o*********8
发帖数: 488 | 1 I've been reading Dickens' novel recently. And I found that his language is
really hard to understand. In chinese words, "晦涩难懂,读起来不流畅”。By
comparison, Jane Austen's works read much easier.
e.g. How to interpret this sentence in A tale of two cities, book second,
chapter 2:
So powerful is use, and so desirable to be good use in the beginning.
How to translate this in Chinese, and what does "use" refer to here? | w*****9
发帖数: 2193 | 2 上下文是什么？
狄更斯的语言应该不算晦涩的，只是用词和现代英语有差距吧。长句也多，句法结构比
较复杂。
is
【在 o*********8 的大作中提到】
: I've been reading Dickens' novel recently. And I found that his language is
: really hard to understand. In chinese words, "晦涩难懂,读起来不流畅”。By
: comparison, Jane Austen's works read much easier.
: e.g. How to interpret this sentence in A tale of two cities, book second,
: chapter 2:
: So powerful is use, and so desirable to be good use in the beginning.
: How to translate this in Chinese, and what does "use" refer to here?
| o*********8
发帖数: 488 | 3 They hanged at Tyburn, in those days, so the street outside Newgate had not
obtained one infamous notoriety that has since attached to it. But, the gaol
was a vile place, in which most kinds of debauchery and villainy were
practised, and where dire diseases were bred, that came into court with the
prisoners, and sometimes rushed straight from the dock at my Lord Chief
Justice himself, and pulled him off the bench. It had more than once
happened, that the Judge in the black cap pronounced his own doom as
certainly as the prisoner's, and even died before him. For the rest, the Old
Bailey was famous as a kind of deadly inn-yard, from which pale travellers
set out continually, in carts and coaches, on a violent passage into the
other world: traversing some two miles and a half of public street and road,
and shaming few good citizens, if any. So powerful is use, and so desirable
to be good use in the beginning.
【在 w*****9 的大作中提到】
: 上下文是什么？
: 狄更斯的语言应该不算晦涩的，只是用词和现代英语有差距吧。长句也多，句法结构比
: 较复杂。
:
: is
| o*********8
发帖数: 488 | 4 嗯，说他的语言晦涩，确实不恰当，不过确实读起来和现代英语很不同。不知为什么，
奥斯丁比他好像还早几十年，但行文和现代英语更接近一些。
其实现在我慢慢习惯了他的行文，觉得描写非常生动形象，而且充满了巧妙的反讽，那
种反讽要想翻译的传神，还是挺不容易的。确实长句非常多，结构也复杂，比如说这句：
Tellson's Bank had a run upon it in the mail. As the bank passenger- with an
arm drawn through the leathern strap, which did what lay in it to keep him
from pounding against the next passenger, and driving him into his corner,
whenever the coach got a special jolt- nodded in his place,
这句”which did what lay in it to keep him..."从语法的角度上分析我就看不明
白。我只能猜测说which指the leather strap, what lay in it指arm, 但是did在这里
怎么翻译呢？这句不就是想说 which(referring to "with an arm drawn through the
leather strap)kept him from pounding against the next passenger and (kept)
driving him into his corner吗？为什么要说的这么繁琐？而且这个“driving him
into his corner"应该是和keep连用的吧？不然的语法上讲不通。
还有一些其他的例子我觉得行文上可以更简洁一些，避免这种复杂的句法。
【在 w*****9 的大作中提到】
: 上下文是什么？
: 狄更斯的语言应该不算晦涩的，只是用词和现代英语有差距吧。长句也多，句法结构比
: 较复杂。
:
: is
| w*****9
发帖数: 2193 | 5 习俗、习惯？这样的习俗在一开始是有用的，必要的。大致是这个意思。
not
gaol
the
Old
travellers
【在 o*********8 的大作中提到】
: They hanged at Tyburn, in those days, so the street outside Newgate had not
: obtained one infamous notoriety that has since attached to it. But, the gaol
: was a vile place, in which most kinds of debauchery and villainy were
: practised, and where dire diseases were bred, that came into court with the
: prisoners, and sometimes rushed straight from the dock at my Lord Chief
: Justice himself, and pulled him off the bench. It had more than once
: happened, that the Judge in the black cap pronounced his own doom as
: certainly as the prisoner's, and even died before him. For the rest, the Old
: Bailey was famous as a kind of deadly inn-yard, from which pale travellers
: set out continually, in carts and coaches, on a violent passage into the
| w*****9
发帖数: 2193 | 6 which指leathern strap. what lay in it指arm. the strap did the arm，绳套把胳
膊套起来。driving him into his corner和pounding against the next passenger并
列，指绳套套住他，使他不至于被马车的颠簸颠到角落里去。我猜是这样。
austen句子也很长，结构也不简单。可能她描写男女感情这些经久不变的内容，词汇变
化范围不大。dickens写社会，社会的变迁就大，现在的人不熟悉当时的社会习俗事物
，理解起来就更费力些。
句：
an
him
【在 o*********8 的大作中提到】
: 嗯，说他的语言晦涩，确实不恰当，不过确实读起来和现代英语很不同。不知为什么，
: 奥斯丁比他好像还早几十年，但行文和现代英语更接近一些。
: 其实现在我慢慢习惯了他的行文，觉得描写非常生动形象，而且充满了巧妙的反讽，那
: 种反讽要想翻译的传神，还是挺不容易的。确实长句非常多，结构也复杂，比如说这句：
: Tellson's Bank had a run upon it in the mail. As the bank passenger- with an
: arm drawn through the leathern strap, which did what lay in it to keep him
: from pounding against the next passenger, and driving him into his corner,
: whenever the coach got a special jolt- nodded in his place,
: 这句”which did what lay in it to keep him..."从语法的角度上分析我就看不明
: 白。我只能猜测说which指the leather strap, what lay in it指arm, 但是did在这里
|
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