《翻译理论与技巧》大作业FamilyPortrait+中译英

FamilyPortraitMymother,whoisseventyyearsold,recentlysentmeaphotographofherselfthatIhadneverseenbefore.WhilecleaningouttheatticofherFloridahome,shecameacrossastudioportraitshehadtakenaboutayearbeforeshemarriedmyfather.Thispictureofmymotherisaboutatwenty-year-oldgirlandthestorybehindithasfascinatedmefromthemomentIbegantoconsiderit.Theyounginthepicturehasafacethatresemblesmyowninmanyways.Herfaceisabitmoreovalthanmine,butthesoftlywavingbrownhairarounditisidentical.Thesmall,straightnoseisthesamemodelIwasbornwith.Mymother’smouthisclosed,yetthereisjusttheslightesthintofasmileonherfulllips.Iknowthatifshehadsmiled,shewouldhaveshownthesamewidegrinanddown-curving“smilelines”thatappearinmyownsnapshots.Themosthauntingfeatureinthephoto,however,ismymother’seyes.Theyareanexactduplicateofmyownlarge,dark-brownones.Herbrowsarepluckedintothinlines,whichareliketwopencilstrokesaddedtohighlightthosefine,luminouseyes.I’vealsocarefullystudiedtheclothingandjewelryinthephotograph.Althoughthephotowastakenfiftyyearsago,mymotheriswearingablouseandskirtthatcouldeasilybeworntoday.Theblouseismadeofheavyeggshell-coloredsatinandreflectsthelightinitsfoldsandhollows.Ithasaturned-downcowlcollarandsmockingontheshouldersandbellowthecollar.Thesmocking(tinyrowsofgatheredmaterial)lookshand-done.Theskirt,whichcoversmymother’scalves,isstraightandmadeoflightwoolorflannel.Mymotheriswearingsilverdropearrings.Theyareabouttwoincheslongandroughlyshield-shaped.Onherleftwristisamatchingbracelet.Mymothercan’tfindthisbraceletnow,despitethefactthatwespenthourssearchingthroughtheatticforit.Onthethirdfingerofherlefthandisaringwithalarge,square-cutstone.Thestorybehindthepictureisasinterestingtomeastheyoungwomanitcaptures.Mom,whowasearningtwenty-fivedollarsaweekasafileclerk,decidedtogiveherboyfriend(myfather)apictureofherself.Shespentalmosttwoweeks’salaryontheskirtandblouse,whichsheboughtatafancydepartmentstoredowntown.Sheborrowedtheearringsandbraceletfromheroldersister,myauntDorothy.Theringsheworewasapresentfromanotheryoungmanshewasdatingatthetime.Momspentanotherchunkofhersalarytopaytheportraitphotographerforthehand-tintedprintinold-fashionedtonesofbrownandtan.Justbeforegivingthepicturetomyfather,shescrawledatthelowerleft,“Sincerely,Beatrice.”WhenIstudiedthispicture,Ireactinmanyways.IthinkaboutthetroublethatMomwentintoinordertoimpresstheyoungmanwhowastobemyfather.IlaughwhenIlookatthering,whichwasprobablyworntomakemyfatherjealous.Ismileattheserious,formalinscriptionmymotherusedatthisstageofthebuddingrelationship.SometimesIamfilledwithamixtureofpleasureandsadnesswhenIlookatthisfrozenlong-agomoment.Itisamomentofbeauty,oflove,and—inaway—ofmyownpast.照片我的母亲已经是七十高龄。前些日子，她寄给我一张我从未见过的她的照片。在她收拾佛罗里达的家的阁楼时，翻到了这张拍摄于她结婚前一年的艺术照。照片里的母亲还是一个二十来岁的姑娘，在这张照片的背后更是蕴含着一个令我沉思的故事。照片里的姑娘跟我仿佛一个模子里刻出来似的，神似的但又略圆的脸，一样散落的棕色卷发，跟我一样与生俱来的小小的尖鼻子。她的嘴巴紧闭着，但是脸上又有若隐若现的笑容。我知道只要她笑了，就会出现跟我的每张照片上一样的笑容。姑娘跟我最神似的莫过于那双暗棕色的大眼睛了，简直是复制的一样。她的眉毛细细的，仿佛只是画了两笔来衬托明亮的眼睛似的。我也仔细的看了看姑娘的衣着和首饰，尽管这张照片拍摄于五十年前，她穿着的衬衫和裙子是至今都流行的款式。这件衬衫是用薄薄的缎子制成的，褶皱处也做工精细。它是阔领的，在肩膀和领口下有一些褶子。这些褶子看起来像手工的。这件裙子长达母亲的小腿，看起来是羊绒或者法兰绒制成的。母亲戴着银耳环，这对耳环有两英寸长。她的左手腕上带着手镯，我们在阁楼里找了很久也没能找到这个镯子。在她的左手中指上戴着一个大大的戒指。这张照片背后的故事对我来讲也是十分有趣的。我的母亲在当时是一个一星期赚25美元的档案整理员，她决定送她的男朋友也就是我的父亲一张自己的照片，于是她花了两个星期的工资在当时的奢侈品店买了衬衫和裙子。她从我的朵瑞斯姨妈那里借来了这对耳环和手镯，而这个戒指是她曾经交往过的一个男孩子送她的礼物。她又花了一笔钱让摄影师在原来的棕黑的照片上进行了手工染色。就在送给我父亲之前，她还在左下角写下了‘爱你的碧翠丝’。当我看到这张照片，我反思了很多。我想到了母亲在追我父亲的过程中遇到的种种困难。我拿着那枚让我父亲吃醋的戒指忍俊不禁，母亲用于建立和维护感情的正式手法也让我忍俊不禁。当我回顾起这段时间，更是悲喜交加。这是一段关于美丽，关于爱的故事，更是我自己独有的过去。学习中文很困难，它牵涉学习全新的字符系统—繁体中文和简体中文，并且中文是一种带声调的语言，声调上的细微变化所传达的意思就会完全不同。基于这些原因，圣马克斯学院只有很少的学生报名上我的课，通常还都是美籍华人。但爱丽丝是个例外。学中文成了她的爱好。她在课堂上积极参与，并花了大量的时间在我们的语言实验室里练习。她和班上的一位美籍中国台湾留学生建立了联系，并在一、二年级的暑期去了台湾。结果爱丽丝的中文程度飞速进步，从最基础的知识到可以流利对话，并能阅读中文报纸。爱丽丝会研究报纸上文章中所蕴含的文化背景，这点令人印象深刻。除了暑期去台北，她还做了大量研究，并提交了很多有关社会问题、经济、农业、政治和性别的论文，需要特别指出的是，她写了一篇有关台北无家可归的人的文章，我力劝她作为评论文章投稿给了本地的报纸《圣马克斯公报》。爱丽丝在课堂上所表现出的活力和快乐对我来说是一大享受，同时也证明了对活跃课堂氛围大有裨益。ItisdifficulttolearnChinese.Firstly,itinvolvesacompletelynewcharactersystem—traditionalChineseandsimplifiedChinese.Secondly,Chineseisatonallanguage,itwillexpresstotallydifferentmeaningwhilechangingthetones.Becauseofthesereasons,thereisonlyfewstudentsapplyingtotakemycourseinStMaxCollegeandmostofthemareChineseAmericans.ButAliceisanexception.LeaningChineseisherhobby.Sheparticipatedinmyclassactivelyandspentlotsoftimepracticinginourlanguagelaboratory.ShemadeconnectionwithaclassmatewhoisfromTaiwanandtravelledtoTaiwaninthesummervacationwhenshewasinfirstandsecondgrade.Asaresult,Alicemadeabigprogress.Atfirst,shejustknewsomebasicknowledge,andnowshecanmakeconversationfluentlyandreadChinesenewspaper.Itwasimpressivethatshewouldexplorethoseculturebackgroundwhichareinvoledinarticlesofnewspaper.BesidestravellingtoTaiwan,shemadeseveralresearchandhandedinarticlesaboutsocial,economic,argriculture,politicalandsexualproblems,especiallyonearticleabouthomelesspeopleinTaiwanwhichIencouragedhertosubmittolocalnewspapercalledStMaxcommuniqueasancriticaleaasy.Itisenjoyableformetoseeherbehavingactivelyandhappilyinmyclass.Anditisalsohelpfultomakemyclassatmospherebeactive.