注释
①理查德·伯顿(Richard Burton)和伊莉莎白·泰勒(Elizabeth Taylor):好莱坞著名影星,属于我根本不熟悉的那类人。
②“有家小旅馆,中有如意井”(There's a small hotel ,With a wishing well)这一句的歌词出自“有家小旅馆”(There's A Small Hotel )这首歌。该歌的作者是Rodgers/Hart,歌词如下:
I'd like to get away, Junior/Somewhere alone with you/It could be oh, so gay, Junior/You need a laugh or two/A certain place I know, Frankie/Where funny people can have fun/That's where the two will go, Darling/Before you can count up/One, two, three. For ...There's a small hotel/With a wishing well/I wish that we were there together/There's a bridal suite/One room bright and neat/Complete for us to share together Looking through the window/You can see a distant steeple/Not a sign of people -- who wants people? /When the steeple bell says ,/ “Good night, sleep well ,”/We'll thank the small hotel together/We'll creep into our little shell/And we will thank the small hotel together
显然,歌里唱的是一个小伙子对姑娘的怂恿J 他希望她能跟他“私奔”到一家小旅馆里。为了打动他的意中人,他夸耀说,这个旅馆里甚至还有一口希望井(With a wishing well)。这似乎不太现实,尽管听起来很诱人。任溶溶对这句歌词的翻译可能根本就是错误的,因为他的译文把“well”理解成“很好”的意思了。他还想象着等他们住到那小旅馆后,可以幸福地从窗子里往外看,那时除了远处的教堂尖塔外(a distant steeple ),什么人都不会看见。(Not a sign of people)
③“当教堂尖塔上方的大钟,说‘晚安,好好睡吧,’我们全都感谢这家小旅馆。”:这几句歌词的原文见注释②。看来,在这个小伙子的想象里,他们终于在这家小店里找到了幸福。
④“不过容我再问一个不该问的问题”:这一句的原文是:“But there is one more question that I hesitate to bring up.”任溶溶把它翻译成“我再没什么犹豫不决要提出的问题了。”先不用说这句译文错在哪里,单是从常理来推断一下就可以知道:如果这个服务员“再没什么问题了”,下面又何必问路易斯的生活习惯呢?这不是多余吗?我想,这一句并不难懂,但如果马马乎乎的翻译,再简单的句子也会翻译错的。可惜的是,任溶溶恰恰缺乏这种认真的劲头,所以,他(她)才把“one more” 当成了“no more ”,这种错误在后面还有,这说明…算了,我说了也白说。
⑤水田芹三明治(Watercress sandwich ):水田芹(watercress),十字花科的一种多年生欧亚草本植物,豆瓣菜属。生长于淡水池塘和水流中,常用于在色拉中和作装饰物。所谓的水田芹三明治大概就是一种外面包着水田芹叶的三明治而已。