A Chat about Short Essays –Bing Xin也许是我的精、气、神都不足吧，不但自己写不出长的东西，我读一本刊物时，也总是先挑短的看，不论是小说、散文或是其他的文学形式，最后才看长的。Perhaps due to my failing energies, not only have I refrained from writing anything long, but also, in reading a magazine, for example, I usually finish its shorter pieces of writing first, be they fiction, prose or any other forms of literature, before going on to the longer ones. Q：能否分析一下译文的结构？🎈due to引导原因状语，not only放在句子最前面，句子中存在倒装，主语是I，谓语have refrained from。but also连接下一个分句，in reading a magazine是状语，for example插入语，该分句主语是I，谓语是finish。后面be开头引导的句子是古旧用法中的让步状语从句，相当于whether they are….最后的before引导的是时间状语，可以理解为紧跟在句子I usually finish its shorter pieces of writing first后面。🎈“也许是我的精、气、神都不足吧”也可译为Perhaps due to deficiency in my mental and physical energy，但不如Perhaps due to my failing energies简洁。“精、气、神”在文中显得俏皮，意即“精力”，故译为energies即可。 我总觉得，凡是为了非倾吐不可而写的作品，都是充满了真情实感的。I always believe that anything written with an irresistible inner urge to unbosom oneself must be full of genuine feelings.Q:可否分析一下译文的结构？🎈主语是I，believe是谓语，that引导宾语从句，从句中的主语是anything，written过去分词作anything的后置定语，with表示方式状语，to unbosom不定式表示目的，must be做系动词，full of…为表语。反之，只是为写作而写作，如上之为应付编辑朋友，下之为多拿稿费，这类文章大都是尽量地往长里写，结果是即便有一点点的感情，也被冲洗到水分太多、淡而无味的地步。On the contrary, if one writes simply for the sake of writing—say, to humour one’s editor-friends, or worse still, to earn more remuneration, one will most probably make his writings unnecessarily long until they become, despite what little feelings they may contain, inflated and wishy-washy. Q:say，是什么用法？🎈句中的“如”也就是‘比如说“，译为say。英语中举例时常用say这个词，和for example同义。Q:这里的humour是什么用法？🎈原文中“为应付编辑朋友”的意思是“迁就编辑朋友之约或要求”，故译为to humour one’s editor-friends。英语to humour作to gratify by compliance解。详义见文末生词整理。 Q:“也被冲洗到水份太多”怎么翻译？🎈先解释，“说人话”，意思就是“变得夸张空洞”，所以译为“become inflated。 🔥必背词汇irresistible adj.不可遏止的；无法抵制的英义so strong that it cannot be stopped or resisted例句I felt an irresistible urge to laugh. 我禁不住想笑出来。unbosom v.向人透露(秘密)英义to relieve (oneself) of (secrets, etc) by telling someone 例句You’ll feel better if you unbosom your sorrows to me.如果你把你的痛苦对我倾诉出来，你会感觉更好一些。humour（熟词生义） v.迁就；顺应英义to agree with sb’s wishes, even if they seem unreasonable, in order to keep the person happy例句She thought it best to humour him rather than get into an argument. 她想最好是顺他的意，而不和他争吵。remuneration n.酬金；薪水；报酬英义an amount of money that is paid to sb for the work they have done例句He received a generous remuneration for his services.他收到一笔丰厚的劳务酬金。inflated adj.夸张的；言过其实的英义(of ideas, claims, etc. 思想、主张等)· believing or claiming that sb / sth is more important or impressive than they really are例句He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。wishy-washy adj. (思想或信仰)稀里糊涂的，不清楚的，不坚定的英义not having clear or firm ideas or beliefs例句If there’s anything I can’t stand it’s an indecisive, wishy-washy customer. 如果说我有什么不能容忍，那就是优柔寡断、挑三拣四的顾客。🔥重点表达散文prose文学形式forms of literature克制/抑制Refrain from真情实感genuine feelings为了…（的利益）for the sake of🔥句子回译1、我总觉得，凡是为了非倾吐不可而写的作品，都是充满了真情实感的。2、这类文章大都是尽量地往长里写，结果是即便有一点点的感情，也被冲洗到水分太多、淡而无味的地步。🔥表达对比我们来看看「反之/相反」在不同的语境中还可以怎么翻译？不过，这些国家是否也可能是因为贫困而暴力，而非「反之」呢？But perhaps these countries are violent because they are poor, rather than poor because they are violent?「反之」，中共通过其“中央军委”指挥军队。Instead, the party, through its Central Military Commission (CMC), commands the army.
帕布莉卡