贾岛(779~843),唐代诗人。字阆仙,一作浪仙。范阳(今河北涿县)人。初落拓为僧,名无本,后还俗,屡举进士不第。曾任长江(今四川蓬溪)主簿,人称贾长江。其诗喜写荒凉枯寂之境,颇多寒苦之辞。以五律见长,注意词句锤炼,刻苦求工。与孟郊齐名,有“郊寒岛瘦”之称。有《长江集》。
《宿山寺》是唐代诗人贾岛的作品。此诗写诗人夜宿山寺的所见所感。首联突出佛寺之高,颔联描写夜景之奇,颈联体现了山顶的高远幽深,尾联烘托出山上环境的幽僻。诗歌风格清幽淡雅,语言精练,尤其是颔联两句突出了诗人炼字的精妙,为后人所激赏。也是文化出海的金名片。
《宿山寺》
(唐)贾岛
众岫耸寒色,精庐向此分。
流星透疏木,走月逆行云。
绝顶人来少,高松鹤不群。
一僧年八十,世事未曾闻。
【异文校记】“疏木”,一作疏水。
由于此诗比较小众,许渊冲、宇文所安、沃森等翻译大家都没有英译过此诗,仅仅有一位英国著名翻译家J.P. Seaton(海外权威)英译过,我们来看看其译本:
Overnight at a Mountain Temple
By Chia‑Tao
Flock of peaks hunched up and colored cold.
The path forks here, toward the temple.
A falling star flares behind bare trees,
and the moon breasts the current of the clouds.
Few men come to the very top…
One tall pine won’t hold a flock of cranes.
One monk here, at eighty,
has never heard tell of the “world” down below.
(J.P. Seaton,The Poetry of the Late T’ang, White Pine Press, 1999, p.114)
具体分析如下:
优点:
一是,意象的保留与重构。如“Flock of peaks hunched up and colored cold”将“攒”译为“hunched up”,既保留了群峰簇拥的视觉感,又赋予山峦一种拟人化的“蜷缩”姿态,与“colored cold”的冷色调相呼应,写出群峰耸峙、寒气笼罩,营造出清寒的山水氛围。
二是,自由诗,紧贴贾岛“郊寒岛瘦”清峭冷寂气质;the moon breasts the current of the clouds处理“走月逆行云”是学界公认妙笔,breast作动词“逆水破浪前行”,精准还原月亮视觉上逆流云而行。
可商榷之处:
总之,作为英译唐诗的入门或教学文本,它是合格且有一定文学性的;但若追求更高的“诗性对等”,仍有打磨空间。
绝知此事要躬行,笔者才疏学浅,不揣谫陋,斗胆试译此诗,向唐代诗人贾岛和所有翻译此诗的译者致敬。
Spending the Night in a Mountain Temple
By Jia Dao (Tang Dynasty)
Revised after Wang Yongli
Cold shades invest each steep crag‑crest on high;
The refined shrine stands where ridges diverge.
Shooting‑stars pierce the sparse trees as they fly;
The moon glides forth against the cloud‑drift’s surge.
Few travellers climb the peak’s supremest height;
On tall pines cranes dwell apart from their kind.
An eighty‑year‑old monk abides here still,
Who has never heard tidings of the world’s affairs.
Footnote:
Variant note:“sparse trees”alternatively read as“sparse waters”.
此译本恪守“以诗译诗”,颈联“高松鹤不群”译笔精当,规避J. P. Seaton的经典误读;首联对“众岫耸寒色、精庐向此分”的理解大体准确,尾联中性处理“世事未曾闻”,摒弃主观道德演绎。韵律:不追求每行严格同尾韵,依靠行内辅音、元音回响构建诗感,平衡诗性审美与文本忠实,避免“因韵害义”,符合海外汉学传世译本通行范式。
因水平有限,不足之处,敬请专家学者和读者批评指正。笔者愿意尽绵薄之力,为中华文化出海减少“文化折扣”而贡献点力量。