华罗庚的求学之路

例文三　华罗庚的求学之路

原文:

华罗庚在十七岁时便身患伤寒，贫病中卧床半年致使左腿残废。也就在此后的几年中，他全靠自学读完了从高中到大学的八年课程，后来他学业成就卓著，受聘到清华大学任教，但当时表上填的仍是初中毕业生。

1936年，华罗庚初到剑桥大学留学，著名数学家哈代正在美国旅行，此前他曾看过推荐华罗庚的信和华罗庚的论文，就给另一位数学家海尔布伦留了一张便条:“华来时，请转告他，他可以用两年的时间获得博士学位。”通常若要在剑桥大学获得博士学位，至少要三四年甚至更长的时间。海尔布伦问华罗庚:“你打算攻读哪一门课程?我们给你提供帮助。”华罗庚回答说:“谢谢你的好意。我只有两年的研究时间，自然要多学点东西，多写些有意思的文章。念博士不免有些繁文缛节，太浪费时间了。我不想念博士学位，我只要求做一个访问学者。我来剑桥大学是为了求学问，不是为了学位。”

海尔布伦闻言，不觉大感意外:“东方来的人，不稀罕剑桥大学的博士学位者，你还是第一个。我们欢迎你这样的访问学者。”

就在那里的一年当中，华罗庚完成了十一篇论文。而这些论文，每一篇都可得到一个博士学位。

1979年11月，华罗庚来到法国南锡大学，参加为授予他荣誉博士学位而举行的隆重仪式。从此他才有了比初中毕业更高的学衔，这年，他已经68岁了。

——梁东元:《倾听大师们的声音》

译文一

Hua Luogeng's Pursuit of Education

Hua Luogeng，Chinese renowned mathematician，began his education the hardest way.When he was 17 years old，he suffered from typhoid.He was confined to bed for half a year.Being very poor and not having got proper treatment for his disease，he became crippled.Not having flinched in the face of tremendous difficulties，he completed the courses from senior high to college by teaching himself.Later on he became a teacher in Qinghua University with only a secondary-school diploma.

In 1936，when Hua Luogeng came to Cambridge University，Hardy，the famous Cambridge mathematician was traveling in America.Before he left England he had received a letter of recommendation for Hua and his research papers.He left a message to Heilbronn，his colleague，which said ，“When Hua comes，please tell him he can get a doctor's degree here in two years.”The usual time to get a doctor's degree in Cambridge was three or four years or even longer.Then when Heilbronn saw Hua，he asked him ，“What subject do you want to study?We'll help you.”Hearing this，Hua said，“I appreciate your kindness，but I'll have only two years of research here.I want to study as much as possible and write meaningful papers.To get a doctor's degree，I would have to get through much red tape，which would take me a lot of time.So I just want to be a visiting scholar instead of getting a doctor's degree，for I came here to seek knowledge，not a degree.”

Very astonished，Heilbronn said ，“You are the first Asian I've ever seen who is not interested in getting a doctor's degree in Cambridge.And we are glad to have a visiting scholar like you.”

In just one year there，Hua Luogeng wrote 11 research papers，and each one of them was good enough for him to have got a doctor's degree.

In November 1979，Hua Luogeng went to attend the ceremony of receiving his honorary doctor's degree conferred by Nancy University in France.Only by then，at the age of 68，he got a degree higher than a secondary-school diploma.

译文二

The Education of Hua Luogeng

Hua Luogeng，the renowned Chinese mathematician，who grew up in poverty，was 17 years old when he was struck by typhoid，which，after confining him to bed for half a year，left him crippled in the left leg.

He won a teaching position at the prestigious Qinghua University，not on the strength of his formal education，which ended when he finished 3rd year junior high，but on what he had achieved，all by self-teaching，in all the academic courses from senior high school to college.

In 1936，when Hua Luogeng came to Cambridge University，Hardy，the famous mathematician，was traveling in America.Before he left England he had received a letter of recommendation for Hua along with his research papers.He left a message to Heilbronn，his colleague，which said ，“When Hua comes，please tell him he can get his doctor's degree here in two years.”At Cambridge the study for a PhD degree took three or four years，or longer.When Heilbronn saw him，he asked him ，“What is the subject you intend to study?We may help you.”“Thank you for your kindness，”Hua said ，“I have only two years to do research here.I would like to study as much and produce as many useful papers as the two years allow me.I am not here to pursue a doctoral degree.That would cost me too much time going through all the formalities.I'm here just as a visiting scholar，not after a PhD.Study is the sole purpose of my being here.”

Heilbronn was surprised.“You are the first Asian I've ever met who's not interested in getting a doctor's degree from Cambridge，”he said.“A scholar like you is more than welcome here.”

In just one year，Hua Luogeng produced eleven research papers，and each one of them was strong enough to earn him a doctor's degree.

In November 1979，Hua Luogeng was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Nancy University in France in recognition of his academic position，which was much higher than that of a holder of a junior high diploma.He was then 68.

【分析】上文摘自名人传记型的报告文学，讲述了数学大师华罗庚一生中最能体现其大师风范的片段。文章开头没有给华罗庚做介绍，因为几十年来华罗庚的名字在中国家喻户晓，但在英译文中必须加以说明:the renowned Chinese mathematician。

1)后来他学业成就卓著，受聘到清华大学任教——一个初中毕业生能够受聘到清华大学任教，在西方国家是不可思议的事，因此在译文中必须加以说明:He won a teaching position at the prestigious Qinghua University，not on the strength of his formal education，which ended when he finished 3rd year junior high，but on what he had achieved，all by self-teaching□

2)有意思的文章——这句话的意思十分模糊，译文一翻译为meaningful papers，欠妥，这会让人理解为别人写的文章都是meaningless。译文二译成useful papers，很合适，说明华罗庚打算写一些有实际效益的文章，以解决实际问题。

3)繁文缛节——这个词在这里并不是指政府部门烦琐的公事程序，所以译文一译成red tape，就是误译。“繁文缛节”这里指的是要读学位，就必须通过必要的但很麻烦的手续，如写论文开题报告、找导师指导论文、答辩等。因此going through all the formalities是正确的译法。

4)每一篇都可得到一个博士学位——为什么十一篇论文“每一篇都可得到一个博士学位”?原文没说明，译者也无从知晓，但是，按照常识，我们可以认为华罗庚的论文一定非常strong，意思是firmly established，difficult to destroy。译文一译成good enough力度不够。

5)从此他才有了比初中毕业更高的学衔，这年，他已经68岁了。——译文一是Only by then，at the age of 68，he got a degree higher than a secondary-school diploma.译文二是Hua Luogeng was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by Nancy University in France in recognition of his academic position，which was much higher than that of a holder of a junior high diploma.He was then 68.在原文中，这句话的重点或精彩之处在“华罗庚68岁时才有了比初中毕业更高的学衔”，因此，译文二另起一句，译成He was then 68，不但突出了重点，而且使整篇文章更为有力。