We know what we told him, but we don't know what he heard.
Pound的故事
在10月29日（2003），本刊（Simon U ）有HC的一則筆記：<翻譯，雖小道必有可觀之處 > 。近日讀書， 發現當初結論可能錯誤 同時 即使像Ruskin這樣的名文的引文 也可能可以進一步攻錯.....
羅斯金(John Ruskin)著名的演說-- 「芝麻與國王的財寶」（SESAME. OF KING'S TREASURIES. ），其引言為：
"You shall each have a cake of sesame,--and ten pound."
Lucian: The Fisherman.
有人將此pound看成英鎊（《羅斯金散文集》(沙銘瑤譯 ，天津：百花文藝，1997)）
另外，也有人翻譯成 "十張魚網"（《羅斯金》劉坤尊譯，湖南文藝，2000）。 這約略對，但並非完全對。
查字典， pound的古意為：(Fishing) A kind of net, having a large inclosure with a narrow entrance into which fish are directed by wings spreading outward.
參考周作人翻譯 《路吉阿諾斯對話集》(英美以習慣用希臘文稱其為Lucian)作品，其中的第18篇《魚夫》，竟然找不到這句羅斯金的著名引文。
我的結論是：羅斯金(John Ruskin)著名的演說中的pound為英鎊，不是我過份謹慎的
在封底引一"贊美語":
Mr. Ruskin had become a musician very potent....powerful to charm as well as to teach.
---Anthony Trollope
劉坤尊譯翻譯成:羅斯金成了樂師 大氣磅
既能予人教誨 更會施展魅力這翻譯問題頗多 首先 如果熟悉Ruskin就知道他是不太懂音樂的 所以這句話似乎有反諷的味道
另外 用大氣磅
翻譯 potent 不只過份 甚至失義
同樣的 底下這段講讀書最重要的是"字(母)詞"的正確" (accuracy) 不過翻譯者忘調在文脈中
canaille
應該從它本義講而不應該翻譯為"群氓":
A well- educated gentleman may not know many languages,--may not be able to speak any but his own,--may have read very few books. But whatever language he knows, he knows precisely; whatever word he pronounces, he pronounces rightly; above all, he is learned in the PEERAGE of words; knows the words of true descent and ancient blood, at a glance, from words of modern canaille; remembers all their ancestry, their intermarriages, distant relationships, and the extent to which they were admitted, and offices they held, among the national noblesse of words at any time, and in any country.
The Project Gutenberg Etext of Sesame and Lilies, by John Ruskin
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