The Translation of Puns in Films
Qi'an Shaochang
The most difficult thing in film translation is the translation of puns, since annotations are not allowed in a dubbed film. Strictly speaking, puns in films are not translatable. Here a few Chinese as well as English ex- amples to illustrate this assertion.
Chinese examples 1. 和尚打傘，無法無天。
Does the literal translation A Buddhist monk holds an umbrella — no law, no sky make any sense? To make the English audience understand this translation, the translator has to explain: (1) Bud- dhist monks are shaven-headed; (2) in Chinese hair and law have the same pronunciation; (3) in Chinese sky may mean the supreme authority; (4) so this pun means this person defies any law or any authority. Naturally, such explanations are not allowed in a dubbed film.
2. 外甥打燈籠──照舊
To an English nalivc speaker, what is the meaning of “His sister's son carries a lantern — follow suit.” ? So the translator must explain (1) 照 may mean either “lighten” or “'follow” ; (2) 舊 and 舅 have the same pronunciation; the former means the old way' while the latter mother's brother.
3. 劉瓊：我是三等公民
The Chinese old movie star Liu Qiong once told a reporter humorously: “Now I am too old to act anymore. I'm a third-class citizen. Everyday I wait to eat, wait to go to bed and wait to die. Here the translator has to explain that in Chinese “class” and “wait” have the same pronunciation.
English examples:
1. The song Do, Re, Mi
Doc — a deer, a female deer,
Ray — a drop of golden sun,
Me — a name I call myself,
Far — a long, long way to run,
Sew — a needle pulling thread,
Tea — a drink with jam and bread.
A translation of the lyrics is:
DO— 是 鹿，一頭小鹿，
RE—是金色陽光，
MI—是我，是我自己，
SO —是奔向遠方，
LA — 是在 SO 後面走，
TI — 喝茶加點心。
I don't know who the translator is, but how do you like this translation?
2. One day Prof. Brown was unable to give lecture to his students. So he came to the classroom before the class began and wrote on the blackboard the following sentence:
Prof. Brown will not meet the class today.
The next day when he entered the classroom he saw on the black board what he had written became:
Prof. Brown will not meet the lass today.
Evidently this was a naughty boy's mischief. But the quick-witted professor was not angry. Instead, he just erased another letter from the word lass, and the sentence became:
Prof. Brown will not meet the ass today.
Can anyone translate the story correctly into Chinese without mak- ing any explanations?
So puns are real headaches for film translators. The TV series GROWING PAINS is tilled with puns. What makes the translation more difficult is that each time when there is an interesting pun the audience can hear canned laughter. If the Chinese viewers do not find the dialogue laughable when they hear the canned laughter, the trans- lation is a failure. I have tried my best to make the translated versions of puns laughable, but I'm not sure if my endeavors were successful. The following examples are all chosen from GROWING PAINS.
1. The naughty boy Mike is running for the president of the student's body at his high school. His little brother Ben, who wanted to help Mike, made a lot of posters, on each of which he intended to write “I like Mike.” ( 我愛邁克 ) But he misspelled “like” into “lick”, and a close-up of the slogan “l lick Mike” ( 我舔邁克 ) appears on the TV screen. Mike, though a poor student too, was able to tell lick from like. So he pointed out to Ben: “You misspelled ‘like' into ‘ lick', Ben.” I did not translate “lick” into 舔 , whose way of writing is more complicated than that of “like” ( 愛 ) 。 I translated “ I lick Mike” into 我受邁克 . In Chinese 受 resembles very much 愛, and its writing is simpler. And the sentence “You misspelled ‘like' into ‘ lick', Ben” was translated into “ 你把 ‘ 愛 ' 寫成 ‘ 受 ' 了，本。 ”
2. One day Ben was talking to his buddy Stinky when Vito came. Vito and Stinky had the following dialogue:
Vito: Do you come to my Halloween Party?
Stinky: You bet!
Vito: But you didn't RSVP.
Slinky: I get smacked if I do that in public!
When Vito was gone, Stinky, who didn't know the meaning of RSVP, asked Ben. But Ben didn't know it either. Slinky: What does RSVP stand for? Ben: Refreshments served at Vito's Party.
This is a great pun! Could I just translate “Refreshments served at Vito's party” into “ 維多的晚會上供應點心 ”? Of course not! Thai would be absurd. I racked my brains in its translation, but I know the Chinese version is far less funny than the original one.
維多：你參加我的鬼節晚會嗎？
臭蛋：當然！
維多：請貼不是寫著 “ 請賜福 ” ？
臭蛋：我才不理你什麼 “ 請賜福 ” 呢 !
維多： “ 請賜福 ” 是什麼意思？
本：這就是說 “ 請吃全家福 ” 。
3. The principal of the Dewey High School was very much worried because the PE teacher who was in charge of the gangster class fell sick, and he did not know who could replace him. At a faculty meeting the principal asked: “Does any of you know martial art?” He thought only a teacher who knew martial art was able to rule this class. One of the teachers answered: “I know Marshall Schwartz." The answer was funny, so all the teachers burst into laughter. Evidently, the following translation won't do:
校長：你們有誰懂得武術？
某教師：我認識馬歇爾•施瓦茨。
My translation is:
校長：你們有誰懂得武術？
某教師：我懂得點巫術。
This answer in Chinese is funny, too, for a teacher with some witchcraft might be able to rule the gangster class.
4. The following example is a word play, not a pun, but its translation resembles that of a pun.
One day Ben came back from school, looking frustrated. He and his father Jason had the following conversation: Ben: Mrs. Zenko reamed me for being truculent. Jason: Do you know what truculent means? Ben: No, but it can't be good. Jason: Ben, truculent means angry, ready to fight. Here the problem lies in the translation of the word ‘truculent.' Instead of simply translating it into “ 凶猛 ” or “ 野蠻 .” you have to translate it into something that is not so easy for Chinese kids to understand. My translation of the dialogue is:
本：今天老師批評我 “ 桀驁不馴 ” 。
杰生：你知道那詩什麼意思？
本：不，反正不是好話。
杰生：就是說你很凶，愛打架。
rom the above examples the readers can see that what I did was not translation hut rewriting. I rewrote “l lick Mike” into “ 我受邁克 ” , rewrote “Refreshments served at Vito's party” into “請吃全家福” and "I know Marshall Schwartz” into “ 我懂得點巫術 ” . Therefore, the title of this paper might as well be “How to Deal with Puns in Film Translation.” |
