2. 职称英语
  3. With an impatient gesture Daphne stubbed out a cigarette1 and checked her wa

With an impatient gesture Daphne stubbed out a cigarette1 and checked her wa

游客2023-12-11  24
问题     With an impatient gesture Daphne stubbed out a cigarette1 and checked her watch by the clock tower over the barman’s head.
    Seven o’clock. Brace was 20 minutes late already.
    "Another whisky, please." Hardly the thing to anticipate one’s host perhaps, but you couldn’t be expected to wait reciting nursery rhymes.
    If there was one thing which irritated Daphne above all others it was to be kept waiting by a man2. And tonight of all nights.
    She had chosen this little restaurant in the mountains above the lake with particular care. Not to mention a dash out earlier in the day to make sure of a secluded table and suitable music.
    Would it work? A vulgar, commonplace little plot perhaps. But — one simply had to be a realist.
    Poverty saw to that alright3. Ready-made clothes, back bedrooms in hotels, cheap travel and a holiday at the end of the season4. Add a widowed, and still attractive, mother — an endurance test of loyalty — who merged chameleon-like into the background of her holiday. And what was the answer? Bruce?
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答案     达芙妮很不耐烦地捻灭了香烟，跟酒吧侍者头顶上方的钟楼对了对表。
    七点钟。布鲁斯已经晚了20分钟了。
    “请再来一杯威士忌。”喝着酒等做东的人，也许有些不合适，但你总不能哼着儿歌干等吧。
    如果说有什么事最让达芙妮恼火的话，那就是被一个男人晾着左等右等。尤其是在今晚。
    她煞费苦心地挑选了湖上山问的这家小饭馆。更不用说她当天早些时候还匆匆跑出来一趟，为了确保能有一张僻静的餐桌和合适的音乐。
    能奏效吗?也许只是个俗不可耐、平淡无奇的小伎俩。但是—一人总得现实一点。
    贫困让人不得不现实一点。衣服买现成的穿，旅馆得住后房，旅行得图便宜，季末才出来度假。还拖着一个守寡的、仍有几分魅力的母亲——也算是对恋人忠诚与否的耐久性考验一就像变色龙一样融入她度假的背景中。答案是什么?布鲁斯吗?
解析     本篇节选自小小说The Proposal(《求婚》)，虽然情节并不复杂，但从翻译的角度来看很值得玩味。在翻译时，不管使用直译或意译，只要能传神达意的翻译就是好翻译。直译有时能产生“神形皆似”的好译文，但有时也会产生“貌合神离”的假朋友，这时候译者需要通过补偿和变通来实现这一目标。
stubbed out a cigarette：“stub sth out”表示“extinguish(esp．a cigarette)by pressing it against sth hard”，即“(在硬物上)碾灭(尤指香烟)”。
If there was one thing which irritated Daphne above all others it was to be kept waiting by a man：“to be kept waiting by a man”如果译成“让她等一个男人”，虽然用的也是被动结构，但无法体现达芙妮的焦灼与无奈。这样翻译就等于把结构“to be kept waiting by a man”改成了“to be kept waiting for a man”，译文会逊色不少。应该译为“被一个男人晾着左等右等”。
Poverty saw to that alright：“see to sth．”表示“deal with or take care of”，即“处理，照料；关照”。“That”指代前句“one simply had to be a realist”。此句的意思是：人因为贫穷而变得十分现实，这是情理之中的。整句可译为“贫困让人不得不现实一点儿。”
Ready-made clothes，back bedrooms in hotels，cheap travel and a holiday at the end of the season：多数同学会译成：  “现成衣服，旅馆后房，廉价旅行，季末度假。”译文虽然简洁，但不明了。读者看了译文如同雾里看花，捉摸不透意思。在这种情况下，译者应该根据汉语的行文习惯，意译为：  “衣服买现成的穿，旅馆得住后房，旅行得图便宜，季末才出来度假。”
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