最近因为“中美贸易战”这一热点新闻,官媒常说一句话:谈,大门敞开;打,奉陪到底!那么这句话该如何翻译?
中文简洁有力,译起来并不算太难。
1.If the U.S. wants to talk, our door is wide open;
2.if they want to fight, we will fight to the end.
《环球时报》英文版这样表述:
Talk? Our door is wide open. Fight? We will fight to the end!
《环球》的译法在句式上追求与原文对等,用词比较省。
外媒也早就注意到官方的强硬表态,而且在报道中多次引用,译法则大同小异。举两个有代表性的:
《纽约时报》版:
If the U.S. wants to talk, our door is open.
If the U.S. wants to fight, we’ll be with them till the end.
《华盛顿邮报》版:
If we discuss, our door is always wide open; if we fight, we'll fight to the last.
这几个译法你喜欢哪个?
这两句话下面还有一句:“欺,妄想!” 可以说 “Don't ever think about bullying!”
在对外实践中,我们除了要善于把中文翻译成英文,还要善于“以彼之道还施彼身”。翻译这句话时,想到了美国前总统John F. Kennedy就职演说中的一句话:Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.永远不要因为害怕才谈判,但也永远不要害怕谈判。