网友来信指出黄佶对龙的英文解释中的错误

发送: 2006年12月19日 1:13:15
收件人: 黄佶 <fishman_uu@hotmail.com>
主题 : 2006-12-15 Loong 的新版英语解释（英汉对照）（欢迎批评指正）

黄副教授：

　　你的 2006-12-15 Loong 的新版英语解释（英汉对照）（欢迎批评指正）帖子中含有大量中式英语表达法 （Chinglish），是不是下回进一步改造现代英语的前奏？

　　1. The word loong was created on the base of the pronunciation of its counterpart character in Chinese at least 60 years ago.

　　既然是音译，说“创造”是言过其实了，transliteration 足以，难不成这个商标中的 voong （凤）也是创造，也要被提倡推广不成？再说了，龙的汉字音译还有 lung, 更远远早于 1940 年，1908 年英国出版的 Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics（James Hastings 主编）中已经多次提到 lung了。书影下回再提供链接。

　　更何况，商标上的拼写又何以说明问题？比如说，新书店的英语大多冠以 XXX Bookstore, XXX Bookshop, XXX Book Shop。而专门的古旧书店（哪怕是新开张的）则喜欢用 Book Shoppe。古玩店也喜欢用 Shoppe， 但毫无疑问，Shoppe 是一个废弃的古代拼法，shop 才是其正词形，平常书写中不宜作 Shoppe。然而在古玩店、古旧书店的店名中，Shoppe 有一席之地并没有什么难以理解的， 比喻其商品年代久远而已。

　　鲁迅的名句：真的勇士，敢于直面惨淡的人生。如果改为：真的爪牙，敢于直面惨淡的人生。你能够接受吗？更改理由是：《诗经》中的爪牙一词是褒义词， 含义基本等同于勇士。

教育部國語辭典

【爪牙】
注音一式 ㄓㄠˇ　｜ㄚˊ
注音二式 ｊｕ　ｙ
相似詞 黨羽、走狗、鷹犬
相反詞
　　解釋 動物的尖爪和利牙。荀子˙勸學：螾無爪牙之利、筋骨之強，上食埃土，下飲黃泉，用心一也。呂氏春秋·恃君覽·恃君：凡人之性，爪牙不足以自守衛。
　　比喻勇士。詩經·小雅·祈父：祈父！予，王之爪牙！喻世明言·卷八·吳保安棄家贖友：李都督雖然驍勇，奈英雄無用武之地，手下爪牙看看將盡！
　　比喻仗勢欺人的走狗。史記·卷一二二·酷吏傳·張湯傳：是以湯雖文深意忌不專平，然得此聲譽，而刻深吏多為爪牙用者，依於文學之士。初刻拍案驚奇·卷二十二：一日得了刺史之職，就有許多人來鑽刺投靠他，做使令的，少不得官不威、爪牙威。

　　你现在极力反对 dragon 的理由是：在英文中，dragon 是邪恶的有翼怪物，还有“凶暴的人，悍妇”等含义。可你别忘了，汉语里有“龙行虎步”，也有“老态龙钟”。字仍然是同一个“龙”字，含义则大不相同。 现代汉语中“老毛”（指“毛泽东同志”，是昵称），而“老毛子”，仅一字只差，含义则大相径庭， 尽管“老毛子”中的“子”似乎仅是词缀，没有具体意思。词汇有时就是这么拐，瑕瑜互见，美恶并存。 Dragon 在现代英语中，早已没法单独使用作为“撒旦魔鬼”的代名词，必须写成 the Old Dragon, 即大写字母 O 和 D，前面还得有冠词 the，最近 20 年出版的英语大学词典， 要么不再列有这个义项要么明确宣布此义项已经废弃不用了。至于作为“悍妇”讲的 dragon，和普通中国人理解的“悍妇”也不同，主要强调其严厉，不够和颜悦色而已，所谓“刀子嘴、豆腐心”恐怕更切原意，《韦氏大辞典》原文定义和例句：

　　4: a violent, combative, or very strict person; especially: a woman that watches fiercely and vigilantly over the welfare of her charges jealous and touchy, but a very faithful old dragon with the family— Ngaio Marsh

　　汉语里，“悍妇”前面冠以“忠诚可靠”者，鲜已！

修改意见：

　　1. The word loong was created on the base of the pronunciation of its counterpart character in Chinese at least 60 years ago.

　　The proposed word form LOONG was found, among others, some 60 years ago on a cigarette paper based on the pronunciation of the corresponding Chinese character.

　　2. （龙凤香烟的包装纸，1940 年代） The packaging of Loong Voong cigarettes, 1940's
香烟的包装纸, 英语叫做 cigarette paper, cigarette packaging 指香烟包装材料或香烟包装填充物， 是完全不同的东西。

　　3. Artwork of loong （龙的艺术品） 中文固然可以把 “一件（龙的艺术品） ”作为某个图片的说明文字，而artwork 在英语里是collective noun, 过于宽泛，不宜作为图片的说明文字， 不如直言 a bas-relief of loong. 所谓 bas-relief 者，已经说明其为艺术品 （英语定义为：sculptural relief in which the projection from the surrounding surface is slight and no part of the modeled form is undercut）

　　4. Loong is a mythological creature, with the head of a camel or horse or snake, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a kind of huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a hawk, the palm of a tiger, whiskers and a beard.

修改意见：

　　As a mythic and supernatural creature, Loong is a composite made with the head of a camel or a horse or a snake, the horns of a deer, the eyes of a rabbit, the ears of a cow, the neck and body of a snake, the belly of a certain huge clam, the scales of a carp, the claws of a hawk, the palm of a tiger, with whiskers and a beard.

　　5. Loong has not wings. But Ying Loong has wings. Loong will become Ying Loong after a one-thousand-year's self-tempering.

修改意见：

　　Normally, loong has not wings, yet a ying loong has wings. A loong transcends to a ying loong after one thousand years of self-restraint.

　　6. Loong is generally regarded as benevolent, powerful, worshipful and lucky. it is thought the source of wind and rain.

修改意见：

　　Loong is generally regarded as benevolent, powerful, magestic and lucky and it is thought to be the source of wind and rain.

　　7. The earlist artwork of loong ever discoved was build in China about 6,000 years ago. It is a sculpture of loong made by heaping shells of clam.

修改意见：

　　To date, the earlist artwork of loong discoved in China was a bas-relief made from a heap of clam shells some 6,000 years ago.

　　8. Loong used to be the symbol of Chinese emperors. Now it stands for luckness, happiness and power by ordinary Chinese people.

修改意见：

　　For ages, loong was the imperial symbol of Chinese emperors. But today, it is embraced by people all over in China as a lucky charm for personal happiness and great strength.

　　9. It is wrong to translate loong as dragon in English. In fact, loong is so different in nature from dragons that it may be more reasonable to consider them as dissimilar creatures, rather than as the same creature interpreted differently.

修改意见：

　　Early on, loong was attached to the English word dragon with still has the lingering shade of the Old Serpent after the Authorized Version. Ostentatiously, loong is so different than a dragon existed in the minds of West Europeans that adding a separate word in English is perhaps the better alternative to reduce such confusions.

　　10. Chinese people are proud to call themselves "the offspring of the Loong".

　　修改意见： Chinese people are proud to call themselves "the Sons of the Loong".

　　11. The famouse Chinese Kung Fu star Bruce Lee's Chinese name is Lee Sui Loong, written in English.

　　famouse 应作 famous

修改意见： Bruce Lee's real Chinese name is, in fact, spelt as Lee Sui Loong in Cantonese. The newer Pinyin spelling is: Li Xiaolong.

　　12. The stage property used in The Loong Dance (or Chinese Dragon Dance) is called loong in some Australia musium based on the internet.

　　musium 应作 museum(s).

　　修改意见： The stage property used in the Loong Dance (or Chinese Dragon Dance) is called loong by some Australia museums as shown on the internet.

　　奉劝一句，没有调查就没有发言权。 昨日去图书馆影印了 20 余种 20 世纪初至20世纪末的外文资料（多为英语词典、专科词典，少数是其他语种外汉双语或外文单语辞书），不日会把影印资料上传，以供参考。

Eric

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黄佶的回信：

　　很感谢你的来信。你们这些懂英语的人不做重新翻译龙的事情，那就只能我这个外行来做了。

　　你和很多中国人的问题在于：对外国的东西很宽容，而对中国的东西则非常苛求。

　　即使你找到再多的歌颂 dragon 的资料，但是字典上的基本意义和一张把 dragon 比喻为恐怖主义的政治漫画就足以使我们不能用 dragon 来翻译我们的图腾了。

　　中国的龙的确有不好的地方，但是就凭那么多人的名字里有龙、90％的人反对弃龙、80％的人主张换名字，就足够使我们继续保留龙并重新翻译龙。

　　中国的知识精英不一直说要民主吗？怎么到了具体的事情上了，就少数不服从多数了呢？

　　如果我把批萨（pizza）翻译成“砒霜”，然后说“砒霜也有好的地方啊，它能够入药啊！”你赞同吗？

　　你肯定不赞同，道理很简单：砒霜主要是毒药，找出正面的理由再多，也无济于事。那 dragon 不也是这样吗？

　　我会改正我的版本中的错误。你的来信我也会发表在 loong.cn 上。

　　再次衷心感谢！

黄佶 2006年12月19日