From The Gene Page 234:
It is the impulse of science to try to understand nature, and the impulse of technology to try to manipulate it. Recombinant DNA had pushed genetics from the realm of sciece into the realm of technology. Genes were not abstractions anymore. They could be liberated from the genomes of organisms where they had been trapped for millennia, shuttled between species, amplified, purified, extended, shortened, altered, remixed, mutated, mixed, matched, cut, pasted, edited; they were infinitely malleable to human intervention. Genes were no longer just the subjects of study, but the instruments of study. There is an illuminated moment in the development of a child when she grasps the recursiveness of language: just as thoughts can be used to generate words, she realizes, words can be used to generate thoughts. Recombinant DNA had made the language of genetics recursive. Biologists had spent decades trying to interrogate the nature of the gene -- but now it was the gene that could be used to interrogate biology. We had graduated, in short, from thinking about genes, to thinking in genes.
“They could be liberated from the genomes of organisms where they had been trapped for millennia, shuttled between species, amplified, purified, extended, shortened, altered, remixed, mutated, mixed, matched, cut, pasted, edited”
這一個(gè)長(zhǎng)句子臂痕，后半部分的動(dòng)詞排比并不難處理，相反瓶堕，前面兩個(gè)動(dòng)詞liberated和shuttled相對(duì)難處理栈虚，尤其是liberated但绕，修飾的內(nèi)容較長(zhǎng)奏甫。遇到這種情況琉挖，我喜歡把長(zhǎng)句子拆短，把修飾的部分單獨(dú)處理决摧。這樣一來(lái)亿蒸，原來(lái)很緊密的修飾結(jié)構(gòu)就會(huì)打散，句子的節(jié)奏也會(huì)變得更輕快掌桩。如果要添加小短句边锁，有兩種最方便的辦法，第一種增加動(dòng)詞波岛，因?yàn)樾《叹涞暮诵木褪莿?dòng)詞茅坛。動(dòng)詞就好像雨滴或者是雪花中心的小灰塵，雖然很小则拷，但是能給蒸汽提供附著的點(diǎn)贡蓖。第二種就是增加邏輯關(guān)系詞祟剔，把隱含的邏輯關(guān)系顯化出來(lái)。
They could be liberated from the genomes of organisms where they had been trapped for millennia這一部分摩梧，liberated其實(shí)是結(jié)果物延，trapped是產(chǎn)生結(jié)果之前的狀態(tài)。所以修飾和被修飾部分之間的關(guān)系仅父，可以看做時(shí)間先后關(guān)系或者前后對(duì)比關(guān)系叛薯。考慮到這一點(diǎn)笙纤，我先寫之前耗溜，再寫之后，然后點(diǎn)明兩者對(duì)比關(guān)系省容。就得出了“只是千萬(wàn)年來(lái)禁錮在基因組中的一部分抖拴，相反，基因已經(jīng)能從基因組中提取出來(lái)”腥椒，稍作修改后阿宅，順應(yīng)前文，與前文構(gòu)成遞進(jìn)笼蛛。
這樣一句話就被拆分成兩句話洒放，更容易理解。
第二個(gè)翻譯的難點(diǎn)滨砍，就是本文題目啦往湿。think about和think in。這種用法惋戏，是英文獨(dú)有的文字游戲领追，是讓人會(huì)心一笑，覺得英文很可愛又很調(diào)皮的用法响逢。類似的說(shuō)法我在之前某篇Vital Speech of the Day上也看到過(guò)绒窑，原文忘記了，大概是We need to use our brains to think about things, instead of think of them. 我當(dāng)時(shí)的翻譯是“有些事龄句，我們要用腦子思考回论，不能只惦記著散罕》中”雖然意思出來(lái)了，卻丟掉了英文里的小把戲欧漱。這一段也是一樣职抡，雖然能把原意表達(dá)出來(lái)，卻沒能在翻譯中再現(xiàn)文字游戲误甚，英文中同用一個(gè)think缚甩，而中文里卻很難找到有同一個(gè)字的詞語(yǔ)谱净，分別對(duì)應(yīng)需要思考的問題和解決問題的思路。如果有人能想到擅威，一定要告訴我壕探。
譯文如下：
科學(xué)的出發(fā)點(diǎn)是了解自然，而科技的出發(fā)點(diǎn)是掌控自然郊丛。重組DNA的實(shí)現(xiàn)李请，使遺傳學(xué)從一門科學(xué)變成了一項(xiàng)科技±魇欤基因已經(jīng)不再是抽象概念导盅，不再只是千萬(wàn)年來(lái)禁錮在基因組中的一部分，相反揍瑟，基因已經(jīng)能從基因組中提取出來(lái)白翻，在物種間轉(zhuǎn)移，并進(jìn)行復(fù)制绢片、提純滤馍、擴(kuò)充、縮減底循、修改纪蜒、重排、變異此叠、混合纯续、配對(duì)、剪切灭袁、貼合猬错、編輯。在人類手上茸歧，它們呈現(xiàn)出無(wú)限可能倦炒。至此，基因已經(jīng)不只是研究的課題软瞎，而變成了研究的工具逢唤。就好像小孩在長(zhǎng)大的過(guò)程中會(huì)恍然大悟，原來(lái)語(yǔ)言的作用力是雙向的涤浇，人的思想可以用語(yǔ)言表達(dá)出來(lái)鳖藕，而語(yǔ)言反過(guò)來(lái)也能對(duì)思想產(chǎn)生影響。重組DNA技術(shù)的出現(xiàn)只锭，讓遺傳學(xué)的語(yǔ)言（基因）也變成了雙向的著恩。生物學(xué)家耗時(shí)幾十年，想要探尋基因的本質(zhì)--而現(xiàn)在可以利用基因反過(guò)來(lái)探尋生物學(xué)本質(zhì)。簡(jiǎn)言之喉誊，我們已經(jīng)進(jìn)步了邀摆，基因從“問題”變成了“思路”。
From the Gene Page 244:
It was an inverted fable: an academic Goliath versus a pharmaceutical David, one lumbering, powerful, handicapped by size, the other nimble, quick, adept at dancing around rules.
這一段主要考慮了中文讀者的接受度伍茄。inverted fable直接用故事梗概栋盹，“小個(gè)子羊倌打敗巨人格利亞”，簡(jiǎn)單明了敷矫，直接給了主角和結(jié)局贞盯。后面的小詞都處理成了四字結(jié)構(gòu)。這是一個(gè)個(gè)人習(xí)慣沪饺，如果原文復(fù)雜難懂躏敢，我習(xí)慣翻譯成簡(jiǎn)單易懂的，如果原文簡(jiǎn)單淺顯整葡，我又習(xí)慣翻譯成討巧順口的件余。當(dāng)然，前提是跟原文的語(yǔ)言風(fēng)格不沖突遭居。
譯文如下
這簡(jiǎn)直就是巨人不敵羊倌的翻版嘛：學(xué)術(shù)界的巨人單挑制藥界小個(gè)子啼器，一個(gè)孔武有力，五大三粗俱萍，可是反應(yīng)遲鈍端壳，另一個(gè)機(jī)敏靈活，凌波微步枪蘑，而且擅長(zhǎng)鉆空子使巧勁损谦。
