译林絮谈

沙枫

“圣诞礼物”的小说

“圣诞礼物”的故事，层出不穷，然而使人留下深深印象的，无疑是美国作家奥亨利（O Henry）的小说《贤士的礼物》（The Gift of the Magi）了。

这出悲喜剧，刻划入微，人多知道，不必细表了。这里，只介绍奥亨利小说原文的片段，以及中文翻译如何贴切入微。原文是：

Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.

张曼仪的中文译文如下：

他一进门就停住了，有如猎犬嗅到鹌鹑，一动也不动。他双眼凝视着德娜，眼睛里，有一种她难了解的表情，她给这表情吓白了。那不是愤怒，不是惊奇，不是不赞许，不是恐惧，也不是她所能预想的任何情绪。他只是呆呆地凝视着她，脸上带着那奇怪的表情。

原文是：

"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold it because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again——you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say 'Merry Christmas,' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice——what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you."

中译是：

“詹，亲爱的，”她叫了起来，“别那样望着我。我剪了头发，把它卖了，因为我不能够过圣诞节也不送给你礼物。它会再长起来——你不介意吧？我没办法不这样。我的头发长得顶快。詹，说‘圣诞快乐’吧，让我们快快活活吧。你不晓得我给你买了一件多漂亮、多好的礼物。”

原文是：

"Isn't a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."

中译是：

“詹，漂亮不漂亮？我走遍了全市才找到它。你现在每天一定要看上一百次表了。把你的表给我，我要看看配起来怎么样。”

原文是：

"Del," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."

中译是：

“德，”他说，“让我们把圣诞礼物收起来，暂时保存一下。他们实在是很好的，可是现在还用不着。因为我把金表卖掉了，换钱给你买梳子。现在我们可以把肉扒煎起来了吧。”

香港出版的《新编文选》对奥亨利有这样的评语：“他对于小人物，是以高度的乐观主义精神去发掘他们灵魂的宝藏，例如他最有名的一篇小说《麦琪的礼物》（即上述《贤士的礼物》），就表现了这样的主题。”