1．4. 1　Faithfulness to the Original忠实

1．4. 1　Faithfulness to the Original忠实

This criterion is the most important one because translation tries to match the receptor language message with the source language message，and the relationship between receptor and message should be substantially the same as that between the original receptor and the message．Otherwise，it will bring about mistakes in translating．Simply speaking，by faithfulness，we mean to be faithful not only to the original contents，to the original meaning and views，but also to the original form and style．For example，the general meaning of the word “theater”is a place for the performance of plays．Its specific meaning is an operating room．The general meaning of“master”refers to a man who is the head of a house and family．Its specific meaning refers to a skilled worker．The general meaning of“gay”is cheerful or happy．Its specific meaning is homosexual．Now let us look at the following sentences and analyze the underlined words．

The development of an economical artificial heart is only a few transient failures away．

　只消再经过几次实验，价格低廉的人工心脏不久可望研制成功。

The commuter dies with tremendous mileage to his credit…(E．B．White: The Three New Yorks)

　上班族一生有着惊人的行程。

In the two English sentences，beginners would believe that they know every word and translate them without thinking it over carefully，and they usually make mistakes．The problem is that they do not understand the original．So we can say that faithfulness is the key point in translating，and understanding is the premise of faithfulness．