定语从句的翻译与四字格的运用

3．5. Translation of Attributive Clauses 定语从句的翻译

For the short attributives, we can often put them before the head nouns they modifies in translation, no matter they are restrictive or non-restrictive ones.

It is a consolation to know that they will surely carry on the cause for which Edgar Snow strove so faithfully all his life. （strive for sth. faithfully 为……奋斗不渝）了解到他们一定会继承爱德加·斯诺终生为之奋斗不渝的事业，这是令人欣慰的。

His laugh, which was very infectious, broke the silence.

他富于感染力的笑声打破了沉默。

For longer attributives, we can often translate them into another clause(小句) or sentence through division.

They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which, in the past, many Chinese have laid down their lives.

他们正在为实现一个理想而努力奋斗，这个理想是每个中国人所珍爱的，在过去，许多中国人曾为此献出了自己的生命。

A fuel is a material which will burn at a reasonable temperature and produce heat.

燃料是一种物质，在适当的温度下能够燃烧并放出热量。

For those sentences whose main clause is short while the attributive is long with the focus of message in it, we can usually combine the attributive clause with main one.

We are a people that have inherited ancient wisdom, that know the worth of biding one’s time and recognized opportunity for combat.

我们的民族继承了古代的智慧，懂得如何等待并善于抓住战机。

A true revolution is one that is devoted to human progress in all domains and that makes human progress the supreme and final object.

真正的革命，致力于人类的全面发展，并以此作为行动的终极目标。

There are some special attributive clauses which are attributives in form but equivalent of temporal, causal, adversative adverbial clauses, etc. (时间、原因、让步等状语从句)in meaning. Such clauses should be understood profoundly as to their relation to the main clause and translated flexibly as demonstrated below.

They were very angry with their daughter, who insisted on marrying that ugly old man.

他们非常生女儿的气，因为她坚持要嫁给那个丑陋不堪的老头儿。

Her refusal to obey him greatly incensed him who had never met that kind of opposition before.

她拒绝服从他，这使他大为生气，因为他从来没有遭到过那样的反对。

He would be a rash man who should venture to defy world public opinion and act arbitrarily. 如果有人胆敢公然蔑视世界公众舆论而一意孤行,那他一定是个卤莽之徒。

Don’t you feel it strange that she should be so much ungrateful to Jack, who did so much for her when she was in poverty? ungrateful：忘恩负义

杰克在她困难时帮了她那么多，她却对杰克如此忘恩负义，你不觉得奇怪吗？

Flexibly Translating Attributive Clauses Introduced by “as”(灵活翻译由as 引导的定语从句)：

▼It is absolutely wrong to think foreign languages useless, as quite a few people did before.

认为外语无用是绝对错误的，不少人过去就有这种想法。

▼It was very cold that night, as it usually was.

那天晚上寒冷刺骨，这里的天气常常这样。