原文
My Life in the Underworld [Extract]
Jack London
It began to look as if I should be compelled to go to the very poor for my good. The very poor constitute the last sure resource of the hungry tramp. The very poor can always be depended upon. They never turn away the hungry. Time and again, all over the United States, have I been refused food at the big house on the hill; and always have I received food from the little shack down by the creek or marsh, with its broken windows stuffed with rags and its tired-faced mother broken with labour. Oh! you charity mongers, go to the poor and learn, for the poor alone are the charitable. They neither give nor withhold from their excess. They have no excess. They give, and they withhold never, from what they need for themselves, and very often from what they cruelly need for themselves. A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog when you are just as hungry as the dog.
There was one house in particular where I was turned down that evening. The porch windows opened on the dining room, and through them I saw a man eating pie—a big meat-pie. I stood in the open door, and while he talked with me, he went on eating. He was prosperous, and out of his prosperity had been bred resentment against his less fortunate brothers.
He cut short my request for something to eat, snapping out, “I don’t believe you want to work.”
Now this was irrelevant. I hadn’t said anything about work. The topic of conversation I had introduced was “food.” In fact, I didn’t want to work. I wanted to take the westbound overland that night.
“You wouldn’t work if you had a chance,” he bullied.
I glanced at his meek-faced wife, and knew that but for the presence of this Cerberus1 I’d have a whack at that meat-pie myself. But Cerberus sopped himself in the pie, and I saw that I must placate him if I were to get a share of it. So I sighed to myself and accepted his work-morality.
“Of course I want work,” I bluffed.
“Don’t believe it,” he snorted.
“Try me,” I answered, warming to the bluff.
“All right,” he said. “Come to the corner of blank and blank streets”—(I have forgotten the address)—“to-morrow morning. You know where that burned building is, and I’ll put you to work tossing bricks.”
“All right, sir; I’ll be there.”
He grunted and went on eating. I waited. After a couple of minutes he looked up with an I-thought-you-were-gone expression on his face, and demanded:
“Well?”
“I . . . I am waiting for something to eat,” I said gently.
“I knew you wouldn’t work!” he roared.
He was right, of course; but his conclusion must have been reached by mind-reading, for his logic wouldn’t bear it out. But the beggar at the door must be humble, so I accepted his logic as I had accepted his morality.
“You see, I am now hungry,” I said still gently.
“To-morrow morning I shall be hungrier. Think how hungry I shall be when I have tossed bricks all day without anything to eat. Now if you will give me something to eat, I’ll be in great shape for those bricks.”
He gravely considered my plea, at the same time going on eating, while his wife nearly trembled into propitiatory speech, but refrained.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” he said between mouthfuls. “You come to work to-morrow, and in the middle of the day I’ll advance you enough for your dinner. That will show whether you are in earnest or not.”
“In the meantime—” I began; but he interrupted.
“If I gave you something to eat now, I’d never see you again. Oh, I know your kind. Look at me. I owe no man. I have never descended so low as to ask any one for food. I have always earned my food. The trouble with you is that you are idle and dissolute. I can see it in your face. I have worked and been honest. I have made myself what I am. And you can do the same, if you work and are honest.”
“Like you?” I queried.
Alas, no ray of humor had ever penetrated the sombre work-sodden soul of that man.
“Yes, like me,” he answered.
“All of us?” I queried.
“Yes, all of you,” he answered, conviction vibrating in his voice.
“But if we all became like you,” I said, “allow me to point out that there’d be nobody to toss bricks for you.”
I swear there was a flicker of a smile in his wife’s eye. As for him, he was aghast—but whether at the awful possibility of a reformed humanity that would not enable him to get anybody to toss bricks for him, or at my impudence, I shall never know.
“I’ll not waste words on you,” he roared. “Get out of here, you ungrateful whelp2!”
I scraped my feet to advertise my intention of going, and queried: —
“And I don’t get anything to eat?”
He rose suddenly to his feet. He was a large man. I was a stranger in a strange land, and John Law was looking for me. I went away hurriedly. “But why ungrateful?” I asked myself as I slammed his gate. “What in the dickens did he give me to be ungrateful about?” I looked back. He had returned to his pie.
（文章选自《英语世界》，1988年5月，23-28页）
原文注释
1. Cerberus
Cerberus, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound(usually three-headed) which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping. Cerberus featured in many works of ancient Greek and Roman literature and in works of both ancient and modern art and architecture, although the depiction and background surrounding Cerberus often differed across various works by different authors of the era. The most notable difference is the number of its heads: Most sources describe or depict three heads; others show it with two or even just one; a smaller number of sources show a variable number, sometimes as many as 50 or even 100.
In most works the three-heads each respectively see and represent the past, the present, and the future, while other sources suggest the heads represent birth, youth, and old age. Each of Cerberus’ heads is said to have an appetite only for live meat and thus allow only the spirits of the dead to freely enter the Underworld, but allow none to leave. Cerberus was always employed as Hades’ loyal watchdog, and guarded the gates that granted access and exit to the Underworld.
2. a whelp
A whelp, any young, carnivorous mammal, esp. dogs and wolves, essentially one that is still dependent on its parent(s) for food; most commonly refers to a puppy.
译文
我在社会底层的生涯【选段】
沙铭瑶 译
看样子我不得不去找非常穷苦的人讨东西吃了。对饥饿的流浪汉来说，穷苦的人是最后一个可靠的去处。穷人是任何时候都可以依靠的。他们绝不会把饥饿的人撵走。我走遍美国各地，每当我到小山上的深门大宅去乞讨时，总是遭到拒绝。但到山下靠近小溪或沼泽地的小木屋去时总能得到食物1，那小木屋的破窗户是用破布掩着的，屋子里面容憔悴的母亲由于操劳而拖垮了身体。啊！你们包揽慈善事业的贩子们到穷人那里去学习学习吧，因为只有穷人才是真正慈善的人。他们既不捐献也不吝啬他们多余的东西。他们根本没有多余的东西。他们给别人的正是他们自己所需要的，而且往往是他们自己急需的，但他们从不吝啬2。给狗一根骨头，这不是慈善行为。当你和狗一样挨饿的时候，你和狗分享那根骨头，这才是慈善行为3。
那天傍晚摈我于门外的那些人家当中有一家特别值得一提。那家的门廊有几扇窗子正对着餐厅。我透过窗户看到一个男人在吃馅饼——一块好大的肉馅饼。我站在房门敞开着的门洞口。他一面和我攀谈，一面吃个不停。他很幸福，正因为他幸福4，他就对不如他那么幸运的同胞们感到憎恨。我求他给我一点吃的，他马上打断我的话，厉声说道：
“我想你是不肯干活的。”
这真不知是从何说起。我压根儿没提到干活的事。我和他交谈的话题是“食物”。实际上，我并未要求干活。我要在当晚赶上横贯大陆开往西部的火车。
“就是有机会，你也不愿干活的，”他盛气凌人地说。
我朝他那位面容善良的老婆瞥了一眼，心里明白要不是这只守护狗在场5，我是会得到一份那块肉馅饼的。可是那守护狗却一头扑在那一块馅饼上面6。因此我自顾自叹了口气，并接受了他关于干活的教训7。
“我当然想干活，”我虚张声势地说道。
“谁相信你的话，”他哼着鼻子说道。
“试试我吧，”我趁势鼓起勇气答道8。
“好的，”他说，“你明天早上到什么什么街和什么什么街的拐角处——（我忘记地址了）——你知道就是那幢被大火烧毁的楼房那里——我让你干传运砖头的活。”
“好吧，先生，我一定到那儿去。”
他发出咕噜咕噜的声音又吃起来。我等待着。过了一两分钟，他抬起头来，脸上显出一种“我以为你早走了”的表情，问道“还有什么事？”
“我——我在等着给我吃点什么，”我用柔和的声音说道。
“我早就知道你是不愿干活的！”他咆哮起来。
不错，他说得对。但他一定是根据测心术得出这个结论的，因为根据他的逻辑并不能证明这一点。然而，站在人家门口的乞丐必须卑躬屈节，因此我接受了他的逻辑就像我刚才接受他的教训一样。
“请听我说，我这会儿肚子正饿着呢，”我说，声音依然很柔和。“到明天早上，我会饿得更加厉害。如果我传一整天的砖不吃东西，请你想想我会饿成什么样子啊。所以，你如果这会儿肯给我点东西吃，我就会身强体壮地去对付那些砖头了。”
他神情严肃地考虑着我的请求，同时嘴里嚼个不停。他老婆战战兢兢地快要开口劝他了，却忍住没讲出来。
“我告诉你我打算怎么办，”他在一口一口咽饼的间歇中说道。“你明天来上工，中午的时候我预支你一点钱，足够你吃一顿午饭。这样就可以看出你的话究竟是真的还是假的。”
“可是在这段时间里——”我刚开口，他就打断我的话。
“要是我现在就给你东西吃，我就再也看不到你了。哈，我知道你们这号人。看着我。我不欠任何人的情。我从来没有下作到向别人讨东西吃。我向来是赚钱吃饭。你的问题在于你懒惰、浪荡。这一点我从你脸上一眼就看出来了。我是干活一向正正派派的9。我之所以有今天是我自己干出来的。要是你也干活，也正派，你也一样能办到。”
“像你一样？”我问道。
天哪！在他那阴沉、满脑子工作的灵魂里简直就没有一点幽默感。“是呀，像我一样，”他答道。
“我们大家么?”我问道。
“是的，你们大家，”他答道。
“要是我们大家都变得像你一样，”我说，“请恕我指出：那就没有人替你传运砖头了。”
我敢发誓，他老婆的眼睛里闪现了一抹笑意，而他本人呢，却愣住了。但是我永远也不会知道是什么原因才没人愿意为他传砖的，是这家伙已经改变的可怕的人性还是我的厚颜无耻。
“我不跟你白费口舌了。”他大声吼道“滚开，你这忘恩负义的狗崽子10！”
我用脚擦着地板表示我打算离去，然后问道：“你真的不给我一点东西吃吗？”
他霍地跳起身来。他是个身材魁伟的汉子，而我在这里却人地生疏，加之法律老爷又正在搜寻我。我急急忙忙离开了11。“他干吗骂我忘恩负义呢？”我把他家的大门砰的一声关上，一面问自己。“他究竟给了我什么可以骂我忘恩负义呢12？”我回头望去；他早已在接着吃馅饼了。
译文赏析
1. 原文作者在此处对深门大宅和小木屋进行了地理位置上的对比，译者翻译为“小山上的深门大宅和山下靠近小溪或沼泽地的小木屋”，但此处“山下”一词并没有根据，因此删除“山下”似乎更为恰当。此外
“the big house”和“the shack”的译法似乎不妥，因为深宅大院是中国建筑的特色，而不是西方建筑的特色。根据柯林斯高阶英汉词典，A shack is a simple hut built from tin, wood, or other materials，因此译为“窝棚、小屋”则更为妥当。
2. 原文中这个句群是由多个短句构成，行文较为松散，主要由withhold from连接而成。而译文中，将此句群合为一句，还在句末增译了“他们从不吝啬”。
3. 此句是杰克·伦敦的名言。通读全文不难发现文中多次提到了“狗”。在长篇小说《野性的呼唤》中他运用拟人手法，将狗作为小说的主体，把狗眼中的世界及人类的本质刻画得淋漓尽致，反映了资本主义社会冷酷的现实。可见“狗”是作者钟爱的对象。
4. 作者在此处使用了较为正式的prosperous 和它的变体prosperity，用夸张的手法表达“我”对大肉饼的渴望，折射出底层人员生活的苦难，传递讽刺的意味。但译文中将其译为“幸福”，效果全失。这一点在下文“request”和“introduce”也有所体现。
5. 刻耳柏洛斯, 地狱的守门狗，希腊罗马神话中守卫冥界大门的恶犬，三头一蛇尾，头缠长蛇，声如响铜, 以青铜之声攻击敌人，是巨人和怪物所生的怪兽。译文将它的神话色彩抹去，译为“守卫狗”，不能传递刻耳柏洛斯的凶狠。作者在原文中连用两个刻耳柏洛斯，替代男人这个称谓。
6. 此处句子简单明了，但译文“心里明白要不是这只守护狗在场，我是会得到一份那块肉馅饼的”较为拗口，若改译为“心里明白要不是这只守护狗在场，那块馅饼我是会得到一份的。”则更好。
7. 本句中“placate”和“work morality”和赏析第6条用法相似。
8. Bluff 和warm to the bluff 译法较为特别，尤以后者的译文更佳，将warming to the bluff译为“趁势鼓起勇气”十分到位。
9. 译文“我是干活一向正正派派的”，将原文中的语法结构合并，与原文的意思稍有偏差，若译为“我向来都本本分分，努力工作”似乎更为妥帖。
10. 此句口语化色彩较浓，译为“滚开，你这忘恩负义的狗崽子！”恰到好处，呼应了前文将吃馅饼的男人称为守护狗刻耳柏洛斯的描述。
11. 译文按原文顺序排列句子，但似乎缺乏逻辑，若增加“于是”似乎更
能表达因果关系。
12. In the dickens，即为in the devils，译为“到底”，表达语气恰当。
跨文化小贴士
动物词汇的文化差异
词汇的意义通常包括两个层面：指示意义（denotation）和联想意义（connotation）。随着各自语言体系的发展，表示同一指示意义的词语可能会在各自独特的文化作用下派生出不同的联想意义。这种差异是不同的生产、生活实践、民俗传统、价值观念的产物。可见，词汇的指示意义通常较为明确和固定，而联想意义则较为模糊和多样。相对于指示意义，联想意义凸显出更强的文化特性。因此，英语词汇学习和翻译的重点自然落在了联想意义上。
动物和人类的生产、生活息息相关，除了动物词汇本身，各文化都派生出很多同动物相关的搭配和习语。汉语当中的“望子成龙”、“狐假虎威”、“打狗看主人”，英语中的as wise as an owl，as blind as a bat，love me，love my dog都是很好的例子。对比英汉中的动物词汇，有以下三种情况。
1. 指示意义相同，联想意义也大致相同的动物词汇，即指示意义相同的动物词汇在英汉两个文化中会引起相同或相似的联想。如狡猾的狐狸（as sly as a fox）；勤劳繁忙的蜜蜂（as busy as a bee）；汉语中的猴子给人以聪明、顽皮甚至顽劣的联想，英语中有一种说法叫monkey business（胡闹、恶作剧）；汉语中的“披着羊皮的狼”在英语中更是能找到直接的对应a wolf in sheep’s clothing。
2. 指示意义相同，联想意义不同的动物词汇，即指示意义相同的动物词汇在英汉两个文化中会引起不同，甚至是截然相反的联想。这类词汇不在少数，以下仅以猫头鹰、蝙蝠、狗、龙和凤凰为例。
猫头鹰（owl）：在汉语中，猫头鹰有凶兆和死亡的联想意义，原因是猫头鹰在夜间活动且叫声凄厉。而在英语中，owl象征智慧与公正，如上文提到的as wise as an owl。
蝙蝠（bat）：因为“蝠”与“福”同音，在汉语文化中，蝙蝠被认为是幸福、吉祥的动物，传统的年画和雕刻中也总能见到蝙蝠的身影。在英美文化中，bat会给人以坏的联想，如上文提到的as blind as a bat。Vampire bat（吸血蝙蝠）更是象征残忍与罪恶。
狗（dog）：在汉语文化中，虽然狗已成为最为普遍的宠物，但大量四字成语的存在证明了“狗”多用于贬义，如“狗急跳墙”、“狼心狗肺”、“蝇营狗苟”等。而在英、美等国，dog被视为“人类最好的朋友”（man’s best friend），多用于中性或褒义，如you can’t teach an old dog new tricks（无法改变老人的想法、做法）；every dog has his/its day（凡人皆有得意时）和上文提到的love me, love my dog（爱屋及乌）。
龙（dragon）：在汉语中，龙是传说中的神异动物，是华夏民族的图腾形象，象征着神圣、尊贵与吉祥。有诸多和龙相关的表达，如“真龙天子”、“画龙点睛”、“生龙活虎”等。而在西方的传说中，dragon是长着翅膀、拖着长尾的喷火怪兽，象征罪恶。现在为了将汉语中的“龙”和英语中的“dragon”区分，多将中国的龙称为Chinese dragon。
凤凰（phoenix）：在汉语中，凤凰是传说中的神异动物，百鸟之王，预示尊贵与太平。古代皇帝被尊称为“龙”，皇后则被尊称为“凤”。“龙凤呈祥”、“龙飞凤舞”和“凤毛麟角”等成语同样揭示了汉语文化赋予“凤”的丰富内涵。英语中的phoenix则是神话中的长生鸟，在阿拉伯沙漠中生存数百年，自焚为灰而后再生。因此phoenix有“再生”、“复活”的意思。
3. 指示意义相同，在某一文化中有丰富的联想意义，在另一文化中联想意义缺失的动物词汇，即指示意义相同的动物词汇在汉/英语中会引起丰富的联想，而在英/汉语中则不会引起丰富的联想。在汉语中鹤被视为神仙的坐骑，象征长寿，于是有“松鹤延年”的说法；鸳鸯则象征爱情，也就有了“棒打鸳鸯”的说法。而在英语中，对应的词汇crane和Mandarin duck则无明显联想意义。
可见，同其他词汇一样，动物词汇在使用的过程中被赋予了丰富的联想意义，而其联想意义明显受到所处文化系统的制约和影响。这种差异也自然成为跨文化交际的重点与难点。
胡文仲. 跨文化交际学概论. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1999.
胡文仲. 英美文化辞典. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1995.
贾玉新. 跨文化交际学. 上海：上海外语教育出版社，1997.
王催春，朱冬碧，吕政. 跨文化交际. 北京：北京理工大学出版社，2008.
翻译练习
杜 鹃
郭沫若
杜鹃，敝同乡的魂，在文学上所占的地位，恐怕任何鸟都比不上。
我们一提起杜鹃，心头眼底便好像有说不尽的诗意。
它本身不用说，已经是望帝的化身了。有时又被认为薄命的佳人、忧国的志士；声是满腹乡思，血是遍山踯躅；可怜、哀婉、纯洁、至诚……在人们的心中成了爱的象征。这爱的象征似乎已经成为民族的感情。
而且，这种感情还超越了民族的范围，东方诸国大都受到了感染。例如日本，杜鹃在文学上所占的地位，并不亚于中国。
然而，这实在是名实不符的一个最大的例证。
杜鹃是一种灰黑色的鸟，毛羽并不美，它的习性专横而残忍。
杜鹃是不营巢的，也不孵卵哺雏。到了生殖季节，产卵在莺巢中，让莺替它孵卵哺雏。雏鹃比雏莺大，到将长成时，甚且比母莺还大。鹃雏孵化出来之后，即将莺雏挤出巢外，任它啼饥号寒而死，它自己独霸着母莺的哺育。莺受鹃欺而不自知，辛辛苦苦地哺育着比自己还大的雏鹃；真是一件令人不平、令人流泪的情景。
想到了这些实际，便觉得杜鹃这种鸟大可以作为欺世盗名者的标本了。然而，杜鹃不能任其咎。杜鹃就只是杜鹃，它并不曾要求人把它认为佳人、志士。
人的智慧和莺也相差不远，全凭主观意象而不顾实际，这样的例证多的是。
因此，过去和现在都有无数的人面杜鹃被人哺育着。将来会怎样呢？莺虽然不能解答这个问题，人是应该解答而且能够解答的。
（文章选自《英语专业考研基础英语高分突破》吴中东、宫玉波主编，世界图书出版公司，2008，353页）
参考译文
Cuckoo
No other bird can bear comparison with cuckoo, the spirit of my fellow countryman, in its place in Chinese literature.
Every time we mention cuckoo, endless poetic sentiment seems to emerge from the bottom of our hearts.
We don’t have to mention the bird itself because it is the embodiment of Emperor Wang of State Shu in the Zhou Dynasty. Sometimes, it is also regarded as ill-fated beauty, or noble-minded patriots. The sound it makes fills the hearers with nostalgia, and its blood reminds people of unfortunate patriots that were exiled to mountains. It also represents pity, mournfulness, purity and sincerity and it is a symbol of love in people’s heart, which seems to become a national sentiment.
Moreover, this sentiment has surpassed the border between nations and has excised influence over nearly all the countries in the East. Take Japan for example, the position held by cuckoo in Japanese literature is not inferior to that in Chinese literature.
Nevertheless, all that is a typical instance of undeserved reputation.
The cuckoo is a grayish-brown bird with none too beautiful feathers. She is characteristically domineering and cruel.
She doesn’t build her own nest, nor does she hatch or feed her young. During the breeding season, she deposits her eggs in the nests of orioles for them to hatch and rear. A baby cuckoo is bigger in size than a baby oriole, and, when full grown, bigger even than the mother oriole. After she is hatched, she often pushes the baby oriole out of the nest leaving the poor chick to cry and die of hunger and cold so that she may have the mother oriole’s care all to herself. The mother bird, however, being treated unfairly without her knowledge, continues laboriously to feed the baby cuckoo who is bigger than herself. The tragic spectacle is such as to arouse great indignation and draw tears of sympathy!
When taking these facts into consideration, one may feel that cuckoo is indeed a sample of those who seek fame by deceiving the public. However, cuckoo itself is not to blame. Cuckoo is simply cuckoo, and it has never asked people to regard it as the beauty or noble-minded people.
Man is no wiser than the oriole. Many act on their own personal imagination regardless of the reality of things. There are ample examples of this type.
Therefore, in the past and at present, there are numerous cuckoo-like people that are fed by others. What about this phenomenon in the future? Although orioles cannot answer this question, human beings should and can reply to it.
（译文选自《英语专业考研基础英语高分突破》吴中东、宫玉波主编，世界图书出版公司，2008，380页）
免责声明：以上内容源自网络，版权归原作者所有，如有侵犯您的原创版权请告知，我们将尽快删除相关内容。
