试论《红楼梦》人名的翻译

On Translation of Names in A Dream of Red Mansions

对于《红楼梦》中人名的翻译，到目前为止，比较完整的英译本有两种：一是杨宪益夫妇的译本，主要采用音译人名的办法；一是霍克斯的译本，主要人物音译，次要人物则意译，让人产生联想，推知人物的命运与性格特征。由于《红楼梦》中人物众多，其翻译要做到尽善尽美是不可能的，必然存在不足之处。

Up to now, there have been two fairly complete versions of English translation of names in A Dream of Red Mansions. One is translated by the Yangs. They translate the names mainly according to the pronunciation. The other is done by David Hawkes. He translates the names of main characters as the Yangs do, while the translation of less important characters is based on the meaning, which would give us a space of imagination to reflect upon the personalities and fate of those characters. Surely both of them cannot do heir translation with ten thousands of satisfaction due to such a large number of names in this book.