|
|
勒卡雷的小说Smiley's People，书名国内有几种译法，一种译为《伦敦谍影》，自己取了个名字，而且不是最准确，因为小说尚有在德国发生的情节。一种为《史迈利的人马》(这种译法或许是参考了另一部小说All King's Men 国王的人马 的译法)，还有一种为《斯迈利的部下》。但是咨询了chatGPT和native speaker，却说这里的people，不只是指斯迈利的手下，朋友等，也包括他的对手如卡拉，甚至有人说可以理解为斯迈利那一代从事谍报工作的人。觉得这些说法都比较有道理，比如下面的大段分析：
Smiley greatest quality is his sense of loyalty, a quality tested during Control's falls from grace (Tinker,Tailor...), when Smiley went down with the sinking ship. Externally,Smiley seems to be a Prufrock-like character,inadequate as a man and 'excluded from Life's feast'. He is not physically demonstrative. However, Smiley is capable of profound love and he shows it in his loyalty to people and country as opposed to ideas and 'isms'. Smiley's People explores this idea more fully than in any other of the Smiley novels. Connie Sachs, Peter Guillam and the General are all 'ghosts' to whom Smiley remains loyal and this capacity to feel a deep connection is extended to include the wonderful Maria Ostrakova, as well as Karla himself and his daughter, Tatiana. (We have two damsels in distress in this novel and they serve to emphasise Smiley's old-fashioned chivalrous nature, the quality that Ann Smiley admires in him.) 'Smiley's People' as a title contains the possessive apostrophe and emphasises Smiley's sense of responsibility to those with whom he has worked previously, a quality not shared by the Service, where employees are disposable commodities. This lamentable defect is shown in the Service's lack of loyalty/commitment to The General because he is of no use any more,their lack of care leading to the General's death. Smiley is appalled, of course, at their desultory handling of this old warrior. Ultimately, Smiley's ability to love and show commitment, along with imagining the feelings of others, will lead to his greatest triumph, the downfall of Karla. The title also refers to Smiley's 'generation'. the current head of the Service bidding George Smiley to return and clear up an old mess involving Smiley's generation of spies. Le Carre, like Smiley, is a sentimentalist, and he similarly hides his feelings. The two of them believe the individual is more important than the country/organisation to which they belong, and the coldness/impersonality of the Russian system is the mirror opposite - as is any organisation/business in the West, to almost the same extent. This is the foremost theme in all of Le Carre's novels. So no wonder 'People' is in the title.
这里说的斯迈利的忠实，同情心等等，虽然也有道理，但是毕竟题目只有Smiley's People几个字，也许作者有这样的用意，但感觉多少有点过度解读。不过他说的“一代人”这个说法，感觉还是有道理的。
想来想去，从意思上看，似乎大致是“和斯迈利打交道的人”，又想出一个《斯迈利圈子里的人》，后来吸收了“一代人”的说法，试译成《斯迈利那批人》（因为“那帮人”似乎略有贬义），兼顾了上面的几种说法，不知是否妥当。
|
|
发表于 2024-4-2 00:00:20
