On Growing Flowers –Lao She 🔥背景知识：老舍的《养花》于1956年10月21日发表在《文汇报》上。老舍爱花，写出了养花的乐趣，视花儿为自己生命的一部分，人花合一。文章短小简练，朴素隽永。Q:英文标题中的介词怎么用？🎈on/of+…:书、讨论或观点关于，涉及。如弗朗西斯·培根著作《论学习》，其标题译为Of Studies.我爱花，所以也爱养花。I love flowers and hence have taken to growing them.🎈“所以也爱养花“译为hence have taken to growing them，其中动词短语to take to的意思是“开始喜欢”。此句也可译为are therefore fond of growing flowers。我可还没成为养花专家，因为没有工夫去作研究与试验。But, short of time to do research and experiment in flower cultivation, I am no gardener at all.🎈short of time to do research and experiment in flower cultivation是原因状语。🎈有时候，翻译活动只能「尽量」传递源语信息。中文“我可还没成为养花专家”体现出一种“别别别，你可别这么高看我” 「我还差得远」的语气，但译成英文“but I am no gardener at all”却只表达了80%的信息，尽管用了no… at all结构，却也只是表达了“还不是养花专家”这层意思，在体现语气上不尽如人意。🎈没有功夫→没有时间 short of time我只把养花当作生活中的一种乐趣，花开的大小好坏都不计较，只要开花我就高兴。I merely take flower cultivation as a pleasure of life. I really don’t care whether or not my flowers will put forth plump and nice-looking blossom. I’ll be delighted as long as they can blossom.🎈不计较→不在乎，译作don’t care.抖音上有首很火的背景乐开头便是I don’ care. (You can put it anywhere.)表示“老娘不在乎”的潇洒。🎈花开的大小好坏都不计较→花开到最大，一般是花最好看最丰满的时候，也说明花健康，故译作put forth plump and nice-looking blossom。以后遇到类似“无论好坏”的表达，可以选择“whether or not+好/坏”进行翻译。🎈forth可与put/give搭配，表示“吐出，产生”。在我的小院中，到夏天，满是花草，小猫儿们只好上房去玩耍，地上没有它们的运动场。In summer, flowers and plants growing in luxuriance in my small courtyard will leave little open space as a playground for the little cats, so they have to sport about in our rooms instead. 🎈满是花草→“满”说明长势茂盛，数量多；“草”并非指grass，而是指各式各样的植物。故译作flowers and plants growing in luxuriance。🎈（因为）满是花草，（所以）院子中空地少[留给小猫玩耍的地方少，（所以）小猫] 只好上房去玩耍。译文将“地上没有它们的运动场”调整到了“小猫儿们只好上房去玩耍”之前。注意这句话中有两个因果关系。🎈 “只好上房去玩耍”译为they have to sport about in our rooms instead，其中动词短语to sport about的意思是“嬉戏”（to play and jump about happily）。花虽多，但无奇花异草。I grow many flowers, but none of them are exotic or rare ones.🎈本篇散文主题是（老舍）「养花」，所以要注意「花虽多」省去的成分，补充完整即是「‘我’养的」花虽多，译作I grow many flowers珍贵的花草不易养活，看着一棵好花生病欲死是件难过的事。It is difficult to grow a precious flower species. And I feel bad to see a good flower dying of illness. Q: “难过”译成“bad”是拼写错误吗？为什么不译作sad?🎈bad兼具“阴郁”和“难过，歉疚”之意，如I feel bad that he’s doing most of the work.大部分工作都是他在干，我觉得很过意不去。此处“难过”除去“悲伤sad”，还有一层“自责（自己没有养好花草）”的意思，所以选用bad而不是sad。我不愿时时落泪。I don’t want often to shed tears over that.🎈实际上是“我不愿时时「因为好花生病欲死」落泪”→不愿时时在花死这件事上掉泪，译时补充出over that，使前后文联系更紧密。北京的气候，对养花来说，不算很好。冬天冷，春天多风，夏天不是干旱就是大雨倾盆；But Beijing’s climate is more or less unfit for the growing of flowers. Freezing in winter, windy in spring, and either too dry or too often visited by rainstorms in summer.🎈气候不算很好→气候或多或少不友好，所以译为more or less unfit。若直接译为“unfit/bad /not good”，过于生硬。🎈“Freezing in winter… in summer”是对Beijing’s climate的进一步解释说明。自己理解的时候可以假装freezing……前有个破折号，即：Beijing’s climate is more or less unfit for…——freezing in winter, windy in spring…。🎈此处北京译作Beijing，是因为北京（北平）的气候从古至今一直如此。译作Peiping也是可以的。秋天最好，可是忽然会闹霜冻。While autumn is the best of all, it is often plagued by a sudden frost. 🎈while引导让步状语从句。🎈闹霜冻→受冻霜困恼，故译作be plagued by a sudden frost在这种气候里，想把南方的好花养活，我还没有那么大的本事。In a climate like this, it is far beyond my capacity to grow precious flowers of southern breed.🎈我还没有那么大的本事→远超我能力范围之外，即it is far beyond my capacity to🎈“南方的花”指南方特有的花种类。若将此译为flowers growing in the south，表达的意思将有所偏离，变为：南方特有的花种类+在南方生长很好的其他地方特有的花种类。因此，我只养些好种易活、自己会奋斗的花草。Therefore, I only grow flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate. 🎈“我只养些好种易活、自己会奋斗的花草”译时稍作灵活处理：I only grow flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate，其中用enjoy a high survival rate（成活率高）表达“好种易活”；用hardy（耐寒、耐劳、能吃苦）表达“会奋斗的”。（ps. 我太爱这句话了！大家也要做一棵易活、自己会奋斗的花草！）不过，尽管花草自己会奋斗，我若置之不理，任其自生自灭，它们多数还是会死了的。Although such flowers are able to weather through by themselves, I, however, never ignore them or abandon them to their own fate, for otherwise most of them will probably end up dead.🎈“自己会奋斗”译为able to weather through by themselves，其中动词短语to weather through的意思是“对付困难”、“渡过风暴”等。此句也可译为able to carry on the struggle for existence by themselves，但用字太大、太多。🎈“任其自生自灭”不宜按字面直译，现意译为abandon them to their own fate。🎈for引导原因状语从语。我得天天照管它们，像好朋友似的关切他们。I have to care for them every day as if they were my close friends.🎈as if从句的两种用法：
一、 as if 从句用陈述语气（相对于虚拟语气而言）,即你所表达的句子是真实的或极有可能发生或存在的事实时。设想语境:比方说你现在屋里看不到外面的情况,却听到了雨滴声,表达如下:It sounds as if it is raining． 听起来像是在下雨。
二、as if 从句用虚拟语气，当说话人认为句子所述的是不真实的或极少有可能发生或存在的情况时。从句虚拟语气动词时态的形式如下：（1）如果从句表示与现在事实相反，谓语动词用一般过去时。（2）从句表示与过去事实相反，谓语动词用“had＋过去分词”。（3）从句表示与将来事实相反，谓语动词用“would／could／might＋动词原形
一来二去，我摸着一些门道：Thus, in the course of time, I’ve somehow got the hang of flower cultivation. 🎈“一来二去”的意思是“经过一定的时间”，故译为in the course of time。🎈“时间久了，（不知什么缘故），我摸着一些门道”，所以增译somehow（adv.不知怎样，用某种方法，不知什么缘故，不知怎的），作赏析。🎈掌握…的窍门;熟悉…的门道get the hang of。E.g. It’s a bit tricky at first till you get the hang of it.刚开始有点儿难，掌握窍门后就好了。有的喜阴，就别放在太阳地里，有的喜干，就别多浇水。Some flowers which are accustomed to growing in the shade should not be too much exposed to the sun. Those which prefer dryness should not be watered too often.🎈喜阴→习惯在阴处生长，译作be/get accustomed to growing in the shade🎈放在太阳地里→过多与阳光接触，过于暴露在阳光下，译作be too much exposed to the sun🎈积累“those who（人）/which（物）”的表达。这是个乐趣，摸住门道，花草养活了，而且三年五载老活着、开花，多么有意思呀！It gives me much pleasure to know the right way of handling them. How interesting it is to be able to keep my flowers and plants alive and watch them thrive and bloom year in year out!🎈 “摸住门道，花草养活”是个乐趣；“三年五载老活着、开花”多么有意思。所以这句话可以划分成两个意群，译成两句话。🎈“三年五载”→可以活很久→年复一年，所以灵活译为year in year out。不是乱吹，这就是知识呀！多得些知识，一定不是坏事。It is no exaggeration to say that there is much knowledge involved in this! And the more knowledge one acquires, the better it is of course. 🎈不是乱吹 It is no exaggeration to say that🎈这就是知识呀→这里面蕴藏了太多知识，故译出involved in this🎈后半句话是“the+比较级，the+比较级结构”。一定不是坏事→实指是好事，也就是：一个人得的知识越多，这个人/情况就越好。the better it is of course中的it可以指“未指出性别的人”或者泛指“情况”。我不是有腿病吗，不但不利于行，也不利于久坐。As I have some trouble with my leg, I can’t move around easily, nor can I sit too long. 🎈 “我不是有腿病吗”交代行坐不利的原因，用as引导原因状语从句🎈“不利于行，也不利于久坐”→行走不容易或不方便，不能久坐，所以译作can’t move around easily, nor can I sit too long。我不知道花草们受我的照顾，感谢我不感谢；我可得感谢它们。I don’t know if the flowers under my care are grateful to me or not. However, I wish for my part to acknowledge my thanks to them.🎈under my care作the flowers的后置定语🎈 I wish for my part to…中，for my part (就我而言，对我来说) 是插入成分。“我可得感谢它们”→即承认我要感谢它们的事实在我工作的时候，我总是写了几十个字，就到院中去看看，浇浇这棵，搬搬那盆，I often leave off sedentary work after writing a few dozen words and go to the courtyard to take a look at the flowers, watering them and moving about the potted ones.🎈leave off 停止。参考译文用谓语动词leave off和 go to表明了时间逻辑，即停下前一个动作，然后做下一个动作。🎈watering them and moving about the potted ones是目的状语。🎈遇到“几十”的数字表达，除直接译出，还可选用单词“dozen（12个）”。如:120个瓶子 ten dozen bottles然后回到屋中再写一点，然后再出去，如此循环，把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起，有益身心，胜于吃药。Then I’ll return to my room to write a bit more. I’ll go through the same back-and-forth process again and again, thus combining mental with manual labour. This is a better way to keep me fit in mind and body than taking medicine.🎈“然后再出去，如此循环”不宜按字面直译，现译为I’ll go through the same back-and-forth process again and again，其中定语back-and-forth作“来来往往”解；go through the same process🎈“有益身心”可有两种译法：to keep me fit in mind and body或to keep me mentally and physically fit。要是赶上狂风暴雨或天气突变哪，就得全家动员，抢救花草，十分紧张。In case of a violent storm or a sudden change of weather, however, the whole family will have to turn out to salvage the flowers and plants. Everybody will then feel keyed up.🎈区分in case of(≈if)「要是，万一，如果」和in the case of（≈when）「在……情况下」🎈“就得全家动员”译为the whole family will have to turn out，其中动词短语to turn out的意思是“出动”或“出来参加”。 🎈 “十分紧张”译为feel keyed up，其中动词短语to key up的意思是“使紧张”，因此keyed up和excited、tense等同义。🎈这句话之前写的是养花的优越性，而这句话描写的是养花狼狈的一面。所以增译however表明转折的逻辑关系。几百盆花，都要很快地抢到屋里去，使人腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。By the time when we have managed to move the several hundred potted flowers to the rooms in a hurry, we will be dog-tired and wet with perspiration.🎈by the time when，同when🎈腰酸腿疼→累趴下，dog-tired（累得像狗一样）非常贴切生动Q:和“dog”有关的英语惯用表达🎈 ①dog指丑女人。例句How can you go out with her? She’s a real dog.你怎么能和她谈恋爱呢？她简直就是个恐龙。②dog-tired adj.极度疲乏的;累极了的例句By dusk we were dog-tired and heading for home.到了傍晚我们累趴下了，于是回家。🎈热汗直流→汗流浃背→被汗浸湿，译作wet with perspiration第二天，天气好转，又得把花儿都搬出去，就又一次腰酸腿疼，热汗直流。The next day, when the weather is fine, we will have another round of being dog-tired and wet with perspiration in taking all the flowers out to the courtyard again.🎈又一次腰酸腿疼→开启又一轮“腰酸腿疼”，故译为have another round of「又一轮」🎈have another round of…in…是句子结构流畅连贯不拖沓可是，这多么有意思！不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活，这难道不是真理么？How interesting it is! Isn’t it true that without doing manual labour, we couldn’t even keep a single flower alive? 🎈这难道不是真理么 isn’t it true that🎈不劳动，连棵花儿也养不活→如果不劳动，就连棵花儿也养不活。“without+ V-ing”是条件状语。送牛奶的同志，进门就夸“好香”！这使我们全家都感到骄傲。It filled the whole family with pride whenever the milkman exclaims on entering our gate, “What a sweet smell!”🎈通常情况下，我们看到“这”时会用代词指代前文内容开启一个新的句子。而此句参考译文灵活处理：选择it作形式主语作为对“这”的翻译。🎈on entering our gate是时间状语。赶到昙花开放的时候，约几位朋友来看看，更有秉烛夜游的神气——昙花总在夜里放蕊。When the night-blooming cereuses are about to be in flower, we will invite some friends to visit us in the evening to feast their eyes on them—in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights.🎈昙花 the night-blooming cereuses🎈feast their eyes on sth. 凝视，盯着，聚精会神看。常言都道昙花易逝，唯有屏息凝视，才不容易错过朵朵夜间的精灵啊～🎈 “更有秉烛夜游的神气”中的“秉灯夜游”是成语，比喻“及时行乐”，今结合上下文按“夜间秉烛作乐”的意思译为nocturnal merry-making under candle lights。又“更有……神气”意即“带有……的味道”，故全句译为in an atmosphere smacking of nocturnal merry-making under candle lights. 其中，smack of是“具有……意味、含义”的意思。花儿分根了，一棵分为数棵，就赠给朋友们一些；看着友人拿走自己的劳动果实，心里自然特别喜欢。When the cereuses have branched out, we will pick some of the flowers and give them as a present to our friends. We are of course especially happy to see them take away our fruits of labour. 🎈分根 branch out🎈此处“花儿分根了”可译作“When the cereuses have branched out”，也可选用if。🎈劳动果实fruits of labour当然，也有伤心的时候，今年夏天这有这么一回。三百株菊秧还在地上（没有移入盆中的时候），下了暴雨。Of course, there is a time to feel sad too. Last summer, a rainstorm hit us when 300 chrysanthemum seedlings in the courtyard were about to be transplanted to pots.🎈也有感到……的时候there is a time to feel … too🎈“今年夏天”已经过去，所以译作last summer🎈“今年夏天这有这么一回”[伤心的时候之一]指：三百株菊秧淋暴雨🎈 “还在地上（没有移入盆中的时候）”→在地上，就说明还没移入盆中，所以译出一个意思即可。邻家的墙倒了下来，菊秧被砸死者约三十多种，一百多棵！Suddenly, the wall of our neighbour collapsed and crushed more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties. 🎈这句话的中文里主语有两个，而译文用wall作主语，用2个动词（collapse、crush）准确地描述出了当时的场景。🎈（菊秧）三十多种，一百多棵 more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties全家都几天没有笑容！The whole family were sad-faced for quite a few days! 🎈没有笑容→神色悲伤，译作sad-faced🎈“quite a/an（或a quite）+形容词+名词”具有积极的修饰效果例句It is quite an interesting film/a quite interesting film.这是一部相当有趣的电影。有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色，既须劳动，又长见识，这就是养花的乐趣。Joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, flowers and fruit, fragrance and colour, manual labour and increased knowledge—all these make up the joy of flower cultivation.🎈“有喜有忧，有笑有泪，有花有实，有香有色，既须劳动，又长见识”的译法同“男男女女men and women”有类似之处。🎈这就是养花的乐趣→这（些）构成了（make up）养花的乐趣🔥必背词汇hence adv.因此;由此;所以英义You use hence to indicate that the statement you are about to make is a consequence of what you have just said.例句The Socialist Party was profoundly divided and hence very weak.社会党内部分歧严重，因此非常脆弱。exotic adj.具有异国情调的;外来的;奇异的英义Something that is exotic is unusual and interesting, usually because it comes from or is related to a distant country.例句brilliantly coloured, exotic flowers色彩斑斓的奇异花卉shed v.流，洒,落泪英义If you shed tears, you cry.例句they will shed a few tears at their daughter’s wedding.他们会在女儿的婚礼上落泪的。plague v.困扰；使烦恼；折磨英义If you are plagued by unpleasant things, they continually cause you a lot of trouble or suffering.例句Economic problems continued to plague the country.经济问题持续困扰该国。accustom v.使习惯，使适应英义If you accustom yourself or another person to something, you make yourself or them become used to it.例句Shakespeare has accustomed us to a mixture of humor and tragedy in the same play.莎士比亚让我们习见了同一场戏目中的悲喜交错。acknowledge v.承认事实、局面等英义If you acknowledge a fact or a situation, you accept or admit that it is true or that it exists.例句Belatedly, the government has acknowledged the problem…政府迟迟才承认了该问题。feast v.目不转睛地看;凝视英义If you feast your eyes on something, you look at it for a long time with great attention because you find it very attractive.例句She stood feasting her eyes on the view.她驻足凝神欣赏这片景色。nocturnal adj.夜间发生的;夜间的英义Nocturnal means occurring at night.例句the immensity of the nocturnal sky夜空的浩瀚hit v.打击;使受严重影响英义If something hits a person, place, or thing, it affects them very badly.例句The plan to charge motorists £75 a year to use the motorway is going to hit me hard…向汽车驾驶员每年收取75英镑高速公路使用费的计划将对我大为不利。🔥重点表达开始喜欢to take to doing养花 growing flowers/ flower cultivation没有工夫去作研究与试验 short of time to do research and experiment把……当作生活中的一种乐趣 take … as a pleasure of life花开的大小好坏都不计较 don’t care whether or not my flowers will put forth plump and nice-looking blossom只要 as long as满是花草 flowers and plants growing in luxuriance玩耍，嬉戏 sport about奇花异草 exotic or rare ones珍贵的花草 a precious flower species一棵好花生病欲死 a good flower dying of illness落泪 shed tears不算很好more or less unfit夏天不是干旱就是大雨倾盆either too dry or too often visited by rainstorms in summer最好 is the best of all闹霜冻 is plagued by a sudden frost我还没有那么大的本事it is far beyond my capacity to易活、自己会奋斗的花草 flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate对付困难、渡过风暴weather through任其自生自灭 abandon them to their own fate照管它们care for them一来二去 in the course of time摸着一些门道 somehow got the hang of喜阴 be/get accustomed to growing in the shade放在太阳地里 be too much exposed to the sun三年五载 year in year out不是乱吹 It is no exaggeration to say that有腿病 have some trouble with my leg就我而言，对我来说for my part停止leave off如此循环,来来往往 back and forth把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起 combine mental with manual labour有益身心keep me fit in mind and body/keep me mentally and physically fit要是，万一，如果 in case of在……情况下in the case of狂风暴雨a violent storm 天气突变a sudden change of weather出动，出来参加turn out使紧张/感到紧张 key up/feel keyed up几百盆花several hundred potted flowers腰酸腿疼be dog-tired热汗直流 wet with perspiration又一轮have another round of 劳动doing manual labour这难道不是真理么 Isn’t it true that…送牛奶的同志 the milkman on entering our gate昙花 the night-blooming cereuses目不转睛，盯着，凝视 feast sb.’ eyes on sth.秉灯夜游, 及时行乐 nocturnal merry-making under candle lights具有……意味、含义 smack of分根 branch out劳动果实fruits of labour也有感到……的时候there is a time to feel … too（菊秧）三十多种，一百多棵 more than 100 seedlings of 30 varieties男男女女men and women🔥复盘测试开始喜欢养花没有工夫去作研究与试验把……当作生活中的一种乐趣 花开的大小好坏都不计较只要满是花草玩耍，嬉戏奇花异草珍贵的花草一棵好花生病欲死落泪不算很好夏天不是干旱就是大雨倾盆最好闹霜冻我还没有那么大的本事易活、自己会奋斗的花草对付困难、渡过风暴任其自生自灭照管它们一来二去摸着一些门道喜阴放在太阳地里三年五载不是乱吹有腿病就我而言，对我来说停止如此循环,来来往往 把脑力劳动与体力劳动结合到一起有益身心要是，万一，如果在……情况下狂风暴雨天气突变出动，出来参加使紧张/感到紧张 几百盆花腰酸腿疼热汗直流又一轮劳动这难道不是真理么送牛奶的同志昙花目不转睛，盯着，凝视秉灯夜游, 及时行乐 具有……意味、含义 分根劳动果实也有感到……的时候（菊秧）三十多种，一百多棵男男女女🔥表达对比「自生自灭」有几种表达方式？1、不过，尽管花草自己会奋斗，我若置之不理，「任其自生自灭」，它们多数还是会死了的。Although such flowers are able to weather through by themselves, I, however, never ignore them or abandon them to their own fate, for otherwise most of them will probably end up dead.2、为什么我没有撒手不管让伊恩「自生自灭」？Why wouldn’t I have just let it alone and let Ian take his chances?3、有些小孩就该被扔到山上任其「自生自灭」。Some of them should be left on a hillside to rot.美国不也是多多少少的让城市是「自生自灭」，结果不就是底特律吗？Hasn’t America tried more-or-less letting cities grow and shrink naturally, and isn’t the result Detroit?
帕布莉卡