孟浩然《春晓》英译评赏

 

孟浩然《春晓》是一首广为传颂的唐人绝句。此诗英译，我见到的有很多种。

 

春眠不觉晓，

处处闻啼鸟。

夜来风雨声，

花落知多少。

In a spring slumber, unaware of the dawn,

Until everywhere I hear the birds crying.

During the night, sounds of wind and rain,

How many flowers, I wonder, have been falling?

 

上面的译文是我参考前贤译作而写成，虽然自认接近原诗意旨，却不敢掠人之美。

 

下面仅对几首较好的译作加以分析讨论。

先看“意译”为主，即比较随便、不讲求逐字翻译的译作：

 

许渊冲：
This morn of spring in bed I'm lying,
Not woke up till I hear birds crying.
After one night of wind and showers,
How many are the fallen flowers!

 

翁显良：

This spring morning as I awake I know.

All around me the birds are crying, crying，

The storm last night, I sensed its fury.

How many, I wonder, are fallen, poor dear flowers!

 

许渊冲、翁显良都没有紧扣原诗、逐字逐句翻译，而且为了韵脚，还添加了一些字词，象”I'm lying” and “poor dear flowers”，但显然都较好地传达了原诗的意趣。

再看两首西人英译“意译”之作：

 

Witter Bynner:

I awake light-hearted this morning of spring,

Everywhere round me the singing of birds—

But now I remember the night, the storm,

And I wonder how many blossoms were broken.

 

John Turner:

How suddenly the morning comes in Spring!

On every side you can hear the sweet birds sing.

Last night a midst the storm– Ah, who can tell，

With wind and rain，how many blossoms fell?

 

这两首译作也没有紧扣原诗逐字翻译，并基本上传达了原诗意境。不足之处是将“啼”译为“singing” or “sing”, 而不是”crying”，丢失了原诗中惜春、伤春的哀愁意味(曾有人指出这一点，似乎不少人不以为然，但我是赞同的)。这自然是对中国文学传统的理解偏误造成的。

下面几首译作是偏重“直译”的例子，虽然“直”的程度有所不同：

 

Elling Eide：

Asleep in spring unaware of dawn,

And everywhere hear the birds in song.

At night the sound of wind and rain,

You’ll know how much from the flowers gone.

 

William Nienhauser 倪豪士:

Spring slumber won’t awake to dawn,

Everywhere I hear the sound of birds calling.

During the night, sounds of wind and rain—

I wonder how many flower petals have been falling?

 

Stephen Owen 宇文所安：

Sleeping in spring, unaware of the dawn,

Then everywhere I hear birds singing.

Last night, the sound of wind and the rain –

Flowers have fallen, I wonder how many.

 

吴钧陶:

Slumbering, I know not the spring dawn is peeping，

But everywhere the singing birds are cheeping.

Last night I heard the rain dripping and wind weeping，

How many petals are now on the ground sleeping?

 

前三首译作是最接近原诗的，虽然他们对“觉”的理解不同。只是前者把“啼鸟”译为“birds in song”，后者则译作“birds singing”，都没有译出伤春的意味。

吴钧陶的译文是所有华人译作中我最为欣赏的，不但紧扣原诗，而且不为原诗所拘囿，押韵合辙，读来朗朗上口。只可惜，他似乎也忽略了中国文学传统中的惜春、伤春意绪。

(2021-6-21)