节选《背影》中的一段翻译

中文 朱自清 

翻译 张培基

1. 我说道：“爸爸，你走吧。”他望车外看了看，说：“我买几个橘子去。你就在此地，不要走动。”

I said, “Dad, you might leave now.” But he looked out of the window and said: “I’am going to buy you some tangerines. You just stay here. Don't move around.”

从小学习的是“orange”，其实“tangerine”才是橘子，“orange”是橙子。

2. 我看那边月台的栅栏外有几个卖东西的等着顾客。走到那边月台，须穿过铁道，须跳下去又爬上去。

I caught sight of several vendors waiting for customers outside the railings beyond a platform. But to reach that platform would require crossing the railway track and doing some climbing up and down.

“栅栏”我们可以理解为“栏杆”，英文为“railings”。

3. 父亲是一个胖子，走过去自然要费事些。我本来要去的，他不肯，只好让他去。

That would be a strenuous job for father, who was fat. I wanted to do all that myself, but he stopped me, so I could do nothing but let him go.

“strenuous”（费力的） 可以和 “marathon”（马拉松）捆绑在一起记忆，可以说 “strenuous marathon”。

4. 我看见他戴着黑布小帽，穿着黑布大马褂，深青布棉袍，蹒跚地走到铁道边，慢慢探身下去，尚不大难。可是他穿过铁道，要爬上那边月台，就不容易了。

I watched him hobble towards the railway track in his black skullcap, black cloth mandarin jacket and dark blue cotton-padded cloth long gown. He had little trouble climbing down the railway track, but it was a lot more difficult for him to climb up that platform after crossing the railway track.

黑布小帽(black skullcap)、黑布大马褂(black cloth mandarin jacket)、深青布棉袍(dark blue cotton-padded cloth long gown)都是那个年代的标志。四个关键动作，蹒跚走到(hobble towards)铁路边、探身下去(climb down)以及穿过(cross)铁道、爬上(climb up)那边月台，理顺了动词句子也就成型了。

5. 他用两手攀着上面，两脚再向上缩；他肥胖的身子向左微倾，显出努力的样子。

His hands held onto the upper part of the platform, his legs huddled up and his corpulent body tipped slightly towards the left, obviously making an enormous exertion.

三个关键动作，攀着上面(hands held onto)、向上缩(huddle up)以及向左微倾(tip slightly towwards the left)。

6. 这时我看见他的背影，我的泪很快地流下来了。我赶紧拭干了泪。怕他看见，也怕别人看见。

While I was watching him from behind, tears gushed from my eyes. I quickly wiped them away lest he or others should catch me crying.

“gush"意为涌出，形容眼泪多而快。

7. 我再向外看时，他已抱了朱红的橘子往回走了。过铁道时，他先将橘子散放在地上，自己慢慢爬下，再抱起橘子走。

The next moment when I looked out of the window again, father was already on the way back, holding bright red tanderines in both hands. In crossing the railway track, he first put the tangerines on the ground, climbed down slowly and then picked them up again. 

还是三个关键动作，放在地下(put on the ground)、慢慢爬下(climb down slowly) 以及抱起走(pick them up again)。

8. 到这边时，我赶紧去搀他。他和我走到车上，将橘子一股脑儿放在我的皮大衣上。于是扑扑衣上的泥土，心里很轻松似的。过一会儿说：“我走了，到那边来信！”

When he came near the train, I hurried out to help him by the hand. After boarding the train with me, he laid all the tangerines on my overcoat, and patting the dirt off his clothes. He looked somewhat relieved and said after a while, “ I must be going now. Don't forget to write me from Beijing!”

9. 我望着他走出去。他走了几步，回过头看见我，说：“进去吧，里边没人。”

I gazed at his back retreating out of the carriage. After a few steps, he looked back at me and said, “Go back to your seat. Don't leave your things alone.”

“gaze at”为凝视注视之意；“里面没人”，作者翻译成了“Don't leave your things alone”。

10. 等他的背影混入来来往往的人里，再找不着了，我便进来坐下，我的眼泪又来了。

I, however, did not go back to my seat until his figure was lost among crowds of people hurrying to and fro and no longer visible. My eyes were again wet with tears.

来来往往的人译为“people hurrying to and fro”。

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