《宋氏快譯》（英漢對照）（12）：英國“死人”複活？

《宋氏快譯》（英漢對照）（12）：英國“死人”複活？


‘Dead' man in UK turns up alive Sat Nov 3, 12:43 AM ET

英國“死人”複活？


LONDON - Police said Friday they had begun an investigation after a woman oversaw the cremation of a body she believed was her son — who turned up alive the next day.

倫敦-
警方稱星期五他們開始調查一件離奇的案子，一位婦女親眼見證一具她相信是自己兒子的屍體火化後，第二天那具屍體居然複活了。

注釋：

這句看似簡單，但落實到文字上還真是有點麻煩。硬譯就是：“警方說，星期五一位婦女親眼見證一具她相信是自己兒子的屍體 - 第二天又活過來 - 火化後，他們開始調查這件離奇的案子。”其中oversaw的意思其實就是她親手操辦兒子的火化一事。因此這句也不妨這樣翻：她親自為一具她相信是自己兒子的屍體操辦火化之後，他在第二天又複活了。但這不是問題的所在，而關鍵的是，我覺得如果按照原來語序翻譯，無論如何擺布，也不通順。因此我的選擇是前後大顛倒，幹脆先說警方開始調查，然後再解釋具體案件內容。


Greater Manchester Police said the mix-up began when the body of a man in his 30s was discovered in Manchester, northwest England, on Oct. 12. He was identified as Thomas Dennison, 39, by a care worker who knew him.

大曼徹斯特警方說，一位30多歲男子於10月12日在英格蘭西北部的曼徹斯特現身後，這件撲朔迷離的怪事就開始了。一位與死者相識的管理員認定他是39歲的托馬斯。丹尼森。

注釋：

the body of a man in his 30s was discovered，直譯：“一位30多歲男子的身體於10月12日在英格蘭西北部的曼徹斯特被發現。”何必非用被動語態，“被發現”不就意味著“現身”嗎？讀一讀直譯的被動句式，再讀一讀意譯的主動句式，哪個更接近中國人說話的習慣？不言而喻。另外，care worker，負責管理的人員，不妨翻譯成“管理員”。


Officials contacted Dennison's mother, Gina Partington, 58, who identified the dead man as her son. The body was released to the family and the funeral took place Tuesday.

官員們已經和丹尼森的母親，58歲的吉娜。帕廷頓取得聯係，她證實那個死去的男子（或那具男屍）就是她的兒子。屍體已經交給他的家人，葬禮已於周二舉行。


The next day, Dennison was discovered alive in Nottingham, 80 miles away.

第二天，丹尼森卻在80英裏之外的諾丁漢被發現還活著。


Partington said the resemblance between the dead man and her son was remarkable.

帕廷頓說死者與其兒子的相似之處十分明顯。


"I held his hand and kissed his head. I stayed with him for about 40 minutes and would have sworn he was my son," she was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News.

“我握過他的手，親吻過他的頭。我和他在一起待了大約40分鍾，我願發誓他就是我的兒子，”《曼徹斯特晚間新聞》引述了她的說法。

注釋：
would have sworn，虛擬句式，本來用於第二、第三人稱，但美國人也用於第一人稱。本句這樣說的意思是，如果有人懷疑死者是她的兒子，或者有人要她發誓，她就會發誓。注意這個說法和平鋪直敘的“發誓說”（I swore that he was my son）的區別。


"We held his funeral on Tuesday this week at Southern Cemetery and there were genuine tears, because Tommy is a lovely lad," she said.

“本周二我們在南方公墓為他舉行了葬禮，在那兒流的眼淚都是真誠的，因為湯米是個好孩子，”她說。


Police said the incident has been turn over to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

警方說，此案已經移交給警察獨立監督委員會。


Police said they believed they knew the identity of the dead man, who had been living on the streets, and were trying to contact his relatives in Ireland.

警方稱，他們相信自己掌握死者的身份，因為他們就住在附近這些街區裏，他們也在設法與死者在愛爾蘭的親屬取得聯係。

注釋：

who had been living on the streets,請注意，這個定語從句前有個逗號，因此是非限定性定於從句，而且限定的被不少離它最近的the dead man， 而是遠隔萬水千山的主語they，其實隻要看一下定語從句中表示地點的on he streets就會恍然大悟，因為一名死者怎麽會住在許多街道streets上呢？