译林絮谈

沙枫

两个小孩问倒孔子

“愚公移山”这个寓言，是出自《列子》的《汤问》篇。列子即列御寇，战国时人。

“愚公移山”这个寓言，原文是这样的：

太行、王屋二山，方七百里，高万仞。本在冀州之南，河阳之北。北山愚公者，年且九十，面山而居。••••••北山愚公长息曰：“汝心之固，固不可彻，曾不若孀妻弱子。虽我之死，有子存焉；子又生孙，孙又生子；子又有子，子又有孙；子子孙孙无穷匮也，而山不加增，何苦而不平?”河曲智叟亡以应。••••••自此，冀之南，汉之阴，无陇断焉。

《列子》一书有好几个人的英文译本。兹介绍 Graham 所翻译的愚公的一番话如下：

"Certainly your mind is set too firm for me ever to penetrate it. You are not even as clever as the widow's little child. Even when I die, I shall have sons surviving me. My sons will beget me more grandsons, my grandsons in their turn will have sons, and these will have more sons and grandsons. My descendants will go forever, but the mountains will get no bigger. Why should there be any difficulty about leveling it?"

译文是忠实流畅的。

《列子》的《汤问》篇中，有一则关于孔子的故事，全文是这样的：

孔子东游，见两小儿辩斗，问其故。一儿曰：“我以日始出时去人近，而日中时远也。”一儿以日初出远，而日中时近也。一儿曰：“日初出大如车盖，及日中，则如盘盂，此不为远者小而近者大乎？”一儿曰：“日初出沧沧凉凉，及其日中如探汤，此不为近者热而远者凉乎？”孔子不能决也。两小儿笑曰：“孰为汝多知乎？”

对这个问题，读者的解答又是如何呢？

现介绍 Graham 的英译如下：

When Confucius was travelling in the East, he saw two small children arguing and asked them the reason. One child said he thought that the sun is nearer to us at sunrise, the other that it is nearer at noon. The first child said:

"When the sun first rises it is as big as the cover of a car; by noon it is as small as a plate or a bowl. Don't you think it must be nearer when it is big than when it is small?"

The other child answered:

"When the sun first rises the air is cool, by noon it is like dipping your hand in hot water. Don't you think it must be nearer when it is hot than when it is cool?"

Confucius could not answer the question. The two children laughed: "Who says you are a learned man?"

问得好。也译得好。