Abstract

Linguistically, the distinct difference between Chinese and English is that the former one is hypotaxis while the latter, parataxis. taohuayuanji is worth considering as one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden of classic literature. Having abundant knowledge of the language and culture of English and Chinese and at the same time being a native speaker of English, A.R. Davis translates the prose into English and the beauty of the prose has been well remained. Another English version, which is from Lin Yutang, has also been selected in this thesis to form comparison with Davis’ version. By contrasting and analyzing the differences between the two versions, we can have a better and deeper grasp of translators’ choice of words and sentence structure under the influence of hypotaxis and parataxis. This can help us bring out the beauty of Chinese prose and make the corresponding English version more readable to target-language readers. Hence we can get a better understanding in evaluation and analysis of translated works.

Key words: taohuayuanji; Lin Yutang; A.R.Davis; comparison

摘要

汉语与英语在语言学层面的最大差别在于，汉语重“意合”英语重“形合”。《桃花源记》是中国古典文学花园里的一朵仙葩，汉学家Davis凭借着自己对中西两种文化，英汉两种语言的透彻理解以及他本土语的优势，让人以另一种语言欣赏到了桃花源之美。林语堂先生的英译文也被选入本文，以便与Davis先生的译文进行对比。通过比较和分析，我们可以对于译者在形合意合影响下的字词、句式选择等有更好的理解。在从事汉语古文英译时能尽量保留汉语之美，也使英译本更符合英语读者的阅读习惯,也能更好地对译文进行分析与鉴赏。

关键词：《桃花源记》；林语堂；A.R.Davis；对比