回家真好（二）
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回到家有什么样的见闻？回想起哪些往事？（前文回顾）
Dulce Domum（2）
回家真好（二）
Washington Irving
华盛顿·欧文
My companion looked around him with transport. “How often,” said he, “have I scampered up this avenue, on returning home on school vacations! How often have I played under these trees when a boy! I feel a degree of filial reverence for them, as we look up to those who have cherished us in childhood. My father was always scrupulous in exacting our holidays, and having us around him on family festivals. He used to direct and superintend our games with the strictness that some parents do the studies of their children. He was very particular that we should play the old English games according to their original form; and consulted old books for precedent and authority for every 'merrie disport’; yet I assure you there never was pedantry so delightful. It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent could bestow.”
我的旅伴激动地四下张望着说：“假期回家时我在这条路上跑过不知多少趟呀！小时候我在这些树下玩过不知多少回呀！小时候我们受到人们的爱护，我们很尊敬他们，我心里总是怀有一种对父辈的敬意。假期里，我的父亲对我们要求很严格，节日家庭聚会时一定要我们在他的身边。他总是指导监督我们做游戏，那股严格劲儿就和一些父母指导和监督他们孩子学习一样。他特别要求我们按照原有的形式做英国古老的游戏，为了寻找范例而查阅古书，为了每一次‘娱乐’而咨询权威；但是，我可以向你保证，从来没有过如此墨守成规而又让人快活的人。这个可爱的老绅士总是让他的孩子们感觉家是世界上最幸福的地方；我珍惜这一甜蜜的家的感觉，把它看作父母给我们的最好的礼物之一。”
We were interrupted by the clamour of a troop of dogs of all sorts and sizes, “mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound, and curs of low degree,” that, disturbed by the ring of the porter’s bell, and the rattling of the chaise, came bounding, open-mouthed, across the lawn.
“—The little dogs and all,
Tray, Blanch, and Sweetheart—see, they bark at me!”
cried Bracebridge, laughing. At the sound of his voice, the bark was changed into a yelp of delight, and in a moment he was surrounded and almost overpowered by the caresses of the faithful animals.
我们被一群品种各异、大小不一的狗的叫声打断了，“杂种狗、小狗崽、幼犬和猎犬，还有不太凶狠的恶犬”①。它们被门铃声和马车声惊动，张着大嘴，从草坪上跳跃着跑过来。
“这些小狗，脱雷、布兰奇、史威塔，瞧，它们都在向我狂吠！”②
布雷斯布里奇边笑边嚷着说。听见他的声音，狗的吠声变成一阵欢快的叫声。顷刻间，他被狗包围了，差点儿被这些忠诚的动物充满爱意的动作拥倒了。
① 此引语出自英国诗人奥利弗•戈德史密斯（1728—1774） 的诗《疯狗的挽歌》。
② 此引语出自莎士比亚戏剧《李尔王》第3幕第6场。
译后语
He used to direct and superintend our games with the strictness that some parents do the studies of their children.
在这个语境里，“do the studies of their children”是指前面所说“to direct and superintend”指导和监督，它不仅起了代替作用，并为全句创造了一种简洁明快的风格。
At the sound of his voice, the bark was changed into a yelp of delight.
狗的叫声从警觉到“欢快”的变化，“the bark was changed into a yelp of delight”，写得很巧妙很自然，如能在英语阅读或英汉翻译过程中经常做类似的比较，可以增加对英语的感性认识，培养语感。这是学习英语的有效途径，也对提高汉英翻译能力有帮助。
以上内容摘自《英语经典散文翻译与赏析》，刘士聪选译，谷启楠审译。图片来自网络。
本书为近代重要英语作家、名人的散文随笔选译本，收录蒲柏、骚塞、兰姆、狄更斯、吉卜林、休谟等名家的60篇散文精品。书中每个篇目包括作家简介、原文、译文和译后语四部分。
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