放大圖片
■獲心臟移植的心儀(右三)感激嘉敏(小圖)及其家人的無私。資料圖片
香港文匯報報道:「人生無常,在摯親離世後,甚少人願意把死者器官捐贈他人,但年僅31歲的何嘉敏(小圖)在車禍中逝世後,家人在短短不足半小時內,強忍最大傷痛,決定履行死者生前樂於助人的遺願,把其心、肝、腎及眼角膜器官捐出,重燃6個人的生命,以另一種方式延續下來、遺愛人間。」各位會怎樣把這段話翻譯成英文?
「無常」佛語 常譯impermanent
「人生無常」:「人生」叫life便可,不會叫human life之類;「無常」這個佛家用語,形容詞慣常英譯作impermanent。
「在摯親離世後,甚少人願意把死者器官捐贈他人」:「摯親」常叫作beloved one(s);「離世」既委婉地說「死去」,英文也不宜說die或dead,可說pass away;「甚少人」是very few people;「願意」是willing to;「死者」常說the deceased;「器官」是organ(s);「捐贈」是donate。
委婉「逝世」 短語pass on
「但年僅31歲的何嘉敏在車禍中逝世後,家人在短短不足半小時內,強忍最大傷痛」:「僅」是only;「何嘉敏」的英文名字是Carmen Ho,這種中英文名字讀音相似的做法,近來愈益流行;「車禍」是car accident;「逝世」同樣沒說「死去」,可考慮用另一個短語動詞pass on;「強忍」即努力地勉強接受,可說manage to come to terms with;「傷痛」這兒指悼念亡者,英文名詞是grief;「最大」在這兒可用inconsolable,指「無法慰藉的」。
「決定履行死者生前樂於助人的遺願,把其心、肝、腎及眼角膜器官捐出」:「履行……遺願」,這兒的意思其實是「秉承……精神」,英文可說preserve ... spirit;「樂於助人(的精神)」,可說keen spirit of helping the needy;「眼角膜」是cornea(s)。
重燃生命 rekindle life
「重燃6個人的生命,以另一種方式延續下來、遺愛人間」:上下文交接,可加上Thanks to this(多得此舉);「重燃」是rekindle;「延續」用go on便可;「另一種方式」是in a different way。
因此全段可英譯如下:Life is impermanent. When our beloved ones pass away, very few people are willing to donate organs of the deceased to others. However, when Carmen Ho, only 31, passed on in a car accident, her family, in as short as less than half an hour, managed to come to terms with their inconsolable grief, and decided to preserve her keen spirit of helping the needy by donating her heart, liver, kidneys and corneas. Thanks to this, six lives have been rekindled, and her life and love can go on in a different way.
■MT Ness
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