2018年12月英語六級翻譯練習：故宮

六級翻譯練習：故宮
故宮位於北京市中心，是明清兩代24位皇帝的皇宮。1 故宮首建於明成祖年間，歷時14 年竣工。2 沒有皇帝特許，禁止任何人進宮，因此這裏又叫“紫禁城”。故宮外觀呈長方形，是世界上最大的宮殿羣，佔地約72萬平方米，四面環繞着52米寬的護城河和10 米高的城牆。3 城牆四面各有一座城門，南北門相距961米， 東西門相隔753米。4 故宮分爲兩部分。南部又稱外朝，是皇帝行使最高權力的地方；北部又稱內廷，是皇帝和皇室生活的場所。5 由於黃色是皇族的標誌，故宮內以黃色爲主。6 屋頂鋪的是黃色琉璃瓦， 宮裏的裝飾品也被漆成黃色。 但是有一個例外，皇帝的書齋文淵閣是黑頂，原因是當時人們認爲黑色代表水，可以滅火。7 故宮用作皇宮約有五百年曆史，藏有大量奇珍古玩。8 1987年，故宮被聯合國教科文組織列爲世界文化遺產。現在，故宮已成爲全世界最受歡迎的景點之一，對國內外遊客開放。

參考譯文：
Lying at the center of Beijing, the Palace Museum was the imperial palace for 24 emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was built during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty, taking 14 years to complete. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence it is also named the Forbidden City. Rectangular in shape, the Palace Museum is the world’s largest palace complex, covering an area of some 720,000 square meters, surrounded by a 52-meter-wide moat and 10-meter-high walls. The walls have a gate on each side. The distance between the south and north gates is 961 meters, while the distance between the east and west gates is 753 meters. The Palace Museum is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court, was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court, was where the emperor lived with his royal family. Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Palace Museum. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles, and decorations in the palace are also painted yellow. However, there is one exception. Wenyuange, the royal library, has a black roof. The reason is that it was believed black represented water and could extinguish fire. Having been the imperial palace for some 500 years, the Palace Museum houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. In 1987, the Palace Museum was listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site. The Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions worldwide, open to tourists from home and abroad.

翻譯簡析
1 將故宮的地理位置譯爲狀語，符合英文表達習慣。“位於北京市中心”也可以譯爲 Located in the center of Beijing或Situated at the center of Beijing。 
2 “明成祖年間”意即明成祖在位期間，故譯作during the reign of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty。遇到類似表達，可以套用。如“清康熙年間”可譯爲during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty。
3 本句信息較多，原文結構較爲鬆散，譯文將“是世界上最大的宮殿羣”作爲主句，其他信息分別譯爲形容詞短語或分詞結構，自然緊湊。
4 本句用了分譯法，使譯文表意更清晰。
5 “又稱”這裏譯作or，表達的意思比譯爲also called 更簡潔。
6 本句重點講故宮的顏色，所以譯文以黃色爲中心組織句子，譯法靈活。“以黃色爲主”， 意即黃色是故宮的主色調，故譯作it is the dominant color。
7 原文中“皇帝的書齋”是“文淵閣”的同位語，譯文中也處理爲同位語。此外，本句分譯爲兩句，以突出文淵閣的與衆不同。
8 根據英語表達習慣，將表時間的概念譯爲分詞結構，作狀語。