首页分享浅谈老舍《养花》英文译文之二

浅谈老舍《养花》英文译文之二

来源：花匠小妙招时间：2025-09-19 01:28

我不是有腿病吗，不但不利于行，也不利于久坐。我不知道花草们受我的照顾，感谢我不感谢；我可得感谢它们。在我工作的时候，我总是写了几十个字，就到院中去看看，浇浇这棵，搬搬那盆，然后回到屋中再写一点，然后再出去，如此循环(8)，把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起，有益身心(9)，胜于吃药。

As I have some trouble with my leg, I can’t move around easily, nor can I sit too long. I don’t know if the flowers under my care are grateful to me or not. However, I wish for my part to acknowledge my thanks to them. I often leave off sedentary work after writing a few dozen words and go to the courtyard to take a look at the flowers, watering them and moving about the potted ones. Then I’ll return to my room to write a bit more. I’ll go through the same back-and-forth process again and again, thus combining mental with manual labour. This is a better way to keep me fit in mind and body than taking medicine.

要点：1、“我不是有腿病吗”即“我有腿病”，译为 I have some trouble with my leg，此处用疑问的句式表达肯定的观点，译为陈述句~

2、“不但不利于行，也不利于久坐”运用“否定+nor”的结构，这个之前在《我坐了木船》中有详细介绍，忘记的童鞋请穿越~~另外，此句和前面的分句有逻辑上的因果关系，下面的“不知…我可得感谢它们”也有逻辑上的转折，翻译时要体现体现体现出来~！

3、“我可得感谢它们”译为I wish for my part to acknowledge my thanks to them，其中for my part是插入语，意为“就我而言”；“感谢”译为acknowledge thanks to，这个句型在领导人们的讲话上也常用~

4、“然后再出去，如此循环”不宜按字面直译，现译为I’ll go through the same back-and-forth process again and again，其中定语back-and-forth作“来来往往”解；go through the same process作“重复同一过程”解。

5、“有益身心”可有两种译法：to keep me fit in mind and body或to keep me mentally and physically fit。综述：依旧注意语言选词的运用要贴合背景，原文语言简洁活泼，译文也不宜过于死板~

要是赶上狂风暴雨或天气突变哪，就得全家动员，抢救花草，十分紧张。几百盆花，都要很快地抢到屋里去，使人腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。

In case of a violent storm or a sudden change of weather, however, the whole family will have to turn out to salvage the flowers and plants. Everybody will then feel keyed up. By the time when we have managed to move the several hundred potted flowers to the rooms in a hurry, we will be dog-tired and wet with perspiration.

要点：

1、短语to turn out的意思是“出动”或“出来参加”。

2、“十分紧张”译为feel keyed up，其中动词短语to key up的意思是“使紧张”，因此keyed up和excited、tense等同义

3、“几百盆花，都要很快地抢到屋里去，使人腰酸腿疼，热汗直流”译为By the time when we have managed to move the several hundred potted flowers to the rooms in a hurry, we will be dog-tired and wet with perspiration.其中译者并没有具体地翻译这两个四字格，而译成了dog-tired（极度疲乏，像狗一样累）和wet with perspiration（汗珠，汗）。不仅传达了原文信息，又保留生动的形象~综述：原文风格俏皮幽默，张爷爷很好地把握了这点，从dog-tired，key up等词就可以看出，因此我们需要进行各种风格的翻译和阅读时，加强自己对于语境的把握~

第二天，天气好转，又得把花儿都搬出去，就又一次腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。可是，这多么有意思！不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活，这难道不是真理么？The next day, when the weather is fine, we will have another round of being dog-tired and wet with perspiration in taking all the flowers out to the courtyard again. How interesting it is! Isn’t it true that without doing manual labour, we couldn’t even keep a single flower alive?

要点：

1、“又…”译为have another round of doing2,“不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活，这难道不是真理么？”反问句，译为一般疑问句Isn’t it true that without doing manual labour, we couldn’t even keep a single flower alive? 将语言的运用发挥到淋漓尽致~综述：跟我念，积累表达~

送牛奶的同志，进门就夸“好香”！这使我们全家都感到骄傲。赶到昙花开放的时候，约几位朋友来看看，更有秉烛夜游的神气(12)——昙花总在夜里放蕊。花儿分根了，一棵分为数棵，就赠给朋友们一些；看着友人拿走自己的劳动果实，心里自然特别喜欢。

It filled the whole family with pride whenever the milkman exclaims on entering our gate, “What a sweet smell!” When the night-blooming cereuses are about to be in flower, we will invite some friends to visit us in the evening to feast their eyes on them—in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights. When the cereuses have branched out, we will pick some of the flowers and give them as a present to our friends. We are of course especially happy to see them take away our fruits of labour.

要点：

1、又出现了表示“使某人感到…”的句子了，这次是fill sb with,迄今为止，我们已经见过的表达有：generate in sb a feeling/sensation of ;give sb great pleasure(使某人愉悦);inspire sb by(使某人振奋)~

2、“更有秉烛夜游的神气”中的“秉灯夜游”是成语，比喻“及时行乐”，今结合上下文按“夜间秉烛作乐”的意思译为nocturnal(夜间活动的，夜间发生的) merry-making（作乐） under candle lights。又“更有……神气”意即“带有……的味道”，故全句译为in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights.

当然，也有伤心的时候，今年夏天这有这么一回。三百株菊秧还在地上（没有移入盆中的时候），下了暴雨。邻家的墙倒了下来，菊秧被砸死者约三十多种，一百多棵！全家都几天没有笑容！有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色，既须劳动，又长见识，这就是养花的乐趣。

Of course, there is a time to feel sad too. Last summer, a rainstorm hit us when 300 chrysanthemum seedlings in the courtyard were about to be transplanted to pots. Suddenly, the wall of our neighbour collapsed and crushed more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties. The whole family were sad-faced for quiet a few days!Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, flowers and fruit, fragrance and colour, manual labour and increased knowledge—all these make up the joy of flower cultivation.

要点：

1、“有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色”译为Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, flowers and fruit, fragrance and colour, 译文在翻译“有…,有…”句式时采用直接列举的方式，更简洁更符合原文轻快的气氛~

2、“既须劳动，又长见识”运用词性转换，译为manual labour and increased knowledge，也是为了贴合原文的氛围~综述：之所以选这篇是希望大家在翻译时要注意文章风格，译时一定要结合思考语言背景，作者意图，以表现出翻译深思熟虑的特征~

养花On Growing Flowers

老舍Lao She

译文摘自张培基《英译中国散文选一》