THE EVIL THAT MEN DO 人的惡行 | Chapter 9 | THE TWO BROTHERS 兩兄弟 | Chapter 10
2017年12月15日, 星期五
compromise one's integrity
There is something curious about Tseyu; less headstrong than his brother, he had always, without compromising his integrity, nevertheless been able to look out for himself and to choose a safe and obscure position, living in the company of some great scholar.
integrity在這里意思為“quality of being honest and morally upright 誠實而正直”。
compromise在這里的意思為“to do something which is against your principles and which therefore seems dishonest or shameful”，有“放棄；背離；違背（原則、信念）；達不到（標準）”等意思。compromise在這個意思下與名詞的搭配之一就有integrity：
原文對應(yīng)子由without compromising his integrity的中文譯文為“潔身自好，使清譽不受沾染”。這個搭配字面上的翻譯更貼近“不違背正直”，有堅守原則，光明磊落的意味。
譯文提到的“清譽”，字典對compromise的解釋中也有類似說法，“聲譽”：
柯林斯在以上釋義中用了themselves，然而在牛津四中，compromise oneself的搭配是與compromise one's principle并列的另一個詞條：
在牛津七中“~ sb/ sth/ yourself”也單獨作為一個義項列出，意為“to bring sb/ sth/ yourself into danger or under suspicion, especially by acting in a way that is not very sensible （尤指因行為不很明智）使陷入危險，使受到懷疑”。
我認為，當提及“使自己聲譽受損”時，柯林斯對compromise的英文釋義中的“If someone compromises themselves”和例句中的“government who have compromised themselves 使自己名譽受損的政府成員”，都是compromise與oneself的搭配，帶有貶義，表示對名譽的損傷；而原文譯文中“使清譽不受沾染”則恰恰相反，是正面的、褒義的表達，語意里帶有出淤泥而不染的感覺，手法上是“沾染”和“潔身自好”的互文和呼應(yīng)。
這里翻譯沒有問題。只是作為詞組挑出來學習和記憶，我認為有必要對用法含義和感情色彩進行一定的界定和區(qū)分。
to and fro
Later, when Chang Fangping retired and moved to Shangchiu, then called Nanking, or "Southern Capital," Tseyu had himself appointed to a post there also, and in the following years Su Tungpo always stopped at Chang Fangping's house on his way to and from the capital, asking and getting advice from him as from an uncle.
to and from the capital，這里應(yīng)該就是兩個介詞用and并列，仍作為介詞，中文譯文對應(yīng)為“往返京都”。
有意思的是，to and fro是一個長的相像意思也相近的短語：
詞組to and fro在字典中標明是副詞詞性，例句如
- I was disturbed by all the people walking to and fro outside the office.
辦公室外人來人往讓我安不下心來。 - She was gazing out the window, rocking rhythmically to and fro.
她注視著窗外，身體有節(jié)奏地來回搖晃著。
to-ing and fro-ing與to and fro類似，是作為名詞使用，除了“往復(fù)”，亦有“紛繁”：
另外，在劍橋中寫作“to-ing and fro-ing”，在朗文中則作“toing and froing”。
plump
Tseyu was taller, and had a plumper, rounder face, with plenty of loose flesh round his cheeks, while Su Tungpo had a more muscular build, with the right proportion of bone and muscle.
這里是胖胖的子由~
plump：豐滿的；胖乎乎的；圓滾滾的；You can describe someone or something as plump to indicate that they are rather fat or rounded.
上圖是以前在有道app首頁推薦看到截取的，完整版見網(wǎng)頁：近義詞辨析 | "你不胖，你只是肉肉的！"，用英語應(yīng)該怎么說
If Your Majesty will look at these pictures and take my suggestions for abolishing reforms, if it does not rain within ten days, you can behead me on the execution ground outside the Shiianteh Gate as a punishment for lying to Your Majesty.
It began to rain. Truly God was pleased!
讀到這里的時候，也仿佛跟著神清氣爽而喜上眉梢。這時候慢慢覺得作者安排Chapter Six GODS, DEVILS, AND MEN是一步大棋，為后文做足了鋪墊。蘇東坡的祈雨，“喜雨亭”（"Pavilion of Joyful Rain"），救民于水火（all his life he was fighting floods and drought）；而王安石變法忤逆天意，山崩（landslide on a sacred mountain）荒旱（the widespread famine）涂有餓孚（families being separated and refugees roaming over the countryside）。
It took a visible demonstration of God's anger and the curious gatekeeper of the palace to put Wang Anshih out of power.
“天命”某種意義上虛妄的寄托，但文學上確實能讓讀者有如坐針氈的不適之感。對此王安石回應(yīng)是：
"Floods and droughts are natural calamities; they occurred even in the regime of the ideal emperors Yao and Tang. All we need to do is to carry on with a good government."
“旱澇乃是天災(zāi)，在堯湯之世也曾發(fā)生。吾人之所能為者只是力行善政而已?！?/p>
單讀這句話覺得特別在理。不知怎的想起上一章讀到的：
How many political crimes have been committed in history in the name of "the people"
越是邏輯無懈可擊，表達也鏗鏘有力的話語，有時候越是有無法彌補的漏洞。功過的評判或者不是那么重要，畢竟客觀總是難的，而有說服力的證據(jù)和言詞總是那么少。
以下是賈平凹《廢都》選段：
正好天上落雨，噼噼啪啪如銅錢砸下，地上立即一片塵霧，轉(zhuǎn)眼又水汪汪一片，無數(shù)水泡彼此明滅。眾人皆走散了，老頭說聲“及時雨”，丟下車子不顧，也跑到孕璜寺山門的旗桿下躲雨，因為待得無聊，也或許是喉嚨發(fā)癢，于嘩嘩的雨聲里又高聲念說了一段謠兒。
沒想山門里正枯坐了孕璜寺的智祥大師，偏偏把這謠兒聽在耳里。孕璜寺山門內(nèi)有一奇石，平日毫無色彩，凡遇陰雨，石上就清晰顯出一條龍的紋路來，惟妙惟肖。智祥大師瞧見下雨，便來山門處查看龍石，聽得外邊唱說：“……闊了當官的，發(fā)了擺攤的，窮了靠邊的……”若有所思，忽嘎喇喇一聲巨響，似炸雷就在山門瓦脊上滾動。仰頭看去，西邊天上，卻七條彩虹交錯射在半空，聯(lián)想那日天上出現(xiàn)四個太陽，知道西京又要有了異樣之事。果然第二日收聽廣播，距西京二百里的法門寺，發(fā)現(xiàn)了釋迦牟尼的舍利子。
是不是也有天命難違之感。
以上。
