114 年 國立臺灣大學翻譯碩士學程乙組《英文寫作與中譯英測驗》

核心觀念

本題測驗的重點不是逐字翻譯，而是能否在忠實傳達原意的前提下，兼顧：

• 敘事時態與段落銜接。
• 文學性意象的轉譯。
• 中文四字語、擬聲詞與比喻的自然重現。
• 文化詞彙的適度保留與補譯。
• 原文語氣中的幽默、慵懶與自嘲。

全文以第一人稱敘事，主要採過去式；描寫春景時可用過去式或一般現在式，但全文時態應保持一致。翻譯時不宜將「妖怪涅槃」「肚腹是火爐，食物是煤炭」等意象改寫成平淡的說明句，否則會失去原文風格。

解題方法

翻譯可分為三層處理：

1. 先確認句子的基本主詞、動詞與時間順序。
2. 再處理比喻、擬人與文化詞彙。
3. 最後調整英文語序，使句子符合英文散文習慣。

例如：

• 「減少的速度自二月底趨緩」不可直譯為 the speed of decreasing became slow，應改為 the rate at which the coal was being used up began to slow。
• 「久住腹底的妖怪好像涅槃了」保留擬人化與宗教意象，可譯為 the monster that had long dwelt at the bottom of my belly seemed to have entered nirvana。
• 「灰燼觸得稿紙四處破洞」的主因是菸灰落下灼破稿紙，因此以 the ash burned holes all over my manuscript paper 清楚呈現因果。

參考譯文

Chapter Eleven: Savory Cake

The season for lighting a stove on the southern island was truly brief.

The coal piled up on the earthen floor of the kitchen began to diminish more slowly toward the end of February. By the time March arrived, the sharp, early-spring chill that blew only in the depths of night and at dawn vanished completely once the sun had risen. The trees along the Yana River were covered in fresh green leaves. The spring breeze stirred their branches, while golden sunlight slipped through them and shimmered.

I welcomed spring on the Island.

Spring in Kyūshū was the season for eating hatsu-gatsuo, yet I felt not the slightest desire to go in search of it. No—not just hatsu-gatsuo. The monster that had long dwelt at the bottom of my belly seemed to have entered nirvana, and my appetite had attained enlightenment and ascended to heaven along with it. Even when my stomach rumbled, I could not think of a single meal that I absolutely had to eat.

In the mornings, I tossed and turned in bed, not willingly getting up until around ten o’clock each day. I ate either cat rice or rice mixed with a raw egg; more often than not, I had white toast spread with sugar and butter.

My belly was a furnace, and food was coal. Whenever I was hungry, regardless of taste, I would crunch rice or toast between my teeth, grind it up, and swallow it down into my stomach, making my body run like a steam locomotive. For the first time in my life, I understood that “eating” was truly nothing more than the literal act described by the word itself.

In the afternoon, I began writing at my desk.

With no appetite, smoking was all I could do. I had picked up the habit several years earlier for social occasions, and normally had no craving for cigarettes. These days, however, I could smoke half a pack in a day. Often, I took only the first puff of a cigarette; the rest burned away between my fingers, and the falling ash burned holes all over my manuscript paper.

I wrote in those holes.

分段解析

1. 爐火與煤炭：以自然英文呈現時間變化

「燒起爐火的季節」不是單純的 the season of burning fire，而是指需要生火取暖的寒冷季節，因此譯為：

The season for lighting a stove...

「廚房土間」的「土間」是日本傳統住宅中鋪設泥土地面的空間，可譯為：

the earthen floor of the kitchen

「煤炭減少的速度趨緩」重點在「消耗速度變慢」，因此使用：

the rate at which the coal was being used up began to slow

「料峭冷風」帶有早春寒意，sharp, early-spring chill 同時表現寒冷與季節感。若只譯成 cold wind，語意雖正確，但文學色彩不足。

2. 春景描寫：保留動態意象

「柳川的岸樹染上新綠」可譯為：

The trees along the Yana River were covered in fresh green leaves.

「染上」不是實際的染色，而是春天來臨後樹木長出新葉，因此不宜使用過於生硬的 were dyed green。

「陽光在枝條間穿梭閃耀」具有視覺上的流動感，使用：

golden sunlight slipped through them and shimmered

其中 slipped through 表現陽光穿過枝葉，shimmered 表現閃耀效果，比單純的 shone 更接近原文。

「我在本島迎來了春天」中的「本島」有特定地理與敘事指涉，題目已指定譯為 the Island，因此保留大寫：

I welcomed spring on the Island.

3. 食慾消失：維持原文的幽默與誇張

「九州的春天是吃初鰹的季節」可譯為：

Spring in Kyūshū was the season for eating hatsu-gatsuo.

題目提供 hatsu-gatsuo / snapjack tuna，第一次出現時採用日本名稱，可保留地方文化色彩。若希望讓一般讀者立即理解，也可譯成：

the season for eating hatsu-gatsuo, or snapjack tuna

「絲毫不生追尋初鰹的熱誠」不是沒有能力追尋，而是完全提不起興趣，因此使用：

I felt not the slightest desire to go in search of it.

「不，豈止是初鰹」的否定修正語氣，可用：

No—not just hatsu-gatsuo.

「久住腹底的妖怪」是將食慾或飢餓擬人化的幽默說法。dwelt at the bottom of my belly 比 lived in my stomach 更有文學性，也更貼近「久住腹底」。

「連帶得道升天」同時結合「涅槃」「得道」「升天」等宗教意象，譯為：