中国孩子太辛苦

例文四　中国孩子太辛苦

郭莹

原文:

中国孩子实在是太辛苦了，一个十岁的孩子一天的典型日程表是这样的:清晨6点30分爬起来匆匆赶往学校上早自习，下午5点放学后再跑到英语补习班去进修，晚上要忙到午夜前一刻，才筋疲力尽地做完老师及家长布置的双重作业。日复一日，年复一年，家长的目标是使孩子长大了争当“哈佛女孩”、“牛津男孩”。

有一个二十岁的青年，一瞧见钢琴就厌恶。他曾向我诉说其童年是多么的不快乐。每天有做不完的家庭作业，还得学钢琴、绘画和补习英语，尽管他根本没有音乐天赋，每天在妈妈的眼皮底下按那些枯燥的琴键如同受刑。妈妈还动不动就念叨:你只要抓紧时间学习，妈妈就高兴。这简直是在折磨孩子的童年。

——《读者》，2003

译文一

Chinese Children Are Overworked

Most Chinese children are really having a hard time with their study.Take a typical daily schedule of a ten-year-old.Having got up at 6:30 a.m.，he must dash to school to prepare his lessons for the day and after school at 5 p.m.，he has to go to an extracurricular class，usually English to get special training.Having come home，he must finish his endless homework assigned by both his teachers and parents.Usually he cannot go to bed until midnight.He has to follow this schedule day in and day out the whole year round，just because his parents want him to go to a renowned university，such as Harvard and Oxford.

A twenty-year-old young man told me he always felt sick at the sight of a piano，because he was forced to have piano lessons after a day's work at school when he was little.In addition，he had to attend drawing and English classes at the weekends.He said he was not gifted in music，so it was torture for him sitting at the piano and hearing his mother babbling that she was pleased as long as he worked hard.What a torment it was for a little kid!

译文二

How Exhausted They Are

Most of Chinese children are over-loaded with schoolwork.This is a typical day of a ten-year-old kid:Up at 6:30 a.m.，so the child would be able to make the morning private study sessions at school;by 5 p.m.，when school closes，the kid dashes to extracurricular classes，usually those teaching English.Evenings at home mean endless homework assigned by the parents in addition to that by the teachers.That will keep the kid up until midnight.That's the schedule the poor child has to follow year in and year out，just to be able to make the grade of a“Harvard girl”or“Oxford boy”as his or her parents hope.

A twenty-year-old young man told me the sight of a piano made him sick.The instrument，he said，would bring back to his mind his school days when he had to take piano lessons against his will，in addition to painting and English classes he had to attend on weekends，even though he had no talent for music.That's why playing on the keyboard was torture for him，and his mother's babbling made it even worse although she kept saying how pleased she would be to see him work hard at these things.You can imagine how painful the memory of his childhood can be.

【分析】这也是一篇报刊评论文章，简略报道了长期以来中国小学生的课业负担过重的现象及原因。其中有很多表达方式极具中国特色，不加解释的直译是不能把原意传达过去的。具体分析如下:

1)太辛苦——“辛苦”一词在不同的语境中有很多不同的用法和功能，但是，其基本含义是working hard。然而在翻译中不能一律照此办理。例如:

“这是件辛苦的工作。”—— It's hard work.

“同志们辛苦了!”——How are you，comrades!

“您就再辛苦一趟吧。”——I'm afraid you have to take the trouble to go there again.

“他把多年辛苦搜集的古董捐给了国家博物馆。”——He donated all the antiques he had taken great pains to collect over the years to the National Museum.

这里的“辛苦”明显是指课业太重:over-loaded with schoolwork，译文一的译法having a hard time with their study不是汉语原文本意，而是“学习上很吃力”的意思。

2)早自习——译文一译成prepare his lessons for the day，这样译给人的感觉像是在说教师备课或大学生的早自习。其实小学生是不应该有早自习的，这里只能笼统地翻作morning private study sessions。

3)英语补习班——这也是中国特有的事物，对于大多数孩子说来，英语是最难学的科目，因此，多数学生都要参加补习班:extracurricular classes，usually those teaching English，而不是像译文一所译:to get special training，这倒成了进修班或提高班了。

4)老师及家长布置的双重作业。——家长给孩子布置额外的作业也是中国特有的事物，必须解释清楚，homework assigned by the parents in addition to that by the teachers.

5)争当“哈佛女孩”、“牛津男孩”——这句话指的是要孩子努力学习，将来达到上名牌大学的标准:to make the grade of a“Harvard girl”or“Oxford boy”as his or her parents hope。

6)一瞧见钢琴就厌恶——为什么“一瞧见钢琴就厌恶”呢?原文没说清楚，译文必须解释:The instrument，he said，would bring back to his mind his school days when he had to take piano lessons against his will，钢琴总让他想起小的时候被迫学琴的经历。

7)这简直是在折磨孩子的童年。——这是病句，只能“折磨人”，不能“折磨童年”。最后一句话应该带有总结性:You can imagine how painful the memory of his childhood can be。