英语翻译考前训练(七)

英语自学网

　　原文:
        　　1、公元前278年，也就是屈原六十二岁那年，他在汨罗江边，听到秦国军队攻破了楚国的国都，便怀着悲痛的心情，抱了一块石头，投汨罗江自杀了。那天正好是农历五月五日。
        　　2、汨罗江附近的老百姓听到屈原自杀的消息，都纷纷赶来，划着渔船，拿着竹竿，四处打捞屈原的遗体，结果什么也没有打捞到。
        　　参考译文：
        　　1. In the year of 278 B.C., when he was 62 and staying at the side of the
Miluo River, QuYuan heard that Qin troops had finally conquered Chu’s capital.
Overwhelmed with grief and despair, he drowned himself in the river, with a
large stone in his arms. That day happened to be the fifth day of the fifth
month in the Chinese lunar calendar.
        　　第一句比较长，翻译时应根据段落的语义结构作恰当的划分。这里可在“国都”后断句，与本段的后一句自然衔接。其次，后一句中原文看上去有四个动词。即“怀着”、
“抱”、“投”、“自杀”。实际上“怀着”和“抱”仅仅表示伴随的状况，而“投”和“自杀”决不能分解为二个动作(即先跳入江中再自杀)，而应理解为一个动作。如果译文：He
was so sad that he held a large stone in his arms, jumped into the river and
killed himself，这样读者可能会理解为屈原先提哦如江中，然后用石头砸死了自己。参考译文把本句简明的翻译为：Overwhelmed with
grief and despair, he drowned himself in the river, with a large stone in his
arms. 其中的非谓语overwhelmed 和介词短语with a large stone in his arms值得仔细体会。
        　　2. The people of Chu had a great esteem and love for Qu Yuan. On hearing
the news of his suicide, people who lived nearby came hurriedly in boats and
attempted to retrieve his body with long bamboo poles, but, to their distress,
without avail.
        　　这里有四个动作“赶来”、
“划着船”、“拿着竹竿”、“打捞”，这里重点是“打捞”，所以这个词组可以译为非谓语动词，“划着船”、“拿着竹竿”则可以译为动词的非谓语形式或介词短语。另外，“什么也没打捞到”，在英语中不宜重复动词，可译为but
failed 或but of no avail。