翻译:on the rare occasions we could get a babysitter

问题描述

这是一个练习的第一段，请翻译一下，特别是最后一句。

We'd gone up to the city, my husband and I, to see a friend of his from college. He was doing well for himself now, a businessman living in a high-class apartment on the Magnificent Mile. It was a treat for us to get away like this, on the rare occasions we could get a baby-sitter.

谢谢。

老师答疑

王老师：

    我认同Webster老师的中文翻译。现就您的解答，补充两点：

1. 您把 go up to the city 翻译为北上来到这座城市，但我的语感是说话人可能

住在乡下，因为从乡下进城可以用up, 城市去农村，用go down to the countryside. 尽管英语北上是go up North. 我觉得从农村到城市的这种可能性更大。

2. On the occasion 中的the,此句中表示特指，即定语从句修饰的那种情形，所以the 不能说是多余的，反而少了the, 到不太合乎逻辑。On the occasion 后接定语从句，在正式文体中用when,在有些语境中，还可能用where。 在非正式文体中，可以用that，也可以省略。此处应该是非正式文体，应该看作that的省略。

例句：On the occasions (that) we used the pool，there were sunbeds available.

W老师：

▲We'd gone up to the city, my husband and I, to see a friend of his from college. He was doing well for himself now, a businessman living in a high-class apartment on the Magnificent Mile. It was a treat for us to get away like this, on the rare occasions we could get a baby-sitter.

▲翻译：我和老公北上来到这座城市，来看他的大学时的一位朋友。他现在自己当老板，干得很不错，是一位商人，住在Magnificent Mile的高档公寓里。我们像这样抽身外出，也算是对自己一种犒劳，我们难得会请保姆来照看孩子。

▲个人觉得：你的原句中 on the rare occasions 中的 the 似乎是多余的。若用on the rare occasions，则其后通常会接 when 从句，意思是：很少……，如果（即使，就算）……也……。如：

On the rare occasions when they met he hardly even dared speak to her. 他们很少见面，如果见面，他甚至不敢跟她说话。

On the rare occasions when he was angry, Lowry could be spiteful and petty. 劳里很少生气，如果生气，他会充满恶意、心胸狭窄。

On the rare occasions when they are positioned initially, there is subject-operator inversion. 它们很少位于句首。如果它们位于句首，主语和功能词要倒装。