“烟火气”是近期媒体报道的一个高频词，比如某某地区解封，“烟火气”又回来了。“烟火气”这个词自带画面感，很多人可能会联想到老街、熙熙攘攘的人群以及路边小吃摊冒出来的热气。汉语词典对“烟火气”的解释是：烧煮食物的气味，指尘俗习气。

那么这个词应该如何翻译呢？目前我在外媒上发现了两种不同风格的译法。《纽约时报》在一篇关于上海的报道中有这样的句子：

State media outlets shared images of residents buying groceries and getting haircuts. “Shanghai’s cooking oil smell is returning,” said one hashtag promoted by Xinhua, the state news agency, using a Chinese phrase to describe daily life.

作者将“烟火气”直译为cooking oil smell，中国读者对这一译法会比较好理解，但对中国文化不熟悉的英语读者可能会难以读出单词背后的“画面感”。谷歌图片搜索cooking oil smell得到的都是字面意义上的“食用油”气味，而不是我们理解的“烟火气”。

BBC也报道了“烟火气”的新闻，它给出了这样的译法：

There are no more positive cases reported outside of quarantine centres in Shanghai - and that was a key target. Although state media has blithely reported that the "hustle and bustle" is returning, it's difficult to verify that.

BBC记者将“烟火气”翻译为hustle and bustle，这一译法对英语读者来说比较好理解。hustle and bustle是一个很地道的英语表达，维基百科对此的解释是：A large amount of activity and work, usually in a noisy surrounding. 英语中经常用hustle and bustle来形容热闹的城市生活，比如可以说：

(1) He moved to his parents' farm to have a break from the hustle and bustle of the big city.

(2) Life was terribly hectic in the city, she thought, all hustle and bustle.

实际上外媒也用过hustle and bustle来描述国外其他地方解封后的热闹景象，比如英国《每日邮报》2020年在报道英国疫情解封后就有这样的标题：Hustle-and-bustle returns to outdoor markets while car showrooms reopen on day Britain gets back to business as lockdown measures are eased

虽然hustle and bustle可能没法完全体现出“烟火气”的意境，不过它是一个比较接近的表达。在翻译的时候可供参考。

转载自：英文悦读

作者：魏剑锋