“三美論”指導下的許淵沖中國古典詩歌英譯探究

【摘要】：翻譯有“直譯”與“意譯”兩個主要方法，但就詩歌翻譯而言，翻譯家許淵沖提出的“三美”原則更具有指導意義。在中國古典詩歌翻譯過程中，我們首先要透徹的理解原詩從而完整的傳達原詩的意思。其次，中國古典詩歌的韻律也是不容忽視的一點，在準確無誤的傳達了原意之后，譯者應(yīng)盡力保存原詩的“音美”。最后，在實現(xiàn)了意美和音美之后，譯者也要致力于保存原詩的形美，給人以視覺上美的享受。

【關(guān)鍵詞】：“三美”；中國古典詩歌；詩歌翻譯

【Abstract】：Classical poems composed by ancient Chinese poet have manifested all aspects of ancient china varying from art to life of ordinary people. Generally speaking， free and literal translations are the two main principles in translation， but the “Three Beauties” theory proposed by the famous translator Xu Yuanchong suits the translation of classical poems better. Beautiful in meaning， sound， and form （Three Beauties） is helpful to maintain the original flavor of the classical Chinese poems.

【Key words】： “Three Beauties”； Classical Chinese poems； translation method

Xu Yuanchong， a prominent translator and translation theorist， was born in Nanchang， the capital of Jiangxi Province in 1921. He is the first one to translate classical Chinese poems into English in china. “Three Beauties” is a translation principle proposed by Xu regarding literary translation.

Achieving “Three Beauties” in a translated version of Chinese poem can be as difficult as reaching the sky. What should a translator do when faced with this situation？ Translator Xu points out in the way as follows： “In all， translating poetry should try to convey the beauty of the original in sense， in form and in sound. But these three aspects are by no means of the same importance. In my opinion， “beauty in sense” rank in the first place， “beauty in sound” second and “beauty in form” the third. That is to say， translating beautiful sense is the precondition， while at the same time； beauty in form and in sound should also be pursued to the highest level. （許淵沖，1996：89）

Take this poem as an example：

《江雪》

千山鳥飛絕，萬徑人蹤滅。

孤舟蓑笠翁，獨釣寒江雪。

Fishing in Snow

From hill to hill no bird in flight，

From path to path no man in sight，

The straw-cloaked man in a boat， lo！

Fishing on river clad in snow.

In the Chinese version of the poem， the poet described a serene winter scene. It is such a quiet winter that no man was there， not even a single bird was flying. If we look into the ulterior meaning of the poem， we may discover that the old man who was fishing all alone on this lake is actually the description of the poet himself. Xu’s translation of this poem is a combination of beautiful in meaning， sound and form.

“Three beauties”can not only act as an requirement in translating poems， but also a gauge whether the translated version is qualified. In order to translate classical Chinese poems satisfactorily， the translator must first equip himself with rich bilingual knowledge， then get a better understanding of both culture.

Bibliography

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