2018年catti三级笔译练习题：西方人眼中的中国人
汉译英
西方人对中国人有一种刻板的想象，他们通常认为中国人非常“智慧”，每个人都是哲学家，像老子、孔子那样睿智，于是西方知识分子便热衷研读各类英译本的老子、庄子。西方人概念里的中国人形象相当“正当”。这些年来，西方人发现一般中国百姓也热衷于赚钱、享受世俗生活时，可怜的他们震惊不已。他们感兴趣的中国问题也就很可笑。有人问：“北京以前叫Peking，什么时候又改名叫Beijing了?”这就得告诉他们，Peking是19世纪末英国驻华外交官威妥玛创立的威氏拼音，如今Beijing则是20世纪50年代创造的汉语拼音。还有的女士看了《大红灯笼高高挂》之后好奇地打听：“中国男人真的有四张床吗?”
注释：威妥玛Thomas Francis Wade, 汉语拼音Bopomofo
参考译文
Western ideas about the Chinese people are rather rigid, supposing that the Chinese are “wise” and everyone is a philosopher like Laozi and Confucius. So some Western scholars take to reading English translations of Laozi and Zhuangzi. They have a very “positive” picture of the Chinese people. But when recently they find that the Chinese are becoming money-drive and interested in worldly enjoyment, they are shocked. The questions they ask about China sound funny. Some, for example, ask, “Beijing used to be called Peking. When was it changed to Beijing?” You have to tell them that “Peking” is spelt according to the alphabetic system invented by Thomas Francis Wade, an English diplomat to China in late 19th century, while “Beijing” is the spelling according to the Chinese pinyin system regulated in 1950s. Some Western young ladies, after watching Big Red Lanterns, a film made in China, ask out of curiosity, “Does a Chinese man really have four beds?”
