修辭

　　英語中的修辭決非“文學(xué)語言”之專利，它已滲透到各種體裁，各類文體。即使是在Internet上，我們每日也能欣賞到五光十色、美不勝收的英語修辭。如：1. U.S. stocks decline; global markets churn(平行結(jié)構(gòu))2. Hurricane Bonnie hammers Carolina coast(比喻)等。再以科技英語為例，原本一本正經(jīng)、味同嚼蠟的科技英語中也經(jīng)常閃現(xiàn)修辭的光彩，如：Electric power becomes the servant of man only after the motor was invented.(只是在電動機發(fā)明之后，電力才開始造福人類。)再如：Alloys belong to a half-way house between mixture and compounds.(合金是介于混合物和化合物的中間物質(zhì)。)英語廣告對于修辭的運用更是“窮兇極惡”。如：What is your choice when inflation is slowly eroding the value of your nest eggs? (這是一家投資公司的廣告，它把你平日的積蓄比作nest eggs，比喻獨到，形象鮮活。)再如：Wash the big city right out of your hair. (廣告里的big city即刻讓人意識到the dirt of the big city，生動形象。)

　　英語的修辭可以分為消極修辭和積極修辭兩大類。

　　一、 消極修辭(Passive Rhetoric Techniques)

　　它主要指那些沒有相對固定格式的修辭性寫作技巧，它與語法、語言結(jié)構(gòu)和詞匯的關(guān)系密切，只是為了修辭和立意新穎的緣故，對之做了一些調(diào)整。舉一種情況進行說明：為了增加文采，強化文章的表現(xiàn)力，常常避免重復(fù)使用同一個詞匯，而另選他詞。這種無固定格式可循的消極修辭手段被稱為Elegant Variation(求雅換詞)。如在Elizabeth Razzi寫的題為10 Ways to Lose Pounds 的文章中，“減肥”的表達竟有8種，文筆活潑，文采燦然：1. Try to shed a few extra pounds? 2. Studies show these efforts may shave off the pounds quickly. 3. Here are ten simple strategies that can help melt away your fat forever. 4. …like a logical way to peel off a few pounds. 5. …roughly the amount needed to burn off one pound. 6. You must eat less to lose weight. 7. A key obstacle to dropping extra pounds is after-dinner snacking. 8. 10 Ways to Lose Pounds. 以上8句中的斜體字讓我們欣賞了英語詞匯的活力與風(fēng)采。遺憾的是，大部分精彩的用詞不能直譯。

　　求雅換詞的手法之一是大字小用，或小詞大用。如：Don’t take the low-fat label as a license to eat. 句子寫得精彩，最難忘的是其中l(wèi)icense一詞。它是用途很廣的大詞。用在這里給人一種“頭小帽大”的感覺，新穎別致。譯文很難挽留此韻。(不能因為食品標明低脂肪，而敞開食用。)再如：If the term sounds unscientific to 20th-century ears, let us remember there is a definite connection between marshy lands and malaria… (如果這個術(shù)語對生活在20世紀的人聽來不科學(xué)的話，那就讓我們記住在沼澤地和瘧疾之間有一定的聯(lián)系……)。求雅換詞的手法之二是科技詞匯和日常用詞的“錯位”。如：Na?ve rats and frogs are said to have reacted wildly to such proposed experimented situation. Na?ve用于現(xiàn)代生物學(xué)時的含義為：not previously subjected to experimentation or a particular experimented situation.(據(jù)說，首次用來作實驗的鼠和蛙對這種設(shè)定的環(huán)境改變都有劇烈反應(yīng)。)再如：However, there are plenty of people who like tennis. It is the megagame. Mega的含義是兆，百萬，是一個科技英語的詞綴。使用在這里新義溢出。(但是許許多多的人喜歡網(wǎng)球，這是一項十分普及的運動。)

　　二、 積極修辭(Active Rhetoric Techniques)

　　它主要指那些有相對固定格式的修辭性寫作技巧。常見分類如下：

　　1. 詞義修辭格(Lexical Stylistic Devices)

　　metaphor(比喻), metonymy(借代), personification(擬人), irony(反語), hyperbole(夸張), understatement(低調(diào)), euphemism(委婉語), contrast(對照), oxymoron(矛盾修辭法), transferred epithet(移就), pun(雙關(guān)), syllepsis(異敘), zeugma(粘連), parody(仿擬), paradox(雋語)

　　2. 結(jié)構(gòu)修辭格(Syntactical Stylistic Devices)

　　repetition(反復(fù)), catchword repetition(聯(lián)珠), chiasmus(回文), parallelism(平行結(jié)構(gòu)), antithesis(反對), rhetoric question(設(shè)問), anticlimax(突降)

　　3. 音韻修辭格(Phonetic Stylistic Devices)

　　alliteration(頭韻), onomatopoeia(擬聲)

　　三、 英語修辭的理解與翻譯

　　馬克?吐溫在其著名游記A Tramp Abroad中，有這樣一句：We had plenty of company in the way of wagon-loads and mule-loads of tourists------and dust. 句末的-----and dust看似尋常一筆，其實是一種不可多得的妙句，使用了英語中anticlimax的修辭格。如果不能識破，則讓對照閱讀原文者“飲恨”。如：同路的有許多旅客，有乘馬車的，也有騎騾子的——一路塵土飛揚。/ 我們的旅伴真不少，有乘馬車的，有騎騾子的，還有滾滾塵土呢。

　　下面就幾種常見的修辭格進行講解：

　　1. Parody(仿擬)如果譯者功底不凡，能知作者之所“仿”，那么，理解與翻譯也就“水到渠成”。如：Clearly, when it comes to marriage, practicing beforehand doesn’t make perfect. 可以譯成：顯然，在婚姻問題上，婚前同居并不能令婚姻生活趨于完美。再如：When flu hits below the belt, it can be a challenge to keep down anything more nourishing than tea and water. 詞典對成語hits below the belt的通常解釋是：用不正當手段打人(原指拳擊中打?qū)Ψ降南律?。若是照搬，譯文就會鬧笑話。對待“仿擬”修辭格的方法之一是還原。所謂還原，即故意撇開成語的引申義，而“硬”用其字面義。如：若流感影響到了腸胃，那就只能飲用點茶水，要吃下其他東西就非常困難了。再如：Little John was born with a silver spoon in a mouth, which was rather curly and large. 英語成語to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth的含義是“出生在富貴之家”。這里，作者不用此引申義，而用字面意思。試譯：小約翰嘴形彎曲，且大得出奇，好像生下來的時候嘴中含了一把銀勺子似的。

　　2. Syllepsis(異敘)此修辭格的特點是用一個詞(動詞、形容詞或介詞)同時與兩個詞或者更多相搭配，巧用一詞多義的特點。如：He first put a club in my hand when I was about ten. I threw a lot of tantrums in the upland hills of North Carolina, and clubs too. I was in such a rush to be good that he would urge me to “relax and enjoy the round. The game ends far too soon.” I didn’t have a clue what he meant. 試譯：他第一次把高爾夫球棒放在我手里的時候，我大概十歲。在北卡羅來納州的山中，我一次次發(fā)脾氣，一次次把球棒扔掉。我急于求成，老爸總是勸我“放松點，慢慢打，比賽結(jié)束得太快了。”我一點兒也不明白他的意思。再如：By day’s end, I had drilled 4216 holes to a depth of 18 inches, and I had lost mine pounds, my hearing, feeling in both hands and the ability to lift anything heavier than the evening paper. 試譯：一天快結(jié)束的時候，我已經(jīng)鉆了4216個深達18英寸的洞，為此，我失去了9磅體重，失去了聽力，失去了雙手的感覺，還失去了舉起比一張晚報更重的東西的臂力。

　　3. metonymy(借代)借代一般可以保留原文的修辭方式，不會引起誤會，同時讓譯文多了一份詞趣。如：So, during any five-week shape-up, focus more on the tape measure than on the bathroom scale. 譯文A：因此，在此五周的減肥期內(nèi)，要更多地注重自己的腰圍，而不是自己的體重。譯文B：因此，在此五周的減肥期內(nèi)，把注意力放在量腰圍的卷尺上，而不是放在浴室的磅秤上。

　　4. pun(雙關(guān))有許多看似無法在譯文中挽留的原文形式的神韻和風(fēng)采在譯文中卻得以挽留。如：First gentleman: Thou art always figuring disease in me, but thou art full of error, I am sound. Lucio: Nay, not as one would say, healthy; but so sound as things that are hollow; impiety has made a feast of thee. (整個對話之諧趣盡系雙關(guān)詞匯sound。)試譯：紳士甲：你總以為我有那種病，其實你大錯特錯，我的身體響當當?shù)?。路奇奧：響當當?shù)?，可并不結(jié)實，就像空心的東西那樣響當當?shù)?，你的骨頭都空了，好色的毛病把你掏空了。

　　5. alliteration(頭韻)英語辭格押頭韻的手法歷來被認為是不可譯的，但是，面對alliteration，并不意味譯者就無所作為。如下的兩段譯文就做了成功的嘗試。如：Change is part of life and the making of character, hon. When the things happen that you do not like, you have two choices: You get bitter or better. 試譯：變化是生活的一部分，而且也塑造了人的意志品德，親愛的。當你不喜歡的事情發(fā)生了，你有兩種選擇：要么痛苦不堪;要么痛快達觀。再如：Predictably, the winter will be snowy, sleety, and slushy. 試譯：可以預(yù)言，今年冬天將多雪，多凍雨，多泥濘。(原句當中的snowy, sleety, slushy也是非常漂亮的押頭韻，譯者殫精竭慮，用心可嘉。)

　　6. metaphor(比喻)這個metaphor并非狹隘意義上的把A比作B的不使用比喻詞(如as, like, as if等)的暗喻，而是廣義上的英語詞匯的比喻義。換言之，也就是英語詞匯denotation(本義)之外的connotation(轉(zhuǎn)義)。Peter Newmark在A Textbook of Translation中把英語中的比喻分成四類，令人耳目一新:I have suggested elsewhere that there are four types of metaphor: fossilized, stock, recently created and original. 第一類：有學(xué)生在作文中寫出如下句子：In the middle of the picnic, it started to rain cats and dogs, and everybody got soaked. 該句子被改為：While we were busy eating a picnic, a storm cloud suddenly appeared and everybody got soaked. 在A Dictionary of American Idioms中，寫道：rain cats and dogs: To rain very hard; come down in torrents------A cliché. 美國朋友說: If you use this metaphor, I will doubt if you are my grandfather’s uncle! 第二類：stock(常用的)這是指已被收入詞典，但并不屬于cliché范疇的比喻。如：flood一詞的用法。She was in a flood of tears. (她淚流如注。) The corridors were flooded with girls. (走廊里擠滿了女孩子。) Strawberries flooded the market and prices dropped down. (草莓充斥市場，價格下跌。) 第三類的標準應(yīng)該是：至少目前商未被收入詞典，同時又讓人接受，并感到新意撲面。如在一篇名為Rescue of A Newborn 中有三個句子：A. I focused on a small blob in the mud amid the columns of legs and trunks. B. I suddenly came upon a wall of feeding elephants. C. …grabbed their lost baby and tugged her gently into a stockade of legs. 第四類：original這種比喻并非隨處可見，唾手可得。它是靈感思維的產(chǎn)物。這種比喻在詞典上無蹤影可覓，而且連參照物可能也沒有。如：Jeff Rennicke在A Promise of Spring 中開卷段是：Nothing. No tracks but my own are stitched into the dusting of fresh snow, white as birch bark, that fell during the night. No flittering shadows in the trees, not a sliver of bird song in the air. 試譯：白茫茫的一片。沒有別的什么蹤跡，只有我的腳印如細密的針腳印在積雪上。積雪白如樺樹皮，是昨夜落下的。在樹上沒有鳥兒輕捷的身影，在空中也聽不到鳥兒一絲的啁啾。

　　對比喻的翻譯可以分為兩類：

　　一是保留原文的形象，即: to find an equivalent image. 如：Ani began pounding and yelling to be let out as the car screeched from the parking lot. But rock music blaring from the radio speakers drowned him out. 試譯：當汽車從停車場急速駛過時，Ani開始猛烈敲打和大聲呼喊，但是從車內(nèi)喇叭發(fā)出的搖滾音樂淹沒了他發(fā)出的聲音。再如：The policemen who patrolled the big city slum area that summer were sitting on a volcano. 那年夏天，在城市大貧民區(qū)巡邏的警察如同坐在火山口上。

　　二是實行翻譯的“補償原則”(compensation)。所謂以補償方法譯比喻，就是在尋找對等形象無門的情況下，使用變通的方法，盡可能地對譯文中比喻形象的流失作某些補償，以求得譯文與原文大致相等的可讀性。如：Cavorting and diving at breathtaking speeds, the beautiful birds (指鷹) mirrored each other in flight. A. 在空中翻飛嬉戲，時作閃電式俯沖，矯健的鷹雙雙攜游于碧空。B. 在空中翻飛嬉戲，時作閃電式俯沖，矯健的鷹比翼齊飛，形影相隨。再如：But after six years of a stormy marriage, Cewe decided to end it. She didn’t want her son to grow up thinking that kind of relationship was normal. 試譯：六載婚姻生活，風(fēng)雨交加，Cewe決定結(jié)束這種婚姻。她不愿讓她兒子在這樣的環(huán)境里長大成人，并誤以為這樣的關(guān)系是正常的。又如：Rudy knew they had severed the wrong rope and that it was the thick tow line that trapped him. “Try cutting the other rope!” said Rudy, his hopes, and his grip, eroding. 試譯：Rudy發(fā)現(xiàn)他們割錯了繩子，是那根粗的牽引繩纏住了他。“把另一根繩子割斷!”Rudy說。此刻，他的希望，他的握力，似油將盡、燈將滅。再如：The following week was family conference, something I dreaded. This was the day the dirty laundry got hung out to air in a private session between parent, child and counselor. 試譯：下周將開家長會，這正是我害怕的。在這一天，家長、孩子和輔導(dǎo)員將開私下的碰頭會，列數(shù)孩子做的壞事。再如：The operation may not succeed; it’s a gamble whether he lives or dies. 手術(shù)不一定成功，能否保住他的生命沒有把握。