中西文化对比问答new.docVIP

Which Chinese version of Steve Job’s love letter for his wife do you like the best? Frankly speaking, I cannot choose a best one from the three versions. If I have to choose one, then the second version is my dish though it still has some space to improve. The original text is plain and unadorned and the structure is clear.ly designed. Steve Jobs stated from their acquaintance and falling in love 20 years ago. Then he sketched their simple life they had. Now at this moment when his life is weak and weary through illness, they go back to the place they got married and Steve Jobs confessed his affection. The first version keeps faithful with the source language but it is not expressive. He translated “we swept me off my feet” into “你让我着迷得飞上了天”. In a dictionary, “sweep somebody off his feet” means to make someone feel suddenly and strongly attracted to you in a romantic way. Though it echoes with the last sentence “my feet have never returned to the ground”, the first version sounds really awkward since most Chinese won’t express their affection in this way. That is just one point. The whole version is criticized by all since the expression lacks beauty and elegance. However, when we see from another aspect, we may partially agree with the translator. As we know, Steve Jobs is a simple person and his words shouldn’t be that rhetoric. On the other hand, this love letter is an excerpt from his autobiography, through which plain words are preferred rather than magnificent expressions as in a literature classic. The purpose of this translation is to reproduce the romantic charm of Steve Jobs. Therefore, this version is acceptable. The translator of the second version exactly grasps the readers, since he /she know that the readers shall be mostly Chinese, so his style and wording are in accordance with characteristic of Chinese language. I love this version the best not because this one is faithful to the original text, but the wording is so well selected and touched