吃吃喝喝的那些事兒

李晶

中國人歷來重視“吃”。“吃喝”在中華文化中所占據(jù)的地位不亞于哲學(xué)、藝術(shù)等任何一個(gè)領(lǐng)域。中國有句古話叫“民以食為天”，非常形象地反映了中國人對(duì)待飲食的態(tài)度。用當(dāng)代的流行語來說中國是一個(gè)“吃貨的民族”，這不為過。如果和老外談?wù)撈鹬袊俺院取狈矫娴膬?nèi)容，該如何用英語表達(dá)呢？尤其是“民以食為天”和“吃貨”該怎么表達(dá)呢？

“民以食為天”的英譯

我們先來看看“民以食為天”該如何表達(dá)吧。在英漢兩種語言轉(zhuǎn)換中，很多話語都沒有完全一一對(duì)應(yīng)，這一點(diǎn)在文化領(lǐng)域的交流中尤為明顯。在不同的文化語境中，相同的抽象語義所用的隱喻意象可能不同。就說“民以食為天”這句話，它其實(shí)跟“天”沒多大關(guān)系，只是為了表達(dá)對(duì)于“食”這件事，中國人看得跟“天”一樣重要。換句話說，就是通過“天”這個(gè)意象形象地說明“食”對(duì)人們生存和發(fā)展的必要性。那么，我們?cè)诜g中就不能直譯為：“People regard food as the sky.”這是要鬧笑話的，英美人士聽了一定會(huì)呆萌地看著你，不明就里。此時(shí)我們不如將這句話所表達(dá)的抽象含義明白無誤地表達(dá)出來，譯為：“Food is the first necessity of the people.”這個(gè)翻譯基本把“食物是人的第一所需”這個(gè)意思表達(dá)出來了。

但是這個(gè)翻譯并不完美，沒有體現(xiàn)出這句俗語背后的內(nèi)涵。“民以食為天”這句話有其深刻的文化淵源。大家知道，中國古代是農(nóng)業(yè)社會(huì)，食品的來源直接或間接來自土地。在科技水平不高的古代，由于天災(zāi)頻繁，普通民眾鮮有食物充盈的時(shí)候，這句俗語更體現(xiàn)了人們對(duì)食品的渴望。這樣一來， first、necessity就不能完全表達(dá)這一深刻的含義。那么，我們來看兩個(gè)和first、necessity類似的詞：primal和want。我們看看Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English對(duì)primal和want這兩個(gè)詞的解釋。詞典對(duì)primal的解釋是：“primal feelings or actions seem to belong to a part of peoples character that is ancient and animal-like.”這里的ancient和animal-like最符合這句俗語的語境。對(duì)于食物的需求自古有之，也是所有動(dòng)物的基本需求。詞典對(duì)want的解釋是：“a situation in which you do not have enough food， money， clothes， etc.”對(duì)于want，解釋里特意列出了food這種語境，而且要注意這種用法的want是不可數(shù)名詞。因此，我們可以把這句俗語譯為：“Food is peoples primal want.”譯文既簡明扼要，又表達(dá)了比較豐富的歷史文化淵源。由此可見，在向外國人介紹中國傳統(tǒng)文化時(shí)，不能僅局限于對(duì)個(gè)體意義的解讀，僅僅做字面的翻譯，還要在語義對(duì)等的基礎(chǔ)上考慮歷史、文化等語用因素，結(jié)合語境準(zhǔn)確體現(xiàn)中華文化豐富的內(nèi)涵。

在中國古代，人們經(jīng)常遇到因天災(zāi)人禍而造成的饑荒。為了維持生存，中國人找到了很多食物來源，水底的蓮藕、山里的蘑菇、地下的春筍、漁獵獲得的魚蝦和野味都能制作成可口的飯菜。中國人能把獲得的食物充分利用，特別是動(dòng)物內(nèi)臟。西方人往往對(duì)動(dòng)物內(nèi)臟嗤之以鼻，無論從口味和營養(yǎng)上都認(rèn)為其不宜食用。中國古代人民卻把這些當(dāng)年王公貴族和富人丟棄的下水制作成了有名的菜肴或傳統(tǒng)小吃，這些菜肴逐漸在普通民眾中流行起來。

在給外國朋友介紹有關(guān)中國古代“吃喝”的內(nèi)容時(shí)，可以參考下面這段表達(dá)。

As the old Chinese saying goes， that “food is peoples primal want.” This illustrates the high position of eating and drinking in peoples everyday life. The saying， however， comes from ancient peoples yearning for enough food to keep from starvation. In ancient China， people depended on farmland for food， which was greatly affected by climate and weather. The frequent natural disasters led to low crop yields， which made life miserable and tough.

Chinas various geographical features and climate zones have made it possible for Chinese people to make a living from the abundance of food which it is possibe to produce. Besides growing grains， they also collect lotus roots， pick a variety of mushrooms， dig for bamboo shoots， catch fish and hunt for meat. Unlike Westerners， Chinese people make full use of the food they get， especially the animals. In ancient times， poor people could not afford to eat meat， thus they cooked the innards （內(nèi)臟） that the noble and rich people had thrown away. The innards， such as the liver or tripe （豬肚；牛肚）， which Westerners sniff at for reasons of both taste and nutrition， are prepared into famous dishes or traditional snacks， popular with ordinary people.

“吃貨”的英譯

接下來，我們?cè)倏纯础俺载洝边@個(gè)詞如何用英語表達(dá)。其實(shí)這個(gè)詞的譯法比較多，比如foodie、gourmet、epicure，筆者個(gè)人傾向于gourmet和epicure兩個(gè)詞，不主張用foodie。《柯林斯高階英漢雙解學(xué)習(xí)詞典》對(duì)于foodie這個(gè)詞的解釋是：“Foodies are people who enjoy cooking and eating different kinds of food.”Foodie的解釋里多了一個(gè)enjoy cooking，而我們平時(shí)所說的“吃貨”大多是自己不動(dòng)手，只是喜愛品嘗各種美食，尤其是比較新鮮、奇怪的美食。這樣epicure就最恰當(dāng)不過了，《柯林斯高階英漢雙解學(xué)習(xí)詞典》對(duì)它的解釋是：“An epicure is someone who enjoys eating food that is of very good quality， especially unusual or rare food.”Gourmet的解釋也很符合“吃貨”的特點(diǎn)：“A gourmet is someone who enjoys good food， and who knows a lot about food and wine.”

中國早已遠(yuǎn)離了那個(gè)饑荒頻繁、為吃發(fā)愁的年代。不再為“餓肚子”憂慮的中國人開始把品嘗食物作為一種享受，從而造就了一個(gè)“全民吃貨”的社會(huì)。在中國，并非每個(gè)人都會(huì)烹飪菜肴，做出一桌美味可口的飯菜，但是任何一個(gè)人都能對(duì)他所吃過的食物品頭論足。如果說“民以食為天”在以前更多體現(xiàn)的是人們因饑荒為了填飽肚子而形成的對(duì)食物的渴求，現(xiàn)在的“民以食為天”更多的是一種追求生活品位、人人爭當(dāng)“吃貨”的時(shí)尚。

上述有關(guān)中國當(dāng)代“吃喝”的內(nèi)容可以用英文表達(dá)如下。

The times when food was always in shortage have gone away. People in China， not having to worry about hunger or starvation， enthusiastically take tasting and savoring food as an enjoyment， which creates an all-people epicure society. Not everyone can cook， but everyone can comment on the food they eat and offer you detailed and sophisticated evaluations and advice for eating well in China.

If we say that the old saying “food is peoples primal want” was once more related to peoples hunger for food itself and satisfying the stomach， it is now more related to a fashion of being a gourmet and satisfying the sense of taste.

跟老外從“民以食為天”聊起我們的“吃喝”，是不是由衷升騰起一種民族自豪感？“吃喝”作為一個(gè)縮影也見證了一個(gè)民族從災(zāi)難深重到偉大復(fù)興的歷史。我們?nèi)绻軓倪@一句中國古語談起，跟老外聊起它的“前世今生”，一定會(huì)讓外國朋友對(duì)我們的國家和人民刮目相看。

中華文化走出去，你我皆有點(diǎn)滴貢獻(xiàn)。中國“正能量”傳海外，你我皆擔(dān)匹夫之責(zé)。