腊八节快乐!大家喝腊八粥了吗?“腊八粥”该怎么翻译?“过了腊八就是年”又该怎么翻译呢?
第32届韩素音国际翻译大赛就考过这么一句:
喝一碗腊八粥,体验“过了腊八就是年”。
我们看看《中国翻译》杂志上给的参考译文:
Having a bowl of Laba porridge on the eighth day of the last Chinese lunar month, they have come to understand a saying from a ballad: “The Spring Festival is around the corner soon after Laba.”
解析:
1. 很明显,“腊八粥”直接翻译为了Laba porridge,这样翻译是为了保留中国文化特色,体现文化自信。Laba porridge说明这是一种中国特色的饮食,同时porridge后面没必要再加一些补充成分了,如a kind of porridge made from a variety of ingredients,因为porridge大家都知道里面包含一些食材。(参考了《中国翻译》杂志韩素音汉译英解析)
为了体现文化自信,我们需要保留中国文化特色,还比如公共服务领域英文译写规范餐饮住宿中这些:
白酒Chinese Baijiu
馄饨Huntun 或 Wonton
刀削面Daoxiao Noodles
拉面Lamian Noodles
当然,除了餐饮,还有其他一些中国特色词汇的翻译也保留了拼音,如《牛津词典》收录的中国特色词汇!中这些:
关系guanxi
茅台酒mao-tai
风水fengshui
户口hukou
红包hongbao
2. “过了腊八就是年”有双引号,说明是谚语或俗语,此时我们需要查找出处,其实这个出自民谣,所以翻译的时候需要增补a saying from a ballad,把The Spring Festival is around the corner soon after Laba放双引号里,同时首字母大写。
这种翻译很常见,如:
“万物各得其和以生,各得其养以成。”
As a Chinese saying goes, “All beings flourish when they live in harmony and receive nourishment from Nature.”
“不积跬步,无以至千里。”
An ancient Chinese saying goes, "A long journey can be covered only by taking one step at a time".
“当你面向太阳,阴影终将消散。”
There is a Maori saying in New Zealand that goes, “Turn your face to the sun and the shadows will fall behind you.”
今天就分享这么多,大家腊八节快乐!


