顺序法
顺序法翻译不改变原文表达语序,不会影响对原文内容的理解。
例1 即使在我们关掉床头灯甜甜地进入梦乡时,电仍然为我们工作:开动电冰箱,把水加热,或使室内空调机继续运转。
译文: Even when we turn off the bedside lamp and are fast asleep , electricity is working for us, driving our refrigerators, heating our water, or keeping our rooms air-conditioned.
在句子中,句子前半部分是一个让步状语从句,后半句的"开动","加热","使......运转"都是"电在为我们工作"的具体内容。因而在译文中,译者将这三个并行动作处理成了V-ing 形式,补充说明working的内容。译文按照原句的语序完全传达了原文的意思,采用顺序法翻译,达到了"精确,通顺"的目的。
例2 It was a Saturday evening, when Tom was lying on the bench of the school listening to a blackbird and composing a lyric, that he saw the girls running among the trees, with the red-cheeked Joe in swift pursuit.
译文: 那是周六的傍晚,汤姆正躺在学校的长凳上,一面听画眉鸟唱歌,一面写一首抒情诗,忽然看见女孩子们在树林里奔跑,后面紧跟着那红脸的乔。
原句里一连串出现了一系列的动词如:lying, listening, composing, saw,这是按汤姆进行这些动作的先后顺序来描述的,如果在译文中打乱这些顺序,就反而会显得凌乱,没有逻辑。
逆序法
逆序法根据目标语使用者表达习惯与目标语读者的认知能力,按原文语序反向翻译,以便更好地传达原文的内容。
例3 他经常做礼拜的时候,总坐在固定的座位上,可是那天他们发现他不坐在老地方。
请读者比较下面两句译文,你认为哪一句较好?
译文1:When he attended worship, he always took a certain seat, but they found that he took a different one that day.
译文2:They remarked how he took a different seat from that which he usually occupied when he chose to attend worship.
两种译文都忠实传达了原文内容。第一种为顺序翻译,第二种为逆序翻译。第一种显得有些冗长拖沓,且前后简单句主语不一致(前半句主语为he,后半句主语是they),给人表述混乱之感。第二种由于采用了逆序法将原句意思用一个复合句表达出来,内容清晰,结构紧凑。
顺序法和逆序法主要是针对翻译长句而言,作为翻译策略之一,应有所了解。