中译英｜《乡土中国》之“无为政治”

2024-04-16 00:04

有人觉得权力本身是具有引诱力的，人有“权力的饥饿”。这种看法忽略了权力的工具性。人也许因为某种心理变态可能发生单纯的支配欲或所谓Sadism（残酷的嗜好），但这究竟不是正常。人们喜欢的是从权力得到的利益。如果握在手上的权力并不能得到利益，或是利益可以不必握有权力也能得到的话，权力引诱也就不会太强烈。

【参考译文】

Some people think that power per se is enticing and that “a hunger for power” is human nature. This belief ignores the instrumental nature of power. Psychopaths may have a pure desire for control or acts of sadism; these people, however, are called psychopaths for a reason. It is the benefits brought by power that allure people. If power at their command does not necessarily generate benefits, or benefits can be gained without it, power may not be so tempting.

【官方译文】

Some people think that power itself is the temptation, that human beings are intrinsically “power hungry.” This view overlooks the fact that power is a tool. Although those who hold power may sometimes be driven by a pure desire to dominate or by sadistic psychological perversions, these situations are, after all, abnormal. What people love most are the benefits that flow from power. If power did not bring benefits or if those benefits could be obtained without holding power, the temptation of power would not be so strong.

翻译组：

Alf，小小少年，很多烦恼

校对组：

Rachel，学理工科，爱跳芭蕾，热爱文艺的非典型翻译

Ithil，男，胡辣汤爱好者，世界杯冠军、三星阿根廷球迷

解析组：

Ithil，男，胡辣汤爱好者，世界杯冠军、三星阿根廷球迷

【翻译解析】

这一段文字翻译起来难度不是很大。“权力”本身可以处理成“power per se”，但需要注意的是，“per se”作为拉丁语词，通常应斜体。“权力的工具性”，这里的“XX性”，显然指的是事物的某种本质，因此处理为nature，而工具性，自然就是“instrumental nature”。“如果握在手上的权力并不能得到利益”，原译的处理为“If power at their command cannot necessarily generate benefits”。需要注意的是，这里说到“握在手上的权力并不能得到利益”，作者更像是在“假定如果客观规律是这样”，所以can这个情态动词用在这里不是十分合适，does这个助动词也许是更好的选择。

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