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8.山行

杜牧

远上寒山石径斜,白云生处有人家。

停车坐爱枫林晚,霜叶红于二月花。

中文解读

《山行》是诗人杜牧描写和赞美深秋山林景色的一首七言绝句。

杜牧,字牧之,号樊川居士,京兆万年(今陕西西安)人,晚唐杰出诗人,尤以七言绝句著称。这首诗描绘的是秋之色,展现出一幅动人的山林秋色图,山路、人家、白云、红叶,构成一幅和谐统一的画面。在这首诗中,杜牧以情驭景,敏捷、准确地捕捉足以体现自然美的形象,并把自己的情感融汇其中,使情感美与自然美水乳交融,情景互为一体。

全诗构思新颖,布局精巧,于萧瑟秋风中摄取绚丽秋色,与春光争胜,令人赏心悦目。这首小诗不仅即兴咏景,还进而咏物言志,是诗人内在精神世界的表露。

白话译文

一条弯曲的小路蜿蜒伸向山顶,在白云飘浮的地方有几户人家。

停下来欣赏这枫林的景色,经霜的枫叶竟红过二月的鲜花。

英译一

To the Autumn Hill

Translated by Zhu Manhua


Climbing the cold hill afar on a rocky way,

I see white clouds rising from the family.

I stopped my cart to look at the late maple,

Whose leaves redder than flowers in vernal.

英译二

Mountain Trip

Translated by Hui


A stone path winds uphill in the autumn mountain,

A cottage is dimly visible where the white clouds rise.

Stopping my coach for loving the maple woods at sunset,

Autumn maple leaves redder than the February flowers.

英译欣赏

The poet went out on a trip on an autumn afternoon. When he was going up the mountain along a stone-paved path, he saw white clouds atop where some households loomed. However, he was charmed by the red maple grove and stopped to admire them halfway. Cold as the mountain was, he thought the frosted autumn leaves looked redder than flowers in February.

《山行》的英译很多,这里选两种风格的代表作。首都经济贸易大学朱曼华教授和网友“看风景的人”的译作。先看英译一,没有采用押韵格式,语言简洁精练。以“I”作主语,叙述和视角都是从“我”出发。climbing 表示时间状语,相当于when 引导的从句:When I am climbing the cold hill afar on a rocky way。

“停车坐爱枫林晚,霜叶红于二月花”:I stopped my cart to look at the late maple, Whose leaves redder than flowers in vernal。

whose 引导非限制性定语从句,表示枫林的树叶。此句leaves后省略了系动词are。“二月花”意译为flowers in vernal(春天的花)。

英译二选自新浪博客“看风景的人”。译文采用以客观描写的笔法,以“a stone path”和“a cottage”作主语来叙述这一情景。

“远上寒山石径斜,白云生处有人家”:A stone path winds uphill in the autumn mountain, A cottage is dimly visible where the white clouds rise。

这里winds uphill用得很好,动词wind表示“弯曲地延伸”,巧妙地对应了“斜”。

where 引导地点状语从句,where the white clouds rise,白云生处,直观又可想象:白云冉冉升起的地方,有一处人家隐约可见。

“停车坐爱枫林晚”:Stopping my coach for loving the maple woods at sunset, for引导原因,stopping 相当于I stop,非常地道的英文表达。

“霜叶红于二月花”:Autumn maple leaves redder than the February flowers。

这句中同样省略了系动词are,完整句子是:Autumn maple leaves are redder than the February flowers。

稍显不足的是译文未能译出“霜叶”的“霜”意,还有“二月花”译成February flowers,稍显呆板。有的译文用spring flowers,意义稍好。有的译文用autumn leaves来表示“霜叶”,比只用maple leaves意思好一些。

思考

把原诗中的“二月”译成英文,怎样才更接近原诗的意思?