Let me come to the point boldly; what governs the Englishman is his inner atmosphere, the weather in his soul. It is nothing par

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问题     Let me come to the point boldly; what governs the Englishman is his inner atmosphere, the weather in his soul. It is nothing particularly spiritual or mysterious. When he has taken his exercise and is drinking his tea or his beer and lighting his pipe; when, in his garden or by his fire, he sprawls in an aggressively comfortable chair; when well-washed and well-brushed, he resolutely turns in church to the east and recites the Creed (with genuflexions, if he likes genuflexions) without in the least implying that he believes one word of it; when he hears or sings the most crudely sentimental and thinnest of popular songs, unmoved but not disguised; when he makes up his mind who is his best friend or his favorite poet; when he adopts a party or a sweetheart; when he is hunting or shooting or boating, or striding through the fields; when he is choosing his clothes or his profession — never is it a precise reason, or purpose, or outer fact that determines him; it is always the atmosphere of his inner man.

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答案 让我直接进入正题吧:左右英国人的是他内在的情调,灵魂的气象。这决不是什么精神层面的或神秘的东西。设想在他运动之余品茶或喝酒,并且点着烟斗;或在花园里或壁炉旁懒洋洋地躺在舒适的安乐椅上;或在他精心梳洗之后,在教堂里毅然面向东方背诵(跪诵,假如他喜欢跪诵)信经,但这决不意味着他相信其中的任一字句;或在他听着或哼着最低俗感伤、最浅薄的流行歌曲,虽未被感动但也并不讨厌;或在他确定谁是他最好的朋友或最喜爱的诗人;或在他选择一个群体或一个恋人;或在他打猎、射击、划船或大步走过田野;或在他挑选服装或选择职业——在他做着这一切的时候,并不是因为某一确定的理由,或目的,或外界的事物,而是他内在的情调在决定着他的取向。

解析     本篇节选自The Weather in His Soul(《英国人灵魂的气象》),作者George Santayana (乔治.桑塔雅那)是著名的哲学家、美学家。这篇散文思想深刻、比喻贴切、观察入微、语言流畅。翻译散文时,要求使用适当的翻译文体,尊重原文形象,适当发挥文学想象力。
…his inner atmosphere,the weather in his soul:作者借助英国人对于天气的偏好,用“weather(天气)”和“atmosphere(气候)”与“soul(灵魂)”和“inner(内在自我)”搭配,成为全篇比喻的基调,即“内在的情调”和“灵魂的气象”。
…well-washed and well-brushed:词汇层面上,原文采用文学语言的地方,译文也应该尽量采用文学语言。原文使用了并列结构,译文可以充分发挥四字格的作用,译为“精心梳洗”。
…when he hears or sings the most crudely sentimental and thinnest of popular songs…:“crudely sentimental”符合英语语法,即副词修饰形容词,但英译汉时,要深入理解原文,语义上两者是并列关系,  “低俗、感伤”。可译为“在他听着或哼着最低俗感伤、最浅薄的流行歌曲”。
…when he adopts a party or a sweetheart…:  “party”与“sweetheart”放在一起,显然不表示派对,而表示一群人,  “sweetheart”是用来称呼恋人的,可译为“或在他选择一个群体或一个恋人”。
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