论哲罗姆的翻译思想——《致帕玛丘信》解读

Jerome's Translation Criteria——An Explication of Jerome's Letter to Pammachius

《致帕玛丘信》是哲罗姆为了反驳努斐纳斯指责他在翻译艾皮法纽斯主教写给耶路撒冷主教约翰的信中的"误译和篡改",澄清事实、维护自己的翻译原则而写给帕玛丘的一封信。在信中,哲罗姆不但驳斥窃信者的愚蠢和卑劣,主要的是理直气壮地阐明自己的翻译原则,即不能字当句对,而必须采取灵活的意译原则;必须区分《圣经》翻译和世俗文学翻译;只有正确的理解和博学才能进行正确的翻译。他所提出的建立在正确理解基础上的灵活翻译原则,对当今的翻译理论和实践有着积极的指导意义。

The Letter to Pammachius,written by Jerome,was intended to rebut the accusation against him of the mistranslations and distortions made in his translation of the letter by Pope Epiphanius to John,Bishop of Jerusalem,and to defend his translation principle.While reproaching his accuser＇s ignorance and despicable act in the letter,Jerome further expounded his translation principle justly and convincingly,i.e.we should translate in a liberal way instead of word for word;translation of the Bible should be done differently from that of secular works;and only with correct understanding of the original and rich knowledge can we achieve good translation.Jerome＇s flexible translation principle based on the correct comprehension still has positive influence on the theory and practice of contemporary translation.