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缘分”是所谓命中注定的人与人遇合的机缘。英译“缘分”(亦作“天缘”)以及“有缘”、“无缘”常用的英文词有fate, luck, lot, destiny 等。请看几个例子:* w% L3 M- T" F+ v) |* F
) H4 t/ B9 }3 k8 \1.富贵功名,前缘分定。(《西游记》)4 O% [5 @8 j! H, }. C) M
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Wealth and honor, glory and fame, are predetermined by fate. (W.J.F. Jenner 译)
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8 ?% h. h4 Q' K: C4 W$ n2.[宝玉问香菱为何薛蟠相亲定下了金桂,香菱笑道] 一则是天缘,二来是“情人眼里出西施”(《红楼梦》) * `5 [# i9 c' L! q
8 w3 {2 u8 v+ E6 R/ pIt‘s partly fate, and partly a case of "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."(杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)
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3.[王婆为了撮合西门庆和潘金莲,故意问前者是不是妻子死后,没有别的女人他中意的。西门庆争辩说]做甚么了便没?只恨我夫妻缘分上薄,自不撞着!(《水浒》)1 H& w& a: ]# s7 ~# O: S+ Z
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Who says there isn‘t? It‘s just that my marriage luck has been bad. I‘ve never met the right one. (S. Shapiro 译)
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' h8 @( I7 p [* T7 y6 x1 u4.她无缘,小生薄命。 (《西厢记》)
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She lacks the karma; I‘m out of luck. (S. H. L. Idema 译), n k G& _* t2 X
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5.[刘备送别徐庶时说]备分浅缘薄,不能与先生相聚。(《三国演义》)
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2 c" C! T6 P$ O& U- r! z1 c8 o4 hMy meagre lot, my partly destiny keep us from remaining together.( M. Robers 译)
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. e( }# \+ z9 b6.[杜慎卿向季苇萧诉说自己没有知心朋友]只为缘悭分浅,遇不着一个知己,所以对月伤怀,临风洒泪!(《儒林外史》)
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But I have not been lucky enough to find a true friend, and that is why I so often give way to melancholy! (杨宪益、戴乃迭 译)) n, _0 N/ m" S# F g8 K) I# ]
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7.君琴瑟之好,自相知音;薄命人乌有此福。如有缘,再世可相聚耳。(《聊斋.宦娘》)
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7 s0 J: u6 ]8 y5 w/ Q4 T TYou are like a matching lute and zither set. You can appreciate each other‘s music. Fate has been too unkind to allow me
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such blessings. If we are linked by the ties of destiny, we will meet again in the next life. (D.C. & V. H Mair 译)% Z" y& _! G9 l9 ~! [; c
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8.[方鸿渐看不中张小姐,心中暗说]“我你他”小姐,咱们没有“举碗[案]齐眉”的缘分,希望另有好运气的人来爱上您。 (《围城》)7 q$ `/ L- j: d+ k! l" X
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Miss Wo-Ni-Ta, we just weren‘t meant to "raise the bowl To the eyebrows." I hope some other lucky guy falls in love
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* v5 |- M% F) x9 i* @with you. (J. Kelly、 N. K. Mao 译)
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可以看出,以上句子里的中心词都含有“命运”的意识,英译亦然。《围城》一例所mean,据New World Dictionary 等词典的解释也有 to destine or seem to destine 的意思,颇为妥帖。9 D7 p9 j+ a; w3 c2 a) C
0 b) R# Q- R0 C/ ^! i! \. E ~2 S然而,“缘分”等词和命运的关联在有的用法里变得淡化了,甚至完全消失了。它只是泛指一种机遇或者机会。所以M. Roberts翻译《三国演义》的以下两句,用的词语和上边英译句子中的相应部分不同:+ G4 }) Y9 @. l6 t! h y9 a, g) _3 m
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9.[刘备二顾草芦时误认诸葛均为为诸葛亮,说]备久慕先生,无缘拜会。
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% w0 Q6 J7 h8 Q; P9 q* JYour talents and your virtue have ever been the objects of my esteem. But I have not had the honour of being presented to you.& \& W' n% [' ]/ C/ s
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不仅如此,这种机遇还可以发生在人和事物之间。体育报道里说的“无缘(进入)决赛(be barred from entering the finals; be disqualified for the finals) 即其一例。《浮生六记》的作者沈复(字三白)因妻子陈芸喜欢李白和白居易的诗,就跟她说:
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5 ^4 h4 ~/ m/ E; G+ |11.异哉!李太白是知己,白乐天是启蒙师,余适逢字三白,为卿婿;卿与“白”字何其有缘耶?
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! @1 R+ K0 ^% n- e9 BThis is very strange. So LiBai is your bosom friend, Bai Juyi is your first tutor and yours band‘s literary name is Sanbai. It seems
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8 ], V9 F1 G. o6 O8 sthat your life is always bound up with the Bai‘s. (林语堂 译) |
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