背景:《发现少校》纪录片中提到的密支那战役,是二战期间日本在亚洲战场的三次“玉碎战”之一。日军当时的战报称密支那战役为“全员英勇玉碎”。
提问:如何用英文表达“玉碎”的含义呢?
原文:密支那,…是日军在亚洲战场的三个玉碎地之一。
初译:It was also one of the three places where the Japanese armyunderwent completely failure.
定稿:It was also one of the three places in Asia where theJapanese army suffered a complete defeat,or“broken jade”as dubbed by the Japanese.
说明:“failure”和“defeat”两个词意思相近,但应用语境却不同,需要仔细甄别。这里只讨论名词的用法。
Failure is a lack of success in doing or achievingsomething, especially in relation to a particular activity.“失败”,相对“成功”而言,指一件事未能做成。
Defeat is the experience of being beaten in abattle, game, or contest, or of failing to achieve what you wantedto. “战败”,指在战争或比赛中“输”了,未能取胜。
日军在战争中战败,显然要用defeat这个词,表明实际含义,再加上“brokenjade”,可以形象地传达出“玉碎” 的比喻意义。
爱好翻译的小伙伴们,你们清楚了吗?小编不定期发布各种有趣的翻译小贴士,希望与大家一同交流学习~