隨筆
隨筆，聊天
讀完小說<狼圖騰>的英譯本，發現不少翻譯錯誤。這裏我隻列舉一些明顯錯誤。
令人驚訝的是譯者是一位有名的中國文學教授。
在下麵的列表中我用：
[CHINESE] 代表: <狼圖騰>， 薑戎著，長江文藝出版社，2004，
和
[ENGLISH] 代表: "Wolf Totem", Jiang Rong, Translated by Howard Goldblatt, The Penguin Press, New York, 2008.
1.
[CHINESE] P. 41, Line 11: 每頭狼幾乎都是懷著以命拚食的亡命報複勁頭衝過來的。
[ENGLISH] P. 66, Line 20: Alpha males, filled with murderous thoughts of revenge, ...
[NOTE]: 每頭狼 is not "Alpha males".
2.
[CHINESE] P. 43, Line 27: 每頭狼渾身的皮毛被白毛風嵌滿了雪，全身雪白。
[ENGLISH] P. 71, Line 1: The fur of the pack leader was inlaid with snow driven there by the wind, turning it a spectral white.
[NOTE]: 每頭狼 is not "the pack leader".
3.
[CHINESE] P. 50, Line 35: 每挪一步，馬身與泥漿縫隙裏就被灌進更多的雪沙和寒風，
[ENGLISH] P. 82, Line 1: They were trapped, though they kept struggling, each torturous step bringing more snow and cold air into the spaces that opened up between hoof and mud.
[NOTE]: 馬身 is not "hoof".
4.
[CHINESE] P. 57, Line 8: “黃河百害，惟富一套。”
[ENGLISH] P. 90, Line 31: "The Yellow River causes a hundred calamities but enriches all it touches";
[NOTE]: 一套 is the Hetao Area (河套地區), the Great Bend of the Yellow River.
5.
[CHINESE] P. 69, Line 2: 牧民糧食定量每月19斤，少就少在小米上。
[ENGLISH] P. 109, Line 29: The herdsmen were given only nineteen jin of grain a month, all of it millet.
[NOTE]: 6 of it millet.
6.
[CHINESE] P. 72, Line 30: 陳陣常想，額侖草原的狼個頭大得出奇，
[ENGLISH] P. 115, Line 2: Chen Zhen wondered if the reason the Olonbulag wolves had such large heads and so easily outsmarted humans was that they often dined on Olonbulag mutton.
[NOTE]: 個頭 is size, height, not head; the same mistakes are in [ENGLISH] P. 393, Line 3 and in [ENGLISH] P. 447, Line 33.
7.
[CHINESE] P. 82, Line 34: 進了包，漂亮的地毯已恢複原狀，三個燈撚的羊油燈將寬大的蒙古包照得亮堂堂，
[ENGLISH] P. 132, Line 4: Inside, the rug had been restored to its original state; three lanterns in which sheep's oil burned lit up the spacious yurt,
[NOTE]: should be: the lantern of three wicks ...
8.
[CHINESE] P. 86, Line 28: 這是狼鍾愛之地，隱蔽，背風，
[ENGLISH] P. 138，Line 19: ... was a favorite place for the wolves, with its hiding places and the wind at their backs;
[NOTE]: 背風 is lee side, leeward, not "the wind at their backs"; the same mistake is in
[ENGLISH] P. 210, Line 6.
9.
[CHINESE] P. 99, Line 27: 但是眼前的場景使他差點泄了氣：平平的地麵上，隻有一個直徑30厘米左右的小洞，
[ENGLISH] P. 160, Line 1: He was discouraged by what he saw: a hole no wider than a few inches had been opened in the ground,
[NOTE]: 30厘米(cm) is equal to 12 inches, not a few inches.
10.
[CHINESE] P. 114, Line 31: 這裏正是馬群全軍覆沒地的東邊。
[ENGLISH] P. 181, Line 34: It was a spot just south of the site of the horse massacre.
[NOTE]: should be: east, not south.
11.
[CHINESE] P. 128, Line 21: 那片葦地我知道，太大了，有幾千畝，
[ENGLISH] P. 204, Line 12: I know that valley, it's huge, thousands of acres,
[NOTE]: 1 acre = 6 mu (畝), the same mistakes are in [ENGLISH] P. 251, Line 4, in
[ENGLISH] P. 242, Line 26, and in [ENGLISH] P. 509, Line 31.
12.
[CHINESE] P. 129, Line 20: 要把狼全燒死了，遇上大災年，遍地的死牲口誰來處理？
[ENGLISH] P. 205, Line 31: But let's say you burn them all up--then who pay when the fire kills our livestock?
[NOTE]:
13.
[CHINESE] P. 152, Line 20: 春天的黃羊糞很濕，
[ENGLISH] P. 239, Line 23: Gazelle dung is wet in the summer,
[NOTE]: should be: spring, not summer.
14.
[CHINESE] P. 173, Line 5: 士可殺，不可辱。
[ENGLISH] P. 269, Last line: You can kill a warrior; you cannot humiliate him.
[NOTE]: 士 is bachelor (in ancient China), not warrior.
15.
[CHINESE] P. 265, Line 3: 天蒼蒼，野茫茫，
[ENGLISH] P. 392, Line 10: The sky is dark, the wilderness vast /
[NOTE]: should be: Vast is the sky, boundless the wilds.
