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近读The Poets and the Housewife (By Dorine Bush)（诗人和村妇），兴奋无比。人间有各种享受，但是，真正人心的持久的享受来自精神，而最高档次的精神享受又当属品味书香。
我想用“智者若愚 拙中藏巧”这八个字来评价此文。不知读者是否同意。
以下是该文的原文、我的译文和小析（希望得到读者的批评）：
1/Once upon a time,on a summer's day,two poets,havingshut up shop,went out into the country to collect copy,fortheir stock of this commodity was exhausted．
从前，一个夏日，两位诗人，关了店铺到乡村去搜集素材，因为他们的“素材库存”已经用尽了。
小析：their stock of this commodity 口吻幽默，可以玩味。2/And they were careful to dress themselves carelessly：one put on a black collar and black-and-white checked trousers,and the other a cravat of raging scarlet,'for' they thought(though they did not say so)'we must dress the part'．And theirhats were wide and reckless and the hair beneath their hatswas like the thatch upon a broad-caved barn．
他们精心地把自己装扮得很随意：一位穿上一件黑领衫和黑白格裤子；另一位扎上了鲜红的领结，因为他们想——尽管没有这么说——“我们必须衣如其人”。他们把宽大的帽子随便地扣在头上；头发在帽子下面就像宽檐谷仓的草尾顶。
小析：当careful/carelessly出现在同一句的时候，读者朋友，你是否觉得别致新颖？其实，这里运用了英语的一个常见修辞格：oxymoron/矛盾修辞法。另如：Our home,once full of laughers,now deafens us with its silence。我们的家，曾经充满了欢声笑语，现在却充满了令人震耳欲聋的沉寂。另外，we must dress the part 一句系非常简洁的英语表达。译文“我们必须衣如其人”也译得同样干脆！
3/And as they journeyed,poking about with their walkingsticks after the precious substance of their request,theregathered over their heads the devil of a storm．
旅程中，对于他们所需要的宝贵素材，他们用手杖四处指点，可是，一场可恶的暴风雨正在他们头顶上酝酿。
小析：本文乃幽默小品，至此段，面目更清。尤其是pokingabout with their walking sticks after the precious substanceof their request一句。
4/And at the proper moment the storm burst and the raincame down and the poets left off seeking for copy and huddledunder a hawthorn tree．And they appeared as two proud exoticbirds,lighted down from the Lord knows where．
就在此刻，风暴突至，雨水降落，诗人停止了寻找素材，蜷缩在一棵山楂树下避雨。他们就像两只傲慢的异乡鸟儿，从上帝知道的地方飞落此地。
小析：幽默笔触，最为淡雅，也最为馨香。as two proud exoticbirds/lighted down from the Lord knows where与前面的'we mustdress the part'等一脉相传。
5/And there was a lodge near the hawthorn tree,and thelodgekeeper's wife looked out and,seeing the two,she exclaimed:'Lord,look what the wet bring out!'and the rainincreased fearfully。
山楂树旁有座小屋，屋主的妻子向外张望，见到两位，她喊道：“天哪，瞧这两只落汤鸡！”雨，下得更猛了。
小析：Lord,look what the wet bring out!一句自有英语的美，但是，相应的汉译异曲同工！
6/And after a while she looked out again and the poetswere changed,for their bloom was impaired,the rain hadclotted their hair,and the scarlet cravat of the one hadbecome crimson from saturation．And rain dripped from alltheir extremities．
不一会儿，她又向外张望，两位诗人都变了样，他们的浩然锐气已经受挫。头发粘在脑壳上，其中一人原本鲜红的领结让雨水泡成了深红色，雨水直顺着他们的四肢往下淌。
小析：their bloom was impaired一句可以咀嚼，bloom向读者暗示：他们原先的翩翩风度。相应的汉译也应选用“大字”。
7/And the lodgekeeper's wife was grieved for them andcalled out' Young men,will you not come in?Why play the heronwho stands lugubrious with his feet in cold water when it isopen to you to become as sparrows twittering withgladness beneath the eaves?'
乡妇哀其不幸，喊道：“年轻人，你们不进屋吗？门向你们敞开着，你们可以学学麻雀，在屋檐下快乐地唧唧喳喳。为什么偏要学苍鹭，可怜巴巴地两脚泡在冷水里呢?”
小析：是两位诗人的浪漫举动感化了乡妇，还是乡妇本来就是善于辞令者？令人寻思。不过乡妇的比喻用得好极了。
8/But they bowed politely and replied:'Thanks awfully,ma'am,but we are poets and we like it.'
他们却礼貌地鞠了一躬，回答说：“非常感谢，大妈，可我们是诗人，我们喜欢这样。”
小析：诗人的回答让人忍俊不禁！
9/And the lodgekeeper's wife was riled and sneered at them,remarking:'They have certainly had a drop too much.'Butthey,smiling deprecatingly upon of her,responded:'Madam youare pleased to be dry。' 'And you,' quoth she,' are pleasedto be wet.' And she slammed to the window,casting up her eyesand inquiring rhetorically,' Did you ever?'and'what wet?'
乡妇被恼怒了，嘲讽他们说：“他们一定是喝多了。”但他们微笑着不表赞同，回答说：“大妈，你喜欢干。”“那你们，”乡妇说，“喜欢湿。”她砰地一声关上了窗户，翻着眼睛，反问道：“难道你们不曾湿过？湿了有什么好呢？”
小析：注意作者的遣词，非常古朴文雅：deprecatingly/quoth（〈古〉说，用在第一与第三人称的过去式）/inquiring rhetorically，如此遣词，有效渲染了行文的幽默。
10/And the rain came down like hell,leaping a foothigh and sousing all things．
雨水铺天盖地地下泻，雨水溅了一英尺高，打湿了所有的东西。
小析：句子后半布的两个分词短语有parallelism之美。
11/And after another while,the lodgekeeper's wifelooked out again,and two had gathered closer about the trunk
of the hawthorn-tree,and they were as two old crows,for theirshoulders were up and their beaks were down and they wereunbelievably disheveled．
又过了一会儿，乡妇再次向外张望，两人围着山楂树干靠得更紧了，像两只老鸦，耸着肩膀，嘴巴朝下，衣衫凌乱，狼狈不堪。
小析：原文中最发噱的遣词是beaks（本义：鸟、龟等的嘴，喙）；作者全篇用词虽然夸张，但极有分寸。开始时，写他们是bloom wasimpaired，现在，已经是they were unbelievably disheveled。
12/And she shouted to them again,for she was a charitablewoman,saying:'O miserable gentlemen,in the name ofcivilization and commonsense,come inside．'
乡妇是个善良的女人，她再次冲他们喊：“哦，可怜的绅士们，看在文明和明事理的份上，进来吧。”
小析：乡妇的口吻同样书卷气十足：in the name of civilization and commonsense!
13/But they dared not turn their faces to her,lestthe water should run down their necks; so,revolvingthemselves all of a piece,they replied:'Renewed thanks,ma'am,but we are very well for we are acquiring copy.'And theycowered under the deluge with great earnestness of purpose．
But the lodgekeeper's wife did not understand the wordcopy,so that she was amazed beyond measure and the powerof comment was taken from her．
可他们不敢回过脸来面对她，生怕雨水顺着脖子流下去；于是，他们把整个身体转过来，答道：“再次感谢您，大妈，不过我们很好，因为我们正在收集素材。”他们又特意非常认真地蜷缩在暴风雨中。但乡妇不明白“素材”的意思，惊诧不已，也就无力妄加评论。
小析：两位诗人，或曰，两个书呆子的形象，至此暴露更是无遗。当Renewedthanks和ma'am同时出现时，你是否感到他们滑稽可笑？当他们回答we are acquiring copy时，你是否他们傻得可爱？
14/And the storm,having stormed itself out,abated：and the place was bathed in delicious smells of breathingleaves,and the warm sweetness of hawthorn perfumed the air.
暴风雨狂泄之后，终于停了。周围的一切都沐浴在树叶散发出的怡人的气息中，空气中弥漫着山楂温馨的芳香。
小析：And the storm,having stormed itselfout一句写得真好！可这不是“同源宾语”(cognate object)，如：The children slepta peaceful sleep．孩子睡了个安稳觉。/He smiled a little smileand bowed a little bow．他笑了笑并点了点头。我们是否可称该句为“同源谓浯”(cognate predicate)？
15/And the lodgekeeper's wife looked out from thewindow a fourth and last time,and the poets were in the act ofdeparture．And the tragedy of their appearance was beyond allcomparing．For the scarlet of the cravat of one had run downinto the bosom of his shirt,so that he was,as it were,arobin-redbreast．And both were soaked to the uttermost．
乡妇第四次(也是最后一次)从窗子里张望，诗人们正欲离开，其外貌之惨无法形容。一位诗人的领结已将他衬衫的胸襟染红，可以说，他就像一只红胸知更鸟。两人真成了“落汤鸡”。
小析：略带做作的表达也同样渲染和强化了两位诗人的可笑之处。如：so that he was,as it were,等。
16/And when those poets returned home,the onefound that he had lost a shirt and the other that he gained a cold．Therefore the one went out and brought a new shirt at sevenand six and dear at that,and the other got himself a shillingbottle of Ammoniated Quinine,which was tolerably cheap．
两诗人回到家，一人发现丢了一件衬衫，另一人发现得了感冒。于是，一人出去用7先令6便士买了件衬衫，感觉很贵；另一人则花1先令买了瓶氨化奎宁，相当便宜。
小析：见下。
17/And the one wrote an ode calledMidsummer Storm for which he obtained five guineas,so that (deducting four pence for stamps and seven and six for theshirt)his net profit was four pounds seventeen and two pence．
一人写了一首“仲夏暴雨颂”，赚了5个金币，这样，扣除买邮票的4便士和买衬衫的7先令6便士，他的净收益为4磅17先令2便士。
小析：见下。
18/But the other could only manage a one-guinea sonnetcalled Rain Among Leaves,so that(deducting four pence forstamps and a shilling for the quinine)his net profit wasnineteen and eight pence．
而另一人只是好歹写了首名为“叶中雨”的十四行诗，只值一个金币，扣除买邮票的4便士和买奎宁的一先令，他的净收益为19先令8便士。
小析：叙事，尤其是在虚构性的叙事中，“亮点”源于两个方面，一是素材精彩，二是文采斐然。以上几段，不妨细品。
我们所说的文采，并非简单地指遣词的讲究。造句，也是一个极其重要的方面。就造句而言，英语的圆周句(periodic sentence)是一绝，而英语平衡句(balanced sentence)也是一绝，不信，请读以上例句。
两位诗人，去暴风雨中积累创作素材，归来后，一人丢了一件衬衫，另一人得了感冒。作者始终抓住这两个重要细节不放，聪明地加以演绎，达到了令人捧腹的地步。从买衬衫到买药写起，到最后为两人“算帐”，皆不忘紧扣“买衬衫到买药”的细节。素材引人入胜，而表达更是用尽了balanced sentence！
19/Thus the two acquired greatstore of copy and the sum of five pounds sixteen shillingsand tenpence thrown in．
这样，两人获取了大量的创作素材，还有总共5磅16先令10便士的进帐。
小忻：句子看似简单，其实非常成功地运用于英语修辞格，一种被成为zeugma（轭式修饰法）的辞格。何谓zeugma(轭式修饰法)？Webstel's New World Dictionary对它作了这样的解释：A figure ofspeech in which a single word,usually a verb or adjective,is syntactically related to two or more words,though having adifferent sense in relation to each.)．
以上句为例，句子的谓语动词是acquired，这个及物动词的宾语先后有两个：great store of copy（大量的创作素材）/the sum offive pounds sixteen shillings and tepence thrown in（总共5磅16先令10便士的进帐）（注意：句末的thrown in，不是谓语动词，而是过去分词词组作后置定语而已）。
这两个宾语，一先一后，一虚一实，均能与前面的谓语动词acquired构成搭配，自然和谐，天衣无缝！
20/But the wife of the lodgekeeper knew nothing of allthis,so that she still believes,like many another ill-informed person,that poets are nothing more than unpractical dreamers．
但是，乡妇对此一无所知。像许多见闻有限的人一样，她依然认为诗人不过是些不现实的梦想家。
小析：本段似乎可视作全文之“舵”，全文似乎是在嘲讽两位诗人，可是，谁曾料到！收尾之段竟然对乡妇用了一个形容词：ill-informed！让人回味无穷！
标签：素材论文;