A Room of His Own完成

姓名：薛方方 学号：512141867

原文：

A Room of His Own

Unmistakable noises are coming through my bedroom wall. Now a scuffling, now a bumping, a long, drawn-out scraping. “John, are you moving furniture in there? Again?” I call. The wall muffles his "yes" but does not filter out of his voice the tinge of excitement.

I am not upset by these impulsive rearrangements, just amused at their frequency. I remember my own feelings when I was 13 as he is——the startling, rapid evolution of body and mind and emotions, the need to invent and reinvent yourself through clothes, hairstyles and the arrangement and decor of your room.

Amid the smothered thuds I remember how much John longed for the privacy of his own domain, how he took me aside two years ago when he was sharing a room with his younger brother, Robert. “Mom,” he said, “can I please have a room of my own? I could use Jeff's. He won't mind.”

It was true that Jeff had graduated from college that past June and had flown from the nest. But would he mind if the place where he had spent countless hours growing up was yanked out from under him? Would he feel ousted from the family, barred from ever coming home again?

But beyond his feelings, would I mind? That room was so much a part of our lives over the many years that Jeff had been our only child. In it I taught him to read; we constructed architectural wonders out of blocks and set up elaborate desks. It was where Jeff perfected his artwork and struggled with college applications. It was the place where I told him a thousand stories and where we had a thousand talks.

As close as we were, though, the time came when Jeff needed a door between us, a space of his own to grow in. The door to that bedroom would be shut most of the evening, behind it the muffled sound of a radio or the clack of his secondhand manual typewriter as he banged out one of his marathon letters.

I knew those letters to friends must have been filled with thoughts and opinions Jeff did not share with me. His life was spreading into areas that had nothing to do with home and family. I no longer could — or should — know everything about him.

As conscientious parents, we strive to foster independence. But when it happens, when you pause outside that door and look at the blank panels it is always a little unsettling.

It turned out that getting Jeff's permission to change the room was easy. "Of course," he said. "It would be selfish of me to hold on to it. " Then his voice softened. "Mom, I won't be living at home again — you know that. " Behind his glasses, his eyes were lit with all the love that has passed between us over the years. There were no doors closed here — they had all opened up again.

Then John and I jumped into the task of cleaning out closets and drawers, dispatching all the things Jeff had left behind. Playbills, and snapshots, a withered boutonniere, old report cards that stung me with pride，a stack of homemade thank-you cards from the second-grade Spanish class Jeff volunteered to teach.

Suddenly, amid all the upheaval my throat caught. There, in a pile of assorted sketches, was a pencil drawing of T-Bird — Jeff's beagle, dead these many years — curled up asleep. Jeff's rendering was so evocative I could almost feel the dear old dog's satiny warm ears. And in that room, with Jeff's things heaped around me, I could almost touch the little boy I knew was gone forever.

But we accept-at least we say we do. All of parenting is a series of letting go by degrees. The child walks and runs and rides a bike; he is stricken with the pangs of first love that we are powerless to kiss away. Then he is driving a car, and we are falling asleep before he gets home, alert, even in our dreams, to the sound of his motor gearing down.

I looked at the room around me and, in my heart, I let it go. To hold on would be, as Jeff said, selfish. Now it was time for John, shouldering through the door with an armload of his things, his eyes bright with the promise of independence, to disappear behind the door.It was time for the letting go to begin again.

我的译文：

自己的小窝

嘈杂声清晰地透过墙壁传进了我的卧室，一会儿是拖来拖去的声音，一会儿是咚咚的敲击声，一会儿又是咔咔的刮地的摩擦声。“约翰，你又搬家具了吗？”我问道。隔着墙，他肯定的回答模模糊糊，但我仍然听出了一丝兴奋。

我并非因为他总心血来潮的重置家具而恼怒，只是因为太过频繁而觉得忍俊不禁。这让我记起我13岁像他那么大时，随着身体快速发育，想法和情绪都变化奇快，总想借助着装、发型和房间摆设来表现自己。在沉闷的重击声中，我想起约翰是那么的渴望拥有一间自己的私人小窝，两年前，当他还和弟弟罗伯特住在一起的时候，他就把我拉到一边说：“妈妈，我能不能有一间自己的房间，我可以住杰弗的，他不会介意的。”的确，杰弗去年六月大学毕业后就飞离了我们的小巢。但是，他在这个房间度过了成长中的 无数个日日夜夜，现在要把这个房间剥夺，他不会介意吗？这会不会让他觉得已经被驱逐，不许再回家了呢？

而且抛开他的感觉不想，我就不会介意了吗？在只有杰弗一个孩子的那么多年里，这件房间是我们生活中重要的一部分。在这里，我教他怎样阅读；在这里，我们用积木搭建宏伟建筑和精密课桌；在这里，杰弗完善自己的艺术作品、努力考取大学；在这里，我给他讲过无数的故事也和他进行过千百次的谈心。

尽管我们如此亲密，杰弗也到了需要独自成长空间了的时候了。一扇门横在我们中间，这扇门多数晚上都紧闭着，透过门传出的不是收音机沉闷的声音，就是杰弗用那个二手手动打印机写一封长信时哒哒的声音。

我想这些给朋友的信中一定充满了不曾与我分享的想法和意见。他的生活正延伸出与家和家人不相干的一部分。我再也不能，或者说不应该对他了如指掌。

父母们都认真尽责地培养孩子们独立，但是当他们真的独立时，你停在他们门前，望着折扇单调的门板总有那么点怅然若失。

结果，杰弗很轻易地就容许我们改变他的房间。他说:“当然可以啦，如果我再抓着不放可就太自私了。”随后他的声音柔和起来“妈妈你知道的，我不再住那间屋子了。”过去时光中我们相互的爱在他镜片后的眼睛里洋溢着，那里所有的门敞亮着，无一紧闭。

随后，我和约翰就忙于清理橱柜和抽屉，处理杰弗留下的东西。海报、照片、枯萎的襟花、令我骄傲的成绩报告单还有一打自制的的感谢卡，这些卡片来自杰弗志愿教授的二年级西班牙语班级的学生们。

突然，在情绪的种种波动中，我的嗓子哽住了。在一打各种各样的素描中，有一张“T贝”蜷缩睡觉的铅笔画，它是杰弗的猎兔犬，已经死了好多年。杰弗的描摹一下就勾起了我对“T贝”的怀念，我几乎都能感觉到它热乎乎光滑的耳朵。此时，在这个房间，身边堆积这杰弗的东西，让我感到我几乎又触碰到了那个我一度熟知、却已经消逝已久的小男孩。

但我们接受了他已长大离家的事实——至少我们声称我们接受了这个事实。父母的养育就是不同程度上的放手，放手让孩子去走、去跑、骑车、去承受我们无力消除的初恋的伤痛。

不知不觉的，他已经到了开车往家赶的年纪，他开车赶回来，而在他到家之前，我们已经沉沉睡去，但就算在睡梦中，我们也警醒的注意着他车子的引擎熄火的声音。

我环顾这个房间，心中已然释然放手。就像杰夫说的那样，紧握不放，只是自私而已。现在是时候放手也让约翰去成长了（他正满怀抱着他的东西用肩膀推开门，他眼里闪烁着对自由的希冀之光，这会儿又消失在门后了）。已经是时候，让我的放手重演一回了。

翻译心得：

在一个学期的翻译概论学习之后，我对翻译有了更深的认识，通过学习相关理论知识，我知道了翻译并非像我原来认为的那样简单——翻译仅仅是两种不同语言间的简单转换。在翻译实践中我把学习到的理论应用其中，在反复推敲、比较后，我知道翻译是一门语言艺术，是一个追求精益求精的过程。下面是我对于A room of his own 这篇文章翻译过程中的一些感想：

一、通读全文，抓住主旨

在没有系统的学习翻译这门课程之前，我的翻译方法很不科学，即读一句译一句，不注重上下文的连贯和呼应，这就导致以前翻译的句子都生硬晦涩，读起来磕磕绊绊，更别提有什么文采。现在我吸取前车之鉴，在反复阅读原文A room of his own 后，对原文的意指、风格都有了较为全面的理解。这篇散文主要讲述了以为一位母亲对于成年孩子的留恋，放手让孩子去飞翔的一点儿不舍和无奈。通篇文章都洋溢着母亲温柔的爱，语调轻松，充满智慧。

所以，在完全理解原文的基础上，我设定译文的基调应该和原文一样，风格平和，语言沉稳。想起之前老师曾经说过：翻译不仅是简单的语言转换，好的翻译有需要在忠于原文的基础上进行创作，翻译不是自己的生活体验，而是体验别人所体验的生活。所以我尽量去体验一位有着三个孩子的母亲的情感，想象她对孩子的疼爱，以及孩子长大离家的丝丝不舍。

基于这种想法，在翻译题目“a room of his own ”的时候，我首先想到的是“他自己的房间”，随后“他自己的小窝”闪现在脑海，我认为后者更能彰显母亲对孩子缱绻的爱。同样，第二段中的“amused”原意是“使娱乐”，一开始，我把它译为“感到好笑”，后来我认为“忍俊不禁”才能表现母亲对于孩子幼稚行为的纵容以及疼爱。

2、词汇推敲，直译？意译？

学习翻译之后，直译和意译之争每每出现在课堂或者书本之上，一开始，我比较支持意译，因为中学时代曾经读过鲁迅先生的许多译作，当时并不知道那是译作，只觉得文章读起来有些奇怪，不像他其他文章那样通顺。在后来的学习中，才知道原来鲁迅先生曾经翻译过许多作品，他本人也是直译方法的支持者。所以我认为意译才是最明智的方法。（现在我已知道他支持直译是基于那个时代背景，引进新的文学方式，丰富中国文学。）

但是，后来的学习让我知道只有意译是不够的，直译和意译的结合才能是文章翻译的更加成功。如第二段中的 “impulsive”原意是“冲动的”，但是如果采取直译的方法则显得不伦不类，结合上下文语境：小约翰总是根据喜好重置自己卧室的家具。考虑到孩子顽皮、善变的情绪，我最终决定把其翻译成“心血来潮”。

同样，“invent and reinvent”译成打造更能表现青春期孩子们渴望表现自己的欲望。此外，“I could use Jeff's”其中的“use”是使用的意思，而根据上文约翰的话可以开出，该“使用”就是把哥哥的房间据为己有。

上述的几个例子都是采用意译的方法，而在“It was true that Jeff had graduated from college that past June and had flown from the nest. ”一句的翻译中，我则保留了原文的表达方式。该句表达杰弗大学毕业后就离开了这个家，原文用的是“flown from the nest”，即“飞离鸟巢”，我认为这个比喻形象生动，而且中国读者也能轻易理解，因为在中国人们也常常用这个比喻孩子长大成人、开始独立。就像大人常常花在嘴边的：“翅膀长硬了，能飞走喽！”所以，我采用了直译的方法保留了原文形象。

三、语序调整，自然处理

在翻译的过程中，有时候需要调整语序才能更加恰当的表达原文的内容，这是因为英汉语言结构差异造成的，正如书中说的：“语序问题不单单是句子里前后顺序的问题，更是如何让考虑问题，从什么角度出发考虑问题的体现。”

文章第一句“Unmistakable noises are coming through my bedroom wall”如果保留原文的语序应该译为“清清楚楚的嘈杂声穿过了卧室的墙”，但是，这种表达不太符合中国读者的习惯，“嘈杂之声清清楚楚地穿过卧室的墙”则更顺耳一点。此外，在翻译过程中我发现：对一些句子要进行分割。如“It was true that Jeff had graduated from college that past June and had flown from the nest. ”、“It turned out that getting Jeff's permission to change the room was easy. ”两句，在翻译的过程，我把这两个句子分别分割成两个短句来翻译：的确，杰弗去年六月大学毕业后就飞离了我们的小巢。结果，杰弗很轻易地就容许我们改变他的房间。这样处理既符合中国读者的阅读习惯又显得简洁、方便理解。

在翻译“In it I taught him to read; we constructed architectural wonders out of blocks and set up elaborate desks. It was where Jeff perfected his artwork and struggled with college applications. It was the place where I told him a thousand stories and where we had a thousand talks.”这句时，我把这几句强调句翻译成了排比句，英语使用It做形式主语进行强调后面的内容，但是这种变现手法在中国不存在，我认为排比句在这里比较能够表现妈妈对于孩子的疼爱。即：“在这里，我教他怎样阅读；在这里，我们用积木搭建宏伟建筑和精密课桌；在这里，杰弗完善自己的艺术作品、努力考取大学；在这里，我给他讲过无数的故事也和他进行过千百次的谈心。”三个“在这里”把母亲对孩子的一腔舐犊之情表现的淋漓尽致。

在翻译实践中，我尝到了翻译的艰辛，这种艰辛不仅源于双语转换之间的思考，而且来源于翻译中我自己的责任心。我知道我的译文还没有读者，但是我想象着这是译给中国读者的文章，我应该努力把文章译到最真、最美。这个要求很高，但是译完后的成就感足以弥补过程中的艰苦和纠结，翻译的道路我刚刚起步，但是“路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索”。

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