第4章 万物的尺度 The Measure of Things · 第6讲S4

1. 讲稿里说 'likeness' 到底是翻译成‘画像’还是‘照片’？既然18世纪照相机还没普及，为什么不能直接翻成‘照片’，用‘肖像’这个词是不是更稳妥？
2. 文中提到传记字典说 Dixon 生于煤矿，用了 'intriguingly' 这个词。我不太确定它在这里是褒义还是贬义，它具体表达了传记作者什么样的态度？
3. 讲稿里说 Mason 比 Dixon 稍微 'less shadowy'（没那么神秘），但翻译时却翻成了‘了解得稍微多一点点’。为什么要把否定比较级转换成肯定语气来翻译？
4. Mason 明明找到了适合做重力偏转实验的高山，为什么马斯基林（Maskelyne）要求他去测量时，他却‘induced to return’（被劝说回去）也不肯去？这里的 'induce' 具体指什么行为？
5. 1786年 Mason 突然出现在费城时，文中说他 'on the verge of destitution'（濒临贫困）。这个短语和之前学过的 'on the verge of tears'（快要哭了）在结构上是一样的吗？怎么准确理解这种‘边缘状态’？

1. The transcript says 'likeness' can mean either a portrait or a photo. Since cameras weren't common in the 18th century, why can't we just translate it as 'photo'? Is using 'portrait' a safer choice?
2. The text mentions that the dictionary says Dixon was born in a coal mine and uses the word 'intriguingly'. I'm not sure if this is positive or negative here; what specific attitude does this word convey from the biographer?
3. The transcript says Mason is 'less shadowy' than Dixon, but it's translated as 'we know slightly more about him'. Why do we convert the negative comparative into an affirmative tone for translation?
4. Mason found a suitable mountain for the experiment, but why did he refuse to go back for measurement even when Maskelyne 'induced' him to return? What exactly does 'induce' mean in this context?
5. In 1786, when Mason appeared in Philadelphia, the text says he was 'on the verge of destitution'. Is this structure the same as 'on the verge of tears'? How do we accurately understand this kind of 'edge state'?

1 00:00:06,610 --> 00:00:09,510 Licheness exist and few written references. 2 00:00:09,970 --> 00:00:14,730 Licheness means paintings or photos of a particular 3 00:00:14,730 --> 00:00:18,130 person,就是画像或者照片。 4 00:00:18,310 --> 00:00:22,050 那这里到底该翻译成画像还是照片呢? 5 00:00:22,430 --> 00:00:26,710 如果大家还记得前面关于美洲和美国的翻译, 6 00:00:27,230 --> 00:00:29,710 应该就要知道这里该做一件什么事, 7 00:00:29,830 --> 00:00:34,610 那就是要查一下照相机是什么时候发明的。 8 00:00:34,610 --> 00:00:39,230 如果在这个时候照相机还没有发明的话那么 likeness 9 00:00:39,230 --> 00:00:44,823 一定就要翻译成画像如果照相机已经发明了是否就可 10 00:00:44,823 --> 00:00:51,690 以翻译成照片了呢也不一定因为这是 18 世纪就算是照 11 00:00:51,690 --> 00:00:56,370 相机已经发明也不一定就那么的普及不像是现在一般 12 00:00:56,370 --> 00:01:01,410 人都是会去照相而不是请人给自己画肖像所以在这种 13 00:01:01,410 --> 00:01:06,850 情况下用一个比较笼统的词就是肖像我们可以说这两 14 00:01:06,850 --> 00:01:13,410 个人没有留下任何的肖像不过呢我们很明确在这个时 15 00:01:13,410 --> 00:01:17,700 候照相机是还没有发明的相机的发明是在一百年后所 16 00:01:17,700 --> 00:01:21,550 以这句毫无疑问就应该翻译成是画像 17 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,420 这两个人没有留下任何的画像就算是 written 18 00:01:26,420 --> 00:01:32,020 references 文字资料也非常少 reference 是参考资料 19 00:01:32,020 --> 00:01:33,980 的意思 Of Dixon, 20 00:01:34,220 --> 00:01:36,680 the Dictionary of National Biography notes 21 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,660 intriguingly that he was said to have been born in a coal 22 00:01:40,660 --> 00:01:44,980 mine that then leaves it to the reader's imagination to 23 00:01:44,980 --> 00:01:48,180 supply a plausible explanatory circumstance 24 00:01:48,820 --> 00:01:53,560 and adds that he died at Durham in 1777 25 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:56,600 关于 Dixon, 26 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:04,400 国家传记字典里面就写了这样一行说是据说生于煤矿 27 00:02:05,080 --> 00:02:09,000 然后就没有下文了就没有继续再写当时的 28 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,380 circumstance 就当时的情形是什么呀这些就要留给读 29 00:02:14,380 --> 00:02:18,720 者去发挥他的想象力来提供一个合理的解释 30 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:24,730 plausible 我们在之前的文章里边是学过的在第一部 31 00:02:24,730 --> 00:02:29,520 分这是当时我们学到的课文的原句 The cosmic ray's 32 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,860 notionthough considered plausible, 33 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:37,830 hasn't been verified yetplausible 指的是合理的, 34 00:02:37,890 --> 00:02:41,350 说得过去的,看起来是有道理的现在 35 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:47,350 我们再回头看一下 intriguingly 刚才我们没有解释这 36 00:02:47,350 --> 00:02:52,440 个词我们先看到它的动词是 intrigueintrigue, 37 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:58,540 i n t r i g u e if something intrigues you, 38 00:02:58,660 --> 00:03:02,900 it interests you a lotbecause it seems strange or 39 00:03:02,900 --> 00:03:03,240 mysterious 40 00:03:04,060 --> 00:03:07,040 something that is intriguing is very 41 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,680 interestingbecause it is strange, 42 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,040 mysterious or unexpected 43 00:03:12,860 --> 00:03:17,420 所以这里用的这个词就说明传记字典里面写的这么一 44 00:03:17,420 --> 00:03:24,520 行字让人感到相当可疑相当奇怪让人觉得其中必有蹊 45 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:30,360 跷 apart from his name and long association with Mason 46 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,940 Nothing more is known Association means relationship 47 00:03:34,940 --> 00:03:39,670 A relationship with a particular person 关于 Dixon 这 48 00:03:39,670 --> 00:03:45,060 个人除了他的名字和他和 Mason 长期的合作关系以外 49 00:03:45,060 --> 00:03:51,270 别的我们就都不知道了 Mason is only slightly less 50 00:03:51,270 --> 00:03:56,130 shadowy Shadowy means full of shadows If something is 51 00:03:56,130 --> 00:03:59,650 full of shadows it is difficult to see So shadowy also 52 00:03:59,650 --> 00:04:00,730 means mysterious 53 00:04:03,390 --> 00:04:03,950 The 54 00:04:04,590 --> 00:04:08,790 sentence means that we only know a little bit more about 55 00:04:08,790 --> 00:04:11,630 Mason than we know about Dickson. 56 00:04:11,730 --> 00:04:16,950 我们在翻译的时候可以把 less shadowy 反过来用肯定 57 00:04:16,950 --> 00:04:18,170 的方式来翻译, 58 00:04:18,250 --> 00:04:23,430 就是我们对 Mason 的了解仅仅比对 Nixon 的了解稍微多 59 00:04:23,430 --> 00:04:26,870 那么一点点,就是他的情况只是稍微好一些。 60 00:04:26,870 --> 00:04:32,810 We know that in 1772,at Maskelyne's behest, 61 00:04:33,030 --> 00:04:36,270 he accepted the commission to find a suitable mountain 62 00:04:36,270 --> 00:04:38,870 for the gravitational deflection experiment. 63 00:04:39,970 --> 00:04:40,890 At length, 64 00:04:41,130 --> 00:04:44,770 reporting back that the mountain they needed was in the 65 00:04:44,770 --> 00:04:46,250 central Scottish Highlands, 66 00:04:46,430 --> 00:04:51,130 just above Loch Tay,and was called Sheehalion. 67 00:04:52,930 --> 00:04:59,190 Behest means command or request.在马斯基林的要求下 68 00:04:59,190 --> 00:04:59,690 是 69 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:11,920 别人委托给你去做的一个任务在马斯基林的要 70 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:18,160 求下他接受了这项任务去寻找一座适当的高山以便进 71 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,420 行重力偏转方向的实验 at 72 00:05:21,740 --> 00:05:26,340 length means at lastfinally reporting back that the 73 00:05:26,340 --> 00:05:28,460 mountain they needed was in the central Scottish 74 00:05:28,460 --> 00:05:29,320 Highlands 75 00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:37,290 最后终于回报说这座高山他们需要的这座山就位于 76 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:43,390 Scottish Highlands 苏格兰高地的中央 just above Loch 77 00:05:43,390 --> 00:05:49,140 Tay but where are Scottish Highlandslet's look at this 78 00:05:49,140 --> 00:05:51,460 map of the UK first The 79 00:05:51,580 --> 00:05:56,020 full name of the UK is the United Kingdom of Great 80 00:05:56,020 --> 00:05:57,820 Britain and Northern Ireland, 81 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:00,880 commonly known as the United Kingdom, 82 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,000 the UK,or Britain. 83 00:06:03,980 --> 00:06:07,020 The UK consists of four parts, 84 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,460 Scotland,Northern Ireland, 85 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:14,160 Wales,and England.所以我们说到英国的时候, 86 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,940 应该说 the UK 或者 the United Kingdom, 87 00:06:17,940 --> 00:06:19,640 不要说是 England, 88 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,420 because England is only a part of the UK. 89 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,040 Scottish Highlands is here, 90 00:06:26,140 --> 00:06:27,440 Scotland,in Scotland, 91 00:06:27,780 --> 00:06:30,640 well,here. 92 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:34,840 You can see from the map ……（后略，完整文稿见视频页字幕）