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Abstract: Based on "A Dream of Red Mansions", one of the Chinese classic novels, and two English versions, using the parallel of Chinese-English in "A Dream of Red Mansions" as corpus, 英语论文this essay tries to probe into the different translating methods between two translation versions in order to provide some references for those translating beginners.

Key words: A Dream of Red Mansions; translation versions; translating methods; comparative analysis

《红楼梦》作为中国古典小说的颠峰,已经拥有两百多年的历史。整部作品从头到尾俯拾皆是大量的成语、俗语、谚语、歇后语等(张培基1980: 1)。通过运用各种俗语,曹雪芹生动形象地描绘了当时的社会风貌和群众习俗,使读者借助阅读得以了解语言以外的民族社会生活。此后,多位翻译家对这部著作进行了翻译,本文以杨宪益、戴乃迭夫妇及David Hawks、John Minford所著的两个英译版本为例,试图分析其中具有鲜明中国文化特色俗语的不同英译,为典籍汉英翻译实践提供借鉴。下面,笔者对汉语源语中一些具有鲜明中国文化特色俗语的英译进行比较。

一、两个英译本对同一源语采用相似处理方式
都通过直译,忠实于原著。实例:凤姐儿又道是“苍蝇不抱无缝的蛋”。虽然这柳家的没偷,到底有些影儿,人才说他。(第六十一回)
杨戴: Flies go for cracked eggs. Even if this Liu woman didnt' steal anything, she must have been up to something or people would nt' have accused her.
霍克斯: When flies gather on an egg, it s' generally a sign that there s' a crack in it. She may not have stolen anything in this instance, but I suspect shes' no better than she should be for all these people to be complaining about her.
“苍蝇不抱无缝的蛋”比喻自己如果无懈可击,坏人就无法利用。这句话出自红楼梦里的一个重要人物,凤姐儿王熙凤,她读书不多,对待下人也比较苛刻,故她给柳家媳妇的评价是“有缝的蛋,坏蛋”。这时比较杨译和霍译,发现他们基本是采取直译的方法;再比较两个译本的字数及篇幅,曹雪芹的32个汉字,杨戴夫妇用了36个英文单词来阐述,而霍译词数多达55个。从一个侧面反映出杨戴夫妇英译本的简洁明了,而霍译就相对比较详尽细致。
又有一例:平儿说道:“癞蛤蟆想天鹅肉吃,没人偷的混账东西,起这个念头,叫他不得好死!”(第十一回)
杨戴: "A toad hankering for a taste of swan, " scoffed Ping - erh. "The beast has not a shred of common decency. He de-serves a bad end for dreaming of such a thing. "
霍克斯: "A case of t'he toad on the ground wanting to eat the goose in the sky. 'He 'll come to no good end, getting ideas like that! " said Patience.
贾家的远亲贾瑞,在秦可卿将亡,王熙凤正处心悲之时想调戏王熙凤,这里是熙凤的贴身丫鬟平儿对贾瑞的评价,符合平儿丫头的身份,人物性格刻画十分到位。在翻译时,杨译和霍译仍然基本采用直译,但一个明显的差异是杨戴夫妇用swan一词来表示天鹅,这无可厚非,因为在柯林斯英汉双解词典中,天鹅对应的唯一一个英文义项就是swan;但霍克斯作为一个母语为英语的外国译者,却故意不选swan一词,而创造性的把其加工成goose in the sky,暗含一个理念,即“天鹅”是不能吃的,译者显然对中西文化产生的矛盾进行了处理,为了体现语言的对称美,霍克斯还在toad上加了个修饰语on the ground,与goose in the sky相呼应,细细体会,译者果真是匠心独运,这些处理文化差异、文化冲突的方法,值得我们探讨和借鉴。
都通过意译,方便目的语读者阅读。实例:这里探春气得和尤氏、李纨说:“这么大年纪,行出来的事总不叫人敬服…耳朵又软,心里又没有计算。”(第六十回)
杨戴: Then Tanchun turned indignantly to Li Wan and Madam You. Shes' so old, yet the way she carries on makes it im-possible for anyone to respect her…She has no sense of dignity and is too gullible - She never uses her head.
霍克斯:…Tan-chun burst out angrily to the others. Youd' think shed' know better ather age. Why cant' she do anything to make people respect her?…She will listen to absolutely anything anyone tells her. She has absolutely no judgment of her own.
这里的“耳朵软”,是探春形容她的生母———赵姨娘的,即贾政的两个妾之一。由于是庶出,平时探春行事一向小心谨慎,但偏偏母亲又总给她招惹事端。探春心中是恼的,可又是心疼,所以才会劝她省些事,不要失了体统。这里的俗语,耳朵软,形容人没有主见,容易轻信别人的话,杨戴夫妇意译为“too gullible (易受骗)”,一笔带过,并未专门对其进行处理。而霍克斯也意译成了She will listen to absolutely anything anyone tells her (任何人说的话她都信),凸出对“耳朵软”的处理。
又有一例:袭人等笑道:“他奶奶病了,他又成了香饽饽了,都抢不到手。”平儿去了不提。(第六十回)
杨戴: Xiren and the other commented jokingly, "W ith her mistress ill shes' in such great demand, everyones' trying to grab her. "
霍克斯: Aroma and the others laughed, too. "Shes' grown as popular as hot cakes since her mistress 's illness: everyone wants her at once! "
饽饽是一种糕点,俗语中用香饽饽指代热门、受欢迎的人或事物。这次,杨戴选择意译"shes' in such great demand",霍克斯把饽饽归化,转换成了cake,处理手法各有不同,却有异曲同工之妙。
以上几例无论通过直译或意译,两组译者都对同一源语采用了相似本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。