从难译、不可译走向可译、妙译
摘要：古典文学作品英译数修辞及文化信息传达最难，但译者仍可以通过补偿达到异曲同工之妙。本文选取《红楼梦》的两个英译本以实例分析补偿法在翻译中的妙用。
关键词：翻译;《红楼梦》;补偿法
《红楼梦》作为中国古典文学艺术的顶峰之作，所涉及的内容包罗万象，而要将其译为英语并达到相近乃至对等的语言效果则是绝非易事。著名翻译家杨宪益、戴乃迭与霍克斯分别翻译的《红楼梦》的两个英译本则比较完美地完成了这个艰难的任务。通过仔细研读比较两个译本，本文认为补偿法的恰当运用对翻译的成功至关重要。本文拟从语音和语形层面探讨《红楼梦》英译本中补偿法的巧妙运用。
汉语语音修辞现象包括拟声、谐音、飞白、双关等，而如何将这些信息翻译成英文就考验译者的功底了，语音补偿此时就可大展身手。《红楼梦》十九回中有一例：小耗现形笑道：“我说你们没见世面，只认得这果子是香芋，却不知盐课林老爷的小姐才是真正的香玉呢。”
杨： “You ignorant lot!”retorted the little mouse， resuming her original form. “You only know what sweet taros are， but don’t know that the daughter of Salt Commissioner Lin is sweeter than any taro.”2
(注释2：This is an untranslatable pun. The yu in Daiyu’s name has the same sound as yu meaning “taro”)
霍：“It is you who are mistaken. You have seen too little of the world to understand. The vegetable tuber is not the only kind of sweet potato. The daughter of our respected Salt Commis?sioner Lin is also a sweet potato. She is the sweetest sweet potato of them all.”
“香芋”和“香玉”谐音，一为果子，一为盐课林老爷的千金。宝玉讲故事最后妙笔生花，让黛玉知道最后才意识到“我就知道你是编我呢”，故事讲得不露痕迹出奇制胜之。杨认为此处谐音不可译，故以脚注解释此艺术效果进。霍则是巧妙运用vegetable tuber与sweet potato的天然联系。在此语境赋予sweet potato比喻含义(指代可爱的讨人喜欢的人)，先告诉读者“香芋”非唯一的sweet potato，而黛玉则是the sweetest potato-- sweeter than any taro，语义转化自然天成，同时保留了taro的语音重复，很大程度上补偿了源语谐音的艺术效果，堪称异曲同工。
语言是音形义的集合。翻译最关注的多为意义的传达，而语形效果的传达常被忽视。英汉两种语言分字形有着本质的差异。补偿法在翻译《红楼梦》第三回也有神来之笔：
正门却不开，只有东西两角门有人出入。正门之上有一匾，匾上大书“敕造宁国府”五个大字。
杨：The central gate was shut， but people were passing in and out of the smaller side gates. On a board above the main gate was written in large characters： Ningguo Mansion Built at Imperial Command.
霍：The center of the three gates was closed， but people were going in and out of the two side ones. There was a board above the centre gate on which were written in large characters the words：
NING-GUO HOUSE
Founded and Constructed by
Imperial Command
原文匾额 “敕造”、“大书”、“五个大字”相继出现极显宁国府之高贵庄严，而这种气势译成英文可谓难事。杨将“敕造宁国府”的英译以首字母都大写的方式传达其庄重之感。霍译则绝妙地发挥了英语书写规范，采取居中、府名大写、内容换行的书写形式，更为高明地传递了原文中所传达的高贵神圣。
补偿法在《红楼梦》英译中的成功运用使翻译从不可译、难译走向可译、妙译，弥补了因文化差异、词汇空缺等原因导致译本的信息和功能缺失，使英译本与原文达到了异曲同工之妙。
参考文献：
[1]Cao Xueqin.A Dream of Red Mansions.1978.Trans.Yang Xianyi&GladyYang.Beijing： Foreign Languages Press.
[2]CaoXueqin. The Story of the Stone .1983.Trans.David Hawkes.London：Penguin Books Ltd.