翻译漫谈（十四） 汉译英：替代
关于汉译英，我想谈三个要点：1.替代（substitution）；2.主谓（subject-predicate）；3.主从(subordination)。这三个要点用英语表述，第一个字母都是s，因此可以简称“三s要点”。译文质量不高，往往是因为这三个问题没有处理好。换言之，若这三个问题处理得较好，可以为译文增色不少。这一讲，就集中谈“替代”。
英语不喜欢重复，如果在一句话里或相连的几句话里需要重复某个词语，则用代词来代替，或以其他手段来避免重复。汉语不怕重复，连续使用某个词语是常见的事。所以汉译英时要千方百计避免重复，多用代称；英译汉时则要少用代称，多用实词。
说起“替代”，我们当然首先想到代词。
代词的使用，在英语和汉语里有很大的不同。总的说来，英语代词用得多，汉语代词用得少。因此，英译汉时，有些代词可以不译。汉译英时则要在适当的地方增加代词，特别是物主代词。用代词以避免重复的例子，更是比比皆是。
例1．一切都要从这个实际出发，根据这个实际来制订规划。
in everything we do we must proceed from this reality, and all planning must be consistent with it.
例2．走社会主义道路,就是要逐步实现共同富裕。共同富裕的构想是这样提出的：一部分地区有条件先发展起来，一部分地区发展慢点，先发展起来的地区带动后发展的地区，最终达到共同富裕。……解决的办法之一，就是先富起来的地区多交点利税，支持贫困地区的发展。
to take the road to socialism is to realize common prosperity step by step. our plan is as follows: where conditions permit, some areas may develop faster than others; those that develop faster can help promote the progress of those that lag behind, until all become prosperous…. one way is for the areas that become prosperous first to support the poor ones by paying more taxes or turning in more profits to the state.
例3．要提倡科学，靠科学才有希望。
we must promote science, for that is where our hope lies.
例4．目前我们国内正在进行改革。我是主张改革的，不改革就没有出路。
china is now carrying out a reform. i am all in favor of that. there is no other solution for us.
例5．最近，有的外国人议论，马克思主义是打不倒的。打不倒，并不是因为大本子多，而是因为马克思主义的真理颠扑不破。
recently, some foreigners said that marxism cannot be defeated. that is so not because there are so many big books, but because marxism is the irrefutable truth.
以上五例都用了代词以避免重复。例1用it代替this reality，例2用others，those和ones代替areas，例3至例5都用that概括了前面的话。
说起代词，还有两点值得注意。一是英语常用she（her）代替某个国家或某一条船。
例6．the delta and the narrow nile valley to the south make up only 3 percent of egypt’s land but are home to 96 percent of her population. (national geographic)
例7．have you ever been at sea in a dense fog, when it seemed as if a tangible white darkness shut you in, and the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way toward the shore with plummet and sounding-line and you waited with beating heart for something to happen? (helen keller, the story of my life)
例8．现阶段中国已经实现了粮食基本自给，在未来的发展过程中，中国依靠自己的力量实现粮食基本自给，客观上具备诸多有利因素。
china has basically achieved self-sufficiency in grain at the present stage, and there are many favorable objective factors for her to maintain such achievement by her own efforts in the course of future development.
例9．社会主义中国应该用实践向世界表明，中国反对霸权主义、强权政治，永不称霸。
socialist china should show the world through its actions that it is opposed to hegemonism and power politics and will never seek hegemony.
这种用she（her）指国家和船只的用法由来已久，现在指国家，倒是用it（its）的较为多见。michael swan所著《英语用法指南》（practical english usage）第227条对这一问题作了详细的说明。
还有一种现象值得注意，那就是用they指单数。2004年出版的《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》（第6版）有这样的例句：
例10．everyone must accept their share of the blame. (见share条)
例11．should anyone call (= if anyone calls), please tell them i’m busy. (见should条)
例12．everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. (见entitle条)
用they指单数就可避免he or she之类的累赘说法。上述《英语用法指南》第505条也对这一问题作了详细的说明。
以上谈了代词的用法。其实，避免重复的办法很多，也不限于使用代词。
英国语言学家randolph quirk等四位学者合编的《a grammar of contemporary english》在关于“substitution”一节中指出：不仅名词短语可以有代称，状语、谓语乃至宾语从句，都可以有代称。该书把用作代称的替代词统称为pro-forms。书中举了许多例子，如：
we saw john at eight on monday evening. we told him then that we would be coming to the party.
look in the top drawer. you’ll probably find it there.
a: john drives a car. b: i think bob does too.
a: john drives a car. b: so does bob.
oxford is likely to win the next boat race. all my friends say so. (= that oxford is likely to win the next boat race)
以上例子中的then，there，does，so does，so都可以说是pro-forms。
例13．egypt, wrote the greek historian hecataeus, is the gift of the nile. no other country is so dependent on a single lifeline. egypt’s very soil was born in the nile’s annual flood; with the flood came the life-giving mud that made egypt the granary of the ancient world. and as rain fell in the ethiopian highlands and the snows melted in the mountains of the moon, the river was everlastingly renewed. (national geographic)
在第一句和第三句里，the nile出现两次。在第四句里再次出现时，使用了代称the river。要想避免重复，译者就不能把视线局限在一个句子之内，而要照顾到上下文。
例14．要选人民公认是坚持改革开放路线并有政绩的人，大胆地放进新的领导机构里，使人民感到我们真心诚意搞改革开放。
we should boldly choose for the new leadership persons who were generally recognized as adhering to the line of reform and opening up and who had some achievements in that respect to their credit. this would convince the people that we were wholeheartedly committed to that line.
以上二例都是以名词替代名词，也不见得比实称简短多少，只是换一种说法而已。
动词和形容词如何避免重复呢？如果可能，可以合并。
例15．所以，要把我们的军队教育好，把我们的专政机构教育好，把共产党员教育好，把人民和青年教育好。
so we must educate the army, persons working in the organs of dictatorship, the communist party members and the people, including the youth.
例16．会议多，文章太长，讲话也太长。
we hold countless meetings, and our articles and speeches are too long.
如不可能合并，则可利用so，as，to do that等词语来避免重复。
例17．he disliked her and had never been shy of saying so.
例18．the government could change the law if they were so minded.
例19．老科学家、中年科学家很重要，青年科学家也很重要。
veteran and middle-aged scientists are important, and so are young ones.
例20．革命是解放生产力，改革也是解放生产力。
revolution means the emancipation of the productive forces, and so does reform.
以上二例，前半句和后半句之间用了and一词，请注意，不要丢掉。
例21．almost at once the number of egg masses deposited on experimental goats began to decrease, as did their fertility. (rachel carson, silent spring)
（在试验用的山羊身上产的卵块几乎立刻减少，其受精率亦下降。）
例22．这五年，首先是农村改革带来许多新的变化，农作物大幅度增产，农民收入大幅度增加，乡镇企业异军突起。
during those five years rural reform brought about many changes: grain output increased substantially, as did the peasants’ income, and rural enterprises emerged as a new force.
例23．开始搞并不踊跃呀，好多人在看。我们的政策就是允许看。允许看，比强制好得多。
at first, people were not enthusiastic about rural reform, and many waited to see how it would work. it was our policy to permit people to do that, which was much better than coercing them.
例24．你们到农村去看了一下吗？我们真正的变化还是在农村，有些变化出乎我们的预料。
have you been to our countryside? the real changes have taken place there, and some of them have exceeded our expectations.
译文用了there和them，以避免重复countryside和changes。
有时英语为了避免重复，需要用一种完全新的表达方式。
例25．lift and lower the right leg 20 times. repeat with the left leg.
（将右腿提放20次。再将左腿提放20次。）
例26．现在国际上有一种议论，说中国改革的步子放慢了，政策要变。说放慢步子还有些根据，说政策要变就没有根据了。
lately some people abroad have been commenting that the pace of reform in china has slowed and predicting that the government is going to change its policies. there is some basis for the first assertion but none at all for the second.
例27．多搞点“三资”企业，不要怕。只要我们头脑清醒，就不怕。
we should have more of the three kinds of foreign-invested ventures (joint, cooperative and foreign-owned). there is no reason to be afraid of them. so long as we keep level-headed, there is no cause for alarm.
有时一句话后半句表示的动作和前半句是一样的，只是把施事和受事颠倒一下。这在汉语里，后半句和前半句一般用同样的结构，略显重复。英语里则有一简单的说法：vice versa。
例28．为了推动中美关系的发展，中国需要进一步了解美国，美国也需要进一步了解中国。
to promote the development of china-u.s. relations, china needs to know the united states better and vice versa.
有时为了加强语气，取得一定的修辞效果，故意重复句中的某些词语。这无论是在英语里还是在汉语里都是常见的。遇到这种情况，即便是英语也照样重复，而不用代称。
例29．the world watches. the world listens. the world waits to see what we will do. (speech by president nixon)
例30．中国愿与东盟各国永做好邻居、好伙伴、好朋友。
china will forever be a good neighbor, a good partner and a good friend with asean countries.
由此看来，英语也不是一概反对重复。汉译英时，恐怕要该避免时避免，该重复时重复，你说是不是？
翻译漫谈（十五） 汉译英：主谓
英汉两种语言的主谓搭配，在大多数情况下是相通的。英语里一个主谓搭配，译成汉语后可以保持原来的搭配，但有时却不行，汉译英时也是这样。一般说来，汉语的主谓关系没有英语那么密切。英语对于主语能否作后面的动作考虑较多。因此，译文以什么作主语，怎样和谓语搭配，是一个经常需要斟酌的问题。
为了叙述的方便，这里所说的“主谓搭配”是指主语和谓语动词的搭配。
一．怎样处理无主句？
汉语有些句子没有主语，称为“无主句”。这种句子相当普遍。有时一句话根本没有主语；有时前面一句话有主语，一直管下去，后面几句话就没有主语了；有时后面的动作并不是前面的主语所做的，却没有新的主语出现。虽然如此，句子的意思还是清楚的，不会引起误解。按照同样的句子结构译成英语就不行了。
例1．过去，只讲在社会主义条件下发展生产力，没有讲还要通过改革解放生产力，不完全。应该把解放生产力和发展生产力两个讲全了。
in the past, we only stressed expansion of the productive forces under socialism, without mentioning the need to liberate them through reform. that conception was incomplete. both the liberation and the expansion of the productive forces are essential.
这是一个很典型的例子。从英语的角度考虑，“只讲”前面缺主语，译文加了we作主语。在泛泛而谈的时候，加we是最方便的。接下去，“不完全”前面还缺一个主语，这里再用we就不行了。推敲一下就可以看出，这“不完全”三字指的是上面这种认识或说法，因此译文以that conception为主语。最后，“应该”前面还缺一个主语。既然原文说应把两个方面讲全，译文就以both the liberation and the expansion of the productive forces作主语，把这两个方面放在突出的位置上，这就是把原文的宾语变为译文的主语了。
例2．所以，能发展就不要阻挡，有条件的地方要尽可能搞快点，只要是讲效益，讲质量，搞外向型经济，就没有什么可以担心的。
therefore, those areas that are in a position to develop should not be obstructed. where local conditions permit, development should proceed as fast as possible. there is nothing to worry about so long as we stress efficiency and quality and develop an export-oriented economy.
例3．社会主义的本质，是解放生产力，发展生产力，消灭剥削，消除两极分化，最终达到共同富裕。就是要对大家讲这个道理。
the essence of socialism is liberation and development of the productive forces, elimination of exploitation and polarization, and the ultimate achievement of prosperity for all. this concept must be made clear to the people.
例4．这样好嘛，就是要有创造性。
that’s good. creativity is just what we want.
例5．对改革开放，一开始就有不同意见，这是正常的。
in the beginning opinions were divided about the reform and the open policy. that was normal.
从英语的角度来看，例2“能发展就不要阻挡”需要落实到一个名词上，也就是说这一部分译文需要有个主语。下文紧接着提到“有条件的地方”，因此前面一句用those areas that...为主语就十分恰当了。例3至例5分别以this concept，creativity和opinions为主语，也就是说都是把原文的宾语用作主语，但谓语部分各不相同，例3用了被动语态，例4和例5都是主动语态，但结构不同。由此可见，即便都是把宾语用作主语，谓语部分也要根据实际需要而定。
二．怎样处理主谓搭配？
有时如果译文照搬原文的主谓搭配会感到很别扭，这就是需要变动一下主语。一种常见的办法是到主语部分中的定语里找一个词来作主语，后面的谓语可能好安排一点。
例6．我国经济发展分三步走，本世纪走两步，达到温饱和小康，下个世纪用三十年到五十年时间再走一步，达到中等发达国家的水平。
china is developing its economy in three steps. two steps will be taken in this century, to reach the point where our people have adequate food and clothing and lead a fairly comfortable life. the third step, which will take us 30 to 50 years into the next century, is to reach the level of the moderately developed countries.
例7．我国的经济发展，总要力争隔几年上一个台阶。
in developing the economy, we should strive to reach a higher level every few years.
例8．同时，我们的对外开放采取了多种方式，包括搞经济特区，开放十四个沿海城市。
in the meantime, we have implemented the policy of opening china to the outside world in many ways, including setting up special economic zones and opening 14 coastal cities.
例9．改革开放以来，我们立的章程并不少，而且是全方位的。经济、政治、科技、教育、文化、军事、外交等各个方面都有明确的方针和政策，而且有准确的表述语言。
sine we introduced the reform and the open policy, we have drawn up many rules and regulations covering all fields of endeavor. clear-cut guidelines and policies concerning economic and political affairs, science and technology, education, culture and military and foreign affairs have been worked out and expressed in precise terms.
这四个例子，原文的主语分别是“我国经济发展”、“我国的经济发展”、“我们的对外开放”和“我们立的章程”。译文若保持原文的主语，后面的谓语就很难安排。现在译文用china和we作主语，例9的第二句把宾语变为主语，这样后面的谓语就好安排了。看来，把主语部分中的定语拿出来作主语，不失为一个好办法。
另一个办法是根据上下文来确定或引入一个词语作主语，以与后面的谓语形成较好的搭配，使句子读起来顺畅。
例10．改革开放迈不开步子，不敢闯，说来说去就是怕资本主义的东西多了，走了资本主义道路。要害是姓“资”还是姓“社”的问题。
the reason some people hesitate to carry out the reform and the open policy and dare not break new ground is, in essence, that they’re afraid it would mean introducing too many elements of capitalism and, indeed, taking the capitalist road. the crux of the matter is whether the road is capitalist or socialist.
例11．农业实行多种经营，因地制宜，该种粮食的地方种粮食，该种经济作物的地方种经济作物，不仅粮食大幅度增长，经济作物也大幅度增长。
by diversifying agriculture in accordance with local conditions, the peasants have grown grain and cash crops in places suited to them and have substantially increased the output of both.
例12．社会主义发展生产力，成果是属于人民的。
under socialism, when the productive forces are developed, the result belongs to the people.
例13．电视一打开，尽是会议。
every time you turn on the television, you see a meeting being held.
这四个例子，主语都不长，都没有定语，但在译文中保持原文的主谓搭配也是不可能的。从英语的角度看，“改革开放”怎能“迈步子”？“农业”怎能“实行多种经营”？“社会主义”怎能“发展生产力”？“电视”自己也不能“打开”。例10，从上下文看，说的是一部分人的情况，因此译文加了some people作主语，后半句加they作主语也就顺理成章了。第二句“姓‘资’还是姓‘社’”前面缺一个主语。既然前面一句已经提到the capitalist road，第二句译文以the road作主语就很方便了。例11加了the peasants作主语统管全句，和后面的谓语也就容易接上了。例12确定把原文的宾语“生产力”作为主语，后接被动语态。例13引进you作主语统管全句，读起来通顺自然。若一个主语能管到底，中间最好不要换主语，英语非常重视这一点。
例14．不搞争论，是我的一个发明。不争论，是为了争取时间干。一争论就复杂了，把时间都争掉了，什么也干不成。
it was my idea to discourage contention, so as to have more time for action. once disputes begin, they complicate matters and waste a lot of time. as a result, nothing is accomplished.
此例原文有三句话，译文也是三句，但作了调整。第一句的译文用了引词it作形式主语，后面的动词不定式才是真实主语。第二句译成目的状语，与第一句合并。鉴于第一句已经用了contention一词，第三句译文就用disputes作主语了。此例还有一点值得注意。“争论”一词在原文里出现三次，译文却只用了一个contention，一个disputes，避免了重复。
例15．基本路线要管一百年，动摇不得。
we should adhere to the basic line for a hundred years, with no vacillation.
最后这个例子最精彩。若在译文里保持“基本路线”作主语，要为谓语动词“管”字在英语里找一个对应词可就太难了。万般无奈，只好重新组织句子。结果就是现在这个译文。译者引入we作主语，动词也作相应的调整，用adhere to，把the basic line作宾语。前边的we把后边的with no vacillation也管住了。这句译文既简单，又流畅，实在太妙了。
以上译例均出自《邓小平文选》第三卷。口语体的文章最能体现英汉两种语言在主谓搭配方面的差异。为写此文，我重读了第三卷中的一些文章。我过去教学时用过这些文章，现在读来倍感亲切。《邓小平文选》英译本是由中央编译局翻译出版的。这是一个很好的译本，原文语言生动，译文也可以说是处处到位，从事汉英翻译工作的同志不可不读。你读过了吗？