英譯漢

　　The Origin of Valentine's Day

　　Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. 1 But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day - and its patron saint - is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. 2 St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? One legend contends 3 that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men - his crop of potential soldiers.

　　Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

　　Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured. 4 According to another legend, Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself.

　　While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl - who may have been his jailor's daughter - who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

　　While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial - which probably occurred around A. D. 270 - others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to "christianize" celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival 5. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus 6. To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests/, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. 8 The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

　　The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goat hide strips. Far from being fearful 9, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman.

　　These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around A. D. 498. The Roman "lottery" system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea 10 that the middle of February - Valentine's Day - should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. 11 In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology.

　　Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings.

　　詞匯

　　1.patron saint圣徒，守護(hù)弄申

　　2.shroud裹蔽，遮蔽

　　3.vestige痕跡，殘留

　　4.Emperor ClaudiusⅡ羅馬皇帝克勞迪亞斯二世

　　5.confinement囚禁

　　6.murky朦朧，模糊

　　7.the Middle Ages歐洲歷史上的中世紀(jì)

　　8.feast day宗教節(jié)日

　　9.christianize使基督教化

　　10.purification(宗教)凈化儀式

　　11.Faunus(羅馬神話)牧林之神福納斯

　　12.hide獸皮

　　13.sacrificial blood祭品(如羊犬等)的血

　　14.mating season交配季節(jié)

　　15.ready-made card現(xiàn)成的賀卡

　　16.postage rates郵資

　　注釋

　　1.本句為被動(dòng)句，語(yǔ)法主語(yǔ)是candy，flowers和gifts，邏輯主語(yǔ)是exchange的施動(dòng)者，按照漢語(yǔ)傾向用表示人的主語(yǔ)(即有靈主語(yǔ))的表達(dá)習(xí)慣，最好用主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，補(bǔ)出邏輯主語(yǔ)。

　　可選“戀人”或“人們”，但后文提及“friends”之間也會(huì)互贈(zèng)禮物。因此，此處宜譯成“每年二月，全國(guó)各地的人們都以圣-瓦倫丁的名義互贈(zèng)糖果、鮮花和禮物�！�

　　2.句中謂語(yǔ)動(dòng)詞know前用do表示強(qiáng)調(diào)，與前句相對(duì)。翻譯時(shí)可考慮將強(qiáng)調(diào)的語(yǔ)氣前移到know的主語(yǔ)，表示“無(wú)人不知，無(wú)人不曉”，全句和前句結(jié)合起來(lái)翻譯，譯為“雖然情人節(jié)的歷史——以及這位情人節(jié)的守護(hù)圣徒瓦倫丁——已籠罩在神秘的帷幕之中，但是誰(shuí)都知道，二月是個(gè)浪漫之月�！�

　　3.contend在這里表示“聲稱或主張”，相當(dāng)于argue，意為“堅(jiān)稱”，暗含著還有其他不同的說(shuō)法之意。

　　4.本句中主句和從句信息量不小，按原句順序直譯，會(huì)造成嚴(yán)重的翻譯腔。where引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句的信息，可嘗試調(diào)到前面修飾Christians。

　　5.pagan Lupercalia festival: pagan指除基督教、猶太教或伊斯蘭教徒以外的人們;Lupercalia是牧神節(jié)，古羅馬每年2月15日祭祀畜牧神盧比克斯以求興旺的節(jié)日。

　　6.根據(jù)羅馬神話，Romulus(羅穆盧斯)和Remus(瑞摩斯)是戰(zhàn)神瑪爾斯和女祭司雷亞·西爾維亞( Rhea SiMa)的雙胞胎兒子，因此羅馬人有時(shí)也自稱是“瑪爾斯之子”。

　　國(guó)王阿穆利烏斯怕他們長(zhǎng)大成人后推翻自己，令人把剛出生的兄弟倆拋棄在臺(tái)伯河畔，所幸被一頭母狼用奶喂養(yǎng)才免于一死。兄弟倆后來(lái)被牧羊人法斯土路思從帕拉蒂尼山帶回家撫養(yǎng)，長(zhǎng)大成人后推翻并處死了阿穆利烏斯，還建造了一座新城。后來(lái)，哥哥羅穆盧斯殺死了弟弟瑞摩斯，以自己的名字命名這座城市為“羅馬”，并成為第一任國(guó)王。

　　7.Luperci，牧神，年輕的羅馬貴族被稱為L(zhǎng)uperci，這一稱謂來(lái)自于“母狼育嬰”的母狼Lupa。牧神節(jié)，Lupercalia。此短語(yǔ)中order指神職的等級(jí)或階層。

　　8.長(zhǎng)句翻譯，首先理清整句的含義�！澳辽駡F(tuán)成員為了開(kāi)始這個(gè)節(jié)慶，要聚集到一個(gè)神圣的山洞前，這個(gè)山洞是羅馬的締造者羅穆盧斯和瑞摩斯呆過(guò)的，他們小時(shí)候就是在這個(gè)洞里被一個(gè)母狼哺育過(guò)，人們是這么認(rèn)為的�！焙蟛扇》肿g，再潤(rùn)色。

　　9.far from可翻譯成“遠(yuǎn)非，非但不，并不”，語(yǔ)氣輕重取自上下文的連貫。漢語(yǔ)中近義詞很多，語(yǔ)氣的銜接便成為選擇的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)之一。此處譯成“遠(yuǎn)非害怕”，口氣上便有些夸大，不如“并不害怕，相反……”來(lái)得自然。

　　10.本句中added to the idea后接同位語(yǔ)從句，處理時(shí)，應(yīng)注意避免繁復(fù)。辦法之一，便是將它化為動(dòng)詞詞組，同時(shí)把同位語(yǔ)變成賓語(yǔ)，如“更加堅(jiān)信……”。

　　11.本句是典型的分譯例句。找到最佳的切分點(diǎn)是分譯的重點(diǎn)。分析本句，可以發(fā)現(xiàn)句中主要信息集中在兩部分，其一，最早出現(xiàn)瓦倫丁字樣的信息;其二，關(guān)于寫這個(gè)字的人的信息。由于兩個(gè)部分無(wú)法整合到一個(gè)句子里，所以參考譯文將本句分譯為兩句。

　　參考譯文

　　情人節(jié)的由來(lái)

　　每年二月，全國(guó)各地相愛(ài)的人們都以圣·瓦倫丁的名義互贈(zèng)糖果、鮮花和禮物。這位神秘的圣徒到底是誰(shuí)?而我們又緣何慶祝圣·瓦倫丁節(jié)(情人節(jié))?雖然情人節(jié)的歷史——以及這位情人節(jié)的守護(hù)圣徒瓦倫丁其人其事——已籠罩在神秘的帷幕之中，但是我們都知道，二月是個(gè)浪漫之月。而今天的情人節(jié)，同時(shí)有著基督教傳統(tǒng)和古羅馬傳統(tǒng)的影子。那么，圣·瓦倫丁究竟是誰(shuí)?他和這古老的節(jié)典有何關(guān)聯(lián)?

　　有一種說(shuō)法認(rèn)為，瓦倫丁是公元3世紀(jì)羅馬的一位神職牧師。當(dāng)時(shí)，羅馬皇帝克勞迪亞斯二世認(rèn)定未婚的士兵比有妻兒家室的士兵更善戰(zhàn)，于是他宣布年輕男子——他未來(lái)的兵源——結(jié)婚是非法的。瓦倫丁覺(jué)得這項(xiàng)法令是非正義的，便違抗皇帝的命令，繼續(xù)秘密地給年輕戀人主持婚禮�？藙诘蟻喫拱l(fā)現(xiàn)后，便下令處死瓦倫丁。

　　還有些說(shuō)法認(rèn)為，瓦倫丁是因?yàn)閹驮诹_馬監(jiān)獄里遭受酷刑的基督教信徒越獄，而被處以極刑的。

　　還有一種說(shuō)法是，瓦倫丁就是第一位發(fā)送“瓦倫丁”(情人)問(wèn)候的人。他在牢獄中，和一位探視他、也許是典獄長(zhǎng)的女兒的年輕女子墜入了愛(ài)河。據(jù)說(shuō)他被處死前，給這位女子寫過(guò)一封信，署名“你的瓦倫丁”(你的情人)，該署名延用至今。盡管事恃的真相仍然撲朔迷離，但這些傳說(shuō)無(wú)不將瓦倫丁塑造成一位悲天憫人、英勇無(wú)畏的人物，更重要的是，他充滿了浪漫情懷。所以，到了中世紀(jì)的時(shí)候，瓦倫丁已經(jīng)成為在英法兩國(guó)最受愛(ài)戴的圣徒。

　　有些人相信，情人節(jié)在2月中旬過(guò)是為了紀(jì)念瓦倫丁大約在公元270年逝世或入殮之日。還有些人則宣稱，基督教把2月中的日子定為瓦倫丁節(jié)慶祝，也許是為了將異教徒的牧神節(jié)基督教化。在古羅馬，2月為春天之始，也被認(rèn)定是進(jìn)行“凈化儀式”的時(shí)間。這時(shí)，家家戶戶都要正式地清掃屋子，并在屋內(nèi)撒上鹽和一種叫斯佩爾特的小麥。牧神節(jié)，2月15日開(kāi)始，是紀(jì)念羅馬農(nóng)牧之神福納斯的節(jié)日，同時(shí)也是紀(jì)念羅馬的創(chuàng)立者羅穆盧斯和瑞摩斯的日子。

　　慶典開(kāi)始時(shí)，羅馬牧神團(tuán)的成員們聚集在圣洞前，人們相信羅馬的建立者羅穆盧斯和瑞摩斯，在襁褓中時(shí)曾在此洞中受到一頭母狼的哺育之恩。牧師們會(huì)獻(xiàn)祭一頭山羊，以求豐收、繁衍，另進(jìn)獻(xiàn)一只狗，以示凈化。

　　然后，孩子們把山羊皮切割成條，蘸上祭血，跑到街上，輕輕地抽打女人們和田里的莊稼。羅馬的女人們并不害怕，相反她們很樂(lè)意被打，因?yàn)閾?jù)說(shuō)山羊皮能增強(qiáng)她們來(lái)年的生殖能力。據(jù)傳，那天下午，城里的所有年輕女子都把自己名字寫好放進(jìn)一個(gè)缽里，城里的羊身漢們便從缽里抽出一個(gè)名字，并在這一年里與此名女子結(jié)為伴侶，這些情侶后來(lái)多結(jié)為夫妻。大約在公元498年教皇格拉修宣布2月14日為圣·瓦倫丁節(jié)，羅馬的“抽簽”配對(duì)的風(fēng)俗被認(rèn)為不符合基督教義而被定為非法。到了中世紀(jì)，法蘭西和英格蘭人普遍相信鳥(niǎo)兒的交尾期始于2月14日，從而更加堅(jiān)信2月中的瓦倫丁節(jié)應(yīng)當(dāng)是浪漫的日子。在現(xiàn)存的資料中，“瓦倫丁”一詞最早出現(xiàn)在一首詩(shī)里。該詩(shī)是在阿金庫(kù)爾戰(zhàn)役中被俘的奧爾良公爵查爾斯被囚禁在倫敦塔中時(shí)寫給他妻子的。

　　在英國(guó)，情人節(jié)大約從17世紀(jì)開(kāi)始流行。到了18世紀(jì)中葉，無(wú)論貴族還是平民，朋友還是戀人，都在這一天互贈(zèng)愛(ài)意小卡或手寫的便箋。到了18世紀(jì)末，隨著印刷技術(shù)的發(fā)展，第十三單元節(jié)日祝賀Festivals人們開(kāi)始互送印制的卡片，替代手寫的書信。在直抒心意不受鼓勵(lì)的年代，現(xiàn)成的卡片便成了人們表達(dá)情感的便利方式。低廉的郵寄費(fèi)用，也使互送情人卡愈加普遍。

　　練習(xí)

　　1.The custom of watching football games on Thanksgiving Day also evolved during the early decades of the 20th century.

　　2.For a brief time during the 17th century, Puritans banned Christmas in England and in some English colonies in North America because they felt it had become a season best known for gambling, flamboyant public behavior, and overindulgence in food and drink.

　　3.The custom of wearing new clothes on Easter began around 300 A. D., around the time of Constantine, the first Christian emperor.

　　4.The people of Greece hail September l as their New Year's Day because it marks the start of the Greek sowing season, a time of hope and promise.

　　5.The daylight trees of July are signs of common beauty, common freshness, and a mystery familiar and abiding as night and day.

　　6.It was said that the brightly decorated eggs were left by the Easter rabbit for the country children, who made a game of finding the eggs.

　　7.The island children carry sea water and pebbles home in a jar, to serve, along with the new wreath, as protective devices.

　　8.Originally superstitions surrounding the "borrowed days" endured well into the nineteenth century. They were dangerous days, fraught with taboos and the specter of bad weather.

　　9.Because Canada is north of the Un/ted States, its harvest comes earlier in the year.

　　Accordingly, the Thanksgiving holiday falls earlier in Canada than in the United Sates.

　　10.Villagers began the tradition of placing plates of the finest food and bits of treats that the household had to offer on their doorsteps, as gifts, to appease the hunger of the ghostly wanderers.

　　答案

　　1.從20世紀(jì)早期開(kāi)始，感恩節(jié)活動(dòng)又添新節(jié)目，那就是觀看足球比賽。

　　2.在17世紀(jì)的一段時(shí)期，新教甚至曾嚴(yán)令禁止英國(guó)及其北美殖民地人民舉行圣誕節(jié)慶�；顒�(dòng)。因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為，人們圣誕節(jié)假日恣意賭博、招搖過(guò)市，還暴飲暴食。

　　3.在復(fù)活節(jié)穿新衣服的習(xí)俗是在公元后300年左右開(kāi)始的，大約在第一個(gè)基督徒皇帝康斯坦丁的時(shí)代。

　　4.希臘人在9月1日歡慶新年，因?yàn)檫@一天標(biāo)志著希臘播種季節(jié)的開(kāi)始，這是一個(gè)充滿希望和期待的季節(jié)。

　　5.七月白晝的蔥郁樹(shù)木，體現(xiàn)出普通的美，常見(jiàn)的清新，是一種如同黑夜白晝般慣常而又永恒的不解之謎。

　　6.據(jù)說(shuō)，五彩繽紛的彩蛋是復(fù)活節(jié)兔子為鄉(xiāng)村里的那些找蛋玩兒的孩子留下的。

　　7.他們用罐子裝上海水和小鵝卵石帶回家，用這些海水、石頭連同新花環(huán)驅(qū)魔避邪。

　　8.原先種種有關(guān)“借日”的迷信說(shuō)法一直延續(xù)到19世紀(jì)。這三天里天氣陰怖，人們避諱做很多事，怕出點(diǎn)什么茬子。

　　9.加拿大位于美國(guó)以北，每年農(nóng)作物收割季節(jié)較美國(guó)早些，所以加拿大總在美國(guó)之前慶祝感恩節(jié)。

　　10.家家戶戶都拿出幾盤美食和糖果放在閂口，作為給游魂的禮物，讓他們填飽肚子。村民們的安魂風(fēng)俗由此而始。

　　點(diǎn)擊查看講義輔導(dǎo)資料及網(wǎng)校課程

　　熱點(diǎn)試題1：2018-2003年翻譯資格考試catti三級(jí)筆譯真題匯總  

　　熱點(diǎn)試題2：翻譯資格考試英語(yǔ)筆譯初級(jí)模擬題363篇

　　翻譯資格考試備考有問(wèn)題？沒(méi)有方向？不知道怎么復(fù)習(xí)？歡迎加入交流群540643802， 或者掃描下面的二維碼進(jìn)群。