匆 匆 --朱自清 
Transient Days --Zhu ziqing
 
燕子去了，有再来的时候；杨柳枯了，在再青的时候；桃花谢了，有再开的时候。
If swallows go away, they will come back again. If willows wither, they will turn green again. If peach blossoms fade, they will flower again. 

Q：如何选择合适的句式？
这三句结构类似，那么译文最好也要选用相应的句式，力求形似。可以看到译文中都用了if开头。使人想起英国诗人雪莱(Shelley)的名句If Winter comes, can Spring be far away，有助于烘托原文的韵味。
 

但是，聪明的，你告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？——是有人偷了他们罢：那是谁？又藏在何处呢？是他们自己逃走了罢：现在又到了那里呢？ 
But, tell me, you the wise, why should our days go by never to return? Perhaps they have been stolen by someone. But who could it be and where could he hide them? Perhaps they have just run away by themselves. But where could they be at the present moment? 

赏析：“现在又到了那里呢”译为
But where could they be at the present moment
其中at the present moment等于now，也可用at the moment或at the moment in time等表达。 
 

我不知道他们给了我多少日子；但我的手确乎是渐渐空虚了。
I don’t know how many days I am entitled to altogether, but my quota of them is undoubtedly wearing away. 

Q:第二句比较抽象，怎么翻译？
比较抽象，首先要弄清楚这个句子的意思是什么？其次，因为比较抽象，所以不考虑直译，考虑意译。这句话的意思就是“日子已经渐渐逝去，留存的已经不多”。

译文中quota of them的意思是“一定数额的日子”，也即“寿命的预期数额”。也可用my allotted span 代替my quota of them。 
 

在默默里算着，八千多日子已经从我手中溜去；像针尖上一滴水滴在大海里，我的日子滴在时间的流里，没有声音，也没有影子。
Counting up silently, I find that more than 8000 days have already slipped away through my fingers. Like a drop of water falling off a needle point into the ocean, my days are quietly dripping into the stream of time without leaving a trace. 

赏析：八千多日子已经从我手中溜去
more than 8000 days have already slipped away through my fingers
“从手中溜去”在英文中有counterpart，也就是to slip away through one’s fingers，同为英语中的习语。语义能够对应起来的表达要多注意积累，这样译文会更加地道。
 

我不禁头涔涔而泪潸潸了。
At the thought of this, sweat oozes from my forehead and tears trickle down my cheeks. 

Q:“头涔涔而泪潸潸”怎么翻译？
这句话理解不难，只是要译出其所表达的情感有些困难，所以重点是选词及表达。“头流汗”是怎么流，流的是怎样的汗？“流泪”又是怎样的？非常考验选词，译文中sweat oozes from及tears trickle down（背影中也提到过这个表达）可以借鉴。

“我不禁头涔涔而泪潸潸了”的译文中添加了At the thought of this（一想到这儿），承上启下，原文中虽然没有提到，但是加上了之后译文变得更通顺了。
 

去的尽管去了，来的尽管来着；去来的中间，又怎样地匆匆呢？早上我起来的时候，小屋里射进两三方斜斜的太阳。太阳他也有脚啊，轻轻悄悄地挪移了；我也茫茫然跟着旋转。
What is gone is gone, what is to come keeps coming. How swift is the transition in between! When I get up in the morning, the slanting sun casts two or three squarish patches of light into my small room. The sun has feet too, edging away softly and stealthily. And, without knowing it, I am already caught in its revolution.

赏析：去的尽管去了，来的尽管来着
What is gone is gone, what is to come keeps coming.
这里一样的要注意句式，同时要注意时态的转换。

去来的中间，又怎样地匆匆呢？
How swift is the transition in between! 
这里原文貌似是简单疑问句，但是译文直接处理成了感叹句，同时修改了符号，其实更符合原文作者想要表达的意思。

轻轻悄悄地挪移了
edging away softly and stealthily.
这里“挪移”是个过程词，有“慢慢离开”的意思，所以用to edge away很合适。

 
于是——洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。
Thus the day flows away through the sink when I wash my hands; vanishes in the rice bowl when I have my meal; passes away quietly before the fixed gaze of my eyes when I am lost in reverie. 

这一整个句子都应该被视为一个整体来考虑应该用什么句式。中文类似于排比句，英文也是可以的。所以主语“日子”只出现一次就可以。谓语动词出现三个来组句。同时“日子过去”，译者为了不重复，分别用了“flow away”“vanish”和“pass away”，有助于我们积累表达，使译文更出彩。
 
必背单词
swallow
n.燕子
例句
one  swallow doesn't make a summer
一燕不成夏(不能单凭微小的迹象而下定论)
英义
you must not take too seriously a small sign that sth is happening or will happen in the future, because the situation could change

v. 咽；吞；一次吞咽的量；一口
英义
an act of swallowing; an amount of food or drink that is swallowed at one time
例句
The sword swallower swallowed a swollen sword.
吞剑人吞了一把膨胀的剑。

flower. v.开花
英义
to produce flowers
例句
This particular variety flowers in July. 
这个品种七月开花。

entitle
搭配
entitle sb to sth 
使享有权利；使符合资格
to give sb the right to have or to do sth
例句
You will be entitled to your pension when you reach 65. 
你到 65 岁就有资格享受养老金。 
扩充
export entitlement 出口权
entitlement to vote 投票权
be entitled to 有权；有…的资格

ooze
n.(河牀、湖底的)泥浆，稀泥 
英义
very soft mud, especially at the bottom of a lake or river
v. (浓液体)渗出，慢慢流出
英义
if a thick liquid oozes from a place, or if sth oozes a thick liquid, the liquid flows from the place slowly 
例句
Blood oozed out of the wound. 　
血从伤口慢慢流出来。 

slanting
adj. 不直的；不平的；斜的；歪的
英义
not straight or level; sloping
例句
The lines are drawn on a slant.
这些线条被画成斜线。
扩充
slanting eyes / handwriting / rain 
斜眼；歪斜的字迹；斜落的雨

edgy 
adj. 紧张的；烦躁不安的
英义
(informal) nervous, especially about what might happen
例句
After the recent unrest there is an edgy calm in the capital. 
最近的骚乱之后，首都平静得令人不安。 
扩充
a clever, edgy film 一部情节巧妙、扣人心弦的电影 

reverie
n.幻想；白日梦；梦想
英义
a state of thinking about pleasant things, almost as though you are dreaming
例句
She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 　
门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。
 
重点表达
be entitled to享有...权利/符合资格
wear away消磨；流逝
count up共计/把...加起来
trickle down（眼泪）流下来
 
复盘要点
1、杨柳
2、日子一去不复返
3、从手中溜去
4、头涔涔
5、泪潸潸
 
句子回译
1、聪明的，你告诉我，我们的日子为什么一去不复返呢？

2、但我的手确乎是渐渐空虚了。

3、像针尖上一滴水滴在大海里，我的日子滴在时间的流里，没有声音，也没有影子。

4、去来的中间，又怎样地匆匆呢？

5、太阳他也有脚啊，轻轻悄悄地挪移了；我也茫茫然跟着旋转。

6、于是——洗手的时候，日子从水盆里过去；吃饭的时候，日子从饭碗里过去；默默时，便从凝然的双眼前过去。
 
表达对比
让我们来看看「空虚」在不同语境下的不同表达！

她让我用新的故事填满「空虚」的旨意，是在允许我充分利用好我在这个星球余下的时间。
Her edict to fill my own empty space with a new story has given me permission to make the most out of my remaining time on this planet.

我默默地倚伏在船栏上，周围是一片的「空虚」和沉重。
Silently leaning on the ship railing, I found myself surrounded by an endless dull void.

相伴我的只有瓦檐上的雨声，纸窗外的月色，更多的是「空虚」而沉重的、黑魆魆的长夜。
As I lay awake with a gloomy feeling of emptiness, the only thing that would keep me company had been the raindrops pattering on the tiled roof and the moonlight outside the paper windows.

虽然是暗恶叱咤的恺撒，然而毕竟「空虚」得很。
All-powerful as he seemed, Caesar was after all frailty itself.