围城翻译成英文语句的意思

原文：

鸿渐和辛楣照例说这小孩长得好，养得胖，讨论他像父亲还是像母亲。这些话在父母的.耳朵里是听不厌的。鸿渐凑近他脸捺指作声，这是他唯一娱乐孩子的本领。（钱钟书 - 围城 ）

翻译关键词：resemble，捺指作声，本领

译文：

Hung-chien and Hsin-mei dutifully remarked on how nice and well-fed the baby was and discussed whether he resembled his mother or his father. These are the sort of remarks parents never tire of hearing. Hung-chien went up close to its face and snapped his fingers. This was his only skill in amusing a child.(美 Jeanne Kelly, Nathan <译> –Fortress Besieged)

翻译笔记：

resemble

resemble并不陌生，但是用的时候必须注意它现在只用作及物动词，后面没有to哦。如：He resembles his brother.他像他的兄弟。resemble each other in appearance or nature 在外表或本性方面彼此相像

捺指作声

其实就是我们常说的“打榧子”和“打响指”，我们常把这个动作译为snap。* snap作不及物动词，fingers snapped，发劈啪声If I hit upon the right name, her fingers snapped.如果碰巧我把名字说对了，她的手指便啪地打一个榧子。* snap作及物动词，snap one’s fingers，捻（手指）发劈啪声She snapped her fingers to get the child’s attention.她打榧子叫孩子注意听。

本领

“本领”在口语里也常称为“本事”，常用skill; ability; capability来翻译。如：本领大 highly skilled; very capable掌握专业本领 master the skills needed for one’s occupation.