笑话很难翻译

我在读一本中国笑话书，想把它翻译成英文。可是有一个笑话，我看了三次，还是不懂为什么好笑，你能帮我看看吗？

I'm reading a book of Chinese jokes and I want to translate it into English. But there's one joke I've read three times and I still don't understand why it's funny. Can you take a look with me?

好，你先讲给我听听。这样看不懂的笑话，很多是双关。双关就是一个字，或者一句话，能有两个意思，或者两个字的音很像。

Sure, tell it to me first. A lot of jokes that don't make sense like that are puns. A pun is when one word or one sentence can have two meanings, or two words sound a lot alike.

书里说，一个客人问服务员，你们宾馆为什么没有第四层？服务员说，因为数字四不好。客人又问，那你们有没有十三层？服务员说，有的客人也不喜欢十三，所以也没有。客人笑着说，那你们宾馆真安全，四和十三都没有！

The book says a guest asks the hotel clerk, why doesn't your hotel have a fourth floor? The clerk says, because the number four is bad. The guest asks again, then do you have a thirteenth floor? The clerk says, some guests don't like thirteen either, so we don't have that one either. The guest laughs and says, then your hotel is really safe, you don't have four or thirteen!

这个笑话，我懂为什么好笑。四这个字，跟死这个字的音很像，只有一点不一样，中国人觉得不好。你知道四的英文，跟死的英文，音是不是也很像？

I understand why that joke is funny. The word four sounds a lot like the word death, just a little different, and Chinese people feel that's bad luck. Do you know if the English word for four and the English word for death sound alike too?

完全不一样，那两个英文词，一个字都不像。那这个笑话，翻译成英文，是不是就没有意思了？

Completely different, those two English words don't share a single sound. So once this joke is translated into English, does it stop making sense?

对，双关不见了，因为四跟死的这种关系，只有中文才有。这也是为什么，我翻译笑话的时候，常常不是把每一个字都翻译过去，而是换一个新的双关，让读者也能笑。

Right, the pun disappears, because that relationship between four and death only exists in Chinese. This is why, when I translate a joke, I often don't translate every single word across. Instead I swap in a new pun, so the reader can still laugh.

那这个笑话，你会换成什么？

So for this joke, what would you swap it for?

我会用十三这个双关，说英文的人也常常不喜欢十三，这跟中国人不喜欢四，感觉是一样的。这样翻译出来的笑话，跟中文的不是同一个笑话了，可是读者还是会笑，这个感觉留下来了。

I'd use the thirteen pun. People who speak English often dislike thirteen too, and that feels the same as Chinese people disliking four. The joke that comes out of that translation isn't the same joke as the Chinese one anymore, but the reader still laughs, and that feeling gets carried across.

我明白了，你不是把字都翻译过去，你是把笑这个感觉留下来，这样英文的读者才会觉得好笑，对不对？

I get it, you're not translating the words across, you're carrying the feeling of laughing across, so that English readers will actually find it funny, is that right?

对。最难的地方，是先明白笑话为什么好笑，然后再找一个新的双关，让读者笑的原因，跟中文读者笑的原因差不多。字变了，双关也变了，可是好笑的感觉要留下来。

Right. The hardest part is first understanding why the joke is funny, and then finding a new pun so the reader's reason for laughing is close to the Chinese reader's reason for laughing. The words change, the pun changes, but the feeling of it being funny has to survive.