細嚼好文章-《Down and Out》

　　本文節錄自英國文豪奧維爾 George Orwell 的《Down and Out in Paris and London》。談起 Orwell，大家都會想起他最著名的諷剌式小說《1984》和《Animal Farm》，但很多人不知道寫實文章才是他最強項。Orwell 有次他為了記錄窮人的生活，親身走到巴黎和倫敦捱窮。結果他乞食過，露宿過，受盡窮人的苦楚；回到老家，他把這段日子的日記結集成《Down and Out》一書。
　　書中一節記錄他在巴黎某酒店餐廳當洗碗工人的所見所聞，好看到極。下面一小段文字描述法國大廚粗獷不羈，污糟蠟遢，這是是第一等的文筆。大家慢慢品嘗：

He is an artist, but his art is not cleanliness. To a certain extent he is even dirty because he is an artist, for food, to look smart, needs dirty treatment. When a steak, for instance, is brought up for the head cook's inspection, he does not handle it with a fork. He picks it up in his fingers and slaps it down, runs his thumb round the dish and licks it to taste the gravy, runs it round and licks it again, then steps back and contemplates the piece of meat like an artist judging a picture, then presses it lovingly into place with his fat, pink fingers, every one of which he has licked a hundred times that morning.

這個污糟肥廚的形象活現紙上，這就是奧威爾的功力。我們逐句看（小弟翻譯功夫平庸之極，歡迎指點）：
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1. He is an artist, but his art is not cleaniness.
中譯：他是個藝術家，但他的藝術與潔淨無關。
評論：意思間單（他是個藝術家，卻很髒），但表達方式很特別。這句巧妙地用了 artist 和 art 兩字，有趣地表達這個藝術家毫不注重衛生。試想假如這句寫成：He's an artist, but he's dirty. 就沒趣得多了。所以：He's an artist, but his art is not cleaniness.
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2. To a certain extent he is even dirty because he is an artist, for food, to look smart, needs dirty treatment.
中譯：正因為他是個藝術家，他才這樣髒，因為好看的食物預備過程一定污糟。
評論：句子的主角是 because 一字：「正因為他是個藝術家，他才這樣髒」，所以讀出來時，語調重點也要放在這個字上，不能像平時一樣懶讀成 /bɪkəz/ 甚至 /kəz/，而要字正腔圓的讀 /bɪkɒz/，而且要大聲點，聲調由高至低的讀；後面的 he is an artist 反而不重要，可用最低沉的聲線輕輕帶過。
To a certain extent 意思大約是「某程度上說」；在這句中，可譯作「我們可說」。For 是個連接詞，表達原因。
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3. When a steak, for instance, is brought up for the head cook's inspection, he does not handle it with a fork.
中譯：舉例說，要檢查牛扒是否煮好時，他才不會用叉子，卻只用手。
評論：留意這句和半句的措詞。這句用字都有派頭：brought up，for inspection，handle，符合大眾心中大廚的尊貴形像。怎料到了下一句......
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4. He picks it up in his fingers and slaps it down, runs his thumb round the dish and licks it to taste the gravy, runs it round and licks it again,
中譯：先拿在手指間，再啪一聲拍下，然後把母指浸在碟中亂劃，拿起就舔，替肉汁試味；一試不夠，再浸，再舔；
評論：筆鋒一轉，又顯出大廚的粗枝大葉的形象。句中動詞 picks，slaps，runs，licks，都是短促和單音節的日常用字，很能表現大廚不拘小節，全不把衛生放在眼內。這半句的措詞，與上半句的 brought up for inspection 造成很大對比。

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5. then steps back and contemplates the piece of meat like an artist judging a picture,
中譯：味道好了，踏後一步，再看看，想想，十足一個正在品評圖畫的藝術家。
評論：承接開頭藝術家的比喻。措詞（像 contemplate，judging 等字）也很配合藝術家的身份。
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6. then presses it lovingly into place with his fat, pink fingers, every one of which he has licked a hundred times that morning.
中譯：再用他肥肥的，紅紅的手指把碟上牛扒放到最好看位置。對，就是那些早上舔過百次的手指。
評論：這個關係子句用得好：his fat, pink fingers, every one of which he has licked a hundred times。用那些早上舔過百次的手指擠弄牛扒，是多麼嘔心！
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淺白的文字，加上細膩的描述，法國大廚的髒相表露無違，這就是奧威爾的文字功力。欣賞完要做甚麼? 別寫筆記了，趕脆背了它吧。熟讀唐詩三百首，不會吟詩也會偷！是真的。想寫好英文，不妨多背。

蕭愷一

後記：
我真希望所有學生都能多讀這些好文章，學寫真正的英文。假如只讀補習天王的港式英文範文，永遠只能寫出「As we all know, the aforementioned French cooks' outrageous dirtiness is beyond compare.」這些垃圾句子。