散文论包装英译赏析

　　人类活动在社会上，有时候是需要包装的。特别是女士们。在家中穿得朴朴素素，但是一出门，特别是参加什么“派对”(party，借用香港话)，则必须打扮得珠光宝气，花枝招展，浑身洒上法国香水，走在大街上，高跟鞋跟敲地作金石声，香气直射十步之外，路人为之“侧目”。这就是包装，而这种包装，我认为是必要的。

　　People, especially women, sometimes need packaging in their social activities. Women dress casually at home, but when they go out, especially when they attend parties, they have to be gorgeously dressed and sprayed all over the French perfume. On the streets, the loud clip-clop of their high-heeled shoes and the strong aroma of their perfume will attract public attention far and wide. That’s what we mean by packaging and I call it a kind of necessary packaging.

　　要点：

　　1，“在家中穿得朴朴素素”译为Women dress casually at home.其中dress casually意为“穿得随随便便”，“穿便服”，也可译为dress simply /plainly at home

　　2,“珠光宝气，花枝招展”说的是一个意思译为“盛装打扮”be gorgeously dressed，这个表达在《杂感集》中也见到过，学习时一定要注意前后联系记忆~

　　3，“高跟鞋跟敲地作金石声，香气直射十步之外，路人为之’侧目’”译为On the streets, the loud clip-clop of their high-heeled shoes and the strong aroma of their perfume will attract public attention far and wide.其中“作金石声”直译起来略困难，因此我们可采用拟声词the loud clip-clop表达，clip-clop表示一种类似于马蹄的“呱嗒声”~

　　4,“十步之外，路人为之’侧目’”，采用意译法，译为attract public attention far and wide.

　　5，“这就是…”译为that’s what I/we mean by…这个表达也很常见，在《容忍》中也有出镜

　　可是还有另外一种包装，就是商品的包装。这种包装有时也是必要的，不能一概而论。我从前到香港，买国产的商品，比大陆要便宜得多。一问才知道，原因是中国商品有的'质量并不次于洋货，正是由于包装不讲究，因而价钱卖不上去。我当时就满怀疑惑：究竟是使用商品呢?还是使用包装?

　　But there is another kind of packaging—the packaging of commodities. Such packaging is sometimes also necessary and therefore, should not be mentioned in the same breath. Some time ago, as a visitor to Hong Kong, I found Chinese-made goods there selling at a much lower price than in the mainland and I also learned on inquiry that it was due to plain packaging that they were selling cheap though of equal quality as imported goods. I was quite puzzled about what the customers actually need. The goods or the package?

　　要点：

　　1，“一概而论”或“同日而语”译为should not be mentioned in the same breath，其中in the same breath意为“同时”，如：He hailed this week's arms agreement but in the same breath expressed suspicion about the motivations of the United States. (他为本周达成的武器协议而欢呼，但同时又对美国的动机表示怀疑。)

　　2，“一问才知道”译为I also learned on inquiry，on inquiry意为“经询问，经调查”

　　我因而想到一件事：我们楼上一位老太太到菜市场上去买鸡，说是一定要黄毛的。卖鸡的小贩问老太太：“你是吃鸡?还是吃鸡毛?”

　　That reminds me of a little story. An old lady who lived in the upstairs of my building one day went to the food market insisting on buying a chicken with yellowish feathers. The chicken vendor asked, “What do you eat? Chicken or the feathers?”

　　要点：

　　这段总体来说比较简单，注意选择疑问句的译法~

　　到了今天，有一些商品的包裹更达到了匪夷所思的地步。外面盒子，或木，或纸，或金属，往往极大。装扮得五彩缤纷、璀璨耀目。摆在货架上时，是庞然大物;提在手中或放在车中，更是运转不灵，左提，右提，横摆，都煞费周折。及至拿到或运到家中，打开时也是煞费周折。在庞然大物中，左找，右找，找不到商品究在何处。很希望发现一张纸条上面写着：此处距商品尚有10公里!庶不致使我失去寻找的信心。

　　Nowadays, the packaging of some commodities is fantastically overdone. The boxes, made of wood, paper or metal, are usually very large and very colorful and dazzling. They take up a lot of space on the goods shelves and are very cumbersome whether carried by car or by hand. Very unwieldy whether carried by left hand or right hand, placed vertically or horizontally. And it is also a big headache to have it opened at home. Search left and right, and you still cannot locate the commodity in the huge box. You will probably wish for a slip of paper therein bearing the written note, “10 more kilometers to the commodity!” so as to retain your confidence in the search.

　　要点：

　　1，“达到了匪夷所思的地步”如果直译，即have reached an unimaginable degree,然而译者却采用了更为灵活的意译，即is fantastically overdone，更加形象生动~

　　2,“或木，或纸，或金属”讲的是木盒的材质，因此译为made of wood, paper or metal,

　　3，“五彩缤纷、璀璨耀目”译为colorful and dazzling

　　4，“煞费周折”译为it is also a big headache to

　　5,“很希望发现一张纸条上面写着：此处距商品尚有10公里!庶不致使我失去寻找的信心。”译为You will probably wish for a slip of paper therein bearing the written note, “10 more kilometers to the commodity!” so as to retain your confidence in the search.其中wish for作“盼望”解，往往针对不可能实现的事物;therein是增益的，译为“从中”。

　　6，“庶不致使我失去寻找的信心”即“以便保持寻找的信心”译为so as to retain your confidence in the search.

　　据我粗略的统计，有的商品在大包装中仅占空间十分之一，二十分之一，甚至五十分之一。想到那个鸡和鸡毛的故事，我不禁要问：我们使用的是商品，还是包装?而负担那些庞大的包装费用，羊毛出在羊身上，还是我们这些顾客，而华美绝伦的包装，商品取出后，不过是一堆垃圾。

　　According to my rough statistics, some commodities take up only one tenth, one twentieth or even one fiftieth of the space in the huge package. Thinking back to the above-mentioned story of chickens and chicken feathers, I cannot but ask, “The commodity or the package, which do you need?” after all, the wool still comes from the sheep’s back as the saying goes. It is customers like us that will have to bear all the heavy expenses for packaging. And the flashy package, when emptied of its contents, will be nothing but a garbage heap.

　　如果我回答我在开头时提出的问题：人类越变越蠢。你怎么反驳?!

　　Here is my answer to the question I raised at the beginning: Man is becoming more and more stupid. What could you say in retort?

　　要点：

　　1，“据我粗略的统计”译为According to my rough statistics

　　2，“羊毛出在羊身上”现在一般形容商家所谓的打折优惠,其实还是摊在消费者身上，因为上下文有对这句话确切含义的解释，因此直译为the wool still comes from the sheep’s back

　　3，“华美绝伦的包装”译为the flash package,其中flashy有“华而不实”之意，比beautiful，gorgeous，exquisite更加确切

　　4，“反驳”=say in retort

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