英语词语溯源之致命的弱点

　　你想了解开拓时期在美国语言中留下的痕迹吗？你想知道水门事件的始末吗？日常生活中一些不起眼的词，包括猫、狗、马、牛和凡士林、小费、顶住，也会演绎出让人意料不到的含义和用法来。为了表达原文的意图（如词语的历史渊源）和照顾上下文的行文，往往采取＂直译＂的办法，必要时在括弧内提供参考译法。例如，all thumbs译为＂全是拇指＂，而在括弧里提供＂笨手笨脚＂，＂手脚不听使唤＂等参考译法。有些读音也是＂音译＂。在不涉及上述情况时，编者一般尽量从汉语习惯出发，采取＂意译＂的办法。即使有时不能完全意译，也尽量采取直译、意译相结合的做法，略增减一二个字，使其意义明显。
　　材料来源于本人上过的词源学课程。
　　【本期内容】
　　Achilles'heel致命的弱点
　　The Greek poet Homer has given us many phrases. A famous one is ＂Achilles'heel.＂ Every body has his ＂Achilles'heel,＂ his weak spot.
　　希腊诗人荷马给我们留下了很多成语，其中著名的一个就是＂阿奇里斯的脚跟＂。每个人都有自己的`＂阿奇里斯的脚跟＂，即他的弱点。
　　This is the story Homer tells in the Iliad. Achilles' mother bathed him as a baby in the River Styx to make him immortal, deathless like a god. But she held him by the heel and it did not get wet. The heel therefore was the one spot where Achilles could be hurt, possibly killed. And so he was in the Trojan War.
　　荷马在《伊里亚特》讲的故事是这样的：阿奇里斯的母亲在冥河里给出生的阿奇里斯沐浴，为了使他能像神一样地永生不死。但是她提着阿奇里斯的脚后跟，因而那一部分没有浸湿。于是脚后跟成了阿奇里斯身上唯一会受伤、也许是会致命的弱点。后来在特洛伊战争中果然发生了这样的事。
　　None of the Trojan weapons was able to hurt Achilles. The god Apollo, however, knew of Achilles’ weak spot and told Paris about it. Paris then shot an arrow at Achilles' heel and killed him.
　　特洛伊人的任何武器都无法伤害阿奇里斯。然而阿波罗神却知道阿奇里斯的弱点并告诉了帕里斯。帕里斯就对准阿奇里斯的脚后跟射出一箭，把他杀死了。
　　Who among us does not have his Achilles'heel? Even a man made of stone sooner or later will show his weak spot. It changes as we get older. But in youth it is love. Love leaves us helpless. We soon find ourselves turning ＂head over heels＂ with it.
　　我们之中有谁没有自己的＂致命的弱点＂呢？即使是岩石刻成的人，早晚也会暴露出弱点来的。但是这种弱点随着我们年龄的增长而有所不同。青年时，它是爱情。爱情使得我们不能自控。用不了多久我们就会发现爱情使自己＂头脚颠倒＂（＂神魂颠倒＂）。
　　This phrase needs no explanation. It is a clear picture of one who has fallen violently in love. He is its victim and seems to spin like a wheel, turning over and over, as an acrobat does somersaults.
　　这个词无需多加解释。这是陷入情网的真实写照。他变成了爱情的俘虏，轮子一般地不断打转，活像个杂技演员在翻筋斗。
　　A similar phrase is ＂turning top over tail.＂ You could also say ＂Love has me by the heels＂, or ＂treads upon my heels＂—it pursues you, follows you close or ＂snaps at my heels,＂ as a dog that keeps biting you around the ankles.
　　另一个类似的成语是＂神魂颠倒＂。你还可以说＂爱情捆住了我的手脚＂，或者＂爱情缠住了我＂——它跟踪着你，紧追不舍，＂尾随脚跟＂，如同一只狗追着你的脚脖子一样。
　　There was a time when ＂to bless the world with one's heels＂ meant to be hanged. The man who dreamed up that phrase must have had a strange sense of humor. The expression is hundreds of years old. In the words of an English writer of the 1500's:＂And the next day the three thieves were brought forth to 'bless the world with their heels'.＂ The phrase, however, has gone out of use.
　　曾经有一个时期，把被吊死称作＂用脚跟向世界祝福＂。想出这个说法的人，准有某种与众不同的幽默感。这个成语已有好几百年的历史。一位十六世纪的英国作家这样写道：＂于是，第二天，那三个贼就被拉出去‘用脚跟向世界祝福’了。＂不过现在已经不再使用这个短语了。