Part IV
Translation

【参考译文】

Plum blossom, ranking the first of the ten most famous flowers in China, originated from the south of China with a planting history of more than 3000 years. ¹ In mid-winter, colourful plum flowers blossom boldly against the cold. ² In traditional Chinese culture, plum blossom symbolizes toughness, purity and grace, inspiring people to brave the hardships and forge ahead. ³ In history, many poets and painters gained inspiration from the flower and created countless masterpieces. ⁴ Ordinary citizens are also fond of the flower, which is often used to decorate the house during the spring festival. ⁵ The city of Nanjing has designated plum blossom as the city flower and holds the plum blossom festival every year, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people to the Meihua Mountain to appreciate the flower in snow despite the cold. ⁶

【译点精析】

1. 梅花位居中国十大名花之首，源于中国南方，已有三千多年的栽培和种植历史：可结合英文表达习惯，将整句主体定为“梅花源于中国南方”，即Plum blossom originated from the south of China，其中“源于”译为originated from；“位居中国十大名花之首”处理为现在分词短语，即ranking the first of the ten most famous flowers in China，其中rank表示“排名占……，位列于……”；“已有三千多年的栽培和种植历史”处理为with介词短语，即with a planting history of more than 3000 years。

2. 隆冬时节，五颜六色的梅花不畏严寒，迎着风雪傲然绽放：“隆冬时节”即冬天最冷的时候，故可译为in mid-winter；“五颜六色的”翻译为colourful即可；“不畏严寒，迎着风雪傲然绽放”翻译为blossom boldly against the cold，其中boldly表示“大胆地，无畏地”，against表示“迎着”，blossom表示“绽放”。

3. 在中国传统文化中，梅花象征着坚强、纯洁、高雅，激励人们不畏艰难、砥砺前行：“在中国传统文化中”译成In traditional Chinese culture；“象征着”翻译成symbolizes；“坚强、纯洁、高雅”翻译成toughness, purity and grace；“激励人们不畏艰难、砥砺前行”应翻译为非谓语动词短语，由于“激励”和句子主语是逻辑上的主谓关系，故使用现在分词inspiring，inspire sb. to do sth.是固定短语，表示“激励某人做某事”，“不畏艰难、砥砺前行”可翻译为brave the hardships and forge ahead，其中brave为动词，意为“不畏惧……”，forge ahead本意为“继续向前”，此处表示“砥砺前行”。

4. 自古以来，许多诗人和画家从梅花中获取灵感，创作了无数不朽的作品：“自古以来”翻译为In history即可；“许多诗人和画家”翻译为many poets and painters；“从……中获取灵感”需使用gain inspiration from这一短语来表达；“无数不朽的作品”需翻译为countless masterpieces或numerous monumental works。

5. 普通大众也都喜爱梅花，春节期间常用于家庭装饰：“普通大众”可翻译为ordinary populace，general public或ordinary citizens；“喜爱”翻译为be fond of比较正式，也可翻译为enjoy；“春节期间常用于家庭装饰”属于补充说明性成分，故翻译成非限制性定语从句，即which is often used to decorate the house during the spring festival。

6. 南京市已将梅花定为市花，每年举办梅花节，成千上万的人冒着严寒到梅花山踏雪赏梅：“南京市”即the city of Nanjing；“将……定为”可用designate...as...这一短语来表达；“市花”即the city flower；“举办梅花节”翻译为holds the plum blossom festival；“每年”可翻译成every year或annually；“成千上万的人冒着严寒到梅花山踏雪赏梅”也是补充说明性的内容，故可用非限制性定语从句来表达，这里暗含梅花节吸引人们到梅花山，故使用attract...to...来表达，“冒着严寒”翻译为despite the cold或regardless of the cold weather，“踏雪赏梅”翻译成appreciate the flower in snow即可。 Cc4l4vodHZp684DKdhXaGO0KhnjsMdVbbulsyyuHJsUb4VVeWTtJasHJfFVhVgs5