上面几种译文固然有不很妥当之处，可译文（5）恐怕也值得推敲。从句子前后关系来看，“春光荡漾在大地上”应该说和后面的“预示着夏日的来临”间有一种潜在的因果关系，比如我们说“天空阴云密布，雷声大作，预示着暴风雨的来临”。然而译文中的因果关系我们是很难接受的：一看到“春光荡漾”便可想到“夏日来临”，似乎太“超验主义”了，这好比“田野上一派丰收的景象”预示着“冬季的来临”一样。从这个角度来说，译文（5）反倒不合乎情理。为了解决这一问题，我们首先需要弄清原文中“三月末四月初”时的天气情况到底是怎样的。请看小说〈简·爱〉中的两段描写：
During January, February, and part of March, the deep snows, and after their melting, the almost impassable roads, prevented our stirring beyond the garden walls,... Our clothing was insufficient to protect us from the severe cold; we had no boots, the snow got into our shoes, and melted there; our ungloved hands became numbed and covered with chilblains, as were our feet...
Sundays were dreary days in that wintry season... We set out cold, we arrived at church colder: during the morning service we became almost paralysed.
(Jane Eyre, Chapter 7)
...Spring drew on—she was indeed already come; the frosts of winter had ceased; its snows were melted, its cutting winds ameliorated. My wretched feet, flayed and swollen to lameness by the sharp air of January, began to heal and subside under the gentler breathings of April; the nights and mornings no longer by their Canadian temperature froze the very blood in our veins; we could now endure the playhour passed in the garden; sometimes on a sunny day it began even to be pleasant and genial, and a greeness grew over those brown beds, which freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps...
(Jane Eyre, Chapter 9)
以上对三、四月天气和景物的描写应该是最有说服力的，它明确说明此时万物开始复苏，天气转暖。据此，译文（4）的“骄日当空”一说明显与实际情况不符。但从逻辑角度看，该译文反而比译文（5）要自然得多，因为“骄阳”和“春光”相比，前者更能使读者和“夏日”联系起来。看来问题的症结在对summer一词的理解上，该词除表“夏季”外，〈兰登·韦氏大学字典》（1992年版）和〈韦氏英语语言百科字典》（1994年版）都列出了该词的其他含义：
summer: hot, usu. sunny weather/the hotter half of the year 而Oxford(1979版）也有类似的解释：
summer: summery or warm weather
如果我们将summer一词理解为“暖和天气”，那么它和herald等词的关系就会自然得多。现将该句试译如下：
（6）这是三月末四月初的一天，天气温和宁静，春光普照大地，预示着温暖天气的来临。
即使一定要将summer译为“夏季”，下面的译文也许要更符合汉语表达习惯：
（7）这是三月末四月初夏季临近前的一个春日，天气温和宁静，阳光普照大地。
上面例子说明：合情未必合理，合理未必合情，只有情理兼顾，才能尽合语言习惯。
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