《Babel》

by?Rebecca F. Kuang?

His?mother?had?perished?that?morning.?He?lay?beside?her?body,?watching?as?the?blues?and?purples?deepened?across?her?skin.?The?last?thing?she'd?said?to?him?was?his?name,?two?syllables?mouthed?without?breath.?Her?face?had?then?gone?slack?and?uneven.?Her?tongue?lolled?out?of?her?mouth.?The?boy?tried?to?close?her?filmy?eyes,?but?her?lids?kept?sliding?back?open.

他的母親當天早上去世了。他躺在她的尸體旁，看著她皮膚上的藍色和紫色加深。她最后對他說的是他的名字，兩個音節(jié)被無聲地發(fā)出。然后她的臉變得松弛不均。她的舌頭垂出了嘴巴。男孩試圖合上她那模糊的眼睛，但她的眼皮總是滑回去。

There is not a single unnecessary word in the entire passage, no embellishments, and every word is carefully chosen, making it impactful and unforgettable.

全段沒有一個死字，沒有一句廢話，沒有堆砌詞藻，句句波瀾不驚，字字刻骨銘心。

This book was more an alternate history than a fantasy, but the story was still brilliantly developed.?

這本書更像是一部另類歷史而非奇幻小說，但故事情節(jié)仍然非常精彩。

Kuang is an excellent world-builder and through her descriptions you’re able to fall deeply into this world and imagine yourself in it.?

Kuang 是一位出色的構建世界的作者，通過她的描述，你可以深入這個世界并且想象自己身在其中。

I loved that Kuang builds this idyllic version of student life and makes her readers fall so madly in love with the concept, but you also get a really big dose of reality because this is R.F. Kuang and she doesn’t take things lightly.

我喜歡Kuang構建了這樣一個理想化的學生生活，并且讓讀者深深地愛上了這個概念，但同時她也為讀者帶來了現(xiàn)實中的一劑強烈藥劑，只因為她是R.F.Kuang。

“Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.”?

翻譯是背叛的行為。

The story follows Robin Swift, who is orphaned by cholera in Canton and brought to London by Professor Lovell.

1828年，罹患霍亂的羅賓·斯威夫特被神秘的洛弗爾教授帶到了倫敦。

Robin trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, preparing for enrollment in the Royal Institute of Translation, also known as Babel.

在那里，他花費多年時間學習拉丁語、古希臘語和漢語，為將來進入牛津大學備戰(zhàn)，進入著名的皇家翻譯研究所（也稱為Babel）。

Babel is the center of translation and silver-working, the art of manifesting meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars.

Babel是世界上翻譯和銀器加工的中心，更重要的是，它是一種通過銀制品制造魔法效應，使翻譯過程中失去的意義得以體現(xiàn)的藝術。

Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel’s research serves the Empire’s quest to colonize everything it encounters.

銀器加工讓英國帝國在力量上無與倫比，而Babel在外語研究方面的研究服務于帝國征服遇到的一切事物的使命。

For Robin, serving Babel means betraying his motherland, China.

知識為權力服務，對于一個在英國長大的中國男孩羅賓來說，服務于Babel不可避免地意味著背叛自己的祖國。

He finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion.

隨著他的研究的進展，羅賓發(fā)現(xiàn)自己陷入了Babel和陰影般的赫爾墨斯協(xié)會之間，后者致力于破壞支持帝國擴張的銀器加工。

When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide whether powerful institutions can be changed from within or if revolution always requires violence.

當英國因銀和鴉片而對中國發(fā)起不義之戰(zhàn)時，羅賓必須決定：強大的機構能否從內部改變，或者革命總是需要暴力？他愿意為了打倒Babel犧牲什么？

“Babel” explores student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire. It is a thematic response to “The Secret History” and a tonal response to “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.”?

《Babel》是對《秘史》的主題回應和對《喬納森·斯特蘭奇與先生·諾雷爾》的調性回應，探討了學生革命、殖民抵抗以及翻譯作為帝國工具的使用。

The story is two melded into one, with the first being the young academic with the?opportunity to learn at Oxford.

這個故事融合了兩個主題，第一個是年輕的學者有機會在牛津學習。

The romanticized world of Babel gives a strong academic vibe.

書中爛漫的氛圍中包裹著強烈的學術氣息。

The book heavily focuses on language and its translation, as well as the political and economic needs for translation.

著重關注語言及其翻譯，以及政治和經濟上對翻譯的需求。

It is well-researched, and the various languages showcased demonstrate how deeply ingrained language is to culture and people.

它經過深入研究，展示了各種語言如何深深地融入到文化和人們之中。

The book is definitely?love at first sight.

是一本犯規(guī)到開卷就叫人一見鐘情的好書。