MTI翻硕文学翻译赏析：《背影》张培基英译散文选

我们选取其中一段加以分析。注意：今天只分享几个知识点，但课程里面我们是一句句分析，差不多每100字有5页-8页word讲解，讲解很透彻细致，每个点都有讲解。更多可以关注我们的文学翻译课程。

背影

朱自清

我与父亲不相见已二年余了，我最不能忘记的是他的背影。那年冬天，祖母死了，父亲的差使也交卸了，正是祸不单行的日子，我从北京到徐州，打算跟着父亲奔丧回家。到了徐州见着父亲，看见满院狼藉的东西，又想起祖母，不禁簌簌地流下眼泪。父亲说：“事已如此，不必难过，好在天无绝人之路！”

The Sight of Father’s Back

Zhu Ziqing

张培基散文选译文：It is more than two years since I last saw father, and what I can never forget is the sight of his back.Misfortunes never come singly. In the winter of more than two years ago, grandma died and father lost his job. I left Beijing for Xuzhou to join father in hastening home to attend grandma’s funeral.

When I met father in Xuzhou, the sight of the disorderly mess in his courtyard and the thought of grandma started tears trickling down my cheeks. Father said, “Now that things’ve come to such a pass, it’s no use crying. Fortunately, Heaven always leaves onea wayout.”

第一句：我与父亲不相见已二年余了，我最不能忘记的是他的背影。

It is more than two years since I last saw father, and what I can never forget is the sight of his back.

1. “the sight of”含义是“看到”，例如，The sight of it stopped them dead. 一看见它，他们猝然停住了。“the sight of back”就是“背影”的意思，是一个固定表达。

2. 还有一个短语是“at the sight of”，例如，My heart leaped at the sight of her. 我见到她时心都要跳出来了。

He felt faint at the sight of blood. 他一见到血就发晕了。（felt faint也可以直接用fainted，这个单词形容词和动词均可）

第二句：那年冬天，祖母死了，父亲的差使也交卸了，正是祸不单行的日子，我从北京到徐州，打算跟着父亲奔丧回家。

Misfortunes never come singly. In the winter of more than two years ago, grandma died and father lost his job. I left Beijing for Xuzhou to join father in hastening home to attend grandma’s funeral.

1. Misfortunes never come singly是英语里面的一句谚语，刚好和汉语中的“祸不单行”相对应。

也可以说Bad events rarely come singly。Singly也可以同意替换为alone。

2. 跟着父亲奔丧回家：join sb in sth/doing sth就可以表示跟着某人干某事，比如100元31篇外刊精读与翻译班里面有这句：

But they rarely stay long, quickly leaving to join dozens in the line outside a trendy new ice cream shop down the block.

但他们很少在店里长时间停留，而是很快离开，来到街上一家新开的时尚冰淇淋店外，与等着买冰淇淋的几十个人一起排起了长队。

3. hastening home to attend grandma’s funeral回译是“匆忙回家参加葬礼”，也就是“奔丧”的意思。

“奔丧”还可以说hasten home for grandma’s funeral; hasten home upon the death of grandma; hurry back for grandma’s funeral.

第三句：到了徐州见着父亲，看见满院狼藉的东西，又想起祖母，不禁簌簌地流下眼泪。

When I met father in Xuzhou, the sight of the disorderly mess in his courtyard and the thought of grandma started tears trickling down my cheeks.

1. Start在这里的用法。get/set/start/keep something doing开始某事；继续某事 ，英英解释to make sth start happening。

2. started tears trickling down my cheeks其实就是get/set/start/keep something doing的用法，所以started也可以同义词替换为get/set/start/keep，不过set可能更好，get偏口语化，keep偏状态，而这里强调的是突然“簌簌地流下眼泪”。

第四句：父亲说：“事已如此，不必难过，好在天无绝人之路！”

Father said, “Now that things’ve come to such a pass, it’s no use crying. Fortunately, Heaven always leaves one a way out.”

1. it’s no use crying：it is no use doing是一个固定句型，意思是“做……没有用。”

这个是口语化的表达，更正式的句型是there is no use （in）doing，如：

There is no use crying over spilt milk.

为打翻的牛奶哭泣是没有用的。

2. Heaven always leaves one a way out. 天无绝人之路。Way out，出路；摆脱困境的办法，出口，；活路；生路。

“天无绝人之路”也可以说，Heaven never seals off all the exits.;Heaven will always leave a door open.;There is always a way out.