故事一
一对中国夫妇邀请几位外国同事来家里做客,某译员陪同前往。客人进屋后,男主人出于中国人典型的谦虚低调习惯客套了几句。他说:“欢迎大家来我家做客,你们看,真是的,我们也没准备什么,咱们就随便吃点吧,其实也没什么好吃的,这几个菜是我夫人随便做的,不成敬意。”译员不假思索的如实翻译道:“Welcome to our home. Look , honestly , we didn’t prepare much for your coming .Let’s have something simple . Actually ,there isn’t anything good to eat , just a few dishes prepared by my wife . They are not enough to show to our respect .”几位外宾听了面面相觑,不知道该说什么。显然,主人的意思是很高兴客人的到来,并为他们准备了丰盛的食物。而翻译没有将双方的文化社会背景、表达方式以及思维方式进行转换,这样的直译反而曲解了主人的意思。这段话正确的译文为:“Welcome to our home. We are so happy that you could come . Please make yourself at home . We have prepared for you some wonderful dishes , which are my wife’s specialties . We hope you will like them.”
故事二
一批美国政府官员访问中国,就知识产权保护问题同中国地方官员举行会谈。会谈中,中方一位官员说:“几个部门都在扯皮,变成三个和尚没水吃。”译员翻译道:“All the departments are passing the buck . When there are three monks , no water is available . ”美方官员就听不明白了,怎么说着政府部门的问题,却扯到和尚的头上了。实际上,官员的意思是,官员知识产权问题很多部门都在管,但是却没有具体负责的部门。正确的译法为:“All the departments are passing the buck , and , as a saying goes , everybody’s business is nobody’s business .”这样对于外方官员来说,就很容易明白了。
对于同传来说,首先你要了解讲话人的含义,基于沟通顺畅的角度,将语言翻译成听者能够理解明白的话语。就像东方翻译院的夏老师说,打破文化差异最好的办法,就是将语言喻义翻译出来,你理解后,并把你理解的含义翻译出来,这样才能更好的达到沟通顺畅的目的。