Grandpa and Nightly Blackout –Bing Xin我记得这电灯是从房顶上吊下来的，每间屋子都有一盏，厅堂上和客室里的五十支光，卧房里的光小一些，厨房里的就更小了。Each room, I remember, had an electric lamp hanging from the ceiling. The drawing room had a 50-watt bulb; the bedrooms each a lower-wattage one; the kitchens each an even-lower-wattage one. 🎈“厅堂上和客室里的五十支光，卧房里的光小一些，厨房里的就更小了。”译文分句为相同句式，所以后两句分句中的谓语“had”就省略了，翻译中经常遇到，可以活用。我们这所大房子里至少也有五六十盏灯，第一夜亮起来时，真是灯火辉煌，我们孩子们都拍手欢呼！The whole big house at least had a total of some 60 electric lamps. The first evening when they were turned on, the whole house was suddenly ablaze with lights. We kids clapped with joy. Q：“五六十盏”为什么没有译成“fifty to sixty”？🎈这里指虚数，是估摸出来的一个统计数字，所以译者也只译为some（about）sixty，但是非要译出fifty也是没错的。但是总电门是安在祖父的屋里的。祖父起得很早也睡得很早，每晚九点钟就上床了。他上床之前，就把电闸关上，于是整个大家庭就是黑沉沉的一片！The master switch was fixed in grandpa’s room. Grandpa, who kept early hours, would switch off all the lights when he went to bed at 9 o’clock in the evening, thus plunging the whole big house into deep darkness. Q：“起得很早也睡得很早”可以直译吗？🎈可以，但是这句话在英语有现成的表达：kept early hours。如果逐字直译为got up early and went to bed early是没有错误，但是欠简洁。我们刚回老家，父母亲和他们的兄弟妯娌都有许多别情要叙，我们一班弟兄姐妹，也在一起玩得正起劲，都很少在晚九点以前睡的。Having just set foot in our old home, we seldom slept before 9 o’clock in the evening. For it was but natural that after the long separation, my parents enjoyed hearty chats about the old days with their brothers and in-laws, and we kids of the younger generation played about together to our heart’s content. Q:“it was but natural”中的but怎么理解？🎈这里的but表示转折，但是可以理解为是两个分句的合并形式，这里被合并的两个分句就是：It is that after the long separation, my parents enjoyed….+but it is natural.🎈“刚回老家”译为Having set foot in our old home，其中set foot in是成语，作“进入”、“踏上”解。 🎈“妯娌”指兄弟的妻子，以in-laws表达即可。 🎈“正起劲”意同“尽情地”，所以译为to our heart’s content。 为了防备这骤然的黑暗，于是每晚在九点以前，每个小家庭都在一两间屋里，点上一盏捻得很暗的煤油灯。Hence, in anticipation of the sudden blackout at 9 o’clock, each small family would get a dimly-lit kerosene lamp ready in a couple of their rooms. 🎈“防备”译为in anticipation of，意思相当于“预计到……（而采取措施）”。一到九点，电灯一下子都灭了，这几盏煤油灯便都捻亮了，大家相视而笑，又都在灯下谈笑玩耍。No sooner had the big house been blacked out on the hour than we turned up the wicks of all the kerosene lamps. And, looking and smiling at each other, we would continue to chat and play merrily by the light of the kerosene lamps. Q:“a complete whole”怎么理解？Whole family不也是整个家庭的意思吗？🎈这里的whole是名词用法，一定要注意词性，句子就相当于our family was a complete whole.只有在这个时候，我才体会到我们这个大家庭是一个整体，而祖父是一家之主！It was then that I realized what a complete whole our big family was, with grandpa as its head. Q:as its head怎么理解？🎈意为“头目/领导/指导者”的意思。🔥必备词汇ablaze adj.猛烈燃烧英义burning quickly and strongly例句The whole building was soon ablaze. 整栋大楼很快就熊熊燃烧起来。 wick n.烛芯,灯芯英义the piece of string in the centre of a candle which you light so that the candle burns例句It’s very hard to turn the wick up and down.这灯芯很难旋上旋下。🔥重点表达厅堂drawing room五十支光50-watt bulb灯火辉煌be ablaze with lights拍手欢呼clap with joy总电门master switch使陷入plunge sth. into sth.一起玩得起劲play about together to heart’s content捻得很暗的煤油灯a dimly-lit kerosene lamp一…就no sooner…than🔥句子回译1、每间屋子都有一盏，厅堂上和客室里的五十支光，卧房里的光小一些，厨房里的就更小了。2、第一夜亮起来时，真是灯火辉煌，我们孩子们都拍手欢呼！3、一到九点，电灯一下子都灭了，这几盏煤油灯便都捻亮了，大家相视而笑，又都在灯下谈笑玩耍。🔥表达对比「辉煌不再」有几种表达？1、看似合理的盎格鲁-撒克逊模式，以其对金融服务的依赖和轻监管为特征，已经在信用危机和经济衰退的打击下「辉煌不再」。The plausibility of the Anglo-Saxon model, with its reliance on financial services and light-touch regulation, has been diminished by the credit crisis and recession.2、其他人从阿根廷的历史中寻找解释，认为这跟这个国家的历史地位有关，阿根廷曾经比许多欧洲国家都要富裕，但昔日「辉煌不再」，因此让国民感到悲伤。Others look to Argentina’s past for explanations, and not just the sadness bred by the faded glory of a nation that was once wealthier than many European ones.
帕布莉卡