《三生三世十里桃花》原小说其实是有英文版的，去年 8 月 23 号在美国亚马逊上市。小范围来看，卖得还不错，现在已经是 Asian Literature 门类的畅销榜的 TOP 3，仅次于刘慈欣的《三体》。然而放在全部书籍门类里来看，它与《三体》的影响力还远不能同日而语，在英语世界是且只能是个小众读物。
粗粗看了下简介以及亚马逊上放出的序言，译者是学过中文的英国人，译文风格算是比较直白，以讲清楚故事为主，比起原作中作者有意营造出来的古典诗境（暂不论品质如何），总归是让小编觉得有点委屈：这个 cultural discount 打得有点大，没有表达出东方文字里的那种回环旖旎，或者用作者的话来说，“烟烟霞霞”，哈哈。
为数不多的评价，大多还不错。想不到真有外国人对中国仙侠小说感兴趣。其中有个评价对“三生”可谓是盛赞，说它是“gorgeous, lyrical, and ambitious novel based in Chinese mythology”（一部华丽，抒情，且富含野心的神话小说）。
亚马逊上放出的序言，英文版简介：
When the immortal（神仙） Bai Qian finally meets her intended husband, the heir to the Sky Throne（天宫太子）, she considers herself in luck—until an old enemy returns to threaten everything she holds dear…
白浅上神终遇其夫君---天宫太子，自觉其幸运之至---却不料宿敌终将毁其所珍视。
When a mortal（凡人） woman enters the immortal world to be with her true love, she sparks a jealousy（嫉妒） that ends in tragedy（悲剧）…
一凡间女子为爱至天宫，却引来嫉妒招致悲剧结束......
And when a war god（战神） depletes his spiritual energy（元神）, his devoted student sustains his body with her own heart’s blood until the god’s scattered soul reassembles…
当战神耗尽其元神，忠诚弟子坚持用自己心头血保仙体不腐，直至其魂魄再聚......
Spanning a thousand years of tangled lives（纠结的生活）, To the Sky Kingdom is a story of epic battles, passion, evil, and magic. In its journey across worlds and time, it delves into the powerful forces that drive mortals and gods alike toward revenge, loyalty—and love.
纠缠数千年的虐恋，天宫的故事是史诗般的争斗，激情，邪恶和魔法。它是穿越时空的旅程。探究了人神间的强大力量，至仇至诚---至爱。
Lyrical 一词倒是说到点子上了。虽然是部流行小说，“三生”的文字却并非毫无讲究，文风抒情唯美， 其中一些表达甚至大有来头。比如“桃花灼灼，枝叶蓁蓁”，出自《诗经》中《周南·桃夭》篇的“桃之夭夭，灼灼其华”以及“桃之夭夭，其叶蓁蓁”。而作者在一段形容夜华的文字中所用的“眉如泼墨，鬓若刀裁”，则是出自《红楼梦》。
要从词汇和韵律两个层面还原原文的诗性并不容易，所以今天我们请了英国文学的专家帮我们用英语复刻原作的诗意，也算是对总是在翻译中受尽委屈的中国文学之美致敬吧。
有意思的是，除了用词保留了原作的美感，一些段落的断句，译者也非常讲究，还刻意起了一些韵脚，你读读看，能读出诗的节奏感来。想是因为作者专事莎士比亚研究的缘故，译文的节奏感总能让人想起莎翁的台词来。不要笑，小编当年也是演过莎剧拿过奖的，哈哈。
三生三世十里桃花
Life After Life, Blooms Over Blooms
累世情缘，谁捡起，谁抛下，谁忘前尘，谁总牵挂。
忆当时年华，谁点相思，谁种桃花。
This fated love of forever and a day—
Who has picked it up? Who has thrown it away?
Who has forgotten it all? Who yearns for it to stay?
Those days bygone and labyrinthine—
Who was the one that made the other sigh and pine?
Who was in the peach orchard, raising flowers divine?
这段译文，没有复杂的用词，但在音律的铺设上明显很用心思，颇显功力。Labyrinthine（迷宫似的，曲折的）尤其用得妙，一来起韵脚为后面的 pine 和 divine 开道，同时也意喻情缘之纠缠迷醉，一箭双雕。
你父君是我的心，我的肝，我的宝贝甜蜜饯儿，我又怎会不要他。
His highness your father is my heart, my soul, my precious, my sweet. How would I not want him?
读这句总是能想起莎剧中那些毫不遮掩的爱的表达呢，自动脑补了罗密欧与朱丽叶阳台私会一幕。
这正是桃花盛开的季节，十里桃林，十里桃花，漫山遍野的灼灼芳华。
It is the season when peach trees come into full bloom. Over hills, over vales, acres of peach trees parade acres of peach blossoms, radiant and sweet.
这句译者为了丰富画面感，是明显的意译。“Over hills, over vales” 直译应该是满山满谷，丰富了“十里”的意象。“parade” 是“展览、招摇过市”的意思，此处用作动词，可以想见桃花在枝头烂漫招摇的画面。“灼灼”就是“明亮”的意思，所以用了 “radiant”。“sweet”有“芳香”的意思。
三月春盛，烟烟霞霞，灼灼桃花虽有十里，但一朵放在心上，足矣。
In the lush spring of March, the radiant peach blossoms bloom, like rosy mists and blushing clouds. However many blossoms there are, it is enough to have just one, to be cherished in one’s heart.
烟烟霞霞用的是“rosy mists and blushing clouds”， 意即瑰色的氤氲和绯红的云霞，见字如见景。第二句中得“are”与“heart”押韵，中间断了一句，成了一个玲珑的三行诗，也呼应了原句的结构。
桃花灼灼，枝叶蓁蓁，妖娆伤眼。
The peach blossoms are radiant, the leaves luxuriant, their allure stunning.
“Allure”：魅力，诱惑力。可以理解成魅惑吧，也算符合“妖娆”的内涵。原文中“伤眼”细读其实并非是个贬义形容，美得过度总是震慑人心，用 “stunning” 比较合理。
我自是百般推脱，他自是千般盛情。
I, of course, did my best to excuse myself, while he, naturally, pressed on with all graciousness and courtesy.
这句也很妙，原文是两句，译者断成了八个部分，营造了节奏感，“naturally”也跟“courtesy”押韵。
风月里的计谋不算计谋，情趣罢了；风月里的情趣不算情趣，计谋罢了。
In affairs of the heart, scheming is not at all scheming, only part of the play; while playfulness is never just playfulness, but part of the scheme.
把风月翻译成 “affairs of the heart” 真是简单又恰当。
四海八荒，总是会有一个人，一定会有这么一个人，他会把你的名字叫得婉转温柔，荡气回肠。
In the vast universe (Four Seas and Eight Deserts), there will—there must—be someone who, when he calls your name, gives it such delight, such tenderness, such soul-stirring pathos.
“Pathos” ，形容悲怆、哀婉，凄楚，契合荡气回肠的意境，用得好高级。换作我，只能想到 sorrow 或 sentiment 之类吧，哈哈哈。
光晕一层一层，打出斑驳的印记。桃林十里，娇烂漫红，千朵浓芳，一枝枝缀乱云霞。那烟霞底下立着的玄衣青年，眉如泼墨，鬓若刀裁。
Halos of light rippled and splashed. In the acres of peach trees, pink blossoms bloomed, breathing out sweet perfume. Beneath the rosy clouds and scented mists stood the young man, all dressed in black, his eyebrows as dark as if painted with ink, the hair above his temples as sharply outlined as if cut with a knife. *
*“眉如泼墨，鬓若刀裁”出自《红楼梦》，原为对宝玉容貌的描述。此处沿用杨宪益、戴乃迭译本中的译法。
方才夜华（角色名）行色匆匆，淡薄之间隐含亲切，疏离之间暗藏婉约，如此神态，以我十多万年所见的风月经验，定是会佳人去了。
Ye Hua went off in a hurry just now. He looked nonchalant and distant, but there was a heartiness to that nonchalance and a coyness to that distance. I know, from my observations of romantic affairs—accumulated, I may add, over a hundred thousand years—that with that air and look, he must have been on his way to meet a fair lady.
铛铛铛，红宝书时间，GRE 词汇背起来。“nonchalant”：漫不经心的，漠不关心的，又指恬然的。形容“淡薄”感觉恰如其分。“coyness”：怕羞、羞涩。婉约本身的意思就是委婉含蓄，有羞涩之意。
关联小词汇：
四海八荒Vast universe (Four Seas and Eight Deserts)
神仙Immortal
凡人Mortal
仙侠：Fantasy story
书生：Scholar
修士：Friar
XX教/XX宗门：Sect
老祖：Patriarch
