“《伏爾加船夫曲》的譯法準確嗎”發表以後,有位朋友在《中國翻譯論壇》的“疑譯解答”欄目有個跟帖,內容如下:
“可参考:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Song_of_the_Volga_Boatmen”
雖然他沒有明說我的質疑不對,但我覺得他是這樣認為的。
於是,我看了他提供的網址。
這是維基百科上的一個條目。上面赫然寫著:
The Song of the Volga Boatmen
看來,中文的《伏爾加船夫曲》和英文歌名是很一致的。
準確譯法?
且慢!
原歌是俄文,而非英文。
The Song of the Volga Boatmen只不過是流行的英文譯法而已。
查閱了互聯網,果然,以“The Song of the Volga Boatmen”為搜索內容可以得出許許多多的關於這首俄文歌曲的資料。
看來,中文譯名《伏爾加船夫曲》正是受了其影響。
而且看來,討論中文譯名是否準確,首先要看英文譯名是否準確。
我們來看看維基百科中對俄文的歌曲“Эй, ухнем!”是如何介紹的:
"The Song of the Volga Boatmen" (Russian: Эй, ухнем!) is a well-known traditional Russian song collected
by Mily Balakirev, and published in his book of folk songs in 1866.[1] It is a genuine shanty sung by burlaks,
or barge-haulers, on the Volga River. Balakirev published it with only one verse (the first). The other two
verses were added at a later date. The song inspired Ilya Repin's famous painting, Barge Haulers on the Volga,
which depicts the suffering of the burlaks in the depth of misery in Tsarist Russia.
注意,這裡說到了兩點:
1. 這首歌是伏爾加河上平底貨船的縴夫拉縴時唱的:
“sung by burlaks, or barge-haulers, on the Volga River”
2. 畫家列賓的著名油畫《伏爾加河上的縴夫》是受到這首歌曲的啓發和鼓舞而創作的:
“The song inspired Ilya Repin's famous painting, Barge Haulers on the Volga”
我們再看看原俄文歌詞的英文譯文:
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Now we fell the stout birch tree,
Now we pull hard: one, two, three.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Now we pull hard: one, two, three.
As the barges float along,
To the sun we sing our song.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
To the sun we sing our song.
Hey, hey, let's heave a-long the way
to the sun we sing our song
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Volga, Volga our pride,
Mighty stream so deep and wide.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Volga, Volga you're our pride.
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
請注意,歌詞中並沒有提到船夫駕船的用語,而是用了“pull hard(用力拉)”這樣的詞語,而且反反復複使用勞動號子。
顯然,譯成“船夫曲”是不恰當不准確的。
這首歌傳入我國,據考證,最早是艾思奇翻譯成中文的,當時的譯名為《伏爾加縴夫曲》,應該說是比較準確的。
但似乎《伏爾加船夫曲》的名字更加廣為人知。
我認為,普遍被人接受的譯法,如果可以說得過去,可以不必改正。
但如果是明顯的錯譯,作為翻譯工作者應該有責任指出和改正。
《伏爾加船夫曲》的譯法屬於錯譯,應予以改正。
我的譯法:
《伏爾加縴夫號子》
评论