寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惨戚戚。乍暖还寒时候，最难将息。三杯两盏淡酒，怎敌他、晚来风急？雁过也，正伤心，却是旧时相识。 满地黄花堆积。憔悴损，如今有谁堪摘？守着窗儿，独自怎生得黑？梧桐更兼细雨，到黄昏, 点点滴滴。这次第，怎一个、愁字了得！

这首词里并不是句句难译的。最难译的是一头一尾。既要达意﹐又要译出特色﹐还真不容易。现在先看看几位名人是怎么译的﹐就看一头一尾吧。先看林语堂前辈的译文﹕

So dim, so dark,/So dense, so dull,/So damp, so dank,/So dead!/The weather, now warm, now cold,/Makes it harder than ever to forget!/How can thin wine and bread/Serve as protection/Against the piercing wind of sunset!/Wild geese pass over head/That they are familiar/Lets it more lamentable yet!/The ground is strewn with staid/And withered petals/For whom now should they be vase set?/By the window shut,/Guarding it along,/To see the sky has turned so black!/And on the cola nut/To hear the drizzle drown/At dust: Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat!/Is this a mood and moment/Only to be called “sad”?

林前辈的首句倒也体现了举重若轻的感觉。他用了七个头韵字﹐再加so﹐来对应原文的七对重复字。不过他举的重有点举错东西了。譬如说﹐应该举个五百斤的石锁﹐但他却举了千斤鼎。重是更重了﹐但举错了对象﹐不能婚配。原文的首句七个字重复﹐而且重复中还有重复。寻寻觅觅﹐四字同一意思。后面的四字六字也一样。要把这个特色译出来﹐就是上品。

再看杨宪益夫妇的译本﹕

Seeking, seeking, Chilly and quiet, Desolate, painful and miserable.

Even when it's warmer there is still a chill It is most difficult to keep well.

Three or two cups of light wine, How can they ward off the strong？

Wild geese fly past, while I'm broken-hearted; ButI recoze they are my old friends.

Fallen chrysanthemums piled up on the ground, So withered，Who would pluck them up now?

Leaning on the window, How can I pass the time till night alone?

The drizzle falls on the wutong trees, Raindrops drip down at dusk.

At a time like this, What immense sorrow I must bear!

寻寻觅觅﹐用两个seeking的重复倒很合适。但后面的离题太远了。“冷清”的意思大家都知道﹐决不是冷的意思。所以译成chilly很不妥。后面的“凄惨戚戚”都是miserable的意思。如果跟painful沾点边的话﹐跟desolate有一定距离。再看许渊冲先生的译本：

I look for what I miss; I know not what it is. I feel so sad, so drear, So lonely, without cheer.

How hard is it To keep me fit In this lingering cold!

By cup on cup Of wine so dry Oh, how could I Endure at dusk the drift Of wind so swift?

It breaks my heart, alas, To see the wild geese pass, For they are my acquaintances of old.

The ground is covered with yellow flowers, Faded and fallen in showers./Who will pick them up now?

Sitting alone at the window, how Could I but quicken The pace of darkness that won't thicken?

On plane's broad leaves a fine rain drizzles As twilight grizzles.

Oh, what can I do with a grief Beyond belief!

再看徐中杰先生的译本：

I've a sense of something missing I must seek./Everything about me looks dismal and bleak./

Nothing that gives me pleasure, I can find./Even the weather has proved most unkind./

It is warm, but abruptly it turns cold again./An unbroken rest most difficult to obtain./

Three cups of thin wine would utterly fail./To cope with the rising evening gale./

Myself, into woe, a flight of wild geese has thrown./But with them, very familiar I have grown./

About the ground, cluysandiernums are bestrewn./Gathering into heaps——bruised——withering soon./With myself in utter misery and gloom,/Who cares to save them from their approaching doom?/Standing by the window-watching in anguish stark,/Could I bear alone the sight until it is dark?/Against the tung and plane trees, the wind rises high./The drizzle becomes trickles, as even draws nigh./How, in the word "Miserable", can one find-/The total effects of all these on the mind!

后两个译本都没把原文第一句的特色译出来。他们用了句子把李清照含蓄意味作了一番解释﹐如果这解释真是李清照原意的话。这样的译法﹐他们剥夺了读者自己揣摩词家字面后内涵的权利。李清照不想说得太明白﹐为了含蓄﹐让读者自己想。怎样这词才有韵味。且这种译法﹐用一句句子来译那么四个字﹐是太显得费力了﹐laborious﹐与举重若轻恰恰相反。

再看最后句。其中关键词一个是疑问字“怎”﹐说明她要把这句构成问句。问的什么呢﹖问的是这个“愁字”。所以不是“愁”本身﹐是“愁”这个字。这是绕着弯儿说事。那么译者要随着词家的思路去译。前三译本没考虑到这点﹐就愁说愁。原味尽失。最后译本提到这点﹐但是画蛇添足﹐又来个自我解释。笔者把它译成如下﹕

Seek, seek; lonely, quiet; doleful, rueful, woeful.

When it just turns warm, but still cold, it's hardest to have full rest.

Two or three cups of light wine, how to fend the evening wind so strong?

The wild geese pass—I feel heart-broken—since they are my old acquaintance.