新视角,新解释

新视角，新解释

理解和翻译不能拘泥于表面形式，对于语法规则应该活学活用，甚至于在特定的语境采用新视角，予以新解释。这里先以英语非限定动词主谓关系短语为例加以说明。问题的起因是网上曾经有人求解下面的句子：

People would love to be able to support that guy.

His job, in a way, is to let them, in part by not being just another operative, plaything, or grievance-monger of the left-liberal establishment and left-liberal thinking. By standing, in fact, for real change. (人们会乐意，能支持那个家伙。他的工作，一方面是要让人们支持，在一定程度上，所依靠的，他不只是左翼自由主义机构和左翼自由主义思想的另一个操作者、所玩弄者，或兜售不满情绪的人，而实际上靠的是提倡现实改革。)

句中by后的非限定动词短语，实质是未出现行为主体的主谓关系短语，比较：

His job is to let them support him by the way that he is not just another operative…but he stands for real change.

非限定动词短语相当于句子的这种用法，在各种文体的文章中均屡见不鲜，如小说中：

1.…Barney hates anyone knowing his business. (巴尔尼嫌恶任何人知道（打听）他的事业。)

比较He hates it when anyone knows his business.

2. They heard him urging her from time to time. (他们听说，他时而怂恿她。)

比较They’ heard that he often urges her.

3. Could you imagine us working in that school, bringing up that little tinker’s baby.（你能想

象到我们在那样的学校里工作, 抚养那小修铁匠的孩子的情形。）

比较Could you imagine how are we working in that school…

4. Well, do you see me getting married? （那么，你发觉我已婚了？）

比较Well, do you see that I got married?

5. She considered the money well spent. （她考虑钱要花的得当/要好好花钱。）

比较She considered that she should spend the money well. / …the money should be well spent.

6. Imagine his family being held up to anyone as an example of domestic bliss! (可想而知，他

的家庭展示给大家的是家庭无上幸福的典范。)

比较Imagine what is his family held up to anyone as an example…

7. It’s extraordinary, Rosemary being so famous.（洛斯玛丽如此著名，非同一般。）

比较It’s extraordinary that Rosemary is so famous.

按照英语传统语法，此种情况属于分词短语用作宾语补足语。要正确理解和翻译，仅知道是补足语还不够，必须进一步了解分词与宾语之间的逻辑关系。作为宾语的名词或代词与作为补足语的现在分词之间系潜在的主体与行为的关系，相当于主谓关系。如果是过去分词，与宾语的关系则是行为与客体的关系，相当于动宾关系，或则说被动主谓关系。这两种情况，不必细分宾语和补足语，不妨视为主谓结构或主谓关系短语作宾语，汉语语法称为复合宾语，通过句型转换，两相比较看得一清二楚。

如果分词短语独自作宾语，前无名词或代词，其行为主体或者逻辑主语与句子的主语同一。例如

8. He hated being in the office and loved being out with clients. (他不愿呆在办公室，爱陪同

顾客出去。)

9. He said he didn’t remember picking up the chair. (他说，他不记得拎起了椅子。)

介词后的分词短语，语法上分别有两种解释，现在分词为动名词，其行为主体用物主代词表示，过去分词则视为作介词补语的补语，其实性质和上述一样，只不过行为主体可用物主代词表示，也完全可以看作是主谓短语，只不过用介词表示与相关词语的关系而已。这样理解便于翻译。例如

10. I dislike him / his driving my car. (我不愿意他开我的车。)

11. We look forward to you / your becoming our neighbour. (我们期望你们成为我们的邻居。)

12. She heard her sister and brother-in-law make no mention at all of anything being a waste of money. (她听说，她的姐姐和姐夫完全不提什么东西是浪费钱的。)

13. Ria thought about telling him what the fortune-teller had said about her having a business

of her own one day. (瑞雅想要告诉他，算命先生说过，总有一天她会有自己的企业的。)

14. Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with my hoping that friendships will continue into the next generation. (无论如何，我希望我们的友谊将传续到下一代，这是不会错的。)

15. She was right about my being pregnant. I went to the doctor next day. (她说的对，我怀孕了。我明天去看医生。)

16.. She didn’t know her mother was sitting there with the letter telling her that her working life was over. (她不知道，她母亲正拿着那封信坐在那儿，信中告诉她，她的打工生活已经结束。)

17. If you saw that little hussy up at the school, with her stomach stuck out in front of her, and now it appears that her mother doesn’t want to bring it up, so there’s more drama. (你要是看见在学校那小家伙挺着肚子沉默不语，显然是她母亲不想抚养了，那简直是一场戏。)

18.Oh, please don’t make a joke about it, it’s a nightmare. I’ve never been so upset. I could tell you, not with all this going on. ( 哦，请别拿它开玩笑，那是一场恶梦。我从来没这样心烦意乱过，我可以告诉你，完全不会让这继续下去的。)

19. "There is nothing worse than being ordinary." （being ordinary = people are ordinary）

无比糟糕的是寻常（随大流）。

如果分词省略，只有名词或代词+形容词或名词，那便成为无动词主谓结构或短语，其间可加上being, 如

19. Hilary said, her face soft in sympathy and quite unlike the envious Hilary…(希拉里说，面部表情温和，显示同情，完全不像好嫉妒的那个希拉里……)

20. Never had she seen her so happy. (她从未见过她如此高兴。)

21. She felt that he found her attractive. (她感觉到，他发觉她有魅力。)

22. She thought that he found the world too harsh and unloving a place…(她认为他感到这世界太苛刻，是不招人爱的地方……)

23. You should keep the cabbage fresh. (你应该保持大头菜新鲜。)

24. The secretary left all the letters unopened. (秘书留存所有信件均未开封。)

25. Her mother thinks of her still as a thirteen-year-old and says she should be more like me.

(她母亲认为她还象十三岁的样子，并说她应该更像我。)

有些动词要连带动词不定式短语，有时动词不定式和分词均可用，但所表示的意思不同，如