高手的境界（一）

看了姚克翻译、思果评述的《推销员之死》。姚克先生的中英文果然棒。下面摘引几句，细细体会。

• He is a stolid man, in his sixties, with a mustache and an authoritative air.
  姚克译文：他是个木讷的老人，年纪六十多岁。上唇一撮小胡子，俨然有一呼百诺的气概……
• I got an awful scare.
  我都吓傻了。
• Just to know that there's still a posibility for better things.
  他只想知道：瓦片儿也有翻身的日子。
• I'm tryin'
  我在试着步儿
• I just can't take hold, Mom. I can't take hold of some kind of life.
  我就是扎不下根儿，妈。我不能死钉坑儿的过着一种生活。
• What the hell do you know about it?
  你懂得个什么屁？
• Linda: Last month...(With great difficulty) Oh, boys...
  上个月……（嗫嚅地）欧，孩子们，……
• I'm ashamed to.
  我觉得不好意思。
• You don't raise a guy to a responsible job who whistles in the elevator!
  在电梯上吹口哨的人，你不会把他升级做抓权的工作的！
• Without some smart cooky gettin' up ahead of you!
  不用担心让机灵鬼的同事抓了尖儿！
• It's not what you say, it's how you say it-- because personality always wins the day.
  你说什么都没关系，要紧的是你怎么个说法儿——因为唯有风度好，才能够无往不利。
• All of a sudden everything falls to pieces! Goddam plumbing, oughta be sued, those people. I hardly finished putting it in and the thing...
  一晃眼儿什么东西都坏了！雷劈了这安水管的，这些人——应该告他们一状。刚安装好，这牢什子……

据说姚克先生中英文俱佳，30年代曾写英文文章推介鲁迅的作品。看了他的译文，才知道什么叫中英文融会贯通。这本书确实是学对话翻译的好教材。