Wednesday, July 1, 2009

第21届韩素音青年翻译竞赛 汉译英 可贵的“他人意识” (未获奖作品)

立此存照,到时候看看与范文的差距到底有多大.

可贵的“他人意识”
The Precious “Consciousness of Others”

上世纪中叶的中国式“集体主义”,自从在世纪末之前,逐渐分解以及还原为对个人和个体的尊重,初步建立起个人的权益保障系统之后,“我们”——这个在计划 经济时代使用频率极高的词,已被更为普遍的"我"所代替。
The Chinese style “collectivism” of the middle of the last century had broken up by the end of the century and returned to the respect for individuals and individual entities. Since the moment when a system that safeguards individuals’ rights and interests was preliminarily established, the term ‘we’ – a frequently used word during the era of planned economy – has been replaced by the more commonly used ‘I’.

我喜欢说“我”,也因此欣赏其他的那些“我”。如果没有“我”的确立,没有无数“我”的合作,“ 我们”必定是空洞、脆弱、空心化以至于不堪一击的。
I like to use “I” and therefore also appreciate the other ‘I’s. Had there not been the recognition of ‘I’ or the cooperation among the countless ‘I’s, the ‘we’ would inevitably be empty, fragile, like a hollow shell that can be destroyed by a single blow.

然而,在“我”和“我们”之间,是以“他人”作为连接点的。“我”因“他人”而成为“我”;“我们”因“他人”而成为“我们”。当“我们”过度地强化、放 大“我”,而舍弃“他人”的时候,“我”便处于四面受敌的孤立无援之中。
Nevertheless, between the ‘I’ and the ‘we’, there is the concept of the ‘others’ to connect the two. It is because of the existence of the ‘others’ that the ‘I’ becomes ‘I’ and the ‘we’ becomes ‘we’. When we excessively intensify and amplify the ‘I’ and overlook the ‘others’, the ‘I’ will be left in a besieged and isolated position.

在我们的传统习性中,“他人”这一概念,更多的情况下,只是一种被供奉的虚设牌 位。我们的成语中曾有“以邻为睿”一词,可以佐证;有“只扫自家门前雪,哪管他人瓦上霜”的谚语,可以证言。
In our culture, the idea of the ‘others’, under most circumstances, is merely a tablet of the dead only being worshiped at important occasions. This is evidenced by the Chinese idiom that “to use your neighboring country as a ditch to divert the floods” and it is also evidenced by another Chinese saying that “people sweep away the snow at their own doorsteps only, and couldn’t care less about the snow accumulated on the tiles of other homes.”

即便在集体主义理想教育最为鼎盛之时,“他人 ”不仅未能成为国人的自觉意识,“他人”反而意味着告密、背叛、异己、危险、离间等等。这种体制下的集体主义文化,终于导致了“他人即地狱”的严酷后果。 闻“他人”而心颤,近“他人”而丧胆。
Even at the peak of the moral education of collectivism, the idea of the ‘others’ did not become spontaneously conscious in the Chinese people. Instead, it was often associated with tattle-telling, betrayals, alienations, dangers and estrangements, etc. The collectivism under such a system had eventually led to the devastating result of “Hell is other people,” where the ‘others’ became a fearful term that terrified everyone.

 也许正是由于对“他人”的恐惧,“文革”之后,“我们”迅速土崩瓦解,“我”自仰天长啸——而“他人”却不得不退出 公众的视线,淡化为一个可有可无的虚词,成为公民道德的模糊地带。
It was probably because of this fear of the ‘others’ that after the Cultural Revolution, the concept of the ‘we’ immediately collapsed and the ‘I’ became the dominating and prevalent idea, while the concept of the ‘others’ has retreated from the public eye and been reduced to an insignificant empty word and become a vague area of civil morality.

五十年代以来,人口的高速增长,造成生存空间的高密度化;人口压力长期形成经济发展与卫生保健的沉重负担;部分农村以及偏远地区的计划生育仍然阻力重重。 “我”生我的娃,关你什么样事?在人口问题上,可有“他人”的意识么?
With the exponential population growth since the 1950’s, the living space of the Chinese people has been extremely reduced: the excessive population growth has been a heavy burden to economic development and public health for a long time, whereas the promotion of family planning is still facing strong resistance in the rural and less developed areas. ‘I’ raise my own children; mind your own business! Do people have the consciousness of the ‘others’ over the population issue?

餐馆大肆收购、杀戮、烹煮野生动物为牟取暴利;食客面不改色食用野生动物以饱“口福 ”或炫耀财富;官吏不惜以野生珍稀动物作为最高规格的宴席;“贿赂”上级领导为自己铺设升官晋级的阶梯——在这个破坏自然生态的“人链”中,可有“他人” 的位置么?
Restaurants profiteer through the procurement and mass killing of wild animals and by selling them to their patrons, who enjoy the exotic parts of wild animals not only as delicacies but also a way to show off their great fortunes; officials outrageously pick wild and endangered animals to embellish the extravagant banquets that are used to bribe their superiors in order to climb up the ladder – in such an environmentally destructive chain, has anybody ever considered the ‘others’?

长期以来,城市与乡村的公共卫生系统始终没有得到真正重视:办公室的脏乱差、公共场所的日常消毒防护、公共厕所的洗手设备、污水处理、生活垃圾 等等。但公共卫生的管理者与被管理者的心态,却有着惊人的共识:这又不是我一个人的事情。在这些被忽略的公共卫生死角中,可有“他人”的概念?
For a long time, the public health system in both urban and rural areas has never really been accorded sufficient attention: the unsanitary and disarrayed offices, the maintenance and the lack of disinfection of the public areas, the washing facilities in public restrooms, the treatment of wastewater and the disposal of household trash, etc. However, the regulators and regulatees of public health share a surprisingly similar mentality: this is not just my problem. Is there any consciousness of the ‘others’ at these forgotten corners of public health?

日积累月的 民众生活卫生习惯中,沉淀下多少恶习陋性——随地吐痰、随地大小便、随地抛弃果皮塑料袋、就餐分餐制难以推行、酒后驾车、公共场所吸烟等等……“我们”的 传统文化是“不患寡,患不均”——在这利益与灾祸均享均沾、“同甘共苦”的行为惯性中,可有愿为“他人”避免灾祸而自控自律的一份责任感?
How many despicable unhealthy habits have been passed down generations after generations – littering, spiting, urinating and defecating at inappropriate public areas, the resistance towards individual meal servings, driving under the influence, public smoking and so forth…our culture has a traditional egalitarian philosophy that “even distribution trumps poverty” – in such a behavioral inertia of “sharing the loss and gain” and “sticking together through thick and thin,” can you find a sense of responsibility of restraining himself for the sake of the others?

 我们似乎一直在无意中铺设着迎接它到来的无障碍通道。然而,在公共领域里,“零距离”是有害的。距离便是“他人”,而“他人”即社会公德。因为在这个世界 上,除了“你”和“我”之外,地球上更多存在的是陌生的“他”——“他人”,还有“它”——与人类共存的动物朋友们。
 It seems we have been unconsciously clearing out a way as a preparation to welcome an age of ‘zero distance’. Nevertheless, in the public domain, ‘zero distance’ is actually harmful. Distance is all about ‘others’, and ‘others’ means civic etiquette. That is because on this planet, aside from the ‘you’ and the ‘I’, there are many more unknown ‘he’s and ‘she’s – ‘other people’, as well as ‘it’s – the dear animal friends who cohabit with us.

 正是为了“我”的安全与自由,请不要 再“唯我独尊”,而多些对“他人”的关爱吧。“我”的自由是他人自由的终结。而他人的自由,最终才能成全“我”的自由。
It is for the sake of our own safety and freedom that we should not be ‘self-centric’ or ‘anthrocentric’ and acknowledge and show our concerns and affections for the ‘others’. The unrestrained freedom of the ‘I’ will inevitably deprive the freedom of the ‘others’. Only with all the ‘others’ having their freedom, then the freedom of the ‘I’ will finally be complete.