詹天佑，字眷誠(chéng)，號(hào)達(dá)朝2，1861年4月26日出生于廣州府南?？h。1872年，年僅12歲的詹天佑報(bào)考清政府籌辦的“幼童出洋預(yù)習(xí)班”，并于當(dāng)年8月辭別父母，遠(yuǎn)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.

異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)，生死未卜，少年們都簽下了一份“倘若有疾病，生死各安天命”的免責(zé)文書(shū)。詹天佑為何要踏上這一“冒險(xiǎn)”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？

詹天佑的父親詹洪原4是一個(gè)茶商，后因西方列強(qiáng)侵略、連年戰(zhàn)禍而破產(chǎn)，只能靠種田維持一家生活。在這樣一種家庭氛圍下成長(zhǎng)，詹天佑自小深深體會(huì)到了當(dāng)時(shí)清朝統(tǒng)治者的腐敗無(wú)能，以及下面億萬(wàn)百姓的無(wú)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.

七八歲的時(shí)候，詹天佑被送到私塾里讀書(shū)。他對(duì)那些四書(shū)五經(jīng)不感興趣，卻喜歡擺弄一些機(jī)械。據(jù)說(shuō)，他經(jīng)常用一些撿來(lái)的小螺絲釘、小齒輪、舊發(fā)條做玩具，還用泥巴捏輪船、起重機(jī)。他經(jīng)常站在工廠外面，看著里面的機(jī)器、運(yùn)貨車(chē)，一站就是半天。

When he was seven or eight years old， Zhan Tianyou d2b56603e7991ddd3f5b1c400f3cd06eef1765a6c55a4b667400201503195c99was 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，他看著家中墻上的掛鐘出了神。掛鐘為什么會(huì)嘀嗒嘀嗒走個(gè)不停？想著想著，他就動(dòng)手把掛鐘拆開(kāi)，想看個(gè)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，再想按原樣裝起來(lái)的時(shí)候，怎么擺弄也裝不好了，急得他滿頭大汗。父親看見(jiàn)，雖然有些生氣，還是領(lǐng)著他到縣里的鐘表店，讓他仔細(xì)看工匠怎么拆裝鐘表。

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歲了，已經(jīng)在私塾讀了4年多。同鄉(xiāng)譚伯村匆匆從香港來(lái)到南海找到詹天佑的父親詹興洪，說(shuō)那里正在選拔幼童出洋留學(xué)。譚伯村是一位商人，看到詹天佑從小聰明好學(xué)，非常喜歡他。

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.

譚伯村極力勸詹興洪夫婦送孩子去參加留美考試，并答應(yīng)在經(jīng)濟(jì)上給予資助，還把自己的四女兒許配給詹天佑。這樣，詹天佑才得以去香港參加留學(xué)考試。1872年，詹天佑順利通過(guò)了考試。

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.

初到美國(guó)，詹天佑進(jìn)入一所“諾索布寄宿學(xué)校”上小學(xué)，學(xué)英語(yǔ)。1876年進(jìn)入紐黑文希爾豪斯中學(xué)（丘屋中學(xué)），兩年后畢業(yè)，又以全優(yōu)的成績(jī)考入耶魯大學(xué)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.

在美國(guó)留學(xué)期間，詹天佑學(xué)習(xí)非?？炭啵埠茏⒁忮憻捝眢w，立志為早日?qǐng)?bào)效祖國(guó)而學(xué)習(xí)科學(xué)。

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?xún)?yōu)異成績(jī)畢業(yè)于耶魯大學(xué)土木工程系鐵路工程一科。在清朝總計(jì)派出的120名留美官費(fèi)生中，最后只有兩人順利完成大學(xué)學(xué)業(yè)并獲得學(xué)位，詹天佑是其中的一個(gè)，他的畢業(yè)論文《碼頭起重機(jī)的研究》獲得很高評(píng)價(jià)。

1881年，清朝第一批留美學(xué)生奉召回國(guó)。

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

* 浙大寧波理工學(xué)院副教授。

1本文節(jié)選自《大國(guó)速度 百年京張》第一章第二節(jié)，講述了詹天佑從出生到遠(yuǎn)赴美國(guó)留學(xué)，并最終以?xún)?yōu)異成績(jī)畢業(yè)回國(guó)的經(jīng)歷。節(jié)選的這部分譯文，無(wú)論是遣詞造句的精準(zhǔn)，還是段落重組的巧妙，都充分展現(xiàn)了譯者王之光和英文編輯大衛(wèi)·弗格森在實(shí)現(xiàn)譯文可讀性方面的非凡匠心。 2古人取名，字字珠璣，背后蘊(yùn)含深意，這些講究即使對(duì)于中國(guó)讀者而言，也常常如隔霧觀花，難窺究竟。詹天佑的字號(hào)，若直譯成英文，不了解中國(guó)文化背景的讀者可能無(wú)法領(lǐng)會(huì)其中深意；而加注雖能解釋清楚，但往往會(huì)打斷閱讀的流暢性。因此，在翻譯這類(lèi)具有文化內(nèi)涵的文化專(zhuān)有項(xiàng)時(shí)，如果文本的主要功能不是傳達(dá)相關(guān)文化內(nèi)涵，便可采用省譯。 3相比直譯的譯文“one’s life and death were unpredictable”，弗格森先生修改后的譯文語(yǔ)言更為簡(jiǎn)潔，行文更加流暢，準(zhǔn)確傳達(dá)了“生死未卜”這一成語(yǔ)在此處所蘊(yùn)含的深意：在異國(guó)他鄉(xiāng)，生活中一切事物（包括生與死）都充滿不確定性。

4 詹父還有另一個(gè)名字“詹興洪”，對(duì)于不熟悉中國(guó)古人復(fù)雜稱(chēng)謂系統(tǒng)的讀者而言，容易導(dǎo)致困惑。對(duì)后文出現(xiàn)的“詹興洪”，翻譯時(shí)作了靈活處理。 5此譯文的精妙之處在于：首先，主語(yǔ)呼應(yīng)了前文關(guān)于詹父的經(jīng)歷，正是這些經(jīng)歷讓詹天佑的童年充滿艱辛，因此相比growing up in such a family atmosphere的直譯，深入理解原文含義后的意譯更為貼切連貫；第二，無(wú)生命主語(yǔ)是英語(yǔ)特有的修辭現(xiàn)象，體現(xiàn)了英美人更注重客觀事物或現(xiàn)象對(duì)人的作用和影響，更符合講述生平時(shí)慣有的客觀語(yǔ)氣，而且結(jié)構(gòu)更為緊湊。

6與直譯為讓步狀語(yǔ)從句的不同在于：現(xiàn)譯文更強(qiáng)調(diào)詹父從最初的生氣，迅速調(diào)整心態(tài)，轉(zhuǎn)而采取積極的解決之道。這樣的細(xì)微差異體現(xiàn)了譯者和編輯更注重“精神而非字詞，意義而非話語(yǔ)，信息而非形式，料子而非樣子”。 7鑒于詹父的另一姓名在此處并非核心信息，因此可以選擇省譯，以保持文本的連貫性和讀者的閱讀體驗(yàn)。

8在此處增譯詹天佑的英文名，無(wú)疑是恰當(dāng)明智之舉。 9譯文巧妙地將原文的兩個(gè)自然段合譯為一，并按時(shí)間軸重組相關(guān)細(xì)節(jié)。這些細(xì)節(jié)始終圍繞詹天佑，并服務(wù)于其刻苦學(xué)習(xí)立志報(bào)國(guó)的主題。陳述細(xì)節(jié)時(shí)把先發(fā)生的事情或已知的內(nèi)容（舊信息）放在前面，把新信息放在后面，敘述層層推進(jìn)，符合人的認(rèn)知規(guī)律，符合簡(jiǎn)明英語(yǔ)“信息流動(dòng)通暢”的基本原則，便于讀者理解。