“诗乃翻译中失去的东西”探源及相关二三事

Source Tracing and Interpretation of "Poetry Is What Gets Lost in Translation"

美国"非正式桂冠诗人"弗罗斯特对poetry多有界说,其中最广为人知的当是"Poetry is what gets lost in translation"一论。因为查核出处失败,有的学人因此生出疑惑:弗氏这句话也许根本就不存在,而是他另外有关表述之讹传;论者同时指出,前句话的汉译"诗乃翻译中失去的东西"亦不正确,主要是句中的poetry不应理解为"诗歌"而应诠释为"诗意"。本文对上述问题分别进行探源与跟进。

Robert Frost, America＇s unofficial poet laureate, made quite many remarks on Poetry, ＂Poetry is what gets lost in translation＂ being one of the most-widely cited. Failing to find out where the sentence comes from, Professor Cao Minglun holds that it is probably the erroneous circulation of another sentence of Frost＇s-- ＂It is that which is lost out of both prose and verse in translation. ＂ According to Mr. Cao, the mentioned saying by Frost was misread and wrongly rendered into Chinese as well. The present paper tries to trace the source of the sentence ＂Poetry is what gets lost in translation＂ on the one hand and discuss its real meaning and proper Chinese translation on the other.