经济学人精读丨月饼里的大学问

原文:http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzI5MzQ0NjMyMw==&mid=2247485388&idx=1&sn=b62e15c8bdaaec9e37e3cedde0d616f0&chksm=ec70b010db07390647ea3288b98fc83c4492fb979bf596d86ec9630523c9c994cdf9bf213f2d#rd

谈到月饼,我们条件反射的想到“月亮”“圆满”“思念”,在单一的输入中我们逐渐形成了思维定式,思维变得陈旧、僵化。而《经济学人》不落窠臼,从新的视角去看身边日复一日、习以为常的事情,别有一番洞天。有的人眼中,月饼是美味佳肴、中秋必备,有的人眼中,月饼又干又硬、高卡路里,而在经济学家的眼中,月饼却能反映出一系列重要的趋势。今天我们一起来看一下。


本文选自2018年9月22日的《经济学人》,先听音频看原文:



原文


①MOONCAKES are among the most divisive treats. ②For some the chewy pastries are delicacies on which to gorge for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese holiday that falls this year on September 24th. ③For others they are dry, dense and full of calories. ④But for economists they are something else entirely: an indicator of important trends in consumption, innovation, corruption and grey-market trading.


①Mooncakes play this role because of their status as gifts. ②Ahead of the mid-autumn holiday, companies give them to employees; business contacts exchange them. ③Consumption of mooncakes is thus less a reflection of whether people enjoy the pastries, likened by some to edible hockey pucks, and more a measure of the health of the economy. ④So it is heartening to know that, amid rising trade tensions with America, the Chinese bakery association has forecast that sales of mooncakes will rise by a solid 5-10% this year.




精读


第一段


第一段讲了不同人眼中的月饼,核心词:divisive.


①MOONCAKES are among the most divisive treats.

月饼是最容易引发争议的美味。


①句总领全段,讲了月饼的特点:divisive,这也是第一段的核心词。


be among+最高级 = one of+最高级,意思是“最...的之一”,在2018年9月1日的《经济学人》封面文章“逃离硅谷”中,作者分析了企业离开硅谷的原因之一是成本过高:

The cost of living is among the highest in the world.

=

The cost of living is one of the highest in the world.


divisive的动词是divide(分裂),由此可以判断divisive的意思是“造成不和的”,英文解释是:causing a lot of disagreement between people. 比如,a divisive issue 容易引发争议的问题。

观点类写作的时候我们经常会说:

People are divided on...(issue),

People are split on...(issue).


treat在这里是名词,相当于delicacy “美味食物”,divisive treats的意思是“引发争议的美味”


为什么说月饼会“引发争议”呢?我们继续来看:




②-④围绕着divisive展开,主要讲了不同人眼中的月饼不同。

②For some / the chewy pastries are delicacies / on which to gorge for the Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese holiday / that falls this year on September 24th.

对有些人来说,月饼是中秋佳节的美味食品。今年的中秋节是9月24日。


②句讲了第一类人眼中的月饼:美味。


For some / the chewy pastries are delicacies

For some“对一些人来说”,和下文的For others, But for economists对应。

文中the chewy pastries指的是“月饼”,chewy的意思是needing to be chewed a lot before it can be swallowed 耐嚼的,pastry指“油酥糕点”,chewy patries就是“月饼”的意思。

这叫“特征翻译法”,在翻译具有中国特色的名词时,可以采用“特征+本质”的翻译方法,比如“咕咾肉”翻译成"sweet and sour pork",sweet and sour是咕咾肉的特征——又甜又酸;pork是咕咾肉的本质——猪肉;再比如“汤圆”翻译成"sweet dumplings",sweet是汤圆的特征——甜,dumpling是汤圆的本质—— small lumps of dough(小面团)。文中chewy pastries也是如此,chewy是月饼的特征——耐嚼,pastry是月饼的本质——油酥糕点。

除了“特征翻译法”,我们还可以采用直接音译的方法,这样做的好处是能最大限度的保留原汁原味,但也造成一定的理解障碍,因此当在某个场景中首次出现时,一定要在后面进行解释。比如“粽子”翻译成"Zongzi",如果在语境中首次出现,我们还要在后面补充"glutinous rice and choice of filling wrapped in leaves and boiled",再比如“豆汁”,我们可以翻译成"Douzhir - fermented bean drink"(发酵的豆类饮品)。


on which to gorge for the Mid-Autumn Festival

这部分是delicacies的定语从句。

on which to gorge=on delicacies to gorge = gorge on delicacies,which指delicacies,gorge on sth的意思是eat a lot of sth 大吃,胡吃海塞。我在翻译的时候没有把“大吃”翻译出来,因为汉语中“中秋佳节的美味”已经包含了“吃”的意思。

此外,我们也可以用devour和wolf down表示“大吃”的意思,wolf是“狼”的意思,wolf down真的是“狼吞虎咽”了。

for the Mid-Autumn Festival,for+时间,表示“在...期间”,比如,an appointment for two o'clock 两点钟的约会,for the Mid-Autumn Festival就是“在中秋节期间”的意思了。


a Chinese holiday / that falls this year on September 24th

a Chinese holiday是the Mid-Autumn Festival的同位语,起到补充信息的作用。

a Chinese holiday我没有翻译,因为受众是中国人,自然不必强调,而作者是针对西方人写的,所以必须加上Chinese以说明。就像汉译英时,“自从新中国建立以来,党和政府...”,我们在翻译时一定要加上"in 1949",这样老外才更加明白:Since the founding of PRC in 1949, the Party and the government...


that falls this year on September 24th是a Chinese holiday的定语从句,“节日 falls on 几月几号”表示“几月几号是什么节日”,此外我们还可以说:

“节日 is observed on 几月几号”

“节日 is celebrated on 几月几号”

“几月几号 marks 节日”




③For others / they are dry, dense and full of calories.

对另一些人来说,月饼又干又厚,热量高。


dry, dense and full of calories和上文的delicacies形成鲜明对比,一正一反,这正是月饼 divisive 所在。




④But for economists / they are something else entirely: an indicator of important trends / in consumption, innovation, corruption and grey-market trading.

但经济学家眼中的月饼却完全不同:月饼是消费、创新、腐败、灰色市场交易的重要趋势的指标。


"But for economists"让月饼更加divisive。在他们看来,月饼不是好吃还是不好吃、健康还是不健康的问题,而是市场风向、官员作风的大问题。


they are something else entirely: an indicator of important trends

indicator是“指标、迹象”的意思,可数名词,相当于sign,文中an indicator of important trends的意思是“重要趋势的指标”。

trend是“趋势、潮流”的意思,a trend in...指“某方面的趋势”,比如:a(n) downward/upward trend in sales 销售额下降/上升的趋势;a trend towards...表示“朝...方向发展的趋势”,比如:a growing trend towards nuclear families 家庭日益小型化的趋势。nuclear family指“核心家庭、小家庭”,也就是爸爸妈妈和孩子的家庭,与之相对的是extended family “大家庭”,也就是四世同堂那类的,不仅有爸爸妈妈孩子,还有七大姑八大姨。


trends / in consumption, innovation, corruption and grey-market trading

1. consumption 消费。如果月饼销售量上升,说明国内经济运行良好;

2. innovation 创新。除了常见五仁、豆沙月饼,现在还出现很多奇葩月饼,比如老干妈馅月饼、巧克力牛肉馅、韭菜馅月饼,当然这是玩笑话。真正创新体现在“中西结合”上,比如香格里拉酒店推出的蓝莓芝士月饼,赢得了不少顾客的支持(win fans with its blueberry-cheese mooncake)。

当然月饼花样繁多一定免不了被traditionalists批评为“背离”,其实月饼也是从“太师饼”、“胡饼”发展而来的。想当年太师饼发展到胡饼、胡饼发展到月饼的时候,也未能幸免于“骂”吧。

3. corruption 腐败。月饼逐渐成为过度包装、公款消费的代名词。2013年反腐风暴使月饼市场缩水20%,今年中纪委也提前警告说:月饼虽小,但反映出了大问题。如果月饼市场扩张,可能意味着反腐松动,如果缩水,则意味着反腐继续收紧。

4. grey-market trading 灰色市场交易。有一个月饼厂,生产了一张面值为100元的月饼券,然后用65元的价格卖给某公司的人力资源部,该公司把这张月饼券作为中秋福利发给员工。员工拿着月饼券,高高兴兴地回家了。

然而这名员工不吃月饼,他转手用40元的价格,把月饼券卖给了最善于发掘“规则之缝”的黄牛。黄牛用50元的价格,把月饼券卖回给了那家月饼厂。

这样就出现了一个有趣的循环:月饼厂没有生产任何东西,却赚了15元;黄牛从中赚了10元。这就叫 grey-market trading.




第二段


第二段分析了月饼为什么会成为经济运行情况的指标。


①Mooncakes play this role / because of their status as gifts

月饼能起到这种作用是因为它作为礼物的地位。


play this role 起到这种作用,“这种”指上一段的 an indicator of important trends in...

status as gifts解释了其原因,且引出下一句。




②Ahead of the mid-autumn holiday, companies give them to employees; business contacts exchange them.

临近中秋,公司给员工发月饼,商业伙伴互送月饼。


②句对①句的their status as gifts进行扩充。


Ahead of the mid-autumn holiday

这半句点名时间:临近中秋、中秋前夕。

此外,表示“临近某一时间”我们还可以说:

As... draw near,...

As...draw close,...

On the eve of...

In the run-up to...

In the lead-up to...

As ... approaches,比如《南华早报》中有关中秋节的介绍:

Each year, as Mid-Autumn approaches, businesses and individuals spend thousands of dollars on lavishly packaged mooncake gifts.


companies give them to employees; business contacts exchange them

give和exchange这两个动词体现了gift.

exchange是个非常好用的动词,意思是“交换”,比如exchange gifts 互送礼物, exchange ideas 交流思想,exchange a few words 相互交谈几句,exchange glances 相互看了对方几眼,exchange blows 打了起来。


business contacts指生意场上的那些“商业伙伴”,英文解释更精准一些:a person that you know, especially sb who can be helpful to you in your work. 你认识的人,尤其是工作中能帮到你的人。




Consumption of mooncakes is thus less a reflection of / whether people enjoy the pastries, likened by some to edible hockey pucks, and more a measure of / the health of the economy.

因此,月饼消费不单能体现人们是否喜欢享用这一美食(一些人把它比喻成能吃的冰球),更是经济运行是否良好的指标。


③句讲了互送礼物带来的现象:月饼成了经济是否平稳的风向标,呼应了①句。


这句话略长,主干为:

Consumption of mooncakes is thus less a..., and more a...

因此,月饼消费不单是(不仅是)...,更是(而且是)...。

thus是连接②③两句的因果逻辑词,is less a..., and(but) more a... 是一个很高级的句式,表示递进的逻辑关系,前面略带否定的意味,后面为重点,可以翻译成“不仅是...,而且是...”或“不是...,而是...”。我们造个句子:

最近科大讯飞人工智能同传“造假”问题炒的沸沸扬扬,很多人都在指责科大讯飞,或者讨论AI是否能取代人类议员,但其实它揭示了目前口译界普遍存在的焦虑情绪。我们可以说:

The controversy over iFlytek’s so-called fake AI interpreting is less a debate about whether machines will someday replace humans in translation, but more a reflection of anxieties that take hold among interpreters and language-learners.


likened / by some / to edible hockey pucks

这部分是过去分词作pastries的后置定语,这里面有个词组:liken A to B,把A比做成B,文中pastries are likened by some to edible hockey pucks是说,月饼被一些人比做成了能吃的冰球。

edible的意思是able to eat 能吃的,可食用的。

《阿甘正传》中有这么一句很经典的话:

My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

我们可以说:Life is often likened to a box of chocolates.



④So it is heartening to know that, amid rising trade tensions with America, the Chinese bakery association has forecast that / sales of mooncakes will rise / by a solid 5-10% this year.

中国烘焙联盟预测,今年月饼销量将稳步增长5-10%,因此在中美贸易战升温的大背景下,这令人振奋。


So it is heartening to know that...

heartening表示“令人振奋的”,也可以用encouraging替换。


amid rising trade tensions with America

amid表示in the middle of or during sth “在...之中”,用来介绍背景。

也可以用against the backdrop of替换。


rising一词表明中美贸易战在不断的升温,也可以用escalating, intensifying替换。


rise by a solid 5-10% this year

solid在这里表示good/steady的意思,它介于“好”和“出色”之间,可以翻译成“相当不错”,a solid 5-10%表示“5-10%的稳步增长”。再比如,solid achievements 相当不错的成就。

“a+adj.+数字”是常见的表达方式,adj.修饰数字的特点,如果数字大,我们可以说:a staggering 60%,如果数字小,我们可以说:a modest/mere 1%。这种表达方式能让句子结构更加简洁、清爽,尤其是图表类写作。比如第六期第五单元我们就重点练习了这类写作,其中有一部分要描述1995-2000-2004英国网民的变化,一个学员是这么写的:


Clearly, Britain had the most internet users. The number of British people using the Internet increased dramatically from 16 million in 1995 to 22 million in 2000 and then 41 million in 2004.


再看一下范文是如何使用staggering一词的:


It is evident that Britain was home to the largest base of netizens. From 16 million in 1995, its number had climbed steadily to 22 million in 2000 before hitting a staggering 41 million in 2004.




今天就到这里,感谢阅读!


祝大家中秋快乐!