《英汉报刊翻译常见错误》(4)

编辑:高中作文网

  4、 comes the hour, comes the woman是什么意思?

  "It was a time when the economy was a really big story, all hell was breaking loose — repossessions, unemployment, every day we had to write features news stories and do our columns," he said. "She introduced herself saying she wanted to get into journalism. I thought 'comes the hour, comes the woman' and I hired her."

  原译:他说:“当时,经济确实是大新闻,都乱了套了,重新占有啦,失业啦,每天我们都得写新闻特写和专栏。她自我介绍说,她想搞新闻。我想,‘时候一到,女人就来’,这样,我雇用了她。”

  改译:他说:“当时,经济确实是重头新闻,到处乱哄哄的,回复产权啦,失业啦,每天我们都得写新闻特写和专栏。她自我介绍说,她想搞新闻。我想,‘她来的正是时候’,这样,我就雇用她了。” 

  点评:

  1、(all)hell breaks (或is broken, 或is let)loose意为“大乱起来,闹翻天”。

  2、 repossessions译“重新占有”不明确,应改为“恢复产权”。

  3、comes the hours, comes the woman,还有另一种说法,comes the hour,comes the man,意思都一样,在这里可译为“来的正是时候”。