双语：用颜色词把生活天地点缀得五彩缤纷
color our world with words
用颜色词把生活天地点缀得五彩缤纷
林丽芳
claude monet, the french, cried, “color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” swiss artist paul klee wrote, “color possesses me.” monet and klee weren’t just philosophizing. scientists have found that colors shape moods and emitions. for example, red-walled rooms may induce anxiety and anger, while green tones may calm the nerves. given a pigment’s power, writers and poets should embrace color with as much abandon as painters.
法国画家克劳德·莫奈大声叫道：“我终日被颜色所困，既令我快乐，又令我苦恼。”瑞士艺术家保罗·克勒也写道：“颜色占有了我。”莫奈和克勒并非在阔谈哲理。科学家们已经发现颜色确实影响人的情绪和情感。如红色墙壁的房间可使人忧虑，进而发怒；而绿色调则可使人镇静。由于颜色具有如此之神力，作家与诗人也必当如同画家一样尽情地拥抱颜色。
the very notion of “color” has a myriad of meanings. a resolute person “sticks to his colors”. picturesque stories have “a lot of color.” “colorful language” is distinctive and vivid. the tonal quality is “color”. at a flag raising, the soldiers “salute the colors”. whites used to call non-caucasians “coloreds”--a slur that backfired when blacks retorted by calling caucasians “people without color”.
有关“颜色”名符其实的概念确有各式各样的意义。一个坚定的人“坚持自己的立场”。形象生动的故事具有“各种情调和趣味”。“有声有色的语言”是具有特色的和生动的。音调的音质为“音色”。升旗仪式中，士兵们“向军旗敬礼”。白种人过去蔑称非白种人为“有色人种”——此一玷辱之词受到黑人的反击，回敬白种人为“无色人种”。
in fact, more expressive than the word “color” are the colors themselves. blue, the color of the vast sea and sky, is by extension the hue of the infinite, of remote distances and times. a seagull soars into “the blue”. unexpected guests “pop in out of the blue”. in the 16th century, ben johnson wrote, “blueness doth express trueness,” because blue also means patrician. moralists pass “blue laws”; and aristocrats are “blue bloods”. for us common folk, blue may mirror the melancholy of mortals dwarfed by the infinite. a businessman away from home on christmas “has the blues”; a grumbler “sings the blues”; a jilted lover “sings the blues”.
事实上，色彩本身所表达的意义又比“色彩”一词丰富多了。蓝色这一指浩瀚的大海和茫茫的天空的颜色，也被引申为指一望无际、无限的空间和时间。一只海鸥蓦地飞向“蓝天”。不速之客“突然造访”。十六世纪时，本·琼生写道：“蓝色确实表示真实”，因为蓝色还意味着高贵的。道德家们通过了“清教徒法规”；出身贵族的人皆“名门望族”。对于我们普通人来说，蓝色可以反映在大千世界里显得极其渺小的凡夫俗子的忧郁。一个在圣诞节仍然出门在外的商人“情绪低落”；一个对世事不满的人“表示悲观”；一个被抛弃的失恋者“垂头丧气”。
red is passion and action, the color of mars, named for the roman god of war. a communist is a “red”. reporters vie for “red-hot” scoops. honored guests get the “red carpet treatment”. red also has negative connotations. we are “red-faced” when angry or embarrassed. police sometimes catch thieves “red-handed”. a “red nose” drinks too much. a “red herring” diverts attention from the main issue. a failing business runs “in the red”. a “red eye special” is a cheap but exhausting overnight flight.
红色是激情，是行动，是罗马战神马尔斯的颜色。一个共产党人是一个“赤色分子”；记者抢先得到“最新新闻”；贵宾受到了“红地毯的礼遇”。红色也可表示异于上述褒奖的一些意思。当我们生气或感到尴尬时，我们就会“面红耳赤”；警察有时当场捉住“正在作案的”小偷；“酒糟鼻子”是指纵酒者；“熏鲱”是指避开主要问题转移注意力的东西或话题；一个经营亏损的企业“出现赤字”；“通宵航班”则指价格低廉但使人精疲力竭的夜间飞行航班。
本文地址：http://www.dioenglish.com/writing/essay/2673.html
