“顺句操作”这一翻译方式不仅允许局部小范围的词序变动,也不排除紧密相连的两个断句成份相互换位的可能性。下面即是一个例子:
President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union, capitalizing on the modern phenomenon of
the“instant book", will publish a memoir this week in which he pledges abiding allegiance to the“socialist idea”//
and tries to explain the tactical blunders//that led to the coup against him this summer.
当代世界有个现象,就是许多人可“著书速成”。苏联总统米哈伊尔,戈尔巴乔夫也挤进了这个行列。本星期他将出版一本回忆录。书中他不仅立誓对“社会主义思想”抱始终不渝的忠诚,而且还试图为其策略失误作辩解。这些失误导致今夏发生旨在推翻他的政变。
断句后的翻译操作将原文第一句的第一部分与第二部分的位置进行了互换,目的在于能使译文更有逻辑性,但并未因此而有损于原句的基本意思。
“顺句操作”翻译经常会碰到的另一个问题是英语被动态的处理。在许多情况下,断句之后,只要将英语的被动句译成汉语的主动句即可。
A landmark decision yesterday by an industrial tribunal on pension equality// could leave
the UK pension industry facing extra costs of£13 billion a year.
昨天一行业纠纷审理委员会就退休金平等问题作出一项史无前例的裁决。此举可能使英国的养老金管理事业每年要多支出130亿英镑。
Soldiers' salaries have been so eroded // by budget constraints and by the soaring cost
of living//that a major serving in a combat zone earns the equivalent of just $230 per
month//一plus $10 hazardous duty pay.
财政拮据,生活费用急剧上涨,使得军人实际月饷大大缩水。在战区服役的一位少校每月只拿到相当于230美元的军饷,外加10美元作为执行危险任务的补贴。
But public outrage over abuse of privilege continued to mount,//fueled by// allegations of dope
dealing at the House Post Office, unpaid bills at the exclusive members' dining room and extravagant junketeering at
taxpayers' expense.
公众对国会议员滥用特权的义愤有增无减。有些议员被指控利用国会邮政所从事毒品交易,有的被指控在专门餐厅用餐不付账,有的被指控花纳税人的钱搞公费旅游,这些更使公众怒不可遏。
最后我们再来看一段英语及其“顺句操作”翻译后的译文:
A Paris court decision this past week to drop war crimes charges again Frenchman accused
of killing Jews during World War II has catalysed demands from lawyers, educators,
politicians and Catholic clergymen regarding the need for France to confront its past at
a time when extreme rightist forces are making political headway throughout much Europe.
断句:
A Paris court decision this past week to drop war crimes charges against a Frenchman //
accused of killing Jews during World War II // has catalyzed demands from lawyers, educators,
politicians and Catholic clergymen // regarding the need for France to confront its past7 //
at a time when extreme rightist forces are making political headway throughout much Europe.
一位法国人被指控在第二次世界大战期间杀害犹太人。上星期巴黎一家法院作出判决,撤消了这个人犯下的战争罪行。正当极右力量在欧洲大部分地区在政治上不断得势之际,该法院作出这个判决,激起法国律师、教育工作者、政界人士和天主教神职人员的强烈反响,纷纷要求法国有必要正视它过去的历史。
从上面的这个例子中,可以明显感觉到,断句后所产生的译文与前面所讨论过的断句后进行翻译操作的句子都不大一样,因为这个译文的产生已基本不是“顺势顺序”翻译的结果,几乎每个断句的位置都作了调整。比较原文,译文的词序和句序的变更幅度已经过大、过频,因而明显已越过正常意义上的“顺句操作”应有的界线,实际已很难顺势一气呵成译出来。碰到这类情形,“顺句操作”的方式就不合适了,需要求助于其他的翻译手段。
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