剑桥的钟声为她响起

例文五　剑桥的钟声为她响起

张达明

原文:

1997年邓亚萍退役，以英语专业本科生身份进入清华大学学习。第一堂课英语老师问她:“你的英语水平是什么程度?”邓亚萍嗫嚅道:“我能写出26个英文字母。”在费了九牛二虎之力后，总算写出了有些是大写、有些是小写的26个字母，她不好意思地对老师说:“我现在只有这个水平，不过请老师放心，我一定会努力，也会赶上其他同学的!”

在当天的日记中她写道:“我现在是清华大学最差的学生，但我相信，过不了多久我就会成为清华最优秀的学生。”

但对于只上过小学二年级的邓亚萍来说要想成为一名合格的大学生谈何容易?读书的清苦和孤独，虽然不同于球场的训练，但面对天书般的英文单词，她需要付出比别人多几倍的辛劳。以至于到后来，每天清晨起床，她都会发现枕头上有大把大把脱落的头发。在打球时，她两眼视力都是1.5，毕业时一只眼睛的视力已下降为0.6了。

后来，邓亚萍不但以优异的成绩获得清华大学英语学士学位，而且获得了英国诺丁汉大学硕士学位。一次，邓亚萍回清华看望英语老师，老师建议她去剑桥读博士。

于是，邓亚萍拿着清华老师的推荐信，迫不及待地拜见了剑桥大学校长艾莉森·理查德，把读博士的想法和盘托出。理查德对她说:“剑桥只收最聪明的学生。虽然你是世界顶尖级人物，但学术背景一定要过硬……如果能让萨马兰奇给你写封推荐信，那当然再好不过。”邓亚萍觉得，让萨马兰奇写封信不算什么难事，但令她意外的是，萨马兰奇并不支持她上剑桥，对她说:“你已经有了两个学位，应该马上回国效力，而不是读什么剑桥博士。”

她诚恳地对萨马兰奇说:“请您放心，即使我读完了剑桥博士，也绝对要回到我的祖国去，我上剑桥，是希望以后能更好地为我的祖国效力。”萨马兰奇被邓亚萍的诚恳和决心所打动，为她写了推荐信。

在剑桥，邓亚萍拿出打球时不服输的劲头玩命地学习，把研究方向定位于“2008年奥运会对当代中国的影响”。2004年春节假期，她为了赶写论文，放弃了与亲人团聚的机会。朋友们劝她:“即使读学位，也不必和自己较真，找个‘枪手’代笔写论文不也能过关吗?”但她说:“我读博士绝不是为了‘镀金’ ，我既然上了剑桥，就绝不会投机取巧走捷径，更不会弄虚作假!我盼望着那一刻，当我带上剑桥博士帽时，剑桥大学城里所有教堂的钟声都为我响起来!”

2008年11月29日，当剑桥大学校长理查德在学校礼堂前的草坪上亲自授予邓亚萍经济学博士学位，并为她戴上剑桥博士帽时，剑桥大学城内所有教堂的钟声顿时响起来。那一刻，她泪流满面，哽咽着说:“在经历了11年的艰辛后，今天我终于圆了剑桥博士的梦，激动的心情绝不亚于夺得奥运会金牌。”

——《读者》，2009(17)

译文一

The Cambridge Bells Ring for Her

Deng Yaping was accepted as a student by Qinghua University after retirement as a world-class table tennis athlete in 1997.In her first class，the English teacher asked her:“How much do you know English ?”“Well，I can write the 26 letters of the alphabet.”She answered haltingly.With tremendous effort，she wrote out the letters，without the distinction of capital and small forms.She said embarrassingly:“This is all I can do with English，but you can rest assured that I'll work hard and catch up with the others.”

In her diary on that day，she wrote:“Now I'm the worst student in the university，but I'm sure I'll be the best soon.”

It was no easy job for a person with only elementary education of grade two to become a qualified college student!She had to endure different kinds of hardship，loneliness and absence of ordinary comforts from the life of an athlete.The English textbooks seemed to be as illegible as books from heaven to her.She had to make efforts many times more than others in her study.Because she was over-hardworking，she kept losing hair and suffered from serious nearsightedness.

After years of arduous work，Deng Yaping not only completed her Bachelor study with excellent achievement but also got her Master Degree from Nottingham University of England.She didn't stop her study here.At the suggestion of her teacher of Qinghua University，she was determined to obtain a PhD in Cambridge University.

With her teacher's recommendation，she eagerly went to Cambridge University and paid a visit to the president，Mr.Allison Richard，who said to her:“Cambridge only takes the most intelligent students.You're a first-rate figure in the world，but your academic research capability should be truly proficient if you want to be a student in this university.However，if you can get a recommendation from Mr.Samaranch，we'll consider your application.”

Deng Yaping thought there wouldn't be a problem in getting that，but to her surprise，Mr.Samaranch didn't support her plan，saying that what she should do now was to render her service to her country rather than to get a PhD.

Deng Yaping said earnestly to Mr.Samaranch:“My intention to study for a PhD is to serve my country better.I will go back to China as soon as I finish my study.”Moved by her honesty and determination，Mr.Samaranch wrote the recommendation for her.

With the same tenacious and dauntless spirit as she had when playing table tennis，Deng Yaping devoted herself heart and soul to her study.Her research orientation was“The effect of the 2008 Olympics on modern China.”During the Spring Festival in 2004，she was too busy working on her dissertation to be reunited with her family.Some of her friends said to her:“A successful person like you doesn't have to take the study so seriously.You can find a‘helper' to write the paper for you.”

Deng Yaping said with a severe countenance:“My purpose of studying for a PhD is not to acquire a gilded reputation，or to gain advantage by trickery，certainly not to resort to deception either，but to enhance my abilities.I'm looking for the moment when I'm put on the PhD mortarboard by virtue of my own effort，all the Cambridge bells will ring for me.”

That day came at last.On November 29th 2008，when President Richard conferred the doctorate to her，she was all in tears.Choking back sobs，she said:“Having worked hard for eleven years，I've realized my long-cherished dream to be conferred the doctorate from Cambridge.My excitement at the moment is no weaker than getting a gold medal in the Olympics.”

译文二

The Cambridge Bells Ring for Her

Deng Yaping was accepted by Tsinghua University after she retired as a world-class table tennis player in 1997.In her first class，the English teacher asked her:“How much English have you learned ?”“Well，”she answered haltingly ，“I can write the twenty-six letters of the alphabet.”With tremendous effort，she wrote out the alphabet，but with no distinction between capital and small letters.“This is all the English I know，”she said in embarrassment.“But believe me，I'll work hard and catch up with the others.”

That day she wrote in her diary:“Now I'm the worst student at the university，but I'm sure I'll be the best，and soon.”

It was no easy job for a person with only a two-year elementary education to become a qualified college student.She had to endure all kinds of hardship and loneliness，a life quite different from the one she had been used to in the years of her training for the sport.The English textbooks were total strangers to her.To study them she had to work many times as hard as her peers，so hard that before long she would find locks of hair on her pillows every morning when she got up，and her eye-sight dropped from 1.5 on the visual chart before she retired to only 0.6.

However，after years of arduous work，Deng Yaping won her bachelor's degree with honors at Tsinghua，and a master's degree from Nottingham University of England.She didn't stop.She planned，at the suggestion of her English teacher at Tsinghua，to study for a PhD at Cambridge University.

Once she made up her mind and armed with a letter of recommendation from her teacher at Tsinghua，she paid a visit to the president of Cambridge.

“Cambridge is for the most intelligent students，”the president told Deng.“You're a world-class celebrity，but you need a matching academic background to make the grade.However，if you can get a letter of recommendation from Mr.Samaranch，we may consider your application.”

Deng Yaping never thought that getting Mr.Samaranch to do that would be a problem.But to her surprise，Mr.Samaranch thought otherwise.He said to her that with two college degrees，the first thing she should do was to get a job immediately and work for her country，not get a PhD.

Deng Yaping insisted on her request.“With a PhD I will be able to serve my country even better，”she said.“I will go back to China as soon as I finish my study at Cambridge.”Moved by her motivation，Mr.Samaranch complied.

At Cambridge，Deng Yaping gave full display of her dauntless，win-every-gameat-all-cost spirit of a table tennis player that she once was，when she worked on her PhD thesis on the effect of the 2008 Olympics on modern China.The writing of the paper kept her so busy in 2004 that she had to stay in Britain during the Spring Festival，a traditional holiday in China for family reunion.“No need to work this hard，”one of her friends commented ，“even when it's a thesis paper;you can get a ghostwriter to do it.”Deng Yaping refused.“I'm not doing this to adorn my résumé，”she said.“I don't believe in shortcuts;I believe in honest work.I'm working my way towards the day when I put on my PhD mortarboard with all the bells in Cambridge ringing for me.”

That day was November 29，2008.On that day Deng，her face awash with tears of joy，was conferred the doctorate of economics to the ringing of the bells in Cambridge.With tears sparkling in her eyes，she said ，“Today is the day for which I've been working for as long as eleven years，the day when my dream would come true.I'm as much exited as when I won my Olympic gold medals.”

【分析】这篇文章介绍了邓亚萍传奇经历中最感人的片段，充分体现了一位世界级运动员、奥运会冠军成名之后继续不屈不挠，努力奋斗的精神，读来异常感人。但是，如何才能恰如其分地译好这篇短文，让外国读者了解邓亚萍，还是要费些思量。

1)邓亚萍退役——原文开头没有介绍邓亚萍的身份，因为对中文读者来说没有这个必要，但译文必须点明。译文一译作world-class table tennis athlete，其中有误，athlete是指田径运动员，因此译文二改译为table tennis player。

2)过不了多久我就会成为清华最优秀的学生。——译文一是I'm sure I'll be the best soon，非常平淡，译文二改译为I'm sure I'll be the best，and soon。虽然只加了一个逗号和and，但是此句的力度完全不同了，这样翻译更能体现邓亚萍的决心和信心。

3)请老师放心，我一定会努力——“放心”一词含义很多，可指“别着急”，“信任”等，译文要根据上下文而定，例如:

·他做这事大家都很放心。Everyone trusts him to do the job.

·他对大夫的医术是一百个放心。He has full confidence in the doctor's skills.

·这个人总不让人放心。This man is not reliable at all.

这个词在此处的意思是“请老师相信我”，英语是believe me，译文一译成rest assured意思是“请别着急”，显然与原文不符。

4)天书般的英文单词——“天书”是汉语中常用的比喻，意指“看不懂的书或文字”。译文一直译为as illegible as books from heaven，意思可以是“神圣”或“上帝所赐”，并没有“看不懂”的意思。译文二的译法正确:The English textbooks were total strangers to her。

5)每天清晨起床，她都会发现枕头上有大把大把脱落的头发。在打球时，她两眼视力都是1.5，毕业时一只眼睛的视力已下降为0.6了。——译文一把本来很生动的描述给简化了:Because she was over-hardworking，she kept losing hair and suffered from serious nearsightedness，虽然也算通顺，但趋于平淡。译文二译成□before long she would find locks of hair on her pillows every morning when she got up，and her eye-sight dropped from 1.5 on the visual chart before she retired to only 0.6，保持了原文描述的生动和具体的特点。

6)拿着清华老师的推荐信——这里的“拿着”是“为了某件事做好准备”的意思。译文一用了With her teacher's recommendation，虽然不能算错，但也是平淡无味。译文二译为armed with a letter of recommendation，可以说是传神之笔，armed with是比喻用法，意思是邓亚萍把“清华老师的推荐信”看作敲门砖，来申请剑桥大学。

7)“剑桥只收最聪明的学生。虽然你是世界顶尖级人物，但学术背景一定要过硬……如果能让萨马兰奇给你写封推荐信，那当然再好不过。”——这段话是回译，即最初的原文是英语，译成汉语后再回译成英语。但是，要想还原英语原文是不大可能的。译文二的翻译是相当到位的。尤其是“世界顶尖级人”——worldclass celebrity ，“学术背景一定要过硬”—— matching academic background to make the grade ，“那当然再好不过”——we may consider your application，译得自然贴切。

8)不支持她上剑桥——这是典型的中国式表达法，其实，萨马兰奇只是想法不同罢了，没有支持不支持一说，所以此句不能像译文一那样直译，译文二的改译是正确的:Mr.Samaranch thought otherwise。

9)回国效力——译文一译成to render her service to her country，过于正式，不像人们平时的说话方式，译文二所译更为合适:to get a job immediately and work for her country。

10)诚恳和决心——译文一是honesty and determination，虽然这是直译，但与原文不符，因为邓亚萍说“With a PhD I will be able to serve my country even better”就是表达了她读博的motivation，译文二的译法正确。

11)不服输——译文一tenacious and dauntless spirit不如译文二译得生动，因为her dauntless，win-every-game-at-all-cost spirit更像一个世界冠军的精神风采。

12)2004年春节假期，她为了赶写论文，放弃了与亲人团聚的机会。——春节时与亲人团聚在中国是尽人皆知的传统习俗，但英语读者不见得知道，所以必须说明the Spring Festival，a traditional holiday in China for family reunion，否则邓亚萍刻苦攻读的精神表达得不够充分。

13)找个“枪手”代笔写论文——“枪手”在汉语中带有贬义，译文二用了一个中性词ghostwriter，去掉了那层贬义，译得合适。

14)绝不会投机取巧走捷径，更不会弄虚作假!——请一个ghostwriter代笔是西方国家常有的事，所以不存在to acquire a gilded reputation，or to gain advantage by trickery，更没有to resort to deception的意思，译文一的译法太过，译文二译成I don't believe in shortcuts;I believe in honest work正好与上文的ghostwriter相呼应。

15)她泪流满面，哽咽着说——译文一翻成Choking back sobs，纯属误译，因为这个短语的意思是to try hard to prevent your feelings from showing，但是，当时邓亚萍流的是“激动的泪水”，不必“强忍”，译文二的译法With tears sparkling in her eyes，译得充分。

通过以上对这五个译例的分析，我们应该认识到翻译不可能是一蹴而就的事，翻译从初稿到终稿，不知要经过多少次推敲润色才能达到令人满意的程度。对于这一点，尤金·奈达说得好:

One of the most surprising paradoxes of translating is that there is never a completely perfect or timeless translation.Both language and culture are always in the process of change.Furthermore，language is an open system with overlapping meanings and fuzzy boundaries—the bane of logicians but the delight of poets.(Nida，1993:5)

这应了国人常说的那句话:“没有最好，只有更好。”这种永远追求“更上一层楼”的精神对于一个翻译来说是必不可少的品质。这种品质只有在对两种语言不间断的对比分析和持之以恒的翻译实践中才能获得。

思考题

1.对译文的润色和审读要遵循什么原则?

2.有人认为审读要分为两种方式:一是对照原文，仔细审查，看内容是否忠实于原文;二是撇开原文，只读译文，看译文是否流畅、自然。你赞成哪种方式?