宋德利: <<古文英译 >> 2：醉翁亭记 - 欧阳修

 
 
<<古文英译 >> 2：醉翁亭记 - 欧阳修


原文：

环滁皆山也。其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也。山行六七里，渐闻水声潺潺，而泄出于两峰之间者，酿泉也。峰回路转，有亭翼然临于泉上者，醉翁亭也。作亭者谁？山之僧智仙也。名之者谁？太守自谓也。太守与客来饮于此，饮少辄醉，而年又最高，故自号曰“醉翁”也。醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也。山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也。

若夫日出而林霏开，云归而岩穴暝，晦明变化者，山间之朝暮也。野芳发而幽香，佳木秀而繁阴，风霜高洁，水落而石出者，山间之四时也。朝而往，暮而归，四时之景不同，而乐亦无穷也。

至于负者歌于滁，行者休于树，前者呼，后者应，伛偻提携，往来而不绝者，滁人游也。临溪而渔，溪深而鱼肥；酿泉为酒，泉香而酒冽；山肴野蔌，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。宴酣之乐，非丝非竹，射者中，弈者胜，觥筹交错，坐起而喧哗者，众宾欢也。苍然白发，颓乎其中者，太守醉也。

已而夕阳在山，人影散乱，太守归而宾客从也。树林阴翳，鸣声上下，游人去而禽鸟乐也。然而禽鸟知山林之乐，而不知人之乐；人知从太守游而乐，而不知太守之乐其乐也。醉能同其乐，醒能述其文者，太守也。太守谓谁？庐陵欧阳修也。


白话：

滁州城四周都是山。西南峰峦起伏，林木山谷尤其优美，远望绿树葱茏、幽深秀丽的是琅琊山。在山间行走六七里，渐渐听到水声潺潺，继而看到一股清澈的水流，从两山间飞泻直下，那是酿泉。山势回环往复，道路崎岖弯转，有个亭子，四角翘起，宛若鸟儿展翅，坐落在泉水边，那是醉翁亭。造亭子的是谁？是山里的和尚智仙。给它起名的是谁？是太守以自己的别号自称的。太守和宾客来这里饮酒，他喝得再少也总要醉，而年纪又最大，所以给自己起个别号叫“醉翁”。醉翁心意并不在酒里，而在山光水色中。只是游山玩水其乐无穷，心中有感，却寄托在酒内罢了。

太阳一出，林间雾气消散，烟云回归聚拢，岩洞昏暗，或暗或明变幻无常，这是山间早晨与傍晚的景致。野花绽放，幽香四溢；树木茂美，枝交叶盖，绿荫浓郁；天清气爽，风高霜白；溪水浅落，山石显露，这就是山中四季景色。早晨进山，傍晚归来，四季景色各异，乐趣也因而无穷无尽。

至于在途中背着东西边走边唱的，在树下歇脚的，前呼后应的，弯腰驼背的，由大人或抱或领的，来来往往，络绎不绝的这些人，都是出游的滁州人。溪边钓鱼，水深鱼肥；用酿泉水制酒，泉甜酒清，山野风味的饭菜，杂七杂八摆在面前的，这是太守的宴席。酒宴上的乐趣，不在管弦乐上，投壶投中了，下棋下赢了，酒杯酒筹杂乱交错，忽起忽坐，大声喧哗，众宾客其乐融融。而脸色苍老、头发花白，萎靡不振地坐在人群中间的，这是醉醺醺的太守。

不久，日落西山，人影散乱，太守回家，而宾客紧随其后。树木葱茏，浓荫遮蔽，上下叫声一片，是游人走后鸟儿欢唱。然而鸟儿只知道山林的乐趣，却不知道游人的乐趣；游人只知道跟随太守游玩的乐趣，却不知太守也有自己的乐趣。醉醉能和大家一起欢乐，酒醒能写文章表达这种欢乐的，是太守。太守是谁？就是庐陵的欧阳修。


英译：

Mountains all round Chuzhou City. On the southwest peaks, woods and ravines are especially beautiful. Flourish everywhere as far as the eye can see, rich green nearby, misty blue in the depth, this heavily forested spot is Mt. Langya. Walking six or seven miles in the mountains, you can gradually hear a murmuring stream named of Brewing Spring coming out from between two peaks. After twists and turns, you can see a bird-wing-like pavilion standing bolt upright above the spring which was Drunken Old Man Pavilion. Who made the pavilion? The monk Zhixian in the mountains. Who named it? The county magistrate himself. The county magistrate and his guests come here and drink wine. A little wine would make him drunken. And he is the oldest, therefore he gives himself a byname Drunken Old Man. The interest of Drunken Old Man does not lie in wine but in mountains and water instead. The happiness of touring the scenic spots was got from my heart and then deposited into wine.

The sun rising, the fog in the woods spreads out; the clouds gathering, the caves on the rocks become dark. Gloominess and brightness transforming into each other, morning and dusk take forms respectively. Being out, the wild flowers send forth wafts of faint fragrance. Luxuriantly green, the fine trees are lush. With scrip air, the wind and frost seems rather lofty and clean. The water receding, the rocks are out. All these mark the four seasons in the mountains. Going there in the morning, and coming back at dusk, you may see different sceneries of four seasons, and your pleasure will be boundless.

Carrying something, some people are singing on the way to and from Chuzhou City； after walking, others are having rest among woods. The ones walking in front are calling, while the ones walking behind are responding. Bending over, old ones are taking little kids by the hand. All coming and going in a continuous stream, they are the local people of Chuzhou City who are busy for outing. Fishing at the stream side, you should know that the deeper the stream is, the fatter the fishes are. Brewing wine with spring, you should know that the sweeter the spring, the more mellow the wine. Miscellaneously placed on the table, the delicacies made of game and edible wild herbs from the mountains are offered by county magistrate as a banquet. Heartily enjoying the banquet, they are listening to beautiful music which is from neither stringed instruments nor wind instruments. Some are drinking, others are playing chess. Pushing glasses or changing cups, some are standing up, with uproarious talk and laughter, others are sitting down, all the guests are happily enjoying the rich banquet. Yet a white-haired old man among them is quite listless. He is just the county magistrate who has had a drop too much.

With the sun setting over the mountains very soon, the people’s shadows are in disorder. The county magistrate is going back and the guests are following. The woods enveloped in mist have become dim while birds are singing, sometimes up and sometimes down. The tourists left and the birds are pleased. The tourists have left and the birds are happy. Birds only know their own pleasure which come from mountains and forests but they know nothing about people’s pleasure. People know their own pleasure which comes from following the county magistrate to go outing, but they do not know the county magistrate’s pleasure which comes from taking pleasure from others’ pleasure. It is the county magistrate that can share pleasure with others during drunkenness and can narrate his own articles after sobering up. Who is the county magistrate? It is Ou Yangxiu of Luling County.

—解析—


原文：

环滁皆山也。其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也。山行六七里，渐闻水声潺潺，而泄出于两峰之间者，酿泉也。峰回路转，有亭翼然临于泉上者，醉翁亭也。作亭者谁？山之僧智仙也。名之者谁？太守自谓也。太守与客来饮于此，饮少辄醉，而年又最高，故自号曰“醉翁”也。醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也。山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也。


白话：

滁州城四周都是山。西南峰峦起伏，林木山谷尤其优美，远望绿树葱茏、幽深秀丽的是琅琊山。在山间行走六七里，渐渐听到水声潺潺，继而看到一股清澈的水流，从两山间飞泻直下，那是酿泉。山势回环往复，道路崎岖弯转，有个亭子，四角翘起，宛若鸟儿展翅，坐落在泉水边，那是醉翁亭。造亭子的是谁？是山里的和尚智仙。给它起名的是谁？是太守以自己的别号自称的。太守和宾客来这里饮酒，他喝得再少也总要醉，而年纪又最大，所以给自己起个别号叫“醉翁”。醉翁心意并不在酒里，而在山光水色中。只是游山玩水其乐无穷，心中有感，却寄托在酒内罢了。

英译：

Mountains all round Chuzhou City. Woods and ravines on the southwest peaks are especially beautiful. Flourish everywhere as far as the eye can see, rich green nearby, misty blue in the depth, this heavily forested glory spot is Mt. Langya. Walking six or seven miles in the mountains, you can gradually hear a murmuring stream named of Brewing Spring coming out from between two peaks. After twists and turns, you can see a bird-wing-like pavilion standing bolt upright above the spring which was Drunken Old Man Pavilion. Who made the pavilion? The monk Zhixian in the mountains. Who named it? The county magistrate himself with his alias. The county magistrate and his guests come here and drink wine. A little wine would make him drunken. And he is the oldest, therefore he call himself Drunken Old Man. The interest of Drunken Old Man does not lie in wine but in mountains and water instead. The happiness of touring the scenic spots was got from my heart and then deposited into wine.

译解：

1．环滁皆山也。
这是欧阳修的不朽名句。传说他经过反复斟酌，几度易稿，才锤炼出这五个字，因此在翻译时也应该忠实原文，才对得起欧阳老先生。我在翻译时就抛开整句式的选择，只用了有主无谓的短语，而且也是五个词。Mountains all around Chu County. Around与round 作介词和副词时，意义基本相同。Around多被美国人所青睐，而round则多为英国人看中。

2．其西南诸峰，林壑尤美。
原译是：Woods and ravines on the southwest peaks are especially beautiful. 考虑到忠实原文语序，改译成：On the southwest peaks, woods and ravines are especially beautiful.但就在我当下写这段“译解”时，突然发现《我们的国家公园》第252页有这样一个句子：From the high tundra to shady river valleys, the Rockies are graced with a wealth of wildflowers. (从高高的苔原，到幽深蓊郁的河谷，落基山都被大量的野花装点得秀美无极。Grace, 及物动词，“使变美”；另wealth作“大量”解 。)曾经改译成 Woods and ravines on the southwest peaks are graced with especially beautiful.但仔细推敲，这样的译法与原文意义相左，因为原文是说“林壑”尤美，我的译法已经变成“西南诸峰”尤美了。最终还是忍痛割爱，舍弃了这个精美的句型，等以后用吧。

3.望之蔚然而深秀者，琅琊也。
原来我是翻译成两句的： Flourish is everywhere as far as the eye can see, rich green nearby, misty blue in the depth（望之蔚然而深秀者），this heavily forested glory spot is Mt. Langya（琅琊也）.但为求简炼，前一句的is其实完全可以省略，从而使第一个句子变成词组，这样更符合原文句式。于是就成了Flourish everywhere as far as the eye can see, rich green nearby, misty blue in the depth,后面仍然是一个完整的句子。至于as far as the eye can see（望之）,我也是从《我们的国家公园》类似的句子里摘过来的。翻译这句时我是以“心临其境”的心绪和兴致，几乎是闭上眼睛一边浮想联翩，一边翻译，于是译文与原文相比，含量似乎有少许增加，意境似乎也有些朦胧。这主要体现在“深秀”二字上。“深”是幽深，in the depth已经表达清楚。而“秀”，则是采取意译添加法，以“rich green nearby, misty blue”与“glory”来表达，不过把二者分开，将glory置于后面的句子里。要说的是rich green nearby, misty blue，远望山林，必定有层次感，在观望者附近的地方，绿色一定比较鲜艳亮丽，用rich green比较合适，而深远之处，绿色一定比较深，近乎蓝色，如果作画，那必定要添加蓝色调，而且是深蓝的色调，再而且，必定是山岚氤氲，这用misty blue来表达，似乎更能贴近真实的山林景色。 至于heavily forested，林木茂密，也属于意译的添加部分，原文没有明说，但事实必定如此。我的翻译原则是可增不可减。当然这种增要适当适量。

4．山行六七里，渐闻水声潺潺，而泄出于两峰之间者，酿泉也。
渐闻水声潺潺，曾想译成you can hear the water murmuring，从此字面上看，water murmuring与 murmuring water差不多，但意思明显不同。如果用作为“听”的宾语，前者是“听到水在潺潺作响”，而后者则是“听到潺潺作响的水”。 这样一来，谁是谁非就会一目了然，因为“听到”的必定是水之声，“看到”的必然是水之形。如果根据这一逻辑造句，hear the water murmuring自然欠妥，而如果改用动词是see,则当别论。也就是说，正确的译法应该是：hear the murmuring of water与see the water murmuring.另请注意the的用法。前者的murmuring是动名词，故而加定冠词the，后者的murmuring是现在分词，故而无需，也不应该使用定冠词the；此外，前者的water不用定冠词，因为那是泛指的水，而后者之所以使用定冠词，那是因为具体指的是从两山之间流出的水。

5．峰回路转，有亭翼然临于泉上者，醉翁亭也。
峰回路转，有现成的说法twists and turns, 拿来用就是了。亭翼然，本是说有亭子像鸟儿展翅那样。翼然，在这里本身说明下面的“临于泉上”，因此属于副词范畴。但我为了造句方面，将其改为定语去修饰亭子，而不是修饰“临于泉上”，整体意思没有大变。我使用了一个简便的“堆砌”法，造出bird-wing-like pavilion，这种造次法如今很流行，尤其在美国英语中。由此说来，我这样造次似无不可。此外，原文说“有亭”，本可以使用there to be的句式，但为了句式生动，我改用了“动宾”结构句，而主语“you”是我添加的，不必拘泥地理解为“你”，只理解为泛指即可。醉翁亭，该如何翻译？采用音译法不好，我采用了意译。醉翁者，Drunken Old Man之谓也。醉翁亭，Drunken Old Man Pavilion.

6．名之者谁？太守自谓也。
起初译文是Who named it? The county magistrate himself.但仔细推敲，光是一个himself是远远不够的，因为它没有表达出他用自己的别号为厅命名的意思，于是改译成：The county magistrate with his alias.中国的文人都有名号之分。名name、号alias or byname；另有绰号byname or nickname；在美国填写表格时常有other name一栏，就是其它的名字，简称即别名。

7．太守与客来饮于此。
这段的人称和上段一样，都是第三人称，作者以旁观者面对“太守”。此处的“客”无需拘泥为“客人guest”，其实就是美国人最常用的“朋友friend”，无论是否熟悉，反正聚到一起，哪怕只有一面之交，一言之谈，也可亲热地称之为my friend,因此将“客”译成friends也未尝不可。

8．醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之间也。山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也。醉翁的情趣不在于喝酒，而在于山水之间。欣赏山水的乐趣，领会它在心里，并寄托它在酒上。
醉翁之意不在酒，字典里有现成的译文：have ulterior motives;甚至还有谚语：Many kiss the baby for the nurse’s sake.但在这里最好不用这些意译之句，还是直译为妙，因为意译反映不出原文的趣味。我的译文是：The interest of Drunken Old Man does not lie in wine but in mountains and water instead. 山水之乐，得之心而寓之酒也，The happiness of touring the scenic spots was got from my heart and then deposited into wine.直译我的句子就是：欣赏山水的乐趣取之于心而寓之于酒。说白了就是“欣赏上水的乐趣，从心里拿出来，再放到酒里去”。


原文：

若夫日出而林霏开，云归而岩穴暝，晦明变化者，山间之朝暮也。野芳发而幽香，佳木秀而繁阴，风霜高洁，水落而石出者，山间之四时也。朝而往，暮而归，四时之景不同，而乐亦无穷也。

白话：

太阳一出，林间雾气消散，烟云回归聚拢，岩洞昏暗，或暗或明变幻无常，这是山间早晨与傍晚的景致。野花绽放，幽香四溢；树木茂美，枝交叶盖，绿荫浓郁；天清气爽，风高霜白；溪水浅落，山石显露，这就是山中四季景色。早晨进山，傍晚归来，四季景色各异，乐趣也因而无穷无尽。

英译：

The sun rising, the fog in the woods spreads out; the clouds gathering, the caves on the rocks become dark. Gloominess and brightness transforming into each other, morning and dusk take forms respectively. Being out, the wild flowers send forth wafts of faint fragrance. Luxuriantly green, the fine trees are lush. With scrip air, the wind and frost seems rather lofty and clean. When the water receding, the rocks are out. All these mark the four seasons in the mountains. Going there in the morning, and coming back at dusk, you may see different sceneries of four seasons, and your pleasure will be boundless.

译解：

1.若夫日出而林霏开，云归而岩穴暝，晦明变化者，山间之朝暮也。
若夫,发语词，不必翻译。“日出而林霏开，云归而岩穴暝”，非常工整的对仗句，翻译时我注意到了这一点。两个句子的结构基本相同。译文是：The sun rising, the fog in the woods spreads out; the clouds gathering, the caves on the rocks become dark. 其中The sun rising 对the clouds gathering；the fog in the woods 对the caves on the rocks； spreads out对become dark. 注意The sun rising 与the clouds gathering都是悬垂独立成份。另外，为了与become dark对仗，“开”字翻译成spread out,其实“开”就是“散开”，不仅可以用spread out 来表达，还有其它表达方法。如：disperse, scatter. The crowd dispersed. 人群纷纷散开。“晦明变化者，山间之朝暮也”，“xx 者xx也”，其实就是A就是B，如若这样，就等于说“变化就是朝暮”，如果照这样的说法死译，就会得出这样的句子：The transformation of gloominess and brightness into each other is morning and dusk.这显然不同，于是我就 采取take forms（成形）的表达法：morning and dusk take forms respectively.

2．野芳发而幽香，佳木秀而繁阴，风霜高洁，水落而石出者，山间之四时也。
这是山里春夏秋冬四个季节的不同景色。“野芳发而幽香”，这是春：Being out, the wild flowers send forth wafts of faint fragrance.野芳，指野花，wild flowers，发，就是花开。开花有不同的表达方法。如果有具体花名，无论什么花名，那就都可以用be in flower 或come into flower 或burst into flower.这三者的区别在于生动性，因为be in flower,含静止意味，而come into 则显示动感，尤其是burst into,更是动感十足。不过，如果句子的主语已经是笼统的“花”，用这样的句式势必使用词重复，当然不好。 这样就可以选择be in bloom 或be in blossom, 但是要注意flower, bloom, blossom这三者的区别：flower笼统而言， bloom用于观赏植物, blossom用于果树。比如玫瑰，是观赏花卉，如果说玫瑰要开花了，则用The roses are blooming.或者The roses are coming into flower.睡莲（观赏花卉）开花了。The water lilies are in flower.
然而，什么都有例外，请看《我们的国家公园》第323页中这样的句子：Just as spring creeps into this high country a blossom at a time, so autumn trickles downward leaf by leaf – a foliage shower of claret, amber, and brass that drenches fawn-hued meadows and forested slopes.（像春天爬进这一高地那样，每次仅开一花，秋天也是如此，每次仅落一叶 - 落叶色彩斑斓，或酒红色，或琥珀色，或古铜色，这使得黄褐色的草地和森林密布的山坡层层浸然，绚丽多姿。）深山野岭，哪里有只供欣赏之花和果园之花，所有的花不都是野花吗？如果按照我对花的上述区分标准，这个句子中应该用a flower at a time，但此文作者为何不避讳blossom呢？ 也许我从中国人编写的词典里看到的划分标准是多余？还是这里是特例？仅供参考吧。
再回过头说“开花”。最简单的表达法则是to be out. The flowers are out. 简单明了，四个词便大功告成。我的选择就是这样，似乎也只能这样，因为如果选择动感十足的come into or burst in，下面就要接flower，和主语wild flowers重复了。看来这些野花也只能委屈一下，表现得“文静”一点了。最后扯点题外话，如果遇到形象的比喻说法，可千万要小心。心里乐开了花：be overflowing with joy. 炮弹在敌人阵地上炸开了花：The shell exploded right at the enemy position.光是“开花”既说了如此之多，现在就来说下面两个字：幽香。“幽”在这里的含义是香味淡薄，并不浓郁，因此用faint fragrance，但这只是一个静感的词组，必须放到句子里。我使用的是野花散发“幽香”，即 the wild flowers send forth wafts of faint fragrance，散发，send forth.至于wafts，则是“小小的一股”之义。
以上这些讲的都只是春。下面就按顺序讲夏：佳木秀而繁阴。佳木，无非是fine trees之类。秀，有许多种说法，最通常的莫过于“优秀”之义，但这里并非此义，这里的指的是茂盛，而随后的“繁阴”，其实也是此义，当然这些都离不开树木的本色“绿”，因此我选用 luxuriantly green 与lush（繁茂，葱翠），分别置于句子前后不同的位置。
夏：佳木秀而繁阴，是说美好的树木郁郁葱葱。离不开绿色，而且是生机勃勃的绿色，也就Luxuriantly green, the fine trees are lush.
秋：离不开“风”和“霜”。看来欧老先生也不能免俗。他一上来就使用了风霜高洁。不过我更不能免俗，给老先生的句子里无中生有地添加了“秋高气爽”的意境，因此一上来，我就用了With scrip air， with是“带有”的意思。而原文中风霜的“高洁”，无非就是“清爽”之义，不过由于作者出于本身的气质，“高洁”一词在这里无疑又其自身品德的影子。因此起初简单的clear似乎有浅薄之嫌。似乎因该再添加lofty可以一语双关，既有一般方位意义上的“高”，也有品格层面的“高尚”之义。“高风格”lofty style，于是眼下写译解时，把原来简单的the wind and frost seems rather clear改译成the wind and frost seems rather lofty and clear.
冬：水落而石出者，山间之四时也。水落而石出： The waters receding, the rocks are out. 这是词典里现成的句子。不过《我们的国家公园》第78页有句云：As the water level declined and the reef arose, groundwater seeped through cracks deep inside the limestone, softening and dissolving the rock.（水面落下去，暗礁升起来，地下水渗透到深深的石灰石里面，软化和溶解了岩石。） 另有句云： When the water level dropped still father, leaving spongy rock masses unsupported, great chunks fell.（水面仍然在下降，导致海绵质的岩石块失去支撑，从而大块大块地坍塌下来。）从例句中不难看出，水落的“落”既可以译成recede,又可以译成 drop.
春夏秋冬的景致一一描绘完毕，这便是四个季节的全过程。All these mark the four seasons in the mountains.

3．朝而往，暮而归，四时之景不同，而乐亦无穷也。
这一连串的句子，主语应该是谁，主句又该是哪个？不妨将第二人称的“你”作为主语，其实这里的第二人称的真实含义是第三人称的“他”，因为这里说明的是一种普遍性的情况。主语我选择了（看到）“四时之景不同”。这两个问题解决了，就可以决定采取什么样的句式。我把前面两句用无主语的独立分词构成悬垂语，后面的“而乐亦无穷也”则单独成句，但又不完全独立，而是用连词“and”相连，以示其为全句内部的一部分，于是就造出如下句子：Going there in the morning, and coming back at dusk, you may see different sceneries of four seasons, and your pleasure will be boundless.
不过，我翻译成这样的英文句子，仔细想起来，对悬垂句式做上面那样的分析有些地方似乎欠妥，现在纠正一下，注意是“纠正”，这就意味着说浅了，是有不妥之处，说深了是有错误之处。原文可分三组：第一组是“朝而往，暮而归”，第二组是“四时之景不同”，第三组是“而乐亦无穷也”。三组句子其实有三个不同的主语：第一组主语是作者本人或什么人，第二组是“四时之景”，第三组是“乐”。但是我考虑全句的同一性和完整性，把三组句的主语都用第二人称的“你”。Going there in the morning, and coming back at dusk,刚才分析说这是悬垂句式，其实说错了，悬垂句式应该有个与主句主语不同的独立主语，如这句话，若现在分词前有个独立主语，比如a farmer, a fisherman等，那样就是：The farmer going there in the morning and coming back at duck, you may see ----.然而我的英文句子现在分词的实际主语与主句相同，都是“你”，因此这个部分不是悬垂，而是现在分词作状语结构。当然对第二人称“你”的分析我依然坚持不变。 我这样将自己前后不同的分析过程写出来，是想把自己真实的思想状况公诸于众，供大家参考。这样做可能会给您留下深刻的印象。

原文：

至于负者歌于滁，行者休于树，前者呼，后者应，伛偻提携，往来而不绝者，滁人游也。临溪而渔，溪深而鱼肥；酿泉为酒，泉香而酒冽；山肴野蔌，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。宴酣之乐，非丝非竹，射者中，弈者胜，觥筹交错，坐起而喧哗者，众宾欢也。苍然白发，颓乎其中者，太守醉也。

白话：

至于在途中背着东西边走边唱的，在树下歇脚的，前呼后应的，弯腰驼背的，由大人或抱或领的，来来往往，络绎不绝的这些人，都是出游的滁州人。溪边钓鱼，水深鱼肥；用酿泉水制酒，泉甜酒清，山野风味的饭菜，杂七杂八摆在面前的，这是太守的宴席。酒宴上的乐趣，不在管弦乐上，投壶投中了，下棋下赢了，酒杯酒筹杂乱交错，忽起忽坐，大声喧哗，众宾客其乐融融。而脸色苍老、头发花白，萎靡不振地坐在人群中间的，这是醉醺醺的太守。

英译：

Carrying something, some people are singing on the way to and from Chuzhou City； after walking, others are having rest among woods. The ones walking in front are calling, while the ones walking behind are responding. Bending over, old ones are taking little kids by the hand. All coming and going in a continuous stream, they are the local people of Chuzhou City who are busy for outing. Fishing at the stream side, you should know that the deeper the stream is, the fatter the fishes are. Brewing wine with spring, you should know that the sweeter the spring, the more mellow the wine. Miscellaneously placed on the table, the delicacies made of game and edible wild herbs from the mountains are offered by county magistrate as a banquet. Heartily enjoying the banquet, they are listening to beautiful music which is from neither stringed instruments nor wind instruments. Some are drinking, others are playing chess. Pushing glasses or changing cups, some are standing up, with uproarious talk and laughter, others are sitting down, all guests are happily enjoying the rich banquet. Yet a white-haired old man among them is quite listless. He is just the county magistrate who has had a drop too much.

译解：

1.至于负者歌于滁，行者休于树，前者呼，后者应，伛偻提携，往来而不绝者，滁人游也。
首先遇到的就是一个方位的问题。不确定方位，就无法着手翻译。文中有两个具体方位，一是“于滁”，二是“于树”。读中文时读者似乎并不会仔细留意这些人进行一连串活动究竟是在什么地方。也许是只需意会无需言传。但在翻译成英文时必须确定“于滁”和“于树”究竟具体指的在哪里。滁，前文指滁州城。但在这里并不如此，因为作者讲的故事发生在滁州城郊外，并非城内。确切地说就是在通往滁州城的道路上。因此我译成on the way.接下来的就是方向，因为在路上的行人是来来往往，就是说有从滁州城出来的，有往滁州城去的，所以我又在on the way 后面加上to 和from，起初我翻译的时候还是in Chuzhou City,只是在我眼下写这段译解时才发现问题。因此比小看这个虚词“于”。同样道理，“于树”的“于”也许要仔细推敲，因为“于”后可以接着内外上下左右等各个方位，翻译时需要译者自己琢磨。这中间当然不可能在树上，只能在树下面休息。因此可以翻译成under the trees，不过我有些格外的考虑，不如翻译成在树林之间，半隐半现的，更具诗意，因此我就译成了among woods, 要不要加定冠词the两可。
确定方位之后，就要确定该采取何种句型结构。原文是七个短语后加句号，也就是说这些是一句话，但在翻译时必须断开，否则太长，再者也不可能只翻译成一句话。我的断句是：
至于负者歌于滁，行者休于树。Carrying something, some people are singing on the way to and from Chuzhou City；after walking, others are having rest among woods.
前者呼，后者应。The ones walking in front are calling, while the ones walking behind are responding.
伛偻提携。伛偻，弯腰，指老人。提携，由人领着或抱着，指小孩。Bending over, old ones are taking little kids by the hand.
往来而不绝者，滁人游也。All coming and going in a continuous stream, they are the local people of Chuzhou City who are busy for outing.
注意，作者说的是，“滁人游”而非“滁游人”，注意两者的区别。前者是主谓结构的一个句子，即“滁州人出游”，而后者只是一个词组，即“滁州的游人”。游人，tourist, sightseer, excursionist,注意这三者的区别：tourist, 旅游者；sightseer,观光者； excursionist,短途旅行者。

2.临溪而渔，溪深而鱼肥；酿泉为酒，泉香而酒冽；山肴野蔌，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。
按照分号我分三句话来译。前两句有个主语问题。我加上个泛指的you,其实真正的所指并非局限于第二人称的“你”，而实质上只是第三人称“他”。于是就变成这样的句子：你在溪边钓鱼，应该知道溪越深，鱼越肥。你用酿泉的水酿酒，就应该知道泉水甘冽，就也就甘醇。Fishing at the stream side, you should know that the deeper the stream is, the fatter the fishes are. Brewing wine with spring, you should know that the sweeter the spring, the more mellow the wine. 当然这两句中的“你应该you should”也不妨译成“你就会 you will or you would”，相比之下，后者语气似乎比较和缓。
山肴野蔌，杂然而前陈者，太守宴也。 山肴野蔌，我译成the delicacies made of game and edible wild herbs taken in the mountains，意思是由山里的野味和可食性野菜做成的美食。这里要注意“制作”的两种说法，一是make of, 另有make from，先看如下两句话：The bridge is made of steel. 这座桥是用钢材造成的。Steel is made from iron. 钢是由铁炼成的。前者所用材料未经大的质变，只是形态有所变化，而后者则经过大质变，形态和质地都发生了变化。同样，用山上的野味和野菜做饭，无需质变，因此用made of. 同样道理，The padded coat is made from cotton fabric. The fabric is made from cotton. 前者是：棉衣是用棉花做的。后者是：布料是由棉花做的。前者还既是棉衣，而且能看出棉花的样子，或说衣服里面直接用没有任何变化的棉花做的，因此用made of， 而后者布料虽是棉花制作，但已看不出棉花的样子，因为经过很大的变化，比如抽丝，漂染等。酒宴很丰富，既有蔬菜类，也有肉类，蔬菜是这座山里挖采的野菜，而肉类，也就是常说的野味，game即野味的总称。注意野菜，不能直译成wild vegetable. 为了准确，我特意指出这些山野味野菜都取之于这座上，原译为edible wild herbs and game taken in the mountains，其实taken in多此一举，只用一个介词from即可， from来源，如 a quotation from Mao Zedong，一条毛泽东语录。

3．宴酣之乐，非丝非竹，射者中，弈者胜，觥筹交错，坐起而喧哗者，众宾欢也。
宴酣之乐，非丝非竹，其中的“酣”就是开心，用heartily表示。 丝，指弦乐器，stringed instruments，竹指管乐器，wind instruments. 射者中，弈者胜，前者指饮酒，后者指下棋。觥筹交错，我以“推杯换盏”一语替换翻译。喧哗, uproarious talk and laughter,实际上这是从“笑语喧哗”一语翻译而来。喧哗除了uproar之外，还有别的说法，如loud confused noise, 一看便知包含贬义。另有hubbub和din,如after a hubbub(a dinning bout)一阵喧哗之后.不过要注意，din表示持久的喧哗。

4．苍然白发，颓乎其中者，太守醉也。
颓乎其中的“颓”，一说起这个字就会马上想到“颓废”一词。“颓废”是贬义词。而这里只是说由于喝醉酒神情模糊，没有贬义，我用listless，指精神不振。至于“醉”，有不同的说法，最通常的是drunken，不过这有点重，令人联想到醉醺醺的样子，很不雅观，我用have a drop too much表示略微喝高了点，似乎不会使这位令人尊敬的太守过于失态。


原文：

已而夕阳在山，人影散乱，太守归而宾客从也。树林阴翳，鸣声上下，游人去而禽鸟乐也。然而禽鸟知山林之乐，而不知人之乐；人知从太守游而乐，而不知太守之乐其乐也。醉能同其乐，醒能述其文者，太守也。太守谓谁？庐陵欧阳修也。
注释：

白话：

不久，日落西山，人影散乱，太守回家，而宾客紧随其后。树木葱茏，浓荫遮蔽，上下叫声一片，是游人走后鸟儿欢唱。然而鸟儿只知道山林的乐趣，却不知道游人的乐趣；游人只知道跟随太守游玩的乐趣，却不知太守也有自己的乐趣。醉醉能和大家一起欢乐，酒醒能写文章表达这种欢乐的，是太守。太守是谁？就是庐陵的欧阳修。

英译：

With the sun setting over the mountains very soon, the people’s shadows are in disorder. The county magistrate is going back and the guests are following. The woods enveloped in mist have become dim while birds are singing, sometimes up and sometimes down. The tourists left and the birds are pleased. Birds only know their own pleasure which come from mountains and forests but they know nothing about people’s pleasure. People know their own pleasure which comes from following the county magistrate to go outing, but they do not know the county magistrate’s pleasure which comes from taking pleasure from others’ pleasure. It is the county magistrate that can share pleasure with others during drunkenness and can narrate his own articles after sobering up. Who is the county magistrate? It is Ou Yangxiu of Luling County.

译解：

1．已而夕阳在山，人影散乱，太守归而宾客从也。
我将这段文字分成两句话来译。前两截译成一个句子，以“人影散乱”为主句，“夕阳在山”以悬垂形式出现，似乎前后两者有些因果关系。当然也可以译成两个独立的简单句：The sun is setting over the mountains very soon and the people’s shadows are in disorder. “太守归而宾客从也”,我译成两个独立的简单句。正是因为都是简单句，读起来有些呆板，因此我才将前两个独立的简单句变换形式，成为带悬垂的句子。“夕阳在山”之所以翻译成the sun setting over the mountains，是参考《我们的国家公园》第 页的这样一段话：

2．树林阴翳，鸣声上下，游人去而禽鸟乐也。
树林阴翳，原译为Woods have become gloomy，但我觉得句式过于简单，而且远远没有译出真实意境，于是参考《实用汉英词典》的例句：The hills enveloped in mist became dim.（山被雾所遮掩，变得朦胧了。）改译成：The woods enveloped in mist have become dim. “鸣声上下，游人去而禽鸟乐也”：原译：Chirping can be heard up and down. It’s that the tourists left and the birds are happy.其实后半句无须采用强调语气的句式，不如按原文语序照译显得更自然。于是改译成：Chirping can be heard up and down. The tourists left and the birds are pleased.

3．然而禽鸟知山林之乐，而不知人之乐；人知从太守游而乐，而不知太守之乐其乐也。
山林之乐，其中的“之”本来表示所属关系，这四个字用白话说就是：山林的乐趣。如果照字面死译就会是：pleasure of mountains and forests.其实仔细推敲起来，全句说的是鸟从山林中获得的乐趣。再者从中文语义分析，那样翻译也不通，因为乐趣只是有生命的生物所特有的心理感受，作为静物的山林，除了在特殊情况下，比如拟人法，或寓言中，它们是不会像生物那样有心理感受的。因此，我译成pleasure which comes from mountains and forests. 而不知太守之乐其乐也，这句有些弯弯绕，其实意思是：不知道太守的一种动作，即从他人的“乐趣”中获得“乐趣”，说通俗一些就是别人玩得尽兴，他见了也感到尽兴。其中“之乐”的“乐”是动词，似乎可以译成动名词比较合适，只有“其乐”的“乐”是名词，即他人的“乐趣”。they do not know the county magistrate’s pleasure which comes from taking pleasure from others’ pleasure. 原译是：but they do not know the county magistrate’s pleasure which comes from being together with them.这样译太简单了，没有译出原文的弯弯绕风格和趣味。
醉能同其乐，醒能述其文者，太守也。太守谓谁？庐陵欧阳修也。
这段话的一个重点就是“同其乐”，原译为：It is the county magistrate that can enjoy pleasure，其中的enjoy pleasure，没有译出“同”，这个“同”其实就是“共同”，就是“分享”，因此翻译成share pleasure with others or share others’ pleasure or share the pleasure of others才比较贴切。


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