林 巍
【原文】
疫情与生存
[1] 围绕疫情展开的，其实不仅是个生物和医学概念，而是科学、文化、社会、道德、信仰的综合体，涉及医学知识、医疗制度 、卫生政策、相关立法、医患关系方方面面。
[2] 纵观人类生存史，其实就是一部与疾病不断搏斗的历史。只有生存下来，才能繁衍后代，延续文明，发展经济，繁荣社会。
[3] 就上世纪初以来，西班牙的大流感，西非的埃博拉，中东的呼吸综合征，北京、广东、香港等地的非典，蔓延全球的艾滋病，以及近期空前规模的冠状病毒，都不仅威胁着人类的健康，也深刻影响着人们的生活方式、社会形态、文化信仰，甚至国家的兴衰和民族的存亡。
【点评】
在此次空前世界范围的疫情中，也涌现出了一些新词语与相关表达方式，值得译者关注。
就题目“疫情与生存”而言，一般译成 Epidemic and Existence、Pandemic and Survival、 Epidemic Situation and Human Existence、Epidemic and Survival 等，其中有 epidemic 和 pandemic 之分，前者意为widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected at the same time,但相比较而言，后者为an epidemic that is geographically widespread; occurring throughout a region or even throughout the world，特别是pan- 源自希腊文，即all （全），就COVID-19来讲，显然后者更为确切。故该题目不妨译为Surviving in Pandemics。
[1] 中的“围绕疫情”，许多人译成Around the epidemic /或 epidemic /pandemic situation, 似乎不错，但考虑到与其相关联的是“概念”，故这里“疫情”有着特殊涵义，即“人得病”这件事（可用disease 或 getting sick）涉及到许多方面的问题；“医疗制度”亦不宜刻板地译成medical system, 而可用Medicare, 因该词不只是指医疗保险，因在许多西方国家是指the national medical care system for all people that is paid for by taxes，即是全民医保制度。故此句不妨译为Clearly, implications centered around the concepts of “disease” or “getting sick” extend much further than biology and medicine to the fields of medical knowledge, Medicare, health policy, relevant legislation, doctor-patient relations and so on.
[2] 中，对于“纵观人类生存史，其实就是一部与疾病不断搏斗的历史。只有生存下来，才能繁衍后代，延续文明，发展经济，繁荣社会”，较为典型的译文，如Actually, throughout the whole history of mankind’s survival, we human beings have been waging constant struggles over all kinds of diseases、In the grand sweep of humanity, we humans continually struggle with the diseases in reality、Throughout the history of human existence, it is actually a history of constant struggle with disease、It shows that the human history is actually a history of constant struggle with disease，其中的“纵观……”大都未译出来，且结构上还可作些调整。分析起来，该词在不同语境中可有多种译法，且可大可小，如“纵观历史,调停者们在谋略解决国际冲突时总会遇到棘手的问题”（Throughout history peacemakers have faced huge problems trying to solve international conflicts）；“纵观该地时局, 可以看到那里处处都是混乱与挫败”（Seen from the place, muddle and frustration prevail）;“纵观去年所有交易, 投资银行做得很好”（With all the deals last year, investment banks did very well）; “纵观全文, 修改后的文章比原文更清晰更流畅”(Overall, the revised essay is a clearer, smoother version of the original)等。同时， “只有生存下来，才能……” 似乎可以译成Only based on survival, can we…、Unless humans survive, there is no way of…、 Only by surviving can we…、Survival is the only way to… 等，但亦可与前句相衔接，将其意变通为it is harder to see … under the shadow of pandemics, 以更自然、恰当。此外，“繁衍后代，延续文明，发展经济，繁荣社会”的表述，或名词词组、动宾词组、不定式等，但应统一，避免语法错误，如reproduce, inherit civilizations, boost the economy and invigorate societies等。因而，该段不妨译为Taking a bird’s eye view, human survival easily reveals a history of struggling against various diseases, but it is harder to see propagation of human beings, revived civilization, economic development and prosperous societies under the shadow of pandemics.
对于[3]中出现的这些大型流行病，参赛者查阅了相关资料，大都能准确译出，有的还作了详细注释。概况而言，Spanish Flu: The 1918 influenza pandemic (January 1918 - December 1920) was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic（西班牙流感—1918年流感大流行<1918年1月-1920年12月>是一种异常致命的大型流感）；MERS: Middle East respiratory syndrome, a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by SARS-CoV-1 (MERS — 中东呼吸综合症,一种由SARS-CoV-1引起的人畜共患病); SARS: severe acute respiratory syndrome, a viral respiratory infection caused by the MERS-coronavirus (MERS-CoV), particularly serious in Beijing, Guangdong, Hong Kong and other places（SARS — 严重急性呼吸道感染并发症状，由MERS冠状病毒<MERS-CoV>引起的病毒性呼吸道感染，在北京、广东、香港等地尤为严重）; HIV/AIDS: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which spreads across the world (艾滋病毒/艾滋病 — 后天免疫机能丧失并发症状、人类免疫机能丧失病毒感染和后天免疫机能丧失并发症状<艾滋病毒/艾滋病>是由人类免疫机能丧失病毒<HIV>感染引起的一系列疾病，在全世界蔓延); COVID-19: the 2019 - 20 coronavirus outbreak is an ongoing global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 that has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern（新冠肺炎—2019-20冠状病毒爆发是正在进行中的于2019在全球爆发的冠状病毒疾病，已被宣布为国际关注的公共卫生紧急事件）。同时，“都不仅威胁着人类的健康，也深刻影响着人们的生活方式、社会形态、文化信仰，甚至国家的兴衰和民族的存亡”，看似简单，但译文中很容易出现语法、结构和不够精炼的问题，如And recently, an unprecedented coronavirus blatantly threats human’s health and penetratingly affects our living modes, social formations, cultures and beliefs as well. Even more, it shows a great influence on the rise and decline of countries, and the survival or downfall of every nation、…have posed threats to people’s health and exerted tremendous influences on people’s lifestyle, society formation, cultural belief and even more importantly, whether a country would rise or fall and whether its nation would survive or not.等。 综合而言，该段不妨译为：Just since the beginning of the 20th century, Spain’s flu pandemic, Ebola in West Africa, the respiratory syndrome of the Middle East, SARS in Beijing, Guangdong, Hong Kong and other places, the wide spread of AIDS globally, as well as the COVID-19, have not only affected human health, but also profoundly influenced people’s lifestyles, social norms, cultures and beliefs, even threatened countries’ or nations’ fortune and survival.
翻译，似乎永远离不开查找相关资料。
【参考译文】
Surviving in Pandemics
[1] Clearly, implications centered around the concepts of “disease” or “getting sick” extend much further than biology and medicine to the fields of medical knowledge, Medicare, health policy, relevant legislation, doctor-patient relations and so on.
[2] Taking a bird’s eye view, human survival easily reveals a history of struggling against various diseases, but it is harder to see propagation of human beings, revived civilization, economic development and prosperous societies under the shadow of pandemics.
[3] Just since the beginning of the 20th century, Spain’s flu pandemic, Ebola in West Africa, the respiratory syndrome of the Middle East, SARS in Beijing, Guangdong, Hong Kong and other places, the wide spread of AIDS globally, as well as the COVID-19, have not only affected human health, but also profoundly influenced people’s lifestyles, social norms, cultures and beliefs, even threatened countries’ or nations’ fortune and survival.