譯者與作者的罕見巧見－趙元任的《阿麗思》中文翻譯

A case of Extreme Coincidences between Author and Translator - Y.R. Chao's Chinese Translations of the Alice Books

張華(Chang Hwa)

《翻譯學研究集刊》 7輯 (2002/12) Pp. 109-135

摘要

趙元任是把《阿麗思漫遊奇境記》譯介到中國的第一人。除了語文能力，他和原作者卡洛爾有許多共同點，包括數學教育背景、對文字遊戲的喜愛、記日記、寫信、攝影。兩人以《阿麗思》為中心所構成的八重周年，更是巧合得令人訝異，為世界譯壇所罕見。經過80年來的重復翻譯，中文《阿麗思》已陷入瓶頸，本文從趙元任翻譯《阿麗思》的經過、版本、特色，討論譯者的資格、翻譯技巧、參考資料的重要性，建議深入參考國外研究資料，以為突破目前《阿麗思》翻譯困境的參考。

關鍵字

趙元任 ； 卡洛爾 ； 翻譯技巧 ； 譯者資格 ； 譯者與作者的巧合

並列摘要

This paper examines the publication history and characteristics of the first Chinese translation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and discusses the qualifications of translator, translation techniques and the need of background information of the translation. As a conclusion, the paper calls for further studies of Alice related material as a means of improving translation quality.
This paper also gives an account of the special quality of Dr. Yuen Ren Chao. As the first Chinese translator of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, he bears striking similarity to the author, Lewis Carroll, in many ways: their mutual mathematic education, life-long teaching position and diary keeping, and their common love of puns, photography and correspondence with fiends.
This paper further reveals a more surprising fact that, answering to Carroll’s favorite number of 42, Chao has joined Carroll and Alice to make a decennial cycle. Any year with a 2 as the last digit marks an eight-fold anniversary regarding the Chinese and English Alice books, namely:
1. The birth of Lewis Carroll (1832),
2. The birth of Alice Liddell (1852),
3. Carroll’s telling of Alice’s Adventures Underground (1862),
4. The publication of Through the Looking-Glass (1872),
5. The birth of Chao (1892),
6. The publication of Chao’s Chinese translation of Alice in Wonderland (1922),
7. The abortion of Chao’s translation of Through the Looking-Glass because of the Sino-Japanese war (1932), and
8. The death of Chao (1982).
These extreme coincidences suggest Chao a unique figure as a translator.

並列關鍵字

Y. R. Chao ； Lewis Carroll ； Translation Techniques ； Qualifications of Translator ； Coincidence between Translator and Author