在网上找到这样的译文,好像也不够准确:有时候一个人早已活过了他享有一定地位的时期,进入了一个他感到陌生的新世纪,这时候人们便会看到人间戏剧中一幅最奇特的景象。
我的书上也是这么翻译的。。。
Sometimes a man survives a considerable time from an era in which he had his place into one which is strange to him, and then the curious are offered one of the most singular spectacles in the human comedy.
联系下文,尝试翻译一下
有时候,一个时代的巨人,在进入另一个陌生的新世纪后,却古怪的成为了人类喜剧中的一个另类景象。
意译得太厉害了。觉得原文里并没有说他在他那个时代是“巨人”或“有地位” 。"his place" is a quite neutral term。 这里不好翻译的是前半句。(后半句里,"the curious"="the curious people"). 前半句里一个重要的问题是: "in which" 引导的限定性定语从句到哪里结束? 也就是说“into one which is strange to him” 属于这个定语从句吗? 这个结构搞清楚才能明白 这里的 “one” 是代指什么。(如果“into one which is strange to him” 属于这个定语从句, 那么 "one" = "a place". 否则,“one”= "an era". 我的感觉是前者。因为如果是后者,我觉得应该加上逗号,这样写:Sometimes a man survives a considerable time from an era, in which he had his place, into one which is strange to him, and then the curious are offered one of the most singular spectacles in the human comedy.)
觉得原文里并没有说他在他那个时代是“巨人”或“有地位” 。"his place" is a quite neutral term。 这里不好翻译的是前半句。(后半句里,"the curious"="the curious people"). 前半句里一个重要的问题是: "in which" 引导的限定性定语从句到哪里结束? 也就是说“into one which is strange to him” 属于这个定语从句吗? 这个结构搞清楚才能明白 这里的 “one” 是代指什么。(如果“into one which is strange to him” 属于这个定语从句, 那么 "one" = "a place". 否则,“one”= "an era". 我的感觉是前者。因为如果是后者,我觉得应该加上逗号,这样写:Sometimes a man survives a considerable time from an era, in which he had his place, into one which is strange to him, and then the curious are offered one of the most singular spectacles in the human comedy.)
欢迎指正!