复仇在英语中有时译为“avenge”,有时译为“revenge”,这两个单词究竟有何区别?今天我们就来分析一下。还是先来看一下字典中的解释:
avengers 复仇者(替天行道者)
1) Avenge
Collins:If you avenge a wrong or harmful act, you hurt or punish the person who is responsible for it.
Webster:to take vengeance for or on behalf of
Avenge作“复仇”讲时,意为“替天行道,声张正义”,这种复仇,为的是社会公平,而非一己私利。例句:
1. The best way to avenge a murder is to bring the criminal to trial. 报复一个“杀手”最好的办法就是把罪犯送上法庭。
2. She vowed to avenge her brother's death. 她发誓要为哥哥之死报仇
替天行道,为正义而复仇,所以漫威的系列电影《复仇者联盟》的英语原名是Avengers。
2) revenge
revenger (为自己复仇)
Collins:If you revenge yourself on someone who has hurt you, you hurt them in return
Webster:to avenge (oneself or another) usually by retaliating in kind or degree
Revenge作“复仇”讲时含义更广,意为“由于某人给自己带来了痛苦和损失,自己也反过来对其进行惩罚、伤害”——只要你让我或其他人不爽了,我就要报复你。这种“复仇”只与自己的感觉有关,而与正义与否无关。例句:
1. Her boyfriend took revenge by kidnApping the man's kid. 她的男朋友为了报复绑了那个男人的小孩。
2. The paper accused her of trying to revenge herself on her former lover. 这家报纸指责她企图报复她以前的情人。
您看明白了吗,avenge含有“为正义复仇,替天行道”的含义,而revenge只单纯表示“你让我不爽,我也要让你不爽”式的复仇。
另外,在现代社会语境中,avenge很少用做“替天行道”的本意,而多用于比喻意,例如:The team wanted to avenge their defeat earlier in the season. 这支球队想一雪本赛季初的失败之耻。这种使用性质的改变可能源于现代社会司法进步,已经不允许、不必要进行私人的复仇。
您学到了吗?