句子功能的再现（4）

　　(4)①大概是物以稀为贵罢。②北京的白菜运往浙江，便用红头绳系住菜根，倒挂在水果店头，尊为“胶菜”;福建野生着的芦荟，一到北京就进温室，且美其名曰“龙舌兰”。③我到仙台也颇受了这样的优待，不但不收学费，几个职员还为我的食宿操心。

　　No doubt the rarer a thing the higher the value. When Beijing Cabbage is shipped to Zhejiang, it is hung upside-down in the green grocer’s by a red string tied to the root, and given the grand title “Shandong Vegetable”. When the aloe which grows wild in Fujian comes to Beijing, it is ushered into a hothouse and given the beautiful name "Dragon Tongue Orchid". In Sendai I too enjoyed such preferential treatment; not only did the school not ask for fees, but several members of the staff even showed great concern over my board and lodging.

　　(鲁迅《藤野先生》，杨宪益、戴乃迭译)

　　该例中几个陈述句组成一个完整的语意群。句①“物以稀为贵”是论点，句②、③白菜和芦荟来到异地以及“我”留学日本的经历是论据。译文再现了原文的信息功能，且语义相符。首先需要提出的是段首“大概”一词。“大概”这一“表示有很大可能性”的副词在此并非对“物以稀为贵”概念的推断，而是对句②、③叙述的经历当属“物以稀为贵”情况的推断。译者透彻理解原文，不用Probably (the rarer a thing ...)机械照译句①开头的“大概”，而是用No doubt取代，准确传达了原文信息。原文句②含两个复合句，句式基本为意合，译文均处理为形式严整的When ... , it is ... and ...的主从复合句。句③则译成带分号的两个并列句，语义与原文相符，句式也大致相同。