--George Washington Gaming is a vice which is productive of every possible evil; equally injurious to the morals and health of its votaries. It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and father of mischief. It has been the ruin of many worthy families, the loss of many a man's honor, and the cause of suicide. To all those who enter the lists, it is equally fascinating. The successful gamester pushes his good fortune, till it is overtaken by a reverse. The losing gamester, in hopes of retrieving past misfortunes, goes on from bad to worse, fill growing desperate, he pushes at everything and loses his all. In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any, being diffused ) while thousands are injured. 赌博易滋生各种邪恶,有害于沉湎于此者的道德与健康。它是贪婪的孽种,是不公正的孪生子,也是恶作剧的始作俑者。它使许多名门望族遭殃,使许多人声名狼藉,甚至导致赌徒自杀。误入道的人,容易走火入魔。赢钱的赌徒,不断增加赌资下注,直到厄运淹没其顶,输钱的赌徒,希望把往日输掉的本钱赎回,可是其赌运却更加糟糕。他感到绝望,不顾一切下注,结果血本无归。简言之,不仅几乎无人从赌博中赢利(若有赢钱者,也会很快耗散殆尽),还会使成千上万无辜者受到伤害。 译文(笔者试译):乔治.华盛顿谨嘱 分析: 第一句:Gaming is a vice which is productive of every possible evil; equally injurious to the morals and health of its votaries. 本句是一个复合句(compound sentence),以分号代替连接词,句中的Gaming是主句的主语,which is productive of every possible中的which是关系代词,这个句子是说明vice,整句是一个限定关系从句,因此,which的前述词是vice,而equally是修饰injurious的,to the morale and health of its votaries是一个短语起副词作用,修饰injurious,而injurious一词则用来修饰Gaming。 第二句:It is the child of avarice, the brother of iniquity, and father of mischief. 本句有三个联合主语补足语,排比使用,使语势得到了增强,尤其是作者接连使用了三个隐喻:child,brother,father,力量逐步得到了加强。这三个隐喻应引起译者的特别注意,是否可以分别译为“孽种”、“孪生子”和“始作俑者”。如果按照原文译为“孩子”、“兄弟”和“父亲”,原文的贬义色彩没有反映出来,那是有违作者原义的。 第三句:It has been the ruin of many worthy families, the loss of many a man's honor, and the cause of suicide. 它使许多名门望族遭殃,使许多人声名狼藉,甚至导致赌徒自杀。 第四句:To all those who enter the lists, it is equally fascinating. 误入企图的人,容易走火入魔。 第五句:The successful gamester pushes his good fortune, till it is overtaken by a reverse. 赢钱的赌徒,不断增加赌资下注,直到厄运淹没其顶, 第六句:The losing gamester, in hopes of retrieving past misfortunes, goes on from bad to worse, fill growing desperate, he pushes at everything and loses his all. 输钱的赌徒,希望把往日输掉的本钱赎回,可是其赌运却更加糟糕。他感到绝望,不顾一切下注,结果血本无归。 第七句:In a word, few gain by this abominable practice (the profit, if any, being diffused ) while thousands are injured. 简言之,不仅几乎无人从赌博中赢利(若有赢钱者,也会很快耗散殆尽),还会使成千上万无辜者受到伤害。
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