(4)I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not so patient.
我象约伯一样穷的,大人,可是却没有他那样的好耐心。
*在《圣经》中,约伯以忍耐贫穷著称。
(5) "Oh! Tell us about her. Auntie," cried Imogen. " I can just remember her. She's the skeleton in the family cupboard, isn't she?"
"哦,给我们讲一讲她的事儿吧,好姑姑,"伊莫根嚷嚷道,"我几乎记不得她了,她是咱们家衣橱里的骷髅,丑得见不得人,是吗?"
(6) The May-day dance, for instance, was to be discerned on the afternoon under notice, in the disguise of the club revel, or "club-walking" as it was there called.
譬如现在所讲的那个下午里,就可以看出五朔节舞*旧风以联欢会(或者像本地的叫法-游行会)的形式出现。
*五朔节舞:英国风俗,五月一日奏乐吹号,采取树枝、野花、装饰门窗,在草地上竖起五朔柱,围柱跳舞,并选举五朔后。此风古时极盛,现在穷乡僻壤依然可见。
7) The question she flunked on was: "What is the Constitution of the United States?" The answer she gave was: "A boat."
她答错的一道题是:"美国宪法*是什么? 她的回答却是“一条船”。
*the Constitution of the United States指美国宪法,但它也是美国历史上著名战舰"宪法号"的英文名字。
(8) 'When we alighted at this door, a dispute arose with the driver of the cabriolet-'. A loud scream from his wife, at the mention of this word, rendered all further explanation inaudible.
"我们在门口下车的时候,跟那单马双轮车*车夫发生了一点争执,"说到单马双轮车的时候,他的妻子发出了一声又高又尖的叫唤,使得下面的解释都听不见了。
*单马双轮车是出租马车里"最没有派头"的,所以说不得。(译文在此采用脚注,解释了为什么一听到cabriolet,他的妻子就会发出一声尖叫?在1(世博英文翻译公司)9世纪的英国,只有地位低贱的人才会坐这种马车。在这儿,丈夫不慎说漏了嘴,爱好虚荣的妻子觉得蒙受了耻辱。)
(9)All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our life-time on the planet.
所有这一切都不会在第一个一百天*内完成, 也不会在第一个一千天内完成,不会在本届政府内完成,甚至也不会在我们这一辈子完成。
*原指美国总统福兰克林s罗斯福执政后推行"新政"的第一个一百天。
(1(世博英文翻译公司)0) At all events the war has done one good thing for us. It's smashed up the power of the aristocracy. The Boer War started it, and 1(世博英文翻译公司)91(世博英文翻译公司)4 put the lid on.
不管怎样,战争还是为我们做了一件好事,就是把贵族势力一扫而光。布尔战争开始对它有所触动,而1(世博英文翻译公司)91(世博英文翻译公司)4年的世界大战终于使它荡然无存。
(1(世博英文翻译公司)1(世博英文翻译公司))三个臭皮匠,顶个诸葛亮。Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang the master mind.
(1(世博英文翻译公司)2) 1(世博英文翻译公司)997年国内生产总值达到74772亿元。
In 1(世博英文翻译公司)997 China’s gross domestic product reached 7.4772 trillion yuan (US $ 903(世博北京翻译公司) billion).
释义
释义(paraphrase)是指舍弃原文中的具体形象,直接解释出原文的意思。
在翻译一些具有鲜明民族色彩的词语(如成语、典故)时,如果直译不能使译入语读者明白意思,而加注又使译文太噜嗦,并且原文重意不重形、重意不重典时,可采用释义法。它既可使译文简洁明了,又不损害对原文信息的传达。例如:
as drunk as a fiddler 酩酊大醉
(在古英格兰,民间小提琴手在公共场合为舞蹈伴奏,人们往往以酒酬谢,因此往往会喝得大醉.后人用此成语时,常常重意不重形与典,因此,不必直译为 "像小提琴手一样酩酊大醉",采用释义法即可.)
as rich as Croesus 十分富有
(Croesus 是公元6世纪小亚细亚吕底亚国王,十分富有.如直译为 "像科里瑟斯一样富有",倒让读者十分费解,因为读者不知 "科里瑟斯"为何许人, 并且后人用此词时,常常意重于典,所以不如释义为 "十分富有", 简单明白.)
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