论《 红楼梦》中典故的翻译

汪小祥，佟和龙

(1.常州信息职业技术学院 外国语学院，江苏 常州 213164；2.上海海事大学 外国语学院，上海 200135)

论《 红楼梦》中典故的翻译

汪小祥1，佟和龙2

(1.常州信息职业技术学院 外国语学院，江苏 常州 213164；2.上海海事大学 外国语学院，上海 200135)

典故是千百年来民族集体智慧之结晶、悠久文化之瑰宝。典故根据不同的来源主要分为历史典故、神话传说、文学典故三大类。文化是典故赖以存在的前提和基础，典故是文化的载体和精髓，能够反映特定的社会文化。翻译《红楼梦》中的典故时不应仅仅实现来源语和目标语之间字、词、句形式上的对等转换，更应该尽可能再现典故的文化内涵，根据具体情况可以采用直译、意译、意译加注以及增译等翻译方法。

《红楼梦》；典故；文化内涵；翻译方法

《红楼梦》是中国古典四大名著之一，其语言艺术达到了中国古典小说的最高峰。《红楼梦》两个颇具影响力的英译本为翻译家杨宪益、戴乃迭(Gladys Yang)合译的ADreamofRedMansions和英国汉学家霍克斯(Hawkes)、闵福德 (Minford)合译的TheStoryoftheStone。典故是千百年来民族集体智慧之结晶、悠久文化之瑰宝。《红楼梦》中典故俯拾皆是，散发着浓郁的人文气息。在中西文化交流日益频繁的今天，准确、恰当地翻译《红楼梦》典故，对于中国文化的对外传播起到一定的促进作用。目前《红楼梦》典故翻译研究主要集中在翻译目的论、阐释学、功能翻译理论以及语用学角度，而从文化视角进行的研究相对较少。鉴于此，本文对杨译本和霍译本进行对比研究，探讨《红楼梦》历史典故、神话传说以及文学典故的翻译方法，旨在再现典故中的文化内涵。

人的本质属性是一切社会关系总和，个人的生存与发展总是离不开一定的社会环境。由于中西方文化渊源不同，因而在价值观念、家族观念、思维方式、生活方式、风俗习惯等方面存在很大的差异。生活在不同国家中的人们，其生活经历必然受到各自文化的影响和熏陶，往往对于同一个典故产生不同的联想意义。为了使译文读者对于《红楼梦》中的典故产生与原作读者相同的联想意义，翻译时应该尽可能再现典故中的文化内涵，根据具体情况，使用直译、意译、意译加注以及增译等翻译方法。

一 历史典故的翻译

例1：什么“好话”！宋徽宗的鹰，赵子昂的马，都是好画。什么“喜事”！状元痘儿灌的浆儿又满是喜事。(《红楼梦》第四十六回)

译文A：What’s all this talk of “good news” and “good fortune”? No wonder, though. (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：She shouted, pointing at her angrily. “Wonderful news” indeed! (Hawkes译)[1]

宋徽宗和赵子昂都是中国古代著名历史人物。宋徽宗既是一代国君，又是著名的画家和书法家。赵子昂是元代杰出的艺术家，善篆、隶、真、行、草书，尤以楷、行书著称于世。译文A和B 没有对这两个人物的姓名进行翻译，因而未能传达其中的文化内涵，笔者建议把“宋徽宗的鹰，赵子昂的马，都是好画”译成“The ‘hawk’ by Song Huizong, a famous painter, calligrapher and the emperor of Song Dynasty(1100-1125), is a good painting; the ‘horse’ by Zhao Ziang，a great artist in Yuan Dynasty, is a good painting too”。然后加上说明“In Chinese ‘good painting’ and ‘good news’ sound identical”。

例2：阿房宫，三百里，住不下金陵一个史。(《红楼梦》第四回)

译文A：Vast O Pang Palace, Fit for a king, Isn’t fine enough For the Shis of Jinling(杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：The Ah-bang Palace Scrapes the sky, But it could not house The Nanking Shi. (Hawkes译)[2]

阿房宫是秦代重要的宫殿建筑遗址，位于陕西西安阿房村。宫殿前殿建于始皇三十五年(公元前212年)，全部工程至秦亡时犹未完成，故未正式命名，时人因其前殿所在的地名为阿房，故称“阿房宫”。规模极为宏达，“东西五百步，南北五十丈，上可以坐万人，下可以建五丈旗”(《史记·秦始皇本纪》)。秦亡，为项羽所焚毁。译文A把“阿房宫”译成Vast O Pang Palace，译文B则译成The Ah-bang Palace scrapes the sky。译文A强调阿房宫占地面积之大，译文B则强调阿房宫高耸入云的特点，但是阿房宫建于哪个朝代？哪个地方？现在是否依然保存完好？这些信息未能表达清楚。在翻译《红楼梦》中有关名胜古迹的术语时，如果对地理、历史方面的知识做详细的交代，则能吸引广大的外国游客，有利于促进涉外旅游业的蓬勃发展和中西文化之间的进一步交流。笔者建议把“阿房宫”译成The vast O Pang Palace scrapes the sky，然后加上注释：Built in O Pang village of Xi’an, in 212 BC of Qin Dynasty, it was an unfinished project. After Qin Dynasty was overthrown, it was burnt down by the general, Xiang Yu.

例3：宝钗笑道：“原来这叫做‘负荆请罪’！你们通今博古，才知道‘负荆请罪’，我不知道什么是‘负荆请罪’！”一句话还未说完，宝玉黛玉二人心里有病，听了这话早把脸羞红了。(《红楼梦》第三十回)

译文A：“Abject Apologies, is it” retorted Baochai. “You two are the ones well versed in ancient and modern literature, so of course you know all about ‘abject apologies’—that’s something quite beyond me.” As both Baoyu and Daiyu were conscience-stricken, they immediately blushed. (杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)[1]

译文B：“The Abject Apology?” said Bao-chai. “Well, no doubt you clever people know all there is to know about abject apology. I’m afraid it’s something I wouldn’t know about.” Her words touched Bao-yu and Dai-yu on a sensitive spot, and by the time she had finished, they were both blushing hotly with embarrassment. (Hawkes译)[2]

《史记·廉颇蔺相如列传》记载了“负荆请罪”的故事。廉颇屡建战功，不服蔺相如以口舌之劳而居上位，欲加凌辱，相如以国事为重，一再忍辱避让，“廉颇闻之，肉袒负荆，因宾客至蔺相如门谢罪”。译文A和译文B对“负荆请罪”这一成语的翻译基本相同，都采用了意译的翻译方法。采用意译时，译者一方面要使译文读者能够深入理解原作的真实意义(authentic meaning)，另一方面要使译文明白晓畅、朗朗上口、易于理解。[3]41Abject Apologies和The Abject Apology都可以回译成“卑贱的道歉”。负荆请罪这一成语里面蕴含的文化内涵绝非“卑贱的道歉”所能表达。在不影响译文读者理解的情况下，可以采用直译，因为直译能够“在形式和内容上最大限度地忠实原文”[3]76。笔者建议翻译成bearing the rod and willingly taking the punishment for wrongdoing。这样一来，蔺相如背着荆条上门真诚道歉的历史画面立刻展现在译文读者的面前。

例4：宝钗笑道：“我说你‘得陇望蜀’呢。我劝你今儿头一日进来，先从园东角门，从老太太起，各处各人你都瞧瞧，问候一声儿，也不必特意告诉他们说搬进园来……”(《红楼梦》第四十八回)

译文A：“The more you get, the more you want!” chuckled Baochai. “As this is your first day here, I advise you to start by paying your respects to all the ladies in the different apartments outside the Garden’s east gate, beginning with the old lady. You needn’t tell them specially that you’ve moved into the Garden…”(杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：Bao-chai laughed. “You’re like the famous general: ‘one conquest breeds appetite for another. I advise you to take things more gently. Today is your first day in the Garden. If I were you, I should go out of that corner gate and, beginning with Lady Jia’s, call in at all the different apartments and pay your respects to everybody. You needn’t go out of your way to tell them that you have moved into the Garden…”(Hawkes译)[2]

后汉光武帝刘秀下命令给岑彭：“人苦不知足，既平陇，复望蜀。”教他平定陇右以后领兵南下，攻取西蜀。(《后汉书·岑彭传》)。后来“得陇望蜀”用来比喻贪得无厌。译文A和B都采取了意译的翻译方法，译文A所表达的意思是“你得到的越多，想要得到的就越多”，译文B回译成“(你)一次征服取得成功，便渴望着进行下一次征服”。尽管两个译文都清楚地表达了“得陇望蜀”的核心意义，但其文化内涵并未得到充分的呈现。相对主子来说，奴仆的地位低下。香菱“央求”主子宝钗教她作诗，根本谈不上什么“征服”。联系这一上下文可以发现译文A更加恰当。为了使西方读者更深入地了解“得陇望蜀”的文化内涵，笔者建议加上注释：General Cen Peng should lead his troops southward to attack Xishu, after taking Longyou(around present-day Gansu )。

二 神话、传说的翻译

例5：一个是阆苑仙葩，一个是美玉无瑕。(《红楼梦》第五回)

译文A：One is an immortal flower of fairyland, The other fair flawless jade. (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：One was a flower from paradise, One a pure jade without spot or stain. (Hawkes译)[2]

阆苑指传说中的神仙住处，常用指宫苑。译文A采用了直译的方法，把“阆苑”译成fairyland(仙境)，译出了原文中的文化信息，译文B采用了意译的方法，把“阆苑”译成paradise(天堂)，因为“天堂”是基督教用语，更能为阅读译文的西方读者所理解。两种译文都有可取之处，但是基于佛教从印度传入中国后，被儒教吸收和融合这一客观历史，从文化翻译角度来看，译文A比译文B更加忠实原文。

例6：因又自叹道：“若真也葬花，可谓‘东施效颦’，不但不为新特，且更可厌了。”(《红楼梦》第三十回)

译文A：He wondered in some amusement. “If so, she’s ‘Dong Shi imitating Xi Shi,’ which isn’t original but rather tiresome.”(Note: Xi Shi was a famous beauty in the ancient Kingdom of Yue. Dong Shi was an ugly girl who tried to imitate her ways.) (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：“Can this be some silly maid come here to bury flowers like Frowner?” he wondered. He was reminded of Zhuang-zi’s story of the beautiful Xi-shi’s ugly neighbor, whose endeavours to imitate the little frown that made Xi-shi captivating produced an aspect so hideous that people ran from her in terror. The recollection of it made him smile. (Hawkes译)[2]

《庄子·天运》：“故西施病心而颦其里，其里之丑人见而美之，归亦捧心而颦其里。其里之富人见之，坚闭门而不出；贫人见之，挈妻子而去之走。彼知颦美而不知颦之所以美。”后因谓以丑拙学美好为“效颦”。译文A和B中首先对“东施”和“西施”采取了拼音翻译法。译文A中“which isn’t original but rather tiresome”采用了意译方法，并对“东施”和“西施”进行了注释说明。译文B中采取了增译的方法，对“东施效颦”这一历史典故的作者、故事情节等进行了详细的介绍，对东施的“效颦”的动作进行了形象生动的描述，让读者历历在目，达到了很好的语言表达效果。

例7：我成日家和人说笑，有个唐僧取经，就有个白马来驮他，刘智远打天下，就有个瓜精来送盔甲，有个凤丫头，就有个你。(《红楼梦》第三十九回)

译文A：It’s as I always say: When Monk Tripitaka was searching for Buddhist scriptures, a white horse turned up to carry him; when Liu Zhiyuan was fighting for the empire, a melon spirit appeared to give him armour. In the same way, Xifeng has you. (note: Tripitaka is Monk Xuan Zang of the Tang Dynasty; Liu Zhiyuan is King of the Later Han in the Five Dynasties Period.) (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：I tell them: Just as you can’t imagine a Tripitaka going off to India to fetch the scriptures without his white horse or a Liu Zhi-yuan conquering the Empire without a Spirit of the Melon Fields to give him his armour，so you can’t imagine a Wang Xi-feng without a Patience alongside helping her．(Hawkes译)[2]

例7中含有两个典故。第一个典故是唐僧西天取经的故事。第二个故事出自《大藏经》。对于第一个故事，中国读者可谓家喻户晓、妇孺皆知。白龙马是唐僧的脚力，在他西天取经的过程中发挥了很大的作用。译文A和B都译出了“唐僧取经”，不同的是，译文B提到了取经的目的地：印度。译文A对“唐僧”和“刘志远”进行了注释说明，给读者提供了更多的信息。虽然西方读者不一定非常了解《西游记》以及《大藏经》，但在例7的原文中，有关唐僧西游的主要目的、白龙马在《西游记》中起到的主要作用以及瓜精送铠甲及头盔给刘志远这一情节描述得非常细致，因此没有必要在译文中再详细说明。译文A和B基本上采用了直译的方法，把原典故的内容、形式、精神都输入到译文中，保留了原语形象。

例8：龟呈洛浦之灵，兽作咸池之舞。(《红楼梦》第七十八回)

译文A：The Divine Tortoise manifests itself in the River Luo, wild beasts dance to the melody Xianchi.(Note: It is said that when the Divine Tortoise showed its back with a magic sign on it, there was peace and prosperity in the world; and when the Xianchi melody composed by the Yellow Emperor was played, all the wild beasts danced to it) (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：The Luo River turtle brings her his magic offering; to the heavenly music wild beasts gambol and prance. (Hawkes译)[2]

《易·系辞上》说：“河出图，洛出书，圣人则之。”传说伏羲氏时，有龙马从黄河出现，背负“河图”；有神龟从洛水出现，背负“洛书”。伏羲氏根据这种“图”、“书”画成八卦，这就是《周易》的来源。一说禹治洪水时，上帝赐给他以《洪范九畴》(《尚书·洪范》)。咸池亦成《大咸》，西周制定的六代舞之一。相传为尧时代的乐舞；一说为黄帝所作，尧增修而用之。周代用以祭祀地神(见《周礼·春官·大司乐》，《礼记·乐记》郑炫注)。译文B采用了直译的翻译方法，未能译出“神龟负书”背后的神话故事。译文A运用了直译加注释的翻译方法。译文A中注释部分的回译如下：“据说当神龟的背上显示出具有魔力的符号时，会给世界带来繁荣与和平；当演奏黄帝编制的咸池乐曲时，百兽随之跳舞。”从文化传播角度来看，译文A比译文B更胜一筹。

三 文学典故的翻译

例9：(宝钗)便笑道：“我看的是李逵骂了宋江，后来又赔不是。”宝玉便笑道：“姐姐通今博古，色色都知道，怎么连这一出戏的名字也不知道，就说了这么一串字……”(《红楼梦》第三十回)

译文A：…smiled at this question. “One was that piece,” she answered, “in which Li Kui abuses Song Jiang and then apologizes.”(Note：From the novel Shui Hu. Li Kui was a peasant rebel. Song Jiang, the leader of the outlaws, was a capitulationist.) Baoyu Laughed. “Why, cousin,” he cried, “Surely you’re sufficiently well versed in ancient and modern literature to know the title of that opera. Why do you have to describe it? … ” (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：The smiling answer she gave to Dai-yu’s question was therefore not without a touch of malice. “The play I saw was Li Kui Abuses Song Jiang and Afterwards Has to Say He Is Sorry.” Bao-yu langhed. “What a mouthful! Surely, with all your learning, cousin, you must know the proper name of the play…?”(Hawkes译)[2]

李逵替狄太公捉鬼，杀了狄太公女儿和奸夫王小二。刘太公说他十八岁的女儿被宋江抢去了，李逵到忠义堂扯了杏黄旗，与宋江以头相赌。经查证后发现宋江是无辜的，李逵负荆请罪，去牛头山杀了强盗，救出了刘女。(见《水浒传》第七十三回)李逵和宋江都是文学作品《水浒传》中的人物，为了让译文读者能够更好地理解宝钗所谈论的戏曲内容，翻译时必须对这两个人物进行注释。译文B采用了直译的翻译方法，忠实原文的形式，基本上传达了交际的目的。译文A的注释对作品出处以及李逵和宋江所充当的社会角色进行了说明，给读者提供了更多的文化信息。

例10:玉在椟中求善价，钗于奁内待时飞。(《红楼梦》第一回)

译文A：The jade in the box hopes to fetch a good price,The pin in the casket longs to soar on high. (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：The jewel in the casket bides till one shall come to buy. The jade pin in the drawer hides, waiting its time to fly. (Hawkes译)[2]

子贡曰：“有美玉于斯，韫椟而藏诸？”孔子曰：“沽之哉！沽之哉！我待贾者也！”意思是讲：有美玉在这里，子贡问：“是藏在椟里头，还是找个识货的人来卖掉？”孔子说：“卖掉吧！卖掉吧！我是等待识货的人来把它卖掉。”(见《论语·子罕》)在翻译“玉在椟中求善价”这一典故时，译文A和B均采用了直译的翻译方法，但是这句话是谁在何种情况下说出来的？两个译文均未提及。笔者建议加上注释Zi Gong asked Confucius, “Do we hide our jade in the box or sell it to someone who can recognize its value?” Confucius answered, “Sell it of course. I am just waiting for a good judge to buy it”。

例11：雨荔秋垣，隔院希闻怨笛。(《红楼梦》第七十八回)

译文A：As rain patters down on the vine-covered wall, one hardly hears fluting from the other court. (杨宪益、戴乃迭译)[1]

译文B：Rain wets the wall-fig; a flute’s complaint carries uncertainly from a near-by courtyard. (Hawkes译)[2]

据《晋书·向秀传》记载：向秀、嵇康、吕安三人是挚友。嵇康、吕安被杀后，有一天向秀经过这两人在山阳的旧居时听到了邻人的笛声，向秀顿时感到神伤。典故“山阳闻笛”由此而来。译文A把“怨笛”译成fluting(笛声)，没有表达出“怨”字；译文B译成a flute’s complaint，从字面意义上看与原文完全吻合，但这两个译文均未回答“笛”声因何事而“怨”。笔者建议采用译文B的译法，再加上注释：Xiang Xiu, Ji Kang and lv An were talents in the Period of Three Kingdoms, and they were intimate friends. One day after the death of Ji Kang and lv An, Xiang Xiu heard the flute played by their neighbor and was caught in great sadness, as he passed their former residences in Shanyang。

四 结语

巴斯奈特(Bassnett)指出，译者应以文化为翻译单位，而不应仅仅停留在语篇之上。翻译不只是一个简单的“译码—重组”的过程，更重要的是一种交流的手段。翻译不应局限于对原语文本的描述，而应实现原文在译语文化里功能的等值。[4]中国文化中有许多独一无二的内容，这些独特的方面通常来自与众不同的中国宗教、历史、神话传说、文学以及风俗。[5]典故是文化的载体，是广大劳动人民在长期社会实践和人际交往中不断凝练而成的语言精华，是民族文化的精髓。正如鲁迅先生所说，民族的就是世界的。在翻译《红楼梦》典故时，不应仅仅实现源语和目标语之间字、词、句形式上的对等转换，更重要的是传递典故所蕴涵的文化信息。未能呈现典故文化内涵的译文必然平淡无奇、索然无味，而再现了典故文化内涵的译文一定丰富多彩、耐人寻味。夜观苍穹，繁星闪烁，交相辉映；放眼寰球，文化璀璨，共处和谐。在全球化日益不断加深的今天，随着中国的综合国力迅速提升，我们一方面应该虚心学习人类社会一切先进的文化，另一方面更应该积极致力于向世界传播博大精深、历史悠久的中华文化，为中华民族的伟大复兴和永久屹立于世界民族之林做出应有的贡献。

[1] Yang Xianyi &Gladys Yang.ADreamofRedMansions[M]. Beijing : Foreign Languages Press ,1978～1982.

[2] Hawkes,D.& Minford ,J.TheStoryoftheStone[M]. London : Penguin Books ,1973～1986.

[3]Shuttleworth & Cowie.DictionaryofTranslationStudies[Z]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2004.

[4]廖七一.当代英国翻译理论[M].武汉：湖北教育出版社，2004：362.

[5]冯庆华.红楼艺坛——《红楼梦》翻译艺术研究[M].上海:上海外语教育出版社，2006：146.

(责任编辑：王学振)

OntheTranslationofAllusionsinADreamofRedMansions

WANG Xiao-xiang1,TONG He-long2

(1.SchoolofForeignLanguages,ChangzhouCollegeofInformationTechnology,Changzhou213164,China;2.CollegeofForeignLanguages,ShanghaiMaritimeUniversity,Shanghai200135,China)

Allusions are the crystallization of a nation’s wisdom for thousands of years and the treasure of an ancient culture. Allusions are generally classified into three categories, namely, historical allusions, myths and legends, and literary allusions. Culture and allusions are closely associated with and therefore inseparable from each other. Culture is the prerequisite and foundation for the existence of allusions, while allusions are the vehicle and essence of culture and capable of reflecting a certain culture. In the translation of allusions inADreamofRedMansions, not only do we need to achieve the equally formal transformation between the source language and the target language in terms of words, phrases and sentences, but also we should attempt to represent the cultural connotation of allusions. In light of specific conditions, such translation methods as direct translation, indirect translation, indirect translation plus annotation, and amplification translation are adopted.

ADreamofRedMansions; allusions; cultural connotation; translation methods

江苏省“青蓝工程”

2014-05-07

汪小祥(1977-)，男，安徽怀宁人，常州信息职业技术学院外国语学院讲师，硕士，研究方向：红楼梦翻译、世界史；佟和龙(1977-)，男，安徽天长人，上海外国语大学2013级英语语言文学方向博士研究生，上海海事大学外国语学院副教授，硕士生导师，研究方向：句法学。

H315.9

A

1674-5310(2014)-08-0139-06