前些日子笔者受命审阅参加省级英语演讲比赛的稿子，比赛的总题目是“I Love My Occupation”,多位学生引用了俗语“三百六十行，行行出状元”。如何用英语表达此话成了难题。他们写出来的句子大同小异：All trades and professions will have their Number One Scholar.这Number One Scholar便是某汉英词典提供的字面直译，似不可取。其中有一个学生在表达“事业有三百六十行，行行都能出状元，我要成为宾馆服务行业的‘状元’”时使用的英语句子是：As the old saying goes, "One may distinguish himself in any trade." I'm sure I will be the very best in service trade.此句表达灵活,基本上传达了作者要表达的思想实质，是可取的。
科举制度下的“秀才”可借用scholar来译，那么“状元”译成Number One Scholar也在情理中。不过像“状元”这类词语为中国特有，在英语中没有对等词。按照葛传架先生在《漫谈由汉译英问题》一文中的说法，像“科举”、“八股文”、“秀才”、“举人”、“进士”等名称，都是英语民族过去和现在所没有的，这些词一般分别译作“imperial competitive examination", "eight-legged essay", "xiucai", "juren",
“jinshi”。以此类推，“状元”也可音译为“Zhuangyuan”。《汉英语林》中有“三年勤学出状元，十年苦练出不了个演员”，其英译是：Three years' diligent study makes a zhuangyuan (number one scholar, title conferred on the one who comes first in the highest imperial examination), but 10 years'training cannot make an actor.(P.98) 因为音译Zhuangyuan人家会不懂，所以只好在括号内解释。但是现代汉语中使用的“状元”往往是取其引申和比喻意义，不能按字面译，不可音译，只能意译以求传达实质，表述应该灵活多样。请看下例：
我们相信，行行能出“状元”，各人在各自的岗位上可以大有作为。 We believe that every profession produces its own best and that
different people can find thermselves succeeding in different fields.
浙江省教委已宣布，今年不公布高考“状元”名单。Education authorities in Zhejiang Province have announced that they will not
release the names of the highest-ranking students who took this year's college examination.
她苦干三年，终于成为省内养鸡“状元”。She worked hard for three years and became a champion chicken-raiser in the province.
当“字面”与“实质”不统一时，字面应服从实质，以达意为好。
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