许多译家主张凡能直译的尽量直译。霍克斯（David Hawkes)在其《红楼梦》英译本《序言》中说：“我自始至终遵守一条不变的原则：就是把所有的一切——甚至双关语——都译出来......我敢于假定小说中的一枝一叶都有其作用，必须用各种方式加以交待。”直译既传达原文的字面意义，又保留原文的文化特色；既传达原文的内容，又再现原文的形式。虽然由于文化背景不同，译文读者读来也许多少有些不习惯，他们对译文的反应也未必等同于原文读者对原文的反应，但这种译法丰富了译语的语汇，扩大了译文读者的文化视野，使他们有一种新鲜感，也算是另一种意义上的“补偿”。直译存在的客观依据是各民族语言和文化之间的相同或相似之处。在《菜根谭》的翻译中，尽管原语（近代汉语）和译语（现代英语），原语文化（中国传统文化）和译语文化（西方现代文化）之间存在巨大的时空距离，但由于人们生存的客观世界和人类思维的共性，两者之间仍有许多共通的东西，也就使直译成为可能。如：

(1)有一乐境界，就有一不乐的相对待；有一好光景，就有一不好的相乘除。只是寻常家饭素位風光，才是个安乐的窝巢。Where there is joy,there is sorrow to oppose it; where there is prosperity, there is adversity to offset it. By contrast，homely meals and ordinary circumstances are the real source of peace and happiness.

(2)欹器以满覆，扑满以空全。故君子宁居无不居有，宁处缺不处完。The lopsided vessel leans over when it is full; the piggy bank remains intact when it is empty.Thus the junzi gentleman would be in a position of lacking rather than in one of having, would leave something to be desired rather than have everything perfect.

原文中有许多生动具体的细节，这是原文的说服力和语言特色的重要因素。这些细节凡能直译的尽量直译，而不轻易省略或作概略化的处理。如下文中的“杳冥”、“幽渺”、“食息起居”、“动静语默”的翻译：

(3)福善不在杏冥，即在食息起居处牖其衷；祸淫不在幽渺，即在动静语默间夺其魄。可见人心精爽常通于天，天之威命即寓于人，天人岂相远哉？The blessing of good does not lie in the profound and abstruse; instead one is introduced to it in one's daily food, rest and living;the curse of excess does not lie in the deep and remote;instead one is affected by it in one's moving or resting,talk or silence. Hence man's spirit is linked with heaven, and heaven's power and influence reside in man. Can heaven and man be far from each other?

意象往往带有鲜明的民族特色。“意象与概念不同，它是具体的，总是与主体的独特感受联系在一起，而且灵活多变，往往随境而迁。” “诗中意与象统一，情与理统一，便是中国思维方式奥妙所在。”（杨自俭1994, 52)〈菜根谭> 中有许多“以象示意而意在象外”的语言，翻译中凡有可能， 均取直译，以保留原文的民族文化色彩。如：

(4)林间松韵，石上泉声，静里听来识天地自然鸣珮；草标烟光，水中云影，闲中观去见乾坤最上文章。

The melodious soughing of the wind in the pines, and the gurgling of the spring over stones，when heard in one’s quietness, will sound like the jingling of jade ornaments worn by Nature; the hazy mists in the horizon of the grassland, and the tranquil reflection of clouds in the water, when seen in one's leisure, will seem like the exquisite pattern drawn by Creation.

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