OfStudies-FrancisBacon
experience//except//Ik'spIJriJnsIk'septconfute//diligence//kJn'fju;t'dIlIdZJnsconfer//kJn'f3;FrancisBacon(1561-1626)wasanEnglishphilosopher,statesman,scientistandessayist.Heisbestknownforleadingthescientificrevolutionwithhisnew'observationandexperimentation'theorywhichisthewaysciencehasbeenconductedeversince.HeisafamousessayistandisknownasthefatheroftheEnglishessay.Hisessaysarefullofcommonsenseandepigrammaticwit.Intheessay“OfStudies”Bacontellsusaboutthewaybooksshouldbestudied.Excessindulgenceinbooksisnotgood.Books,hesays,shouldnotbestudiedtofindargumentbuttoweighdifferentargumentsinsupportofsomeidea.Booksarelikefood:enoughofitisgood;toomuchofitisunpleasant.Bookscanbeeffectiveincuringmanytypesofmentalillnesses.Sincethisessaywaspublishedin1625therearemanywordsherethathavechangedtheirmeaningsinthemoderntimes.
Of Studies
谈读书
1. Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.
东旭：读书是为了娱乐、装饰和增长才能。
王佐良：读书足以怡情，足以傅彩，足以长才。
2. Their chief use for delight, is in privateness and retiring; for
ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgement and
disposition of business.
东：其娱乐方面的主要用途在于独处和隐退之时；其装饰方面的主要用途在于言谈之中；其增长才能方面的主要用途在于对事务的判断和处理。
王：其怡情也，最见于独处幽居之时；其傅彩也，最见于高谈阔论之中；其长才也，最见于处世判事之际。
3. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars, one
by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of affairs,
come best from those that are learned.
东：因为虽然有实践经验的人能完成特定工作，而且也许还能对个别的事情一一作出判断，但是宏观的建议，以及对事务的筹划和安排，绝大多数都是出自有学问的人。
王：练达之士虽能分别处理细事或一一判断枝节，然纵观统筹、全局策划，则舍好学深思者莫属。
4. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much
for ornament, is affection; to make judgement wholly by their rule, is the
对照Of Studies的四种译文。哪一种译文在风格上与原文更“切近”？你最喜爱哪一种？为何？
OF STUDIES
Francis Bacon
Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight, is in
privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgement,
and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars,
one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots, and marshalling of affairs, come best
from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies, is sloth; to use them too
much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgement wholly by their rules, is the humour
of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by experience: for natural abilities are
like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth
directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men
第 1 页 Of Studies译文对比赏析
一、原作写作风格
Of Studies的语言风格和现代英语颇为不同。与时文相比，它显得有点像古文。全文以读书（study）为中心展开讨论，环环相扣，意思逐层递进。文字精炼，语言简约、潇洒、比喻恰当，富于想象力，处处透露出美感与智慧，说服力十足，论断分明，尤以富含哲理的名言警句见长，字里行间饱含自信。不时结合使用拉丁文，使文章带有古香古色的韵味，书卷气十足。
二、对比分析
严复提出翻译要做到信、达、雅，对于散文，我认为译者在做到信、达的同时，更要注重雅。在通篇的行文上，要追求风格的一致性。如前文所言，该散文语言精炼，文章短小精悍，所以翻译的难处在于再现语言简约优美风格的同时又不失其说服力，实现刚和柔的完美结合。
在此，我将挑选王佐良和廖运范的译文（以下简称为王译和廖译）来作比较分析。
1．对比一下两篇译文的风格
王译采用半文半白的语言形式，四字词的使用频率高，语言简洁，与原文的风格十分接近，而廖译则用现代汉语的形式，使文章显得十分通俗易懂。如果按照奈达所提倡的意义的对应必须优先于文体上的对应这一言论来分析这两篇译文，那么这两篇译文都忠实于原文，在读者中产生的效应是相当的。但是，若按照科勒提出的对等观点来研究翻译对等和等效的问题，那么王译就脱颖而出了。科勒所提出的除了外延对等（denotative 第 2 页 equivalence），主要研究词汇方面；还包括内涵对等（connotative
equivalence），即文体对等，关注文体效果，古体的或是平实的；语篇规约对等（text－normative equivalence），关注不同交际场景的用法；语用对等（pragmatic equivalence），指为特定的读者群进行翻译和形式对等（formal equivalence），针对的是韵律、隐喻和其他修辞手法的对等。王译在做到词汇、文章意义对等的同时，采用半古文的形式，凸显了文体风格的对等，译文中再现原文的排比句和其他的修辞手法，实现了翻译的形式对等。
