译林絮谈

沙枫

长城•千佛洞•七星公园

美国《新闻周刊》“时人动态”(Newsmakers)栏在报道加拿大总理特鲁多和夫人游长城的新闻中,文字写来轻松有趣,现将全文介绍如下:

The hill was steep, 45 degrees to be exact, and the aide was dropping farther and farther behind. "Hold on," he pleaded to 25-year-old Margaret Trudeau, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, "Remember I'm 48 years old." "But you're not pregnant," called Mrs. Trudeau who, though six months pregnant, is enthusiastically accompanying her husband on an eight-day official visit to China. "Wouldn't it be historical," she mused without slowing down, "if I had my baby on the Great Wall?"

现将这一段特写,译成中文如下:

山是陡的,四十五度,不折不扣,随行人员越来越落后了。加拿大总理皮埃尔•特鲁多向他的二十五岁的太太玛加丽哀求说:“慢点,要记得我已四十八岁了。”“但你没有怀胎呀,”特鲁多夫人喊道。特鲁多夫人已怀孕六个月,大腹便便,却仍兴致勃勃的陪同她的丈夫前往中国,作八天的官式访问。“如果我在万里长城之上生下一个孩子,”她嘴上说着笑,脚下不怠慢,“岂不是万世留名吗?”

特鲁多夫妇这次访华,还游览了千佛洞和七星公园。

千佛洞是在河南省的龙门石窟。这个龙门石窟是中国三大石窟之一,与山西云冈石窟及甘肃敦煌石窟鼎足而三。

七星公园在桂林,目前已是满园丹桂。桂林以盛产桂花、桂树成林而得名。山秀,水清,石美,洞奇,桂林素称“山水甲天下”。特鲁多夫妇在桂林时,还游览了芦笛洞,也游览了漓江,放舟阳朔——这个号称“阳朔山水甲桂林”的阳朔。

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