段落功能与意义的再现（8）

　　(19)且说黛玉那日弃舟等岸时，便有荣府打发轿子并拉行李车辆伺候。这黛玉常听得母亲说，他外祖母家与别人家不同，他近日听见这儿三等的仆妇，吃穿用度，已是不凡，何况今至其家，都要步步留心，时时在意，不要多说一句话，不可多行一步路，恐被人耻笑了去。自上了轿，进了城，从纱窗中瞧了一瞧，其街市之繁华，人烟之阜盛，自非别处可比。又行了半日，忽见街北蹲着两个大石狮子，三间兽头大门，门前列坐着十来个华冠丽服之人;正门不开，只东西两角门有人出入，正门之上有一匾，匾上大书“敕造宁国府”五个大字。

　　On the day of her arrival in the capital, Daiyu stepped ashore to find covered chairs from the Rong mansion for her and her women and a cart for the luggage ready waiting on the quay.

　　She had often heard her mother say that her Grandmother Jia's home was not like other people's houses. The servants she had been in contact with during the past few days were comparatively low-ranking ones in the domestic hierarchy, yet the food they ate, the clothes they wore, and everything about them was quite out of ordinary. Daiyu tried to imagine what the people who employed these superior beings must be like. When she arrived at their house she would have to watch every step she took and weigh every word she said, for if she put a foot wrong they would surely laugh her to scorn.

　　Daiyu got into her chair and was soon carried through the city walls. Peeping through the gauze panel which served as a window, she could see streets and buildings more rich and elegant and throngs of people more lively and numerous than she had ever seen in her life before. After being carried for what seemed a very great length of time, she saw, on the north front of the east-west street through which they were passing, two great stone lions crouched one on each side of the triple gateway whose doors were embellished with animal heads. In front of the gateway ten or so splendidly dressed flunkies sat in a row. The center of the three gates were closed, but people were going in and out of the two side ones. There was a board above the center gate on which were written in large characters the words:

　　NING-GUO HOUSE

　　Founded and Constructed by

　　Imperial Command

　　(曹雪芹《红楼梦》，David Hawkes译)

　　原文描写林黛玉初到宁国府的经过，大体上按自然的时空顺序发展，但中间插入了黛玉的心理活动。由于汉语读者可以借助意念主轴理解原文，段落通常可以包含一个以上的主题。而英语段落一般只有一个主题，语篇发展大多呈直线性。若直译成英语，按照英文读者的阅读认知心理，会显得结构混乱，造成理解上的困难。因此，译文作了调整，按照英语行文习惯，把原文部分译成英文三个段落，黛玉“常听得母亲……”的心理活动单独成段，突出原文中人物细腻的心理活动的描写。这样，译文读者不但能迅速领悟该部分为“插入内容”，更好地理解女主人公多愁善感的性格特征，同时由于行文符合英文段落结构，读者也能对整个事件的来龙去脉有清晰的了解。