老牌翻译大师 张培基 翻译的邓拓“伟大的空话”

你听，这是多么大的口气啊！可是，许多人一听他说话，就讥笑他在做“八股”。我却以为把这种话叫做“八股”并不确切，还是叫它做“伟大的空话”更恰当一些。当然，它同八股是有密切关系的，也许只有从八股文中才能找到它的渊源。

See, what a baloney! Many listeners will laugh off what they are boasting about as bagu. Personally, however, I think it more appropriate to call it “great empty verbiage” than bagu. Nevertheless, since it is closely related to bagu, the only way to trace its origin is perhaps from bagu.

举一个典型的例子吧，有一篇八股文写道：

Here is a typical example. A bagu essay begins with something like this:

夫天地者，六合宇宙之乾坤，大哉久矣，数千万年而非一日也。

O heaven and earth — the all-embracing, the cosmos, the universe! How great and everlasting it is, in existence for millions upon millions of years instead of one day!

你看，这作为一篇八股文的“破题”，读起来不是也很顺口吗？其中不但有“天地”、“六合”、“宇宙”、“乾坤”等等大字眼，而且音调铿锵，煞是好听。如果用标准的八股调子去念，可以使人摇头摆尾，忘其所以。

See, the two sentences, known as poti, read quite smoothly, don’t they? Not only are they composed of big words like “heaven and earth”, “all-embracing”, “cosmos”, “universe”, etc., but also sound deep and clear, hence pleasant to the ear. If you read them aloud according to the tone peculiar to a bagu essay, you may be so carried away as to start wagging your head with pleasure in spite of yourself.

但是，可惜得很，这里所用的许多大字眼，都是重复的同义语，因此，说了半天还是不知所云，越解释越糊涂，或者等于没有解释。这就是伟大的空话的特点。

Unfortunately, these big words are nothing but redundant synonyms. As you read, you don’t know what the writer is driving at with all his verbosity. And the more he talks, the more unintelligible his words become. Or you find him talking for nothing at all. All that is characteristic of great empty verbiage.

不能否认，这种伟大的空话在某些特殊的场合是不可避免的，因而在一定的意义上有其存在的必要。可是，如果把它普遍化起来，到处搬弄，甚至于以此为专长，那就相当可怕了。假若再把这种说空话的本领教给我们的后代，培养出这么一批专家，那就更糟糕了。因此，遇有这样的事情，就必须加以劝阻。

Undoubtedly, as empty verbiage is unavoidable on some specific occasions, there is need for its existence in a sense. But it would be extremely terrible to popularize it, flaunt if everywhere, or even regard it as one’s special skill. And even worse it is to educate our younger generation in the art of empty verbiage so as to develop a large number of relevant experts. We should therefore do our best to dissuade people from following such a trend whenever it happens.

凑巧得很，我的邻居有个孩子近来常常模仿大诗人的口气，编写了许多“伟大的空话”，形式以新诗为最多，并且他常常写完一首就自己朗诵，十分得意。不久以前，他写了一首《野草颂》，通篇都是空话。他写的是：

Quite incidentally, a kid of my neighbour’s recently wrote a great many things in the manner of great poets, mostly in the form of modern poetry, but all were nothing but empty verbiage. Often, on finishing a new piece, he would read it aloud smugly. The other day, he wrote the following poem entitled Ode to Wild Grass, likewise packed with empty words:

老天是我们的父亲，

The sky is our father,

大地是我们的母亲，

The earth is our mother,

太阳是我们的保姆，

The sun is our nurse,

东风是我们的恩人，

The east wind is our benefactor,

西风是我们的敌人。

The west wind is our foe.

我们是一丛野草，

We are a tuft of wild grass,

有人喜欢我们，

Some people love us,

有人讨厌我们，

Some people hate us,

但是不管怎样，

But, come what may,

我们还要生长。

We’ll keep growing.

你说这叫做什么诗？我真为他担忧，成天写这类东西，将来会变成什么样子！如果不看题目，谁能知道他写的是野草颂呢？但是这个孩子写的诗居然有人予以夸奖，我不了解那是什么用意。

Does it read like a poem? How I worry about the future of this kid who does nothing but write trash like that all the time! Without looking at the title, one would never know that it was a poem eulogizing wild grass. Yet, to my great surprise, the kid has been given a high compliment for the so-called poem! I wonder what has motivated the flattery.

这首诗里尽管也有天地、父母、太阳、保姆、东风、西风、恩人、敌人等等引人注目的字眼，然而这些都被他滥用了，变成了陈词滥调。问他本人，他认为这样写才显得内容新鲜。实际上，他这么搞一点也不新鲜。

There are in the poem eye-catching term like “sky”, “earth”, “father”, “mother”, “sun”, “nurse”, “east wind”, “west wind”, “benefactor”, “foe”, etc., which have become hackneyed through abuse. The kid may regard his way of writing as a mean to novelty while in fact he achieves nothing novel at all.

任何语言，包括诗的语言在内，都应该力求用最经济的方式，表达最丰富的内容。到了有话非说不可的时候，说出的话才能动人。否则内容空虚，即便用了最伟大的字眼和词汇，也将无济于事，甚至越说得多，反而越糟糕。因此，我想奉劝爱说伟大的空话的朋友，还是多读，多想，少说一些，遇到要说话的时候，就去休息，不要浪费你自己和别人的时间和精力吧！

In all language, including poetic diction, we should strive for economy of expression, i.e., using as few words as possible to express the maximum amount of content. The language you use will be most effective only when you have an idea that you simply must put across. Otherwise, your speech will be empty of matter no matter how high-sounding the words and expressions you use. And the more you talk, the worse it is. I, therefore, advise all friends indulging in empty talk to do more reading and thinking, but less talking. Resist the urge of empty talk so that you can take a rest and meanwhile avoid wasting the time and energies of yourself and others.