本体思维与客体思维

5.3　本体思维与客体思维

本体思维认为人是观察、分析、研究一切事物的主体，是所有事物的衡量尺度。中国人的思维方式是典型的本体思维。而英美思维注重对自然事物的辩证分析，认为客观存在的世界是观察、分析、研究的中心。这种文化的积淀产生了客体思维。这些差异在语言中的体现在于：汉语倾向于使用有生命的物或人做主语和主动语态，而英语可以使用无生命的词或词组做主语，且主动语态和被动语态并重。本节从英语无灵主句和汉语有灵主句、非人称句两方面入手，探析本体思维和客体思维的差异。

5.3.1　无灵主语和有灵主语

从有无生命角度划分，主语可分为有灵主语（animate subject）和无灵主语（inanimate subject）。有灵主语是汉英两种语言的惯用表达方式，但无灵主语的使用则在英语中更为普遍。在英译汉时，要考虑到英语的思维方法，然后转换为汉语的思维方法，把句子的内在意义用汉语表达出来。

例39.The threat of death does not depress him， even though he has become the No.1 villain to them.

译文　即使他在他们心目中成了第一号坏蛋，死亡的威胁也不会使他消沉。

例40.Beijing has witnessed many great historical events.

译文　北京见证过许多伟大的历史事件。

上述英语句子均用无生命的事物做句子主语，若把这些无灵主语译成汉语，则须把内在隐含的意义表达清楚。

例41.A terrible thought suddenly struck me—had I locked the door?

译文　我突然产生了一个可怕的想法—我锁门了吗？

例42.The thick carpet killed the sound of my footsteps.（Joseph. English 3200）

译文　我走在厚厚的地毯上，一点脚步声也没有。

例43.Not a sound reached their ears.

译文　他们没听到任何声音。

上述三个译文显然不能用原文的主语做主语，因此把译文的主语换成了有灵主语。

例44.Something inside me seemed to stop immediately.

译文　我顿时呆住了。

例45.His superior grades at high school enabled him to enroll at the tuition-free College of the City of New York.

译文　由于在中学成绩优异，他进入了免费的纽约市立学院。

例46.His new book hits off the American temperament with amazing insight.

译文　他在新作中对美国人性格的描写可谓洞察秋毫。

原文用无灵名词做主语，译成汉语后主语则换成了人。类似的例句如，

例47.In recent years local newspapers have been sprinkled with passionate letters advising various suggestions on the urban construction of Beijing.

译文　近年来，热情的读者纷纷致函各地方报纸，对北京的城市建设提出了各种建议。

例48.Friday started with a morning visit to the modern campus of the 22000-student University of Michigan in nearby Ann Arbor， where the Chinese table tennis team joined students in the cafeteria line for lunch and later played an exhibition match.（China·U.S. Table Tennis）

译文　星期五那天，中国乒乓球队一早就到安阿伯附近去参观拥有两万两千名学生的密歇根大学现代化校园。他们和该校学生在校内自助餐厅排队取午餐，然后举行了一场表演赛。

例49.After the first fortnight or three weeks of her absence， health， good humour， and cheerfulness began to reappear at Longbourn.（J. Austen. Pride and Prejudice）

译文　一：她离开的头两三个星期以后，健康、好的情绪和快乐开始再出现在浪博恩身上。

译文　二：他走了两三个星期之后，浪博恩又恢复了健康快乐的精神风貌。

译文　一完全忠实于原文，却丧失了原文的美和感染力。译文二词有所增减，句式也有变化，却忠实地表达了原文的美感，语言精练、文笔流畅。

5.3.2　非人称句

“英语的非人称句是一种冷静客观的叙述，在汉语中往往难以接受，事实上也不存在，翻译成汉语时必须转换成以人开头或隐含以人开头的句子”。英语中的非人称句主要有两种表现形式：用非人称代词“it”和“there be”。

（1）非人称代词it

例50.It is physically impossible for a well-educated， intellectual， or brave man to make money the chief object of his thoughts； as physically impossible as it is for him to make his dinner the principal object of them.

译文　一个受过良好教育、有知识或有胆识的人实在不可能把金钱作为他孜孜以求的主要目标，正如他不可能把吃饭当作最主要的目标一样。

句中的it做形式主语指代动词不定式，本身无意义，因此翻译时不须把it翻译出来。

例51.The Beijing Olympics was a milestone in China’s development. It was China’s long-held dream coming true to show its commitment to the Olympic spirit. It was a symbol of China’s maturity， openness and progress. It left a lasting legacy.

译文　北京奥运会对中国的发展进程具有重要意义。它不仅圆了中国的百年梦想，也是中国在不断发展过程中心态更加成熟的标志。它使中国更加自信，更加开放，更加进步。虽然北京奥运会已经结束，但这种积极的影响一直在延续。

第一个it 做形式主语指代动词不定式，第二、三个it做代词，指代the Beijing Olympics， 翻译时不能省略。

例52.It is not our view that the substance or the tone of his remarks this morning will contribute to creating a lasting peace in the Middle East.

译文　我们认为，他今天上午发言的内容和口气都无助于在中东建立持久的和平。

it在此处指代宾语从句，无需翻译。

例53.It is no good talking about the greatness of our country， unless we do something to make it great.

译文　空谈我们国家的伟大是没有用的，除非我们致力于使它伟大。

此处的it指代现在分词短语。

例54.If you take it into your head to go on refusing every offer of marriage in this way， you will never get a husband at all.

译文　如果你执意要继续这样来拒绝所有的求婚，你永远得不到一个丈夫了。

此处it 做形式宾语，指代动词不定式。

例55.It was glorious to acquire a place by justice， yet more glorious to prefer justice before a place.

译文　由正义而获得一个名位是光荣的，不过宁取得正义而牺牲名位，则更加光荣。

在该结构中，it做形式主语引导主语从句，that引导的句子才是句子真正的主语。

需要特别注意的是，英语中以it做形式主语的被动句，若译成汉语，常用的译法有“人们”、“有人”、“大家”、“据悉”、“必须指出”、“已经证明”等。例如，

It is generally（usually）accepted （recognized， agreed） that… 人们普遍认为……

It is estimated（predicted， calculated）that… 据估计（计算）……

It must be pointed out that… 必须指出……

It cannot be denied that… 无可否认……

（2）there be 结构

There be 在句中不一定都要翻译成“有……”，可根据上下文灵活译出。例如，

例56.There is no accounting for tastes.

译文　人各有所好。

例57.If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible； who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time； who still questions the power of our democracy， tonight is your answer.（b.　Obama’s Victory Speech 2008）

译文　如果，还有人怀疑美国是一切皆有可能的国度，还有人怀疑国父们的梦想在我们的时代是否还存在，还有人怀疑我们的民主所拥有的力量，那么今晚，你就可以得到答案。

例58. There is no saying how long the war is going to last.

译文　战争还要持续多久是个未知数。

例59.True， there are well-regulated red-light districts in Geylang and other places， as some Singaporean friends told me to suggest that life is“colorful”in Singapore.

译文　诚然，在芽笼一带及其他地方，都有管理规范的“红灯区”，我的新加坡朋友都有提到，这意味着新加坡的生活也“多姿多彩”。

本章分三部分阐述英汉思维方式的差异。通过抽象和具体意象、综合语和分析语来展现英汉的逻辑和形象思维；通过时间上的先后律、空间上的大小律、事理上的因果律、和心理上的重轻律分析英汉的曲线和直线思维；通过无灵和有灵主语、非人称句展示英语的本体思维和客体思维。

练习

一、试译下列各句，注意斜体部分的译法：

1.The signs of the times point to the necessity of modification.

2.The absence of intelligence is an indication of satisfactory developments.

3.The actual date of the completion of the purchase should coincide with the availability of the new facilities.

4.Laser is one of the most sensational developments in recent years， because of its applicability to many fields of science and its adaptability to practical uses.

5.This is the day for our two peoples to rise to the height of greatness which can build a new and better world.

6.She wondered whether her outspokenness might be a liability to Franklin.

7.To help myself live without fault， I made a list of what I considered the 13 virtues.　These virtues are （1） Temperance， （2） Self-control， （3） Silence， （4） Order， （5） Firmness of mind， （6） Savings， （7） Industry， （8） Honesty， （9） Justice， （10） Cleanliness， （11） Calmness，（12） Morality， （13） Humbleness.　（Benjamin Franklin）

8.I ask gentlemen， sir， what means this martial array， if its purpose be not to force us to submission.

9.Inexpressible was the astonishment of the little party when they returned to find that Mr.　Pickwick had disappeared.（C.　Dickens）

10.Thus encouraged， they made a still bolder plan for the next year.

二、试译下列各句，注意体现的思维方式及其译法：

1.Many sketches are in existence of peasants seated by the roadside and men and women at work in the fields.

2.They were forced to put forward an alternative of separate development for all races in this so-called homelands， with a promise of eventual independence for the Africans in these areas.

3.She was an intelligent， attractive and somewhat temperamental daughter of a well-to-do doctor in Haddington.

4.The assertion that it was difficult， if not impossible， for a people to enjoy its basic rights unless it was able to determine freely its political status and to ensure freely its economic， social and cultural development was now scarcely contested.

5.Since private industry and even government departments tend to concentrate on immediate results and show comparatively little interest in long-range investigations， there is a steady shift of scientists from the pure to the applied field， where there are more jobs available， frequently more highly-paid and with better technical facilities than jobs connected with pure research in a university.

6.It was on a Sunday evening， when he was lying in the orchard listening to a blackbird and composing a love poem， that he heard the gate swing to， and saw the girl coming running among the trees， with the red-cheeked， stolid Joe in swift pursuit.

7.When Smith was drunk， he used to beat his wife and daughter； and the next morning， with a headache， he would rail at the world for its neglect of his genius， and abuse， with a good deal of cleverness， and sometimes with perfect reason， the fools， his brother painters.

8.Astonishment， apprehension， and even horror oppressed her.

9.His absence of mind during the driving nearly caused an accident.

10.There is no reason that she should give me such a dirty look.