前幾天讀到一段英文：
The invasion of
Korea by Hideyoshi meant suffering for all involved. Japan
experienced humiliating defeat and serious casualties among its lordly class of
daimyo (lit. "great names") and their bands of sanurai letainers.
Japan would not return in force to Korea until its stunning victory in the
Russo-Japanese war of 1905 enabled it to take over the pninisula without
opposition. As a result of pouring men and money into aiding the Choson,
the late Ming regine, already facing a financial emergency failed to withstand
the Machu threat from the north a generation later . With their countryside and towns in ruins, Koreans naturally suffered the
most. The toll on them can hardly be calculated, though the Japanese did their
best. They kept track by cutting off the noses of Koren fatalities and packing
them in salt tubs to be dispatched to Kyoto, where Hideyoshi's clerks counted
tens of thousands in a given month. The contingent of warriors led by Nabeshima
Katsushie (1580-1657), first lord of Hizen Province in Kyushu (modern Nagasaki
prefecture), claimed credit in 1597 for garnering 5,444 noses in just five
weeks.
中譯如下：
豐臣秀吉入侵朝鮮，對所有參與國都意味著痛苦和損失， 日本貴族武士階級「大名」蒙受慘敗和嚴重傷亡。一直要到數百年後，一九○五年的日俄戰爭贏得驚人勝利，日本才再度以武力重返朝鮮半島──這一回日軍如入無人之境。中國方面，大量挹注人力與資金支援朝鮮的結果，亦使明末政權面臨採物告急的危機。一代之後，終於未能頂住'來自北方的滿族威脅，朝鮮自然受創最具：農村、城鎮一片焦土，經濟凋敝，損失慘重無法計算──在這方面日本人倒是頗為盡力：他們切下朝鮮死者的鼻子，醃在桶中送回京都，豐臣秀吉帳下的小吏一個月內便數了好幾萬隻，計算結果由九州地區的肥前藩(今長崎縣)歸品勝茂藩主統領的支隊，於一五九七年拔得頭籌，短短五周內蒐集了五千四百四十支鼻子。
譯文總覺得哪裡不對，細讀之下，發現原文的脈絡如下：
The invasion of Korea by Hideyoshi meant suffering for all involved.
(1) Japan experienced humiliating defeat and serious casualties among its lordly class of daimyo (lit. "great names") and their bands of sanurai letainers. Japan would not return in force to Korea until its stunning victory in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905 enabled it to take over the pninisula without opposition.
(2) As a result of pouring men and money into aiding the Choson, the late Ming regine, already facing a financial emergency failed to withstand the Machu threat from the north a generation later.
(3) With their countryside and towns in ruins, Koreans naturally suffered the most. The toll on them can hardly be calculated, though the Japanese did their best. They kept track by cutting off the noses of Koren fatalities and packing them in salt tubs to be dispatched to Kyoto, where Hideyoshi's clerks counted tens of thousands in a given month. The contingent of warriors led by Nabeshima Katsushie (1580-1657), first lord of Hizen Province in Kyushu (modern Nagasaki prefecture), claimed credit in 1597 for garnering 5,444 noses in just five weeks.
再按以上的脈絡套在中譯上：
豐臣秀吉入侵朝鮮，對所有參與國都意味著痛苦和損失，
(1)日本貴族武士階級「大名」蒙受慘敗和嚴重傷亡。一直要到數百年後，一九○五年的日俄戰爭贏得驚人勝利，日本才再度以武力重返朝鮮半島──這一回日軍如入無人之境。
(2)中國方面，大量挹注人力與資金支援朝鮮的結果，亦使明末政權面臨採物告急的危機。一代之後，終於未能頂住來自北方的滿族威脅，
(3)朝鮮自然受創最具：農村、城鎮一片焦土，經濟凋敝，損失慘重無法計算──在這方面日本人倒是頗為盡力：他們切下朝鮮死者的鼻子，醃在桶中送回京都，豐臣秀吉帳下的小吏一個月內便數了好幾萬隻，計算結果由九州地區的肥前藩(今長崎縣)歸品勝茂藩主統領的支隊，於一五九七年拔得頭籌，短短五周內蒐集了五千四百四十支鼻子。
可以發現譯文的毛病，在於沒把原文的脈絡弄清楚，例如(1)和(3)都應該和前面斷開(還有其他翻譯細節)，意思才清楚。
