2008年11月30日 星期日

Austen Henry Layard

閒讀 Jean Bottero & M-J Steve "美索不達米亞" 上海 世紀出版集團 2004
發現整本書多處將著名的英國人 AUSTEN HENRY LAYARD 誤寫成 Henry Austen Layard 真不可思議
他的著作NINEVEH and Its Remains也有兩種不同之翻譯


Sir Austen Henry Layard



(1817–94) [Bi]

British antiquarian whose expeditions and self-taught archaeological methods led to the investigation of sites in the Near East. Born in London and trained as a lawyer, Layard and a friend, Edward Mitford, set out to ride from England to Ceylon in 1839. During this journey Layard became fascinated by archaeology and became an unpaid diplomatic attaché in Constantinople so that he could continue and expand his interests. Between 1845 and 1847 he excavated at Nimrud, Iraq (thinking it was Nineveh), and while his methods were brutal compared with modern standards they were typical of the day and resulted in the discovery of a lot of structural evidence as well as artefacts. His book, Nineveh and its remains, published in 1849 sold well and allowed him to make good contacts. He resumed excavations the same year, and upon his return to England in 1851 prepared a second volume, Discoveries and ruins of Nineveh and Babylon, which appeared in 1853. It included a provisional chronology for the Assyrian kings and a description of their state. Layard subsequently became a politician and then British ambassador in Madrid and later Constantinople.

2008年11月28日 星期五

把Ovid與Apulée搞混

閒讀 Azedine Beschaouch "迦太基傳奇" 上海 世紀出版集團 2004
發現因此Ovid與Apulée 都出版過一本Metamorphoses
翻譯者竟然沒注意兩人的時代相差百來多年以上
把Apulée當成
Ovid

Apulée , Ovid, Ovidius


注意到法國用Apulée
可是我在Wikipedia article "Ovid". 的法文版找不到此種說法 這可能是將Apuleius
Wikipedia article "Apuleius". 混淆了ㄅ

2008年11月17日 星期一

卞之琳譯Logan Pearsall Smith

Wikipedia article "Logan Pearsall Smith".
這一家人也相當特別

讀卞之琳譯文集 才知道
什麼是功力
我特別選有Hamlet的兩則
比較有趣的是西方的這些神話 是否可以用 無常 定數與星宿等翻譯之


_The Great Work_


Sitting, pen in hand, alone in the stillness of the library,
with flies droning behind the sunny blinds, I considered in my
thoughts what should be the subject of my great Work. Should I
complain against the mutability of Fortune, and impugn Fate and
the Constellations; or should I reprehend the never-satisfied
heart of querulous Man, drawing elegant contrasts between the
unsullied snow of mountains, the serene shining of stars, and
our hot, feverish lives and foolish repinings? Or should I
confine myself to denouncing contemporary Vices, crying "Fie!"
on the Age with Hamlet, sternly unmasking its hypocrisies, and
riddling through and through its comfortable Optimisms?

Or with Job, should I question the Universe, and puzzle my sad
brains about Life--the meaning of Life on this apple-shaped
Planet?


PHRASES

Is there, after all, any solace like the solace and consolation of Language? When I am disconcerted by the unpleasing aspects of existence, when for me, as for Hamlet, this fair creation turns to dust and stubble, it is not in Metaphysics nor in Religion that I seek reassurance, but in fine phrases. The thought of gazing on life's Evening Star makes of ugly old age a pleasing prospect; if I call Death mighty and unpersuaded, it has no terrors for me; I am perfectly content to be cut down as a flower, to flee as a shadow, to be swallowed like a snowflake on the sea. These similes soothe and effectually console me. I am sad only at the thought that Words must perish like all things mortal; that the most perfect metaphors must be forgotten when the human race is dust.

'But the iniquity of Oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy.'

2008年11月15日 星期六

番地 gird (up) (one's) loins

idiom:

gird (up) (one's) loins

  1. To summon up one's inner resources in preparation for action.
這種說法可能出自"出埃及記"中第十二章
注意 諸如 "大陸英漢辭典" 在 gird和 loin兩字對此的翻譯是"不一致的" gird, undergird, empty, gird yourself



"番地" 就是門號 解釋成block是望字生義

番地

2008年11月10日 星期一

open house

"...

2001年創辦、每年在9月中旬舉辦的倫敦建築日「Open House(打開房子)」,最能代表這種開放精神。「Open House」每年選出數百棟擁有好設計的倫敦建築,央請業主打開大門,讓市民和遊客一窺堂奧。這趟免費的建築之旅還會請來設計者親自導覽,讓建築師和市民 對話交流。

「Open House」由民間組織Open House籌辦,他們的宣言是「打開大門、眼睛以及心靈,便會看到好的設計」。Open House不只打開倫敦人的心靈,也成為倫敦最具特色的建築嘉年華,吸引大批外地遊客;熱門建築如市政廳,排隊人龍可以圍成好幾圈。

..."

上文
open house翻譯很差
參考

open house (くだけた)自宅開放パーティー形式; 参観自由.

2008年11月2日 星期日

午睡  ◎林修二

huginx_m - 翻譯 |
午睡  ◎林修二


花與花之間被吊起了
光的網床
在那之中
天使們正午睡
微風擺盪著
透明的夢


1935.8月
發表於《台灣新聞‧文藝欄》



註:「光的網床」一詞乃沿用陳千武先生的翻譯。我覺得直譯「吊床」過於突顯功能性,確實遠不如能生動表現花間光影交織意象的「網床」。


****
A Siesta
by Lin Hsiu-erh

Slung between flowers
a hammock of light.
Inside
angels nap.
The breeze swings
a crystal dream.

1935

Translated by K. C. Tu and Robert Backus

林修二集