直译 or 意译：that is the question

（2005-4-15 7:31:00    By银河戏）

某 BBS 上有这样一篇文章：

It's brass monkey weather.典故出于英国维多利亚时代时兴于家中摆设黄铜制的的猴子，通常有三只，两只手分别遮住口眼耳，表示非礼勿言、视、听。据说这是受到中国风的影响。

所谓 it's brass monkey weather.即指天气冷到连家里摆的铜猴尾巴恐怕都被冻掉。
采取意译：真是冷得要人命的天气！直译：这天冷得连家里摆的铜猴尾巴都要被冻掉啦！

大家觉得意译或直译哪种好？
若采取第二种译法，不看典故的话，一般读者可以接受吗？

翻译时常碰到意译或直译如何抉择的难题，不知有经验的人都怎么处理？

下面是我的回复：

您的意译无可挑剔。
直译这样如何：这天冷得连家里摆的铜猴都要被冻僵了。
不过，冻僵的可能不光是猴尾巴而已。

典故或与历史文化有关的外语的确很难用直译传达。举个例子来说：今天我们说「象牙塔」(ivory tower)，大多数的人都知道是一个「脱离现实社会而思索」的地方，但是最早如果直译的话，恐怕很少人能理解是什么意思。等到一个有典故的概念被不断解释、传播、内化以后，翻译的人直译传达就没什么障碍。当然，到什么时候才算时机成熟就要凭翻译者的直觉判断了。

我另外再举一个例子：
不知道你是否熟悉一个词叫 Rosetta Stone？1799年法国的拿破仑远征埃及的军队在尼罗河口的 Rosetta 发现记载三类文字的石碑。这块石碑上方三分之一是象形文字，中间三分之一是埃及后来使用的表意文字，最下方是希腊文的翻译，后来成为解释古代埃及象形文字的重要线索之一。

因为这个典故，现代英文里经常用 Rosetta Stone 来表示学习、翻译各种外国语言的活动与概念。如果你读到这个词直接翻成「罗塞达石」，恐怕知道的人就不多了，因此这个典故应该也会经过从「意译」到「直译」的过程。

另一方面，对于词汇空缺的全新概念 (特别是在科技领域) 我们的文化人倒多半反其道而行。也就是说，即使不能够立刻找到贴切的意译 (航天飞机)，也会在直译以后逐渐转成意译 (烟丝披里纯 --> 灵感；德谟克拉西 --> 民主)，以方便中文读者吸收新知，例如 AIDS 刚开始称「后天性免疫不全症」，慢慢改成「艾滋病」就是最典型的转换过程。这一点和大量套用外来语的日文有天壤之别。

这样看来，中文文化人的习惯似乎可以大致归纳如下：对有典故的外语是「先意译再直译」；对现代科技衍生的术语或概念是「尽可能意译」，或「先直译再意译」。

这中间的文化偏好与语言特性是颇堪玩味的。

Cutting Small Corners on Translation Can Cost You Big

Read a good article from U.S. Translation Company:

Ever watch “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
Remember the three lifelines contestants used to improve their odds of getting an answer right?
Each participant was given three choices: 50/50, phone-a-friend, and poll the audience.
What does this have to do with translation?

Big companies like Facebook and Wikipedia employ a practice called “crowdsourcing” to get the pages of their websites translated into different languages.
Essentially, the company polls an audience, asking them to offer any kind of translation for their content in return for their name on the credits and/or small compensation such as a cruise or gift certificates.
When you use a cheap alternative for a professional job, negative results manifest themselves in simple mistakes that can lead to big problems.

Wikipedia is a good example.
It’s well known that anyone can contribute to Wikipedia’s content without any kind of background check, expertise, or filter; and while much of the content offered at their site can be helpful, some of it can be damaging if used in a report for school, or as a research tool for a presentation.

Imagine you have a client in China you are contracted to provide defibrillators for. Even the slightest mix-up or confusion of wording in the instruction manual can yield devastating results.

When it comes to translation, polling the audience can be a cheap, but risky way to go about communicating with customers and clients. That’s why using professional translation services, especially those certified by a recognized body like the ISO (International organization for standardization)—whose standards set forth a consensus on what standardization means for company’s worldwide—should be an integral part of your business plan.
Exactly! It comes to the point of the quality of translation. We all know what it mean to a globally developing exporter that right translation from a trusty translation company could bring you tons of hot leads and new customers, get them to keep buying over and over again, reactivate ‘lost’ customers, and even provide you with a constant stream of referrals. Nothing provides a better return on investment than the correct translation for a local market and it doesn’t matter what product or service you sell. However, on the opposite side, it could return a disaster if you come across a problem one.

A new beginning, good, or not?

It's exciting today that I finally start to create a new blog and decide to manage it better. It has been a long time since I paid all my attention to the last one.

I'm a freshman now again, not only right here, but also in Lingonova-my new employer, though never ever for this industry-Multilingual translation services.

Good beginning, or not, for the future? I've been no steady way and no vision of clear direction for a time, my good friend Jiri, a kind man and excellent Czech translator, comforted me that I am still young and the times will solve many things, it needs only some time in this age. Yeah, what I want is what I have to make. I love languages; I love this career-Multilingual translation. I must be simply patient as Jiri and another friend of mine, Reggie always said to me.

To the end, I want to quote from Jiri and his beloved father's words–
People are like the weather, so after storms and rains simply must come better weather.

Every day is different!

Let's wish joyful and pleasant step into the following days.