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翻译美学:遣词与造句的实际运用

时间:2023-12-06 百科知识 版权反馈
【摘要】:遣词,虽涉及语言的形式美,但更多的是同语言的内容美相关联;造句则主要同语言的形式美有关。但在实际运用中,构成Parallelism的成分并不仅仅限于短语和句子两个语言单位。

翻译美学:遣词与造句的实际运用

句子是能够表达一个相对完整的意思并且有一个特定语调的语言单位。人们写文章,都离不开遣词造句。遣词,虽涉及语言的形式美,但更多的是同语言的内容美相关联;造句则主要同语言的形式美有关。

4.1 Parallelism(平行结构

英语中的平行结构是一种富有表现力的修辞方法。结构相同、意义并重、语气一致的词组或句子排列成串,其目的在于增强语势,提高表达效果。汉语排比多用于说理或抒情。用排比说理,可以把论点阐述得更严密、更透彻;用排比抒情,可以把情感抒发得淋漓尽致。如:

故不登高山,不知天之高也;不临深溪,不知地之厚也;不闻先生之遗言,不知学问之大也。(《荀子·劝学》)

此句三个分句,均由“不”字引导,各分句句式完全相同,语气完全一致,意义不断递进。三个分句一字排开,结构平行对称;视觉上的匀称平衡,听觉上的韵律悦耳,有“壮文势,广文义”之效。汉语称之为“排比”修辞格。

英语的Parallelism(平行结构),作为一个常见的结构修辞格,就是追求语言整饬美的典范,与汉语的“骈四俪六”异曲同工。

parallelism一词,源自希腊语parallëlismos,意为alongside one another(一个与另一个并排着)。parallelism是指一种平行结构(parallel structure)由结构和意义相似的短语或句子平行并列构成。但在实际运用中,构成Parallelism的成分并不仅仅限于短语和句子两个语言单位。International English Usage对Parallelism作了详尽的阐述〔17〕

In ordinary expository prose, parallelism can be regarded as a type of coordination, linking elements that are already logically connected. Thus an adjective is paralleled to another, a noun to a noun or a verb to a verb, a phrase to a phrase, and a clause to a clause.

由此,我们可以认为,Parallelism并不仅局限于含并列连词and, or, both... and..., either... or..., not only... but also...的句子,它实际指两个或两个以上在意义上关联、互补与照应,在结构上平行排列的语言单位,这些语言单位不仅外形结构对称,而且其语法功能也相同。

4.1.1 parallelism的常见形式

·词的平行排列(a series of words)

a. Galileo studied, taught and experimented. (动词平行,作谓语

b. He thought everybody lived far too elaborately, expensively, and anxiously. (副词平行,作状语

c. He spent much of his life in the rich, lazy, corrupt Greek city of Corinth. (形容词平行,作定语)

d. Lumber, corn, tobacco, wheat, and furs moved downstream to the delta country. (名词平行,作主语)

·短语的平行排列(a group of phrases)

a. Gorki himself was a man of such great courage, of such deep simplicity and of such intense honesty. (介词短语平行,作定语)

b. Knowing how to study and learning how to budget time are important for college students. (动名词短语平行,作主语)

c. I like to be up first in my own camp, to wake the cook myself, to shave while he boils the kettle and then to call the rest of the company with a warm cup of coffee. (不定式短语平行,作宾语)

d. Roger led the way through the castle, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones. (现在分词短语平行,作状语)

e. Dentists advise brushing the teeth after each meal and avoiding too much sugar in the diet. (动名词短语平行,作宾语)

·从句的平行排列(a row of clauses)

a. A number of New Yorkers have been driven from the city by fear; by the feeling that they are besieged and that if they venture too far from their neighborhoods they will be mugged or, worse, murdered. (同位语从句平行)

b. If you write or if you telephone, wait for two weeks until I return from Singapore. (状语从句平行)

c. My employer informed me that I would be sent to Hong Kong and that I should make arrangements to leave in about two weeks. (宾语从句平行)

d. When the green leaves become yellow gradually, when the yellow leaves leave twigs and fall down slowly, when the fallen leaves cover the footpath, we know that fall is here with us. (状语从句平行)

e. A friend is a person with whom you may be sincere, to whom you are attached by affection, and from whom you learn things about life and yourself. (定语从句平行)

·句子的平行排列(a series of sentences)

a. We shall fight him by land; we shall fight him by sea; we shall fight him in the air.

b. On the contrary, we shall be fortified and encouraged in our efforts to rescue mankind from his tyranny. We shall be strengthened and not weakened in determination and in recourses.

c. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

·语段的平行排列(a series of paragraphs)

Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.

Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms...

Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors.

Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah to "undo the hearty burdens... (and) let the oppressed go free.

需说明的是,不同形式的Parallelism在英语表达中同时交错使用的现象也不鲜见。如Margaret Foster在其“Why I Am Glad to Be 40”一文中写道:

Husbands have been killed, babies born deformed, wives left deserted, children crippled in accidents, homes burned to the ground—I've looked and heard and wept and thought this is too much for anyone to bear... and then I've been astounded at how happiness of a kind can be regained out of the hell of grief.

丈夫被杀、婴儿畸形、妇人被弃、儿童致残、房屋焚毁——我目睹、我耳闻、我哭泣、我尝想:如此灾难,在这个世上,何人能承受!——然而,接下去,我之所见,让我震惊,人们如何一步步走出悲恸的地狱,获得了这样那样的幸福。

上段文字写得激情澎湃,扣人心弦。如此效果与两种形式的Parallelism的交替运用不无关系——短句的平行使用(babies born deformed,wives left deserted, children crippled in accidents, homes burned to the ground)和单词的平行使用(looked and heard and wept and thought)。

除了不同形式的Parallelism交错使用之外,Parallelism还时常和别的辞格共用,表现同样不俗。如:

During all the years of my life, until that moment, I have carried the menacing, the hostile, and the killing world with me everywhere. No matter what I was doing or saying or feeling, one eye had always been on the world—that world which I had learnt to distrust almost as soon as I learnt my name, that world on which I knew one could never turn one's back, the white man's world. (Baldwin: This Morning, This Evening, So Soon)

在这之前,在我生命的最初年头里,我的身边处处跟着一个怀有威胁的世界,一个敌视的世界,一个充满凶杀的世界。无论我在干什么,或者说什么,或者感觉什么,我的一只眼睛始终盯住它——盯住那个我几乎刚认识自己的名字便对其学会了怀疑的世界,那个我知道人们一辈子也无法抛弃的世界,那个白人的世界。

上例通过几个表示强烈情感的形容词(如menacing, hostile, killing)和几个现在分词(如doing, saying, feeling)并行使用,Repetition(反复)辞格的运用(如world一词的反复出现)以及antithesis(对照法)的运用(如I had learnt to distrust almost as soon as I learnt my name),强化了表达效果,深刻揭示了种族歧视对“我”的身心损害,鲜明表达“我”的仇恨心理。

4.1.2 Parallelism的审美价值

作为结构修辞的Parallelism的第一审美价值在于形式。实际上,其审美价值远不止于此。正如Harold B. Allen所言,辞格均可视作the art of speaking or writing effectively。Parallelism亦不例外。

4.1.2.1 以Parallelism叙事

以Parallelism叙事,可以使叙述明晰有序,细致入微,同时能融议论于叙述之中,收到言简意赅之效。如:

The Chinese diplomats should be firm in stance, far in sight, swift in wit, qualified in profession, outstanding in talent, noble in character.

中国外交人员应当立场坚定、眼光远大、头脑敏捷、业务熟练、才华出众、风格高尚。

上句把一连串形容词短语加以平行排列,作并列表语,使该句在形式上精致工整,声调上极富韵律,语言上经济简练,叙事上步步深入,因而使“中国优秀外交人员应该具备的各种品质”这一语意鲜明突出。

Page boys, soldiers, secretaries, officers, diplomats, they all gradually formed a circle around Diogenes.

当差的男孩、士兵、秘书、政府官员、外交官,他们都渐渐围拢成一个圈,看着戴奥真尼斯(译者注:希腊哲学家,公元前412~323)。

句首五个名词叠用,作主语they的同位语,Diogenes之轰动效应,街头之观者如堵,无须议论,已呈现读者眼前。

以Parallelism叙事,还可渲染气氛,制造意境。如:

Thousands of eyes turned upward. Thousands of arms pointed. A black cloud was rising from the shattered summit of mountain. Higher and higher it rose.

千万双眼睛仰视天空,千万只手臂遥指远方,一团乌云从已经被炸开的山峰上腾空而起,越升越高。

Thousands of eyes和Thousands of arms两个平行结构的出现,活灵活现地托现了成千上万的庞贝居民在火山爆发一刹那间惊恐和迷惘!

此前的庞贝街市又是一幅怎样的和平繁荣的景象呢?作者也运用了Parallelism:

You can almost hear the clatter of horses' hoofs on the narrow streets, the cries of children and the laughter of the shopkeepers.

你几乎能够听到狭窄街道上嗒嗒嗒的马蹄声,孩子的叫喊声,还有店主的笑声。

三种“音响”以平行结构出现——the clatter of horses' hoofs, the cries of children and the laughter of the shopkeepers,读者如闻其声,如见其景,意大利古城庞贝倾覆前夕的喧嚣与繁华如此贴近读者。

4.1.2.2 以Parallelism议论

以Parallelism议论,说理评论,如层层剥笋,丝丝入扣,辩证而又透辟,情真而又意切。如:

They vanish from a world where they were of no consequence; where they achieved nothing; where they were a mistake and failure and foolishness; where they have left no sign that they had existed.

他们从世界上消失了,他们对这个世界来说,无关紧要;他们一无所有,一事无成;他们来到这个世界本来是一个错误,一个失败,一种不智;他们在生活过的世界上没有留下一点一滴的痕迹。

文采飞扬的英国作家George Orwell连用四个以where引导的定语从句,从不同视角聚焦摩洛哥底层民众挣扎求活的惨境。整段没有高谈阔论,而是运用最直接、最简单的表达对土著居民的一生进行反复概括,宣泄了积淀于作者心底的悲怆,读者也深受其染!

Happiness isn't about what happens to us; it's about how we perceive what happens to us. It's the knack of finding a positive for every negative, and viewing a setback as challenge. It's not wishing for what we don't have, but enjoying what we do possess.

幸福不是什么事情降临到我们头上,幸福是我们如何感知降临在我们头上的事情。其诀窍在于,在消极中寻找积极,视挫折为挑战。幸福不是我们想得到我们没有得到的,而是享受我们现在正拥有的。

幸福是什么?仁者见仁,智者见智。但是上述议论却另辟蹊径,别开生面。Parallelism的运用乃成功一笔,尤其是句中的isn't about... it's about, It's not wishing... but enjoying的整饬框架自如而又深刻地构成了一正一反,形成了辩证统一。Parallelism在某种意义上让本来就睿智的思想表现得更睿智,让本来明晰的思想表达得更明晰。

4.1.2.3 以Parallelism抒情

以Parallelism抒情,可以做到一抒胸臆,从容挥洒,尽情尽意。如:

I like empathy that age (middle age) brings. I like looking at children on the verge of some new event and knowing how they feel. I like looking at pregnant women and being able to share their mixed feeling. I like being familiar with things that once made me apprehensive. I like not being afraid to display my ignorance and ask for help. I like the confidence middle age brings.

我喜欢中年移植到我心中的神思,我喜欢注视面临人生新开局的儿童,喜欢知道儿童的所思所想;我喜欢注视孕妇,喜欢知道她们的复杂情感;我喜欢对我曾经担心受怕的事情已经了如指掌;我喜欢自己不再害怕表现自己的无知,不再害怕去求助于人;我喜欢中年带给我的自信。

Margaret Foster在“Why I Am Glad to Be 40”一文中的一段精彩文字,作者以齐整的I like开句,一气写了六句。由抽象(empathy)到具体(children, women, familiar with, afraid of),由幼(children)及长(pregnant women),由正(familiar with)到反(not being afraid),始于隐(empathy),而终于显(confidence)。抒情有条不紊,剖析步步深入,波澜渐起,止于高潮(climax),又以短句嘎然收住,抒尽“中年之乐”,写尽人间百态,而读者也亦“句”亦趋,与之共鸣。

以Parallelism抒情,乃英语一绝。既可寓情于景,以景写情,又可达到情景交融的境界。甚至学生在英语习作中小试Parallelism,居然文笔一新:

a. I feel extraordinarily homesick at a time when the weekend comes regularly and the chums go back home hurriedly and cheerfully, at a time when I receive the distant call, hearing the routine mutter from my mother over and over, at a time when I confront frustrations and sadness beyond description.

b. Do you still remember that footpath along which we went shoulder to shoulder many times? Do you still remember that full-moon night during which we pledged solemnly to love each other for ever? Do you still remember that inn in which you became drunk, saying your heart was broken? Do you still remember that late autumn evening in which we bid farewell so bitterly in the freezing drizzle?

4.1.2.4 以Parallelism诠释

以Parallelism诠释,可以做到词序井然,脉络分明,说服力陡增。如:

Stanford University, famous as one of northern California's several institutions of higher learning, is sometimes called "the Harvard of the West". Its reputation is based on its location, its intelligent students, its distinguished faculty, its growth opportunities offered to students, its overseas programs, its substantial endowment, and its recent extensive growth.

斯坦福大学,是北加州几个高等学校之一,有时被称为“西部哈佛”。它的声誉基于它所处的位置,基于才智出众的学生,基于卓越而优秀的师资,基于学生获得的成长机遇,基于海外的科研项目,基于可观的捐赠以及最近的全面的发展。

上段六个平行结构,以its开首的名词词组,一字排开,充当介词on的宾语。Stanford University的不俗实力和享誉遐迩的事实,得以详列,令人折服。

Add 15~30 minutes per night until you feel alert and rested each day. If you are a "night owl", sleep a bit later; if you are a "lark", go to bed earlier.

每夜多睡15~30分钟,直到你感到精力充沛、神清气爽。如果你是“夜猫子”,就睡得迟些;如果你惯于早起,就早点上床。

以上例句选自网文“Get More Sleep—Or It Will Get You”(《睡眠不足伤身体》),作者通过采用优美对称的由if引导的平行句式,寥寥数语,逻辑严密地阐述了睡眠、健康和生活习惯之间的辩证关系,句意隽永,含有哲理

A rodeo itself is a competitive contest based loosely on traditional cowboy skills of riding and roping. It consists of six major events: (1) Riding an unbroken range horse (bucking bronco) in a saddle; (2) Riding a bucking bronco without a saddle (bareback); (3) Riding a bull; (4) Roping a calf; (5) Wresting a steer to the ground (bulldogging); (6) Racing horses around barrels (with women riders).

骑术表演本身就是围绕传统的西部牛仔的骑术和套索捕捉术展开的。它包括六项主要内容:(1)骑一匹未经驯服过有马鞍的牧场马(公野马);(2)骑一匹未经驯服过无马鞍的公野马;(3)骑一头公牛;(4)用套索捕捉一头小牛;(5)把一头年轻的公牛摔倒在地(摔牛);(6)围绕桶状物的赛马(须带一女骑手)。

上段文字向读者介绍一种美国西部的放牧人竞技会,层次清楚,条理明白。在关键词rodeo出现之后,使用了两个含-ing分词构成的平行结构——riding和roping,并由此自然导出六个-ing单词引导的平行的分词结构,不仅使全段一气呵成,成为一个有机整体,而且诠释头绪明白,内容清楚,令读者对这项特殊而又罕见的竞技会印象清晰。

4.1.2.5 以Parallelism演讲

以Parallelism演讲,可以增加演讲的气势,营造现场的气氛,鼓动人心,聚集人气,更好地收到演讲的预期效果。

美国著名的废奴主义者Frederick Douglas(1817~1895)于1852年在纽约州罗彻斯特市国庆大会上发表的演说“An Ex-Slave Discusses Slavery”(《一个解放了的奴隶论奴隶制》)。其中一个段落是:

The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and men must be proclaimed and denounced.

我们必须触动这个国家的感情,唤醒她的良知,撼动她的礼仪规范,揭露她的伪善,公开和谴责她违反上帝和人类的罪行。

Douglas在这段话里将五个结构相同的句子平行排列,形式上一致匀称,语义上由轻到重,合乎逻辑,旨在更加严密、更加透彻地阐明他的观点:在极端野蛮和最无耻的伪善方面(指奴隶制),美国确实首屈一指,举世无双。

美国第三十五任总统John F. Kennedy(肯尼迪)的就职演说成了英语学习者必读的范文,演说精彩,用了大量的Parallelism,其中一句是:

My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

我的美国同胞们,勿问你的国家能为你做些什么,但问你能为你的国家做些什么。

发表就职演说的Kennedy一反现代英语语法常规,将否定词not置于ask之后,再接用what引导的宾语从句。如此处理,两个接连出现的ask,即被置于更突出、更对称的位置上,节奏更加明快,语义更加突出,给听者以强烈的感染力。再如:

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

让每一个关心我们或对我们怀有敌意的国家知道,我们愿付出任何代价,承受任何负担,迎接任何困难,支持任何朋友,反抗任何敌人,以争取和维护自由。

演讲者通过将一连串动宾结构加以平行排列,不仅表现了他的雄辩口才,而且还向全国人民乃至世界各国政府鲜明地表明了,以他为首的新一届政府在今后四年里,有治理好国家的坚强的决心和必胜的信心,从而使演讲达到完美境地。

4.1.3 Parallelism的汉译

语言的形式美有时是如此重要,形式的工整蕴含音韵美,措辞的对仗包孕了辩证美,如此,表达的注意价值(attention value)和记忆价值(memory value)便大大提高。比如,孙中山先生的名言:革命尚未成功,同志仍须努力。毛泽东的名言:道路是曲折的,前途是光明的。所以至今生命力犹存,仍被今人所引用,其中的一个原因即源于其形式。

而不少译者此意识比较薄弱,面对精彩的Parallelism,译笔随意草率。如:

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

怀着这个信念,我们能够一同工作,一起祈祷,并肩奋斗,一同走进监狱,一同为争取自由而奋斗,因为我们知道我们终将得到自由。

此译的“一同工作,一起祈祷,并肩奋斗,一同走进监狱,一同为争取自由而奋斗”美吗?否!译者,你不能忽视原句的形式美。如译:

怀着这个信念,我们能够一同工作,一同祈祷,一同抗争,一同入狱,一同为争取自由而奋斗,因为我们知道我们终将得到自由。

为最大可能再现Parallelism之美,汉译时似可采用以下方法:

·直译法

直译可以使译文保持原文化的一些民族特色,相互借鉴,丰富两种语言的表现力,如:

If there be one single word in all the wealth of the English language which best describes the predominating trait of General Grant's character, that word is "loyalty". Loyal to every great cause and work he was engaged in, loyal to his friends, loyal to his family, loyal to his country, and loyal to his God. (Horace Porter)

如果英语的语言宝库里有一个单词可以描画出格兰特将军的性格特点,那么这个词就是“忠诚”。他忠于自己参与的一切伟大事业和工作,忠于朋友,忠于家庭,忠于国家,忠于上帝。

上段选自美国南北战争中的北军将领Horace Porter(1837~1921)为美国第18届总统Ulysses Grant骑马塑像落成所举行的宴会讲话“Eulogy of Ulysses S. Grant”(《献给尤里塞斯·格兰特的颂词》)。原文作者感情奔放,赞美之情溢于字里行间。译文按字面直译,把原文的四个形容词短语构成的平行结构译成汉语的四个动宾词组,成功地挽留了原文神采。

·增词法

增词法也称增益,即在翻译时按语义、修辞或句法的需要,增加一些词,以忠实通顺地表达原文的思想内容。

I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling hope. (Franklin Knight Lane: "Makers of the Flag")

我是欢歌,我是恐惧,我是斗争,我是惊惶,我是希望——使人高尚。

这是作者将国旗拟人化之后国旗所说的一段话。原文有多个名词平行排列,译文重复“我是”,以排比句式加以再现,字字落地有声,演绎了原表达的节奏感和艺术美

·四字句

将英文的Parallelism用四字格来表现,不失为良策。由四个汉字组成的词组,包括大量成语和自由组合的词组。一般说来,四字格具有短小精悍、涵义深刻、形象生动、音调和谐等特点。在汉译中适当运用,能使译文文字洗练、通顺流畅、语意鲜明、富有美感。例如:

It was a day as fresh as grass growing up and clouds going over and butterflies coming down can make it. It was a day compounded from silences of bee and flower and ocean and land...

绿草萋萋,白云冉冉,蝴蝶翩翩,这日子是如此清新;蜜蜂无言,春花不语,海波声咽,大地音沉,这日子是如此静谧。

原文中用作主语的三个名词短语构成平行结构,译文将其译成三个四字格结构词语,再现了一幅动态的美丽画面。另外,原文句末还有四个名词构成平行结构,修饰silences,译文以四个四字格结构对译之,充分再现出万物皆静的静态画面。

当然,滥用四字格将造成辞藻堆砌、华而不实,诚可雕缋满眼,亦能铿锵悦耳,但不是好的译文。

4.2 Impersonal Subject Sentence(非人称主语句)

请比读:

发怒之后,我不难过,也不后悔。

【惯译】After I got angry, I felt neither sorrow nor regret.

【新译】Neither sorrow nor regret followed my passionate outburst.

进入青年期,他工作了,他恋爱了。

【惯译】After he became a youth, he got a job and then fell in love with a girl.

【新译】Youth sees him on a job and in love.

2002年10月我在英国学习。

【惯译】I studied in England in October 2002.

【新译】October 2002 found me studying in England.

以上三句“新译”,透出了“惯译”所无的美。新,就是新在句型;美,就美在英语味。“新译”句型英语称之为Impersonal Subject Sentence(非人称主语句)。

4.2.1 何谓Impersonal Subject Sentence?

Impersonal Subject Sentence指非人称主语(如以上三句的Neither sorrow nor regret, Youth; October 2002)后续一般为人称主语所使用的表示感觉、意识、情感或动作之类的动词谓语(如以上三句的followed, sees, found)构成的句式。通常折射一定生命内涵的动词被“挪用”于不具生命的主语(inanimate subject),因此,这样的句式就自然而然地抹上了拟人(Personification)色彩。除了表达顿趋活泼之外,此句型新意拂面,结构严谨,言简意丰,语体活泼。

以非人称名词作主语的句型,对汉语来说,古已有之。如:

树欲静而风不止,子欲养而亲不待。(《韩诗外传》之九)

独怜幽草涧边生,上有黄鹂深树鸣。春潮带雨晚来急,野渡无人舟自横。(唐·韦应物《滁州西涧》)

“树欲静而风不止”一句中的主语“树”,是典型的inanimate subject,而“春潮带雨晚来急,野渡无人舟自横”两句中的“春潮”和“舟”,也属于inanimate subject,但是,它们偏偏使用了通常只有animate subject才使用的动词,如“欲”、“带”和“自横”。

《红楼梦》里的王熙凤说了一句话:什么风把你吹来了?亦为Impersonal Subject Sentence。

读者或许已经发现,汉语的所谓Impersonal Subject Sentence,有一共同点:其主语,虽为inanimate,却具有或隐或显,或明或暗的“能动”特性,比如“风”、“春潮”和“舟”,等。而以上三句“新译”的英语主语丝毫不具有“能动”特性。

4.2.2 现象溯源

上文说到英汉语转义词的数量对比时,曾有一个比喻;现在说到英汉语非人称主语句的数量对比,似可再度“挪用”此比喻——英语的非人称主语句美不胜收,一如春日漫山遍野的绚丽山花,而汉语非人称主语句,疏落有致,一如点缀于天幕的寥寂晨星。

笔者曾随机抽查一英语教材的部分课文,从中获得很多英语Impersonal Subject Sentences(请注意黑体字),结果发现,它们的相应汉语表达的主语一律改译成了人称主语。如:

Only the thought of his mother gave him the strength to go on doing it.

他想起了母亲,才鼓足了勇气继续干下去。

The want of his family had kept him from school, and he seemed to feel the loss.

他因家境贫寒失学,似乎感到了失学之苦。

The new year is expected to see great changes.

在新的一年里,人们将看见巨大变革。

Careful comparison of them will show you the differences.

你只消仔细比较一下,就会发现不同。

The application of electronic computers makes for a tremendous rise in labor productivity.

人们使用了电脑,劳动生产率突飞猛进。

Courage deserted him.

他失去了勇气。

The morning sun greeted us as we came out on deck.

登上甲板,我们便见到了一轮旭日。

He gave up all the hope when the appearance of a distant sail kindled his hope of rescue.

他绝望了,正在此时,他见到的远方的帆影,点燃了绝处逢生的希望。

英汉对比,句子主语何以如此悬殊?何以存在如此鲜明的对照呢?显示思维模式之异同,是翻译的功能之一。(www.xing528.com)

早在1500年之前,刘勰在《文心雕龙·神思》中就说过:意授于思,言授于意。大意是意思受思维支配,语言受意念支配。句型差异似乎可以追溯到思维模式的差异。人称主语句和非人称主语句,从表面看,似乎是一个遣词造句之小事。其实不然。此问题关系到看世间万物,究竟孰为主,究竟孰为次,具体地说,是以“人”为主,还是以“物”为主?

翻开中国哲学史,老子、孔子、孟子所宣讲的处世之道、治学之道是中国哲学的立足点。老子开宗明义地提出“人是万物之主体”,庄子在《齐物论》中也提出“万物与我为一”。所以,儒家的“万物皆属于我”论其源头则在老庄。

历史长河,浩瀚久远,汉民族的思维方式也就这样年复一年地受其熏陶,汉民族的语言心理也这样日复一日地受其影响。“人是万物之主体”,天经地义,不能动摇。因此,无论提笔作文,无论开口说话,均应坚守此金科玉律,均得以人(或人称)为主语。久而久之,人称主语句成了遣词造句的一种定势,一种模式,一种规律。此规律,浩浩荡荡,不可阻挡;细雨润物,深入人心。星移斗转,国人对人称主语句式的使用和接受发展到“心有灵犀一点通”的地步,“人称主语”的有无,已经无关紧要。它的省略令行文或言辞更趋简洁,而丝毫不影响彼此交流。

汉语句型之主语几乎千篇一律以人称作主语,但汉语表达却并不因此而显得单调乏味,事实却恰恰相反。究其原因,有两点:一是,汉语经常省略主语。一部《红楼梦》,也充斥了省略型的人称主语句。如第四回的“一直到了宁国府前,只见府门洞开,两边灯笼照如白昼,乱哄哄人来人往,里面哭声摇山振岳”一句,也不见主语。读者却能从上下文轻易悟出主语。二是,汉语句式中有大量的零句,零句可以没有主谓结构,整句与零句混合交错,因而句式即灵活多变,流泻铺排。既然零句可以没有主谓结构,当然就可以缺少动词。中国人造句不太考虑句子成分间的语法关系,不求法度谨严,但求“神而明之”。如:

有一年的冬初,四叔家里要换女工,作中人的卫老婆子带她进来了,头上扎着白头绳,乌裙,蓝夹袄,月白背心,年纪大约二十六七,脸色青黄,但两颊却还是红的。(鲁迅:《祝福》)

上句出现了多处主谓结构的变化(“四叔”、“卫老婆子”、“她”都作过主语),多处省略主语,甚至谓语(如“乌裙,蓝夹袄,月白背心”),零句长短不一,主题和主语难辨,但除去这些繁琐的形式考虑,祥林嫂的形象已鲜明地展现在我们面前,可谓“形散神聚”。

问题回到英语,情况就大不一样。英语句法严谨,没有汉语表达那样的疏放流散。设想,假如把英句的主语都框死在“人称主语”的樊篱中,英语句子将顿趋乏味黯然!

西方哲学走过的岁月并不漫长,但却深深植根于相对宽松自由的土壤之中。其发展更多地立足于逻辑和客观的基石之上,而没有受到强大的“处世之道”、“治学之道”的影响。所谓“人是万物之主体”,在西方哲学里没有市场,在西方的语言心理里也同样没有插足之地。无论成文,无论交谈,所使用的句式的主语都很少束缚,很少规约,很少一律。人称可以作主语,非人称的一切事物,无论具体的、抽象的,无论意念的、心理的,都可“拉”来充当主语,都可占主语之位。既然主语可以五花八门,那么,就不难理解为什么英句的主语一般就不能像汉语那样可以随意“缺席”。既然主语不具备汉语的那种“一律”,一旦省略,读者(听众)必然如坐云雾。

4.2.3 Impersonal Subject Sentence的常见主语

英语Impersonal Subject Sentence的主语,不像汉语那样具备“使动”特性。其主语可以是:

·心理名词

四十岁的女人呢?揽镜自照,昔日光滑的额头已见依稀纹路,浓密的黑发也全没了光泽。哦,时光流逝太快,还没有很好地一览风光,怎么就已入了秋境呢?便觉得有三分怅惘,三分无奈。然而,思之又觉释然。

What has become of a woman at forty? The answer comes from the mirror, which shows up vaguely discernible wrinkles on the formerly smooth forehead and the thick black hair with its gloss gone. A touch of frustration and helplessness comes over me as I realize how time flies. Before I have sufficiently admired the scenery and enjoyed the beauties of life, it's already autumn. However, a second thought brings me relieved calm.

(我)便觉得有三分怅惘,三分无奈。然而,思之又觉释然。→

A touch of frustration and helplessness comes over me... a second thought brings me relieved calm.

翻译时,主语(我)省略了,却巧用“怅惘”,“无奈”(frustration and helplessness)和“思之”(a second thought)作主语!

有的人如游客,不急不慌,走走停停,看花开花落,看云卷云舒,有时也在风中走,雨里行,心却像张开的网,放过了焦躁苦恼。

Others travel leisurely like tourists. They would take time off now and then for a look at blooming flowers or fallen petals. They would stop to admire clouds gathering and dispersing. Even when they go against the wind or are caught in the rain, they never get annoyed, for worries slip off their minds as from an open net.

(有的人的)心却像张开的网,放过了焦躁苦恼。→

...worries slip off their minds as from an open net.

worries,而非some people作主语,堪称别致!

·体貌名词

她们或许是我们的奶奶,满头银丝,满脸皱纹,世人多用“慈祥”去形容她们,但很少有人能品味皱纹背后那岁月与历史拂过的幽香。她们无须再用铅华刻意雕饰,我却分明看见她和她的老伴共同演出那首动人的歌——《牵手》。

She is very charming when singing "Hand in Hand" in a duet with her lifelong companion. White-haired and wrinkled, she may be one of our grannies, a perfect image of kindness as she is often described. The furrows ploughed by time deny replenishment with cosmetics, for they are fertile soil radiating the fragrance of history.

很少有人能品味皱纹背后那岁月与历史拂过的幽香。她们无须再用铅华刻意雕饰。→The furrows ploughed by time deny replenishment with cosmetics, for they are fertile soil radiating the fragrance of history.

译得何等精彩!纯正的英语味扑面而来,究其原因,无非是在英译时改用The furrows(皱纹)作主语!

·感觉名词

当一个女人突然之间意识到自己是一个女人并且为自己的性别感到自豪时,是女人最美的时候。

A woman is never more beautiful when the full sense of being a female dawns on her and makes her very proud of the sex.

意识到自己是一个女人→sense of being a female

英译译笔流畅,符合英语句子短的在前,长的在后特点。而此英译用sense of being a female作主语乃成功之关键。

·见闻名词

每天不厌地擦拭,清洁着我的小屋,不使它被尘埃埋没,回家来时,便总有一份欢欣的感觉。不管夜有多深,总有一盏小灯亮着,留给迟归的人,远远望见,温暖便从窗口一直注入心底。

Day in day out my room is cleaned with meticulous care to keep it always dust-free, so that it greets me with a pleasant look whenever I return home. No matter how far into the night, there is always a light at that window shining through darkness like a beacon to the one bound for home late. The sight of it, even in the distance, brings warmth from the window all the way to the heart.

原句的“温暖便从窗口一直注入心底”貌似非人称主语句,其实非也。此句的前句“远远望见”的主语当是“我”!英译却化原句中的“远远望见”为主语The sight of it,再添加even in the distance,妙不可言地导出一个漂亮的Impersonal Subject Sentence!

·自然现象名词

于是,暮色中匆匆的人群里,总有我赶路的身影,雨里,雾里,雪里,只盼着早些回家,洗去一身的疲劳,泡上一杯清茶,点上一炷檀香,打开半卷的书卷,一任轻柔的旋律把我带进一个美丽的境界……所有的喧嚣和烦乱都被抛在朔风冷雨里,因为我已经到家了。

Thus the gathering dark often finds me hastening home in a hurrying crowd. Whether it rains or snows, windy or foggy, it is the longing to be home that quickens my steps. To be home means to end a day's fatigue and enjoy myself in a world of my own. With a nice cup of tea and a burning sandalwood incense by my side, I can either resume my suspended reading, or listen leisurely to a soft melody and let myself be carried away to a fairyland of beauty... All the urban noises and disturbances are shut out, thrown to the winds and rain, for I am safe at home.

于是,暮色中匆匆的人群里,总有我赶路的身影。→Thus the gathering dark often finds me hastening home in a hurrying crowd.

英语的Impersonal Subject Sentence就是具有这样一种魅力!句子的主语在英译时居然被译成了the gathering dark。再者,“只盼着早些回家”也被译者顺手牵羊般地译成了it is the longing to be home that quickens my steps,同样值得读者回味一番,尤其是其中的定语从句。

·具体的“物”的名词

又过了几个月,我看见他们手上戴了结婚戒指。可是他们不像以前那样健谈了,她又在看书,他在看报。

Months later, rings appeared glistening on their fingers but chatting was gradually replaced by reading, one with a book the other a newspaper.

我看见他们手上戴了结婚戒指→rings appeared glistening on their fingers!

Impersonal Subject Sentence还有减字功能,汉语原句中的“我看见”自然省却!

我或许是在发泄心中无法诉说的一种情绪,或是在构思一首暂时还羞于见人的小诗,或是再次拿起久违的彩笔勾勒童年的彩虹,请你让我信笔驰骋。

It may be that I'm venting some pent-up feelings long denied expression, or trying to compose a little poem not yet presentable for the time being, or attempting to sketch out something visualized from my childhood memories which glows in my mind like a rainbow. When I am in such a mood, please leave me alone and let me write as the pen dictates.

原句句未的“请你让我信笔驰骋”以“你”为主体,如果直译,译文势必僵硬,不料,译者笔锋陡转,以pen作主语,以dictate(指令;指示)作谓语,译文顿趋简洁地道。

·Impersonal Subject Sentence审美价值

一篇题为《珍惜感情》的文章,仅530个字,却精致秀逸,美若盆景。文章巧取一个生活截面,写人叙事,寓意隽永。已婚者,未婚者,读后内心都会泛起层层涟漪。

珍惜感情

那是一个秋日微凉的黄昏。

刚跟丈夫怄过气,一头湿漉漉的乱发披散,站在院子的当口,让风使劲吹着。

“过来!坏脾气妞!”说话的当儿,丈夫已拿着电吹风从房里走出来。没好意思再别扭,便拉过一把椅子顺从地坐下来。就这样,面对着满院子灿烂的花,不说一句话,心中的怨恨却已全消了。

一头雾气渐渐散尽了,耳畔不时地有一种湿热的感觉。

“也许,多年后的一个黄昏,像现在,你一人独坐的时候,你会想起眼前的这一刻的。”沉默了很长时间的丈夫,突然说出这样的话来,而且在声音中还带着一丝藏不住的伤感。“那你呢?”

丈夫关掉了手中的吹风机,看了我一眼,笑笑,然后,甩手摆正我的头,手中的电吹风又响了起来,好一会儿才说:

“先你而去了。”

声音是那么肯定而平静。而我好像突然明白了一直不做声的丈夫心中的那一份痛惜的感觉,就像是一个顽童突然看到了他顽劣的后果。

倘上帝真的要惩罚我,让我在多年后独自面对这满院子的鲜花。那么,我怎么敢去细想,去揣摩丈夫此刻的伤感和痛惜。

佛说,修五百年只能同舟,修一千年才能同枕。而千年之后又能相守几时?

为什么敢轻易伤害的总是我最亲爱的人,只是因为只有这个人会一次又一次地原谅我。可是,就是因这颗心永远不会背弃我,我就一直地不重视它。

真有那么一天,叫我怎样地面对满院鲜红依旧的花……?

Cherish the Other's Affection

It was towards sunset on a cool autumn day.

Having just bickered with my husband, I stood irritated in a draught by the gate of the yard, letting my wet unkempt hair flutter fiercely over my shoulders. "Come over, you peevish girl!" said my husband walking out into the yard with a blow dryer.

I could not very well resist but pull a chair and sit down compliantly. The blooming flowers of the yard presenting a riot of color before my eyes quietly dispelled all my grudges.

I felt warmth coming off and on around my ears while the mist of vapor was dispersing.

"Perhaps, this scene will come back to you years later when you sit alone at sunset like this."

A tinge of melancholy was tangible in my husband's voice, which broke the long silence.

"What about you then?" I asked.

My husband turned off the blow dryer and looked at me with a smile. After adjusting the pose of my head he let the blow dryer work again. It was quite some time before he gave a reply: "Gone long before you."

His voice was so sure yet so calm. It suddenly dawned on me that taciturn as he had been all the time, there was regret deep in his heart. I was awe-struck like a mischievous boy brought face to face with the damage he had done.

If after many years I was, as God would have it, left alone watching the glory of the flowers, would I have the heart to contemplate and figure out what there is now in my husband's mind?

The Buddha says: It takes five hundred years' religious devotion for people to acquire a chance of sharing a boat and one thousand years of sharing a marriage bed. But how long is it to keep each other's company in wedlock?

How come that I tend to hurt the one I love most? It may be that he is the one who forgives me each time. However, it is precisely because there is no danger of being deserted that I have all along taken him for granted.

If it should eventually happen, how could I bear to look at the same splendid scene of flowers all alone?

英译与汉语原文,同样精彩。文字流畅,遣词精当。笔者把英译发送给美国友人,美国友人对译文作了些小修改,评价极高。

英译散发着英语味,而很少汉语痕迹,或曰,很少“译痕”,在相当程度上归功于四句非人称主语句。现对其修辞功能做一浅析。

就这样,面对着满院子灿烂的花,不说一句话,心中的怨恨已全消失了。

The blooming flowers of the yard presenting a riot of color before my eyes quietly dispelled all my grudges.

原文主语并未出现,读者却能即刻意识到省略的主语是“我”。若不省略“我”,如“我面对着满院子……,我不说……,我心中的怨恨……”,行文将显得拖沓。

英译的主语没有相应地用I,而是出人意料地改用了非人称的flowers,后续动感很强的动词dispelled(消除)。flowers一词似乎被赋予一种神力,能排遣“我”心中的怨恨!绕过了人称主语,表达顿趋简洁,而且也生动活泼起来。

也许,多年后的一个黄昏,像现在,你一人独坐的时候,你会想起眼前的这一刻的。

Perhaps, this scene will come back to you years later when you sit alone at sunset like this.

同样,原文主语是人,未被省略,“你”字反复出现。英译一反汉语习惯,以非人称的主语this scene取代“你”,后续动词come(back to you)。英译以this scene牵头,短小精干,其后则拖拖拉拉,如接龙一般。状语years later后接一个when引导的状语从句,而状语从句中又含一个介词短语at sunset,一个还不够,还要再接一个介词短语like this。真可谓洋洋洒洒,欲止又言;如此句型,头轻脚重,从容洒脱,正符合英语句型的审美价值!

沉默了很长时间的丈夫,突然说出这样的话来,而且在声音中还带着一丝藏不住的伤感。

A tinge of melancholy was tangible in my husband's voice, which broke the long silence.

原文动词“说”的主语是丈夫。译者笔力不凡,变汉语的人称主语为英语非人称主语A tinge of melancholy!更妙的是,定语从句的关系词which的先行词也是非人称的voice。一个非人称主语(A tinge of melancholy)接另一个非人称主语(voice),让读者品味再三的竟是定语从句中的动宾结构:broke the long silence。

反观汉语原文,英译似乎更符合“一气呵成”(Coherence)的行文原则!英译A tinge of melancholy was tangible in my husband's voice, which broke the long silence的上句是“丈夫”突然说出的一句话,话既出口,英译马上跟着描绘丈夫的语音——A tinge of melancholy,如此紧密契合,汉语原句所不如也。

声音是那么肯定而平静。而我好像突然明白了一直不做声的丈夫心中的那一份痛惜的感觉,就像是一个顽童突然看到了他顽劣的后果。

His voice was so sure yet so calm. It suddenly dawned on me that taciturn as he had been all the time, there was regret deep in his heart. I was awe-struck like a mischievous boy brought face to face with the damage he had done.

汉语原句的“我好像突然明白了……”系句子核心,主语“我”则是核心之核心。不料相应的英译又心裁别出,采用了一个英语广为使用的句式:It suddenly dawned on somebody that...。

细辨It指代的内容,不是也不可能指代“我”,而是用于固定句型中的一种非人称的指式。英译以It suddenly dawned on me牵头,同样短小精干,构成了英句之美。此外,主语It隐含了一种逻辑力量;它是模糊的,又是清晰的。这个It囊括了上句的全部内容——his voice, sure, calm等等。从逻辑上汉语原句的逻辑就显得松散,因为在“声音是那么肯定而平静”之后,必须绕到人称主语“我”上去。

浏览我国古典名著的英译本,常令人赞叹英语的非人称主语句为英译增色添彩。如:

偌大景致,若干亭榭,无字标题,也觉寥落无趣,任有花柳山水,也断不能生色。(《红楼梦》第五回)

上句是典型的汉语的无主句,但是读者并不计较,“也觉寥落无趣”一句已足以暗示,主语是人也。而杨戴译本译文如下:

On the other hand, if we leave the chief sights and pavilions without a single name or couplet until her visit, the garden, however lovely with its flowers and willows, rocks and streams, cannot fully reveal its charm.

“生色”二字被自如地译成了reveal its charm,已经别致。寻其主语,原来是the garden! the garden cannot fully reveal its charm即为句子的主干,是典型的Impersonal Subject Sentence,与汉语原句相映成趣。

我们所说的Impersonal Subject Sentence,并非只限于一种简单的句型,即S+V+O的句型,请看以下两个译例:

原来这藕香榭盖在池中,四面有窗,左右有曲廊可通,亦是跨水接岸,后面又有曲折竹桥暗接。(《红楼梦》第九回)

杨戴译本的译文是:

This pavilion, built in the middle of the lake, had windows on all four sides, twisting corridors on left and right leading to both shores and, behind, a winding bamboo bridge connecting it with the bank.

英译twisting corridors on left and right leading to both shores就是不可多得的佳译,这不是Impersonal Subject Sentence,而是一个独立主格结构,一个具有Impersonal Subject Sentence性质的结构。

句子共计36个单词,洋洋洒洒,但若计算其谓语动词,仅有一个词而已——had!句子结构稳妥,短的在前,长的在后,是地道的英语结构。

又如,在《儒林外史》第三回有这样一句:

屠户被众人局不过,只得连斟两碗喝了,壮一壮胆,把方才这些小心收起,将平日的凶恶样子拿出来。

杨戴译文是:

Butcher Hu had to give in. Two bowls of wine bolstered up his courage, making him lose his scruples and start his usual rampaging.

Two bowls of wine bolstered up his courage已是精彩的Impersonal Subject Sentence,但是,紧跟其后的现在分词短语making him lose his scruples and start his usual rampaging也值得我们咀嚼,它同样具有Impersonal Subject Sentence的性质!短短一句,尽现Impersonal Subject Sentence之风采。英译的句子结构更趋紧密,行文更趋流畅,逻辑也就更一致。

4.2.4 扮靓Impersonal Subject Sentence之关键:动词

构成Impersonal Subject Sentence的关键因素有两个,一个是主语,另一个则是动词谓语。和主语相比,此句型的动词谓语似更有规律可循,且掌握了动词谓语的规律,在汉译英的过程中就能更加自如地运用。现对非人称主语句式的动词谓语做以下归纳分析:

·与人的视觉有关的若干动词

这些动词如see, witness, look, peer等。

仔细一想,我们汉语中并不乏这样的句式,不乏对视觉动词的活用。如:天安门广场曾经目睹了伟大的“五四”运动。又如:山顶上的那家豪华宾馆鸟瞰西湖。但是,英语运用视觉动词的语域(register)要宽广得多。比如,Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English,就对动词see作了这样一条释义:to be an occasion of (an event or course in history); to have experience of; undergo,并附有例句:The 5th century saw the end of the Roman Empire in the West. / This old house has seen better days; now it's in bad repair.

1919年“五四”运动以后,开始了“新红学”时代,代表人物有胡适、俞平伯等这样一些学者。

The May Fourth Movement of 1919 saw the beginnings of the "New Redology", represented by scholars such as Hu Shi and Yu Pingbo.

那个寒冷的下午,他在雪地里跋涉。

That chilly afternoon witnessed him trudging in the snow.

他在驾车驶过那事故多发的拐角时总是格外小心。

He was especially careful when driving through the corner that had seen many car accidents.

当时管待林冲酒食,至晚送回天王堂。次日,又来相请。(《水浒》第五回)

He entertained Lin Chong with food and drink and that night saw him back to the garrison temple. The following morning, he came again to invite Lin to his home.

·与人的活动密切相关的动作动词

包括greet, kiss, tell, ask等动词。

当这些动词作谓语时,其主语竟是无生命的(inanimate)或具体或抽象的物,对于我们以汉语为母语的人来说确实新鲜,也是初学汉英翻译的人所难以联想甚至不敢运用的。

通过在广州的见闻以及随后在各地的访问,我们的忧虑已化为喜悦。

The news that greeted us in Guangzhou and our visits later to various places turned anxiety to joy.

登上甲板,我们便见到了一轮旭日。

The morning sun greeted us as we came out on deck. (Webster's New World Dictionary为及物动词greet提供的三条释义中,就赫然写着:to come or appear to; meet,并提供了例句:A roaring sound greeted his ears。)

清风拂过树梢。

A soft wind kissed the treetops.

曹军大惧,皆顶着遮箭牌守御。土山上一声梆子响处,箭下如雨。曹军皆蒙伏地,袁军呐喊而笑。曹操见军慌乱,集众谋士问计。(《三国演义》第五回)

Fear gripped Cao's army. The soldiers crouched behind shields as bolts rained down periodically at the signal of wooden clappers. Yuan Shao's men howled with laughter at the sight of the cowering enemy. Confusion spread in the ranks, and Cao Cao convened his counselors.

·与人的活动有一定关系的动作动词

如escape, slip, take, bring, refuse, grip, choke等。

这些动词出现在非人称主语句,往往给初学者眼睛一亮之感。但是随着学习进程的深化,我们又会发觉这些动词在此类句式中的特别含义,已经不那么特别,词典基本收入了这种特别含义。

我一时想不起他的名字。

His name escapes me for the moment. [《英汉大词典》就收入了这样的例句:Your name obstinately escapes me. (我怎么也想不起你的名字。)该词典还特别注明了escape用于此语境的含义是:被……忘掉。]

走过草地几步,我们就到了一个华丽的大酒店。

A few steps across the lawn brought me to a large, splendid hotel.

从1840到1880年这四十年中,近一千万移民移居美国。

The forty years, 1840~80, brought almost ten million migrants to America.

他的心中充满了恐惧。

Fear gripped his heart.

·导致状态变化的动词

如give, set, make, kill, keep, leave, deprive, disarm, remind, prevent, show, lead (to)等。

这一类动词常常用来翻译汉语的兼语句。汉语兼语式的特点是:谓语有两个动词,前一个动词的宾语,又是后一个动词的主语。前后两个动词不共一个主语。在动宾短语套接主谓短语的结构中,动宾短语中的动词常含有“使令”之意,用得最多的要数“使”、“令”、“让”等等。以下例句颇能说明这个问题。

一看到一家服装店,就使我心里升起了一阵强烈的愿望,很想扔掉这身褴褛的衣服,重新穿得像个样子。

The sight of a tailor-shop gave me a sharp longing to shed my rags, and to clothe myself decently once more.

你吃了这药就会好些。

This medicine will make you feel better.

见丈人在跟前,恐怕又要挨骂。(《儒林外史》第三回)

The sight of his father-in-law made Fan Jin afraid that he was in for another cursing.

到了八月初八进头场,见了自己哭的所在,不觉喜出望外。(《儒林外史》第三回)

On the eighth of the eighth month he went to the examination school for the provincial examination, and the sight of the place where he had cried made him unexpectedly happy.

·使用其转义的动词

如snow, father, creep, obey等等。

有一类动词,或因其形象生动,或因其寓意深邃,而常被用其转义,当此类转义动词用于非人称主语句时,句子的内涵顿趋深广,句子色彩顿趋鲜妍。如:

生日那天,她收到了大量礼品和贺信。

Gifts and messages snowed in on her birthday.

他走起路来,不知不觉平添了几分尊严。

A new dignity crept into his steps.

汽车的方向盘异常灵敏。

The wheel of the car obeys the slightest touch of the wheel.

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