我喝我的清茶译文赏析

我喝我的清茶
中文：王书春
他饮他的花酒，我喝我的清茶。

人生，需要一种境界：自我安定。

面对别人的成功和荣耀，我喝我的清茶。

我明白那掌声已有所属，匆匆忙忙赶过去，不会有成功等着你。

还是自己再创业绩吧，跟着别人永远只能摸着成功的尾巴。

凡事不逃避，我喝我的清茶，荷花居污泥而不染，若为怕水污而种在旱地上，它早就枯死了。

人生也一样，避恶、避丑、避邪，只能说明心灵脆弱，一个自我安定的人，是不怕环境污染自己的，而有力量影响他人。

古代孟母三迁是为了怕孩子受影响，要为了自己就没有必要逃避了，后来孟子长大成人后也没听说孟母再搬家。

自我安定可不是找一个安宁的所在，而恰恰是在紊乱的环境中保持安定的心境。

“定”是一种境界，是居于多变之中的不动摇。

只有达到这一境界，才能掌握自己的方向，才能做到：“他饮他的花酒，我喝我的清茶。

”
A版本：
While others indulging in wining and dining, I'm just content the pleasure of drinking plain tea. Because I know life sometimes is in want of a mentality of calmness.
While others rejoicing their success and glory, I 'm simply standing aloof at ease enjoying a cup of plain tea. Since the applause having belonged to others, the slavish imitation could just make no success therefore I 'd rather carve out a career for myself.
I 'm gratified with the life with plain tea and never escape from any adversity. I admire the lotus flower in the mud without being tainted would wither and die if it grew on the land for fear of sewage. The evils, ugliness, and risks, are the mud in our life testing our human fragility not necessary to shirk them. Because a man with a peaceful interior world fears no nasty environment and dears to improve it and bring benefits to others by his own strength. To shun the bad influence in the neighborhood, Mencius's mother had made three removals in his childhood .History shows no record of any more removals after he grew up.
Serenity doesn't merely mean a quiet residence but keep a serene life in a messy surrounding. It is a state of mind standing to one's own resolution in such a fickle world so that we can be the master of our destiny, i.e., "Contenting with a cup of plain tea while others indulging in the best wine".
B版本：
Contenting Myself with Plain Tea
Human life, it seems to me, needs a placidity of mind. While others may be winning and dining, I am content with my plain tea. Not dazzled by other people’s aura of success and glamour, I will indulge in my simple pleasure. Clearly aware where the credit goes, I will not join in the rush in the vain hope of accepting the prize to be handed to me on a plate. The best a blind follower can do is tailing after the winners. The only alternative is to create wonders of one’s own.
I stick to the pureness of my pleasure, never escaping from reality. The lotus grows in the mud without being tainted. If, to avoid the dirt, one plants it on dry clean ground, it simply will not grow. The same holds true for human beings. Shrinking from what is ugly, vile and evil only prov es the frailty of one’s character. A person in full possession of mental serenity never stands in fear of being mentally contaminated by the filthy environment. On the contrary, he can exercise positive influences all around. Mencius’s mother made three re movals during his childhood to keep him away from bad influences, which did not pose any problem for her. History does not record any more of such removals after he grew up. Enjoying the tranquility of mind does not mean hiding oneself in a haven. What is meant is the maintenance of such a mental state in the midst of chaos, i.e. moral immovability amidst kaleidoscopic changes. Only a person who has attained his plane can be a real master of his destiny, contenting himself with the purest and simplest pleasure.
C版本：
I am Content to Drink my Plain Tea
By Wang Shuchun
Let others make merry with the best wines; I am content to drink my plain tea. In life we need to keep a tranquil mood.
While others revel in their success and glory, I drink my plain tea in contentment. Knowing that the applause has gone to whom it belongs, I won’t rush over in the hope of tumbling on success also. Instead, I will make a solid effort to accomplish my own goal. Those who follow others will always fall short of success.
I always confront the reality over a cup of plain tea. The lotus, though growing in mud, emerges unsullied from the filth. If, for fear that it should get soiled, one had planted it on dry land, it would have long withered away. The same is true with life. Only a weak mind is afraid of encountering ugliness, vices and evils. A person with a tranquil frame of mind will not fear the adverse influence from people around him. Instead he is strong enough to exert a positive influence on them. In ancient times, Mencius’ mother moved three times to shun the bad influence from the neighborhood on her son’s upbringing. She did not do that for her own sake, for there was no need to. After Mencius had grown up, she did not move even once.
【齐冉译评】
王书春先生这篇散文主要是通过对比两种不同的生活方式而向读者展现他对生活的态度。

王
先生选用的是“花酒”和“清茶”两个喻体。

那么，当译者读完这篇文章，大致了解了原作者的意图之后，首先应考虑的是作为译者作品
的读者的理解能力。

作为中国读者，我们能够很快明白“花酒”意为何及“清茶”意为何？如果
仅仅是将“花酒”译为“wining and dining”，“清茶”直接译为“plain tea”的话，恐怕译文读者会
在开始阅读之时便生困惑之感。

综合两篇译文来看，笔者认为三位译者过于忠实原文，而这样做的直接后果则是使译文读者产生不知所云之感。

翻译的目的是以传递信息，传递思想为主，而上述两篇译文中，“直译”的痕迹过重。

在笔者看来，如果能将“花酒”及“清茶”在第一次出现时，译为“hilarious and luxurious life”和“tranquil and frugal life ”则更容易使西方读者明白，hilarious: very funny or merry欢闹的，热闹的；对应tranquil: calm, peaceful or quiet 宁静，祥和的。

luxurious: indulgence in and enjoyment of rich, comfortable, and sumptuous living；对应frugal: practicing economy; living without waste; thrifty。

在此之后，原作者引述出了“面对别人的成功和荣耀，我喝我的清茶。

我明白那掌声已有所属……”则更能彰显笔者的译文，而并非是仅仅是吃吃喝喝“dining and wining”。

读完这一段，想必读者可以明了作者对于成功的态度是鼓励我们成为一个active doer but not a blind follower。

译文一的译者，则把“掌声属于他们”直接译了出来，在释意与理解上完全没有问题，但总是让人觉得过于直白，失去了原文中作者想表达的那种意境。

第二段中，“凡事不逃避，我喝我的清茶，荷花居污泥而不染，若为怕水污而种在旱地上，它早就枯死了。

”三位译者都采用了直译的方法，即荷花出于污处方能成长，若植于洁净之处，未必能长成。

那么，我们中国读者多数是读过北宋时期著名哲学家周敦颐在《周元公集》中收录的一篇名文《爱莲说》的，我们是理解作者在这里引用荷花之意是在于比喻从污俗的环境中走出来，却能保持纯真的品质而不沾染坏习气；近而引申出濯清涟而不妖,洁身自好，表达了作者自己既不愿消极避世，也不愿像世人那样追逐功名富贵。

他要在污浊的世间独立不移，永远保持高洁的操守和正直的品德。

同时也委婉的批判了现世中趋炎附势、追求富贵的世风。

由此可见，一个小小的“荷花”比喻，其喻意之深刻，远不是仅仅一个Lotus能够传达给西方读者的。

在这里，笔者则要提出一个中西方作者及译者在思想认识上的一个不同。

但凡中国作家往往遵循的是“读者的责任”即“readers’ responsibility”而不是“作者的责任”即“writers’ responsibility”。

这两种不同的认识观，则直接导致我们在创作或翻译时所产生的后果。

读者的责任意思是说，无论作者怎么样写，读者能否明白根本不在作者的考虑范围之内；而读者的责任，则是重点突出作者写作的目的一定是要让读者明白你的写作意思，而不是模棱两可，似是而非。

因此，笔者认为一篇好的译文，不应仅仅只遵循忠实于原文，甚至连原文中的比喻亦给予直译。

原文中“凡事不逃避，我喝我的清茶，荷花居污泥而不染，若为怕水污而种在旱地上，它早就枯死了。

”笔者也想提出一些异议，三位译者均给这一无主句加了一个假设的主语“我”（译文一I 'm gratified with the life with plain tea and never escape from any adversity. 译文二I stick to the pureness of my pleasure, never escaping from reality.译文三I always confront the reality over a cup of plain tea. ）而笔者在想，在进行译文创作时，这一揣测是否有欠妥呢？按照英语的习惯，则应该是 A responsible man will never shift the responsibility onto the others；而在这里的“我喝我的清茶”则明显是一个过度，是一个承前起后的连接句，说明作者后面要表述其写作意图了，但三位似乎也对这一过度句采用了直译，估计这一译法肯定会使西方读者觉得丈二的和尚摸不着头脑了。

而按笔者的理解，其实这一
点过度句则可以处理为一个铺垫，试译为：Drinking my plain tea in a quiet mind, I am highly a ware that…
现在再来处理《爱莲说》中的隐喻，“荷花居污泥而不染，若为怕水污而种在旱地上，它早就枯死了。

”笔者发现这一比喻很难用西方人易于理解的方式进行表述，而英文中则有Storms make trees take deeper roots.之说，我们来试比喻一下，荷花生长于污秽之地，环境之恶劣，却能不受其影响，依然高洁正直；小树从小饱受风雨摧残，环境之恶劣，却能助其成长为参天大树，扎根至深。

再往前一句看，凡事不逃避，以及后一句“人生也一样，避恶、避丑、避邪，只能说明心灵脆弱，一个自我安定的人，是不怕环境污染自己的，而有力量影响他人。

”则起到了前后呼应，承前启后的作用。

对于孟母三迁的译文，三位作者进行了较为妥当的直译，这也难怪，但凡涉及到中国传统文化这一块，除非西方读者了解一些中国文化，知晓孔夫子的一些著名言论，否则仅仅依靠译者通过译文来普及，恐怕难以胜任。

本文的第三段属于结尾综述性质的手法，作为译者并不需要进行过多的再加工及创作，只需要突出“安定与紊乱”，“定和动”的对照即可，在译文一和译文二的译作中（第三位译者未完成最后一段的翻译），笔者更倾向于译文二的处理手法，即mental state in the midst of chaos, i.e. moral immovability amidst kaleidoscopic changes.道德上的安定与万花筒般的变化，可谓生动形象。

综上所述，王先生这篇文章堪称是将中国古文化的精髓与现世的浮躁有机地结合起来以杂文的方式娓娓道来进行对比的佳作，即不失说理性又不让人感到枯燥，纵古谈今，引人深思。

而这种文章，对于译者实际上是一个非常大的挑战，因为不仅其中暗含中国的古典文化（如孔夫子的言论，《爱莲说》等）又委婉地道出作者的写作意图，引此为翻译习作，实乃为一很好的尝试。