翻譯小工的敲鍵盤日記

俗話說初生之犢不畏虎。以前不知天高地厚，以為自己很會查資料，以為什麼領域的案子都可以吃。現在做久了，累積一點專業領域的知識之後，回頭想想，才發現當初自己懂得多「少」，雖不至於誤譯，但真的不夠「到位」。

之前有編輯問過我願不願意嘗試文學小說。我很直接地回答說我沒辦法。到目前為止，我接過的書不是財經企管敘述性的文字，就是設計藝術敘述性的文字或訪談，也有都會女性小說輕鬆愉快俏皮的對話，或是論文式的正經八百近乎文言的論述。這幾種我覺得自己都還能勝任。

1.需配合熬夜

2.需配合週末工作

3.耐壓性高，翻譯速度快

有譯者朋友在蒐集「你適合做翻譯嗎？」的測驗題，突然想到以前曾經給學生當課堂翻譯練習的這篇文章。廢話不多說，請看。

問題：請問文章中的vintage各是什麼意思？

Almost all still wines come from a single vintage, and the labels on the bottles will show the wine’s vintage. Fortified and sparkling wines, including Champagne, tend to be non-vintage, however. This is because they are frequently created from a blend of different vintages, with the aim of creating a consistent ‘house’ style’. The exception to this particular rule, however, is that, in an outstanding year, Vintage Champagne will be made. In this case, it is down to the producer to decide whether a year is sufficiently good to produce a single vintage wine. Only then will the decision be made as to whether a vintage will be declared. Why should one vintage be any different from another? The answer lies in the weather of the growing regions. Heavy rains in Australia in 1993 resulted in a disastrous vintage of light wines. Five years later, the warm summer of 1998 gave rise to an exceptional vintage. 

話先說在前頭，這是個人原則問題，我無意挑起筆戰。

我不接履歷自傳翻譯已經很久了。

最近翻的這本書，作者說他們用「plain English」，我覺得是「plain bad English」。

會寫出「我們都是人」這種句子的作者，你說他文筆好不好？

我說文學性的翻譯，不說文學翻譯，因為我翻的不是文學，是設計。