复杂句的翻译

所谓复杂句就是从句套从句，句子成分复杂，句子篇幅较长。翻译这种句子，分析结构比较重要。先要搞清楚句子的主干，有哪几种从句等。然后还要搞清从句与从句之间的逻辑关系，再结合汉语的表达习惯，用通顺的中文表述出来。

While this boundary does not mark the outer limit of a State’s territory，since in international law the territorial sea forms part of a State’s territory，it does represent the demarcation between that maritime area（internal waters）where other States enjoy no general rights，and those maritime areas（the territorial sea and other zones）where other States do enjoy certain general rights．

这句话虽然篇幅较长，但从句并不十分复杂。首先是一个由“since”引导的时间状语从句，后面的句子虽然长，但只有两个定语从句，且逻辑关系为并列关系。主句的结构为“it…between…and”。参考译文为“尽管这条分界线并不算是国家领土的外缘边界，但是，因为在国际法中领海也是国家领土的组成部分，它的确是其他国家在其内不享有一般权力的海区（内水域）与其他国家在其中享有某些一般权力的那些海区（领海及其他区域）之间的分界线。”

Between midnight and dawn，when sleep will not come and all the old wounds begin to ache，I often have a nightmare vision of a future world in which there are billions of people，all numbered and registered，with not a gleam of genius anywhere，not an original mind，a rich personality，on the whole packed globe．

这句话第一部分是一个“when”引导的时间状语从句，主句之中又套着一个“which”引导的定语从句，句子的后半部分都是这个定语从句，它们之间是并列的关系。参考译文为“在午夜和黎明之间，每当我不能入睡，一切旧的创伤开始疼痛的时候，我常常想象未来世界的噩梦般的情景，在所有登记入册的亿万人民生活的这个拥挤不堪的世界上，没有一处有一线天才的光芒、独创性的头脑和丰富多彩的个性。”

This spirit of fair－play，which in the public schools，at any rate，is absorbed as the most inviolable of traditions，has stood our race in good stead in the professions，and espe－cially in the administration of dependencies，where the obvious desire of the officials to deal justly and see fair－play in disputes between natives and Europeans has partly compensated for a grant of sympathetic understanding，which has kept the English strangers in lands of alien culture．

这句话的主体是“This spirit…is…has”中间是一些插入成分，后面又跟一个“where”引导的状语从句，最后是“which”引导的定语从句，它们之间是递近的关系。参考译文为“这种公正的精神，至少在私立公校中是当作最神圣不可侵犯的传统而加以全神贯注的。这种精神在人们的供职上，尤其是在属地统治上，对于英国民族是很有用的。当统治属地时，英国的官员显然抱着一种愿望，要想公正的处理土著人和欧洲人间的争执，而希冀得到公平的解决，使英国人处在海外的异族文化中，因缺乏同情的谅解而格格不入的情形多少获得了一点补偿。”

Americans who stem from generations which left their old people behind and never closed their parents’eyelids in death，and who have experienced the death provided by two world wars fought far from our shores are today pushing away from them both a recognition of death and a recognition of the way we live our lives．

这句话的主干是“Americans…are pushing away”，在主语后有“who”和“which”引导的两个定语从句，紧接着又是一个“who”引导的定语从句。参考译文为“上溯到美国人的先辈，他们都有撇下了亲人、不能替逝去的父母合上眼睑的痛楚。而如今的美国人在体验了远离我们大陆的两次世界大战造成的死亡以后，不论是对死亡的认识，还是对我们的生活方式的认识，都一概不在意了。”

If marriage exists only as an intimate relationship that can be terminated at will，and family exists only by virtue of bonds of affection，both marriage and family are relegated to the marketplace of trading places，with individuals maximizing their psychological capital by moving through a series of more or less satisfying intimate relationships．

这句话的主体是“if”引导的条件状语从句，剩下的分句是并列关系。参考译文为“如果婚姻只是一种可以任意终结的亲密关系，而家庭只是靠爱情的纽带来维持，那么婚姻和家庭则沦为可以自由买卖的市场，每个人都可以穿梭于一系列或多或少会让自己心满意足的亲密关系，从而使自己的心理资本得到最大的增值。”

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．

这句话结构比较简单，首先是“when”引导的时间状语从句，然后就是几个并列分句。参考译文为“史密斯喝醉之后常常打老婆和女儿；第2天带着头痛发牢骚，抱怨世人不能赏识他的才华。他痛骂同行的画家都是糊涂虫。话很尖刻，有时候也很有道理。”

Again，an assessment of the importance of a high－level visit must not only take into account the level at which it was conducted，the extent to which the visit was perhaps largely ceremonial and the scope of the agenda，but also measure it against what，if anything，was achieved in the last analogous visit．

这句话的主体是两个递进关系的从句“not only…but also”，其中还穿插着“which”引导的定语从句。参考译文为“此外，对高层访问重要性的评估不仅要考虑访问的级别，礼仪的隆重程度和日程的安排，还要将之与前一次同级别的访问（如果有的话）进行对比。”

When I am in a serious humor，I very often walk by myself in Westminster Abbey；Where the gloominess of the place，and the use which it is applied，with the solemnity of the building，and the condition of the people who lie in it，are apt to fill the mind with a kind of melancholy，or rather thoughtfulness，that is not disagreeable I yesterday passed a whole afternoon in the churchyard，the cloisters，and the church，amusing myself with the tombstones and inscriptions that I met with in those several regions of the dead．

本句篇幅很长，但结构并不复杂，主要是并列分句比较多，其中穿插有时间状语从句和定语从句。参考译文为“每当心情沉重的时候，我总是独自一人去西敏寺教堂；那里肃穆的气氛，教堂特有的神职，庄重的建筑，在那里安息的人们的身份地位，无不给人的心里注满一种忧郁，或不妨说令人沉思，令人欣然。昨天我在教堂草地、回廊和教堂里度过了整整一个下午，在好几个墓区里，打量墓碑和碑文，聊以自娱。”

在汉译英中长句复杂句也很多，此时我们应把汉语适当的断句，分清意群，搞清结构，再进行翻译。如：

这王冕天性聪明，年纪不满20岁，就把那天文、地理、经史上的大学问，无一不贯通。

这句汉语虽然句型较复杂，但遵循一定的规律，那就是有总有分。我们把总句找出来单独译为一句即可。参考译文为“Wang Mian had genius．While still in his teens，he mastered the whole field of astronomy，geography，the classics and history．”

要充分重视自然科学理论包括现代数学、高能物理、分子生物学等基础理论的研究，忽视这一点就不能掌握和运用世界上先进的科学技术成果。

这句话篇幅长，但句型结构明显，前后句意存在转折的关系，明确这一点，我们就知道如何断句了。参考译文为“Full attention must be paid to theoretical research in the natural sciences，including such basic subjects as modern mathematics，high energy physics and molecular biology．Negligence in this respect will make it impossible for us to master and apply the results of advanced world science and technology．”

中国政府将在加强对现有耕地保护的同时，加快宜农荒地的开发和工矿废弃地的复垦，未来几十年计划每年开发复垦30万公顷以上，弥补同期耕地占用，保持耕地面积长期稳定。

这句话篇幅较长，应注意各分句之间的层次关系，也就是分句与分句的连接。参考译文为“The Chinese government will make efforts to speed up the reclamation of wasteland suitable for farming as well as land discarded by factories and mines，while measures will be adopted to protect the existing cultivated land．In the next few decades，China plans to reclaim more than 300000hectares each year to make up for the loss of cultivated land appropriated for non－farming uses and to keep the area of cultivated land constant for a long period of time．”

维护《联合国海洋法公约》确定的国际海洋法律原则，维护海洋健康，保护海洋环境，确保海洋资源的可持续利用和海上安全，已成为人类共同遵守的准则和共同担负的使命。

这句汉语很明显是分总的关系，可以先翻译各分句，然后再翻译总结的那个分句。参考译文为“Upholding the principle of the international marine law as defined by the United Na－tions Convention on the law of the sea，maintaining the wholesomeness of the oceans，protecting the marine environment and guaranteeing the sustainable utilization of marine resources and maritime safety have become common norms for all the people in the world to abide by，and a collective mission for all mankind to undertake．”

当然，“金砖四国”的魅力和前景是同我们时代的变迁和国际力量对比的变化紧密相连的，前途仍然任重道远，而且存在一定的变数。

这句话虽然篇幅不长，但分句间存在转折关系，要注意断句。参考译文为“Of course，the charms and prospects of the BRICs are closely connected with the changes of times and international power balance．Taking on a heavy burden and embarking on a long road，certain variables still exist．”