文学翻译作业3-陆勇

Translation of Literary Texts

Short Assignment #3

A.四太太颂莲被抬进陈家花园时候是十九岁。她是傍晚时分由四个乡下轿夫抬进花园

西侧后门的。仆人们正在井边洗旧毛线，看见那顶轿子悄悄地从月亮门里挤进来，下来一个白衣黑裙的女学生。仆人们以为是在北平读书的大小姐回家了，迎上去一看不是，是一个满脸尘土疲惫不堪的女学生。那一年颂莲留着齐耳的短发，用一条天蓝色的缎带箍住。她的脸是圆圆的，不施脂粉，但显得有点苍白。颂莲步出轿子，站在草地上茫然四顾，黑裙下面横着一只藤条箱子。在秋日的阳光下，颂莲的身影单薄纤细，散发出纸人一样呆板的气息。她抬起胳膊擦着脸上的汗，仆人们注意到她擦汗不是用手帕而是用衣袖，这一点给他们留下了深刻的印象。

Song Lian, the third concubine, was sent into the garden of Mr. Chen by sedan chair when she was 19 years old. It was at dusk when she was sent through the western backdoor of the garden by four countryside bearers. The servants saw the sedan chair squeezing through the moon-shape Gate where got off a woman student in white blouse and black skirt, while they were washing the old wool by the well. They thought that she was the eldest daughter who had been studying in Beiping(the former name of Beijing) and went up to greet, but only to find a fatigue woman student with a dusted face. At that time she was wearing short hair, just covering her ears, which was bound by a sky-blue silk ribbon. Her face was in round shape and a little bit pale without any make-up. She stepped out off the sedan chair and looked around blankly with a rattan suitcase just lying horizontally beside her. In the autumn sunshine, her thin and slim figure gave off a sense of stiffness like a piece of paper man. When she raised her arm to wipe the sweater off her face without handkerchief but her sleeve, the move did leave a deep impression on the servants.

苏童：《妻妾成群》

B. September is more than a month, really; it is a season, an achievement in itself. It begins with August's leftovers and it ends with October's preparations, but along the way it achieves special satisfactions. After summer's heat and haste, the year consolidates itself. Deliberate September - in its own time and tempo -- begins to sum up another summer.

With September comes a sense of autumn. It creeps it on a misty dawn and vanishes in the hot afternoon. It tiptoes through the treetops, rouging a few leaves , then rides a tuft of thistledown across the valley and away. It sits on a hilltop and hoots like an October owl in the dusk. It plays a tag with the wind. September is a changeling busy as a squirrel in a hickory tree, idle as a languid brook. It is summer’s ripeness and richness fulfilled.

Some of the rarest days of the year come in the September season-days when it is comfortably cold but pulsing with life, when the sky is clear and clean, the air crisp, the wind free of dust .

--- Hal Borlnd from “Sweet September”

九月，不仅仅是一个月份，她更是一个季节，一个收获的季节。乘着八月的余兴，孕育着十月的萌动，一路上，九月收获到的是特别的满足。匆匆熬过夏季的燥热，气候渐渐稳定下来。这时，九月在不慌不忙中，踏着拍子，翩然而至，宣告夏季的结束。

伴随九月而来的，是一股淡淡的秋意。他在雾蒙蒙的黎明悄悄地探出头来，又在炎炎的午后消失地无影无踪。他蹑手蹑脚地走过树梢，抹红了树叶，又悄悄骑上蓟花冠丛，越过山谷，飘然离去。他时而栖息于山顶，犹如十月黄昏中猫头鹰的鸣叫；时而流连于山间，和风之子一起嬉戏玩耍；时而像一只机灵的松鼠，在山核桃树中上蹿下跳；时而如一条慵懒的小溪，在河岸之间汩汩流淌。这就是夏季的成熟与丰饶！

一年之中难得一见的好天气，也在九月大驾光临：秋高气爽，沁人心脾，晴空万里，一尘不染，与生命一起凑响律动的篇章。