第六章 英语从句的翻译(13)

英汉互译理论和实践（选修）

第六章 英语从句的译法

（教学安排：4课时）

第一节 英语定语从句的译法

英语和汉语分属两种不同的语系，其差别很大，翻译起来有诸多困难，英语定语从句的汉译便

是困难之一。由于定语从句在英语中应用十分广泛，往往置于所修饰的名词之后，而且还可以继续延长，环环相扣，语法关系十分复杂，因此，我们必须想办法、找方法、寻规律，从而很好地解决它。

一、限制性定语从句

限制性定语从句对所修饰的先行项起限制作用，在意义上与先行项密切不可分。 如被省去，主句的意思就含糊不清，甚至变得毫无意义。关系词和先行项之间一般不用逗号分隔。

（一）前置法：定语词组

前置法一般用于翻译比较简单的英语定语从句。汉语多使用简单的前置修饰语，很少使用很长的定语从句。翻译较短的定语从句，常常是将关系词省去，在句未加“的”字，放在被修饰项之前，从而将复合句译成汉语单句。当然，也可视其情况不用“的”字，如例1。这种译法用得普遍，尤其适用于译简短的定语从句。

例1

原文：I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided. 译文：

例2

原文：The people who worked for him lived in mortal fear of him. 译文：

例3

原文：In recent years, however, people have begun to become aware that cities are also areas where there is a concentration of problems. 译文：

例4

原文：Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals and soldiers, whereas the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned at all. 译文：

（二）后置法：并列从句

如果从句结构复杂，译成汉语前置定语显得太长而不符合汉语表达习惯时，往往可以译成后置的并列分句。 1）省略英语的先行项 例5

第六章 英语从句的译法

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英汉互译理论和实践（选修）

原文：The lungs are subject to several diseases which are treatable by surgery. 译文：

例6

原文：As a result, a hum of gossip was set going which moved about the house in that secret manner common to gossip. 译文：

例7

原文：A will had been made which divide the small tax-eaten property equally among the remaining four, so that it was really of no interest to any of them. 译文：

例8

原文：He managed to raise a crop of 200 miracle tomatoes that weighed up to two pounds each. 译文：

上述定语从句例句比（一）里的定语从句例句长些，因此，就不宜译成定语词组形式。否则，译句就会显得太长且不符合汉语的表达习惯。如例8就不宜译成“把这片快要给税吃光的薄产平分给四个孩子的中遗嘱早已立好，谁都对此不感兴趣。”这类从句不是长、难复杂定语从句，一般就按原文的顺序位置译。

2）重复英语的先行项 例9

原文：At dinner I found myself placed between Mrs. Bradly, and a shy drab girl who seemed even younger than the other. 译文：

例10

原文：A writer——in fact every one of us in life——needs that loving-mother force from which all creation flows. 译文：

例11

原文：Man possesses an expressive faculty that goes far beyond gestures, that allows and even compels him to express his thoughts, feelings, dreams, and intuitions. 译文：

例12

原文：John is a clean-cut, great-looking guy who likes his father and mother, who frowns on drugs, who takes his profession seriously, who likes to have a good time, who enjoys the company of the opposite sex, and who has his own goals and values. 译文：

第六章 英语从句的译法

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英汉互译理论和实践（选修）

这些先行项的重复，有时用的是代词，有时用的是限定词。汉译时，需重复先行项的地方，就要重复。否则会影响意思的连贯和清楚。

（三）状语从句（具体在非限制性定语从句）

例13

译文判断：

原文：He insisted on building another house which he had no use for. 译文1：他坚持再建一座他不用的房子。 译文2：他坚持再建一座房，这房他不用。

译文3：他虽自己不用，但仍坚持再建一座房。

例14

原文：I think the clover will grow even on non-irrigated land where there is a forest belt. 译文：

（四）溶和法

翻译英语There be 句型和带定语从句的复合句时，常用溶合法。溶合法就是把原句中的主语同定语从句溶合在一起译成一个独立句的翻译方法。由于限制性定语从句与主句关系紧密，所以溶和法比较适用于限制性定语从句。溶合法要求改变句子的构造形式。具体作法是，将原主句的词或词组用作独立句的主语，再将定语从句用作谓语，这样便译成独立句。

例15

原文：He paid that peculiar deference to women which every member of the sex appreciates. 译文：

例16

原文：What were the hopes and dreams that had made of them the incredibly stubborn warriors? 译文：

例17

原文：This was the first time I had serious trouble with my boss. 译文：

还可以将英语主句压缩成汉语词组做主语，而把定语从句译成谓语，溶和成一个句子。 例18

原文：“We are a nation that must beg to stay alive,” said a foreign economist. 译文：

（五）复合宾语

当主句的谓语动词是表示“感观”或“心理活动”等意义时，修饰宾语的定语从句多译为复合宾语。

例19

原文：I also found on the ground near the tracks of the camels groups of ants which were pulling grains of corn. 译文：

第六章 英语从句的译法

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英汉互译理论和实践（选修）

例20

原文：He did not find any one in the house who particularly cared to see. 译文：

二、非限制性定语从句

非限制性定语从句同其先行项之间的联系是松散的。它不是先行项的必不可少的组成部分，而仅是对先行项作些描写或补充说明。非限制性定语从句前常有逗号将它与主语分开。非限制性定语从句也主要是采用前面已说过的分译法和溶合法来译。它常被译为并列分句、独立句和状语从句，偶尔还可译为定语词组等，这与它的作用——仅是对先行项提供一些补充说明——有关。在意义上，非限制性定语从句相当于一个并列分句，可以完全脱离主句而独立出现。

（一）后置法：译成并列分句

1. 译成并列分句，省略先行项 例21

原文：He saw in front that haggard white-haired old man, whose eyes flashed red with fury. 译文：

例22 原文：“Wait a minute,” said the boss, and he opened the load and took out a ham, which he started to bone and string up. 译文：

例23

原文：Carrie reached home in high good spirits，which she could scarcely conceal. 译文：

2. 译成并列分句，重复英语的先行项

例24

原文：He came within the meaning of a still newer term, which had sprung into general use among Americans in 1880. 译文：

例25

原文：The cook turned pale, and asked the housemaid to shut the door, who asked Brittles, who asked the tinker, who pretended not to hear. 译文：

例26

原文：The doctor examined the rat that carried the flea that harbors the germ that infects the poor Indian. 原译：大夫检查了那只身上长了带有使那个可怜的印第安人传染上并的细菌的跳蚤的老鼠。 改译：

例27

第六章 英语从句的译法

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英汉互译理论和实践（选修）

原文：The eagle catches the snake that gobbles the toad that swallows the insect that nibbles at green leaves. 译文：

（二）译成独立句

例28

原文：It has long been my wish to encounter one of the oldest civilizations in earth. I have come amidst you from Egypt, on the banks of the Nile, which also has a most ancient civilization. 译文：

例29

原文：One was a violent thunderstorm, the worst I had ever seen, which obscured my objective. 译文：

例30

原文：The modern nuclear family was rooted in the desire to live happily in a more equal marriage, where the raising of children and the investment to both parents in the children’s lives were guaranteed by bonds of friendship between the parents, which were based on rational love. 译文：

（三）译成状语从句

1．译成表“让步”的分句

例31

原文：These actions, which have aroused universal and unreserved disapproval, must nevertheless give us a pause. 译文：

例32 原文：My assistant, who had carefully read through the instructions before doing his experiment, could not obtain satisfactory results, because he followed them mechanically. 译文：

2．译成表“条件”的分句

例33

原文：In a dispute between two states with which one is friendly, try not to get involved. 译文：

例34

原文：Men become desperate for work, any work, which will help them to keep alive their families. 译文：

例35

原文：Nothing is hard in this world for one who dares to scale the height. 译文：

第六章 英语从句的译法

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