落花生 英译

我们家的后院有半亩空地。母亲说：“让它荒芜着怪可惜，你们那么爱吃花生，就开辟出来做花生园罢。”我们几姊弟和几个丫头都很喜欢—— 买种的买种，动土的动土，灌园的灌园；过不了几个月，居然收获了。

母亲说：“今晚我们可以过一个收获节，也请你们的父亲来尝尝我们的新花生，好不好？”我们都说好。母亲把花生做成好几样的食品，还吩咐这节日要在园里的茅亭举行。 那晚天色不太好，是父亲也来了，实在很难得。爹爹说：“你们爱吃花生么？” 我们都争着答应：“爱！”

父亲说：“谁能把花生的好处说出来？”

姐姐说：“花生的味美。”哥哥说：“花生可以榨油。”我说：“无论何等人都可以用贱价买它来吃；都喜欢吃它。这就是花生的好处。”

父亲说：“花生的用处固然很多，但有一样是很可贵的：这小小的豆不像那好看的桃子、石榴、苹果那样，把他们的果实悬在枝上，鲜红嫩绿的颜色，令人一望而生羡慕之心。它只把果实埋在地里，等到成熟，才容人把它挖出来。 你们偶然看见一棵花生瑟缩地长在地上，不能立刻辨出它有没有果实，非得等到你接触到它才能知道。”

我们都说：“是的。”母亲也点点头。爹爹接下去说：“所以你们要像花生，因为它是有用的，不是伟大、好看的东西。” 我说：“那么，人要做有用的人，不要做伟大、体面的人了。”爹爹说：“这是我对于你们的希望。”

我们谈到夜阑才散，所有花生食品虽然没有了，然而父亲的话现在还印在我心坎上。

我们屋后有半亩隙地。母亲说：“让它荒芜着怪可惜，既然你们那么爱吃花生就辟来做花生园罢。”我们几姐弟和几个小丫头都很喜欢— —买种的买种，动土的动土，灌园的灌园，过不了几个月，居然收获了！

张：Behind our house there lay half a mu of vacant land. Mother said, “It?s a pity to let it lie waste. Since you all like to eat peanuts so much, why not have them planted here.” That exhilarated us children and our servant girls as well, and soon we started buying seeds, ploughing the land and watering the plants. We gathered in a good harvest just after a couple of months!

Poplar: There was a small piece of vacant land behind our house. Mother

said, ?It is a kind of waste to leave it untilled. Since you like groundnuts so much, why not till it and plant some groundnuts?? We children and girl servants were all pleased at the idea. And some of us bought seeds, some prepared the land and some watered it. In a few months, we actually had a harvest! 解析：

1) 将“半亩”译为“half a mu”不如将其虚化为“a small piece”. mu这个词虽说已存在于英语词汇中，但是英美的很多词典并没有收入，比如Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English及The American Heritage Dictionary. Poplar认为在翻译“亩”时，很多情况下最好转化为公顷(hectare)。

2) Poplar初读张先生的译文时看到“servant girls” 时很高兴，庆幸自己没有将“小丫头”理解错。因为许地山生于1893年，由此推来“小丫头”应该是“小丫环”。但据Google 搜索,“girl servants”在使用频率上远在张先生译的“servant girls”之下。

3) 本段最后一句，张先生译文“a good harvest”意指“丰收”，与原文的”收获”有些出入。将“居然”译为actually，Poplar感到比较满意。

妈妈说：“今晚我们可以做一个收获节，也请你们爹爹来尝尝我们底新花生，如何？”我们都答应了。母亲把花生做成好几样的食品，还

吩咐这节要在园里的茅亭举行。

张：Mother said, “How about giving a party this evening to celebrate the harvest and invite your Daddy to have a taste of our newly-harvested peanuts?” We all agreed. Mother made quite a few varieties of goodies out of the peanuts, and told us that the party would be held in the thatched pavilion on the peanut plot.

Poplar: Mother said, ?We will have a feast on groundnuts tonight to celebrate our harvest, and invite your dad to have a taste of our new groundnuts, won?t we?? We all agreed. Mother prepared several groundnut-based dishes and told us the feast would be held at the thatched pavilion in the groundnut garden. 解析：

1) 将“如何？”处理为“How about…”要比采用反疑疑问句好。 2) “收获节”译为party 则不是太好，因为party指社交聚会，一般有家庭之外的成员参与。

3) “花生做成好几样的食品”译为“goodies out of the peanuts”不如“groundnut-based dishes”。 goodies为一非正式用语, 如果翻译过来，“好吃的东西”似乎比“食品”更为等效，且goodies多指甜食。

那晚上底天色不好，可是爹爹也到来，实在很难得！爹爹说：“你们爱吃花生么？”

张：It looked like rain that evening, yet, to our great joy, Father came nevertheless. “Do you like peanuts?” asked Father.

Poplar: It was a gloomy night, and yet, to our pleasant surprise, Dad came. He asked us, ?Do you love groundnuts?? 解析：

1）“天色不好”译为“It looked like rain”，属于意译；“It was a gloomy night”可以说是直译。比较起来，Poplar觉得还是gloomy好一些。 2）在译“实在很难得”时, 的确费了不少思量。如果将其译为“It was a rarity”之类则说明没有弄懂原文。照常理，一家人只要居于一地，不论工作多忙，时常见面终非难事。译为“great joy”则没有将原句的语气完全表达出来。

3) 张先生将“爹爹”(除上文问话中译为“Daddy”外)全译为Father. 通读原文，读者会发现, 原文除最后一句话中使用了“父亲”一词外，其余均为“爹爹”。Poplar因此将“爹爹”一词统一译为“Dad”，而“父亲”使用“Father”。

我们都争着答应：“爱！”

张：“Yes, we do!” We vied in giving the answer.

Poplar: We all cried ?Yes!?

解析：“vie”一词过于正式，指to compete very hard with someone in order to get something (Longman)。宜将其虚化处理。

“谁能把花生底好处说出来？”

张：“Which of you could name the good things in peanuts?” Poplar: ?Then who can tell me its good points??

解析：看到“the good things in peanuts”, 读者首先想到的是fat，protein等成分，而不是花生的优点。

姊姊说：“花生的气味很美。”

张：“Peanuts taste good,” said my elder sister.

Poplar: My sister answered, ?The groundnut smells good.?

解析：乍一看，taste good为误译，其实不然。想一想，没有加工过的花生气味能美到哪里去。smells good则显得不当。另外，既然“sister”可以译为“姊姊”，为什么“姊姊”只能译为“elder sister”?

哥哥说：“花生可以制油。”

张：“Peanuts produce edible oil,” said my elder brother. Poplar: ?It can be used to make oil,? my brother responded.

解析：“Peanuts produce edible oil”不如将其改作“Peanuts can be used to produce edible oil”或“Peanuts yield edible oil”。

我说：“无论何等人都可以用贱价买它来吃；都喜欢吃它，这就是它的用处。”

张：“Peanuts are so cheap,” said I, “that anyone can afford to eat them. Peanuts are everyone?s favorite. That?s why we call peanuts good.” Poplar: I said, ?Whoever can buy it at a low price and all people like it—that is its point.?

解析：将“都喜欢吃它”译为“everyone?s favorite”应属于误译。将“这就是它的用处”译为“that is its point,”Poplar感到满意。point一词不仅将“用处”表达出来，且与上文中的“good points”对应。

另外，张先生将文章中的三个“说”全译为said有些欠当。英语比较忌讳词语的重复。

爹爹说：“花生底用处固然很多；但有一样是很可贵的。这小小的豆不像那好看的苹果、桃子、石榴，把它们底果实悬在枝上，鲜红嫩绿的颜色，令人一望而发生羡慕的心。它只把果子埋在地底，等到成熟，才容人把它挖出来。你们偶然看见一棵花生瑟缩地长在地上，不能立刻辨出它有没有果实，非得等到你接触它才能知道。”

张：“It?s true that peanuts have many uses,” said Father, “but they?re most beloved in one respect. Unlike nice-looking apples, peaches and pomegranates, which hang their fruit on branches and win people?s instant admiration with their brilliant colours, tiny little peanuts bury

themselves underground and remain unearthed until they?re ripe. When you come upon a peanut plant lying curled up on the ground, you can never immediately tell whether or not it bears any nuts until you touch them.”

Poplar: Dad said, ?No doubt, the groundnut has many uses. Yet, it has one valuable quality. This small nut is not like those good-looking apples, peaches and pomegranates, which hang their colorful fruits on the branches and invite admiration. It buries its fruit under the ground, and lets itself be dug out only when it is ripe. If you happen to see a groundnut plant crouching there, you cannot decide at only whether it has fruit or not. You can only know this by getting into touch with it.? 解析：

1) “可贵的”译为“beloved”欠当。

2) Poplar将“令人一望而发生羡慕的心”译为invite admiration(招摇)，虽意义有些出入，但因其简洁，仍愿保留。

3) “等到成熟，才容人把它挖出来”张先生的译文要好得多。

我们都说：“是的。”母亲也点点头。爹爹接下去说：“所以你们要像花生因为它是可用的，不是伟大、好看的东西。”我说：“那么，人要做有用的人，不要做伟大、体面的人了。”爹爹说：“这是我对于你们的希望。”

张：“That?s true,” we said in unison. Mother also nodded. “So you must

take after peanuts,” Father continued, “because they?re useful though not great and nice-looking.”

“Then you mean one should be useful rather than great and nice-looking,” I said.

“That?s what I expect of you,” Father concluded.

Poplar: We all said yes. Mother also nodded her head. Dad continued ?So, you should learn from the groundnut and be useful people instead of those grand or beautiful ones.? I followed, ?Then a person should be helpful and not just seemingly grand or decent?? Dad replied, ?That?s my expectation on you.? 解析：

1） “in unison”意指in complete agreement, 在程度上有些过了。 2） “take after”意指resemble somebody; 而原文“要像花生”指向花生学习。故不当。

3）翻译“伟大、体面的人”关键在于如何理解这几个字。考虑到文章写作背景，应指当时的军阀政客。无疑这两个词在这里带有贬义。直译为great, decent显然不可，需加seemingly。big与grand是与这里的“伟大”比较接近的词；“beautiful people”指“rich fashionable people”,略带贬义。

我们谈到夜阑才散，所有花生食品虽然没有了，然而父亲的话现在还印在我心版上。

张：We kept chatting until the party broke up late at night. Today, though nothing is left of the goodies made of peanuts, Father?s words remain engraved in my mind.

Poplar: We talked over the table till near midnight. Though none of those groundnut dishes remains, Father?s words are still imprinted on my mind. 解析：尽管break up与party搭配，但break up指disperse, go in different directions. 文中只是一家人，谈不上“四散离去”。

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