乔布斯传翻译笔记：灵魂伴侣艾弗的哲学：简即是美

第一篇：乔布斯传翻译笔记：灵魂伴侣艾弗的哲学：简即是美

在艾弗那儿，乔布斯终于找到了灵魂伴侣（soul mate)。艾弗懂得，乔布斯要的是真正意义上的简洁(in the quest for true)，而非表面功夫(rather than surface simplicity)。和大多数的设计师一样，艾弗也喜欢分析哲学（analyzing the philosophy)，一步步地深入思考(step-by-step thinking)直到形成最后的产品设计。有一次，艾弗在他的设计工作室(design studio)中，表达了他对简洁的看法：

【英语原文】

In Ive, Jobs met his soul mate in the quest for true rather than surface simplicity.Sitting in his design studio, Ive described his philosophy:

Why do we assume that simple is good? Because with physical products, we have to feel we can dominate them.As you bring order to complexity, you find a way to make the product defer to you.Simplicity isn' t just a visual style.It's not just minimalism or the absence of clutter.It involves digging through the depth of the complexity.To be truly simple, you have to go really deep.For example, to have no screws on something, you can end up having a product that is so convoluted and so complex.The better way is to go deeper with the simplicity, to understand everything about it and how it’s manufactured.You have to deeply understand the essence of a product in order to be able to get rid of the parts that are not essential.(Chapter 26 Design Principles: John Ive)

【沪江译文】

乔布斯终于遇到了他的灵魂伴侣艾弗。艾弗懂得，乔布斯要的是真正意义上的简洁而非表面功夫。坐在他的设计室里，他这样描述着他的简洁观：为什么我们认为简单就是好？因为对于一个有形产品来说，我们喜欢那种控制它们的感觉。如果在复杂中有矩可循，你也可让产品听命于你。简洁不仅仅是视觉上的，也不仅仅是把杂乱无章的东西变少或抹掉，它意味着比复杂挖掘更深。如果你想达到真正的简洁，必须足够深入。打个比方，如果你因想避免麻烦而不在产品上装螺丝钉的话，最后的结果可能是造出一个极烦琐复杂的东西。最好的方法是更深刻理解“简洁”一词，理解产品的每个部分，以及它是如何制成的。你必须首先足够深刻地把握产品的精髓，从而判断可以拿掉哪些不重要的部分。

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【翻译笔记】

1.soul mate:

精神伙伴、心灵伴侣、灵魂伴侣、即相爱，相知，相伴的人。所谓灵魂伴侣，起源于希腊神话。在柏拉图《会饮篇》中，阿伽松（Agathon）举行了一场别具一格的“会饮”：既不饮酒也不要吹笛女，“用讨论问题来作为今晚的消遣”，“从左到右，每个人都尽力赞美爱神”。阿里斯托芬（Aristophones）讲了上古时代的一个神话故事：最初的人是球形的人，两个个体背靠背粘合在一起，有两张脸，八只手和脚。宙斯和众神担心人类过于强大，不敬神灵，于是把球形的人劈成两半，所以 “我们每个人都只是半个人”，“我们每个人都一直在寻求与自己相结合的另一半。

2.simplicity

n.简单；单纯；简朴

迁移词汇：

simple a.简单的；朴素的；单纯的；笨的simplify v.简化；使简单

simplified a.简化的；简明的simplification n.简化；简洁

He believes everything with childlike.他以孩童般的单纯相信一切。

The monastic community generally lives life of simplicity.僧侣界通常过着简朴的生活。

The beauty of the plan consists in its simplicity.该计划的妙处在于简洁明了。

3.defer

vt.推迟；延期；使延期入伍

vi.顺从；把„委托给他人

Let's defer the decision for a few weeks.我们推迟几个星期再作决定吧。

I shall defer replying till I hear from home.我等接到家信以后再给你答复。

She has made up her mind to defer her departure for two days.她决定将行程推迟两天。

4.essence

n.精髓；本质；要素；香精

Caution is the essence of that man's character.谨慎是那人性格的本质。

The essence of all good strategy is simplicity.一切优秀战略的精髓是简单。

第二篇：《乔布斯传》翻译笔记

《乔布斯传》翻译笔记 第一期：被抛弃的事实

Abandoned.Chosen.Special.Those concepts became part of who Jobs was and how he regarded himself.His closest friends think that the knowledge that he was given up at birth left some scars.“I think his desire for complete control of whatever he makes derives directly from his personality and the fact that he was abandoned at birth,” said one longtime colleague, Del Yocam.“He wants to control his environment, and he sees the product as an extension of himself.” Greg Calhoun, who become close to Jobs right after college, saw another effect.“Steve talked to me a lot about being abandoned and the pain that caused,” he said.“It made him independent.He followed the beat of a different drummer, and that came from being in a different world than he was born into.”(Chapter 1 Childhood: The Adoption)

被遗弃。被选择。特别。这些概念都变成了乔布斯的一部分，影响着他的性格和他对自己的看法。他最亲密的朋友们都认为，出生就被遗弃这样的事实，给乔布斯留下了心灵的伤疤。乔布斯的老同事Del Yocam表示：“我认为他对设计产品的完全控制欲直接源于他的个性和被抛弃的事实。他想要控制周围的环境，他把产品看作是他生命的延伸。” 乔布斯的大学挚友Greg Calhoun则看到了另外一个影响：“他跟我聊过很多关于被父母遗弃这件事，还有这件事带给他的伤痛。这使他个性独立，他完全按照不同的方式行事，这也是因为他自小生活环境不同的缘故。”

【翻译笔记】

1.derive from：源于，来自；从……中获得

These English words derive from Greek.这些英文单词起源于希腊文。

For one thing, most projections of the impact derive from estimates of changes in average temperature.一方面，大多数关于全球变暖会造成的影响的预测都来自对平均气温变化的估计。

2.extension：扩展，延伸；电话分机

I believe this is an extension of the death metaphor.我认为这也算是“死亡隐喻“的延伸含义吧。

There is no application associated with the given file name extension.没有与给定的文件扩展名关联的应用程序。

3.the beat of a different drummer：按不同的方式行事

这个短语源于2004年5月梅雷迪恩音乐出版公司为著名鼓手Dominick Cuccia出版的鼓独奏音乐书籍，书名为The Beat of a Different Drummer。在此处译为：按照不同的方式行事

Most of us follow the beat of our own different drummer.我们中的大多数人都按自己的独特方式行事。