CATTI翻译考试之卷土重来

译前自测-ECO选段(英译汉)

建议落笔翻译，若手头暂无纸笔，也可先进行视译。

For a class of businessman that has been out of fashion for hundreds of years, the word merchant still has a ring to it. It conjures up medieval Europe, with its mercers, skinners, haberdashers, guilds and gold-buttoned liveries. It brings to mind ambitious venturers, bankrolling crusades and conquests, opening up spice routes and making history—for good and ill. It runs through literature and art, from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Holbein. Then it practically vanishes, first under the iron wheels of industrialisation in the 19th century, then crushed by consumer culture in the 20th. Until recently, the few merchants left sold only grain—or doom. Then came the e-commerce era. At last, merchants are staging a comeback.

相关词汇学习与积累

商贩(merchant)这个词仍牵动人心 the word merchant still has a ring to it

补充：

have a…ring (说法、讨论、辩论等的)特性，特质

have a familiar ring 看起来相似

have a hollow ring 听起来很空洞

它让人想起中世纪的欧洲 It conjures up/brings to mind medieval Europe

conjure up a memory, picture, or idea 脑海中浮现(记忆、画面、想法等)

绸缎商、皮革商、男装商、行会，以及缀着金色纽扣的制服 mercers, skinners,haberdashers, guilds and gold-buttoned liveries

野心勃勃的投机商，资助十字军东征和对外征服 ambitious venturers, bankrolling crusades and conquests

被19世纪工业化的铁轮碾压 under the iron wheels of industrialisation in the 19th century

被20世纪的消费文化挤压 crushed by consumerculture in the 20th

卷土重来 stage a comeback

双语对照参考(水平好得同学可对译文进行润色)

For a class of businessman that has been out of fashion for hundreds of years, the word merchant still has a ring to it. It conjures up medieval Europe, with its mercers, skinners, haberdashers, guilds and gold-buttoned liveries. It brings to mind ambitious venturers, bankrolling crusades and conquests, opening up spice routes and making history—for good and ill. It runs through literature and art, from Chaucer to Shakespeare to Holbein. Then it practically vanishes, first under the iron wheels of industrialisation in the 19th century, then crushed by consumer culture in the 20th. Until recently, the few merchants left sold only grain—or doom. Then came the e-commerce era. At last, merchants are staging a comeback.

对于已经过时了几百年的一个商人阶层来说，商贩(merchant)这个词仍牵动人心。它让人想起中世纪的欧洲，想起绸缎商、皮革商、男装商、行会，以及缀着金色纽扣的制服。它还让人想起野心勃勃的投机商，他们资助十字军东征和对外征服、开辟香料之路，创造历史——不管是好是坏。它出现在从乔叟、莎士比亚到霍尔拜因(Holbein)等大师的文学和艺术作品中。然后这个词几乎消失了，先是被19世纪工业化的铁轮碾压，后来又被20世纪的消费文化挤压。到前些年，剩下的少数商贩只能卖粮食或沉寂。电子商务时代到来之后，商贩们终于要卷土重来了。