1859年,狄更斯在《双城记》的开篇写下:这是最好的时代,也是最坏的时代。It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. 民国则相反,那是最坏的时代,也是最好的时代。民国有骨,民国有节,民国出才女,她们有颜有才有气度,国语英语两手抓,腹有诗书气自华。今天,我们来盘点几位民国才女,腹有诗书气自华的她们,英文水平又怎么样呢?
初现翻译天赋时林19岁时,爱好文艺的她因尝试翻译了王尔德的The Nightingale and the Rose(《夜莺与玫瑰》),并发表在1923年12月1日《晨报五周年纪念增刊》上。
节选一段,感受一下林徽因的翻译功底:
"No red rose in all my garden!" he cried, and his beautiful eyes filled with tears.
"Ah, on what little things does happiness depend! I have read all that the wise men have written, and all the secrets of philosophy are mine, yet for want of a red rose is my life made wretched."
你若要一朵红玫瑰,你需将尖刺刺入你的心头,在月色里歌唱,流尽生命的血液。If you want a red rose, you must pierce the thorn into your heart and sing by moonlight until the last drop of your life blood.