So many of the productions currently to be seen on the london stage are concerned with the more violent aspects of life that it is surprising to meet a play about ordinary people caught up in ordinary events. Thomson Sackville's The Visitor is just such a play——at least, on the surface. It seems to stand well outside the mainstream of recent british drama. In fact the surface is so bland that attention is constantly focused on the care with which the play has been put together, and the clarity with which its argument develops; it seems natural to discuss it in terms of the notion of "the well-wrought play."

如今，倫敦地區(qū)上演的戲劇往往都側(cè)重生活中的暴力行為。所以，當(dāng)我們看到一部戲所描寫的是平凡人物的平凡生活時(shí)，頗為驚訝。湯姆森·薩克維爾的《訪客》就是一部這樣的作品——至少，乍看之下的確如此。該劇似乎與時(shí)下英國主流戲劇相距甚遠(yuǎn)。實(shí)際上，從表層來看，該劇實(shí)在太過平淡無奇，于是，人們的注意力就轉(zhuǎn)移到了其他方面。譬如，這部戲是如何精心構(gòu)思的，其論點(diǎn)是如何條理清晰地展開的。所以，從創(chuàng)作的角度去探討這部“精雕細(xì)琢的戲”，似乎更為自然。

The story is about an unremarkable family evening in middle-class suburbia. The husband and wife have invited a friend to dinner. the friend turns up in due course and they talk about their respective lives and interests. During this conversion, in which the author shows a remarkble talent for writing dialogue which is entertaining and witty without being so sparkling as to draw too much attention to itself; the characters are carefully fleshed out and provided with a set of credible——if unremarkable——motives. Through innumerable delicate touches in the writing they emerge：pleasant, humorous, ordinary，and ineffectual. And if they are never made vibrantly alive in terms of the real world, one feels that this is deliberate; that the author is content to give them a theatrical existence of their own，and leave it at that.

劇本講的是發(fā)生在市郊普通中產(chǎn)階級(jí)家庭里的一個(gè)聚會(huì)。一對(duì)夫妻邀請(qǐng)了一位朋友來共進(jìn)晚餐。朋友如約而至。三人聊起了各自的生活和興趣愛好。劇中的對(duì)話機(jī)智、風(fēng)趣，而又沒有那種為了吸引觀眾而喧賓奪主的架勢(shì)；劇作者的高超功力可見一斑。劇中的人物有血有肉，他們的（生活）動(dòng)機(jī)雖不高尚，但令人信服。通過精細(xì)的刻畫，這些人物以親切、幽默、普通和平凡的形象展現(xiàn)在觀眾面前。如果以現(xiàn)實(shí)生活的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來衡量，他們?nèi)狈δ欠N震撼人心的活力。這似乎是作者刻意為之的。只要這些人物能夠在戲劇舞臺(tái)上存活下來，并為人接受，作者就心滿意足了。

點(diǎn)評(píng)：

例一：So many of the productions currently to be seen on the London stage are concerned with the more violent aspects of life that is surprising to meet a play about odinary people caught up in ordinary events.

這里的主句和從句通過so…that…進(jìn)行銜接，說明了兩句之間的因果關(guān)系。我們進(jìn)行切分后，利用因果關(guān)系詞進(jìn)行銜接：

倫敦劇場(chǎng)最近上演的戲劇中大多是關(guān)于生活中的狂野暴力種種沖突，所以看到一部平常人的平常生活的戲，實(shí)在是出乎意料。

例二： In fact the surface is so bland that attention is constantly focused on the care with which the play has been put together, and the calrity with which its argument develops;

這里的主句和從句再次通過so…that…進(jìn)行銜接，說明了兩句之間的因果關(guān)系。同時(shí)在表示結(jié)果的分句中又出現(xiàn)了兩個(gè)定語從句，一個(gè)with which the play has been put together用來修飾the care，一個(gè)with which its argument develops用來修飾the clarity，如果切分為四句，形式上就過于松散，所以這兩個(gè)定語從句可以利用前置法進(jìn)行處理。

譯文：事實(shí)上，戲劇看上去平淡無奇，倒使觀眾的注意力都集中在作者構(gòu)造戲劇的匠心獨(dú)運(yùn)上，以及戲劇對(duì)白的清楚明晰上。

例三：During this conversation, in which the author shows a remarkable talent for writing dialogue which is entertaining and witty without being so sparkling as to draw too much attention to itself;

我們把這里的定語從句和狀語都進(jìn)行切割，就會(huì)產(chǎn)生四個(gè)小分段，然后逐一翻譯，就能得到理想的譯文。

During this conversation，in which the author shows a remarkable talent for writing dialogue which is entertaining and witty without being so sparkling as to draw too much attention to itself;

譯文： 言談間，作者展示了構(gòu)造對(duì)白的非凡才能，戲劇對(duì)白笑話百出、妙語如珠，卻又不至于喧賓奪主，搶走戲劇的風(fēng)頭。

相關(guān)閱讀

口譯三字訣：順著譯、補(bǔ)語氣、加解釋

口譯筆記和影子訓(xùn)練法

外事口譯和筆譯的特點(diǎn)

口譯中較麻煩的三種情況

（來源：新東方? 編輯：Julie）