少年維持的煩惱（之二）

S：

你也應該聽過《少年維特的煩惱》，即使沒有看過這部歌德的著作，也肯定聽過同名的流行曲。

這個星期我正式擱置了二個計劃，其一是翻譯整部《麥田捕手》；其二純綷是讀《戀人絮語》。我刻意點明是正式擱置，是因為這兩個星期開始忙碌，所以已經甚少能夠騰出時間，專心完成這兩項工作。

但真正擱置的原因，當然並非沒有時間。起初我選擇在這時開始譯《麥田捕手》，是因為想在大學面試前完成，收錄到作品集中。但經過朋友分析，他認為現在不是好時機。首先，這是十多萬字的長篇小說，作品集不必收錄這麼長篇的作品，倒不如多譯一些短篇，似乎更加化算。另外，既然我是有決心在這生想要譯出一本自己的《麥田捕手》，待我翻譯的技巧和經驗更加成熟再譯也不遲，這兩點我都十分同意。

牛缺遇盜英文翻譯_NiuQue encountering robbers_紅譯本LaTraductionRouge

牛缺者，上地之大儒也，下之邯鄲，遇盜于耦沙之中，盡取其衣裝車，牛步而去。視之歡然無憂吝之色。盜追而問其故。曰：「君子不以所養害其所養。」盜曰：「嘻！賢矣夫！」既而相謂曰：「以彼之賢，往見趙君。使以我為，必困我。不如殺之。」乃相與追而殺之。 燕人聞之，聚族相戒，曰：「遇盜，莫如上地之牛缺也！」皆受教。

NiuQue was a well educated person from the Upland. He encountered some robbers at OuSha when he was on the way down to HanDan. The robbers robbed his clothes and carriage and all.  Niuque walked away. The robbers looked at him and saw that he did not seem worried or unhappy at all. So, they went on to ask him why did he have such reaction. NiuQue answered, “A wise man would not risk his own life for what fulfills his life.” “Oh! How enlightened is this person!” Said the robbers. Then, they discussed, “A clever man like him would surely ask for Chiu’s emperor help to capture us when he went down to HanDan. We better kill him.” So, the robbers chased after NiuQue and murdered him. A person from the country Yan heard this, so he gathered his relatives and warned them, “In case of encountering robbers, do not act like what NiuQue from the Upland did.” The relatives had all agreed.

少年維持的煩惱（之一）

S：

情人節快樂。

我一直認為，想引用別人的說話，首先當然要理解那句說話的意思、以及一切其內在的含意，否則便很容易會曲解作者的原意。而理解的最底限度，至少是應該曾經看過一遍原文。例如要引用一段電影對白，至少也應該把整齣電影，從頭到尾看過一次等等。

然而當你看見我抄寫《戀人恕語》的節錄時，我只是讀了那本書的首幾章節，甚至直到今天，還是一半都未有讀到。

For what I love

1.         ‘點解’ in Cantonese literally means (though it’s a spoken language) ‘how to explain’; ‘為甚麼’ in Chinese literally means ‘for what’; ‘pourquoi’ in French literally also means ‘for what’ (pour-quoi = for-what).

The above expressions would all be translated into ‘why’ in English. In addition, to draw a question mark with your index finger – it is the expression in sign language that is equivalent to ‘why’, which is distinguished from ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’ etc.

No translators would hesitate to translate ‘pourquoi’ into ‘why’, vice versa. According to Oxford Dictionary, ‘why’ means by ‘for what reason or purpose.’

先相信你自己（primo 3）

S：

有次跟朋友談起老朋友的話題，他問我會否相信，世上存在這種友誼：兩個曾經非常相熟的朋友，在失去聯絡許多年後，一天甲遇到急事，打電話向乙求救，即使甲要求乙支付高額現金、甚至冒生命危險前往陌生地方，乙仍然義無反顧地立刻答應。

我深信世上存在這種友誼。

實踐這份高尚的友誼，乙方需要兩份勇氣。首先，他願意為未知的事情冒險，他甚至連自己在冒多大的風險也不知道；另外，他還要相信這位朋友，在許多年沒見面後，首次聯絡便已抵押雙方的友誼來尋求協助，並非一場騙局。

莊子·養生主_英文翻譯_English Translation of Zhuangzi's The Master of Regimen

(18/1/2017更新：把本篇譯文錄入作品集前，作了許多修改，感謝各位之寶貴意見）

養生主　The Master of Regimen                               

吾生也有涯，而知也無涯。以有涯隨無涯，殆已；已而為知者，殆而已矣。為善無近名，為惡無近刑，緣督以為經，可以保身，可以全生，可以養親，可以盡年。

Life is finite, but knowledge is not. It is unwise to pursue the infinite by the finite. And it is very unwise to exhaust oneself vainly, even when aware of it. Mastering a regimen does not help one to obtain fame instantly, nor ignoring it would bring about immediate consequences. Obeying the order of nature can help protect one’s body, sustain innate abilities, maintain one’s health, and allow men to enjoy their given lifespan.

庖丁為文惠君解牛，手之所觸，肩之所倚，足之所履，膝之所踦，砉然嚮然，奏刀騞然，莫不中音，合於桑林之舞，乃中經首之會。文惠君曰：「譆！善哉！技蓋至此乎？」

The Butcher was slaughtering a cow for Wen HuiJun¹. Each item his hand touched, his shoulders lied on, his foot stepped upon, and his knees kneeled on had a harmonic sound. The sounds of his knife striking the cow were so rhythmic that they were as if accurate tunes of musical scales. The sounds had matched the melody of JinShou²and the dancing steps of SangLin^3. “Oh,” said Wen HuiJun, “what a skill! How did you master such techniques?”

創作實力（primo 2）

自從開始學習翻譯，閱讀時也無可避免地，養成了一種習慣，就是除了欣賞作品之外，也會稍為留意一下作者的寫作技巧。由此學得的技巧沒有多少，最大的得著，反而是發現所謂的寫作技巧和實力，原來並非那麼重要。

以往寫作時，常以為自己寫得不好，都是因為藻詞欠缺華麗氣息、或是修辭不夠豐等技巧上的問題。但後來自己閱讀時，從欣嘗者的角度看，反而會覺得，即使懂得許多英文生宇、或是通曉許多四字成語，也不代表能寫出一篇好作品。

當然，最近我體會到的，不是甚麼寫好文章的方法，而是一種品嘗任何形式的創作的態度。