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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:8 ]7 i0 W$ g8 q5 W1 @
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1.富贵功名,前缘分定。(《西游记》)
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Wealth and honor, glory and fame, are predetermined by fate. (W.J.F. Jenner 译)5 S, Q/ `4 h% g$ X
. M" I5 P, ]9 M9 H2.[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》) ( e: E0 m7 a) }7 B
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It‘s partly fate, and partly a case of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."(杨宪益、戴乃迭 译) * c/ C' ~- i% k# S
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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》)" h- c( u4 t. i( X9 h/ ?; }
: U$ {! _! o6 W" c2 p8 jWho says there isn‘t? It‘s just that my marriage luck has been bad. I‘ve never met the right one. (S. Shapiro 译)
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4.她无缘,小生薄命。 (《西厢记》) * z5 O2 L; C# B. y0 V
+ k% }3 z+ ?6 n1 ~She lacks the karma; I‘m out of luck. (S. H. L. Idema 译)/ z/ k8 l* V+ S T) K; @
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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》)1 _" r6 ?/ D% ^( R3 N5 K) u
) V) ~2 w' R' d7 }3 DMy 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》)! w8 ]9 {: K( Z0 U6 D% f0 \6 d
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But 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)5 j' n4 k+ S3 j8 {% p2 x6 e7 @; K
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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》)5 P! a. ]3 w3 W/ Z! R: M* N5 H
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You are like a matching lute and zither set. You can appreciate each other‘s music. Fate has been too unkind to allow me
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8 S0 F o/ Y8 i. _* rsuch blessings. If we are linked by the ties of destiny, we will meet again in the next life. (D.C. & V. H Mair 译)# {2 s; V8 X: E" h, M7 U6 l" L0 ?, @
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8.[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》)* Q5 E" x- n5 v
, ^% Z& W; }# x! t5 \, IMiss Wo-Ni-Ta, we just weren‘t meant to "raise the bowl To the eyebrows." I hope some other lucky guy falls in love2 c# L3 C8 e2 I Z1 `3 A
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with you. (J. Kelly、 N. K. Mao 译)
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+ n! S1 r/ A' W& F! y F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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% X7 x5 |" I$ Y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:) |2 i, B, F% L
$ G! Z# A9 |5 _% [$ {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。
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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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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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3 i! K/ J5 U' D' X, _: W- MThis 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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; R, L1 _* @9 M& Pthat your life is always bound up with the Bai‘s. (林语堂 译) |
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