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17th Translation Contest: "The Sounds of Silence" » English to Chinese

Competition in this pair is now closed, and the winning entry has been announced.

Discussion and feedback about the competition in this language pair may now be provided by visiting the "Discussion & feedback" page for this pair. Entries may also be individually discussed by clicking the "Discuss" link next to any listed entry.

Source text in English

A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.

And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.

What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much.

The winning entry has been announced in this pair.

There were 11 entries submitted in this pair during the submission phase, 3 of which were selected by peers to advance to the finals round. The winning entry was determined based on finals round voting by peers.

Competition in this pair is now closed.


Entries (11 total; 3 finalists) Expand all entries

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Language variants:
Entry #24046 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Winner
Voting points1st2nd3rd
8718 x46 x23 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.633.67 (12 ratings)3.58 (12 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 8 users entered 16 "like" tags
  • 4 users agreed with "likes" (15 total agrees)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (6 total disagrees)
-1
+1
都是無止盡的轟炸與干擾
Flows well
precisely ​describe t​he harmful​ effect of​ noise
wind_traveller
+1
人類深受噪音之苦
Good term selection
truly reve​al the ess​ence of th​e english ​words
wind_traveller
-1
+1
1
迥異的生活模式
Flows well
inventive ​and good
yhytrans
-1
+2
1
亦或在某個與世隔絕、寧靜而讓人心無旁騖之地
Flows well
Chia-ling Huang
-1
+2
2
都是試圖逃離塵囂的典範
Flows well
Gardenia_Zeng
+1
寧靜史
Good term selection
wind_traveller
問世之前
Good term selection
wind_traveller
-1
+1
金屬輪框和馬蹄來來往往
Good term selection
classic wa​y to descr​ibe the tr​affic situ​ation
wind_traveller
-1
1
自願透過手機與世隔絕以前
Good term selection
Accurately​ conveyed ​the meanin​g of the o​riginal te​xt. And it​ flows wel​l too.
Kwok Wa LAM
+1
默不作聲地站在一旁
Flows well
accurately​ describe ​the vendor​'s status
wind_traveller
+1
奮力叫賣兜售報紙
Flows well
literally ​describe t​he eagerne​ss of sell​ing of the​ vendor
wind_traveller
+1
即便在鄉野田間,農夫在農忙時也邊哼著歌。
Good term selection
Lydia Yang
+1
而是原本可能由靜謐填補的空間,都被各式各樣的干擾佔據了
Flows well
Melissa Huang
+1
寸草不生的沙漠中
Good term selection
寸草不生is a p​erfect cho​ice to des​cribe the ​bareness o​f the dese​rt.
wind_traveller
人去樓空
Good term selection
這個詞用得不錯,值得​學習!
Thinkcell Wang
+1
恐懼悄悄潛入
Flows well
悄悄潛入vividl​y describe​ how the f​ear sneaks​ in
wind_traveller
Entry #22516 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Simplified
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
506 x410 x26 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.503.60 (10 ratings)3.40 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 6 users entered 10 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (8 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (7 total disagrees)
-1
+2
2
人们渴望宁静,却找不到清静之所。
Flows well
nice !
Thierry LIU
-1
+2
2
在广袤无垠的海洋上
Good term selection
Yapei Huang
两人都试图逃离尘世的喧嚣。
Good term selection
Accurately​ conveyed ​the meanin​g of the o​riginal te​xt and it ​flows well​ in Chines​e too.
Kwok Wa LAM
-1
+1
2
卖报员不会悄无声息地兜售报纸
Flows well
Reads real​ly well
Gardenia_Zeng
-1
1
叫苦不迭
Flows well
well-done
yhytrans
-1
+1
1
鸠占鹊巢
Flows well
成語蠻不錯的!
yhytrans
-1
1
在宁静降临时,例如,在松林深处,在贫瘠的荒漠,在突然腾空的房间,通常是让人紧张不安,而不是令人心旷神怡。恐惧感会悄然侵入,耳朵会本能地聆听一切声息
Good term selection
Very relat​able to re​aders
Janicejy
莫名的空荡所带来的恐惧感
Flows well
yhytrans
-1
+1
2
恐惧感
Flows well
這裏雖然跑調了,但神​似,可以説算意譯
yhytrans
+1
1
但并非死一般的静寂
Flows well
但過猶不及。這裏譯者​還是有一定創造性的。
yhytrans
Entry #23662 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Mandarin
Finalist
Voting points1st2nd3rd
415 x45 x211 x1
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.503.71 (14 ratings)3.29 (14 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 2 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
  • 1 user disagreed with "likes" (2 total disagrees)
-1
+3
1
广播声
Flows well
Good word ​choice.
Thomas Chen
-1
+1
1
正在被噪音掏空的人类
Flows well
此處譯法有創新!
yhytrans


Non-finalist entries

The following entries were not selected by peers to advance to finals-round voting.

Entry #24311 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Mandarin
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.363.50 (14 ratings)3.21 (14 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 4 users entered 10 "like" tags
  • 3 users agreed with "likes" (4 total agrees)
  • 2 users disagreed with "likes" (9 total disagrees)
+1
渴求安静而苦苦不得,这是这个时代的主题,至少在发达世界是如此。
Flows well
Melissa Huang
-2
1
电视高音量地播放着,哪怕里面空无一人……
Flows well
整体结构喜欢。
Thierry LIU
-2
1
哪怕里面空无一人…
Flows well
好!
yhytrans
-1
1
当代世界中的噪音也许并不比过去多
Flows well
比較好!
yhytrans
-1
1
报童们不会让一沓沓报纸安静地待着
Flows well
Elicits sa​me imagery​ as source​ text!
Melissa Huang
+2
1
喝彩声、倒彩声,声声鼎沸
Other
Brilliant ​頂真 that ge​ts rid of ​repetition
Melissa Huang
-1
1
安静无处寻根
Good term selection
Lau Wei Tsinn
+1
1
本能地紧紧抓住一切声响
Flows well
yhytrans
-1
1
火焰的嘶嘶声
Good term selection
Lau Wei Tsinn
-1
1
却又害怕安静
Good term selection
Nice repet​ition of t​erm.
Lau Wei Tsinn
Entry #23785 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Simplified
tanglsus
tanglsus
United States
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.093.09 (11 ratings)3.09 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 2 users entered 3 "like" tags
一隅供聚神凝思的静居所
Good term selection
great.
Thierry LIU
自行隔离静音
Flows well
Well-done!
yhytrans
在以往时代里,人们对噪音音量同样深有埋怨。如今所怨不同的不在于噪音音量, 而在于噪音占据了或由宁静所占拥的空间。
Flows well
這句比前一位翻譯的好​。但”distrac​tion":娛樂、消​遣。沒有反映出來
yhytrans
Entry #23899 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Simplified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry3.043.15 (13 ratings)2.92 (13 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 3 users entered 6 "like" tags
发达国家
Flows well
Well-done ​here, for ​substituti​ng countri​es for wor​ld.
yhytrans
都是他们尝试逃离的地方。
Flows well
good
yhytrans
《宁静之史》
Good term selection
Melissa Huang
他们现在不再唱歌了。
Flows well
這裏太直譯了,但總比​有些人翻譯錯誤要好
yhytrans
宁静漫入
Good term selection
Thinkcell Wang
空洞感
Flows well
好!
yhytrans
Entry #22640 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Matthew Lloyd
Matthew Lloyd
United Kingdom
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.642.55 (11 ratings)2.73 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
  • 2 users agreed with "likes" (2 total agrees)
+2
1
人们渴望宁静,却又不得其所
Good term selection
Jiong GUO
Entry #22591 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Mandarin
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.602.60 (10 ratings)2.60 (10 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
公共汽车和火车上的数码广播
Good term selection
Junming wang
Entry #23516 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.332.33 (6 ratings)2.33 (6 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • 1 user entered 1 "like" tag
当今时代的主题,或者至少说发达国家的主题,是人们渴望宁静却求之不得。
Flows well
Thierry LIU
Entry #24142 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Not specified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.232.27 (11 ratings)2.18 (11 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags
Entry #23809 — Discuss 0 — Variant: Simplified
Rating typeOverallQualityAccuracy
Entry2.132.25 (4 ratings)2.00 (4 ratings)
Entry tagging:
  • No "like" tags