遲到的開竅也是開竅

平安夜在爾灣觀摩了一場大教堂里的圣誕歌會，帶有真正宗教色彩的圣誕節我也是第一次過。

我想到了兒子學期末的寫作課考試，題目是寫一篇文藝評論。他寫了關于安魂曲的翻譯，也是關于宗教。

一個亞洲理工男，高中里寫作文都是老大難，一進大學突然要寫西方宗教與拉丁文的翻譯，你說嚇人不嚇人。

我撇了一眼題目就知道完蛋了，恨不得替他寫。

結果，人家花了三天時間，分別在安娜堡的酒店里、底特律的機場里、3萬英尺的飛機上、鳳凰城的餐廳里，卡著deadline改了一百八十遍，終于把作文交了。

我心想：兒大不由娘，是時候讓他嘗一嘗寫作不及格的滋味了。

結果前兩天考試成績出來，作文總分是A+。

這回我可不困了，我倒要看看這家伙到底寫了點啥，能讓英語寫作老師給了他一個滿分。

實不相瞞，這篇文章我拿著英漢詞典都看不懂，因為里面還有拉丁文。

我覺得吧，作為一個搞寫作的中年婦女，對兒子這篇文章我也不敢指手畫腳，因為要想指點他，我首先得跟他一樣花四個星期去了解拉丁文不同版本的安魂曲的注解，再花兩個禮拜去把詩經看一遍，才能明白他到底在寫什么。

看來，兒大確實是不由娘，因為娘不在身邊人家更容易開竅，而且，遲到的開竅也是開竅，雖然以前他寫作文不咋地，但是，現在可能還是不咋地。

不過，雖然不咋地，但也許學?？疾斓牟皇亲魑谋旧恚悄莻€過程。

美本的通識教育，讓學生需要閱讀大量資料，查找，研究，思考，再給出觀點，這是很磨人的。

我想這個A+并不是因為這篇文章真的寫得特別好，而是因為老師看到了他的查找，研究，思考全過程。

一個亞洲理工男，用心寫了一篇文藝評論，不管遣詞造句是否高級，也不論語法和結構是否完美，寫作呈現的是研究和洞悉的過程，這個過程就值得一個A+。

為了湊字數，下面我貼出兒子的原文（可以直接跳到后面看中文翻譯）。

Translating the Latin Requiem

Requiem is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased. Written in Latin, it is an important liturgical poem that reflects the relation between the live and dead as well as human and the God. When preparing for the concert of Verdi’s Requiem, I watched the video recording of this work with subtitles in Chinese, my native language. Then I read the English translation of the same text on the UMS program. Although I do not understand Latin, I have taken the French course in this semester, which enables me to decode the syntax and meaning in Latin a bit clearer than in the scope of English.

Therefore, as a foreigner with background of several languages, I am naturally intrigued by the translation of Requiem in context of my culture. I want to present a glance of the charm of Chinese to western readers through the lens of translation. Despite the huge differences between Latin and Chinese, certain literature tradition and translation backgrounds in China bridge the linguistical gap, enabling religious communication between eastern and western cultures.

Undeniably, translating the text of Requiem into another language presents great challenges due to the syntactic structures and phonological qualities of Latin. Here, syntax refers to the grammatical arrangement of words in a sentence, and phonology means the study of sounds in language. For example, the line ‘Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine’ means ‘Give them eternal rest, O Lord’. The adjective ‘aeternam’ (eternal) is placed after the word it is modifying, ‘requiem’; and the entire object (eternal rest) precedes the verb ‘dona’ (give). Such kinds of inversion play an important role in creating the holy atmosphere of this text. If this sentence begins with ‘dona’, the tone would lack humility, as this line is the supplication to God.

Another example is ‘quia pius es’, meaning ‘for you are merciful’. Actually, there is no word meaning ‘you’ in this line, but this information is implied because the word ‘es’ is the second person conjugation of ‘to be’. Similar pattern can be found in French, where different conjugations correspond to different persons. But this complicated conjugation system is not easy to understand for non-romance language speakers.

What’s more, the intricate vocabulary system of Latin makes it extra challenging to render while maintaining original tone and meaning. For example, both ‘saeclum’ and ‘mundus’ mean ‘world’, but with very subtle difference in context. And the most critical problem is about the religious words such as ‘Domine Jesu Christe’. They incorporate deep cultural and historical backgrounds, which makes it almost impossible to find their equivalents in other languages. It is heavy work to introduce these concepts to people in non-Catholic worlds.

However, thanks to the deep cultural background and the expertise of translators in China, it is possible to render Requiem into Chinese in an authentic manner. In certain aspects, Chinese may even surprisingly do better than European languages. For one, in Requiem, syllable count plays an essential role in maintaining musicality, which is also an important focus in traditional Chinese poetry. Many verses in Requiem have eight syllables in each line, such as ‘Dies irae dies illa’. While in The Book of Songs, the earliest collection of poems of China, each line carries two four-character phrases, which is almost identical with the phonology in Requiem. In a well-known song in the book, the poem goes, ‘Guān guān jū jiū, zài hé zhī zhōu…’. Here is the translation of an excerpt of this verse.

The fishhawks sing gwan-gwan

On sandbars of the stream.

Gentle maiden, pure and fair,

Fit pair for a prince.

Watercress grows here and there,

Right and left we gather it.

Gentle maiden, pure and fair,

Wanted waking and sleep.

The use of repetition is another similarity between Latin and Chinese poetry that we can discover from the song above. In successive stanzas, some lines and phrases are repeated verbatim, like ‘Gentle maiden, pure and fair’. Similarly, the line ‘Requiem aeternam dona eis’ also appears multiple times. What’s more, besides the repeated parts, certain phrases vary from stanza to stanza. In the song above, the lines after ‘Gentle maiden’ change as the poem develops, depicting the increasing desire of the prince to chase the maiden. This pattern is also shown in verses like Agnus Dei.

Agnus Dei,

Qui tollis peccata mundi,

Dona eis requiem.

Agnus Dei,

Qui tollis peccata mundi,

Dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Lamb of God,

You who take away the sins of the world,

Grant them rest.

Lamb of God,

You who take away the sins of the world,

Grant them eternal rest.

The second stanza just repeats, adding one word ‘eternal’, thus expressing the emotion of supplicants. Therefore, I can feel an amazing sense of familiarity when reading the Latin Requiem, as the literature tradition lying beneath this ancient hymn echoes with the cultural backgrounds of mine.

The tradition in translation also helps Chinese people understand the theological concepts better. In Chinese, there is a special group of paroles and methods of translation dedicated to the religious language. I remember that feeling when I took a glance of the Holy Bible in childhood. In the Genesis it goes, ‘And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.’ The first sentence is rendered into two four character words, matching the musicality of ancient Chinese, thus establishing the epic style of the Bible. Since the earth was also void in Chinese legend, this narration seems very natural and authentic for me. Then, I was attracted by the second sentence, where ‘Spirit’ is literally translated into a single character without further explanation. In modern Chinese, two-character nouns are preferred because they clarify and articulate the meaning, while single-character words are common in ancient Chinese for simplicity. Therefore, a gap of age appears in this sentence, indicating the mystery of the God. I couldn’t help marvel at such smooth, seamless translating method that brings readers into the religious world unconsciously. It is this sophisticated mastering of Chinese literature tradition that promotes the understanding of the religion. As a result, most people in China are familiar with religious names like Jesus and Maria. Even though many are nonreligious and do not know the stories in the Bible, they have learnt to respect foreign religions because of the beautiful localization of western religion. And this can help a lot in translation of religion-related literature works like Requiem.

Retrospectively, I find the Chinese translation of the Latin Requiem exhibiting the advantages mentioned above really well in certain aspects. The titles of the chapters are rendered the most beautifully. For example, Introitus, the name of the first verse, is translated into a three-character word, ‘Jìn táng yǒng’, which literally means ‘The song of entering the hall’. Other title names are also rendered in three characters, neat and elegant, which fully represents the ability of expression of Chinese. Meanwhile, there is still space of improvement for the translation of main text. Currently there is no standard Chinese version of the poem, and the Chinese subtitles in some videos were badly-written. Sentences such as ‘Place me in your right hand’ is literally rendered in plain language, lacking the sense of holy, as well as the necessary explanation of what right hand implies. I look forward to a version rendered by professional translators that is as authentic as the Chinese Bible.

Why is the translation of religious text important? Given that Catholics are minorities in China, and even in western countries there are fewer and fewer believers nowadays, does Requiem still matter? My answer is yes. I believe that religion plays a key role in mutual communication between cultures, just like arts and literature. It does not really matter whether people believe in the religion; instead, it is important whether people are inclusive towards religions. In a healthy social atmosphere, people do not hold rejection or hatred to foreign religions just because they differ from the world view of local culture. People are curious of different religions, willing to explore various systems of viewing this world. And in order to intrigue people, it is crucial that translators do a good job tailoring the religion to local culture. Imagine the Bible rendered into Chinese without those brilliant translation techniques. Lacking the epic and holy style, people would probably see the book as a poorly-written fiction novel and treat Catholicism as heresy.

Moreover, studying foreign cultures deepens one’s understanding of their own civilization. It is after we have seen various worldviews that we become able to recognize the special characteristics in our culture, thus finding the place of ourselves in this world. For Chinese citizens, being exposed to Catholicism or any other religions helps them broaden the horizons. They can take advantage of the essence from both foreign religion and local wisdom, such as Buddhist and Confucianism. In a word, multi-religion experience enriches one as a person on this planet.

In conclusion, Chinese boasts a healthy soil for religion-related translating, making elegant translation of Requiem perfectly possible. Translators should provide the public with a more professional version of this work in Chinese. By focusing on translating the Latin Requiem, we are not only discussing a linguistic and literature issue, but also promoting the intercultural communication that enriches every one of us. The words of Chinese scholar Fei Xiaotong about the beauty of cultures perfectly depicts our hope. ‘Every form of beauty has its uniqueness; precious is to appreciate other forms of beauty with openness. If beauty represents itself with diversity and integrity, the world will be blessed with harmony and unity.’

下面是中文翻譯（可以直接跳到最后看結束語）：

《安魂曲》是天主教會為安息逝者靈魂而舉行的彌撒。它以拉丁文寫成，是一首重要的禮儀詩歌，反映了生者與逝者、人與上帝之間的關系。在準備威爾第《安魂曲》音樂會時，我觀看了帶中文字幕的演出錄像。隨后，我又閱讀了演出節目單上同一文本的英文譯文。雖然我不懂拉丁文，但這學期選修的法語課程，讓我對其句法和意義的理解比僅憑英語時略清晰一些。

因此，作為一個具備多語言背景的外語學習者，我自然對《安魂曲》在我自身文化語境中的翻譯產生了濃厚興趣。我希望通過翻譯的透鏡，向西方讀者展現一絲中文的魅力。盡管拉丁文與中文差異巨大，但中國特定的文學傳統與翻譯背景，能夠彌合語言間的鴻溝，促成東西方文化間的宗教交流。

不可否認，由于拉丁文的句法結構和語音特質，將其翻譯成另一種語言面臨著巨大挑戰。此處，句法指句中詞語的語法排列，語音則指語言中的聲音研究。例如，“Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine”意為“求主賜予他們永恒的安息”。形容詞“aeternam”（永恒的）置于其所修飾的名詞“requiem”（安息）之后；而整個賓語（永恒的安息）又位于動詞“dona”（賜予）之前。這類倒裝結構對營造經文的神圣氛圍至關重要。若此句以“dona”開頭，其語氣將缺乏謙卑感，而這正是對上帝的懇求。

另一例是“quia pius es”，意為“因你是仁慈的”。實際上，此行并無表示“你”的詞匯，此信息是通過動詞“es”（是）的第二人稱變位隱含的。類似的模式在法語中亦可見到，其不同的動詞變位對應不同人稱。但對于非羅曼語系的使用者而言，這種復雜的變位系統不易理解。

此外，拉丁文錯綜復雜的詞匯體系，使得在保持原有風格和意義的同時進行翻譯尤為困難。例如，“saeclum”與“mundus”皆意為“世界”，但在語境中存在細微差別。最關鍵的問題還在于諸如“Domine Jesu Christe”（主耶穌基督）之類的宗教詞匯。它們承載著深厚的文化和歷史背景，幾乎無法在其他語言中找到完全對等的表達。將這些概念介紹給非天主教世界的人們，是一項艱巨的工作。

然而，得益于中國深厚的文化底蘊和譯者的專業素養，將《安魂曲》地道地譯為中文是可能的。在某些方面，中文甚至可能出乎意料地比歐洲語言做得更好。其一，在《安魂曲》中，音節計數對保持音樂性至關重要，而這同樣是中國古典詩歌的重要關注點。《安魂曲》中許多詩行每行有八個音節，如“Dies irae dies illa”（震怒之日）。而在中國最早的詩歌總集《詩經》中，每行常由兩個四字短語構成，這與《安魂曲》的音韻特點幾乎一致。如《詩經》中著名的《關雎》：“關關雎鳩，在河之洲……”以下是該詩一段的英譯：

關關雎鳩，在河之洲。

窈窕淑女，君子好逑。

參差荇菜，左右流之。

窈窕淑女，寤寐求之。

運用重復是拉丁文與中文詩歌的另一相似之處，從上詩可見一斑。在連續的詩節中，某些詩行和短語會逐字重復，如“窈窕賢淑女子”。同樣，“Requiem aeternam dona eis”（賜予他們永恒的安息）也多次出現。此外，除了重復部分，某些短語在各節間又有變化。上詩中，“窈窕淑女”之后的詩句隨詩意發展而變化，描繪了君子追求淑女日益增長的情思。這種模式在《羔羊經》等經文也有所體現：

天主羔羊，除免世罪者，求賜他們安息。

天主羔羊，除免世罪者，求賜他們永恒的安息。

第二節僅重復前節，唯增“永恒的”一詞，從而表達了祈求者的情感。因此，當我閱讀拉丁文《安魂曲》時，能感受到一種奇妙的熟悉感，因為這首古老圣歌之下流淌的文學傳統，與我自身的文化背景產生了共鳴。

翻譯的傳統也有助于中國人更好地理解神學概念。中文中存在一套專門用于宗教語言的獨特詞匯和翻譯方法。我仍記得童年時初次瞥見《圣經》的感覺。在《創世記》中，經文寫道：“地是空虛混沌，淵面黑暗；神的靈運行在水面上?！笔拙浔蛔g為兩個四字詞，契合古漢語的音韻美感，從而確立了《圣經》的史詩風格。因中國神話中亦有天地混沌之說，此敘述對我而言顯得自然而貼切。接著，我被第二句吸引，其中“靈”字采用單字直譯，未加額外解釋?，F代漢語偏好雙字名詞以明晰意義，而古漢語為求簡練則常用單字。因此，此句中出現了一種時代距離感，暗示了上帝的神秘。

我不禁贊嘆如此流暢、不著痕跡的譯法，能將讀者不知不覺帶入宗教世界。正是這種對中文文學傳統的精深掌握，促進了人們對宗教的理解。因此，大多數中國人對耶穌、瑪利亞等宗教名稱并不陌生。盡管許多人并無宗教信仰，也不熟悉《圣經》故事，但因西方宗教優美的本土化譯介，他們學會了尊重外來宗教。這對翻譯《安魂曲》這類宗教文學作品大有裨益。

回顧之下，我發現拉丁文《安魂曲》的中文譯本在某些方面確實很好地展現了上述優勢。各章節標題的翻譯尤為精美。例如，第一首詩歌的名稱“Introitus”被譯為三字“進堂詠”，字面意為“進入圣堂之歌”。其他標題亦多用三字譯出，整齊典雅，充分體現了中文的表達能力。同時，主體經文的翻譯仍有改進空間。目前該詩歌尚無標準的中文譯本，一些視頻中的中文字幕也欠佳。例如，“將我置于你的右手”這樣的句子僅以平白語言直譯，缺乏神圣感，也未能對“右手”的隱含意義進行必要解釋。我期待能有由專業譯者呈現的、如同中文《圣經》那般地道的譯本。

為何宗教文本的翻譯如此重要？鑒于天主教徒在中國屬于少數群體，即便在西方國家，如今信徒也越來越少，《安魂曲》是否依然重要？我的答案是肯定的。我相信，宗教與藝術和文學一樣，在跨文化交流中扮演著關鍵角色。人們是否信仰該宗教并非核心；重要的是人們是否對宗教持有包容態度。在健康的社會氛圍中，人們不會僅僅因為外來宗教與本土文化的世界觀不同，就對其抱持排斥或敵意。人們會對不同的宗教感到好奇，愿意探索各種看待世界的體系。而要激發這種興趣，譯者能否出色地將宗教內容融入當地文化至關重要。試想，若《圣經》的中譯未曾運用那些精妙的翻譯技巧，缺乏史詩般的神圣風格，人們或許只會將其視為一部拙劣的小說，并將天主教視為異端。

此外，研習外來文化能深化人們對自身文明的理解。正是在見識了多樣的世界觀之后，我們才更能辨識自身文化的獨特之處，從而找到自己在這個世界上的位置。對于中國民眾而言，接觸天主教或其他任何宗教，都有助于拓寬視野。他們可以汲取外來宗教與本土智慧（如佛教和儒家思想）的精華?？傊?，多元的宗教體驗能豐富一個人作為地球居民的生命內涵。

綜上所述，中文擁有適宜宗教翻譯的豐厚土壤，使《安魂曲》的優美翻譯成為可能。譯者應為公眾提供更專業的中文譯本。通過聚焦拉丁文《安魂曲》的翻譯，我們不僅在探討一個語言與文學的議題，更是在推動豐富我們每個人的跨文化交流。中國學者費孝通先生關于文化之美的論述，恰如其分地描繪了我們的期望：“各美其美，美人之美，美美與共，天下大同。”

是不是直接跳到這里了？別說英文版了，中文版都看著費勁是吧？我也是。

所以，大家的娃現在作文水平你看不上也不用著急，等他開竅了，寫出來的東西哪怕全是漢字你也看不懂的，遲到的開竅也是開竅。我老公40了還沒開竅，我也不急。