和谐英语

您现在的位置是:首页 > 英语翻译 > 英语笔译资料

正文

翻译笔记:《沉思录》卷一:品质闪烁在良好的传承中02

2011-03-10来源:

本书简介:
《沉思录》是古罗马皇帝奥勒留写给自己的书,内容大部分是他在鞍马劳顿中写成的。作品来自奥勒留对身羁宫廷的自己和自己所处混乱世界的感受,追求一种冷静而达观的生活。这部著作是斯多葛学派的一个里程碑,亦是温总理放在枕边,读了不下百遍的书。
本书原文由古希腊文而作,英文版选择比较权威的George Long的版本,中文版选择何怀宏的版本作参考。笔记中的英文释义摘自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》

 作者简介:
马可.奥勒留(Marcus Aurelius,公元121—180年),著名的“帝王哲学家”,古罗马帝国皇帝,在希腊文学和拉丁文学、修辞、哲学、法律、绘画方面受过很好的教育,晚期斯多葛学派代表人物之一。奥勒留也许是西方历史上唯一的一位哲学家皇帝。他是一个比他的帝国更加完美的人,他的勤奋工作最终并没有能够挽救古罗马,但是他的《沉思录》却成为西方历史上的伟大名著。

卷一:品质闪烁在良好的传承中(1)
 小编语:在卷一中,奥勒留回忆自己身边之人所教会自己的东西,George Long的翻译十分精炼,有些看起来也许不成句子,仅仅是一些词组和短语,但就在字里行间,我们可以感受到作者的思考与自省。如果要作为翻译练习的话,需要注意添加动词及调整语序,使你的翻译语句通顺,易于理解。
从这期选的两段文字中,我们可以发现奥勒留很反对奢侈的生活,反对华而不实的文风,反对迷信,崇尚简朴与自律,热爱哲学。

1.6 From Diognetus, not to busy myself about trifling things, and not to give credit to what was said by miracle-workers and jugglers about incantations and the driving away of daemons and such things; and not to breed quails for fighting, nor to give myself up passionately to such things; and to endure freedom of speech; and to have become intimate with philosophy; and to have been a hearer, first of Bacchius, then of Tandasis and Marcianus; and to have written dialogues in my youth; and to have desired a plank bed and skin, and whatever else of the kind belongs to the Grecian discipline.

 Notes:
trifle  [adj](formal) small and not important.
incantation [n][c, u] special words that are spoken or sung to have a magic effect; the act of speaking or singing these words.
daemon [n] a creature in stories from ancient Greece that is half man and half god.
breed [v] ~sth (for/as ath) to keep animals or plants in order to produce young ones in a controlled way.
quail/quails [n][c, u] a small brown bird whose meat and eggs are used for food; the meat of this bird.
plank [n] a long narrow flat piece of wood that is used for making flours, etc; a main point in the policy of an organization, especially a political party.
 

1.7 From Rusticus I received the impression that my character required improvement and discipline; and from him I learned not to be led astray to sophistic emulation, nor to writing on speculative matters, nor to delivering little hortatory orations, nor to showing myself off as a man who practices much discipline, or does benevolent acts in order to make a display; and to abstain from rhetoric, and poetry, and fine writing; and not to walk about in the house in my outdoor dress, nor to do other things of the kind; and to write my letters with simplicity, like the letter which Rusticus wrote from Sinuessa to my mother; and with respect to those who have offended me by words, or done me wrong, to be easily disposed to be pacified and reconciled, as soon as they have shown a readiness to be reconciled; and to read carefully, and not to be satisfied with a superficial understanding of a book; nor hastily to give my assent to those who talk overmuch; and I am indebted to him for being acquainted with the discourses of Epictetus, which he communicated to me out of his own collection.

 Notes:
go astray ① to become last; to be stolen; ②to go in the wrong direction or to have the wrong result.
emulate [v] ①(formal)to try to do sth as well as sb else because you admire them; ②(computing)(of a computer program, etc)to work in the same way as another computer, etc. and perform the same tasks.
benevolent [adj] ①(formal)(especially of people in authority) kind, helpful and generous. [OPP] malevolent; ②used in the names of some organizations that give help and money to people in need.
rhetoric [un] ①(formal, often disapproving) speech or writing that is intended to influence people, but that is not completely honest or sincere; ②(formal) the skill for using language in speech or writing in a special way that influences or entertains people.
reconcile [v] ①~sth(with sth) to find an acceptable way of dealing with two or more ideas, needs, etc. that seem to be opposed to each other; ②(usually passive)~sb(with sb) to make people become friends again after an argument or a disagreement; ③~sb/yourself accept an unpleasant situation because it is not possible to change it.

 看了笔记注释之后,先尝试自己翻译一下吧,参考译文见下:

中文翻译
1.7从戴奥吉纳图斯,我学会了不使自己碌碌于琐事,不相信术士巫师之言,驱除鬼怪精灵和类似的东西;学会了不畏惧也不热衷于战斗;学会了让人说话;学会了亲近哲学。我先是巴克斯,然后是坦德西斯、马尔塞勒斯的一个倾听者,我年青时学习写过对话,向往卧人硬板床和衣粗毛皮,从他,我还学会了其他所有属于希腊学问的东西。

1.8从拉斯蒂克斯,我领悟到我的品格需要改进和训练,知道不迷误于诡辩的竞赛,不写作投机的东西,不进行繁琐的劝诫,不显示自己训练有素,或者做仁慈的行为以图炫耀;学会了避免辞藻华丽、构思精巧的写作;不穿着出门用的衣服在室内行走及别的类似事件;学会了以朴素的风格写信,就像拉斯蒂克斯从锡纽埃瑟给我的母亲写的信一样;对于那些以言词冒犯我,或者对我做了错事的人,一旦他们表现出和解的意愿,就乐意地与他们和解;从他,我也学会了仔细地阅读,不满足于表面的理解,不轻率地同意那些夸夸其谈的人;我亦感谢他使我熟悉了埃比克太德的言论,那是他从自己的收藏中传授给我的。