词语翻译与语言语境（3）
As a story goes in the mid 1950s there lived in a hamlet over the other side of the gully a maiden who was in protest against her parents' dictatorially arranged marriage escaped in broad daylight across the gully, slipped into this hut -- and hanged herself! There was no ceiling, only crooked, bare rafters overhead, conveniently accessible for a rope to hang from. A most suitable place, indeed, for such a purpose.
(张贤亮《男人的一半是女人》，许孟雄译)
“好地方”原本是一个褒义词，流露出说话人自豪、赞扬的感情色彩，如歌曲名《咱们新疆好地方》。然而，当“好地方”与“上吊”搭配在一起时，“好地方”褒义的感情色彩消失，因此绝不能译作a good place或是a perfect place，否则岂不成了幸灾乐祸?译者将“好地方”用中性词组a most suitable place来表达，恰如其分地反映出作者隐藏在平静的叙述背后的惋惜和愤懑。
(3)我在学校读书的时候，有所谓“强迫运动”，我踢破过几双球鞋，打断过几只球拍。因此侥幸维持下来最低限度的体力。
In my school days, in response to the so-called "compulsory physical exercises", i went in for many sports at the expense of many pairs of sneakers and rackets, thus luckily building up a minimum of good physique.
(梁实秋《时间即生命》，张培基译)
forced和coercive都是汉英词典中队“强迫”一词给出的常见译法，但在翻译此例时不可机械地套用字典是这两个现成的译法。根据《朗文当代英语词典》(Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English，1995年修订版，以下简称LDCE)的解释，forced指done unwillingly and with effort, not because of any sincere felling，而coercive意为using threats or orders to make someone do something they do not want to do。从词典的释义可以看出，forced和coercive都含有“受到威胁而被迫所作”之意。在原文的语言环境中，“强迫”一词加上了引号，且与“学校”、“运动”和“所谓”等词同时出现，而上下文中又提到作者积极参与其中，还用坏了许多体育用品。结合词语所在的语言环境，不难看出“强迫”在原文中显然并不具有“受到胁迫”这一本意，而是指学校规定的、要求学生参加的、为增强学生体质而开展的体育运动。从这个例子可以看出盲从词典的害处。词典不可不用，但也绝不可生搬硬套，否则译文难免与原文意旨相讹。
