硕士研究生英语翻译学习【5】

 

Directions:

Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)

 

In his autobiography，Darwin himself speaks of his intellectualpowers with extraordinary modesty. He points out that he always experienced much difficulty in expressing himself clearly and concisely, but (46)he believes that this very difficulty may have had the compensating advantage of forcing him to think long and intently about every sentence, and thus enabling him to detect errors in reasoning and in his own observations. He disclaimed the possession of any great quickness of apprehension or wit, such as distinguished Huxley. (47) He asserted, also, that his power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought was very limited, for which reason he felt certain that he never could have succeeded with mathematics. His memory, too, he described as extensive, but hazy. So poor in one sense was it that he never could remember for more than a few days a single date or a line of poetry. (48) On the other hand, he did not accept as well founded the charge made by some of his critics that, while he was a good observer, he had no power of reasoning. This, he thought, could not be true, because the “Origin of Species” is one long argument from the beginning to the end, and has convinced many able men. No one, he submits, could have written it without possessing some power of reasoning. He was willing to assert that “I have a fair share of invention, and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher degree.” (49)He adds humbly that perhaps he was “superior to the common run of men in noticing things which easily escape attention, and in observing them carefully.”

 

Writing in the last year of his life, he expressed the opinion that in two or three respects his mind had changed during the preceding twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty or beyond it poetry of many kinds gave him great pleasure. Formerly, too, pictures had given him considerable, and music very great, delight. In 1881, however, he said: “Now for many years I cannot endure to read a line of poetry. I have also almost lost my taste for pictures or music.” (50) Darwin was convinced that the loss of these tastes was not only a loss of happiness, but might possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral character.

一、试题具体解析

46）He believes/ that this very difficulty may have had the compensating advantage/ of forcing him to think long and intently about every sentence,/ and thus enabling him to detect errors/ in reasoning and in his own observations.

【考点】 宾语从句，of结构，并列结构

【分析】 复合句。句子主干是He believes that...，其中that引导的宾语从句作宾语。该宾语从句的主干是this very difficulty may have had the compensating advantage，其中this difficulty指代前一句中的much difficulty in expressing himself clearly and concisely，翻译时要明确指代；compensating advantage要结合上下文来理解，上文提到“语言表达障碍”，下文提到“促使他长时间专注地思考”，可见，一方面的不足却促成了另一方面的优势，要翻译出这层含义；其后很长的of...短语作compensating advantage的后置定语，其中含有两个并列的动名词结构forcing...和enabling...作介词宾语，两个现在分词的主语都是this very difficulty；句末的介词短语in reasoning and in his own observations作errors的后置定语。

【词汇】 compensating advantage可译为“弥补性的优势；(这方面的困难)会在另一方面得到补偿”；force sb. to do sth.是指“强迫某人干某事”；think long and intently可译为“深思熟虑；更持久和专心地思考；认真长久地思考”；reasoning是现在分词，其动词的意思是“推理”。

【译文】 他认为或许正因为(语言表达上的)这种困难，他不得不对自己要说的每句话都经过长时间的认真思考，从而能发现自己在推理和观察中的错误，结果这反而成为他的优点。

47）He asserted, also, that/ his power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought was very limited,/ for which reason he felt certain/ that he never could have succeeded with mathematics.

【考点】 宾语从句，非限定性定语从句，从句嵌套，不定式作后置定语，否定结构

【分析】 复合句。句子主干：He asserted that…，其中that引导宾语从句作宾语。该宾语从句的主干是his power was very limited，其中主语his power后面的不定式结构作后置定语，翻译时可置于所修饰的名词之前。for which reason引导非限定性定语从句，for which reason在这个从句中作状语，可译为“由于这个原因，因此，所以”。定语从句中又嵌套了一个that引导的宾语从句作felt的宾语，certain作宾语补足语，因宾语较长放在宾语之前，以保持句子平衡。该宾语从句的谓语是could+完成式，表示推测，意为“可能”。

【词汇】 follow a long and purely abstract train of thought是指“进行长时间纯抽象思考；进行连续的纯抽象的思维活动”，其中的“a train of”意思是“一系列”；feel certain意思是“确信”；never could have succeeded可译为“不可能成功”。

【译文】 他坚持认为自己进行长时间纯抽象思维的能力十分有限，由此他也认定自己在数学方面根本不可能有大的作为。

48）On the other hand,/ he did not accept as well founded the charge/ made by some of his critics that,/ while he was a good observer,/ he had no power of reasoning.

【考点】 同位语从句，状语从句，宾语后置

【分析】 复合句。句子主干：he did not accept as well founded the charge，其正常语序是：he did not accept the charge as well founded，宾语the charge放在宾补as well founded后面是因为，the charge后面有两个修饰成分，一个是过去分词结构made by sb.，一个是同位语从句that...，使得宾语较长，为保持句子平衡而后置。同位语从句中嵌套了while引导的状语从句。

【词汇】 on the other hand意思是“另一方面”；accept sth. as sth.意为“相信、认为某事属实”；well founded意为“有根据的，言之有据的”，found本意是“给……提供资金，给……提供依据，建立在……的依据上”，常与charge连用，比如：ill-founded or well-founded charge (无根据或有根据的指控)；charge意为“指责，谴责”；had power of doing sth.意思是“有做某事的能力”。

【译文】 另一方面，某些人批评他虽然善于观察，却不具备推理能力，而他认为这种说法也是缺乏依据的。

49）He adds humbly/ that perhaps he was “superior to the common run of men/ in noticing things/ which easily escape attention,/ and in observing them carefully.”

【考点】 宾语从句，定语从句，介词结构作状语

【分析】 复合句。句子主干：He adds that…，其中that引导宾语从句作宾语。该宾语从句的主干是he was superior to the common run of men，并列的介词短语in noticing...和in observing...在该宾语从句中作状语，根据汉语习惯把它提前到主干部分之前翻译；which引导的定语从句修饰things，翻译时置于所修饰名词之前。

【词汇】 add在文中意为“补充说，继续说”；the common run of意思是“普通类型的”；superior to sb.意思是“比……强/好/有优势；比……更善于/更擅长；优于/胜于/胜过”；escape attention在文中意为“被忘掉，被忽视，未被注意”。

【译文】 他又自谦地说，或许自己“在注意到容易被忽略的事物，并对其加以仔细观察方面优于常人”。

50）Darwin was convinced/ that the loss of these tastes was not only a loss of happiness,/ but might possibly be injurious to the intellect,/ and more probably to the moral character.

【考点】 that引导的宾语从句的翻译，并列连词not only…but (also)…的翻译

【分析】 复合句。句子主干：Darwin was convinced that...，其中that引导的宾语从句作宾语。该宾语从句的主干是the loss… was not only a loss..., but might possibly be injurious to...。宾语从句中并列连词not only…but (also)…连接两个并列的表语a loss和injurious to，第二个表语由形容词短语injurious to sth. and moreprobably to sth.构成。

【词汇】 1) convince意思是“使确信，使信服”，be convinced that/ of意思是“深信，确信，肯定地认为”；taste这里是可数名词，意为“爱好，志趣”；injurious是“有害的”，是injury的形容词形式，be injurious to翻译成“对……有害，危及”；intellect意为“(尤指高等的)智力，思维逻辑领悟力”；moral character为“道德人格，道德个性”。

【译文】达尔文确信，没有了这些爱好不只是少了乐趣，而且可能会有损于一个人的思维能力，更有可能导致一个人道德品质的下降。

二、全文翻译

达尔文在自传中谈到自己的智力时显得出人意料般的谦虚。他指出自己总是不能够简洁清晰地表达自己的思想。但是46）他认为或许正因为(语言表达上的)这种困难，他不得不对自己要说的每句话都经过长时间的认真思考，从而能发现自己在推理和观察中的错误，结果这反而成为他的优点。他也不认为自己具有像著名的赫胥黎一样敏锐的理解力和智慧。47）他坚持认为自己进行长时间纯抽象思维的能力十分有限，由此他也认定自己在数学方面根本不可能有大的作为。他也描述自己的记忆是博而不精。从某种意义上说他的记忆力如此之差以至于他对一个日期或一行诗句的记忆从不会超过几天。48）另一方面，某些人批评他虽然善于观察，却不具备推理能力，而他认为这种说法也是缺乏依据的。他认为，这不可能是事实，因为《物种起源》从头至尾是一个很长篇幅的辩论，而他成功地说服了很多有能力的人。他认为能写出这样一本书的人必定具备某种推理能力。他很乐意地宣称：“如同成功的律师或医生一样，我有自己应有的创造力、常识和判断力，但并不比他们更好。”49）他又自谦地说，或许自己“在注意到容易被忽略的事物，并对其加以仔细观察方面优于常人”。

在生命的最后一年，达尔文在写作中表达了这样一些观点：在之前的二三十年里，他的思想已经在两至三个方面发生了变化。到他三十岁或更晚些时，各种诗歌带给他很大的享受。在那以前，音乐和绘画也曾给他带来巨大的愉悦。然而，他在1881年说道：“我已经很多年不能阅读一句诗歌了。我也失去了对绘画和音乐的爱好”。50）达尔文确信，没有了这些爱好不只是少了乐趣，而且可能会有损于一个人的思维能力，更有可能导致一个人道德品质的下降。