Topic 27

教学目的：中国是一个有着悠久历史的文明古国。中国古代

的文化遗产蕴含着中华民族的智慧 , 是我国的宝贵财富。如何把我国的古代文化典籍翻译介绍给世界各国人民 , 这一任务历史地落在当代翻译工作者身上。古文翻译可以说是汉译英的制高点 ,

学习古文翻译 , 不论从提高英语写作能力或从训练翻译技巧角度来看都是必要的 , 有效的。

★参考文献：

1.  陆钰明 . 汉英翻译指导 . 上海远东出版社 , 1995 年版 , p.124—p.138

2.  彭长江 . 英汉—汉英翻译教程 . 湖南师范大学出版社 , 2004 年版 , p.222—p.230

3.   冯庆华 . 文体翻译论 . 上海外语教育出版社 , 2002 年版 , p.305—p.324

Contents

不可望文生义2

常用字 / 词及句法1

古文英译实例 3

1. 熟悉一些常用字 / 词及句法 文言文的理解 , 除了存在着与现代汉的理解相

同的困难以外 , 还有古汉语用词及语法方面的

特殊困难。例如 , 大家所熟知的“之、乎、者、

也” , 古文中很常见 , 该如何译？在彻底理解

之后 , 翻译时最好是书面或在心里将文言文

译为现代汉语，最转换为英语。

复旦大学外文学院 2007 年举办第二届“优萌杯”翻译竞赛 , 有两篇短文汉译英 ,

第一篇是文言文 , 其第一段文字如下：

人一其视而不一其明 , 故目有时盲；人一其听而不一其聪，故耳有时聋。盖目之盲 , 由物乱其睛；耳之聋 ,

由声惑其聪。

你能理解确切吗？请先试译成现代汉语 , 再译成现代英语。One sometimes fails to see things clearly

because of too many confused things for him to see; one sometimes fails to hear sounds articulately because of too much noise for him to hear. So, it can be said that one becomes partly blind because his eyes are distracted by objects and that one turns partly deaf to sounds because his ears are confused by noises.

此类翻译的诀窍：先理解 , 后译意。

1 .今之乐由古之乐也。之：意为“……的” , 相当于英语的 of 。全句意为：

“今天的音乐与古代的音乐颇多相似之处”。The music today is like that of the old days.

2. 子曰：“不患人之不已知 , 患不人知也。” 之：连接主谓结构 , 没有实在意义 , 翻译时可不译。

全句意为：不必担心别人不知道自已 , 要设法了解别人。

The Master said, “Don’t worry about yourself’s being not known by others but try to understand them.”

3. 东家之子 , 增之一分则太长，减之一分则短。

之：代词。The boy/girl next door would be too

tall if an inch were added to his/her

height, and too short if an inch were

taken away.

4. 鱼 , 我所欲也 , 熊掌 , 亦我所欲也。

也：语助词 , 无意 , 可不译。I like fish and I like bear’s paw too.

5. 三人行，必有我师焉。焉：代词，表示“其中”的意思。Even when walking in a party of no more

than three I can always be certain of

learning from those I am with.

6. 塞翁失马 , 焉知非福。焉：疑问副词。When the old man on the frontier lost his

mare, who could have guessed it was a

blessing in disguise?

7. 有朋自远方来 , 不亦乐乎？乎：语气助词 , 无义 , 翻译时可不译。Isn’t it a pleasure that a friend of yours

is coming from far away?

8. 北山愚公者 , 年且九十 , 面山而居。者 : 代词 , 意为“……的人” , 有时可不译 ,

有时定冠词来译 , 如富者可译为 the rich 。Old Fool Yu of the North Mountain was

about ninety years old and he lived in a house facing the mountain.

9. 师者 , 所以传道、受业、解感也。 此句中“……者 , …… 也”是一种古

汉语陈述句型。 The teacher is a person who

explains the truth, gives

knowledge and solve problems.

End

古汉语毕竟与现代汉语是不同。同样一个汉字在古汉语中其意义与现代汉语是不一样的。译者切不可以现代汉语之意义去理解古汉语。那样的话 , 一定会在翻译中出错。

2. 不可望文生义

1. 玉换不琢 , 不成器 ; 人不学 , 不知道。If a jade is not cut, it will not form a

vessel for use; and if a man does not

learn, he will get no knowledge.

“ 不知道” 译为 “ get no knowledge”, 显然是错误的。“道”在古代是一个哲学概念，在这里 , 相当于“行为准则”或“为人之道”的意思。故此例“人不学 , 不知道” 可译为： If a

man does not learn, he will not know the

principles of behavior.

2. 古人秉烛夜游 , 良有以也。When the people in ancient times made

night travel with their hands holding

candles, they surely had their reasons.

此例把“秉烛夜游” 译为 made night travel

with their hands holding candles, 也属理解错误。此处“夜游”的“游”不是现在意义的旅行、旅游之义 , 而是游玩的意思。此例可译为： When

the people in ancient times played at night

with their hands holding candles, surely

they had their reasons.

3. 富润屋 , 德润身 , 心广体胖。The rich adorn their houses while the

virtuous adorn their conducts. If yoy care nothing , your body will be getting fat.

“ 心广体胖”译为 If you care nothing, your body will be getting fat. 也属误解。此处的“心广体胖” , 意为 : “ 如果你不斤斤计较于琐事，目标远大 , 你就会活得自在舒服” 。“体胖”不是指身体长胖 , 而是指身体安泰、舒适。故这里“心广体胖”可译为 : The mind is

expanded, and the body will be at ease.End

师

说

古之学者必有师。师

者，所以传道、受业、

解惑也。人非生而知之

者，孰能无惑？

惑而

不从师，其为惑也，终不

解矣。

学者：求学的人。道：指儒家的道，即孔子、孟子所讲的以礼义治国之道。

业：指儒家经典。惑：兼指道和业的疑难

问题。

生乎事前，其闻道也，固

先乎吾，吾从而师之；生

乎吾后，其闻道也，亦先

乎吾，吾从而师之。吾师

道也，夫庸知其年之先后

生于吾乎？是故无贵贱，

无长无少，道之所存，师

之所存也。

闻道：懂得道理。师之：以之为师。师道：学习道。师：学

习。庸知：岂知。庸：岂，

难道。无：无论，不管。

On the TeacherSince ancient times to learn all men must have

teachers, who pass on the truth and dispel ignorance. As men are not born wise, who can be free from ignorance? But if ignorant men do not find teachers, they remain ignorant for ever. Some teachers may be born before me and have learned the truth before me; I should therefore learn from them. Some may have been born after me, but learned the truth before me; I should also learn from them. As I seek the truth, I need not worry whether my teacher is my senior or junior. Whether he is noble or common, elder or younger, whoever knows the truth can be a teacher.

嗟乎！师道之不传也久矣！

欲人之无惑也难矣！古之圣

人，其出人也远矣，犹且从

师而问焉。今之众人，其下

圣人也亦远矣，而耻学于

师。

是故圣益圣，愚益愚；圣人

之所以为圣，愚人之所以为

愚，其皆出于此乎？

师道：从师学道的风尚。

出人：超出于一般人。出：超过。

下圣人：低于圣人。

是故：因此。益：更加。

其：表揣测语气的副词，“大概”的

意思。

Alas, since men have ceased learning from

teachers it is hard not to be ignorant. The

old sages were far superior to common men,

yet they sought the truth from teachers.

Most men of today are far below those

sages, yet they think it shameful to learn.

That is why sages become more sage, while

fools become more foolish. No doubt this is

what makes some sages and others fools.

爱其字，择师而教之。于

其身也，则耻师焉，惑

矣！彼童子之师，授之书

而习其句读者也，非吾所

谓传其道解其惑者也。句

读之不知，惑之不解，或

师焉，或不焉，小学而大

遗，吾未见其明也。

注 释身：自己。 句读：指文字诵读。一句话完了，古人叫做“句”；句中停顿的地方，古人叫做“读”，通作“逗”。

不：同“否”。小学：指习句读。大遗：指传道、解惑等

大事被遗弃。遗：丢失。

A man who loves his son chooses a teacher for him but is ashamed to find one for himself. This is entirely wrong. All a child’s teacher can do is to give him a book and tell him how to read it sentence by sentence. This is not the teacher I have in mind who can pass on the truth and dispel ignorance. If we want to learn to read not to dispel ignorance, we are learning the lesser and giving up the greater, which is hardly intelligent.

巫医乐师百工之人，不耻相师。

士大夫之族，曰师曰弟子云者，

则群聚而笑之，问这，则曰：

“

彼与彼年相若也，道相似

也。”

位插则足羞，官盛则近谀。鸣

呼！师道之不复，可知矣！巫医

乐师百工之人，君子不齿。今其

智乃反不能及，其可怪也欤！

注 释

巫：古代从事降神招鬼等迷信职业的人。乐师：古代以歌唱、奏乐为职业的人。百工：各种工匠。族：类。……云者：……什么的。相若：相近、相似。

注 释 位插则足羞：称地位低的人（为老师），就觉得十分可耻。足：十分。

官盛则近谀：称官为高的人（为老师）就觉得近于谄媚。官盛：指官职高的人。

不齿：看不起，不能并列。齿：并刑。智：见识。

Physicians, musicians and artisans are not ashamed to learn from each other. But if one of the literati calls another man his teacher and himself the pupil, people will flock to laugh at him. If you ask why, they will reply that the men are roughly equal in age and understanding. If one has a low social status, it is humiliating; if one is a high official, it looks like flattery. Clearly, to learn from a teacher is old-fashioned. Physicians, musicians and artisans are despised by gentlemen, yet they seem to be more intelligent. Is this not strange?

圣人无常师，孔子师郯

子、苌弘、师襄、老聃。

郯子之徒，其贤不及孔

子。孔子曰：“古代行，

则必有我师。”

是故弟子

不必不如师，师不必贤于

弟子。

注 释

原文是“三人行，必有我师焉”

（见《论语 ·述而》），韩愈引用时稍有改动。

A sage has more than one teacher. Thus Confucius learned from Tan Zi, Chang Hong, Shi Xiang and Lao Dan. Men like Tan Zi were inferior to Confucius, yet Confucius said: “Out of three men, there must be one who can teach me.” So pupils are not necessarily inferior to their teachers or teachers better than their pupils. Some learn the truth earlier than others, and some have special skills—that is all.

闻道有先后，术业有专

攻，如是而已。

李氏子蟠，年十七，好

古文，六艺经传皆通习

之，不拘于时，学于

余。

余嘉其能行古道，《师

说》以贻之。

---

韩愈

注 释

专攻：指专门特长。攻：研究。李蟠：韩愈的辫子。六艺经传：六经的经文和传文。六艺六经，指《诗》、《书》、《礼》、《乐》、《易》、《春秋》。传：解经的著作。

通：全部。

不拘于时：不受时俗限制。时

俗是当时耻于从师的不良风气。

贻：赠送。

Li Pan is seventeen. He is fond of ancient literature, and has studied the six arts, the classics and the commentaries, not confining himself to what is in vogue today. He has studied with me, and as I admire his respect for the old traditions I am writing this essay on teachers for him.

End

Thank You! Thank You!