文章的主旨反映作者的写作意图，把握文章的主旨，也就是要了解作者的写作意图。因为作者的写作意图直接影响到了译文的翻译，该如何遣词造句。我们在翻译文章之前，要先分析作者的思路，看看他笔下的人物的行事风格和处事态度。只有这样才能力求使译文符合原文的意思，不歪曲作者的本意。
（一）领会作者的写作主旨
It used to be said that English people take their pleasures sadly．No doubt this would still be true if they had any pleasures to take，but the price of alcohol and tobacco in my country has provided sufficient external causes for melancholy I have sometimes thought that the habit of taking pleasures sadly has crossed the Atlantic．And I have wondered what it is that makes so many English－speaking people somber in their outlook in spite of good health and a good income．
通读过这段文字，我们不难发现作者在谈论英语国家的一种社会现象，就是悲观的对待快乐，作者对这一看法表示肯定。那么基于这一点，我们清楚了以下作者所谈论的“快乐”都是消极的，对前途都是渺茫的。所以对于文章的最后一句话中“somber”一词的翻译，我们就有了基调。可译为“到底是什么使如此多的身体健康、收入丰厚的英语国家人士对未来没有信心呢。”
The customers of Holiday Chain Hotel took 500000towels from its 2638branch hotels every year，and the hotel wonders what happened to these towels later．However，the hotel has no intention to send a punitive expedition against the shoplifters but intends to enhance the nationwide promotion．The hotel announced to spare these customers on condition that they would tell what they have done with those towels in these years．
这段文章开始是对拿走毛巾的旅客持否定的态度，所以对于“take”，我们可以翻译为“卷走”。对于“happen to”可以翻译为“遭遇”。
（二）分析作者笔下人物的性格特点
Tonight there is no moonlight at all，I know that this is a bad omen．This morning when I went out cautiously，Mr．Zhao had a strange look in his eyes，as if he were afraid of me，as if he wanted to murder me．There were seven or eight others who discussed me in a whisper．And they were afraid of my seeing them，so，indeed，were all the people．I passed．The fiercest among them grinned at me；whereupon I shivered from head to foot，knowing that their preparations were complete．
作者笔下的人物心理是心虚，害怕的，而且充满了怀疑，所以作者用了很多不确定的修饰词，在翻译时，我们也要注意。如“似乎怕我，似乎想害我”要把人物的疑心表现出来。
I used to feel sorry for that ugly black piece of stone lying like an ox in front of our door；no one knew when it was left there and nobody paid any attention to it，except at the time when wheat was harvested and my grandma，seeing the grains of wheat spread all over the ground in the front yard of the house，would grumble：This ugly stone takes so much space．Move it away someday．
这段话作者虽然不是在描写一个人物，但显然他为这块石头赋予了人物的特点，所以我们也要分析作者对于这块石头的态度。我们可以从“ugly”这个词可见一斑，“丑陋的”，作者开始对于这块石头无疑是嫌弃的。所以在翻译最后一句话时，我们要翻译为“这块破石头多碍事呀，哪天把它搬走吧。”
（三）深刻理解作者意图，引申某些词语含义
The opening of doors is a mystic act：it has in it some flavor of the unknown，some sense of moving into a new moment，a new pattern of the human rigmarole．It includes the highest glimpses of mortal gladness：reunions，reconciliation’s，the bliss of lovers long parted．
这句话中“flavor”这个词的本意是：“味道，风情，情趣”等。但在这里译成这些含义显然不合适，需要引申为意味。参考译文为“开门这个动作很神秘：既带着一点新时刻即将开始的感觉，是人类繁文缛节的一种新形式。”
我们在英译篇章的时候，首先要考虑句子翻译的正确性与准确性，运用以上学过的基本技巧与方法把每个句子翻译好。其次要考虑句子以外的因素，如文化背景、语言环境等。其中最为重要的是主题性，句与句之间的衔接性与连贯性，也就是说要考虑整体性，把一篇文章作为一个整体来看，而不是一个一个单独的句子。如果只想到句子的意思，则会造成译文无法实现原文的全部功能和意义。
汉语篇章主题句往往不如英语篇章明显，所以我们要学会归纳总结，这样做有利于断句与分层。如果没有主题句，我们自己先要总结一个主题，然后各个分句或段落都围绕这个主题来翻译，因为所有分句与分段都是为表达中心意义服务的。除了总结主题，我们还要把剩下的句子或段落分层，这样可以将复杂的思想化整为零，然后逐个击破。如：
这本文集里的文章风格完全一致。在对语言的理解，采用近来的哲学和语言学的方法了解个中含义这方面，这些文章向我们展示了某些“前沿”话题。“前沿”在这里有两层意思。其一：所讨论的话题都是现今思想与学术上比较前瞻性的东西。其二：对这些问题我们不太清楚或理解不够。
这段汉语段落层次分明，主题明确，所以无需分段。参考译文为“The essays in this collection are composed entirely in this vein．Within the general field of the understanding of language，of the more recent philosophic and linguistic ways of approaching the meaning of meaning，they try to set out certain‘frontier’topics．The word‘frontier’has two relevant senses．The topics discussed are at the forward edge of current thought and scholarship．They are not yet clearly or fully understood．”
我轻轻地扣着板门，刚才那个小姑娘出来开了门，抬头看了我，先愣了一下，后来就微笑了，招手叫我进去。这屋子很小很黑，靠墙的铺板上，她的妈妈闭着眼平躺着，大约是睡着了，被头上有斑斑的血痕，她的脸向里侧着，只看见她脸上的乱发，和脑后的一个大髻。
这段文字从表面上看层次不明显，我们可以把它加工分为两层，先是“进门”，然后是“妈妈的样子”。层次分好后，我们可按部就班的英译了，值得注意的是一系列的动词，要保持动作的连贯性。参考译文为“I knocked softly on the wooden door．The young girl I had met just now answered．Seeing me，she was a little taken aback at first，but soon began to smile and beckoned me in．On the plank bed against the wall，her mother was lying on her back，her eyes closed．She must have gone to sleep．There were blood stains scattered on the bedclothes round her neck．Her face was turned to the wall，and I could only see tangled wisps of hair across her face and the coil at the back of her head．”
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