Animal Farm 結尾的諷刺 (含張華兄的譯評)

我生平第一本英文小說，是George Orwell 的 Animal Farm (1945)。那時 (1968)，似乎有梁實秋先生的《百獸圖》譯本，不過，由於省立台中圖書館有原文書，我就"不知不覺"讀完它。當時，我不會在意各翻譯本之比較，而是「得魚忘筌」。.

幾十年之後，我的朋友Peter去讀學士後法律課程，課程中，老師要大家討論書中的聰明豬與百獸的約定，算的上農場的「憲法」嗎？.

2011年讀 George Orwell 書信，他希望將Animal Farm此處改一下，為”眾牲都大驚失色，惟拿破侖處之泰然…….”…..因為史達林 (J.S.) 當時並沒離開莫斯科…….

2014.9.24 

今日是香港學生舉行為期一周的罷課活動的第二天，學生們坐在香港政府附近的區域聆聽有關民主和公民社會的演講。
在香港嶺南大學教授歷史的David Lloyd Smith做了有關喬治•奧威爾(George Orwell)的演講并將香港的民主發展比作朝鮮，朝鮮有正式的普選，但只有經過政府審查的人才能參選。
現年21歲、就讀香港科技大學(Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)商業專業的學生Christine Tong說，有關喬治•奧威爾的演講引起了她的共鳴。她說，香港政府就好比《動物莊園》(Animal Farm)裡的豬，利用自己的權力來壓制其他動物，違背自己的原則。
另一場關於莫罕達斯•甘地(Mohandas Gandhi)和公民抗命的演講也吸引了學生以及其他一些佩戴黃絲帶、支持“佔中”運動的人。

2015.11.23
魏揚

最近，許多事情不斷讓我想起《動物農莊》的一個經典段落。

「最後，拿破崙總結道『先生們，我將給你們以同樣的祝辭，但要以不同的形式。請滿上這一杯，先生們，這就是我的祝辭：為梅納農莊的繁榮昌盛乾杯！』
一陣同樣熱烈而真誠的喝彩聲轟然響起，酒也一飲而盡。但當外面的動物們目不轉睛地看著這一情景時，他們似乎看到了有一些怪事正在發生。豬的面孔上似乎有了些變化。三葉那一雙昏花的眼睛掃過了一個接一個面孔：他們有的有五個下巴，有的有四個，有的有三個，但是有什麼東西似乎正在融化消失。接著，熱烈的掌聲結束了，他們又拿起撲克牌，繼續剛才中斷的遊戲。外面的動物們這才悄悄地離開了。
但他們還沒有走出二十碼，又突然停住了。莊主院子裡傳出了一陣吵鬧聲。他們跑回去，又一次透過窗子往裡面看。是的，裡面正在大吵大鬧：既有大喊大叫的，也有捶打桌子的；一邊是疑神疑鬼的銳利的目光，另一邊卻在咆哮著矢口否認著什麼。原因好像是因為拿破崙和皮爾丁頓先生同時打出了一張黑桃A。
十二個嗓門一齊在憤怒地狂叫著，他們竟是如此的相似！而今，不必再問豬的面孔上到底發生了什麼變化。外面的眼睛從豬看到人，又從人看到豬，再從豬看回到人：但他們已分不出究竟誰是豬，誰是人了。」

今天，我找到Animal Farm的網頁： http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100011h.html
我幾乎沒勇氣重讀47年前讀過的這本薄薄的小說。
我想，起碼可找出魏先生所引的這幾段的原文，讀一下，那才是真的

"Gentlemen," concluded Napoleon, "I will give you the same toast as before, but in a different form. Fill your glasses to the brim. Gentlemen, here is my toast: To the prosperity of The Manor Farm!"

There was the same hearty cheering as before, and the mugs were emptied to the dregs. But as the animals outside gazed at the scene, it seemed to them that some strange thing was happening. What was it that had altered in the faces of the pigs? Clover's old dim eyes flitted from one face to another. Some of them had five chins, some had four, some had three. But what was it that seemed to be melting and changing? Then, the applause having come to an end, the company took up their cards and continued the game that had been interrupted, and the animals crept silently away.

But they had not gone twenty yards when they stopped short. An uproar of voices was coming from the farmhouse. They rushed back and looked through the window again. Yes, a violent quarrel was in progress. There were shoutings, bangings on the table, sharp suspicious glances, furious denials. The source of the trouble appeared to be that Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington had each played an ace of spades simultaneously.

Twelve voices were shouting in anger, and they were all alike. No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

November 1943-February 1944






張華兄的譯評：Howard Chang 原書最後有一句畫龍點睛的話：拿破崙把原來的"Animal Farm"改為 "Manor Farm"，這是化公為私的關鍵轉折點，中譯前面用「動物農莊」後文的轉變卻採用音譯「梅納農莊」，完全沒有傳達作者的訊息，甚為可惜。