第一讲 汉英翻译与文化

四大名著/the Four Classic Novels
三国演义
Three Kingdoms 西游记
Journey to the West / Pilgrimage to the West 红楼梦
Dream of the Red Mansions 水浒传
Heroes of the Marshes / Tales of the Water Margin
career
孙子 Sun Tzu 孙子兵法 The Art of War
三十六计走为上计 go while the going is good. The day after the discovery of the fraud, Stanford thought it prudent to show a light pair of heels. 欺诈行为被发现的第二天，斯坦福就认为三十六计走 为上。
霍译：‘It’s hard to tell,’ she said. ‘In every family affair, one side or the other has to win. If it’s not the East Wind it’s the West.’
III:习俗文化差异
称谓，数字，色彩，打招呼，打电话，听 到赞扬，骂人
Examples:
Pearl. S. Buck：如今江湖上歹人多。 In these times, there are men --- evil men by river
and lake. (in all corners of the country.) 武行者心中要吃，哪里听他分说，一片声喝道：
译例2： 这也难说，但凡家庭之事，不是东风压了西风，
就是西风压了东风。 杨译：“Well, it’s hard to say,” she answered. “In
every family, if the east wind doesn’t prevail over the west wind, then the west wind is bound to prevail over the east wind.”
to beat about the bush——to approach a subject without coming to the point, try to say something indirectly
旁敲侧击
亡羊补牢——to lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen？
in the same boat with
plain sailing in full sail 全力以赴地
all at sea burn one’s boats sail before the wind keep one’s head above water
译例1： 真是 ‘天有不测风云，人有旦夕祸福’。
“放屁！放屁！”
Now Wu the Priest longed much in his heart to eat and so how could he be willing to listen to this explanation? He bellowed forth, “Pass your wind! Pass your wind.”
e.g. 望子成龙，亚洲四小龙
IV：宗教文化差异
中国三大教：儒教、道教、佛教
佛教Buddhism 儒教Confucianism 道教Taoism
玉皇大帝、来世、阎罗王
西方：基督教：上帝
Forbidden fruit, the bible, Eden Garden, The field of blood The tower of Babel Cast pearl before swine, as poor as Job a Judas kiss Spare the rod and spoil the child Finger on the wall
怒发冲冠——to make one’s hair stand on end?
怒发冲冠——bristle with anger, to fly into a rage, to be in violent anger
Hamlet Macbeth Shylock a Frankenstein Shangri-La (James Hilton: the Lost Horizon
失去的地平线)， a dark horse Man Friday (Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe) Catch-22 (Joseph Heller: Catch-22)
汉语中与吃有关的词多（41条） 英语与航海有关的词多 吃香be very popular, 吃闲饭：lead an idle life, 吃不消： more than one can stand
When one’s ship comes home 当某人有钱时；当某人发财时
Know the ropes 懂行
Annals Historical Records
语言中的文化因素解析
一、词汇中的文化 二、成语中的文化 三、语用方面的文化差异
一、词汇中的文化
“盘古”、“女娲”、“秀才”、“八股文”、 “太极拳”、“个体户”
牧童(悠闲) —— cowboy(冒险) 农民(忠厚朴实)——peasant(心胸狭窄) 狗(鄙视)——dog(同情) 龙(高贵)——dragon(凶恶) 月亮(团圆)——moon(虚幻) 宣传(中性词)——propaganda(贬义词)
说曹操曹操就到
wenku.baidu.com遂自荐
初出茅庐
遭受惨败, 遭到毁灭性的打 击
临头的危险
埃及艳后的鼻子 幸灾乐祸, 损人利己 特洛伊木马 suffer a double loss instead
of making a gain. talk of the devil and he will
appear. volunteer one’s service. At the beginning of one’s
杨译：“Truly, ‘storm gather without warning in nature, and bad luck befalls men overnight.’... ”
霍译：“I know ‘the weather and human life are both unpredictable’” .
从南到北：from north to south
biting east wind.
cattle
Drink like a fish,
as timid as a rabbit,
as happy as a cow, 力大如牛：as strong as a horse, As poor as a church mouse， 挥金如土spend money like water 半斤八两：six of one and half a dozen of the other.
骨鲠在喉——to have a bone in one’s throat？
骨鲠在喉: 鲠：鱼骨。鱼骨等小骨头卡在喉咙里。 比喻心里有话，不说出来就非常难受。
have an opinion that one cannot suppress
to have a bone in one‘s throat——to avoid making one‘s opinion known(难于启齿)
二、成语中的文化
• 打草惊蛇 • 亡羊补牢 • 骨鲠在喉 • 同舟共济 • 怒发冲冠
• 翻天覆地 • 蜀犬吠日 • 洗手不干 • 食言 • 扯后腿
打草惊蛇——to beat about the bush？
打草惊蛇—to alert enemy by rash or accidental events before carrying out the planned attack
神话传说
A Pandora’s box Aesop’s Fables old man of the sea
无法摆脱的,纠缠不休的人 Achilles' heel:
A seemingly small but actually mortal weakness.
寓言童话
the rabbit and the tortoise The ugly Duckling the Princess and the Pea The farmer and the snake the lion’s share sour grape 南柯一梦
II: 地域文化差异
从地理位置来看
中国是个大陆国家，地大物博，幅员辽阔。 汉语中的“黔驴技穷”，“人心齐，泰山 移”，“不到黄河心不死”，“不到长城 非好汉”，“福如东海，寿比南山”等都 显示了中国特有的地域色彩。
相比之下，英国是一个岛国，历史上航海 业比较发达，反映在语言中就出现了许多 与海洋、船和水有关的短语。
同舟共济——to be in the same boat？
同舟共济——to cooperate and help each other in order to ride out a difficulty
to be in the same boat——to be in the same difficult situation or dangers
10本文化著作--- 四书五经+史记
the Four Books the Analects of
Confucius the Mencius the Great Learning the Doctrine of the
Mean
the Book of Songs the Book of History the Book of Rites the Book of Changes the Spring & Autumn
孔子 Confucius Confucius Temple 朝闻道，夕死可矣 If I can hear the Tao in the morning, in the evening I can die content.
孟子 Mencius 老子 Lao Tzu 道 Tao / the way
庄子 Chuang Tzu
亡羊补牢——to repair the stable after a sheep is gone, still in time to avoid further losses
to lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen——take precautions when it is too late(贼去 关门)
中西文化差异的主要表现 :
I:历史文化差异 II:地域文化差异 III:习俗文化差异 IV:宗教文化差异
I：历史文化差异
历史 神话传说 寓言童话 文学作品
历史：
Meet one’s Waterloo
The sword of Damocles Cleopatra’s nose Roman Holiday Trojan horse 赔了夫人又折兵
Nanke dream (from the story of a man who dreamed that he became the governor of Nanke in the Kingdom of the Ants);
a fond dream or an illusory joy
文学作品
第一讲
汉英文化比较与翻译
What is culture?
Edward Taylor认为：文化是一种复杂体， 它包括知识、信仰、艺术、道德、法律、 风俗, 以及人作为社会成员而获得的任 何其他的能力与习惯。
广义上说，文化是人类在社会历史发展过 程中所创造的物质财富和精神财富的总 和。
《礼记·典礼》：入境而问禁，入国而问俗， 入门而问讳。