爹爹接下去說：“所以你們要像花生，因為它是有用的，不是偉大、好看的東西??。”
“So you should try to be like the peanut,” Dad went on, “because it is useful, though not great or attractive.”
落花生◎許地山
我們屋后有半畝隙地??。母親說：“讓它荒蕪著怪可惜，既然你們那么愛吃花生，就辟來做花生園罷??。”我們幾個姊弟和幾個小丫頭都很喜歡——買種的買種，動土的動土，灌園的灌園；過了不幾個月，居然收獲了！
媽媽說：“今晚我們可以做一個收獲節(jié)，也請你們的爹爹來嘗嘗我們的新花生，如何？”我們都答應(yīng)了。母親把花生做成好幾樣食品，還吩咐這節(jié)期要在園里的茅亭舉行。
那晚上的天色不大好，可是爹爹也來到，實在很難得！爹爹說：“你們愛吃花生嗎？”
我們都爭著答應(yīng)：“愛！”
“誰能把花生的好處說出來？”
姊姊說：“花生的氣味很美。”
哥哥說：“花生可以榨油。”
我說：“無論何等人都可以用賤價買它來吃；都喜歡吃它。這是它的好處。”
爹爹說：“花生的用處固然很多；但有一樣是很可貴的。這小小的豆不像那好看的蘋果、桃子、石榴，把它們的果實懸在枝上，鮮紅嫩綠的顏色，令人一望而發(fā)生羨慕的心。它只把果子埋在地底，等到成熟，才容人把它挖出來。你們偶然看見一棵花生瑟縮地長在地上，不能立刻辨出它有沒有果實，非得等到你接觸它才能知道。”
我們都說：“是的。”母親也點點頭。爹爹接下去說：“所以你們要像花生，因為它是有用的，不是偉大、好看的東西。”我說：“那么，人要做有用的，不要做偉大、體面的人了。”爹爹說：“這是我對于你們的希望。”
我們談到夜闌才散，所有花生食品雖然沒有了，然而父親底話現(xiàn)在還印在我心版上。
選自楊川慶編著《許地山散文選集》，百花文藝出版社2004年版。
The Peanut
Tr. by Liu Shicong
At the back of our house there was half a mu of vacant land.“It’s a pity to let it go to waste like that,” Mother said.“Since you all enjoy eating peanuts, let us open it up and make it a peanut garden.” At that my brother, sister and I were all delighted and so were the young housemaids. Some went to buy seeds, some dug the ground and others watered it and, in a couple of months, we had a harvest!
“Let us have a party tonight to celebrate,” Mother suggested,“and ask Dad to come for a taste of our fresh peanuts. What do you say?” We all agreed, of course. Mother cooked the peanuts in different styles and told us to go to the thatched pavilion in the garden for the celebration.
The weather was not very good that night but, to our great delight, Dad came all the same.“Do you like peanuts?” Dad asked.
“Yes!” We all answered eagerly.
“But who can tell me what the peanut is good for?”
“It is very delicious to eat,” my sister took the lead.
“It is good for making cooking oil,” my brother followed.
“It is inexpensive,” I said.“Almost everyone can afford it and everyone enjoys eating it. I think this is what it is good for.”
“Peanut is good for many things,” Dad said,“but there is one thing that is particularly good about it. Unlike apples, peaches or pomegranates that display their fruits up in the air, attracting you with their beautiful colors, peanut buries its fruit in the earth. It does not show itself until you dig it out when it is ripe and, unless you dig out, you can’t tell whether it bears fruit or not just by its frail stems above ground.”
“That’s true,” we all said and Mother nodded her assent.“So you should try to be like the peanut,” Dad went on,“because it is useful, though not great or attractive.”
“Do you mean,” I asked,“we should learn to be useful but not seek to be great or attractive?”
“Yes,” Dad said.“This is what I wish you to be.”
We stayed up late that night, eating all the peanuts Mother had cooked for us. But Father’s words remained vivid in my memory till this day.
選自喬萍、翟淑蓉、宋洪瑋編著《散文佳作108篇》，譯林出版社1999年版 。
New Words
delight v . cause (sb.) great satisfaction, enjoyment, or joy 使高興，使欣喜
thatched n . plant stalks used as roofing material 茅草；茅草屋頂
pavilion n . large and often sumptuous tent 樓閣
frail adj . physically weak 脆弱的
assent n . agreement with a statement or proposal to do something 同意；贊成
《落花生賞析》
本文是許地山（1892—1941）的名篇。作者回憶自己童年時代一個小小片斷，以樸實無華、清新自然的筆調(diào)，自然平實、簡潔凝練的語言風(fēng)格，從花生的平凡而有用，談到做人的道理，富于哲理，反映了他身處舊社會的污泥濁流而潔身自好、不慕虛名的思想境界。全文只有二十四句話，通篇不足六百字，但是因為文章比較口語化，而且偏向于日常生活的瑣事，加之散文翻譯的要旨就是要充分保留原文的風(fēng)格和特色，所以翻譯起來也有一定的難度。
作為我國散文漢譯英的泰斗，劉士聰先生在翻譯《落花生》的時候做到了充分保留原文風(fēng)格和特色，使得譯文讀起來朗朗上口，自然流暢。譯本用詞簡單明了，讀者容易接受，同時譯文風(fēng)格清新流暢，字里行間可以看出譯者嚴謹?shù)姆g作風(fēng)。從語言處理上來看，譯本注重通篇語境，適當?shù)木涫胶陀迷~的調(diào)整使得文章讀起來清新自然。另外，譯者還注重添加文章的口語色彩，使之更加符合英語語言習(xí)慣。
譯文的開篇之句就奠定了全文的基調(diào)。誦讀譯句“At the back of our house there was half a mu of vacant land.”其間相對重讀的詞語有back，house，there，half，vacant。全句念來，詞語輕、重讀彼此交錯，語流均衡適中，語勢徐緩，語氣柔和，自然而然地進入作品主題，符合原作娓娓道來的精神。從敘事口吻來講，本文是作者對父親循循善誘、諄諄教導(dǎo)的感念，對母親慈祥、勤勞的追憶，對敦厚和睦家庭氛圍的回味。全文宛如涓涓溪流，緩緩地流進讀者的心田。為了再現(xiàn)原作這一整體基調(diào)，譯者在把握作者的敘事角度與速度、重構(gòu)句式以及選詞用字等方面做出了富有成效的努力。比如將“我們幾姊弟和幾個小丫頭都很喜歡——買種的買種，動土的動土，灌園的灌園；過不了幾個月，居然收獲了!”譯為“At that my brother, sister and I were all delighted and so were the young housemaids. Some went to buy seeds, some dug the ground and others watered it and, in a couple of months, we had a harvest!”既生動形象地再現(xiàn)了“戲劇式演出”的特色，又勾勒出我們歡快、急切地種花生的情景。譯者以英語中類似的平行結(jié)構(gòu)的句式“some went to … some began to … and others watered … ”在形象地傳譯出緊張而輕快的勞動節(jié)奏之后，又逗引出時間短語“in a couple of months”，一切盡在預(yù)料中又出乎預(yù)料，表達了我們收獲了勞動的驚喜之情。
譯者向讀者傳遞的是直感的人生經(jīng)驗，譯文語勢連貫，行云流水，感染力很強。如爹爹問花生的好處，說“我們”爭著答。為再現(xiàn)“爭答”的情形，譯者將“我們”的“答話”置于句首，巧妙地暗示出“爭答”的意味，給人身臨其境的感覺。在表現(xiàn)藝術(shù)上，可謂“不著一字，盡得風(fēng)流”。譯文將“姐姐說”“哥哥說”“我說”中的“說”，分別譯為“my sister took the lead”“my brother followed”“I said”，使譯文富于變化，句子長短均衡，節(jié)奏感強，但更為重要的是向讀者描繪出一幅和諧溫暖的生活畫面：我們的答話雖有爭先恐后之勢，但并無你爭我搶之感，場景上依然井然有序，有條不紊，給人留下了“我們”彬彬有禮，家教良好的聯(lián)想，體現(xiàn)了譯文文字的韻味。
好的譯文不僅要從整體上把握譯作藝術(shù)之美的感悟與創(chuàng)造過程，也要使譯文詞句與原文相符，還要使敘事語氣與行文風(fēng)格和原文一致，缺一不可。父親借用花生談到對孩子們的期望時，譯者從英文的視角出發(fā)將譯文做了相應(yīng)的調(diào)整，顯得文通理順。出于對英文整體行文的節(jié)奏或句式平衡的考慮，譯者未曾將“母親也點點頭”處理為“Mother also nodded”而是將其譯為“Mother nodded her assent”。譯文中增譯“Yes”，是根據(jù)英文問答模式，對前文問話的回應(yīng)——先有父親認真聽取后的回應(yīng)，后有自然帶出的“期望”，譯文前后貫通，十分自然。譯文將“體面的”譯為“attractive”，顯然是緊承前面英文(attracting you with their beautiful colors)表達而來的轉(zhuǎn)換與傳譯，前后貫通，意味上彼此滲透，別有情韻，堪稱上乘佳譯!譯文中增加了“Mother had cooked for us”，是從英文出發(fā)對前文內(nèi)容的回應(yīng)，也再次凸現(xiàn)作者對“父母”的感念之情。而且將原文的一句話，分譯為單獨的兩句話，既彰顯了兩句話的重要性，也取得了行文至此，一錘定音的尾重功效。
譯者主體與文本審美對翻譯中選詞造句、謀篇布局與傳情達意有著不可或缺的影響，譯文應(yīng)從敘事口吻、文意貫通的藝術(shù)、譯文精美性的再創(chuàng)造等層面來探討散文翻譯中美的感悟、傳譯與創(chuàng)造，藝術(shù)地傳譯出原文情隨意轉(zhuǎn)、豐富多樣的韻味。
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