張愛玲的英文寫作水平究竟如何？

12-24

我還沒仔細看過她用英文寫的東西，不過問這個問題是因為看到了《印刻》二零一一年一月號裡邁克的一篇文章：

http://d.pr/DlOl

基本上是張愛玲的英文寫作能力被劉紹銘嫌鄙了 [1]，邁克心有不忿，出來幫張說話。（無甚說服力的辯解。）

【更新】張愛玲自己翻譯過《金鎖記》，收錄在企鵝出的《Eileen Chang: Love in a Fallen City》裡。有一處 Editor"s note 很重要，抄錄如下：

Editor"s note: The repetition of the phrase 『said, smiling』 (hsiao tao) may seem tiresome to the reader. However, this and similar phrases are routinely prefixed to reported speeches in traditional Chinese fiction, and Eileen Chang, a dedicated student of that fiction, has deliberately revived their use in her early stories. It is to be regretted that their English equivalents cannot be equally unobtrusive.

這裡指的是「笑道」（hsiao tao）一詞。可見張愛玲的譯文裡確實有很多不常見於英文寫作的用法，英文版編輯選擇了保留。至於是如邁克所說的故意，還是張「英文水平不夠好」，尚需進一步研究。

上面涉及的段落也抄錄如下，注意這是張自己的譯筆：

Little Shuang came, smiling, and gave a kick to the pallet. 「I woke you.」 She put both hands under her old lined jacket of dark violet silk, worn over bright oil-green trousers. Feng-hsiao put out a hand to feel the trouser leg and said, smiling: 「...」

此段中文原文：

小雙笑嘻嘻走來，踢了踢地上的褥子道：「吵醒了你了。」她把兩手抄在青蓮色舊綢夾襖裡。下面系著明油綠 [缺字] 子。鳳簫伸手捻了那 [缺字] 腳，笑道：「……」

另參考了才子 Andrew F. Jones 翻譯的《流言》。屬於最平鋪直敘的譯法，英文求純，二胡都給譯成 two-stringed Chinese violin。幾乎算政治不正確了吧。

[1]: 劉紹銘：愛玲五恨 http://bit.ly/hMPwIM

張愛玲早年的英文習作最近被「挖掘」出來，可為對照
張愛玲早期英文習作

新發現的張愛玲早期英文習作

The Sun Parlor

　　My favourite spot in St. Mary"s Hall is the Sun Parlor. It gives me the same impression as its name; a warm, bright room constantly filled with sunshine. It is a rectangular room. The walls are painted in white, but the lower half of them is hidden behind a cover of black wood. In the middle of the room there is a long black table, and around it are many chairs. These are prepared for the girls to have a chance for reading newspapers. In one corner of the room there is a wooden box placed on the shelf. This belongs to the Phoenix Broad, and every girl has the privilege of putting her own themes in it. The box is locked, and we always dream of how we would open this mysterious box and see the things within. On the wall there hang many interesting pictures and records that attract girls" attention every time they pass the Sun Parlor. The room is very bright, because one side of it faces the big glass door that leads to the school gate, and one side of it is composed of three glass doors which face the school garden. Sunlight can reach the room in both directions. When we stand before the glass door, we can see the whole view of our lovely school garden. In winter afternoons, when the pale yellow sunlight lies lazily on the stone ground, we sit beside the steam heaters, with newspapers in our hands. We feel nice and warm and pleasant, and thoroughly enjoy the charm of the "Sun Parlor".

TSANG AI-LING, 1937

The School Rats Have a Party

　　In our school there is a beautiful lady rat named Miss Black. She is very stylish and famous, so that all the rats know her. She married a great gentleman named Mr. Brown on Saturday. That night they were very happy, all their friends and relatives came to the party. Miss Black wore a pretty long dress，and a white long veil on her head. It made her black face and body more black. Mr. Brown has two little brown eyes, and little black whiskers. When their wedding was finished, they gave a feast and danced and sang. The guests and ladies danced with their little boots and little high heeled shoes as loudly as they could, but no student heard it, because it was midnight and they were fast asleep.

　　Next morning, I rose very early and went down the stairs to take a walk. When I passed the doorway, suddenly I heard a noisy voice, then I peeked in at the door. When I saw the happy party, how surprised I was! I cried, "See! See! The rats have a party!" Maybe my voice was too loud for the rats all stood up and took their feast and quickly ran to their home.

TSANG AI-LING, 1937

A Dream on the Journey

　　It was a night before our literature test. I sat in the study hall, with my book opened before me. I tried to read, but I heard the noisy music and tap dancing steps which I had seen last week in a movie. There seemed to be many beautiful dancers waving their handkerchiefs and winking their eyes at me. Under these noisy sounds and flashing scenes, the words in my book slipped away so smoothly and quickly, before I could catch them and keep them in my brain. I turned over the page and tried another paragraph. The same things went on, and still I could not control myself. I got very tired and weary. So I leaned on the desk and went to sleep, forgetting all about our literature test.

　　I walked into a mysterious wonderland, the wonderland that "Alice" had not gone in. I was sitting beside a dining table, having a tea-party with Ali Baba and his wife, and Morgianna, who had been once a slave and was now his daughter-in-law. On the other end of the table sat a graceful, mild, fair-haired, grand lady. A golden crown was set upon her head. She was Queen Esther, as Ali Baba told me, the most powerful and kind lady in this land. Then I heard a knock on the door; Ali Baba told me that it must be the other guests invited. Morgianna ran and open the door, and a gigantic, tremendous, white-bearded old man walked in, with a little girl leaning on his arm.

　　"Hello，Miss Ai-ling, you don"t recognize me now, eh? We met three and a half years ago, on the Alps--"

　　"You"re the Alm Uncle!" I cried out before he had finished his speech. I held out my hand earnestly, and we greeted each other happily.

　　"Here"s Heidi. Does she look fatter and taller than before?" He showed me the child. Heidi was still a healthy and innocent little girl. She told me that the "Old grandmother" was still alive, and had white bread to eat every day.

　　We sat down and began our eating. Suddenly, a sharp voice calling "Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!" was heard. Then we heard heavy foot-steps; a sea-faring man with a wooden leg came in, with a parrot standing on his shoulder.

　　"Excuse my interruption, Your Majesty. May I join the party?" Long John Silver bowed gracefully to the queen. And Queen Esther nodded her head and smiled sweetly-she was always so sweet and gentle, even to a pirate. So Long John took his seat and joined our party. I was a little afraid of him, when I thought about his killing people in Treasure Island. But Morgianna and Alm Uncle were all very calm, even Heidi, the child. So I felt ashamed of myself.

　　In the midst of our eating I saw a pretty face peeping in at the door. The big, glorious, black eyes recalled someone to me. I suddenly sprang to my feet and rushed to the door, holding her hand and screaming.

　　"Oh, Rebecca Randall! Is it really you-oh, I have longed for you!"

　　It was really Rebecca, the one I loved best among those friends. We held together both with tears in our eyes. The first question I eagerly asked her was:

　　"How about Mr. Aladdin? Did you-" I meant "Did you marry him?" but I stopped in the middle.

　　There was no reply. Rebecca blushed, smiled, lowered her head, and began to hum a love song.

　　During this time I hadn"t mentioned that Aunt Miranda was just now coming in after Rebecca. She stared at me, then turned to the rest of the people. When she saw Long John and Morgianna, she pulled her face very long and made her eyes perfectly round, and screamed.

　　"Dear! Dear! Sea-robber-and slave! Inviting us Sawyers to the party with sea-robbers and slaves! Oh my, I"m fainting!....Rebecca, button up your coat, put on your hat and stop laughing and crying like a three-year-old child! We must leave here as quickly as possible."

　　She pulled Rebecca hard out of the room. Ali Baba and his wife looked puzzled. Long John was trying to hide his angriness and laughed unnaturally. Morgianna was still so white and calm, only moving her lips a little; she seemed to be trying to say something. Heidi did not know what had happened. She looked at Long John, looked at Aunt Miranda, and then turned to her grandfather.

　　When Aunt Miranda was pulling Rebecca, a funny little old man darted in at the door and ran hard against Aunt Miranda. They both fell on the ground. Aunt Miranda grumbled, "All of the men in this house are as rude as rubbers." She rose up and disappeared with Rebecca through the door.

　　The little old man stood confused and panting. Ali Baba asked him, "Mr. Rip Van Winkle, are you driven out by Dame Van Winkle again?" Rip Van Winkle shrugged his shoulders, cast up his eyes, and said nothing.

　　Just then, there was a bell tinkling far away. "It must be our friend, "The King of the Golden River". He has come to take us to the feast of Xerxes, the Persian king. I think we had better say good-bye", said Ali Baba to me. So they sang a song to bid farewell to me. I can only remember the chorus, 「Oh, we wish you may have a good mark tomorrow, tomorrow!…………」 The song got softer and softer, and at last I could not hear it. I opened my eyes and found myself still sitting in the study hall. My book had already dropped on the floor. The bell was ringing, and students were going out one by one. I picked up the book, rubbed my eyes, and read it while I was going out. I found it very interesting so that I could not stop reading. There seemed to be lovely scenes with all those people I had seen in the dream acting in them. I held my book tightly and cried, "A thousand thanks to the people in our wonderland!"

TSANG AI-LING, 1937

祝淳翔文
張愛玲從小就立志成為一名雙語作家，成年後有相當多的作品先用英文發表，再譯成中文。
　　張愛玲從小就立志成為一名雙語作家，成年後有相當多的作品先用英文發表，再譯成中文。散文《更衣記》《洋人看京戲及其他》《中國人的宗教》《重返邊城》如是，小說《秧歌》《赤地之戀》亦復如是。其中最早的一篇，寫於1938年。據張子靜所撰姐姐的傳記稱，「一九三八年初，將近舊曆年的時候」，張愛玲從父親家逃離。不久，將「被軟禁的經過寫成英文，投到《大美晚報》（Evening Post）發表」。六年以後，張愛玲成名，又在《私語》（載《天地》1944年10期）里重述一遍。

　　這種「雙語重複書寫」的奇特現象，展現出一個自由游弋於英語、漢語世界的，令人略感陌生的張愛玲，曾引發海外的「張學」研究者鄭樹森、王德威和劉紹銘等人的特別關注。如細究其原因，說穿了也不難理解，因為張愛玲從小就有雙語學習的經歷。不過在印象中，張愛玲並不願多談早年的求學經歷。1939年，遠在香港大學讀書的張愛玲，應《西風》雜誌徵文，投去短文《天才夢》，自述三歲背唐詩、七歲寫小說，九歲決心當鋼琴家。這一切，給讀者留下強烈的早慧形象，同時似乎刻意隱沒去在校期間那份應有的執著與勤奮。至於那隱諱的態度之所以如此強烈，想來大概緣於這段經歷是張愛玲記憶中的軟肋，其間父母離異，父親再娶，她又搞僵了與繼母的關係。

　　倘若將張愛玲的求學與從文經歷，放在較深廣一些的時空維度去審視，就不難發現聖瑪利亞女校（St. Mary"s Hall，簡稱「聖校」）的重要性。1931年，十一歲的張愛玲進入聖公會所辦聖瑪利亞女校，被分入初中一乙組（Class Section B），直到1937年高三畢業，張愛玲生命中整整六年的光陰，便在此度過。當人們被好奇心驅使，去窺看《鳳藻》（The Phoenix）年刊中的集體照，混雜在同學們中間的張愛玲，形同安徒生童話里的醜小鴨，身材瘦弱，貌不驚人。也許普通讀者的腦海里會冒出這樣的念頭來：若不是日後在文壇聲名鵲起，恐怕很少會有人對她多加留意吧。事實上，高中時期的張愛玲已經在文學領域嶄露頭角了。據張愛玲讀高二時赴「聖校」任教務部主任的汪宏聲回憶，為了平衡此前偏重英文教學的弊端，聖校才開始大力加強和推進國文課程教學。汪老師給學生們布置了國文作文和影評，並創辦《國光》月刊，張愛玲便是雜誌社的編輯兼積極撰稿者。汪的回憶，還從側面透露出張愛玲的英文素養的養成，並不晚於國文素養，兩者幾乎齊頭並進。

　　最近，當翻閱2014年第一期《檔案春秋》，其中徐如林的文章《鳳棲於梧：張愛玲的中學時代》，引起了筆者的關注，因為該文披露了一篇此前無人知曉的英文習作The Sun Parlor（徐文譯作《太陽房》），載於1936年《鳳藻》年刊（第102頁）。受其啟發，筆者更在上海圖書館近代期刊館藏中，找到另外兩篇張愛玲寫於1937年的英文習作，篇名分別為「The School Rats Have a Party」和「A Dream on the Journey」（姑譯成《校鼠舞會》和《書旅一夢》）。由於館藏紙質版有破損，經合理推斷，其出處應當也都是1936年《鳳藻》年刊，為方便引用，其頁碼分別為第48頁、第72-74頁。

　　徐文提供了《太陽房》全文截圖及其編譯文字，我們從中了解到「聖校」校刊《鳳藻》社，坐落於一處陽光充沛的會客室。室內陳設有長條桌和椅子，是給學生們讀報用的。房間一角的架子上，有一隻帶鎖的內藏機密的木盒，引人好奇，原來它被用來盛放大家的投稿。

　　至於《校鼠舞會》和《書旅一夢》，它們一短一長，是兩篇虛構作品。前者講述學校里一匹名喚「布萊克」的母老鼠與公老鼠「布朗」的結婚舞會，儼然一派迪士尼動畫的場景。

　　後者的出場人物豐富了許多。在文學測驗的前晚，作者在自修室里讀書入夢，去到一處「愛麗絲未曾去過的奇境」，先後碰上來自《一千零一夜》的阿里巴巴夫婦和智勇雙全的女奴麥爾加娜、《聖經》里的女英雄波斯王后以斯帖、瑞士作家約翰娜·施皮里《海蒂》里的海蒂和阿爾姆大叔、《金銀島》里的獨腿海盜西爾弗船長，還有麗貝卡·蘭德爾和米蘭達阿姨（他們以及阿拉丁先生，均來自凱特·道格拉斯·維珍所著《太陽溪農場的麗貝卡》），以及華盛頓·歐文筆下的瑞普·凡·溫克爾。人物之間居然還發生了矛盾衝突，引人發噱。讀後第一感覺，年輕的張愛玲文筆老練，想像力超卓，人物刻畫得繪聲繪色，惟妙惟肖，與各自性格、身份大體保持一致。細節雕琢上亦不失精細，例如描摹海盜船長時，還不忘捎帶上那尖聲叫嚷「八個里亞爾」的鸚鵡。特別值得一提的是，文中說麗貝卡是其最愛，不禁投射著張愛玲本人的思想感情。小說主人公麗貝卡的父親英年早逝，她頗經歷了一番苦難，卻始終保持著樂觀積極的態度。該小說也是美國人心目中的勵志經典，1938年改編成同名電影，由童星秀蘭·鄧波兒主演，惠及全世界的幾代人。

　　文學史上，好多作家成名後，常悔其少作。張愛玲不僅並不例外，而且對於少作被挖掘「出土」，深惡痛絕。此前，陳子善先生從1937年《鳳藻》年刊中，找到並中譯過兩篇張愛玲的英文習作，分別是「My Great Expectations」（《心愿》）和「Sketches of Some Shepherds」（《牧羊者素描》）。但據宋以朗先生《張愛玲沒有寫的文章》（載《南方都市報》2013.7.9）引1990年張愛玲給其父的信，稱：「中國時報轉載校刊上我最討厭的一篇英文作文，一看都沒看就扔了……」態度之決絕，簡直令人瞠目結舌。這也使筆者一開始不無顧慮，但考慮到這些畢竟是「祖師奶奶」文學生涯起步期難得的佳構，雖然會被認作錢鍾書所說的發掘文墓的考訂家，可我自信它們對熱愛張愛玲的讀者、研究張愛玲的學者來說，不會沒有意義。至少能豐富大家對張愛玲早期閱讀史的了解，以及加深對其英文虛構能力的認知。而所有這些新增的樣本，如能引發更多熱議，則善莫大焉。

　　此外，筆者起初有意將兩篇文章譯成中文，但鑒於眼下熟習英文者眾多，何況張愛玲文筆高妙，為免弄巧成拙，還是原樣奉上為妥。好了，閑話少絮，請品鑒花季年華的張愛玲的英文習作

喜歡愛默生，收過好幾個版本，但翻譯最好的，覺得還是張愛玲的《愛默生選集》。
我不懂英文，不知她的翻譯是否「信」，但極「達」、極「雅」，堪稱絕唱。如果她英文不大好，不「信」，那會讓我更佩服，她竟然可以憑空翻譯得那麼好！她可以當哲學家了。
愛默生跨哲學與文學兩界，今後再不會有那麼好的翻譯了。很多人可能比張愛玲英文好，但不可能有人比她的中文好，作家不能，學者更不能。

大致五歲由家人聘請英國人教授英文對張愛玲來說英文是第二母語她也熟背英文版莎士比亞劇本她十分了解各類詞源英文寫作功底可想而知

只有在中文的語境中如魚得水，她和讀者都是

翻譯過《老人與海》《鹿苑長春》

hello題主～不敢貿然回答，建議您看一下這個：https://www.zhihu.com/question/22480996/answer/21504929?from=timelineisappinstalled=1

張愛玲在英國和美國出版發行的作品只有《秧歌》(The Rice-sprout Song) 和《北地胭脂》(The Rouge of the North) ，另外《雷峰塔》(The Fall of the Pagoda) 及《易經》(The Book of Change)也是她用英文寫成，由香港大學出版社出版。
說實在的，張愛玲的英文應該不是學院派，比較像是野路子。這裡指的野路子是指沒有受過系統的英語文學教育的訓練。我找了一下她的生平發現也確實是這樣，童年熟讀莎士比亞也並不能算是受過系統的訓練。
單指英文寫作水平來說，她的文法是挑不出什麼問題的。
但是在我分別讀過《秧歌》及《北地胭脂》中英文版（均由她自己寫成）後，發現其實很多處意思並不相同，都是一些比較細節性的問題。我找到一篇郭強生老師的文章，裡面列舉了很多處，我自己也實在是不能說得更好了：

http://blog.udn.com/jshengk/4679091

以及 goodread上面native speaker對《雷峰塔》的評價

The author"s English is not outstanding, but this rather magically does not spoil the book. You have to get used to a certain weirdness before you start enjoying it.

簡單粗暴地來說，如果她的辯證思維恰好還不錯，大概可以考個雅思作文八分。順便附個標準：

covers all requirements of the task sufficiently

presents, highlights and illustrates key features / bullet points clearly and appropriately

sequences information and ideas logically

manages all aspects of cohesion well

uses paragraphing sufficiently and appropriately

uses a wide range of vocabulary fluently and flexibly to convey precise meanings

skilfully uses uncommon lexical items but there may be occasional inaccuracies in word choice and collocation

produces rare errors in spelling and/or word formation

uses a wide range of structures

the majority of sentences are error-free

makes only very occasional errors or inappropriacies

但就《秧歌》的成書質量來看，她肯定是不夠格當個翻譯的。可能產品文案差不多。

從網路上找來的資料來看，英文著述翻譯還是比較多的。
1942 年香港淪陷，未畢業即回上海，給英文《泰晤士報》寫劇評、影評：《婆媳之間》《鴉片戰爭》《秋歌》《烏雲蓋月》《萬紫千紅》《燕迎春》《借銀燈》。也替德國人辦的英文雜誌《二十世紀》寫《中國的生活與服裝（Chinese life and Fashions）》。
1952年赴香港，向香港大學申請復學獲准。赴港後，在美國駐香港新聞處工作。寫電影劇本《小兒女》《南北喜相逢》。翻譯《老人與海》《愛默森選集》《美國七大小說》（部分）
1956年得Edward Mac Dowell Colony的寫作獎金
1967年獲邀任美國紐約雷德克里芙學校駐校作家。著手英譯清代長篇小說《海上花傳》
1975年完成英譯《海上花列傳》