水鄉人素描

對我來說，上山下鄉只是下鄉，因為我去的地方無山可上。結果我接觸的農民也大多具水鄉特征，多陰柔，少剛陽。

When I was caught up in the sweeping campaign of settling urban youth in the countryside, called “up a mountain and down a farm”1“上山下鄉”是特定歷史時期的特定現象，在中文里不需要交代背景，一般人可以理解，年輕人憑借平常的閱讀或前輩的回憶或許也略略知道一些。但如果用英語表達，就需要以盡可能少的筆墨說明一下這一現象發生的時代。介紹“上山下鄉”的概念時，采用了按字面直譯的手法（up a mountain and down a farm），這是為了保持“原汁原味”，而且在對背景有了說明（campaign of settling urban youth in the countryside）后，直譯“上山下鄉”是可行的。,in the midst of the “Cultural Revolution” upheaval, I was on the “down”2上文已經把“上山下鄉”直譯為up a mountain and down a farm，故此處可用down一詞來表示“下鄉”，但仍然需要用引號，因為這是照應前文而產生的效果，通常downside的意思不同。side, because the place where I was sent had no mountains to climb. I was then introduced into the life of local farmers3原文里直接談所接觸到農民的情況。譯文里減慢了這一節奏，先談一下與農民的接觸（I was then introduced into the life of local farmers），再談接觸的發現。中文很簡練，過渡很快。如果仿照中文表達方式，恐怕過渡偏快，會顯得唐突。造成過渡節奏不一致的主要原因之一是譯文里對“上山下鄉”的概念及背景做了解釋，增加了開頭的內容，所以此處有必要減緩節奏。, one that was as gentle as the currents of the waterways running through their neighborhoods.[2]都說一方水土養一方人，崇山峻嶺中生活的人，少不了行路難的歷練，背一捆柴，挑一擔水，走上十幾里路，走得腳底出泡，是每個山里人會有的經歷。My observation seemed to bear out an old truth4雖然原文里沒有an old truth的直接對應詞，但“都說”一語已經包含這一意思。that people’s dispositions were shaped by their environment. Mountain dwellers were able to develop the kind of toughness because they often had to walk many miles while carrying stacks of fi rewood or buckets of waterdespite the pain blisters on their feet were causing them.

[3]水鄉不同。水鄉雖不像城市那樣有現代化的呵護，可是行在水鄉，畢竟要比走在山里方便，因為有河組成交通的網線，有舟代挑肩上的擔子。畏人的里程在乘舟欲行的人看來并不畏人，在搖啊搖的烏篷船里看外婆家也不山高水遠5“看外婆家也不山高水遠”只能根據內在含義翻譯。這里硬譯“外婆家”估計只能產生令人哭笑不得的效果。。但也因此，以舟代步的水鄉人沒有機會像山里人那樣，走出艱難硬朗的人生。Living in a village by a river was different. Even though devoid of urban amenities, rural villages blessed with crisscrossing rivers had the bene fi t of water transport to relieve much of the burden of carrying stuff around. The network of rivers offered the possibility of turning a grueling trudge—a daily routine for a mountain dweller—into a joyful ride by transferring the load from our backs or shoulders to those little boats with black canopies that typically dotted Shaoxing’s waterways back then. And because of this convenience,farmers having easy access to waterways simply didn’t have to rough it6rough it 是指過艱難日子，例如：We spent our vacation roughing it in a log cabin.as mountain folks did.

[4]當人體背負著生活的重擔，走在山中小路上的人注視的范圍便縮小了，因此山里人很少關注山坳外的乾坤。Besides, climbing a mountain with a heavy load on your back could limit your vision. Mountain living thus tended to insulate you from what was going on outside your small world.

[5]水鄉人不同，即便搖櫓推槳也得使出渾身的解數，但推拉之間，順水前行的舟楫還是會借慣性，給你一息喘息的機會，更何況幾個人輪番上陣，換下來的人便可穩坐在船頭，看山陰道上的景致，暫且忘掉衣食住行的煩惱。于是在水軟櫓聲柔的人生路上，水鄉人也和水一樣，陰柔是性格的特征，即便是男子漢也缺少大刀闊斧的胸襟。Unlike their mountain-dwelling peers, waterside residents had room to breathe and panoramic views to explore while in their boats. They did have to go all out rowing at times,but they often had the leisure to amuse themselves when they were going downstream, or especially when they had several people taking turns rowing. They could relax on the bow of their boat, enjoying the breath-

〔〕〔〕taking scenery along the banks, temporarily oblivious of more mundane worries of feeding their families7“衣食住行的煩惱”雖然提及四點，但最重要的應該是有飯吃。在譯文把四點都說出，無疑會顯得累贅。. Life marched on in gentle steps much like strokes of an oar in the water, instilling tenderness in men and women alike. No wonder qualities such as decisiveness8“大刀闊斧”一般意思是“辦事果斷而有魄力”，因此可譯成decisiveness。 seemed elusive even in men. ■