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August 25 翻译: 中国人的精神 The Spirit of Chinese People 应朋友之邀, 试译辜老之<The Spirit of Chinese People>: The real Chinaman may be coarse, but there is no grossness in his coarseness. The real Chinaman may be ugly, but there is no hideousness in his ugliness. The real Chinaman may be vulgar, but there is no aggressiveness, no blatancy in his vulgarity. The real Chinaman may be stupid, but there is no absurdity in his stupidity. The real Chinaman may be cunning, but there is no deep malignity in his cunning.
小译:
真正的中国人也许粗俗, 但他绝不野蛮; 真正的中国人也许丑陋, 但他绝不令人可憎; 真正的中国人也许庸俗, 但他绝不挑衅不喧闹; 真正的中国人也许愚笨, 但他绝不荒唐; 真正的中国人也许狡诈, 但他绝不狠毒.
个人观点: 基本上大意说中国人低智能, 但这种低能却不会损害别人 [每句都是这个格式]. 也许辜老先生就把这种不损人包装成一种美德吧
朋友之反馈:
呵呵﹐ 好精彩﹐好精彩。好恰當的翻譯。
他這段出現在“中國人的精神”裡面﹐ 是為了說明中國人的特性﹕ 溫良。說了那麼多的低能的方面﹐
也許是為了後面的誇獎﹐以退致進。有時間你可以看看﹐ 還蠻有意思的。
结语: 辜老的文章我没有读过, 朋友的反馈指出上文的语境. 我并不赞成或者反对辜老文章内容, 也不欣赏其文采, 但文中英文用词让人感觉有些惊讶 - 原来英文词也是那么玄妙, 于细微之处见精彩!
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◎ 独立人格 · 卓越追求 ◎
对前篇BLOG文章的补语: 我本无意挑起政治讨论. 因为对我来说, 质量的好坏跟历史, 跟政治没有关系. 我定义质量的标准就是其质量本身, 而非使用政治历史的双重标准 - 无论我的结论是否正确, 至少我是按照此标准进行判断.
对于不幸引起的政治之联想, 我想引用爱因斯坦教授的一句话来表明我的观点和立场: How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of goodwill! In such a place even I would be an ardent patriot. - Albert Einstein (我是多么希望有一个只有智者和好意的世外桃源, 那我也将变成一个充满激情的爱国者.)
June 01 Giant Sucking Sound 巨大的吮咂声 "Hear that giant sucking sound from China and India?" Giant Sucking Sound 这个短语是在由1992年由美国总统候选人Ross Perot提出的. 当时的状况是, 美国要跟墨西哥签订自由贸易协定 (NAFTA), 克林顿支持NAFTA, 而Perot先生则认为NAFTA不会促进美国经济, 而且会使美国人大量失业. Perot用"Giant sucking sound" 来生动形容一旦NAFTA签订, 墨西哥人将夺走美国人的饭碗, "吸食"美国经济.
下面是Perot先生在他的书Save Your Job, Save Our Country 里的论述:
A Giant Sucking Sound: One million Mexicans enter the work force each year. They need jobs. To get those jobs, President Salinas and his government have deliberately kept wages down to attract foreign investment. Mexico has vastly expanded its vocational training programs to improve worker skill levels. The Mexican government also offers low-cost loans and tax benefits to companies that build factories in Mexico.
在outsoucing盛行的今天, "Giant sucking sound"被广泛来形容因为outsoucing而造成的失业或者其它风险. JACK在昨天的华尔街日报中文版上看到这句话被译为"巨大的吮咂声". 听起来有些怪, 是吧? 不过这种短语实在难以翻译, 我建议直接使用其英文. 其它的例子:
A New Giant Sucking Sound: The "giant sucking sound" Ross Perot used to talk about is back, only this time it is not Mexico sucking away American jobs. It is China sucking away Mexico's jobs. And jobs from Taiwan and South Korea, Singapore and Thailand, Central and South America, and even from Japan. － The Nation
Giant Sucking Sound: Battered by the tech slowdown, EDS is shipping white-collar jobs offshore to catch up with low-cost competitors. - Forbes
Giant sucking sound is inflation - USA Today
多了解一点:
候选人在进行Campaign的时候往往会提出很多political slogans. 其它出名的slogans还有:
- Any press is good press (Any publicity is good publicity)
- Just Say No [to war and drugs] - Live free or die - The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy - Workers of the world, unite! // Funny picture, isnt it? Hope it helps you to remembe it!
[JACK LI原作, 转载允许, 注明出处] |
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