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The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a famous Chinese historical novel written in the 14th century. 1 The literary work is set in the history of the Three Kingdoms period and depicts the wars among the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu from the second half of the second century AD to the second half of the third century AD. 2 Nearly a thousand characters and countless historic events are depicted in the novel. 3 These characters and events, though mostly based on real history, have been romanticized and dramatized to varying degrees. 4 The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is widely recognized as a literary masterpiece. 5 Since its appearance, the novel has been attracting readers from generation to generation and has exerted a wide-ranging and lasting influence on Chinese culture. 6
1. 《三国演义》是中国一部著名的历史小说，写于十四世纪：该句先翻译前半句，译为 The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a famous Chinese historical novel，而后半句“写于十四世纪”可以处理为分词短语，充当novel的后置定语，小说是被写的，两者为被动关系，故应使用write的过去分词written。
2. 这部文学作品以三国时期的历史为背景，描写了从公元二世纪下半叶到公元三世纪下半叶的魏、蜀、吴三国之间的战争：本句的谓语部分是由并列关系的短语“以……背景”（翻译为is set in）和动词“描写”（翻译为depict）来充当的，因此需要用and连接；“这部文学作品”翻译为The literary work；“三国时期”翻译为the Three Kingdoms period；“描写了从公元二世纪下半叶到公元三世纪下半叶的魏、蜀、吴三国之间的战争”的主干为“描写了战争”，翻译为depicts the wars，“魏、蜀、吴三国之间的”翻译为介词短语among the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu and Wu，而时间状语“从公元二世纪下半叶到公元三世纪下半叶”是难点，总体结构翻译为from...to...，“下半叶”即下半个世纪，故用the second half of the century来表示，此处指“公元二世纪”和“公元三世纪”，故应翻译为of the second century AD和of the third century AD。
3. 小说中刻画了近千个人物和无数的历史事件：此处强调的是“近千个人物和无数的历史事件”，突出的是宾语，根据英文表达习惯，可用被动句来表达，将宾语作为主语，故翻译为Nearly a thousand characters and countless historic events are depicted in the novel。
4. 这些人物和事件虽然大都基于真实的历史，但都不同程度地浪漫化和戏剧化了：句中有“虽然……但……”，可以用though来表达；句子强调的是“人物和事件浪漫化和戏剧化了”，翻译为These characters and events have been romanticized and dramatized，翻译难点是“浪漫化和戏剧化”，我们知道“浪漫”和“戏剧”分别是romance和drama，根据构词法中名词转动词的方式，“浪漫化”应为romanticize，“戏剧化”为dramatize，此处为被动语态，需分别使用过去分词的形式；“不同程度地”翻译为to varying degrees；“虽然大都基于真实的历史”可处理为插入语的形式，由“连词though+分词”的形式引导，表示补充说明，即though mostly based on real history。
5. 《三国演义》是一部公认的文学杰作：“公认”翻译为widely recognized；“文学杰作”翻译为literary masterpiece。
6. 自面世以来，这部小说不断吸引着一代又一代的读者，并且对中国文化产生着广泛而持久的影响：“自面世以来”为时间状语，故翻译为Since its appearance；“这部小说不断吸引着一代又一代的读者”，翻译为the novel has been attracting readers from generation to generation；“并且对中国文化产生着广泛而持久的影响”，与前面的内容并列，翻译为and has exerted a wide-ranging and lasting influence on Chinese culture，其中使用了固定搭配exert influence on（对……产生影响）。