P175-P187——牛睿译
反对“疫病”
正如我们在第一章所看到的,如果一个名词是空洞的或多余的,就可以简单地将其删除。然而,如果它承载的意义的一个必要元件,译者就必须到其他的方式处理它。
通常的解决办法是转变名词的词性。接下来我们来看看转变词性的三种方式。如果这三种都不可行,下面还有一个有效的方法可以选用。
1、用动词提代名词
      这是最常用也是最先可以考虑使用的策略。我们在第一章的开始就已经反复使用这个方法来处理“多余的动词+名词结构”(“make an improvement”= “improve”)method形容词
      这个方式还适用于很多情况。例如:
      A: Adherence to Marxism is vital to China, and so is adherence to socialism.
      B: It is vital for us to adhere to Marxism and socialism.
      (坚持马克思主义和社会主义是至关重要的。)
      A: otherwise, there can be no achievements in our work
      B: otherwise, we can achieve nothing
      (否则,我们将一事无成)
  A: such behavior on the part of leading cadres will encourage extravagance
  B: if leading cadres behave that way, they will encourage extravagance
  (领导干部的如此行为方式将会带动铺张浪费)
  A: reading of newly published materials is also important
  B: it is also important to read newly published materials
  (阅读最新发布的材料也是很重要的)
2、用动名词替代名词
      回忆你所学过的语法知识,动名词是动词的“-ing”形式作名词。上文的例子中,“reading”就是动名词,副标题中的 “replacing”也是动名词。
      动名词同时具有动词和名词的词性。就像名词一样,也会显得多余和尴尬,所以我们将 “reading”变为 “to read”。但动名词也继承了其根动词的优点。动名词可以像动词一样赋予呆板又毫无生气的句子以活力。而且像动词一样,动名词也可以阐明意义,需要作者写出主语或者直接宾语,也就是说,明白地说出是谁在做什么。
      由于这些原因,用动名词替代名词是很有用的,比如下面的这些例子:
      A: economic revitalization will be an arduous task
      B: revitalizing the economy will be an arduous task
      (经济复苏将是一项艰巨的任务)
      A: the company began its issuance of 100 million foreign currency B shares yesterday
      B: the company began issuing 100 million foreign currency B shares yesterday
      (该公司昨天开始发行1亿外汇B股)
      A: we shall transform the national bourgeoisie through cooperation with it
      B: we shall transform the national bourgeoisie by cooperating with it
      (我们应该通过合作来改造民族资产阶级)
      A: we have to concentrate our efforts on agricultural reinforcement
      B: we have to concentrate on strengthening agriculture
      [Review: "Efforts" was eliminated because it is understood in "concentrate."]
      (我们要集中力量促进农业生产)
      【注:删掉“efforts”是因为“concentrate”已经包含这层意思。】
3、用形容词或副词替代名词
  有时,用一个形容词(或者一个动词和形容词)或者仅用一个副词来替代名词就可以达到不错的效果:
  A: this accounts for the unsoundness in organization of these enterprises
  B: this accounts for the poor organization of these enterprises
  (这导致这些企业的组织不力)
  A: silk undershirts are rich in elasticity
  B: silk undershirts are (highly) elastic
  (丝绸的汗衫有很大的弹力(弹性很好))
  A: facts will prove the correctness of these policies
  B: facts will prove that these policies are correct
  (事情会证明这些政策是正确的)
  A: we must guard against blindness in action
  B: we must guard against acting blindly
  [Note that the second noun, "action," has been replaced by the gerund "acting."]
  (我们必须防止盲目行动)
  【注意动名词 “acting”替代了A句中第二个名词“action”。】
可选方案:“解释出来”
    有时名词结构很简明扼要或者语义含糊,所以会需要变换多种形式来才能形成一句意思明了的英语。这种情况下,译者可能要引入一些新词来“解释出”其意义:
    A: The practice of indiscriminate abolition tallies with neither Mao Zedong Thought nor the scientific method.
    B: Abolishing all rules indiscriminately is not consistent either with Mao Zedong Thought or with the scientific method.
    [Review: "The practice of" is only a useless category noun.]
    (任意废除任何规章制度与思想和科学方法。)
        【注: “the practice of”在这里是没有意义的类别名词。】
        A: A Beijing computer newspaper even makes the point that China is entering a PC era that is going to be characterized by the dominance of national brands.
        B: A Beijing computer newspaper even makes the point that China is entering a PC era in which national brands will dominate the market.
        (北京某电脑报提出,中国正要进入一个由国产品牌主导市场的PC(个人电脑)时代。)
        A: Can anyone imagine that Hong Kong is free from obstacles or sabotaging forces?
        B: Can anyone imagine that there are no forces in Hong Kong that might engage in obstruction or sabotage?
        (谁能想象没有阻碍和破坏香港的势力存在?)
        A: it is important to give full scope to the role of experts
        B: it is important to take full advantage of the knowledge and abilities of experts
        (充分利用专家的知识和能力储备是很重要的)
        当然,任何时候你要在英文版本里添加一个在中文版本里并不明确的单词时,你必须要特别小心,保证你对原文的解释是正确的。
“疫病”的特殊形式
过度使用名词中有一种特殊的形式需要特别考虑。把名词当作形容词使用修饰其他名词是一种趋势。
名词作形容词使用
首先,应该承认,英语中名词作形容词使用是完全合理的。没有比直接说an army officer
军官), the street corner(街角)drug addiction(毒瘾)an income tax(所得税)更加自然的了。这样简洁的词组意义一目了然。没有人会认为有必要使用介词来对这些词组进行修改:"an officer in the army," "the corner of the street," "addiction to drugs," or "a tax on income."