词典不是万能钥匙,任何词典都有其局限性。这就需要我们在两种语言之间进行协调,以彰显其幽默的美妙。如,有一则汉语幽默:一口吃者去理发。理发师问他胡子剃不剃,他忙不迭地说:“剃……剃……剃不得。”话未说完,胡子已少了一半。我把它译成英语:A stammerer goes to have his hair cut. The barber asks whether his beard is to be shaved or not. That tongue-tied chap says promptly:“You can…can…can’t shave it.” Before he finishes the sentence, his half beard is lost.
3.掌握文字整合的技巧
调整文字是幽默翻译更高一级的手法。如,有一则叫“Tweedledum And Tweedledee” 的英语幽默: An employee says to the General Manager gingerly:“My wife told me to ask you to enhance my wages.” The General Manager says disconcertingly:“Such being the case, I’m obliged to return to solicit my wife’s opinions, then I reply you , Okay?”我在《每天幽它一默》一书中干脆把标题译成了“妻管严”,不仅吻合原文,而且迭加了幽默元素。
《大学英语》第三册的Why I Teach一文中,最后一句“I occasionally find myself catching my breath with them.”其实就是一个pun。它一方面指“我有时感到自己也和他们一起开始成长了”,同时还有“rest and get back his normal breath”之意。