不爱女人、美酒和音乐的人只好一辈子当傻瓜了。
(ii) I have no hesitation to agree that I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many ignorant men are sure of.
我亳不犹豫地承认我是一个不可知论者;我决不佯装我懂得许多无知者自以为懂得的东西。
2. 主语转移
双语转换中常需转移主语以利行文:
(i) 天才的百分之一是灵感,百分之九十九是汗水。
Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
(ii) 作者掌握了该学科的基本理论,这一点是没有问题的。
The author's grasp of the rudiments of the thoery of the subject is unquestionable.
汉语句短,语流呈板块型扩展式。这时转移主语,择善而从,可以举纲张目,加强句子的组织性。这一点对汉译外至关重要。如:
(iii)如今,做个大丈夫也有他的难处。譬如吵嘴,你就是有理,却也只能装着无理,拱手告降。
One of the embarrassments of being a good husband today is that you are not permitted to defend yourself in a quarrel and have to go down on your knees pretending that you are not on the right side.
3. 重心转移
双语转换中句首重心与句尾重心往往不需要转换。比如,当英语说“Figures don't lie. ”时,重心似乎在“don't lie”,译成汉语“数字是不会撒谎的”,重心也是判断语“不会撒谎”,因为汉语的判断句中判断词后是重心。但是,英语句子“Extremes meet, as the whiting said with its tail in its mouth.”(Thomas Hood)的汉译则是“正像鳕鱼把自己的尾巴塞进嘴里时说的,这叫做‘两极相通’”,重心由句首转移到了句尾。
英语以“be”为联系动词的句子汉译时表语很可能要与主语作位置转移,这时也常常带来重心的微差。比如:“To do each day two things one dislikes is a percept I have followed scrupulously: everyday I have got up and I have gone to bed. ”(S. Maugham)“我有一条恪守不移的成规:每天做两件我最不乐意做的事:起身和上床”。另外例如:“Cooking is not like life. If you get a bad meal, you don't have to eat it.”汉译的重心转移了:“生活可不像做菜:一个菜没有烧好,你可以不吃。”