文/石評(píng)梅 譯/李運(yùn)興 審訂/寇哲明
日落了,金黃的殘暉映照著碧綠的柳絲,像戀人初別時(shí)眼中的淚光一樣,含蓄著不盡的余戀。垂楊蔭深處,顯露出一層紅樓,鐵欄桿內(nèi)是一個(gè)平坦的球場(chǎng),這時(shí)候有十幾個(gè)活潑可愛的女郎,在那里打球。白的球飛躍于紅的網(wǎng)上,她們靈活的黑眼睛隨著球上下轉(zhuǎn)動(dòng),輕捷的身體不時(shí)地蹲屈跑跳,蘋果小臉上浮泛著心靈熱烈的火焰,和生命舒暢健康的微笑2這一部分是一連串的動(dòng)態(tài)描寫,英譯用了兩個(gè)句子,注意構(gòu)句時(shí)運(yùn)用了哪些從屬手段。!
2蘇斐這時(shí)正在樓上伏案寫信,忽然聽見一陣笑語(yǔ)聲,她停筆從窗口向下望,看見這一群忘憂的天使時(shí),她清癯的臉上顯露出一絲寂寞的笑紋。她的信不能往下寫了,她呆呆地站在窗口沉思。天邊晚霞,像緋紅的綺羅籠罩著這詩(shī)情畫意的黃昏,一縷余暉正射到蘇斐的臉上,她望著天空慘笑了,慘笑那燦爛的陽(yáng)光,已剩了最后一瞬,隕落埋葬一切光榮和青春的時(shí)候到了3這一部分譯為一個(gè)長(zhǎng)句,注意句中表達(dá)邏輯關(guān)系的詞語(yǔ)“as… as if… since…”,體會(huì)英譯的行文思路。!
3一個(gè)球高躍到天空中,她們都抬起頭來,看見了樓窗上沉思的蘇斐,她們一起歡躍著笑道:“蘇先生,來,下來和我們玩,和我們玩!我們歡迎您!”說著都鼓起掌來,最小的一個(gè)伸出兩只白藕似的玉臂說:“先生!就這樣跳下來罷,我們接著,摔不壞先生的。”接著又是一陣笑聲!蘇斐搖了搖頭,她這時(shí)被她們那天真活潑的精神所迷眩,反而不知說什么好,一個(gè)個(gè)小頭仰著,小嘴張著,不時(shí)用手絹擦額上的汗珠,這怎忍拒絕呢!她們還是頑皮涎臉笑容可掬地要求蘇斐下樓來玩。
4蘇斐走進(jìn)鐵欄時(shí),她們都跑來牽住她的衣袂,連推帶擁地走到球場(chǎng)中心,她們要求蘇斐念她自己的詩(shī)給她們聽,蘇斐選了一首她最得意的詩(shī)念給她們,抑揚(yáng)幽咽,婉轉(zhuǎn)悲怨,她忘其所以的形容發(fā)泄盡心中的琴弦。念完時(shí),她的頭低在地下不能起來,把眼淚偷偷咽下后,才攜著她們的手回到校舍。這時(shí)暮靄蒼茫,黑翼已漸漸張開,一切都被其包沒于昏暗中去了。
5那夜深時(shí),蘇斐又倚在窗口望著森森黑影的球場(chǎng),她想到黃昏時(shí)那一幅晚景和那些可愛的女郎們,也許是上帝特賜給她的恩惠,在她百戰(zhàn)歸來,創(chuàng)痛滿身的時(shí)候,給她這樣一個(gè)快樂的環(huán)境安慰她,養(yǎng)息她慘傷的心靈4譯文利用①“晚景和女郎”②“上帝的恩惠”③“環(huán)境”之間存在的內(nèi)在邏輯關(guān)系(即①是②,②的具體內(nèi)涵是③),依從英語(yǔ)構(gòu)句模式寫出:... scene and … girls,all of which ... seemed to be a godsend: a heartwarming environment to…。她向著那黑暗中的孤星禱告,愿這群忘憂的天使,永遠(yuǎn)不要知道人間的愁苦和罪惡。
6這時(shí),她忽然心海澄靜,萬念俱灰,一切宇宙中的事物都在她心頭冷寂了,不能再令她沉醉和興奮!一陣峭寒的夜風(fēng),吹熄她胸中的火焰,覺仆仆風(fēng)塵中二十余年,醒來只是一場(chǎng)空漠無痕的噩夢(mèng)。她閉上窗,回到案旁,寫那封未完的信。她說:
鐘明:
自從我在前線隨著紅十字會(huì)做看護(hù)以來,才知道我所夢(mèng)想的那個(gè)園地,實(shí)際并不能令我滿意如愿。三年來諸友相繼戰(zhàn)死,我眼中看見的盡是橫尸殘骸,血泊刀光,原只想在他們犧牲的鮮血白骨中,完成建設(shè)了我們理想的事業(yè),誰(shuí)料到在尚未成功時(shí),便私見紛爭(zhēng),自圖自利,如今依然是陷溺同胞于水火之中,不能拯救。其他令我灰心的事很多,我又何忍再言呢!因之,鐘明,我失望了,失望后我就回來看我病危的老母,幸上帝福佑,母親病已好了,不過我再無兄弟姐妹可依托,我不忍棄暮年老親而他去。我真倦了,我再不愿在荒草沙場(chǎng)上去救護(hù)那些自殘自害,替人當(dāng)工具的傷兵和腐尸了。請(qǐng)你轉(zhuǎn)告云玲等不必在那邊等我,允許我暫時(shí)休息,愿我們后會(huì)有期。
7蘇斐寫完后,又覺自己太懦弱了,這樣豈是當(dāng)年慷慨激昂投筆從戎的初志。但她為這般忘憂的天使系戀住她英雄的前程,她想人間的光明和熱愛,就在她們的童心里。宇宙呢,只是無窮罪惡、無窮黑暗的淵藪。 □
The sun was setting. Its last golden rays illuminated the green willow leaves, which shimmered like lovers’tears at their first parting, reflecting their ever-stronger love. Hidden deep in the shadow of the weeping willows stood a red-brick building; near it lay a level railing-enclosed ballgame court in which dozens of lovely young girls were playing, their eyes nimbly following the movement of a white ball as it flew back and forth over the red net. They squatted, bent over, ran and jumped, healthy smiles on their apple-like faces radiating the fervor of young life.
2Su Fei was now upstairs, writing a letter. Hearing a peal of laughter, she rose up from her desk and looked down out of the window. The sight of the carefree girls brought a faint smile to her lean face. Unable to continue with her writing, she stood mute and rigid by the window and lapsed into deep thought.Crimson clouds in the western sky enveloped the poetic evening scene like vast drapes of silk gauze. As a ray of the setting sun fell squarely on her face, she gazed at the sky and gave a wry smile, as if to ridicule the still bright sun, since despite all its glory and vigor, its last glow would soon vanish.
3Ahigh-flyingballcausedthe girls to lo okupwardandglimpse SuFeiat the window. They called in unison: “Miss Su, come down and join us! You’ll be made very welcome!” They began to clap their hands gladly. The youngest among them even held out her jadewhite arms and said, “Miss Su, jump down straight away! We’ll catch you,you’ll be alright!” A burst of laughter followed. Su shook her head. Fascinated by their naivety and liveliness, Su did not know how to respond. How could she refuse their invitation when they all looked up at her, their mouths half open and their hands busy wiping the sweat off their foreheads with handkerchiefs?Cheekily and insistently they continued inviting Su to come and join them.
4Assoonas Su crossedthroughthe r ailings, theyflocked aroundher,leading her to the center of the court. They asked her to read her poems for them. Su chose one, her most favorite, and began reciting it aloud. Her voice rose and fell,now pleasant, now full of grievance, and sometimes muffled as if sobbing. She did her best to give voice to what her poem set out to express. When the last line was finished, her head dropped low toward the ground. Swallowing her tears, she took their hands and led them back to the dorm together. With night spreading its wings far and wide, everything was soon engulfed in darkness.
5Late that night, Su Fei again approached the window and looked down at the court shrouded in darkness. She recalled the evening scene and those lovely girls, all of which seemed to her to be a godsend: a heartwarming environment to soothe and comfort her wounded soul just after she had returned as a field nurse embittered from countless battles. She prayed to the lonely star in the sky: may these carefree young girls never learn about the misery and evil of this human world.
6At that moment, she was suddenly seized with a feeling of calmness and disillusionment, all her enthusiasm and concern for this world gone, as if all the things under heaven were no longer her personal concern and nothing would make her as excited and dedicated as before. A gust of the chilly night wind had blown out the fire in her bosom:looking back at the twenty years she had struggled through, she found it to be merely an empty and traceless dream.She closed the window and went back to her desk to finish her letter, which read:
Zhong Ming,
Since I joined the Red Cross to be a war nurse, I have come to see that the battlefield is not the place I had dreamed of where I could fulfill my aspirations. In thepast three years many of my comrades-inarms have died, and I have witnessed fire and blood on the corpse-littered fields. I started out with the hope that the sacrifices of our martyrs would realize our lofty ideals, but only found that, against all my expectations and even before the first light of success had appeared, our ranks fell apart due to personal struggles and selfish interests. Consequently, our compatriots are still left in an abyss of misery with nobody to come to their rescue. Besides this, there are other disappointments that I cannot bear to enumerate here. So,Zhong Ming, this is why I came back to see my bed-ridden mother, who, thank God, has now recovered. Now however I cannot leave my old mother alone, for none of my sisters and brothers are at hand to take care of her. I am spent and exhausted. I never want to go back to the battlefield to aid those wounded or dying soldiers, who are simply tools used to inflict harm and suffering on each other and on themselves. Please tell Yunling and others not to wait for me over there,and allow me to have some rest. I hope we can meet again soon.
7Having fniished the letter, she felt a pang of guilt over her cowardly inclination: was this really her lofty ideal when she left the school and joined the army?However, her future was now bound up with these carefree girls. For her,brightness and love could be found only in their na?ve hearts, while the outside world was nothing but a hotbed of unlimited evil and darkness. ■