古文陋室铭的英文翻译

陋室铭

【唐】刘禹锡

山不在高，有仙则名。水不在深，有龙则灵。斯是陋室，惟吾德馨。苔痕上阶绿，草色入帘青。谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁。可以调素琴，阅金经。无丝竹之乱耳，无案牍之劳形。南阳诸葛庐，西蜀子云亭，孔子云：“何陋之有？” 英译：

A mountain has a fame not for its height, but for a deity being in it. A lake has a spirit not for its depth, but for a dragon being in it. My room, although simple and humble, is famous for my virtues. Here, moss kisses the steps, and green grass catches the eyes. Confabbing here are all erudite men but shallow people. Here I can play my undecorated qin (a Chinese zither), and read diamond sutra, neither interrupted by such noises as from those silk-string and woodwind instruments, nor exhausted by official documents. My room, famous for my virtues, like Zhuge Liang's Thatched Cottage in Nanyang and Ziyun's Pavilion in western Shu, is just described as Confucius said:"How can such a room be simple and humble?"

解析：

《陋室铭》非诗而是文。因此，翻译时不能按诗歌格式翻译。此篇虽短，但文章结构完整。下面我们用汉语和英语两种篇章思维对其进行分析。

从汉语思维角度看，中国古人写作喜欢使用“赋比兴”手法。赋：平铺直叙，开门见山。比：比喻。兴：起兴，先言他物，借它物来引出所要描绘的事物的描写。其中比兴两种手法更具文学手法。“起兴”的作用是要引“起”读者的“兴”趣，而不是“赋”陈其事，直来直去，直奔主题。“起兴”借先言他物，而引出主题。但这个“他物”并非任意任何“他物”，必须与主题有关，这样才能自然引入到主题上。《陋室铭》中1-2句以“兴”起句“山不在高，有仙则名。水不在深，有龙则灵。”第3句为主题，如果按1-2句式，本应该写为：“室不在（仑）奂，有德则馨”。但作者在句式上改为“斯是陋室，惟吾德馨”。为什么要这么改动句式呢？很简单，如果不改而仍用前面相同的句式，就会让读者一直“兴”下去，从而感到疲惫，找不到主题。这个主题中，“陋室”和“德馨”为中心；“陋室”为次，“德馨”为重。次则笔墨不应多，重则应大事渲染。作者只用第四句论述“陋室”；而用了三句从三个方面大事渲染“德馨”：第五句从人际交往论述自己的德馨、第六句从自身修养论述自己的德馨、第七句从世事工作论述