某些含后缀"er/or"的名词的翻译

　　有这样一个句子：1. She was a bad sailor. Every time she traveled by sea, the first thing for her to do was to get into her cabin and lay down and had a rest.句中"a bad sailor"比较容易被望文生义地译成"坏水手"。其实在该句中"She was a bad sailor."应译为"她晕船。"英语中像sailor这样由动词加后缀"or"构成的名词以及其它表示身份、职业的名词往往含有较强的动作意味，用法很普遍，在汉译时需转译成动词,才能更符合汉语的习惯。

　　又如：2. You must be a very bad learner, or else you must be going to a very bad teacher. (C. Eckersley)你一定很不善于学习，要不然就是教你的人很不会教。3. He was a clever man; a pleasant companion; a careless student; with a great propensity for running into debt, and a partiality for tavern. (Thackeray: Vanity Fair)他是个聪明人，很好相处，可是学习不肯用功；老是东挪西借，又喜欢上酒店喝酒。在这两个例句中，名词learner, teacher, companion, student分别译成了"学习"，"教"，"相处"，"学习"等。

　　Translation exercises:

　　1. He is a good eater and a good sleeper.

　　2. He is a young and rapid writer.

　　3. I used to be a bit of a fancier myself.

　　4. You're all clock-watchers today!

　　5. She is the best hater I've ever known. How she got to hate me so much!

　　6. The computer is a far more careful and industrious inspector than human beings.

　　7. Every country is the best judge of what is required to safeguard its national security.

　　8. Talking with his son, the old man was the forgiver for the young man's past wrong doings.

　　参考译文：

　　1.他能吃能睡。

　　2.他是个笔头轻快的年轻人。

　　3.过去我有点儿喜欢胡思乱想。

　　4.你们今天怎么老是看表！(着急下班呀！)

　　5.我认识的人中，她最记仇了。她怎么这样恨我呢！

　　6.电脑比人检查得更细心更勤快。

　　7.每个国家需要什么来保卫国家安全，只有他自己才能做出最好的判断。

　　8.在和儿子的交谈中，老人宽恕了儿子过去所做的坏事。

　　(文/姜伟；英语辅导报大学二年级版03～04学年第38期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)