英語專八考試翻譯練習題

I agree to some extent with my imaginary English reader. American literary historians are perhaps prone to view their own national scene too narrowly, mistaking prominence for uniqueness. They do over-phrase their own literature, or certainly its minor figures. And Americans do swing from aggressive overphrase of their literature to an equally unfortunate, imitative deference. But then, the English themselves are somewhat insular in their literary appraisals. Moreover, in fields where they are not pre-eminent - e.g. in painting and music -they too alternate between boasting of native products and copying those of the Continent. How many English paintings try to look as though they were done in Paris; how many times have we read in articles that they really represent an "English tradition" after all.

To speak of American literature, then, is not to assert that it is completely unlike that of Europe. Broadly speaking, America and Europe have kept step. At any given moment the traveler could find examples in both of the same architecture, the same styles in dress, the same books on the shelves. Ideas have crossed the Atlantic as freely as men and merchandise, though sometimes more slowly. When I refer to American habit, thoughts, etc., I intend some sort of qualification to precede the word, for frequently the difference between America and Europe (especially England) will be one of degree, sometimes only of a small degree. The amount of divergence is a subtle affair, liable to perplex the Englishman when he looks at America. He is looking at a country which in important senses grew out of his own, which in several ways still resembles his own - and which is yet a foreign country. There are odd overlappings and abrupt unfamiliarities; kinship yields to a sudden alienation, as when we hail a person across the street, only to discover from his blank response that we have mistaken a stranger for a friend.

　(參考譯文)

在某種程度上，我贊同我那假想中的英國讀者的觀點。美國文學史家或許慣於過分狹隘地看待其本國文壇，誤將卓著當作獨特。他們確實會用過多的筆墨來渲染其本國文學，至少，對其次要作家他們肯定會這樣做。此外，美國人確實會走極端，要麼咄咄逼人地大肆渲染其文學，要麼進行着同樣不幸的亦步亦趨式的'頂禮膜拜。但反過來說，英國人自己在其文學鑑賞中也顯得有些狹隘愚陋。此外，在他們並無上乘表現的領域--例如繪畫與音樂，他們也會走極端，不是吹噓他們本國的作品，就是大肆模仿歐洲大陸的作品。有多少幅英國繪畫試圖看上去彷彿是在巴黎完成的;但我們又有多少次曾在文章中讀到它們真正代表着一種"英國式的傳統"呢?

那麼，要談論美國文學，倒並非意欲斷言，它與歐洲文學全然大相徑庭。廣而言之，美國與歐洲一直同步發展，協調一致。在任何一個特定的時刻，旅行者在兩地均能目睹同一樣式的建築實例，相同款式的服飾，書架上相同的書籍。在大西洋兩岸，思想如同人員與貨物往來一樣自由交流，儘管有時會略顯遲緩。當我提及美國式的習慣、思想等概念時，我意欲在"美國式的"這一詞彙之前加上某種限定，因爲歐美(尤其是英美)之間的差異往往只是程度上的差異而已，並且有時候僅僅只是微乎其微的一點程度差異而已。差異的多寡是件極爲微妙的事務，這極容易使一個英國人在審視美國時大惑不解。他所審視的那個國家，從某些重要的意義上來說，誕生於他自己的國家，並在某些方面仍與他自己的國家相差無幾--然而，它卻實實在在是一個異邦。兩者間存在着某些古怪的交替重迭，以及令人甚感突兀的陌生感;親緣關係已讓位於一種突如其來的異化與疏遠，這種情景彷彿就像我們隔着馬路向另一個人打招呼，結果卻從這個人漠無表情的反應中發現，我們原來竟然錯將生人當成了熟人。