钱钟书是我国博通古今中外的大学问家、作家。学术巨著《管锥篇》博大精深;长篇小说《围城》脍炙人口。他还是《毛泽东选集》英译本定稿人。为了使读者进一步欣赏钱钟书的英语文采,现把钱钟书给林书武的三封英语信刊登出来,并加汉译。同时,做些必要的注解方便各位:
第一封信
My Dear Shu-Wu[1], May 14
Your letter gives me a joyful surprise[2]. Your English is astonishingly good. This is not "flannel" or "butter"[3] but my sincere opinion (my hand upon my heart!). The idea found from your version of Chairman's statement is, to say the least, quite unjust[4]. Perhaps your hand is recovering some of its old cunning momentarily lost through long lack of practice[5]. At any rate, it would be a pity-nay, a sin, a crime[6]-to let your[7] English get rusty and become finally unserviceable.
Yours in haste
By a slip of pen, you wrote "allocation" instead of "Collocation". This is a mere peccadillo. Don't let meticulousnessabout such trifles cramp your style.
参考译文:
书武:
看了来信,又惊又喜。你的英语之好,出人意外。这不是兜圈子的奉承话,而是真诚的意见(我手按在胸前发誓!)。你以前翻译主席文章的段落,我看了以后有些想法。现在看来,那些想法至少是很不公正的。你长期以来缺乏实践,一时失去原有的灵巧手法,也许逐渐得到恢复。不管怎么样,让你的英语生锈,最终变得无法利用,那是件憾事——不,是罪过,是犯罪。
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