翻译天堂  2016-05-29

2016.5.28 216 words, 30mins

If you are traveling forward in a train, surrounding objects outside appear to be moving backwards. But this is not in fact the case. It is the train which is moving.

So it is with the earth. The sun appears to rise in the east, move across the sky, and set in the west. In other words, the sun appears to travel round the earth. In fact, however, this is not the case. It is the earth which is rotating on its own axis. The rotation of the earth on its own axis causes the change from day to night.

The earth also travels round the sun on a fixed path, known as an orbit. In addition to the earth, there are eight other planets of different sizes, all rotating on their own axes and round the sun in their own fixed orbits, and which are known as the solar system. The planet nearest the sun is Mercury and the most distant Pluto.

The orbits of the earth and the other planets are not perfect circles, but ellipses. The earth’s axis is not at right angles to its orbit but slightly tilted. The rotation of the earth around the sun at this angle and in an elliptical orbit causes the change of the seasons.

如果你在乘火车前进，车外周围的物体好像正在往后移动。但是，实际上并非如此，在运动的是火车。

地球的情况也是如此，太阳好像从东边升起，经过天空，然后往西边落下。换句话说，太阳好像是在围绕地球运行。但实际亦并非如此。地球是在绕着自己的轴转，这种自转引起白天和夜晚的变化。

地球海燕这固定的道路，即轨道，绕太阳运行。除了地球之外，还有其他八个大小不同的行星。他们都绕着自己的轴旋转着，同时沿着各自的固定轨道绕太阳运行。这些（天体）构成了太阳系。离太阳最近的行星是水星，最远的是冥王星。

地球及其他行星的轨道并非完全是圆形的，而是椭圆形的。地球的轴对其轨道并非直角，而是稍微倾斜，地球仪这个角度沿着椭圆形轨道绕太阳转，这种公转引起了季节变化。

【扩展知识】

虽然科技翻译比较注重直译，但意译仍然是重要的翻译手段。意译要求摆脱原文表层结构的束缚，根据句子的深层结构，用恰当的表层结构再现原文思想。如：

Precautions are necessary to prevent it from burning. 必须注意不要让他烧着。

从上例看到，译文结构上改动较大，在一文中原文的主语precautions成了谓语，标语necessary成了状语，修饰pre的定语to prevent成了注意的宾语，肯定说法preven也成了否定说法不要让。如果不做调整，翻译成：防止他燃烧的预防措施是必要的，也不是不可以，也就是很多同学经常说的：不这样不是也对吗——但，与意译的版本比较，这样翻译就是过于欧化了。就是对，但是不好。

最后，意译时，必须对原文的表层结构进行扩展，缩合，增次，省略，转化。这些具体的展开方式，我们接下来的几天再谈。