英译 初中文言文课文《口技》

口技

A Vocal-Mimicry Performance

京中有善口技者。会宾客大宴，于厅事之东北角，施八尺屏障，口技人坐屏障中，一桌、一椅、一扇、一抚尺而已。众宾团坐。少顷，但闻屏障中抚尺一下，满坐寂然，无敢哗者。

In the capital city, there lives a vocal-mimicry master who is invited to perform at a grand banquet. He sits behind an eight-feet-wide screen that he has set up in the northeastern corner of the banquet hall. A table, a chair, a fan, and a gavel are all he has on hand. The guests sit around the screen. Upon a bang of the ruler-gavel from behind the screen, which signals the start of the show, the whole audience plunge into a dead silence.

遥闻深巷中犬吠，便有妇人惊觉欠伸，其夫呓语。既而儿醒，大啼。夫亦醒。妇抚儿乳，儿含乳啼，妇拍而呜之。又一大儿醒，絮絮不止。当是时，妇手拍儿声，口中呜声，儿含乳啼声，大儿初醒声，夫叱大儿声，一时齐发，众妙毕备。满坐宾客无不伸颈，侧目，微笑，默叹，以为妙绝。

A dog is heard barking from the depth of the lanes, followed by the yawning of a woman stretching herself out and the mumbling voice of her husband in his sleep. Awoken, their baby bursts into a loud cry, which, in turn, awakes the husband. The woman tries to pacify the baby by breastfeeding it. Between sobs, the baby sucks at the nipple, and the woman keeps patting it, humming a cradle song. Then, an older child wakes up, too, and begins to babble away. At the moment, there is the sound of the woman patting the baby and humming, the baby’s sobs against the breast, and the thunderous voice of the man rebuking the babbling older child. All these sounds, perfectly mimicked, are produced at the same time. And the audience, all of them, listen attentively with their heads tilted and necks craned, either smiling or marveling.

未几，夫齁声起，妇拍儿亦渐拍渐止。微闻有鼠作作索索，盆器倾侧，妇梦中咳嗽。宾客意少舒，稍稍正坐。

A short while later, the husband begins to snore and the woman gradually ceases patting. Faintly audible are the rustlings of mice moving about in the house, causing the kitchen utensils to tip over, and the woman coughs in her sleep. Relaxing a little, the audience begin to sit upright.

忽一人大呼"火起"，夫起大呼，妇亦起大呼。两儿齐哭。俄而百千人大呼，百千儿哭，百千犬吠。中间力拉崩倒之声，火爆声，呼呼风声，百千齐作；又夹百千求救声，曳屋许许声，抢夺声，泼水声。凡所应有，无所不有。虽人有百手，手有百指，不能指其一端；人有百口，口有百舌，不能名其一处也。于是宾客无不变色离席，奋袖出臂，两股战战，几欲先走。

“Fire! Help!” There comes a sudden shout of alarm. The husband rises promptly and yells for help; so does the woman. The two kids cry in fear. These are joined, in no time at all, by the sounds of hundreds of people yelling for help, hundreds of kids crying, and hundreds of dogs barking, amid the crackle of the house burning down, the explosive sounds of objects cracking open under intense heat, and the howls of wind. To these are added the sounds of people shouting alarms, pulling down the burnt house in chorus, salvaging belongings, and throwing water – all kinds of sounds typical of a fire-fighting scene. Such a complex mixture of sounds it is that one could hardly identify any one sound even though he had one hundred hands each of which had one hundred fingers; nor could one tell any one spot from the others even though he had one hundred mouths each of which had one hundred tongues. The audience are now seized by such a panic that all of them rise from the seat and roll up their sleeves, their thighs shuddering, ready to flee any moment.

忽然抚尺一下，群响毕绝。撤屏视之，一人、一桌、一椅、一扇、一抚尺而已。

All at once, there comes, again, a bang of the gavel onto the table, upon which all sounds died away in an instant. The screen is removed; and a man, a table, a chair, a fan and a gavel are all that remains.

译后记：

1）“口技”，指人用嘴为主，模仿各种声音，vocal mimicry。注意别用成ventriloquism（腹语）。中国文化外宣对这种非遗技艺，似乎有直接用拼音kouji音译的倾向。但这一技艺国外到底也是有的，还是意译更好吧。

2）“抚尺”，国外应无此物品，这里借用gavel（拍卖会、会议主席用的请会场安静下来的小槌）一词，作用相似。

3）“伸颈，侧目”形容听得认真入神，所以加了个listen attentively点一下。

4）“作作索索”，是老鼠走动，与环境擦出的声音，所以译作rustling of mice moving about。

5）“盆器”，是以脸盆为代表的容易出声音的器皿，译时不妨稍扩大点范围，utensils，各种器物，尤指厨房、卫生间用的器皿。

6）“力拉崩倒”的“力拉”，是拟声词，形容木质房子烧着烧着哩哩啦啦坍塌下来的声音，这里译作crackle。

7）“火爆声”，是物体被烧得爆裂开来，故以explosive配合cracking open译出来。

8）“曳屋许许声”的“许许”，是众人一齐把烧着的房子拉倒以防止火势蔓延的“劳动号子”，这里用了个in chorus，一方面体现同步使劲儿、一方面体现同声呐喊。

9）“抢夺声”，理解为抢救财物，salvage the belongings。