5．5. 1　Character Depiction人物刻画

5．5. 1　Character Depiction人物刻画

She remembered how in Nascosta even the most beautiful fell quickly under the darkness of time，like flowers without care; how even the most beautiful became bent and toothless，their dark clothes smelling，as the mamma＇s did，of smoke and manure．But in this country she could have forever white teeth and color in her hair．Until the day she died she would have shoes with heel and rings on her fingers，and the attention of men，for in this new world one lived ten lifetimes and never felt the pinch of age，no，never．She would marry Joe．She would stay here and live ten lives，with a skin like marble and always the teeth with which to bite meat．　　　(excerpt from Clementina by American writer John Cheever)

她想起，在那斯科斯塔，最美的娇娃因为不堪时艰很快便姿容消退，就像无人护理的花朵一样;绝色美人很快就弯腰驼背，皓齿尽落，一身皂衣，就像老妈妈一样，散发着炊烟和粪肥的臭味。但是在这个国度，她可以永葆洁齿，头顶青丝。一直到她辞世那一天，她都可穿着高跟鞋，戴着戒指，还有许多男人向她献殷勤。在这新世界里，人生十世仍不感时世艰辛;不会的，永远不会。她要嫁给乔。她要留下来，带着一身白皙如玉的皮肤，两排专门吃肉的皓牙，好好地过它十辈子。

Comments∶As we all know，style can be thought of as the linguistic characteristics of a particular text．One of the tasks of literary texts is to depict the characters appearing in a piece of fiction．Character depiction，therefore，is often adopted to achieve an aesthetic effect through language．In the above text，the author depicts the character who was once “the most beautiful” ，but then “fell quickly under the darkness of time”and“became bent and toothless”“like flowers without care”(rhetorical device simile)．It requires careful attention to realize that before her death“she could have forever white teeth and color in her hair” ，and“she would have shoes with heel and rings on her fingers，and the attention of men”“with a skin like marble and always the teeth with which to bite meat” ．Through the linguistic depiction，a vivid and lifelike character turns up in front of us．Therefore the translator accurately realizes this kind of depiction and well correspondingly translates the text．