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缘分”是所谓命中注定的人与人遇合的机缘。英译“缘分”(亦作“天缘”)以及“有缘”、“无缘”常用的英文词有fate, luck, lot, destiny 等。请看几个例子:& Y0 Q' G! G0 Y- L0 w
+ j+ k- P8 `0 _1 @- R8 o0 w" K1.富贵功名,前缘分定。(《西游记》)6 W4 z" E n6 f, \. e1 B# r9 G
8 }% C0 }0 Y% [8 R8 ]+ lWealth and honor, glory and fame, are predetermined by fate. (W.J.F. Jenner 译)& B; i0 R# _- l( ]& t) b1 T
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2.[宝玉问香菱为何薛蟠相亲定下了金桂,香菱笑道] 一则是天缘,二来是“情人眼里出西施”(《红楼梦》)
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$ _& z" V# ~, S6 ]8 q+ UIt‘s partly fate, and partly a case of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."(杨宪益、戴乃迭 译) 2 {0 W) a3 @& e+ T7 W7 D
5 f* i* S! w. j0 @8 l1 ^3.[王婆为了撮合西门庆和潘金莲,故意问前者是不是妻子死后,没有别的女人他中意的。西门庆争辩说]做甚么了便没?只恨我夫妻缘分上薄,自不撞着!(《水浒》), s6 x7 p C3 v @. @
( x4 ~8 n. c0 K. LWho says there isn‘t? It‘s just that my marriage luck has been bad. I‘ve never met the right one. (S. Shapiro 译)" h8 x1 g: u! y/ ]
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4.她无缘,小生薄命。 (《西厢记》)
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She lacks the karma; I‘m out of luck. (S. H. L. Idema 译)/ {! O$ C. n. R6 e# ?
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5.[刘备送别徐庶时说]备分浅缘薄,不能与先生相聚。(《三国演义》); d+ E- i r" B# l: p4 w
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My meagre lot, my partly destiny keep us from remaining together.( M. Robers 译)
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6.[杜慎卿向季苇萧诉说自己没有知心朋友]只为缘悭分浅,遇不着一个知己,所以对月伤怀,临风洒泪!(《儒林外史》)
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! J$ p$ f* E4 d8 P! HBut I have not been lucky enough to find a true friend, and that is why I so often give way to melancholy! (杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)
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7.君琴瑟之好,自相知音;薄命人乌有此福。如有缘,再世可相聚耳。(《聊斋.宦娘》)
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1 d c7 w& @1 f$ @6 X/ ?) H3 e; Y7 ~: eYou are like a matching lute and zither set. You can appreciate each other‘s music. Fate has been too unkind to allow me* f, z( \7 Y4 j2 m2 v. k) ?. x3 l
- }5 J; s" i* Z& O+ J1 tsuch blessings. If we are linked by the ties of destiny, we will meet again in the next life. (D.C. & V. H Mair 译)
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( f1 H$ u/ m' M+ n7 a l' w8.[方鸿渐看不中张小姐,心中暗说]“我你他”小姐,咱们没有“举碗[案]齐眉”的缘分,希望另有好运气的人来爱上您。 (《围城》)) Z+ ]6 q3 I C' y8 l
7 N- U3 L! c% U. i5 D/ e ZMiss Wo-Ni-Ta, we just weren‘t meant to "raise the bowl To the eyebrows." I hope some other lucky guy falls in love
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with you. (J. Kelly、 N. K. Mao 译)
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可以看出,以上句子里的中心词都含有“命运”的意识,英译亦然。《围城》一例所mean,据New World Dictionary 等词典的解释也有 to destine or seem to destine 的意思,颇为妥帖。
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然而,“缘分”等词和命运的关联在有的用法里变得淡化了,甚至完全消失了。它只是泛指一种机遇或者机会。所以M. Roberts翻译《三国演义》的以下两句,用的词语和上边英译句子中的相应部分不同:
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) O& C* `" ~; U, _9.[刘备二顾草芦时误认诸葛均为为诸葛亮,说]备久慕先生,无缘拜会。# ?8 _6 a" N( V- h1 b W( o! ?
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Your talents and your virtue have ever been the objects of my esteem. But I have not had the honour of being presented to you.
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' F3 e' Z0 ^8 G- S3 k不仅如此,这种机遇还可以发生在人和事物之间。体育报道里说的“无缘(进入)决赛(be barred from entering the finals; be disqualified for the finals) 即其一例。《浮生六记》的作者沈复(字三白)因妻子陈芸喜欢李白和白居易的诗,就跟她说:1 G8 u8 g- F. q; e. k
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11.异哉!李太白是知己,白乐天是启蒙师,余适逢字三白,为卿婿;卿与“白”字何其有缘耶?8 x# F" f- G0 R6 s- ?* ]. |
, ?3 I9 O! u( C/ h- Q5 ?This is very strange. So LiBai is your bosom friend, Bai Juyi is your first tutor and yours band‘s literary name is Sanbai. It seems
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that your life is always bound up with the Bai‘s. (林语堂 译) |
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