2019年翻译资格笔译初级考试模拟试题：简.奥斯丁

　　简.奥斯丁的小说都是三五户人家居家度日，婚恋嫁娶的小事。因此不少中国读者不理解她何以在西方享有那么高的声誉。但一部小说开掘得深不深，艺术和思想是否有过人之处，的确不在题材大小。有人把奥斯丁的作品比作越咀嚼越有味道的橄榄。这不仅因为她的语言精彩，并曾对小说艺术的发展有创造性的贡献，也因为她的轻快活泼的叙述实际上并不那么浅白，那么透明。史密斯夫人说过，女作家常常试图修正现存的价值秩序，改变人们对“重要”和“不重要”的看法。也许奥斯丁的小说能教我们学会转换眼光和角度，明察到“小事”的叙述所涉及的那些不小的问题。

　　参考译文：

　　However, subject matter is indeed not the decisive factor by which we judge a novel of its depth as well as (of ) its artistic appeal and ideological content (or: as to whether a novel digs deep or not or whether it excels in artistic appeal and ideological content). Some people compare Austen’s works to olives: the more you chew them, the more tasty (the tastier) they become. This comparison is based not only on (This is not only because of ) her expressive language and her creative contribution to the development of novel writing as an art, but also on (because of ) the fact that what hides behind her light and lively narrative is something implicit and opaque (not so explicit and transparent). Mrs. Smith once observed, women writers often sought (made attempts) to rectify the existing value concepts (orders) by changing people’s opinions on what is “important” and what is not.