阿米爾·汗可以說是中國觀眾比較熟悉的一個印度演員了，他主演的《三傻大鬧寶萊塢》、《我的個神啊》、《摔跤吧爸爸》和《神秘巨星》等電影，在國內(nèi)都取得了口碑票房雙豐收的好成績。而這些影片也因為真實的表達(dá)感動了很多人，讓人深受觸動。加上阿米爾·汗曾經(jīng)做過一個非常良心的節(jié)目《真相訪談》，通過這個節(jié)目推動了印度國會通過兒童保護(hù)法案，被稱為印度的“良心”。
沒想到這樣一位看起來與武俠毫不相關(guān)的印度演員，居然表示喜歡中國的武俠小說《鹿鼎記》。他可不是說說而已，還是位重度金庸迷，并自曝為了看《鹿鼎記》，晚上竟然只睡了兩個小時！
最近，阿米爾·汗亮相北京的”太湖論壇“，和大家一起交流中國文化。在談話中，他再次向大家介紹他喜歡的中國小說，英文名字叫《The Deer and the Cauldron》。
看過采訪視頻后，不少網(wǎng)友吐槽：這部小說的書名翻譯真的是小學(xué)生水平，《The Deer and the Cauldron》直譯過來就是《鹿與大鍋》，跟《鹿鼎記》想要表達(dá)的意思差太遠(yuǎn)了。
那么，真的是這樣嗎？
首先要說，《鹿鼎記》的英文版書籍《The Deer and the Cauldron》其實受到很高的評價。
莊繹傳教授在《翻譯漫談》中這樣介紹《The Deer and the Cauldron》：
最近看到牛津大學(xué)出版社1997年出版的一本書，題目是《The Deer And the Cauldron》，作者是Louis Cha，譯者是John Minford。
這位譯者，雖不認(rèn)識，卻很熟悉，因為讀過他和David Hawkes合譯的《The Story of the Stone》（《紅樓夢》）。我還知道他在香港理工大學(xué)（Hong Kong Polytechnic University）任教。
但我沒有想到他又將這本書譯成了英文，把書打開一看，我立刻被那流暢的譯文吸引住了，句子都是地道的英文。
英國漢學(xué)家約翰·閔福德（John Minford）
《鹿鼎記》由英國漢學(xué)家約翰·閔福德（John Minford）翻譯，這位譯者有著豐富的中國典籍英譯經(jīng)驗，他曾經(jīng)把中國古典名著，如《紅樓夢》（后四十回）、《孫子兵法》等譯成英語。
相較于大部分武俠小說英譯本所受到的冷落，《鹿鼎記》的英譯本一經(jīng)面世就在中西方讀者中獲得不錯的反響，金庸對這一譯本也比較滿意。
那為什么把《鹿鼎記》的書名直譯為《The Deer and the Cauldron》呢？
原來，“鹿鼎”這兩個字，乍看沒有什么聯(lián)系和實質(zhì)含義，但是細(xì)究起來，每個字的意思都很高深，無法略譯或者意譯。
金庸在本書第一回《人為刀俎》中解釋了“鹿”“鼎”兩個字的含義，用兩個成語概括就是：
“鹿”
“群雄逐鹿”
“鼎”
“問鼎天下”
在本書第一回，金庸借一文人和一孩童之口，解釋了“群雄”逐的為什么是“鹿”？
鹿這種野獸，雖是龐然大物，性子卻極為和平，只吃青草樹葉，從來不傷害別的野獸。兇猛的野獸要傷害它，它只有逃跑，倘若逃不了，那只有給人家吃了。
The deer is a wild animal, but although it is comparatively large, it has a very peaceable nature. It eats only grass and leaves and never harms other animals. So when other animals want to hurt it or to eat it, all it can do is run away. If it can't escape by running away, it gets eaten.
世上的百姓，都是溫順善良，只有給人欺壓殘害的份兒，鹿的特征都和封建時期的老百姓非常相似，是受欺壓、迫害的對象，所以古人就以鹿比喻天下百姓，漸漸就比喻成天下。
漢書上說：“秦失其鹿，天下共逐之?！?/span>
In the History of the Han Dynasty it says 'Qin lost the deer and the world went chasing after it'.
那就是說，秦朝失了天下，群雄并起，大家爭奪，最後漢高祖打敗了楚霸王，就得了只又肥又大的鹿。
That means that when the Qin Emperor lost control of the Empire, ambitious men rose up everywhere and fought each other to possess it. In the end it was the first Han Emperor who got this big, fat deer by defeating the Tyrant King of Chu.
所以“逐鹿中原”（chase the deer on the Central Plain），就是大家爭著當(dāng)皇帝（fight each other to become Emperor）的意思。
乾隆逐鹿
“鹿”是指天下，那么“鼎”又是什么意思呢？
金庸這樣寫道：
夏禹王收九州之金，鑄了九口大鼎，每一口鼎上鑄了九州的名字和山川圖形，後世為天下之主的，便保有九鼎。
King Yu of the Xia dynasty, the first dynasty that ever was, collected metal from all the nine provinces of the Empire and used it to cast nine great cauldrons with. 'Metal' in those days meant bronze. Each of these bronze cauldrons had the name of one of the nine provinces on it and a map showing the mountains and rivers of that province. In later times whoever became master of the Empire automatically became the guardian of these cauldrons.
夏禹王制九鼎，上鑄九州山川，“鼎”就變成了江山和政權(quán)的象征，因此后世為天下之主的，才能保有九鼎。如果有人要“問鼎”，便是心存不軌。
左傳上有這么一個故事：楚子觀兵於周疆。定王使王孫滿勞楚子。楚子問鼎之大小輕重焉。
In The Chronicle of Zuo it says that when the Viscount of Chu was reviewing his troops on Zhou territory and the Zhou king sent Prince Man to him with his royal compliments, the Viscount questioned Prince Man about the size and weight of the cauldrons.
只有天下之主，方能保有九鼎。楚子只是楚國的諸侯，他問鼎的輕重大小，便是心存不軌，想取周王之位而代之。
Of course, as ruler of the whole Empire, only the Zhou king had the right to be guardian of the cauldrons. For a mere Viscount like the ruler of Chu to ask questions about them showed that he was planning to seize the Empire for himself.
《晉書·王敦傳》因而也云：“有問鼎之心，帝畏而惡之。”“問鼎”成了“篡奪”的替代詞。
所以“鼎”是不能隨便問的，問了就是居心不良。
因為這幾個典故，“逐鹿”、“問鼎”，便指代“想做皇帝”。“未知鹿死誰手”，就是不知哪一個做成了皇帝。
直接看書名，外國讀者可能有點懵，但是看完第一回之后，他們一定能和中國讀者一樣，理解deer和cauldron背后的含義。
不過遺憾的是，西方并沒有“鼎”的對應(yīng)說法，cauldron在英文中指的是 a large metal pot with a lid and handle, used for cooking over an open fire.
就是一口帶提手的大鍋
Anyway，這可能就是不可譯性帶來的一點點“翻譯中的遺憾”吧。
有意思的是，電影《鹿鼎記》英文片名譯為Royal Teamp，也有不少外國友人表示，皇家也有流浪漢？
這一點，你注意到了嗎？
說了這么多，不妨一起來看看《鹿鼎記》的開場，細(xì)細(xì)研讀一番。
鹿鼎記
The Deer and the Cauldron
北風(fēng)如刀，滿地冰霜。江南近海濱的一條大路上，一隊清兵手執(zhí)刀槍，押著七輛囚車，沖風(fēng)冒寒，向北而行。前面三輛囚車中分別監(jiān)禁的是三個男子，都作書生打扮，一個是白發(fā)老者，兩個是中年人。后面四輛囚車中坐的是女子，最后一輛囚車中是個少婦，懷中抱著個女嬰，女嬰啼哭不休。她母親溫言相呵，女嬰只是大哭。囚車旁一清兵惱了，伸腿在車上踢了一腳，喝道：“再哭，再哭，老子踢死你！”那女嬰一驚，哭得更加響了。
Along a coastal road somewhere south of the Yangtze River, a detachment of soldiers, each of them armed with a halberd, was escorting a line of seven prison carts, trudging northwards in the teeth of a bitter wind. In each of the first three carts a single male prisoner was caged, identifiable by his dress as a member of the scholar class. One was a white-haired old man. The other two were men of middle years. The four rear carts were occupied by women, the last of them by a young mother holding a baby girl at her breast. The little girl was crying in a continuous wail which her mother's gentle words of comfort were powerless to console. One of the soldiers marching alongside, irritated by the baby's crying, aimed a mighty kick at the cart. 'Stop it! Shut up! Or I'll really give you something to cry about!' The baby, startled by this sudden violence, cried even louder.
離開道路數(shù)十丈處有座大屋，屋檐下站著一個中年文士，一個十一二歲的小孩。那文士見到這等情景，不禁長嘆一聲，眼眶也紅了，說道：“可憐，可憐！”
Under the eaves of a large house, some hundred yards from the road, a middle-aged scholar was standing with a ten- or eleven-year-old boy at his side. He was evidently affected by this little scene, for a groan escaped his lips and he appeared to be very close to tears. 'Poor creatures!' he murmured to himself.
那小孩問道：“爹爹，他們犯了什么罪？”那文士道：“又犯了什么罪？昨日和今朝已逮去了三十幾人，都是我們浙江有名的讀書人，個個都是無辜株連?！彼f到“無辜株連”四子，聲音壓得甚低，生怕給押囚車的官兵聽見了。
'Papa,' said the little boy, 'what have they done wrong?' 'What indeed!' said the man, bitterly. 'During these last two days they must have made more than thirty arrests. All our best scholars. And all of them innocents, caught up in the net,' he added in an undertone, for fear that the soldiers might hear him.
那小孩道：“那個小女孩還在吃奶，難道也犯了罪么？真沒道理。”那文士道：“你懂得官兵沒道理，真是好孩子?？?，人為刀俎，我為魚肉，人為鼎鍋，我為麋鹿！”
That girl's only a baby,' said the boy. 'What can she possibly be guilty of? It's very wrong.' 'So you understand that what the Government soldiers do is wrong,' said the man. 'Good for you, my son!' He sighed. They are the cleaver and we are the meat. They are the cauldron and we are the deer.'
那小孩道：“爹，你前幾天教過我。人為刀俎，我為魚肉，就是給人家斬割屠殺的意思。人家是切菜刀，是鐵板，我們就是魚和肉。“人為鼎鍋，我為麋鹿”這兩句話，意思也差不多么？”那文士道：“正是！”眼見官兵和囚車已經(jīng)去遠(yuǎn)，拉著小孩的手道：“外面風(fēng)大，我們回屋里去?！碑?dāng)下父子二人走進(jìn)書房。
'You explained 'they are the cleaver and we are the meat' the other day, papa,' said the boy. 'It's what they say when people are massacred or beheaded. Like meat or fish being sliced up on the chopping-board. Does 'they are the cauldron and we are the deer' mean the same thing?' 'Yes, more or less,' said the man; and since the train of soldiers and prison carts was now fast receding, he took the boy by the hand. 'Let's go indoors now,' he said. 'It's too windy for standing outside.' Indoors the two of them went, and into his study.
那文士提筆醮上了墨，在紙上寫了個“鹿”字，說道：“鹿這種野獸，雖是龐然大物，性子卻極為平和，只吃青草和樹葉，從來不傷害別的野獸。兇猛的野獸要傷它吃它，它只有逃跑。倘若逃不了，那只有給人家吃了?！庇謱懥恕爸鹇埂眱勺?，說道：“因此古人常常拿鹿來比喻天下。世上百姓都溫順善良，只有給人欺壓殘害的份兒?！稘h書》上說：“秦失其鹿，天下共逐之?！蹦蔷褪钦f，秦朝失了天下，群雄并起，大家爭奪，最后漢高祖打敗了楚霸王，就得了這只又肥又大的鹿。”
The man picked up a writing-brush and moistened it on the ink-slab, then, on a sheet of paper, he wrote the character for a deer. 'The deer is a wild animal, but although it is comparatively large, it has a very peaceable nature. It eats only grass and leaves and never harms other animals. So when other animals want to hurt it or to eat it, all it can do is run away. If it can't escape by running away, it gets eaten.' He wrote the characters for 'chasing the deer' on the sheet of paper. 'That's why in ancient times they often used the deer as a symbol of Empire. The common people, who are the subjects of Empire, are gentle and obedient. Like the deer's, it is their lot to be cruelly treated and oppressed. In the History of the Han Dynasty it says 'Qin lost the deer and the world went chasing after it'. That means that when the Qin Emperor lost control of the Empire, ambitious men rose up everywhere and fought each other to possess it. In the end it was the first Han Emperor who got this big, fat deer by defeating the Tyrant King of Chu.'
小孩點頭道：“我明白了。小說書上說“逐鹿中原”，就是大家爭著要作皇帝的意思?！蹦俏氖可跏窍矚g，點了點頭，在紙上畫了一只鼎的圖形，道：“古人煮食，不用灶頭鍋子，用這樣三只腳的鼎，下面燒柴，捉到了鹿，就在鼎里煮來吃?；实酆痛蠊俣己軞埲蹋睦锊幌矚g誰，就說他犯了罪，把他放在鼎里活活煮熟?！妒酚洝酚涊d藺相如對秦王說：‘臣知欺大王之罪當(dāng)誅也，臣請就鼎鍋?！褪钦f：‘我該死，將我在鼎里燒死了罷！’”
'I know,' said the boy. 'In my story-books it says 'they chased the deer on the Central Plain'. That means they were all fighting each other to become Emperor.' The scholar nodded, pleased with his young son's astuteness. He drew a picture of a cauldron on the sheet of paper. 'In olden times they didn't use a cooking-pot on the stove to cook their food in, they used a three-legged cauldron like this and lit a fire underneath it. When they caught a deer they put it in a cauldron to seethe it. Those ancient Emperors and great ministers were very cruel. If they didn't like somebody, they would pretend that they had committed some crime or other, and then they would put them in a cauldron and boil them. In the Records of an Historian Lin Xiangru says to the King of Qin, 'Deceiving Your Majesty was a capital offence. I beg to approach the cauldron.' What he meant was, 'I deserve to die. Put me in the cauldron and boil me.''
那小孩道：“小說書上又常說‘問鼎中原’，這跟‘逐鹿中原’好象意思差不多?！?/span>
'Often in my story-books I've seen the words 'asking about the cauldrons in the Central Plain',' said the boy. 'It seems to mean the same thing as 'chasing the deer in the Central Plain'.'
那文士道：“不錯。夏禹王收九州之金，鑄了九大鼎。當(dāng)時所謂的“金”其實是銅。每一口鼎上鑄了九州的名字和山川圖形，后世為天下之主的，便保有九鼎。《左傳》上說：“楚子觀兵于周疆。定王使王孫滿勞楚子。楚子只是楚國的諸侯，他問鼎的輕重大小，便是心存不軌，想取周王之位而代之。”
'It does,' said the man. 'King Yu of the Xia dynasty, the first dynasty that ever was, collected metal from all the nine provinces of the Empire and used it to cast nine great cauldrons with. 'Metal' in those days meant bronze. Each of these bronze cauldrons had the name of one of the nine provinces on it and a map showing the mountains and rivers of that province. In later times whoever became master of the Empire automatically became the guardian of these cauldrons. In The Chronicle of Zuo it says that when the Viscount of Chu was reviewing his troops on Zhou territory and the Zhou king sent Prince Man to him with his royal compliments, the Viscount questioned Prince Man about the size and weight of the cauldrons. Of course, as ruler of the whole Empire, only the Zhou king had the right to be guardian of the cauldrons. For a mere Viscount like the ruler of Chu to ask questions about them showed that he was planning to seize the Empire for himself.'
那小孩道：“所以‘問鼎’、‘逐鹿’便是想做皇帝?！粗顾勒l手’，就是不知哪一個做成了皇帝?！?/span>
'So 'asking about the cauldrons' and 'chasing the deer' both mean wanting to be Emperor, ' said the boy. 'And 'not knowing who will kill the deer' means not knowing who is going to be Emperor.'
那文士道：“正是。到得后來，問鼎逐鹿，這四個字，也可借用于別處，但原來的出典，是專指做皇帝而言?！闭f到這里，嘆了口氣，道：“咱們做百姓的，總是死路一條。‘未知鹿死誰手’，只不過未知是誰來殺了這頭鹿，這頭鹿，卻是死定了的?！?/span>
'That's right,' said the man. 'As time went by these expressions came to be applied to other situations as well, but originally they were only used in the sense of wanting to be Emperor.' He sighed. 'For the common people though, the subjects of Empire, our role is to be the deer. It may be uncertain who will kill the deer, but the deer gets killed all right. There's no uncertainty about that.'
他說著走到窗邊，向窗外望去。只見天色沉沉的，似要下雪，嘆道：“老天爺何其不仁，數(shù)百個無辜之人，在這冰霜遍地的道上行走，下起雪來，可又多受一番折磨了?！?/span>
He walked over to the window and gazed outside. The sky had now turned a leaden hue showing that snow was on its way. He sighed again, 'He must be a cruel God up there. Those hundreds of poor, innocent souls on the roads in this freezing weather. The snow will only add to their sufferings.'
內(nèi)容及圖片來源：中譯公司、阡陌興致、金庸著閔福德編譯。
