新概念課文解析:《醉翁亭記》

醉翁亭記*1

歐陽修

環(huán)滁皆山也。其西南諸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，瑯琊也*2。山行六七里*3，漸聞水聲潺潺，而泄出于兩峰之間者，釀泉也*4。峰回路轉*5，有亭翼然臨于泉上者，醉翁亭也。作亭者誰？山之僧智仙也。名之者誰？太守自謂也。太守與客來飲于此*6，飲少輒醉，而年又高，故自號曰“醉翁”也。醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之間也。山水之樂，得之心而寓之酒也*7。

若夫日出而林霏開，云歸而巖穴暝，晦明變化者，山間之朝暮也。野芳發(fā)而幽香，佳木秀而繁陰，風霜高潔，水落而石出者，山間之四時也。朝而往，暮而歸，四時之景不同，而樂亦無窮也。

至于負者歌于滁，行者休于樹，前者呼，后者應，傴僂提攜，往來而不絕者，滁人游也。臨溪而漁，溪深而魚肥；釀泉為酒，泉香而酒冽；山肴野蔌*8，雜然而前陳者，太守宴也。宴酣之樂，非絲非竹，射者中*9，弈者勝，觥籌交錯，坐起而喧嘩者，眾賓歡也。蒼然白發(fā)，頹乎其中者，太守醉也。

已而夕陽在山，人影散亂*10，太守歸而賓客從也。樹林陰翳，鳴聲上下，游人去而禽鳥樂也。然而禽鳥知山林之樂，而不知人之樂；人知從太守游而樂，而不知太守之樂其樂也。醉能同其樂，醒能述其文者，太守也。太守謂誰？廬陵歐陽修也。

The Pavilion of an Old Drunkard

Ouyang Xiu

The Town of Chu is encircled by hills. However, those in the southwest boast the most fascinating forests and valleys. Yet the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them is Mount Langya.  Hiking one to two miles into it, you begin to hear water gurgling, and that gurgling sound will usher you to a natural fountain—the Brewing Spring, from where a stream of water gushes out between two peaks. Rounding the bend and winding along the track, you will see, perched right above the fountain, a pavilion with its roof spreading upward like a big open-winged bird, and that is the Pavilion of an Old Drunkard. Who built it, you may wonder? It is Zhixian, the monk in the mountain! Who named it? The Governor, after his own nickname! Once, the Governor brought his friends here to hobnob. Because he was the most senior and soon got tipsy, he thus referred to himself as “an Old Drunkard”. However, what he is interested in is not to get drunk from the wine, but to get intoxicated with the scenery, for the fun with scenery comes from one’s heart but is enlivened in the cup.

When the sun rises, the mist in the forests lifts; when the sky hazes over, the valleys blur. This alternation of brightness and dimness characterizes the mornings and dusks in the hills. When the wild flowers bloom, a faint fragrance permeates; when the sturdy trees flourish, they turn bosky and bowery; when the wind drifts high, frost appears white; when the water recedes, rocks emerge. These shifts typify the four seasons in the hills.  And so, the varied scenes of the four seasons you see during your morning visit here or upon your evening home-returning will give you endless pleasure.

Therefore, now on this path, which is frequented by all kinds of sightseers from the town, you can see people carrying travel packs and singing; hikers resting under the trees; fellow travelers ahead and those behind calling out to each other; the aged, the infirm, and even the toddlers in arms. The stream is deep, apt to breed fat fish; the water from the fountain is good for brewing aromatic and mellow wine. And now the Governor’s feast is in progress, with dishes of wild game and wild vegetables casually laid out in front. What creates the joyous mood here is not string music, nor flute music, but the moment when all the invited jump up to cheer for a pot-target hitter, or a chess winner, or the vociferous finger-game competitors. Amid them all is the intoxicated silver-haired Governor.

Soon the glowing sun sinks toward the hills, slanting and scattering the human shadows. The Governor starts to leave, followed by his guests. The verdant woods are shaded, and the birds, rioting. The retreat of the humans brings cheer to the fowl and birds. Yet the fowl and birds only know the happiness obtained from the hills and woods, but do not understand the humans’ happiness, and the guests only know the happiness of accompanying the Governor, but not that their Governor enjoys his own enjoyments, that is, when drunk, enjoying his guests, and when sober, enjoying writing down his prose. This is the type of Governor he is!  And who is he? Ouyang Xiu, a Luling dweller!

翻譯注釋：

1. “亭”怎么譯？用Pavilion 一詞來表達中國的“亭子”是不是有點大材小用了？其實并不！因為Pavilion指建筑時可大可小，大則可指有篷頂的音樂廳、舞場、展館，中則可指公園里供人聚會野餐的棚屋，小則可指花園里的小型裝飾建筑（a small, ornamental building in a garden），即“亭子”。

2. 本譯文把“環(huán)滁皆山也。其西南諸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，瑯琊也”譯作 The Town of Chu is encircled by hills. However, those in the southwest boast the most fascinating forests and valleys. Yet the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them is Mount Langya. 這里有幾個問題值得探討。

(1) “滁”指的是“滁州城”，因此譯作The Town of Chu。

(2) “其西南諸峰，林壑尤美”里的“峰”指的是什么？僅指“山峰”嗎？如果僅指“山峰”，那“壑”（山谷）怎么解？山峰上有美麗的樹林是可以理解的，山峰上有美麗的“山谷”就說不通了！其實，這個“峰”指的就是“山”。原文在這里避“山”不用，而用“峰”，目的是為了避免重復前一句 “環(huán)滁皆山也” 里已經用過的“山”字。

這個“峰”指的是“山”還可以從下一句里看出來。下一句“望之蔚然而深秀者，瑯琊也”里的代詞 “之”指的就是前面的“諸峰”，而這些“峰”里“蔚然深秀的是瑯琊”。“瑯琊”當然是山。既然“瑯琊”是山，那么，這正好反過來說明這個代詞“之”所替代的前面那些“峰”指的就是“山”。

把這個“峰”理解成“山”，原文開篇三句話 “環(huán)滁皆山也。其西南諸峰，林壑尤美。望之蔚然而深秀者，瑯琊也” 就互相有了聯系，它們的意思就是“滁州城四面環(huán)山，城西南的各個山，樹林和山谷特別秀麗，其中遠遠望去草木繁茂幽深秀麗的那座是瑯琊山”。

所以，我們不應該把這個“峰”譯成peak。本譯文把它譯作those，用以指代前面的hills.

(3) 另外，“其西南諸峰，林壑尤美”是一個表特性的主謂謂語句，比如“杭州綠茶爽口”，“西湖風景優(yōu)美”等等，如果僅用“have”把它譯成Those in the southwest have the most fascinating forests and valleys，雖然已經譯出了“其西南諸峰林壑尤美”這個特性，卻因have一詞太靜態(tài)而沒有譯出那種自豪感。本譯文把它譯作：However, those in the southwest boast the most fascinating forests and valleys. 用boast一詞來表達這種因美而自豪的感覺。

(4) 下面兩句都可以用來表達“望之蔚然而深秀者，瑯琊也” ，但本譯文認為第二句比較好，因為，英語里一個句子的重點在后，把Mount Langya放在句子的重要部分--后，就突出了它。

a. Yet Mount Langya is the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them.

b. Yet the most lushly verdant and beautifully secluded among them is Mount Langya.

3. “山行”就是“走山路”，譯為to hike。

4. “漸聞水聲潺潺，而泄出于兩峰之間者，釀泉也”，這里有兩個問題值得思考：

(1) 既然是“漸聞水聲”，那就是先聽到“水聲”然后才見到“釀泉”，翻譯時，這個過程要譯出來。本譯文用“usher” 來表達這個時間概念，把它譯作… and that gurgling sound will usher you to a natural fountain—the Brewing Spring。

(2) “泉”怎樣譯？是fountain還是spring？這要看你說的“泉”指的是“泉臺”還是“泉水”，如果是“泉臺”，那就是fountain；如果是“泉水”那就是spring。

5.本譯文把“峰回路轉”里的“峰回”譯作Rounding the bend，“路轉”譯作 winding along the track，即“回”了以后還要“轉”。

6. Hobnob是個古用詞，表示“對飲”、“共飲”的意思。因為《醉翁亭記》是中國古代散文，用在這里無妨。

7.“醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之間也。山水之樂，得之心而寓之酒也”很好理解，但并不好譯，特別是其中的“寓之酒”在英語里意思很難捉摸。本譯文把這兩個句子合二為一譯作However, what he is interested in is not to get drunk from the wine, but to get intoxicated with the scenery, for the fun with scenery comes from one’s heart but is enlivened in the cup.  這里的intoxicated是個雙關語，既有因酒而“醉”，也有“陶醉”的意思。

8.這里的game 不是“游戲”或者“比賽”的意思，而是指“獵物”，因此，dishes of wild game and wild vegetables就是“山肴野蔌”。

9.“射中者”的“射”是指古代酒戲“投壺”，眾人向酒罐擲物為戲。a pot-target hitter就是“罐子目標（灌口）的擊中者”即“投入了罐內的人”。

10.“人影散亂”譯為slanting and scattering the human shadows，slant這里是動詞，意思是“斜斜地把影子投在…”，scatter也是動詞，意思是“把…..分散開”。