《红楼梦》第二单元人际称谓语文化

第二单元　人际的纽带——称谓语文化

原文

红楼梦

曹雪芹

一语未了，只听后院中有人笑声，说：“我来迟了，不曾迎接远客！”黛玉纳罕道：“这些人个个皆敛声屏气，恭肃严整如此，这来者系谁，这样放诞无礼？”心下想时，只见一群媳妇丫鬟围拥着一个人从后房门进来。这个人打扮与众姑娘¹不同，彩绣辉煌，恍若神妃仙子[……]”

黛玉连忙起身接见。贾母笑道：“你不认得他。他是我们这里有名的一个泼皮破落户儿²，南省俗谓作‘辣子’，你只叫他‘凤辣子’就是了。”黛玉正不知以何称呼，只见众姊妹都忙告诉他道：“这是琏嫂子。”黛玉虽不识，也曾听见母亲说过，大舅贾赦之子贾琏，娶的就是二舅母王氏之内侄女，自幼假充男儿教养的，学名王熙凤。黛玉忙陪笑见礼，以“嫂”呼之。这熙凤携着黛玉的手，上下细细打谅了一回，仍送至贾母身边坐下，因笑道：“天下真有这样标致的人物，我今儿才算见了！况且这通身的气派，竟不像老祖宗的外孙女儿，竟是个嫡亲³的孙女，怨不得老祖宗天天口头心头一时不忘。只可怜我这妹妹这样命苦，怎么姑妈偏就去世了！”说着，便用帕试泪。贾母笑道：“我才好了，你倒来招我。你妹妹远路才来，身子又弱，也才劝住了，快再休提前话。”这熙凤听了，忙转悲为喜道：“正是呢！我一见了妹妹，一心都在他身上了，又是喜欢，又是伤心，意忘记了老祖宗。该打，该打！”又忙携黛玉之手，问：“妹妹几岁了？可也上过学？现吃什么药？在这里不要想家，想要什么吃的、什么玩的，只管告诉我；丫头老婆们不好了，也只管告诉我。”黛玉一一答应。

（文章选自《英语学习》2002年第5期，26-29页）

原文注释

1. 在《红楼梦》中，贾府的等级制度森严，女人们的称谓也分得很清。贾母又称为史太君，太君二字便是指有儿子在朝中作高官的老太太，且应受到皇封的。贾赦之妻称邢夫人，贾政之妻称王夫人。夫人二字，是指朝中做官之人的正妻。在贾府中，李纨之夫贾珠、凤姐之夫贾琏身无官职，她们被下人们称之为奶奶，“奶奶”二字是仆人们对主人之妻的称呼。仆人们称宝钗、黛玉为薛姑娘、林姑娘，“姑娘”二字，在《红楼梦》中也并非是当今未婚少女的通称，指的是未婚的小姐。

2. 破皮破落户儿：原指没有正当生活来源的无赖。这里形容凤姐泼辣，是戏谑的称谓。（《红楼梦》人民文学出版社，2002年，26页）

3. 嫡亲

嫡 ① 亲生的或血统关系最近的亲属：嫡堂|嫡亲姐妹。② 正宗；正统：嫡派|嫡传|嫡系。③ 宗法制度下称正妻或正妻所生的儿子：嫡长子。

译文

霍克斯的译文

The Story of the Stone¹

Cao Xueqin

She had scarcely finished speaking when someone could be heard talking and laughing in a very loud voice in the inner courtyard behind them.

‘Oh dear! I’m late,’ said the voice. ‘I’ve missed the arrival of our guest.’

‘Everyone else around here seems to go about with bated breath,’ thought Dai-yu. ‘Who can this new arrival be who is so brash and unmannerly?’

Even as she wondered, a beautiful young woman entered from the room behind the one they were sitting in, surrounded by a bevy of serving women and maids. She was dressed quite differently from the others present, gleaming like some fairy princess with sparkling jewels and gay embroideries…

‘You don’t know her,’ said Grandmother Jia merrily. ‘She’s a holy terror this one². What we used to call in Nanking a “peppercorn”. You just call her “Peppercorn Feng” ³. She’ll know who you mean!’

Dai-yu was at a loss to know how she was to address this Peppercorn Feng until one of the cousins whispered that it was ‘Cousin Lian’s wife’⁴, and she remembered having heard her mother say that her elder uncle, Uncle She, had a son called Jia Lian who was married to the niece⁵ of her Uncle Zheng’s wife, Lady Wang. She had been brought up from earliest childhood just like a boy, and had acquired in the schoolroom the somewhat boyish-sounding name of Wang Xi-feng. Dai-yu accordingly smiled and curtseyed, greeting her by her correct name as she did so.

Xi-feng took Dai-yu by the hand and for a few moments scrutinized her carefully from top to toe before conducting her back to her seat beside Grandmother Jia.

‘She’s a beauty, Grannie dear! If I hadn’t set eyes on her today, I shouldn’t have believed that such a beautiful creature could exist! And everything about her so distingué! She doesn’t take after your side of the family, Grannie⁶. She’s more like a Jia⁷. I don’t blame you for having gone on so about her during the past few days—but poor little thing! What a cruel fate to have lost Auntie like that!’ and she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

‘I’ve only just recovered,’ laughed Grandmother Jia. ‘Don’t you go trying to start me off again! Besides, your little cousin is not very strong, and we’ve only just managed to get her cheered up. So let’s have no more of this!’

In obedience to the command Xi-feng at once exchanged her grief for merriment.

‘Yes，of course. It was just that seeing my little cousin here put everything else out of my mind. It made me want to laugh and cry all at the same time. I’m afraid I quite forgot about you, Grannie dear. I deserve to be spanked, don’t I?’

She grabbed Dai-yu by the hand.

‘How old are you dear⁸? Have you begun school yet? You mustn’t feel home sick here. If there’s anything you want to eat or anything you want to play with, just come and tell me. And you must tell me if any of the maids or the old nannies are nasty to you.’

杨宪益的译文

A Dream of Red Mansions¹

Just then they heard peals of laughter from the back courtyard and a voice cried:

“I’m late in greeting our guest from afar!”

Tai-yu thought with surprise, “The people here are so respected and solemn, they all seem to be holding their breath. Who can this be, so boisterous and pert?”

While she was still wondering, through the back door trooped some matrons and maids surrounding a young woman. Unlike the girls, she was richly dressed and resplendent as a fairy.

…

Tai-yu rose quickly to greet her.

“You don’t know her yet.” The Lady Dowager chuckled. “She’s the terror of this house.² In the south they’d call her Hot Pepper. Just call her Fiery Phoenix. ³”

Tai-yu was at a loss how to address her when her cousins came to her rescue. “This is Cousin Lien’s wife,” they told her.

Though Tai-yu had never met her, she knew from her mother that Chia Lien, the son of her first uncle Chia Sheh, had married the niece⁵ of Lady Wang, her second uncle’s wife⁴. She had been educated like a boy and given the school-room name His-feng. Tai-yu lost no time in greeting her with a smile as “cousin.”

His-feng took her hand and carefully inspected her from head to foot, then led her back to her seat by the Lady Dowager.

“Well,” she cried with a laugh, “this is the first time I’ve set eyes on such a ravishing beauty. Her whole air is so distinguished! She doesn’t take after her father, son-in-law of our Old Ancestress⁶, but looks more like a Chia⁷. No wonder our Old Ancestress couldn’t put you out of her mind and was for ever talking or thinking about you. But poor ill-fated little cousin, losing your mother so young! ” With that she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.

“I’ve only just dried my tears. Do you want to start me off again?” said the old lady playfully. “Your young cousin’s had a long journey and she’s delicate. We’ve just got her to stop crying. So don’t reopen that subject.”

His-feng switched at once from grief to merriment. “Of course,” she cried. “I was so carried away by joy and sorrow at sight of my little cousin, I forgot our Old Ancestress. I deserved to be caned.” Taking Tai-yu’s hand again, she asked, “How old are you, cousin⁸? Have you started your schooling yet? What medicine are you taking? You mustn’t be home sick here. If you fancy anything special to eat or play with, don’t hesitate to tell me. If the maids or old nurses aren’t good to you, just let me know.”

译文赏析

1. 本篇章节选《红楼梦》第三回，“内兄如海荐西宾，接外孙贾母惜孤女”。在这一回里，曹雪芹以林黛玉进贾府这一件事为中心，通过林黛玉的目见耳闻，神思会意给我们成功地刻画了一大批主要人物的形象，特别是本篇章介绍了王熙凤的出场。人物的出现会涉及称谓语的问题，特别是中国古代称谓又比较复杂，与英语中称谓的表达存在很大差异，本章节将从称谓语的角度进行中英文化比较。本章采用了霍克斯和杨宪益两个译本进行比较，两位译者因接受不同文化的洗礼，文化归属感各不相同，翻译的目的也不尽相同，因此在译法上也有差异。通过比较，我们不难发现霍克斯的翻译倾向于向英语方向归化，而杨宪益的翻译则竭力主张传达中国文化因素。

2. “泼皮破落户”是一俗语，常用来形容一个刁蛮、爱耍赖的人。这里贾母如此形容王熙凤是一种戏谑的称谓。王熙凤是曹雪芹塑造的最为成功的人物之一，她善于逢迎，曲意奉承，深得贾母欢心。杨宪益和霍克斯的译文均使用了“terror”，能够体现王熙凤在贾府的地位和她性格的一面，但是原文戏谑的意味，贾母所想表达的诙谐、幽默的意义则很难传达出来。

3. “辣子”，“凤辣子”：在中国文化中辣子用来形容一个性格泼辣，行事雷厉风行的人物，在这里是贾母对王熙凤的昵称。杨宪益和霍克斯的译文均使用了“pepper”能够很好地保留原中的文化意象“辣子”。杨译本同时加上了修饰的词汇“hot”以及“fiery”，很容易让读者将辣子的特性和人的性格联系起来。

4. “大舅母”、“二舅母”都是亲属称谓，在中国，人们重视家庭成员中的关系，亲属称谓非常复杂。而西方更倾向于自我价值的实现，因此他们对血缘关系特别是旁系亲属的关系并不是非常地重视，这就造成了在英语中缺乏姑母、姨母或是叔父、舅父的称谓，很笼统地用aunt，uncle来称呼。“大舅母”、“二舅母”的翻译，霍克斯采用了 “your elder uncle’s wife, Aunt Xing”, “Uncle Zheng’s wife, Aunt Wang”来处理，这一同位语的使用让读者了解到了更多的信息，更加容易地了解贾府家族成员之间的相互关系。杨宪益的译本相对就简单一些了。

5. “内侄女”不同于“侄女”，在亲属的关系中指母亲这边的远房亲戚而“侄女”则指父亲这边，可是西方文化更强调男女平等，父亲或是母亲的亲戚并无远近之分，因此在英语表达中没有区别，都是用“niece”。此文中的“内侄女”很显然不是用niece就能准确描述的。

6. 老祖宗：在中国古语中，老祖宗有其特殊内涵，它象征着这个人的社会身份和地位，在《红楼梦》中指贾府的最高身份的掌管者，杨宪益的翻译old ancestress清晰地表达了尊敬之情，成功地实现了文化转移。而霍克斯的译文为grannie，表达了家庭成员之间的关系，但是并为体现其身份地位。

7. 嫡孙女：王熙凤这句话是为了讨好贾母，夸奖黛玉气质不凡，就像贾母的亲孙女一样。霍克斯的译文有贬损贾母娘家之嫌，杨宪益的译文言简意赅，很好地将王熙凤的言外之意表达得很贴切，将中国几千年封建家庭的传统意识忠实地传达给了读者。

8. 妹妹：在中国，人们习惯于用亲属称谓来称呼以表示尊敬和亲密，有利于缩小人际之间的距离。王熙凤在问林黛玉的年龄时问道：“妹妹几岁了？”，杨宪益直译为cousin，而霍克斯则翻译为dear，多了一种亲密之感，更加突出王熙凤八面玲珑的为人处世之道。

跨文化小贴士

称谓语

在交际过程中人们总会以某种方式称呼对方，即使用称谓语。称谓语具有极其重要的社会功能，起着建立、保持和加强人际关系的作用。称谓语又是文化的载体，体现着不同文化的传统规范与价值取向。中西方文化的差异决定了汉语和英语拥有各自独特的称谓体系。以下，从称谓语的两个重要范畴来分析汉语称谓和英语称谓的特点：

1. 亲属称谓语

汉语的称谓体系中有着庞大复杂的亲属称谓，而在英语中，亲属称谓的数量较少，概念较为宽泛。如brother对应“兄”或“弟”；aunt对应“伯母、婶母、姑母、姨母、舅母”。这反映了中国文化注重“长幼有序”、“内外有别”。

中国传统的家庭结构复杂，属于“扩大式家庭”（extended family），往往涉及几代人，是由父系、母系和姻系的亲属组成的庞大体系。在交际的需求下，亲属称谓自然划分细致。而在英语文化，特别是在美国文化中，家庭结构简单，称为“小家庭”或“核心家庭”（nuclear family），通常只包括父母和子女两代人，简化的家庭结构决定了称谓的数量不多且概念宽泛。

值得注意的是，汉语中还多用亲属称谓称呼一般社会关系，有时也会在亲属称谓前加上对方的姓氏，如称呼邻居甚至陌生人为叔叔、阿姨、王奶奶、张爷爷等。这种使用亲属称谓称呼一般社会关系的现象在英语文化中是罕见的。

2. 社交称谓语

汉语的社交称谓语较英语的复杂。在正式场合中，“先生”、“太太”、“女士”、“小姐”是惯用的称谓。英语中也有对应的sir，madam，Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. + 姓氏等。

然而汉语中还有其他的方式称呼社交关系，在英语中则没有或少有对应。上文提到的使用亲属称谓称呼一般社会关系就是一例。此外，汉语中既可称呼对方的名，也可称呼对方的姓，如“老王”、“小张”、“欧阳”等。英语中，一般不直接称呼对方的姓，然而以名相称的做法则较汉语更为普遍。不仅朋友之间，师生之间，上司和下属之间都能够以名相称。在汉语中，以名相称惯用于相熟，且身份相仿的双方。当存在身份差异时，又或是为了体现对对方的尊重，汉语中惯用职称+姓氏的方式称呼对方，如王经理、张老师、李局等等。而在英语中，职称+姓氏的方式只多见于Dr. Smith（史密斯博士或史密斯医生）、Professor White（怀特教授）等。

可见，英语的惯用称谓是在正式场合中使用sir，madam，Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. + 姓氏等，在一般场合则以名相称。以名相称的普遍体现了英语文化注重个体平等的强烈愿望。这是个体导向型的英语文化（individualistic culture）核心价值观的有力体现。与此不同的是，中国文化属于群体导向型（group-oriented），因此中国人更为重视家庭关系和社会关系，更为强烈地想要体现对对方的尊重。亲属称谓的细化体现了对家庭关系的重视，用

亲属称谓语称呼一般社会关系则体现了想要拉近同对方的关系的愿望，而职称+姓氏的称谓语更是集中体现了对对方社会身份的认可与尊重。可见，作为人际关系纽带的称谓语烙有深深的文化印记，而中西方文化取向的差异决定了各自称谓体系鲜明的特点。

参考文献

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.

翻译练习

西门庆道：“干娘，周全了我们则个！只要长做夫妻！”王婆道：“这条计，用着件东西，别人家里都没，天生天化，大官人家里却有！”西门庆道：“便是要我的眼睛也剜来与你。却是甚么东西？”

王婆道：“如今这捣子病得重，趁他狼狈里，便好下手。大官人家里取些砒霜来，却教大娘子自去赎一帖心疼的药来，把这砒霜下在里面，把这矮子结果了，一把火烧得干干净净的，没了踪迹，便是武二回来，待敢怎地？自古道：‘嫂叔不通问’；‘初嫁从亲，再嫁由身’。阿叔如何管得？暗地里来往一年半载，等待夫孝满日，大官人娶了家去，这个不是长远夫妻，偕老同欢？此计如何？”

西门庆道：“干娘，只怕罪过？罢！罢！罢！一不做，二不休！”王婆道：“可知好哩。这是斩草除根，萌芽不发；若是斩草不除根，春来萌芽再发！官人便去取些砒霜来，我自教娘子下手。事了时，却要重重谢我。”西门庆道：“这个自然，不消你说。”便去真个包了一包砒霜来，把与王婆收了。

（文章选自《水浒传》施耐庵、罗贯中著，人民文学出版社，1997）

参考译文

“Save us, godmother! We want to be long-term lovers!”

“The thing we need for this scheme other households don’t have. But yours, thank Heaven, does.”

“If you ask for my eyes, I’ll gouge them out! What is this thing?”

“The wretch is very ill. Take advantage of his misery to do him in. Get some arsenic from your drug shop, let this lady buy medicine for heart pains, mix the two together and finish the dwarf off. She can have him cremated, so there won’t be any traces. When Wu Song comes back, what will he be able to do? You know the old sayings: Brother and sister-in-law must keep their distance; Parents pick the first husband, widows choose the second. A brother-in-law can’t interfere. You continue to meet secretly for half a year or so till the mourning period is over, then marry her. You’ll be long-term lovers, and merry till the end of your days. What do you think of my plan?”

“It’s a frightening crime, godmother! Never mind. We’ll do it! All or nothing!”

“Good. Pull it out by the roots and it won’t grow again. Leave any roots and it sprouts once more, come spring. Get the arsenic, Right Honorable. I’ll tell the lady how to use it. When it’s over, you’ll have to reward me well.”

“Naturally! That goes without saying!” Not long after, Ximen arrived with the arsenic and gave it to Mistress Wang.

（译文选自《水浒传》（英译版）施耐庵、罗贯中著，杰克逊译，塔特尔出版公司，2010）