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《初恋》译文赏析
时间：2022-06-24 11:02:28 作者：宇扬翻译
《初恋》是我国现代著名散文家、翻译家周作人的一篇早期散文，语言朴素，风格平和，反映孩童时对异性懵懂的爱恋。
很多学者和译员都翻译过这篇散文，其中包括：我国当代著名翻译家张培基，香港中文大学中国研究中心的谭景辉博士，英国著名汉学家和翻译家卜立德（David E. Pollard）。本文将节选他们的译作进行赏析。
那时我十四岁，她大约是十三岁罢。我跟着祖父的妾宋姨太太寄寓在杭州的花牌楼，间壁住着一家姚姓，她便是那家的女儿。伊本姓杨，住在清波门头，大约因为行三，人家都称她作三姑娘。姚家老夫妇没有子女，便认她做干女儿。
张：I was then 14, and she about 13. I was living with grandpa's concubine Song in our temporary home in Hua-Pai-Lou, Hangzhou. The little girl was our next-door neighbour Yao's daughter. She had originally been the daughter of a Yang family in Qing-Bo-Men-Tou. As she was the third child of the family, people often called her San-Gu-Niang. The old Yaos had no children of their own, so they took her as their goddaughter.
谭：I was fourteen then. She was about thirteen. I was living at the time in the Hua Pai Lou in Hangzhou at the home of my grandfather’s concubine, Song. Living next door was a family by the name of Yao, and she was their daughter. Her original surname war Yang, and her home was at the Qingbo Gate. Probably because she was the third child, she was known to everybody as Third Daughter. The Yaos, an elderly couple, had no children of their own, and they took her in as their foster daughter.
卜：I was then thirteen years old, and she was about twelve. I was staying in lodgings with my grandfather's concubine, whose maiden name was Song, in a house called Floral Arch in Hangzhou. Next door lived the Yaos; she was their daughter. Her own name was Yang, and she lived at Clearwater Gate; possibly because she was the third child, everyone called her Miss Three. Old Mr. and Mrs. Yao had no children of their own, so they adopted her as their god-daughter。
原文只有短短几行，却多次出现了人名和地名，三位译者对此类专有名词作了不同的处理。张培基对“三姑娘”一词采用音译法，而谭景辉和卜立德根据这一称呼的实际含义进行意译，相对而言，读者更容易理解和接受。文中首次提及“宋姨太太”时，张培基和谭景辉译作Song，容易和英语单词的song（歌曲）相混淆；卜立德则采用了增译法，对Song加以解释，让译文的意思更加明确、易懂。卜立德同样对“花牌楼”、“清波门头”等地名作了意译，一来方便读者依据相关特征联想，二来避免集中出现大量拼音，这样可有效防止读者视觉疲劳和误解。
三位译者对于“干女儿”的翻译也有所不同。在西方，godparents指的是有责任监督并保护goddaughter的宗教信仰和行为的教徒，在宗教信仰及遵守教规等问题上，代替父母教育监督；但有时候不涉及任何宗教关系。foster daughter指的是被没有血缘关系的人当作女儿抚养长大（并非收养），与义女之意相同。此处将“干女儿”译作goddaughter似更为贴切。
在此刻回想起来，仿佛是一个尖面庞，乌眼睛，瘦小身材，而且有尖小的脚的少女，并没有什么殊胜的地方，但在我的性的生活里总是第一个人，使我于自己以外感到对于别人的爱着，引起我没有明了的性之概念的，对于异性的恋慕的第一个人了。
张： As far as I can now remember, she seemed to be a little girl with delicate features, black eyes, slender figure and small feet, and have nothing especially appealing. But she was the first person of the opposite sex that had caught my notice. The first person that had made me love somebody else as much as myself. The first person that had made me sexually aware. The first person that had aroused my adoration for the opposite sex.
谭：When I think back now, I seem to see her as a young girl with a pointed chin, glistening eyes, a slight build, and a pair of small, slender feet. There was nothing spectacular about her, and yet she was the first person in my romantic life, and she made me direct my love for the first time to someone other than myself. Even before l had any understanding of romance, she was the first member of the opposite sex to arouse my yearning.
卜：Thinking back now, l vaguely picture a girl with a sharp chin, black eyes, thin body and small pointed feet. There was nothing special about her, but she was nevertheless the first person in my sexual life, the first person who made me feel love for another besides myself, who gave rise to an as yet ill-defined notion of sex, and admiration for the female gender.
此段描写的是三姑娘于“我”而言的特别之处，虽然没有华丽的辞藻，但不难体现出作者懵懂的纯真情怀和淡淡的情思。张培基的译文连用四个the first person，稍显枯燥冗长，与原文所表达的细腻情感稍有差别；而谭景辉和卜立德的译文更加自然通顺，娓娓道来。
我那时也很觉得不快，想象她的悲惨的死相，但同时却又似乎很是安静，仿佛心里有一块大石头已经放下了。
张：I, too, felt very sad, picturing in my mind her tragic death, but, meanwhile, somehow remained very calm like a big stone weighing on my heart had been removed.
谭：I was disturbed by the news, trying to imagine the pain she must have been in, but at the same time, there seemed to be a certain calm within me, as if a huge rock had been lifted from my heart.
卜：I felt very unhappy then, imagining the dreadful manner of her death, but at the same time was somehow at peace, as if a big stone had been lifted off my chest.
张培基和卜立德将“悲惨的死相”分别译作tragic death和the dreadful manner of her death，简单明了，而谭景辉译成the pain she must have been in，没有直白地描写三姑娘的惨状，而是重点放在感受上，想象三姑娘在世上最后时光身心所遭受的煎熬和痛苦，其译法亦有可取之处。
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