I take thee to mywedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or worse,for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, tilldeath do we part, according to God’s holy ordinance, and thereto I light theemy troth.
上段為英美國(guó)家教堂婚禮中的結(jié)婚誓言,新郎需立下誓言,表示對(duì)愛(ài)情婚姻的珍重、以及白頭偕老的決心,在此段誓言中,共有三次使用對(duì)照手法:better or worse,richer or poorer, in sickness and in health,前兩次用形容詞比較級(jí)形成對(duì)照、最后一次用名詞短語(yǔ)形成對(duì)照,在教堂莊重肅穆的氣氛烘托下,就顯得語(yǔ)氣莊重、態(tài)度誠(chéng)懇、感情真摯。
對(duì)照手法在英美文學(xué)作品中不乏名段,其中大家最為熟悉的,恐怕就是查爾斯.狄更斯在《雙城記》中的開(kāi)場(chǎng)白了:It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age ofwisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was theepoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season ofDarkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we hadeverything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct toHeaven, we were all going direct the other way….
《雙城記》的寫(xiě)作背景是法國(guó)大革命,處在這個(gè)時(shí)期的法國(guó)社會(huì),資本主義和封建專制尖銳對(duì)立,一方面資本主義經(jīng)濟(jì)獲得發(fā)展,而另一面封建統(tǒng)治嚴(yán)重制約社會(huì)進(jìn)步,同時(shí)等級(jí)制度森嚴(yán),導(dǎo)致工人、城市平民和廣大農(nóng)民生活困苦,強(qiáng)烈要求改變生活狀況,在資產(chǎn)階級(jí)啟蒙主義思想影響下,社會(huì)各界呼喚社會(huì)變革稱為這個(gè)時(shí)代的主基調(diào)。如此復(fù)雜的社會(huì)背景,查爾斯.狄更斯卻用七個(gè)對(duì)照句生動(dòng)形象地展示在讀者面前。其中best/worst, age ofwisdom/age of foolishness, epoch of belief/epoch of incredulity, season oflight/season of darkness, spring of hope/the winter of despair,將形容詞、名詞和短語(yǔ)梯次使用,使得句子由短促轉(zhuǎn)為綿長(zhǎng),語(yǔ)氣由舒緩轉(zhuǎn)為緊促,讀來(lái)排山倒海、一氣呵成,可謂對(duì)照手法的極致。
一般英文表達(dá):If we work together, we can winthe victory. But if we separate, we can do nothing at all.
對(duì)照的寫(xiě)法:United, there is little we cannotdo in a host of co-cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do tomeet a powerful challenge.
分析:上述兩個(gè)寫(xiě)法中,一般英文的寫(xiě)法使用規(guī)范的句子結(jié)構(gòu),語(yǔ)義通常清晰,但是看不出結(jié)構(gòu)和修辭上的考究。相比之下,對(duì)照式寫(xiě)法則將United和Divided形成反差,然后用there is little we cannot和there is little we can do形成句式對(duì)稱,寫(xiě)作效果明顯好于前者。
可以使用對(duì)照手法的句子結(jié)構(gòu)還有很多,如將形容詞做成正反義詞,做中間插入語(yǔ)放在主謂結(jié)構(gòu)中間、再如not so much A as B形成前后語(yǔ)義相反,不過(guò)這些寫(xiě)法雖好,要求考生有一定單詞量,就不是一朝一夕的事情了,屬于能教但是不好學(xué),聽(tīng)得懂,但是用不上的結(jié)構(gòu),這里不加贅述。