| (13) It is always inspiring to see a brave man fighting for a lost cause, and I never cease to
admire the Jacobitish zeal with which year after year Mr. John Ervine carries on a guerrilla war-fare
against the ever-increasing power of tobacco.
看勇敢的人为一种无望的事业而奋斗总令人鼓舞。我心里一直钦佩约翰·欧文先生年复
一年地以斯图亚特王朝拥护者的热忱进行游击战般的战斗来对抗日益增强的烟草势力。
*Jacobitish系Jacobite的形容词形式指1688年被迫退位的英王JamesII的拥护者James
II王室即所谓的 House of Stuart斯图亚特王室
(14) He slipped out of the State Department and crossed the Potomac to Arlington, Virginia,
where the civil ceremony took place.
他偷偷溜出了国务院渡过波托马克河到弗吉尼亚州的阿林顿县在那里举行了公民结
婚仪式。
直译加注指直译原文并附加解释性注释。注释可长可短既可采用文中注释也可采
用脚注还可二者合用。例如
Big Apple 大苹果纽约的别称
mad-cow disease 疯牛病牛海绵状脑病
Oval Office 椭圆形办公室美国白宫总统办公室
Desert Storm 沙漠风暴1991年美国领导的多国部队对伊拉克实施的军事打击行动
1It was Friday *and soon they'd go out and get drunk.
星期五发薪日到了他们马上就要上街去喝得酩酊大醉。
*星期五[Friday]为英国的发薪日。如不解释译入语读者就不会明白英国人为什么要在这
一天上街去大吃大喝。
2While it may seem to be painting the lily, I should like to add somewhat to Mr.Alistair
Cooke's excellent article.
我想给阿利斯太尔·库克先生的杰作稍加几笔尽管这也许是为百合花上色费力不讨
好。
*在西方人眼里百合花是高贵、贞洁、美丽的象征故为百合花上色自然是做徒劳无益
之事。
(3) Even before they were acquainted, he had admired Osborn in secret. Now he was his valet,
his dog, his man Friday.
他没有认识奥斯本之前已经暗暗佩服他。如今便成了他的听差他的狗他的忠仆星
11 期五*。
*星期五(Friday)是《鲁滨逊漂流记》故事中Robinson Crusoe的忠实奴仆。
4The man who waters his grass after a good rain is carrying coals to Newcastle.
刚下一场及时雨那人却又为草坪浇水真是把煤运到纽卡斯尔多此一举。
*纽卡斯尔英国煤都。
5I am as poor as Job, my lord, but not so patient.
我象约伯一样穷的大人可是却没有他那样的好耐心。
*在《圣经》中约伯以忍耐贫穷著称。
6 "Oh! Tell us about her. Auntie," cried imogen. " I can just remember her. She's the
skeleton in the family cupboard, isn't she?"
"哦给我们讲一讲她的事儿吧好姑姑"伊莫根嚷嚷道"我几乎记不得她了她是咱
们家衣橱里的骷髅丑得见不得人是吗"
(7) The May-day dance, for instance, was to be discerned on the afternoon under notice, in the
disguise of the club revel, or "club-walking" as it was there called.
譬如现在所讲的那个下午里就可以看出五朔节舞*旧风以联欢会或者像本地的叫法-
游行会的形式出现。
*五朔节舞英国风俗五月一日奏乐吹号采取树枝、野花、装饰门窗在草地上竖起
五朔柱围柱跳舞并选举五朔后。此风古时极盛现在穷乡僻壤依然可见。
(8) The question she flunked on was: "What is the Constitution of the United States?" The
answer she gave was: "A boat."
她答错的一道题是"美国宪法*是什么 她的回答却是"一条船。"
*the Constitution of the United States指美国宪法但它也是美国历史上著名战舰"宪法号"
的英文名字。
9 'When we alighted at this door, a dispute arose with the driver of the cabriolet-'. A loud
scream from his wife, at the mention of this word, rendered all further explanation inaudible.
"我们在门口下车的时候跟那单马双轮车*车夫发生了一点争执"说到单马双轮车的时
候他的妻子发出了一声又高又尖的叫唤使得下面的解释都听不见了。
*单马双轮车是出租马车里"最没有派头"的所以说不得。(译文在此采用脚注解释了为
什么一听到cabriolet他的妻子就会发出一声尖叫。在19世纪的英国只有地位低贱的人才
会坐这种马车。在这儿丈夫不慎说漏了嘴爱好虚荣的妻子觉得蒙受了耻辱。)
10All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the
first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our life-time on
the planet.
所有这一切都不会在第一个一百天*内完成 也不会在第一个一千天内完成不会在本
届政府内完成甚至也不会在我们这一辈子完成。
*原指美国总统福兰克林·罗斯福执政后推行"新政"的第一个一百天。 | 
英文翻译技巧10