《玫瑰的名字》閱讀筆記 2

都說不雞蛋裡挑骨頭了,還是忍不住..... >_<|||

玫瑰的名字》中文版裡面有一段這麼寫:
威廉喃喃說道:「吃吧,因為那是好的。」
「什麼?」佐治問道,以為威廉所指的是他面前的菜。
「根據恩布魯斯的著作,聖勞倫斯面對著行刑的劊子手時,就是這麼說的。」威廉以虔敬的語氣說:「聖勞倫斯是個懂得笑和幽默的人,儘管那是在羞辱他的敵人。」 (p.105)

這句「吃吧,因為那是好的。」未免也太奇怪了。我唯一能想到會這麼說的情況,是勸家人吃維他命,或一些營養卻難以下嚥的東西。

上面那段對話在英文版裡面是這麼寫的:

William murmured. “Eat, for it is well done.”
“What?” asked Jorge, thinking he referred to some dish that was being brought to him.
“Those are the words that, according to Ambrose, were uttered by Saint Lawrence on the gridiron, when he invited his executioners to turn him over, as Prudentius also recalls in the Peristephanon,” William said with a saintly air. “Saint Lawrence therefore knew how to laugh and say ridiculous things, even if it was to humiliate his enemies.”

文中所說的聖勞倫斯當時所面臨的處境,其實用下面這張圖來解釋就很明白了:




當他被綁在鐵架上當作烤肉一般烘烤時,還能對敵人說:「已經熟了,吃吧!」這境界可不輸文天祥的「鼎鑊甘如飴」啊!

故事的真實性並不重要,但這裡的 well done,應該不是指「好的」,而是「熟了」的意思。

令我不解的是,譯者可以把很多難句、長句、和一些歷史典故譯出來,也能調用平常較少見的中文(例如:翫歲日),卻把常見的 well done 意思弄錯了。難怪有人說,越是看似簡單的句子,反而容易譯錯。

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