泰特勒翻译三原则DESCRIPTIONOFAGOODTRANSLATION—GENERALRULESFLOWINGFROMTHATDESCRIPTIONThefirstgeneralrule-thatthetranslationshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork.Inorderthatatranslatormaybeenabledtogiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalwork,itisindispensablynecessary,thatheshouldhaveaperfectknowledgeofthelanguageoftheoriginal,andacompetentacquaintancewiththesubjectofwhichittreats.Ifheisdeficientineitheroftheserequisites,hecanneverbecertainofthoroughlycomprehendingthesenseofhisauthor.Whetheratranslatorshouldgiveacompletetranscriptoftheideasoftheoriginalworkorhavelibertytochangetheoriginalwork,itbecomesaquestion.thislibertymaybeused,butwiththegreatestcaution.Itmustbefurtherobserved,thatthesuperaddedideashallhavethemostnecessaryconnectionwiththeoriginalthought,andactuallyincreaseitsforce.And,ontheotherhand,thatwheneveranideaiscutoffbythetranslator,itmustbeonlysuchasisanaccessory,andnotaprincipalintheclauseorsentence.Itmustlikewisebeconfessedlyredundant,sothatitsretrenchmentshallnotimpairorweakentheoriginalthought.Thesecondgeneralrule-thatthestyleandmannerofwritingshouldbeofthesamecharacterwiththatoftheoriginal.Nextinimportancetoafaithfultransfusionofthesenseandmeaningofanauthor,isanassimilationofthestyleandmannerofwritinginthetranslationtothatoftheoriginal.Thisrequisiteofagoodtranslation,thoughbutsecondaryinimportance,ismoredifficulttobeattainedthantheformer;forthequalitiesrequisiteforjustlydiscerningandhappilyimitatingthevariouscharactersofstyleandmanner,aremuchmorerarethantheabilityofsimplyunderstandinganauthor'ssense.Agoodtranslatormustbeabletodiscoveratoncethetruecharacterofhisauthor'sstyle.Hemustascertainwithprecisiontowhatclassitbelongs;whethertothatofthegrave,theelevated,theeasy,thelively,thefloridandornamented,orthesimpleandunaffected;andthesecharacteristicqualitieshemusthavethecapacityofrenderingequallyconspicuousinthetranslationasintheoriginal.Ifatranslatorfailsinthisdiscernment,andwantsthiscapacity,lethimbeeversothoroughlymasterofthesenseofhisauthor,hewillpresenthimthroughadistortingmedium,orexhibithimofteninagarbthatisunsuitabletohischaracter.Thethirdgeneralrule--ThattheTranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoforiginalcomposition.Inorderthatthemeritoftheoriginalworkmaybesocompletelytranslatedastoproduceitsfulleffect,itisnecessary,notonlythetranslationshouldcontainaperfecttranscriptofthesentimentsoftheoriginal,andpresentlikewisearesemblanceofitsstyleandmanner,but,thatthetranslationshouldhavealltheeaseoforiginalcomposition.Whenweconsiderthoserestraintswithinwhichatranslatorfindshimselfnecessarilyconfined,withregardtothesentimentsandmannerofhisoriginal,itwillsoonappearthatthislastrequisiteincludesthemostdifficultpartofhistask.Toonewhowalksintrammels,itisnoteasytoexhibitanairofgraceandfreedom.Iftheoriginaliseasyandgraceful,thecopywillhavethesamequalities,inproportionastheimitationisjustandperfect.Thetranslator'staskisverydifferent;heusesnotthesamecolourswiththeoriginal,butisrequiredtogivehispicture,thesameforceandeffect.Heisnotallowedtocopythetouchesoftheoriginal,yetisrequiredbytouchesofhisown,toproduceaperfectresemblance.Themorehestudiesascrupulousimitation,thelesshiscopywillreflecttheeaseandspiritoftheoriginal.Howthenshallatranslatoraccomplishthisdifficultunionofeasewithfidelity?Touseaboldexpression,hemustadopttheverysoulofhisauthor,whichmustspeakthroughhisownorgans.