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19.忆江南

白居易

江南好,风景旧曾谙。

日出江花红胜火,

春来江水绿如蓝。

能不忆江南?

中文解读

古语云,言而无文,行之不远。白居易的《忆江南》词从写成,流传至今,已是一千多年,而且还将一直流芳百世,那么这寥寥数语,文在何处到?如何能“行”如此之远呢?

白居易曾经担任杭州刺史,在杭州待了两年,后来又担任苏州刺史,任期也一年有余。在他的青年时期,曾漫游江南,旅居苏杭,应该说,他对江南有着相当的了解,故此江南在他的心目中留有深刻印象。当他因病卸任苏州刺史,回到洛阳后十二年,他六十七岁时,写下了这三首《忆江南》,可见江南胜景仍在他心中栩栩如生。

该诗词在白居易的笔下,从初日、江花、江水之中获得了色彩,加之诗人又用了烘染、映衬的手法,描绘出我们想象中的图画,色彩绚丽耀眼,层次丰富,几乎无须更多联想,江南春景已跃然眼前。

白话译文

江南是个好地方,它的风景我曾经很熟悉。太阳出来,江边的花朵比火还要红艳,春天来临,江水如蓝草一样碧绿清澈。这样的景色怎能让我不常常回忆呢?

英译一

Dreaming of the Southern Shore

Translated by Xu Yuanchong


Fair Southern Shore,

With scenes I adore.

At sunrise riverside flowers redder than fire,

In spring green waves grow as blue as sapphire.

Which I can not but admire.

(sapphire n.蔚蓝色)

英译二

Recalling Jiangnan

Translated by Rewi Alley


How deeply I appreciated,

The beauties of Jiangnan.

The flowers blooming on the river banks at sunrise red as fire.

The river waters darker than indigo,

How can I ever forget Jiangnan?

(indigo n.靛蓝色)

英译欣赏

How many memories could the poet have of the place of the southern shore he had lived? He turned his memories and missing into a popular and beautiful poem for generations following him.

白居易《忆江南》共有三首,这首最为有名。英译本也很多,这里选了许渊冲教授和新西兰人Rewi Alley的译文。有意思的是,“江南”一词,英译一意译为the Southern Shore;而Rewi Alley直译为Jiangnan.

英译一Fair Southern Shore, With scenes I adore。这句可以理解为:I a-dore with scenes, fair Southern Shore。这句译文非常简洁。用I adore 翻译“谙”,意义稍有改变,但是整个译文一脉相承,最后一句“能不忆江南?”也将问句译成陈述句。

Which I can not but admire,我只能非常赞赏,can not but译为只能。

中间两句“日出江花红胜火,春来江水绿如蓝”,几乎直译:At sunrise riverside flowers redder than fire, In spring green waves grow as blue as sapphire.“绿如蓝”中的形容词“绿”被译成动词grow(变得),也是妙译。

英译二虽然地名用拼音,但用意译“江南好,风景旧曾谙”:How deeply I appreciated, the beauties of Jiangnan,我是多么欣赏江南的美丽。

第三、四句的翻译都是省略句,应为:The flowers blooming on the river banks at sunrise(are)red as fire, The river waters(are)darker than indigo。这里blooming 是分词作定语,相当于which are blooming; the river waters,这里waters 用复数形式,表示不同的水域、水面,如成语Still waters run deep(静水深流)。“能不忆江南?”译为问句How can I ever forget Jiangnan?问句贴近原句,只是Jiangnan 需要注释,指the area of the Southern China。

思考

诗中的“忆”,英文是remember、recall 还是dream?