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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:
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1.富贵功名,前缘分定。(《西游记》)
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) X/ c: I7 {$ sWealth and honor, glory and fame, are predetermined by fate. (W.J.F. Jenner 译)
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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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1 H# M# E/ S: k/ HIt‘s partly fate, and partly a case of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."(杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)
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% z$ l' I' [- E) q3.[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》)
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Who says there isn‘t? It‘s just that my marriage luck has been bad. I‘ve never met the right one. (S. Shapiro 译)6 d! l2 } p9 [( a" u1 q0 c
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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)# i6 v! }0 l+ c5 M/ U
) Q) s2 D) f3 J$ ~. l. B5.[刘备送别徐庶时说]备分浅缘薄,不能与先生相聚。(《三国演义》)( e! N) K7 ^' S$ e* ~: x+ X& d3 V
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My meagre lot, my partly destiny keep us from remaining together.( M. Robers 译)" B' u% a1 f, Q" G( ^' i
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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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/ S% R% P C% z9 q4 D7 iBut 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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& D! p T `+ m/ a% N% y7.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》): t) X: H3 g* a7 R9 U
3 ^0 o2 C3 j( A! N% o2 e3 C' Q ~! K: _You are like a matching lute and zither set. You can appreciate each other‘s music. Fate has been too unkind to allow me8 C& h9 p! S# R$ a6 i7 O( y) }
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such 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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# Y/ g, ^) S( _* r8.[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》)
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" k: G& ]. }6 S* QMiss Wo-Ni-Ta, we just weren‘t meant to "raise the bowl To the eyebrows." I hope some other lucky guy falls in love4 V' p/ Q0 ~) `% A G* a
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with you. (J. Kelly、 N. K. Mao 译)
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! z" R$ N) u" l0 C, C |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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5 Y9 O' N+ A. S/ L- Q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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9 p0 O3 e$ `6 I- S9.[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。$ X3 M; O) i# I! u% U- Y( C
. r. N7 z4 q. ^9 w9 a/ JYour talents and your virtue have ever been the objects of my esteem. But I have not had the honour of being presented to you.* W8 Y# ^- O! ^8 m, U7 ]9 m9 _
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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:
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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?
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8 ^4 K1 n4 H, w- b! w4 j) gThis 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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