摘 要

由清人曹雪芹等所著《红楼梦》是家喻户晓的长篇章回体人情小说，位列四大名著之首。其中所包含的大量诗词歌赋充分展现了作者深厚的文学功底。各国学者对于《红楼梦》本身及其翻译研究浩如烟海，相比于此，针对其中的诗歌翻译研究尚显不足，中国古典诗词翻译也一直是一大难点。在许渊冲教授“三美理论”指导下，本文作者以翻译得最为完全的英译本——杨宪益夫妇和大卫霍克斯所译的两个英译本《红楼梦》为参考，选取其中的主人公贾宝玉的诗词进行对比研究，试从音、形、意三美的角度分析二者诗词翻译之间的优劣之处、风格差异，以从中获得一些中国古典诗词英译后仍能充分保留“三美”的方法。

关键词：《红楼梦》、“三美理论”、杨宪益、霍克斯、诗词英译

Contents

1. Introduction................................................................................................................1

2. Demonstration............................................................................................................3

2.1 Xu Yuanchong as a translator...................................................................................3

2.2 Three Beauty Theory................................................................................................4

2.3 Jia Baoyu and his poems..........................................................................................5

2.4 Comparative analysis of Jia Baoyu poems from the perspective of Three Beauty Theory.............................................................................................................................6

2.4.1 The beauty of sound..............................................................................................8

2.4.2 The beauty of form................................................................................................9

2.4.3 The beauty of sense.............................................................................................10

3. Conclusion................................................................................................................12

Works Cited..................................................................................................................14

Bibliography.................................................................................................................15

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................17

A Comparative Analysis of Two English Translations of Jia Baoyu Poems in A Dream of Red Mansions-A Perspective of “Three Beauty” Theory

1. Introduction

As the first of the four classic novels of Chinese literature, A Dream of Red Mansions was written at the 18th century - later period of Chinese feudal society. The author Cao Xueqin's family served as Jiangning Weaving for more than half a century; he spent his prosperous youth in Nanjing, and then his family’s day has gone. He finally moved to Beijing. In his later years, he was poor and destitute, his life was difficult. He wrote this book in the hardships. According to “author’s words” in the first chapter of A Dream of Red Mansions, Cao Xueqin said that “in this busy, dusty world, having accomplished nothing, I suddenly recalled all the girls I had known”, he felt that those girls in the boudior had better manners and more knowledge than him, so he wanted to write a book for them, in which he hid the truth and used unreal words.

As the pinnacle of Chinese classical novels, A Dream of Red Mansions shows endless culture phenomenon of diet, etiquette and costume of the upper-class in the old times, and the degree of detail is even more amazing. For example, there are detailed descriptions of the main characters’ wearing from head to toe, their appearances and temperament; the use of tea leaves and water is quite exquisite in scenes of tea-making; when dealing with funeral matters, there are different rituals depending on different identities of the deceased.