[1] Mulan was a child of Peking. She had grown up there and had drunk in
all the richness of life of the city which enveloped its inhabitants like a
great mother soft toward all her children’s requests, fulfilling all their
whims and desires, or like a huge thousand-year-old tree in which the insects
making their home in one branch did not know what the insects in the other
branch were doing. She had learned from Peking its tolerance, geniality, and
urbanity, as we all in our formative years catch something of the city and
country we live in. [2] She had grown up with the yellow-roofed palaces and the purple and
green roofed temples, the broad boulevards and the long, crooked alleys, the
busy thoroughfares and the quiet districts that were almost rural in their
effect; the common man’s homes with their inevitable pomegranate trees and jars
of goldfish, no less than the rich man’s mansions and gardens; the open-air tea
houses where men loll on rattan armchairs under cypress trees, spending twenty
cents for a whole afternoon in summer; the enclosed teashops where in winter
men eat steaming-hot mutton fried with onion and drink pehkan(白干儿酒) and where the great rub shoulders with the
humble.
翻译解析
第1段
1，Mulan was a child of Peking. She had grown up there
and had drunk in all the richness of life of the
city //which enveloped its
inhabitants like a great mother soft toward all
her children’s requests, fulfilling all their whims and desires, or like a huge thousand-year-old tree in which the
insects making their home in one branch did not know what the insects in the
other branch were doing. 这里首先要对意群进行切分，应该没人一句话说完吧，小傻瓜。总体分为两块，先说北京的richness，然后说北京like像什么，再通过or并列引出两个类比对象。这里的which指代the city。 Mulan was a child of Peking. She had grown up there //and had drunk in all
the richness of life of the city这里不要按照原文的断句结构来，而是给它重新组装一下，尤其是前面这里的child和grown up，其实是一个完整的意思，非常紧凑，生在北京，也长在北京。然后and后面很明显开始说另外一个话题的内容，和前面不太一样，所以你先介绍背景，她是北京人，然后北京的生活是richness。“Mulan was a child of Peking. She had grown up there”这里的表达会比较多样，你可以说“木兰生在北京，长在北京”，或者说“是土生土长的北京人、是地道的北京人”，注意一下这里的child，不是说她现在是一个小孩子，而是把北京看作母亲一样的角色，孕育一个人的地方，“北京人”都是这个地方的孩子，这还要我讲啊。drunk in all the richness of life of the city这里直译就行，“陶醉于北京城丰富多彩的生活”。 which enveloped its inhabitants like a great mother soft toward all her
children’s requests, fulfilling all their whims and desires在把北京比作母亲之前还有一个结构enveloped its inhabitants，这里从中文理解来说比较简单吧，生活在北京城里面的人，能够感受到北京这样一个城市对居民的包围、包裹、包容、呵护等等，就像是一个母亲。 这里不太好处理的点可能就是envelop这个词本身，因为你不管把它处理为什么词，好像都限定了某一个具体的含义，但是在原文语境中，其实它更像是什么意思都有一点，有同学写的“养育”我觉得意思还行。其实在这里不译这个词本身，意思也没有什么缺失，因为后面的形容把它说成母亲，对孩子如何如何，体现的就是城市对居民的一种态度，而envelop这个词本身并不具备情感倾向。 a great mother soft toward all her
children’s requests, fulfilling all their whims and desires这里可以按照原文的结构单独处理为两个部分，一个是soft toward，一个是fulfill。Soft这个词很多人处理为“温柔”也还行，这个词在这里表示“心慈手软、不够严厉”，正是因为孩子们的请求都不忍心拒绝，所以就表现为一切的愿望和想法都会满足，whims and desires可以理解为是request的具体内容。 但很多时候太平铺直叙的大白话就会显得很冗余，句子软塌塌的。虽然大家说的都是一个意思，但是好的译文和还有进步空间的译文，大家一眼就能看出来，所以在翻译的时候一定要提醒自己，这里除了表面直译，是否还可以有一些变化，比如用一些四字结构去总结概括。这里提到的所有的要求都会满足，不就是“有求必应”嘛。 or like a huge thousand-year-old tree in which the insects making their
home in one branch did not know what the insects in the other branch were doing第2部分是把北京比作一棵千年老树，这里要理解原文想传递什么意思，其实也就是城市很大，每个人生活在不同的街区角落，家家户户都在不同的地方生根，你我可能都不认识，但是都在忙着生活。 这里的thousand-year-old就可以对应北京的历史悠久，然后这里提到的树上的不同昆虫/不同分支，可以理解为北京地广人多。总之还是在介绍这个城市呈现出来的面貌，从而回答前面的richness。最后的what were doing直译就是不知道他们正在干什么，不过也可以有一点点发挥，不是真的强调正在做什么，住哪啊，什么样的家庭，什么样的生活，其实一无所知。
参考译文
Mulan was a child of Peking. She had grown up there and had drunk in all the richness of life of the city which
enveloped its inhabitants like a great mother soft toward
all her children’s requests, fulfilling all their
whims and desires, or like a huge thousand-year-old tree in which the
insects making their home in one branch did not
know what the insects in the other
branch were doing.译文一：木兰是土生土长的北京孩子，这座城市丰富多彩的生活令她陶醉不已。北京城可比拟伟大慈母，对子女百依百顺、有求必应；亦可与千年大树相比，昆虫在这头的枝丫上安家筑巢，浑然不知另一头的伙伴们身居何处。 译文二：木兰生于北京，长于北京，尽享这座城市的多彩繁华。北京城好比伟大母亲，慈心仁厚，对子女有求必应，允其念想，偿其所愿；亦或像千年古树，高大挺拔，满身枝丫，你我皆是树上昆虫，我在这头筑巢安家，浑然不知你在那头境况何样。 注：①had drunk in这里的整体结构可以不变换主语，顺着木兰这个主语往下说，那么drunk in就可以说尽享，或者“尽情陶醉于”。大家知道中文表达是可以随意切换主语的（只不过有些典型段落，比如对人物连续的描写，不变会比较清晰），所以这里也可以反过来说，先说城市丰富多彩的生活，然后中间补充一个“令她”衔接一下，陶醉落在句末又可以补充成四字，这样也传达了drunk本身的程度。②enveloped its inhabitants这里我是没有处理，没想到特别完美的表达，直接说like这里。a great mother soft toward按照原文断句就是，“伟大母亲，对……”，这种常规句式就不多说了，这里说两个不同的思路。首先，把soft的含义放到伟大母亲里，中文里常说“慈母”吧，刚好对应soft的含义。这时候，toward all her children’s requests这个结构就可以不处理了，具体怎么个soft，在后面一句说了。其次，把soft的含义单独拿出来，形容词单独写一个四字。所以概括起来就是放进去还是拿出来，目的只有一个，精简表达，不要拖泥带水。③fulfilling all their whims and desires这里有两个对象，一个是desire，这个好理解，可以对应“有求必应”，而whim呢，表示突然的想法、念头，一时兴起，就比较任性事多吧，想起一出是一出，可以对应“百依百顺”。总体两个词的情感方向还是一致的。或者也可以按照译文二，soft toward all her children’s requests说成“有求必应”，然后whim和desire再分别处理，具体化，而不是说得那么笼统，分别是“念想”和“愿望”。但由于前面几句都基本是四字，为了节奏的完整性，这里最好也用四字概括，要知道，中文一个字就可以表示一个词的意思。④最后一句的思路可以参考译文二，译文一更常规一点，首先对树的描写也是拆开了，保留四字说法，huge一个词也可以说四字。后面的组句想用“我在这头，你在那头”的句式，所以branch这个结构插不进去，索性就在开头先交代了。Insects具体化为“你我”这样的人。剩下的一些琐碎信息，还是用四字，不要太口语化了。what were doing提供了两种说法，其实意思差不多都行，这种不清不楚的概念，只要符合语境，都合理。 2，She had learned from Peking its tolerance, geniality, and urbanity, as we all in our formative years catch something of the city and
country we live in. 这里有一个小细节，对品质的描写有its，其实是说北京这座城市展现出来的气质，在中文表达上最好能够体现出是“从北京身上”学到的，而不是“在北京”学到的。formative years这个结构你去查字典就知道是“性格养成阶段”，那么对应到现实生活，差不多就是童年到青春期这个样子吧，没有具体的年份，但你可以高度概括，这就是“成长过程中”嘛。the city and country we live in这里的表达很多同学也是直译，没有转过弯来哈，其实前面整个语境的描写都在说木兰是北京人，北京如何，从北京身上学到了什么，对于木兰来说北京就是家乡，然后这里提到了we all，很明显就是说我们每个人都有自己的家乡啊，这里最好概括一下，说“故乡”就可以了。tolerance, geniality, and urbanity这里的表达很多样，可以四字概括，也可以说两个字，不强求。catch something的含义要理解，不要直译，是说家乡都会教会我们一些做人的道理、品德，对性格养成有影响等等，所谓“一方水土养一方人”嘛，你也可以把这个表达加到译文里。
参考译文
She had learned from Peking its tolerance, geniality, and urbanity, as we all
in our formative years catch something of
the city and country we live in.译文一：北京教会了木兰宽容大度、友好和善、彬彬有礼，就像我们成长的故乡总能教会我们一些道理。 译文二：北京宽容大度、醇厚善良又温文尔雅，木兰自然也就耳濡目染，每个人成长的故乡都是育人的地方。 注：①She had learned from Peking可以正说，可以反说，比如“木兰从北京身上学到了……”，这里译文二的说法不太一样，加了一点理解的内涵进去，什么叫你从一座城市，你的家乡学到了什么，也就是说你生活在这样一个环境当中，这个环境是怎样的，那么你的性格品质养成就会是怎样的，这不就是耳濡目染吗？然后补充了“自然也就”这个成分。②catch something顺着说就是“学到点什么”，反过来就是“教会我们一点什么”，具体一点就是“道理”。还可以换个思路，这里的“故乡、家乡”是地点，可以直接说“是……的地方”，这个省略的内容就是catch something的内涵，本质是learned from 的同义替换吧，learn不就很好地体现了“育”这个概念嘛。翻译思路千千万，一个不会怎么办。完蛋。
第2段
1，She had grown up with theyellow-roofed palaces and the purple and green
roofed temples, the broad boulevards and the long, crooked alleys, thebusy thoroughfares and the quiet districts that
were almost rural in their effect; 这里需要关注整段的逻辑层次，后面都是分号，每句话开头是“the+名词”，所以都是衔接这里的She
had grown up with，整段都是介绍北京城的具体信息，也对应开头的richness。翻译的话可以保留分号结构，也可以自由组句。但很明显不能全是名词的堆砌，中文需要说动作，表达一件事情，寡一个名词，几个意思啊。 这里第一部分首先描写物体，北京有什么。大家可能没注意原文的结构，写六个对象的并列，也不是不对，但很明显原文是三组对比概念啊，一个类型的事物里面挑两个出来，建议把这个层次表达出来，中间的and结构要有所体现。 the yellow-roofed palaces and the purple and green roofed temples先说建筑，一个宫殿，一个庙宇，这里提到的roof屋顶，中文常说“琉璃瓦”，不写也没事，就说“黄色屋顶”，purple and green“紫绿”，不要说什么“紫色和绿色”，都说了中文一个字都行。北京的古代特色建筑大家应该都见过哈。 the broad boulevards and the long, crooked alleys, 这里一个是大道，一个是小巷/胡同，修辞词还是容易找到四字结构的，long, crooked这种两个形容词的，就每个词说两个字。 the busy thoroughfares and the quiet districts that were almost rural in
their effect 这里的对比信息，一个是busy，一个是quiet，繁华的街区，静谧的角落。that were almost rural in their effect这里的表达是对quiet districts的修饰，怎么个安静，几乎就像农村乡下了。这里不要单独再说成句子，总体还是把重心落在名词身上，“安静如……的地方”，in their effect这个表达肯定是不需要字字对应的嘛。
参考译文
She had grown up with the yellow-roofed palaces and the purple and green roofed temples, the broad boulevards and thelong, crooked alleys, the busy thoroughfaresand the quiet districts that were almost
rural in their effect;译文一：她成长的地方，有黄琉璃瓦宫殿和紫绿琉璃瓦寺庙，有宽广的林荫大道和弯曲悠长的小巷，有热闹喧嚣的大街，也有清静如乡村的地方； 译文二：木兰看过黄色琉璃瓦顶的宫殿，也见过紫绿琉璃瓦顶的寺院；走过宽广无边的大道，也穿过曲折悠长的小巷；听过街道车水马龙的喧嚣，也闻过堪比田园乡村的静谧。 注：①She had grown up with这里的表达比较多样，一种是断句，先写名词“在木兰成长的地方”，后面所有的名词直接列举，说“有”就可以了。注意这里的三层信息，前面两个直接用“和”连接，最后一个有对比，做了一点变化，或者你用“既……也……”这种句式。第二种是写动作，这么多东西伴随着她长大，也就是她在生活里经历过这些，“看过，走过，听过”。每层信息用分号隔开，这样层次感更清晰了，每层信息内部的用词换一下，不换也可以，不用很刻意。第三种是先列举这些名词对象，然后说“这就是木兰成长的地方”，或者“木兰就是在这样的环境里长大”。②剩下的名词成分，如果可以的话，尽量用四字，有“大道”和“小巷”的对比，有“喧嚣”和“静谧”的对比，用词的位置也一致。街道的热闹还可以说“川流不息”。 2，the common man’s
homes with their inevitable pomegranate trees and jars of goldfish, no less than the rich man’s
mansions and gardens; 这里也是一组对比，普通/寻常人家和富贵人家，普通人家里是石榴树、金鱼，富人家里是豪宅花园，但是no less than也就是不差多少，都挺繁华，各有各的形式。Inevitable表示“总会发生的；照例必有的；惯常的”，在这里可以理解为基本上家家户户都有，司空见惯，习以为常了。no less than这里尽量用四字，“毫不亚于、毫不逊色、丝毫不差”。mansions and gardens也可以用四字，“府邸庭院”。
参考译文
the common man’s homes with their inevitable pomegranate
trees and jars of goldfish, no less than the
rich man’s mansions and gardens;译文一：在那里，普通人家照例都种了石榴树，养了金鱼，和富人的宅邸庭院相比也毫不逊色； 译文二：她们那儿，寻常人家都照例种了几棵石榴树，养了几缸小金鱼，毫不亚于富贵人家的府邸庭院。 注：①开头可以做一点点补充“在那里”，体现接下来的描述还是木兰的成长环境，但其实不说，也能理解就是这个意思。②inevitable我是处理为“照例”，用来修饰动作，你也可以说“挨家挨户都……”。③no less than这里不要说复杂了，也不要太琐碎，四字还是很容易想到的啊，不应该是条件反射嘛。怎么肥四。 3，the open-air tea
houses where men loll on rattan armchairs under cypress trees, spending twenty
cents for a whole afternoon in summer; 这句和下一句整体是个对比，一个露天茶馆，夏天，一个室内茶馆，冬天，所以天气条件是一个前提，建议放句子开头。loll on指慵懒、悠闲、自在、惬意地坐/躺，这里是茶室嘛，还要花两毛钱呢，说的应该是喝茶，不然花钱买座位么，所以说“坐”着比较合理吧，躺着怎么喝茶啊。rattan armchairs藤椅，cypress trees柏树，这样就和夏天比较搭了，凉快。 spending twenty cents for a whole afternoon in summer这句是想要强调，花不了太多钱，但是可以舒服地待一下午，谁会不乐意呢。说到茶馆，真正是代表中国文化的一大特色，《经济学人》的中国专栏就叫这个名。
参考译文
the open-air tea houses where men loll on rattan armchairs under cypress
trees, spending twenty cents for a whole afternoon in
summer;译文一：夏天的露天茶馆，人们悠哉地坐在柏树底下的藤椅上喝茶，待一下午只要花两毛钱； 译文二：酷暑时节，人们都到露天茶馆的柏树底下，悠哉地坐在藤椅上品茶，只要花两毛钱，就能待一整个下午。 注：①这里的表达本身基本没有变动，主要是句式、用词顺序可以有调整和变化，我自己感觉译文二读起来更顺。什么时间，到哪去，做什么，基本是这个顺序。 4，the enclosed teashops
where in winter men eat steaming-hot mutton
fried with onion and drink pehkan(白干儿酒) and
where the great rub shoulders with the humble. 这一句自然就描写冬天，冷啊，肯定都在室内啊，谁在外面吃饭啊，enclosed不要说复杂，就是“室内、里头”。the great rub shoulders with the humble这一句首先是两个人群的对比，the great指达官贵人，身份地位高，有钱的，the humble指普通百姓，地位低下等，动作是rub shoulders with，肩膀会互相摩擦，什么意思啊，其实就是形容人多、热闹，人群来来去去的，互相会有接触，这句整体就是描写茶馆里气氛热闹，而且强调了不论身份高低，什么样的人都会来吃饭喝酒，更加说明茶馆这地吸引人啊，大家都爱去。中文表达上最接近单词本意的就是“摩肩擦踵”，如果想不到，只要体现出人群“你来我往”的感觉就好了。
参考译文
the enclosed teashops where in winter men eatsteaming-hot mutton fried with onion and drinkpehkan(白干儿酒) and where the great
rub shoulders with the humble.译文一：冬天在茶室里头，吃热气腾腾的葱爆羊肉，喝点白干儿酒，不分尊卑高低，各色人等摩肩擦踵，齐聚一堂。 译文二：寒冬腊月，窝在茶馆里头，点一盘葱爆牛肉，来两口白干儿酒，各色人等不分贵贱，熙熙攘攘，好不热闹。 注：①这里如果保持和上一句的对称说法，就可以把天气单独拿出来说。视角还是“人”，还是到哪去，做什么的顺序，enclosed这里补充了一个“窝”，体现冬天冷的意味。吃和喝这两个动词，也可以说得更接地气一些。②the great rub shoulders with the humble这里的表达就不唯一了，需要强调两个信息，一是各个阶层的人，二是场面热闹。每种说法的最后我都补充了一个概念，更加直白地表达了热闹欢快的场景，更有生活的气息。
双语全文
译文一
[1] Mulan was a child of Peking.
She had grown up there and had drunk in all the richness of life of the city
which enveloped its inhabitants like a great mother soft toward all her
children’s requests, fulfilling all their whims and desires, or like a huge
thousand-year-old tree in which the insects making their home in one branch did
not know what the insects in the other branch were doing. She had learned from
Peking its tolerance, geniality, and urbanity, as we all in our formative years
catch something of the city and country we live in.木兰是土生土长的北京孩子，这座城市丰富多彩的生活令她陶醉不已。北京城可比拟伟大慈母，对子女百依百顺、有求必应；亦可与千年大树相比，昆虫在这头的枝丫上安家筑巢，浑然不知另一头的伙伴们身居何处。北京教会了木兰宽容大度、友好和善、彬彬有礼，就像我们成长的故乡总能教会我们一些道理。 [2] She had grown up with the
yellow-roofed palaces and the purple and green roofed temples, the broad
boulevards and the long, crooked alleys, the busy thoroughfares and the quiet
districts that were almost rural in their effect; the common man’s homes with
their inevitable pomegranate trees and jars of goldfish, no less than the rich
man’s mansions and gardens; the open-air tea houses where men loll on rattan
armchairs under cypress trees, spending twenty cents for a whole afternoon in
summer; the enclosed teashops where in winter men eat steaming-hot mutton fried
with onion and drink pehkan(白干儿酒) and where the
great rub shoulders with the humble.她成长的地方，有黄琉璃瓦宫殿和紫绿琉璃瓦寺庙，有宽广的林荫大道和弯曲悠长的小巷，有热闹喧嚣的大街，也有清静如乡村的地方；在那里，普通人家照例都种了石榴树，养了金鱼，和富人的宅邸庭院相比也毫不逊色；夏天的露天茶馆，人们悠哉地坐在柏树底下的藤椅上喝茶，待一下午只要花两毛钱；冬天在茶室里头，吃热气腾腾的葱爆羊肉，喝点白干儿酒，不分尊卑高低，各色人等摩肩擦踵，齐聚一堂。
译文二
[1] Mulan was a child of Peking.
She had grown up there and had drunk in all the richness of life of the city
which enveloped its inhabitants like a great mother soft toward all her
children’s requests, fulfilling all their whims and desires, or like a huge
thousand-year-old tree in which the insects making their home in one branch did
not know what the insects in the other branch were doing. She had learned from
Peking its tolerance, geniality, and urbanity, as we all in our formative years
catch something of the city and country we live in.木兰生于北京，长于北京，尽享这座城市的多彩繁华。北京城好比伟大母亲，慈心仁厚，对子女有求必应，允其念想，偿其所愿；亦或像千年古树，高大挺拔，满身枝丫，你我皆是树上昆虫，我在这头筑巢安家，浑然不知你在那头境况何样。北京宽容大度、醇厚善良又温文尔雅，木兰自然也就耳濡目染，每个人成长的故乡都是育人的地方。 [2] She had grown up with the
yellow-roofed palaces and the purple and green roofed temples, the broad
boulevards and the long, crooked alleys, the busy thoroughfares and the quiet
districts that were almost rural in their effect; the common man’s homes with
their inevitable pomegranate trees and jars of goldfish, no less than the rich
man’s mansions and gardens; the open-air tea houses where men loll on rattan
armchairs under cypress trees, spending twenty cents for a whole afternoon in
summer; the enclosed teashops where in winter men eat steaming-hot mutton fried
with onion and drink pehkan(白干儿酒) and where the
great rub shoulders with the humble.木兰看过黄色琉璃瓦顶的宫殿，也见过紫绿琉璃瓦顶的寺院；走过宽广无边的大道，也穿过曲折悠长的小巷；听过街道车水马龙的喧嚣，也闻过堪比田园乡村的静谧。她们那儿，寻常人家都照例种了几棵石榴树，养了几缸小金鱼，毫不亚于富贵人家的府邸庭院。酷暑时节，人们都到露天茶馆的柏树底下，悠哉地坐在藤椅上品茶，只要花两毛钱，就能待一整个下午。寒冬腊月，窝在茶馆里头，点一盘葱爆牛肉，来两口白干儿酒，各色人等不分贵贱，熙熙攘攘，好不热闹。