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缘分”是所谓命中注定的人与人遇合的机缘。英译“缘分”(亦作“天缘”)以及“有缘”、“无缘”常用的英文词有fate, luck, lot, destiny 等。请看几个例子:
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7 j5 _. h3 D h$ f1.富贵功名,前缘分定。(《西游记》)
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Wealth and honor, glory and fame, are predetermined by fate. (W.J.F. Jenner 译)" F5 w6 C Q) ?! T1 C( y! Q# D
" Y- _' s$ M% r6 B2.[宝玉问香菱为何薛蟠相亲定下了金桂,香菱笑道] 一则是天缘,二来是“情人眼里出西施”(《红楼梦》) 0 A: B& S# I- h, S! ]$ q7 `! {8 g2 [ t
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It‘s partly fate, and partly a case of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."(杨宪益、戴乃迭 译) 0 G8 t' p5 r# D" }* D
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3.[王婆为了撮合西门庆和潘金莲,故意问前者是不是妻子死后,没有别的女人他中意的。西门庆争辩说]做甚么了便没?只恨我夫妻缘分上薄,自不撞着!(《水浒》)
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5 ]: E5 g+ X! L, SWho says there isn‘t? It‘s just that my marriage luck has been bad. I‘ve never met the right one. (S. Shapiro 译)
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4.她无缘,小生薄命。 (《西厢记》)
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1 T7 z' a" v8 P7 _# a/ f1 oShe lacks the karma; I‘m out of luck. (S. H. L. Idema 译)
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- U% n1 {' U2 X: ]! j% H5.[刘备送别徐庶时说]备分浅缘薄,不能与先生相聚。(《三国演义》)
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My meagre lot, my partly destiny keep us from remaining together.( M. Robers 译)9 |/ q* q4 s5 A0 X
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6.[杜慎卿向季苇萧诉说自己没有知心朋友]只为缘悭分浅,遇不着一个知己,所以对月伤怀,临风洒泪!(《儒林外史》)
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2 M0 o4 ?- ~# C7 eBut I have not been lucky enough to find a true friend, and that is why I so often give way to melancholy! (杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)
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: v, M$ F9 Y7 I. h- E1 N$ F0 _7.君琴瑟之好,自相知音;薄命人乌有此福。如有缘,再世可相聚耳。(《聊斋.宦娘》)
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9 P7 [! t" |/ M1 }; [/ p; o Q# nYou are like a matching lute and zither set. You can appreciate each other‘s music. Fate has been too unkind to allow me
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/ E, N& ]- }% B0 x7 F t8 m: ysuch blessings. If we are linked by the ties of destiny, we will meet again in the next life. (D.C. & V. H Mair 译)
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8 Y) }# X. r1 R6 f3 w$ i% o8.[方鸿渐看不中张小姐,心中暗说]“我你他”小姐,咱们没有“举碗[案]齐眉”的缘分,希望另有好运气的人来爱上您。 (《围城》)
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+ h9 E2 N1 Y$ c& U. C1 _Miss Wo-Ni-Ta, we just weren‘t meant to "raise the bowl To the eyebrows." I hope some other lucky guy falls in love4 P; _/ T6 \8 }
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with you. (J. Kelly、 N. K. Mao 译)
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, J0 r6 a* [; y+ O& M% N可以看出,以上句子里的中心词都含有“命运”的意识,英译亦然。《围城》一例所mean,据New World Dictionary 等词典的解释也有 to destine or seem to destine 的意思,颇为妥帖。
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/ R( b7 Y7 a" V0 B% @然而,“缘分”等词和命运的关联在有的用法里变得淡化了,甚至完全消失了。它只是泛指一种机遇或者机会。所以M. Roberts翻译《三国演义》的以下两句,用的词语和上边英译句子中的相应部分不同:
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9.[刘备二顾草芦时误认诸葛均为为诸葛亮,说]备久慕先生,无缘拜会。
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/ S+ s* ^7 D3 y+ _Your talents and your virtue have ever been the objects of my esteem. But I have not had the honour of being presented to you.
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4 H9 x, a5 Q0 Q/ p% V) i6 I/ u( e- E不仅如此,这种机遇还可以发生在人和事物之间。体育报道里说的“无缘(进入)决赛(be barred from entering the finals; be disqualified for the finals) 即其一例。《浮生六记》的作者沈复(字三白)因妻子陈芸喜欢李白和白居易的诗,就跟她说:/ C5 B' f5 Y' b% m6 G
9 ]/ a1 L6 Y- U* A# `3 p11.异哉!李太白是知己,白乐天是启蒙师,余适逢字三白,为卿婿;卿与“白”字何其有缘耶?7 }- ]) T. G3 z, _, f: n5 c
6 i4 w8 w6 L7 Y5 ^1 bThis is very strange. So LiBai is your bosom friend, Bai Juyi is your first tutor and yours band‘s literary name is Sanbai. It seems
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* p. p( e8 g9 K6 c7 e1 R% s6 i6 W5 ^. {that your life is always bound up with the Bai‘s. (林语堂 译) |
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