好的陶瓷餐具，木柄刀叉也都換成柄上有鍍金的全金屬刀叉。但瑪麗并不這樣做。

3“You must take us as you find us,Doctor Ed.I’d be glad to put out my good things for you if you was expected, but I’m glad to get you any way at all.”

3“你來時見到是啥樣，就該是啥樣，艾德醫(yī)生。要是早知道你來，我會很高興為你亮出咱家的好東西。但甭管咋說，你來了我就高興。”

4He knew she was glad—she threw back her head and spoke out as if she were announcing him to the whole prairie.Rosicky hadn’t said anything at all; he merely smiled his twinkling smile, put some more coal on the fire,and went into his own room to pour the Doctor a little drink in a medicine glass.When they were all seated, he watched his wife’s face from his end of the table and spoke to her in Czech.Then, with the instinct of politeness which seldom failed him, he turned to the Doctor and said slyly: “I was just tellin’ her not to ask you no questions about Mrs.Marshall till you eat some breakfast.My wife, she’s terrible fur to ask questions.”

4伯利醫(yī)生知道她高興——她說話時把頭一揚，聲音之洪亮似乎是要讓整個大草原都知道他上她家做客。羅西基一直沒吭聲，只是眨巴著眼睛微笑，往爐子里加了些煤，去他的房間用服藥計量杯為醫(yī)生斟了杯酒。大家就座后，他從桌子一端望著妻子，用捷克語跟她說了幾句話。然后，出于他天生而且很少會忽略的禮貌意識，他調(diào)過頭來詭秘地對醫(yī)生說：“我剛才只是吩咐她，先不要向你打聽馬歇爾太太的事，等你吃點東西再說。我老伴兒就喜歡問長問短?！?/p>

【背景知識】《鄰居羅西基》是美國女作家薇拉·凱瑟（1873—1947）于1930 年發(fā)表的一篇重要短篇小說。小說通過回憶和追述的手法，講述了波希米亞移民羅西基樸素而充實的一生，展現(xiàn)了拓荒者及其后代善良、樸素、勤勞、熱愛生活、眷念土地的可貴品質(zhì)。小說主題深刻，結(jié)構(gòu)勻稱，筆觸細(xì)膩，文字優(yōu)美，人物性格刻畫清晰，翻譯時應(yīng)注意描摹。

【第1 段】第三句中有個省略了關(guān)系代詞的定語從句（he himself had to struggle with…），因其先行詞self-consciousness 之前已有a bit of 和painful兩層定語，所以譯者重復(fù)了先行詞（將其分別譯成“靦腆拘束”和“羞澀拘泥”），然后把前兩層定語和定語從句分別置于這兩個名詞詞組前面，這樣原文的定語在譯文中依然是定語，而且譯文句子同樣明晰（關(guān)于這種譯法，可參見商務(wù)印書館2013 年版《英漢翻譯二十講》第234—235 頁）。

【第2 段】此處的feed creatures 較難處理。有人將其翻譯成“喂動物”，筆者也曾譯成“喂養(yǎng)生物”，但總感覺與后面緊接著的“喂孩子”顯得抵牾。雖從總體上講，人肯定屬于動物或生物，但我們?nèi)粤?xí)慣于把生物分為動物、植物和人類。故此省略賓語，把feed creatures 譯成“喂食”，這樣整段譯文讀起來就感覺自然多了。

【第3 段】后文說瑪麗是粗里粗氣（rough）的鄉(xiāng)下女人，羅西基是斯斯文文（gentle）的城里男人?？紤]到說話人的身份，譯者在此選用了“啥樣”“咱家”和“甭管咋說”等中國各方言區(qū)讀者都普遍接受的方言詞語。筆者提倡英譯漢應(yīng)使用普通話，或者說使用規(guī)范的現(xiàn)代漢語（正如我們做漢譯英應(yīng)使用規(guī)范的現(xiàn)代英語），至于英語原文的古今雅俗之別，譯文可適當(dāng)選用一些在今天仍具生命力的文言詞語和已經(jīng)融入普通話語域并被各方言區(qū)讀者普遍接受的方言俚語加以表達(dá)。

【第4 段】直接引語中的 tellin’ = telling，fur = for。另請再次注意不規(guī)范英語中的雙重否定仍然表示否定，如末句中的not to ask you no questions（規(guī)范的英語應(yīng)該說not to ask you any questions）。

【小結(jié)】本次譯析談到了多層定語的一種處理方法，談到了在處理“接近（原文）”和“（譯文）自然”這對矛盾時的考量（如feed creatures），還談到了翻譯時如何處理英語原文的古今雅俗之別?？傊?，只有盡可能地對原文體貼入微，譯者行文時方能從容自如。 □