(本讲座每周分享英语学习和英汉翻译的独有经验,欢迎关注。)
引言
怎样翻译下面的英语句子?怎样翻译才比较传神?
Toward the end of my Gemini career, one had only to say "KC-135" to make me feel quite queasy.
相关段落和背景信息:
宇航员要想在KC-135飞机内获得失重状态,飞机必须先俯冲,再沿一条抛物线轨迹上冲,从而在最高点附近获得大约20秒多一点的失重状态;在此期间,宇航员需要完成各项指定任务;每一次起飞,飞机都要进行几十次这个动作,让参加训练的宇航员们痛苦不堪,以下是作者的描述:
Some astronauts threw up. I never quite did, but I was close enough at times to be utterly miserable. I found that it helped to minimize my head movements, but frequently that was impossible as we thrashed about trying to retrieve make-believe micrometeorite packages from make-believe Agenas, or whatever the task of the day was. The strange thing about the zero-G airplane was that instead of becoming acclimated to it, my tolerance seemed to decrease. Toward the end of my Gemini career, one had only to say "KC-135" to make me feel quite queasy.

(宇航员在KC-135飞机中进行失重训练;NASA图片)
难点分析和翻译技巧:
这个句子并不复杂,这里的主要目的是学习这个非常有用的英语句型;或者说,中文里常说的“一提到……我就恶心/想吐”用英语如何表达。
另外,queasy的意思也顺便解释一下。美国的Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary给出了如下的释义:
Queasy: causing nausea; suffering from nausea (让人恶心的;感到恶心的)
试译:
有的宇航员也会呕吐。我从来没有吐过,但有时候感觉特别难受,几乎要吐了。我发现尽量使脑袋不动很有帮助,但很多时候这是不可能的,因为我们在试图收取模拟“阿吉纳”火箭上的模拟微陨石测量装置或完成当天的其他任务时,会猛烈地摆动。关于零重力训练飞机,有一个很奇怪的现象:我不是变得越来越适应,而是变得越来越难以忍受。在我“双子星座”飞行任务快结束的时候,只要有人一说“KC-135”,我就感到恶心。
下期预告:
怎样翻译下面的英语句子才比较传神?
In addition to worrying about the pressure suits and other extravehicular hardware, I spent a lot of time trying to define what tasks man might reasonably be expected to do outside, flying along as a human satellite. Could he really do serious repair work, or lasso other spacecraft, or retrieve packages?
往期精彩回顾:
作者简介:从事英汉口译和笔译37年,出版译著6部;全国第一届和第二届“韩素音青年翻译奖”竞赛一等奖获得者;地道英语和传神翻译的倡导者和实践者。最新译著《我的两次月球之旅》由上海交通大学出版社出版。
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