Some years before, fresh out of the Navy, I had first arrived in San Francisco—lured to the West Coast by a prestigious research job and the opportunity to work for one of the top young heart surgeons in the country. For a kid like me who’d barely stepped foot outside the six-block square of the ’hood in Milwaukee—not counting my three-year stint as a Navy medic in North Carolina—San Francisco was the be-all and end-all. The city was the Land of Milk and Honey and the Emerald City of Oz rolled into one. Rising up out of the bay into golden glowing mists of possibility, she
seduced me from the start, showing off her studded hills and plunging valleys as she laid herself out with arms open. At night the town was an aphrodisiac—with city lights like rare jewels sparkling down from Nob Hill and Pacific Heights, through the better neighborhoods and along the rougher streets of the Mission and the Tenderloin (my new ’hood), spilling out of the towers of the Financial District and reflecting into the bay by Fisherman’s Wharf and the Marina
几年以前,我刚从海军退役。有机会跟着一个全国顶级的年轻心脏外科医生进行一项著名的研究工作,这件事情驱使我来到了西海岸,这是我头一次到旧金山。对于一个除了在北卡当海军军医服役的三年,活动范围很少超过方圆六个街区的密尔沃基少年来说,旧金山就是天堂。这座城市就是《奶密之地》和《奥兹的绿宝石城》的合体,无所不有,充满刺激。从海湾升起的闪着金光的机会,她从一开始就吸引着我,星罗棋布的山川峡谷,向我敞开了怀抱。入夜以后,城市更加风情万种,奇珍异宝一样的光从诺布山和太平洋高地倾泻而下,穿过高档社区沿着像Misson教会区和田德隆区(Tenderloin)(就是我现在住的地方)这样的低档社区,金融区的高楼大厦流光溢彩,映入渔人码头和海港区的海湾。
be all and the end all:
美国习惯用语,意思是“顶尖的,最好的”。
Land of Milk and Honey:
电影名。西方的“牛奶和蜂蜜之地”,相当于中文的“鱼米之乡”,比喻富饶。来自《圣经》:If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.
Emerald City of Oz:电影名或书名,《奥兹的绿宝石城》。
'hood:似乎是简写,表示社区
not counting:直译即可,就是不算的意思。
rolled into one:合二为一
生词:
prestigious /prɛ'stɪdʒəs/ adj. 有名望的;享有声望的。原译译成了“优厚”感觉不妥
Milwaukee 密尔沃基(Milwaukee)是威斯康星州最大城市和湖港。
mist:n. 薄雾;视线模糊不清;模糊不清之物
stint:n. 节约;定额,定量
seduce:vt. 引诱;诱惑;诱奸;怂恿
stud:
n. 种马;大头钉;饰纽;壁骨
vt. 散布;用许多饰钮等装饰
adj. 种马的;为配种而饲养的
aphrodisiac:美 /,æfrə'dɪzɪæk/
adj. 激发性欲的
n. 春药;催欲剂
本文中使用的是名词,催情剂,原译译成风情万种,很恰当。
Marina:海港区
遗留问题:
Rising up out of the bay into golden glowing mists of possibility,这句能理解,但不知道怎样翻译