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《初戀》譯文賞析
時間：2022-06-24 11:02:28 作者：宇揚翻譯
《初戀》是我國現代著名散文家、翻譯家周作人的一篇早期散文，語言樸素，風格平和，反映孩童時對異性懵懂的愛戀。
很多學者和譯員都翻譯過這篇散文，其中包括：我國當代著名翻譯家張培基，香港中文大學中國研究中心的譚景輝博士，英國著名漢學家和翻譯家卜立德（David E. Pollard）。本文將節選他們的譯作進行賞析。
那時我十四歲，她大約是十三歲罷。我跟著祖父的妾宋姨太太寄寓在杭州的花牌樓，間壁住著一家姚姓，她便是那家的女兒。伊本姓楊，住在清波門頭，大約因為行三，人家都稱她作三姑娘。姚家老夫婦沒有子女，便認她做干女兒。
張：I was then 14, and she about 13. I was living with grandpa's concubine Song in our temporary home in Hua-Pai-Lou, Hangzhou. The little girl was our next-door neighbour Yao's daughter. She had originally been the daughter of a Yang family in Qing-Bo-Men-Tou. As she was the third child of the family, people often called her San-Gu-Niang. The old Yaos had no children of their own, so they took her as their goddaughter.
譚：I was fourteen then. She was about thirteen. I was living at the time in the Hua Pai Lou in Hangzhou at the home of my grandfather’s concubine, Song. Living next door was a family by the name of Yao, and she was their daughter. Her original surname war Yang, and her home was at the Qingbo Gate. Probably because she was the third child, she was known to everybody as Third Daughter. The Yaos, an elderly couple, had no children of their own, and they took her in as their foster daughter.
卜：I was then thirteen years old, and she was about twelve. I was staying in lodgings with my grandfather's concubine, whose maiden name was Song, in a house called Floral Arch in Hangzhou. Next door lived the Yaos; she was their daughter. Her own name was Yang, and she lived at Clearwater Gate; possibly because she was the third child, everyone called her Miss Three. Old Mr. and Mrs. Yao had no children of their own, so they adopted her as their god-daughter。
原文只有短短幾行，卻多次出現了人名和地名，三位譯者對此類專有名詞作了不同的處理。張培基對“三姑娘”一詞采用音譯法，而譚景輝和卜立德根據這一稱呼的實際含義進行意譯，相對而言，讀者更容易理解和接受。文中首次提及“宋姨太太”時，張培基和譚景輝譯作Song，容易和英語單詞的song（歌曲）相混淆；卜立德則采用了增譯法，對Song加以解釋，讓譯文的意思更加明確、易懂。卜立德同樣對“花牌樓”、“清波門頭”等地名作了意譯，一來方便讀者依據相關特征聯想，二來避免集中出現大量拼音，這樣可有效防止讀者視覺疲勞和誤解。
三位譯者對于“干女兒”的翻譯也有所不同。在西方，godparents指的是有責任監督并保護goddaughter的宗教信仰和行為的教徒，在宗教信仰及遵守教規等問題上，代替父母教育監督；但有時候不涉及任何宗教關系。foster daughter指的是被沒有血緣關系的人當作女兒撫養長大（并非收養），與義女之意相同。此處將“干女兒”譯作goddaughter似更為貼切。
在此刻回想起來，仿佛是一個尖面龐，烏眼睛，瘦小身材，而且有尖小的腳的少女，并沒有什么殊勝的地方，但在我的性的生活里總是第一個人，使我于自己以外感到對于別人的愛著，引起我沒有明了的性之概念的，對于異性的戀慕的第一個人了。
張： As far as I can now remember, she seemed to be a little girl with delicate features, black eyes, slender figure and small feet, and have nothing especially appealing. But she was the first person of the opposite sex that had caught my notice. The first person that had made me love somebody else as much as myself. The first person that had made me sexually aware. The first person that had aroused my adoration for the opposite sex.
譚：When I think back now, I seem to see her as a young girl with a pointed chin, glistening eyes, a slight build, and a pair of small, slender feet. There was nothing spectacular about her, and yet she was the first person in my romantic life, and she made me direct my love for the first time to someone other than myself. Even before l had any understanding of romance, she was the first member of the opposite sex to arouse my yearning.
卜：Thinking back now, l vaguely picture a girl with a sharp chin, black eyes, thin body and small pointed feet. There was nothing special about her, but she was nevertheless the first person in my sexual life, the first person who made me feel love for another besides myself, who gave rise to an as yet ill-defined notion of sex, and admiration for the female gender.
此段描寫的是三姑娘于“我”而言的特別之處，雖然沒有華麗的辭藻，但不難體現出作者懵懂的純真情懷和淡淡的情思。張培基的譯文連用四個the first person，稍顯枯燥冗長，與原文所表達的細膩情感稍有差別；而譚景輝和卜立德的譯文更加自然通順，娓娓道來。
我那時也很覺得不快，想象她的悲慘的死相，但同時卻又似乎很是安靜，仿佛心里有一塊大石頭已經放下了。
張：I, too, felt very sad, picturing in my mind her tragic death, but, meanwhile, somehow remained very calm like a big stone weighing on my heart had been removed.
譚：I was disturbed by the news, trying to imagine the pain she must have been in, but at the same time, there seemed to be a certain calm within me, as if a huge rock had been lifted from my heart.
卜：I felt very unhappy then, imagining the dreadful manner of her death, but at the same time was somehow at peace, as if a big stone had been lifted off my chest.
張培基和卜立德將“悲慘的死相”分別譯作tragic death和the dreadful manner of her death，簡單明了，而譚景輝譯成the pain she must have been in，沒有直白地描寫三姑娘的慘狀，而是重點放在感受上，想象三姑娘在世上最后時光身心所遭受的煎熬和痛苦，其譯法亦有可取之處。
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