同學(xué)們,如果給你復(fù)雜的定語(yǔ)從句你是否會(huì)翻譯呢?怎么翻譯呢?
翻譯練習(xí)(定語(yǔ)從句)
1.李昂就是那個(gè)決心清除社會(huì)上所有壞蛋的職業(yè)殺手。
Leonwas a professional killerwhowas determined to get rid of all the bad guys in the society.
2.瑪?shù)贍柕戮褪悄莻€(gè)父母都已離世的可憐的小女孩。
Mathilda was a poor little girlwhoseparents both died.
3.足球是一項(xiàng)培養(yǎng)孩子跟別人合作的團(tuán)隊(duì)活動(dòng)。
Football is a team workthattrains children to work with others.
4.你想見(jiàn)的那個(gè)人住進(jìn)了這家賓館。
The manwhomyou want to seechecked in this hotel.
5.這是我們昨天參觀的那家工廠。
This is the factory(which/that )we visited yesterday.
6.我昨天收到的那封信是我的一個(gè)朋友寄來(lái)的。
The letter(which/that)I received yesterdaywas from a friend of mine.
7.他常常回憶起童年在鄉(xiāng)下跟爺爺去河邊釣魚(yú)的日子。
He often recalls the days of his childhoodwhenhe and his grandfather went fishing by the river.
8.這是魯迅曾經(jīng)住過(guò)的房子。
This is the housewhereLu Xun once lived.
This is the housein whichLu Xun once lived.
This is the housewhichLu Xun once livedin.
9.我們不知道他沒(méi)有來(lái)的原因。
We don’t know the reasonwhyhe didn’t show up.
We don’t know the reasonthathe didn’t show up.(×)
10.中國(guó)政府正在大力發(fā)展農(nóng)業(yè),農(nóng)業(yè)的重要性現(xiàn)在已是人人皆知。
Chinese government is trying to develop agriculture with great efforts, the importanceof whichis now known to everybody.
11.會(huì)議延期了,而這正是我們所希望的。
The meeting was put off,which/aswas exactly what we wanted.
12.這是我看過(guò)的最好的一部電影。
This is the best film(that)I have ever seen.
This is the best film (which)I have ever seen.(×)
定語(yǔ)從句的翻譯方法
英語(yǔ)句子中某個(gè)需要修飾的詞語(yǔ)后面可以接無(wú)數(shù)的定語(yǔ)從句,而漢語(yǔ)句子中需要修飾的詞語(yǔ)前不能放過(guò)多的修飾語(yǔ)(定語(yǔ))。另外,英語(yǔ)定語(yǔ)從句的結(jié)構(gòu)還具有一些特點(diǎn),即蔓生式(The rates at which the molecules move depend upon the energy they have.),并列式(The house (that) he bought in 1968,and which he sold two years later,is again on the market.),連環(huán)套式(There was one thing (that) he told me which I don’t believe at all.)。基于這些結(jié)構(gòu)上的差異,在翻譯定語(yǔ)從句的時(shí)候,可以選擇以下幾種方法:
1. 前置法
比較簡(jiǎn)短的英語(yǔ)定語(yǔ)從句,可以譯成作定語(yǔ)的短語(yǔ),置于所修飾詞語(yǔ)之前。
例如:
·You must make full use of the money there is left to you and think of a plan to make more.
你必須充分利用所剩的錢,而且要想法賺更多的錢。
·The people who worked for him lived in mortal fear of him. 在他手下工作的人對(duì)他怕得要死。
·This is the cat that killed the rat.
這就是那只捕殺了老鼠的貓。
·For example, one function of friendship seems to fulfill is that it supports the image we have of ourselves, and confirms the value of the attitudes we hold.
例如, 友誼的一個(gè)作用似乎是支持我們?cè)谧约盒哪恐械男蜗? 并使我們持有的價(jià)值觀念更加堅(jiān)定。
·Behaviorists, in contrast, say that difference in scores are due to the fact that blacks are often deprived of many of the educational and other environmental advantages that whites enjoy.
相反, 行為主義者認(rèn)為, 成績(jī)的差異是由于黑人常常被剝奪了白人在教育及其他外界環(huán)境方面所享有的許多有條件而造成的。
2. 后置法
當(dāng)定語(yǔ)從句較長(zhǎng)時(shí), 如果翻譯成前置的定語(yǔ), 就會(huì)不符合漢語(yǔ)的表達(dá)習(xí)慣, 在這種情況下, 往往把該定語(yǔ)從句翻譯成并列的分句, 放置于原來(lái)它所修詞的后面。另外在處理此類定語(yǔ)從句時(shí), 一般遵循的原則是:若保留先行詞, 則在第二個(gè)分句中加以重復(fù), 若省略, 則兩個(gè)并列分句中均不再保留。當(dāng)然, 在實(shí)際的翻譯過(guò)程中也有例外。
·All the water that flows through the wide pipe in a second must somehow get through a narrow part too, which it can do only by going faster.
在一秒鐘內(nèi)流過(guò)粗管子的全部水量, 一定會(huì)以某種方式通過(guò)細(xì)管子,這只有靠加快流速才能做到。(后置)
·Perhaps light is some sort of electric wave, whose nature we do not yet understand.
也許,光是某種電波,其性質(zhì)我們尚不清楚。(后置)
·This will be particularly true since energy pinch will make it difficult to continue agriculture in high-energy American fashion that makes it possible to combine few farmers with high yields.
這種困境將是確定無(wú)疑的, 因?yàn)槟茉吹膮T乏使農(nóng)業(yè)無(wú)法以高能量消耗這種美國(guó)耕種方法繼續(xù)下去了, 而這種耕種方式使投入少數(shù)農(nóng)民就可獲得高產(chǎn)成為可能。(后置)
·“In short”, a leader of the new school attends, “the scientific revolution, as we call it, was largely the improvement and invention and use of a series of instruments that expanded the reach of science in innumerable directions.”
新學(xué)派的一位領(lǐng)袖人物堅(jiān)持說(shuō):“簡(jiǎn)而言之, 我們所稱謂的科學(xué)革命,主要指一系列器具的改進(jìn)、發(fā)明和使用,這些改進(jìn)、發(fā)明和使用使科學(xué)發(fā)展的范圍無(wú)所不及。” (后置)
·The food supply will not increase nearly enough to match this, which means that we are heading into a crisis in the matter of producing and marketing food.
食品的供應(yīng)將趕不上人口的增長(zhǎng), 這就意味著我們?cè)诩Z食的生產(chǎn)和購(gòu)銷方面正陷入危機(jī)。(后置)
·You consulted the man who had no idea about that subject at all?
那個(gè)家伙對(duì)這一主題一無(wú)所知,你卻去咨詢他?(前置)
·They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which,in the past,many Chinese have laid down their lives.
他們正在為實(shí)現(xiàn)一個(gè)理想而努力,這個(gè)理想是每個(gè)中國(guó)人所珍愛(ài)的,在過(guò)去,許多中國(guó)人曾為了這個(gè)理想而犧牲了自己的生命。 (后置)
·Nearly everyone knows the story of “the dog that worried the cat that caught the rat that ate the grain that lay in the house that Jack built.”
幾乎人人都知道這個(gè)故事:“杰克蓋了房,房里堆了糧,耗子把糧吃光,貓把耗子抓著,狗又把貓逼上房。”(后置)
3. 溶合法
所謂溶合就是把原句中的主語(yǔ)和定語(yǔ)從句合并在一起,譯成一個(gè)獨(dú)立的句子。
例如:
·There are more and more foreign investors who have the intention to do business and live in Dalian.
越來(lái)越多的外國(guó)投資者有意向在大連經(jīng)商和生活。
·They are a nation that must beg to stay alive.
他們那個(gè)國(guó)家不討飯就活不下去。
·Objects that do not transmit light cause shadows.
不透光的物體造成陰影。
4.分離法
有些定語(yǔ)從句較長(zhǎng),結(jié)構(gòu)較復(fù)雜,或意思上獨(dú)立性較強(qiáng),在邏輯意義上有追述、分層敘述、轉(zhuǎn)折等作用。這時(shí)可將英語(yǔ)的定語(yǔ)從句從主句中分離出來(lái),譯成獨(dú)立的成分。
例如:
·Nowhere is the clash between development and environment more visible than in China, where the world’s largest population faces pollution, deforestation and acid rain on a large scale.
在中國(guó),發(fā)展與環(huán)境的矛盾表現(xiàn)得尤為明顯。這個(gè)世界上人口最多的國(guó)家正面臨著環(huán)境污染、森林減少以及大范圍酸雨侵襲。
·There are 107 elements found in nature, most of which (=and most of them)are metals.
自然界發(fā)現(xiàn)的元素有107種,其中大部分是金屬。
5. 譯成有狀語(yǔ)功能的分句
·We know that a cat,whose eyes can take in many more rays
of light than our eyes, can see clearly in the night.
我們知道,由于貓的眼睛比我們?nèi)说难劬δ芪崭嗟墓饩€,所以貓黑夜也能看得很清楚。
(原因)
·Chaplin, whose mother was ill for many years, had to dance in streets to earn money .
由于母親病了好多年,卓別林不得不到街頭表演去掙錢。
(原因)
·I invited that friend, who came on time.
我邀請(qǐng)了那位朋友,他就按時(shí)來(lái)了。
(結(jié)果)
·He built a telescope through which he could study the skies.他做了一架望遠(yuǎn)鏡,使他能夠研究天空。
(結(jié)果)
·Anyone who wants to can go for a walk.
誰(shuí)想去散步就可以去。
(條件)
·Nothing is difficult in the world for anyone, who dares to scale the height.
世上無(wú)難事,只要肯登攀。
(條件)
·The young man needed a visa that would enable him to study in the United States.
這位青年需要得到簽證,以便前往美國(guó)學(xué)習(xí)。
(目的)
·But the Southern States wanted to set up a country of their
own, where they would be free to keep black slaves.
但是南方各州卻想建立他們自己的國(guó)家,以便在那里他們可以隨心所欲地繼續(xù)把黑人當(dāng)作奴隸。
(目的)
·The scientist, who was dog-tired, went on with the experiment.
那位科學(xué)家雖已筋疲力盡,但還是繼續(xù)進(jìn)行實(shí)驗(yàn)。
(讓步)
·He insisted on buying another house, which he had no use for.
他堅(jiān)持再買一幢房子,盡管他并無(wú)此需要。
(讓步)
6. 其他譯法
把翻譯簡(jiǎn)單定語(yǔ)從句的方法貫通其中,如譯成定語(yǔ) + 句子成分(即把一個(gè)從句譯成定語(yǔ),另一個(gè)從句譯成句子成分);或譯成并列句(或句子成分)+ 狀語(yǔ)從句(即把一個(gè)從句譯成并列句或句子成分,另一個(gè)從句譯成狀語(yǔ)從句)等。例如:
·At one extreme are Hawaii and Brazil,where racial intermixture is extensive and continuing, and where racial discrimination is relatively minor.
處于一個(gè)極端的是夏威夷和巴西,在那里種族混合十分普遍,而且正在繼續(xù),因此,種族歧視較少。
(并列句+狀語(yǔ)從句)
EXERCISES
I. SENTENCE TRANSLATION
1. Almost everything which really matters and which the world possessed at the commencement of the modern age was already known to man at the dawn of history.
2. And it helps to explain why so many inventions that were of Chinese origin or that had been known to the Greco-Romans were fully developed and exploited only by the Western Europeans.
3. Not surprisingly, the most complex political structures appeared in the Sudan, where long distance trade was most highly developed and where Islamic influence was the strongest.
4. This hope was nurtured by the great victories won by Genghis khan’s grandson, Hulagu, who was a Buddhist, and whose wife was a Christian.
5. They are striving for the ideal which is close to the heart of every Chinese and for which,in the past, many Chinese have laid down their lives.
6. It applies equally to traditional historians who view history as only the external and internal criticism of sources and to social science historians who equate their activity with specific techniques.
7. A youngster who has no playmates of his age living nearby may benefit greatly from attending nursery school.
8.The first two must be equal for all who are being compared,if any comparison in terms of intelligence is to be made.
9. Kissinger and his small group of aids toured the Forbidden City,where the Chinese emperors once lived in lofty splendor.
10.The time will surely come when the Chinese people will realize the four modernizations.