大學英語六級考試翻譯：《紅樓夢》

Ever since the publication of A Dream of Red Mansions some 200 years ago, hundreds of millions of people have read its Chinese originAl or its translations in various languages. Of these innumerable people, how many have read the novel by starting with a perusal of the critics' articles and allowing themselves to be led by the nose by the critics as to how to read the novel? Next to none. All literary works, especially a monumental one like A Dream of Red Mansions, are extremely rich in content and involve diverse social strata-to such an extent that they virtually resemble a mountain of treasure or a labyrinth. And the readers are even more complicated, differing from each other in family background. They will each appreciate a certain aspect of the novel according to their own individuality. They may feel inspired and enlightened, and hence love it, or they may feel hurt, and hence loathe it. In short, the reactions vary.

《紅樓夢》問世二百年以來,通過漢文原文和各種譯文讀過此書的人,不知有多少億!這麼多的讀者哪一個是先看批評家的文章,然而再讓批評家牽着鼻子走,按圖索驥地去讀原作呢?我看是絕無僅有的。一切文學作品,特別是象《紅樓夢》這樣偉大的作品,內容異常地豐富,涉及到的社會層面異常地多,簡直象是一個寶山，一座迷宮。而讀者羣就更加複雜，他們來讀《紅樓夢》，會各就自己的特點，欣賞該書中的某一個方面，受到鼓舞，受到啓發，引起了喜愛;也可能受到打擊，引起了憎惡。總之是千差萬別。