2024年8月20日 星期二

a shame, regret. Most of the party’s institutional heft had been thrown behind Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York who had a powerful surrogate in her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

 

Ms. Harris turned up in a dingy campaign field office, wearing a puffy coat and boots. Near a tangle of power cords, someone had propped an “African Americans for Obama” poster against a wall. In the midst of that bleak Midwestern winter, Ms. Harris was there to knock on doors for Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois mounting a long-shot bid for the presidency.

“To be here is worth 1,000 Champagne bottles and firecrackers,” Ms. Harris told a reporter on New Year’s Day, surrounded by campaign detritus. “It’s equal to that, in terms of the thrill, the excitement and the promise for tomorrow.”

Supporting Mr. Obama was a political risk. Ms. Harris was one of the rare Californians holding elected office — and one of few in the Democratic Party writ large — to endorse him for the presidency. Most of the party’s institutional heft had been thrown behind Hillary Clinton, a senator from New York who had a powerful surrogate in her husband, former President Bill Clinton.



It’s a shame


中国香港泳總會長王敏超月初接受港台訪問,談及何詩蓓在巴黎奧運獲銅牌,稱結果令人開心,但也有些少遺憾,「少少遺憾佢係第三。」(注1)此番「遺憾論」一出,大眾紛紛炮轟王敏超,何詩蓓及她的教練Tom Rushton均感不悅,何認為「不是好的評論」,教練也對王的言論「有點失望」。


事件發酵近一星期,以為完了?誰知道死不認錯的old seafood,居然一拍腦袋,想到將責任推給記者,前天對《香港01》說:「個教練鬼佬,鬼佬睇埋啲唔正當嘅鬼佬嘢。」所謂「唔正當嘅鬼佬嘢」,原來指《南華早報》。


王敏超說,自己最初用中文受訪,但《南華早報》卻「亂咁譯」、「離哂譜」,又說泳總已去信要求對方澄清事件,目前與該報正在「砌緊」云云(順帶一提:何詩蓓是懂中文的,她為免有什麼誤會,早已聽過王敏超訪問的原聲錄音了)。


我本來沒興趣談這件事,但聽見王敏超這樣說,反而好奇《南早》翻譯有幾「離譜」,於是馬上找來看看。8月1日《南早》報道的標題是:


Hong Kong fury after local swim chief calls Haughey’s Olympic bronze ‘a shame’


內文如此翻譯王敏超的「遺憾論」:


“I am happy we finished third, but of course I have regrets,” Wong said in a radio interview afterwards. “It’s a shame she only ended up with bronze.”⁠(注2)


比較文首引述的中文訪問,這個英譯也許未算完美,但大致沒有錯,怎能說「亂咁譯」呢?有趣的是,王敏超向《南早》投訴後,報道果然「修正」了,例如原標題的「a shame」改成「a regret」:


Hong Kong fury after local swim chief calls Haughey’s Olympic bronze ‘a regret’


內文翻譯同樣把「敏感字」一樣的「 a shame」移除,改為「a bit regretful」:


“I am happy we finished third, but of course I have regrets,” Wong said in a radio interview afterwards. “It’s a bit regretful she only ended up with bronze.”(注3)


看了這改動,我開始懷疑王敏超是否誤會「shame」的意思,以為《南早》把「遺憾」譯成「羞恥」——如果王敏超真以為英文是「獲銅牌是羞恥」,也難怪他會指責《南早》「離晒譜」了。


不用古德明老師告訴你,也知道在現代英語中,shame作「羞恥」解的時候是不可數名詞,前面不加「a」,如果加了「a」,即可數名詞,那就表示「令人遺憾或惋惜的事」。換言之,「a shame」和「a regret」根本同一意思,何錯之有?


以「shame」字表示「regret」,據我所知,至少可上溯至400多年前莎士比亞寫的十四行詩。莎翁十四行詩集第34首有一句:


Nor can thy shame give physic to my grief


這行詩,不少注者都把「shame」字解作「regret」(例如史丹福大學英語教授、莎士比亞學者Stephen Orgel編的企鵝版《十四行詩》就是這樣解讀),可見「shame」此用法源遠流長。大概在十九、二十世紀,「What a shame」、「It’s a shame」的講法越趨普遍,大家都明白是「真可惜 / 遺憾」的意思。我一直以為這是中學程度英文。


查一查王敏超背景,1952年出生,喇沙畢業,在美國Armstrong University工商管理系取得榮譽學士,又在Florida Institute of Technology工學院讀工商管理碩士。傳統名校畢業,留學美國,沒理由連「a shame」解「遺憾」也不懂吧?但如果懂,為什麼又要求《南早》更改那些翻譯無誤的字呢?


整件事最令人「遺憾」的,莫過於王敏超沒解釋《南早》翻譯到底如何「離譜」,以及《南早》居然要向一個文盲讓步。


(注見留言)

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耶穌說:「一粒麥子不落在地裏死了,仍舊是一粒;若是死了,就結出許多子粒來。」

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