宋美齡的英文造詣 (Madame Chiang’s
English)- (1)
【Introduction】: (生平及在美求學簡介)
Soong May-ling or Soong Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang- March 5, 1898 –
October 23, 2003, was a First Lady of the Republic of China(ROC),
the wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek.
During the Second Sino-Japanese
War she rallied her people against the Japanese
invasion and in 1942 conducted a speaking tour of the United States to gain support. She was also the youngest and
the last surviving of the three Soong sisters, and the only first lady(note-註) during World War II who lived into the 21st
century. Her life extended into three centuries.
Right: in office May 20, 1948-April 5, 1975 (1948-75擔任公職)
May-ling was officially registered as a freshman at Wesleyan
in 1912 at the age of 15. She then transferred to Wellesley
College(1870年創立位于麻州，以文學、藝術學院出名) a year
later to be closer to her older brother, T. V., (宋子文) who,
at the time, was studying at Harvard. She graduated from Wellesley as one of the 33
"Durant Scholars" on June 19, 1917, with a major in English literature and minor in philosophy. She was also a member of Tau Zeta Epsilon,
Wellesley's Arts and Music Society. As a result of being educated in English
all her life, she spoke excellent English, with a pronounced Georgian accent which helped her connect with American
audiences. – Wikipedia
衛斯理女子學院 (1880) Tower Court (校園內鐘塔廣場)
Note: (編按):【中華民國的第一夫人出身、形象與教養】
1.
孫中山先生的末位夫人-宋慶齡，與美齡、藹齡同為早年同期留美學生，可是外界所得印象均為中山先生的私人英秘書而已，甚少人認為她是『國母』。藹齡嫁給晉商-孔祥熙。後世人評語- 大姐藹齡『愛錢』，二姊慶齡『愛國』，美齡『愛權』。中山先生逝世後，慶齡政治觀念左傾，留在大陸，中共也給她一個象徵性的高職位禮遇。
2.
美齡是姊妹中最卓越的，也許與蔣介石的身分地位有關，故其天分得以充分發揮，其盛名跨越三個世紀。不論學識、教養或談吐均凌駕其他所有第一夫人之上，包括中國大陸同時期的毛澤東、劉少奇、周恩來、鄧小平等夫人。在中美第一夫人中僅希拉蕊(Hilary R. Clinton) 可與其相比，因Hilary當過第一夫人、國務卿，現又即將問鼎美國總統寶座。但就英文造詣言，蔣夫人遠勝兩位小學妹- Hilary Clinton 與Madeleine Albert(曾任柯林頓總統時代的國務卿) ，她們三人均為衛斯理學院之校友。
3.
蔣經國夫人-方良女士，所受教育不多，除台灣有限的公共場所外，都在台北大直『七海官邸』之內度過。
4.
李登輝夫人-曾文惠女士僅受過日本教育，在國際外交場合無法獨當一面。像日本夫人一樣，公開場合常走在李登輝後面。
5.
吳淑珍-陳水扁夫人，東吳大學畢業，夫婦兩人不諳英文，但聯手A錢數第一。夫婦現均保外就醫服刑中。吳淑珍學識與品德均不佳，她常以『恁祖媽』(台語-老娘)的口頭語自稱，而聞名全台。
6.
馬英九夫人-周美青女士是美國NYU(紐約大學) 碩士，但七年多來馬從未讓周擔任國際外交工作。唯一的形象為，她為馬助選向選民拉票時的90度鞠躬禮。
蔣家、宋家與宋美齡一生的功過，非本文探討重點，本文著重於想從她在1975年時寫得一篇有關國際時事評論-『不要說它』- 但是我們要說- (We Do Beschrei
It) 的文章中所寫的英文，來看其英文造詣(proficiency) 。我們無法也無意去考證本文是否為其本人所寫，但從她15歲進預備學校，22歲畢業自美國名校Wellesley College(衛斯理女子大學) ，在美求學共達七年，且主修英文副修哲學，及一生三度登上Time時報周刊封面，並風靡了美國三萬人的風釆等等…. 看來(She drew crowds as large as 30,000 people and in 1943 made
the cover of TIME magazine for a third time. ) ，相信其英文能力應在水準以上。另本篇發表的時間點應在台灣被迫退出聯合國前後。
本文旨在為台灣發聲，其內容或與當時現實的國際政治有關，但我們的目的仍在探討這篇寫於40年前的文章所用英文的用字遣詞、文句構造、修辭(rhetoric) 與語意哲學等，並加以欣賞。40年後重讀本文，不無感慨，也常思考：若我們有機會重新進入台大外文糸再念四年，我們會有此功力寫出這樣的文章?( We doubt it! )
本文-
“We Do Beschrei It”『不要說它』- 但是我們要說-
With the advent of spring, Anno Domini
1975, which is the sixty-fourth year of our Republic, it is meet and fitting
for us to make a general assessment and examination of some of the aspects of
events, significant, or insignificant, during the past year. The purpose of this examination is for a
clearer understanding through an inductive process of sifting and the
collating of reports of events and policies that have come out during
the last quarter of 1974 in the United States.
These events and policies will have their bearing on the future and
will come into focus during the coming years-their effect salubrious or insalubrious,
rehabilitating or debilitating, as they fall into place in the mosaic
of political and social-economic scheme of things.
西元1975年亦即我們中華民國64年的春季業已到臨，此時當宜對去年發生的若干重要或次要事件，作一般性的評估和檢討。此種檢討之目的在於，經由過程轉變和仔細的綜合報導，作歸納的分析，即以對美國1974年國內最後三個月期間發生的事件和政策之因果加以檢討。這些事件和政策將具影響力，並將成為今後幾年的焦點-不論其後果是好是壞，抑或是建設性的或墮落的。因為他們在政治、社會、和經濟各方面，均有重要的影響。
【簡註】：
**beschrei,歐洲希伯來語= speak
1.
With the advent of….. 比用with the coming of 更好，因advent 含coming and arrival之意
2.
Anno Domino = in the year of the Lord主後
3.
meet a. = suitable, proper 是古體英文。1865年林肯在其有名的蓋弟斯堡演講(Gettysburg’s Address), 則用：It is fitting and proper ……此種英文大都出現於十分慎重的條約式英文，如we are the sole and exclusive agent of the Apple. (我們是蘋果唯一代理商)
4.
*The purpose is for a clearer….. 本人以為for似乎可省去，固然我們有for the purpose of…..( 為…. 之目的) 之用法
5.
從through (=by means of藉著)…到句末用以修飾前面動狀名詞understanding
6.
that之前述詞(precedent) 為events and reports
7.
bearing 含relation, aspect 關係(connected with)之意
8.
salubrious = health-giving 有益健康的(尤指氣候)
9.
rehabilitating重建的 (為何不用constructive?) ；debilitating 使體質變弱的 = weaken, (為何不用destructive?)- 是蔣夫人炫耀英文詞彙的豐富?
10. 上句結構為(whether) their effect (be) rehabilitating…..
11. As they fall into place in the
mosaic of ….. 用得很美。mosaic 馬賽克
For the moment, what seems to rivet the attention of many people
around the world as well as my compatriots on this island province is the much
touted U.S.-Soviet and U.S.-Chinese Communist renewed effort at détente
during the latter part of 1974. For, indeed, the success or failure in a
solution to maintaining peace, rather than mere détente, will have global
implications and ramifications. And
it is a viable solution that interests us all.
目前世界上許多人士及我們在台、澎、金、馬的同胞們非常注意的問題，乃是美國於1974年後半年所標榜的重新致力於美俄和美毛『低盪-(和解) 』的問題。誠然，解決和平維護問題(不僅是單純的和解) 的成敗，均具有全球性的密切連帶關係。同時我們也關切對於這種有可能實行解決的方式。
【簡註】：
1.
rivet attention of…. 吸引…. 之注意，原文不用attract或attraction，因rivet有「釘住不放」之意
2.
tout n. 兜售物品者，touted renewed effort被招睞並引起注意的重新努力
3.
global implications and
ramifications, 具全球密切連帶關係，用ramification (分枝繁密) 是很好的字眼
4.
viable = workable，但含成長與成熟至能夠生存，當然本字比practicable更佳
【未完】
Justin Lai 選註
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