a smile without a cat

Chinese translation: 没有猫的笑

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	a smile without a cat
Chinese translation:	没有猫的笑
Entered by:	Julia Zou

22:46 Apr 2, 2007

English to Chinese translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - IT (Information Technology) / One Laptop Per Child

English term or phrase: a smile without a cat

And, typically, schools in developing countries are already struggling with an array of problems—overcrowded classrooms, incompetent or absent teachers, and a lack of textbooks, chalk, and other basic materials. “It's right out of Alice in Wonderland,” says Atanu Dey, chief economist for Netcore Solutions, in Mumbai, India. “When Alice meets the Cheshire cat, she says that she's seen a cat without a smile but never a smile without a cat. I've seen a school with teachers, blackboards, and books without laptops, but I've never seen a school with laptops but without teachers and the rest.”

clearwater KudoZ activity Questions: 12458 (5 open) (1 without valid answers) (1079 closed without grading) Answers: 1671 China
Local time: 03:02

没有猫的微笑

Explanation:
she says that she's seen a cat without a smile but never a smile without a cat. I've seen a school with teachers, blackboards, and books without laptops, but I've never seen a school with laptops but without teachers and the rest.”
试译：她说，她见过不会笑的猫，但从没见过没有猫的笑。我见过有老师、黑板和书但没有笔记本电脑的学校，却从没见过只有笔记本电脑而没有老师和其它东西的学校。

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Note added at 20 mins (2007-04-02 23:07:03 GMT)
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我觉得这段话的意思就是“皮之不存，毛将附焉？”因为这里“猫”和“学校”是本体，是最实质性的东西。

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Note added at 49 mins (2007-04-02 23:36:06 GMT)
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应该将“微笑”的“微”字去掉。因为，小说里的艾丽丝的确是说她没有见过会笑的猫。如果翻译成“她没有见过会微笑的猫”，这样就会有“她见过会狂笑的猫”的歧义。:-)

Selected response from:

Julia Zou
China
Local time: 03:02

Grading comment

谢谢！
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +6

没有猫的微笑

Julia Zou

4 +1

FYI

H. J. Zhang

3 +1

FYI

Judy Su

Discussion entries: 6

Answers

18 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +6

没有猫的微笑

Julia Zou
China
Local time: 03:02
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 359

Grading comment

谢谢！

4 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

FYI

Explanation:
这里上文在讲发展中国家的学校缺师资等基础资源，下文的笔记本只是个遥不可及的高科技产品的例子。觉得语意上应做适当调整，那样，Alice的类比虽然可能有点篡改的味道，却也能说得通：

猫不会笑很正常，但如果连猫都没有，想要有猫的笑就匪夷所思了；一个学校有老师、黑板和书本却没有笔记本电脑，这很正常，但如果连老师什么的都没有，想要有笔记本电脑，简直是天方夜谭。

这样舍弃了“我见过”，但意思是对的，更合适放入文中。

注意，不建议翻成“猫都没有却有笑”一类，因为猫不笑，还有人笑，别的动物笑...呵呵，哪种动物会笑？：）

H. J. Zhang
Local time: 03:02
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 54

2 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

FYI

Explanation:
我觉得作者表达有误，作者是想这样类比：
a cat without a smile --> a school without laptops (正常现象)
a cat with a simle --> a school with laptops but without... (非正常现象)
类比的目的还是阐述他自己的观点，所以应该以 a school with laptops but without... 为准，将 a smile without a cat 理解为 a smile with a cat 或者 a cat with a simle
Alice 是这样说的：`I didn't know that Cheshire cats always grinned; in fact, I didn't know that cats COULD grin.'

but never a smile without a cat --> 但是从来没见过会笑的猫

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Note added at 10小时 (2007-04-03 09:07:44 GMT)
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she says that she's seen a cat without a smile but never a smile without a cat. I've seen a school with teachers, blackboards, and books without laptops, but I've never seen a school with laptops but without teachers and the rest.
她说她见过猫，但是从没见过会笑的猫。我知道学校需要黑板、老师和书本，但是从不知道学校只需要笔记本电脑而不需要老师和其他基础设施。

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Note added at 10小时 (2007-04-03 09:11:53 GMT)
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只是用来比喻一个从来没见过的事，不必搞得太复杂

Reference: http://education.powys.gov.uk/english/literacy_special/alice...
Reference: http://education.powys.gov.uk/english/literacy_special/image...

Judy Su
China
Local time: 03:02
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Chinese
PRO pts in category: 82

Notes to answerer

Asker: 请问： she's seen a cat without a smile but never a smile without a cat整体该如何翻译呢？

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Chinese translation: 没有猫的笑

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