2003年讀到王辛笛家翻譯*狄更斯《尼古拉斯 尼克爾貝》**之故事。
2006年元月買到它。
前天瑞麟兄介紹（tableau n. - 生動的場面, 戲劇性局面。日本語 (Japanese) ：n. - 絵画, 活人画, 絵画的な描写, 印象的な配列。 此字answers.com資料和圖片俱全，值得參考。）
他舉了一例，標明【待譯】：我就找出杜南星和徐文綺合譯本相應的部分。
There was a round of applause every time he spoke. And when, at last, in the pump-and-tub scene, Mrs Grudden lighted the blue fire, and all the unemployed members of the company came in, and tumbled down in various directions--not because that had anything to do with the plot, but in order to finish off with a tableau--the audience (who had by this time increased considerably) gave vent to such a shout of enthusiasm as had not been heard in those walls for many and many a day. （Source: Charles Dickens : « The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby » Chapter 24）
他的神氣、他的身形、他的步態、他的眼光、他的每句話和每個動作，都受到贊揚。他一開口，就來一陣喝彩。最後，就是有水泵和洗衣盆的那一場，格拉敦太太點著了藍色的火，剛才未上場的劇團成員全體出台，大摔跟頭，方向各各不同 —這跟劇情毫無關係，只是用個熱鬧場面作結罷了 —全場觀眾（此時又增加了不少）熱情大喊大叫，是這個劇場裡好多好多天以來不曾聽見過的。
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rl回信；謝謝那段譯文，我會把前一句原文也補上。
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「辛笛的生活要是沒有文綺照料的話，就不太有規律，他總是不記得準時吃藥，有一頓沒一頓的，他的糖尿病在“文革”結束後又復發了。每天早上文綺把他要吃的藥放在小瓶蓋子裏，倒好了開水，督促他服用，多少年來如一日，直到文綺自己病得再也無法行動為止。每當限制他吃甜食時，他就發牢騷說：“不能吃糖，那活著多沒勁！再不吃點甜的，我都要低血糖了！”所以文綺善解人意，也會網開一面，隔一段時間讓他解解饞。
早在“文革”結束後，上海譯文出版社就有計劃準備出一套狄更斯文集，約請辛笛翻譯其中一部七十餘萬字的長篇小說《尼古拉斯 尼克爾貝》。繁忙的社會活動使辛笛遲遲無法坐下來開展譯事。於是他建議，由杜南星與他兩人合譯此書。
南星的譯事進展得很快，而辛笛仍然隻字未譯。文綺看在眼裏，急在心裏。於是她提出自己來譯，請辛笛校對，這樣進度可以快些。對辛笛來說，這個提議正中下懷。
從此，文綺每天忙完家務，就坐在她的小桌前，一段一段地翻譯，先寫在小紙片上，斟酌修改後再清清楚楚地謄寫在稿紙上。就這樣，日積月累，終於在八十年代末完成。而南星在此之前早已完成了前一半譯稿，並寄至上海。辛笛大病一場後，居家調養，他為文綺堅持不懈的精神所感動，也奮力參加了全書的校譯工作，在1990年秋將南星和文綺分別翻譯兩部分的譯稿通校了一遍，並寫了長篇譯本序《漫談狄更斯的魅力》，譯稿及序在九十年代初交到了出版社，於1998年出版。
辛笛很珍視這段日子：“這時，我們兩人共同感到的快慰，不止是在生活而且是在同一工作當中，兩個人的生命河流匯合得更加美好無間，漸漸地，河流變寬了，河岸擴展了，河水流得更平穩了，我們在老境中重新獲得了青春般的喜悅，再沒有時間去留意衰老了。”」（王聖思 文學報2003年10月23日
詩人伉儷情深
http://www.chinawriter.org/zjljl/zjys/zjys000060.asp）
我花了幾年功夫寫成的《智慧是用水寫成的——辛笛傳》清樣出來後，每天讀給母親文綺聽。讀完徵求她的意見，她微微一笑，輕聲說：“你寫的比我現在記得的更全面。”2003年9月30日下午5：05她在平靜和安詳中溘然長逝。
謹以此文懷念我的母親徐文綺，願她永遠活在父親辛笛的詩中和我們的心裏。
2003年10月12日
---** 這本最早林紓先生翻譯為『滑稽外史』
The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, (or Nicholas Nickleby for short) is a comic novel of Charles Dickens. Originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839, it was Dickens’ third novel.
The lengthy novel centres around the life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father dies. His Uncle Ralph, who thinks Nicholas will never amount to anything, plays the role of an antagonist.
Like nearly all of Dickens’ works, the novel has a contemporary setting. Much of the action takes place in London, with the exception of several chapters taking place in Dickens’ hometown of Portsmouth, as well as settings in Yorkshire and Devon.
The tone of the work is burlesque, with Dickens taking aim at what he perceives to be social injustices. Many memorable characters are introduced, including Nicholas’ malevolent uncle Ralph, and the villainous Wackford Squeers, who operates a squalid boarding school at which Nicholas temporarily serves as a tutor.
While some consider the book to be among the finest works of 19th century comedy, Nicholas Nickleby is occasionally criticized for its lack of character development. It has been adapted for stage, film or television at least seven times. Perhaps the most extraordinary version was produced in 1980 when a large-scale stage production of the novel was produced by David Edgar with music by Stephen Oliver. It was a theatrical experience which lasted more than ten hours with intermissions and a dinner break. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company and later recorded for television. Many of the actors played multiple roles because of the huge number of characters.
