問:基督教詩歌有以下一段:He wills that I should holy be, / Can I withstand His will? / The counsel of His grace in me / He surely shall fulfil。第三行the counsel of His grace in me是不是說「祂滿有恩典的忠告我」?
答:Counsel除了解作「律師」,今天多指「勸告」,第二版《朗文當代高級英漢雙解詞典》就有以下例句:The king took counsel from the assembled nobles(國王向聚集的貴族求言問計)。
不過,counsel還有一個意思,已不見於一般字典,却常見於古英語,那就是「計劃」或「意旨」,尤其是經過仔細思量而定的計劃、意旨,例如《聖經.詩篇》第三十三章說:The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to naught; / he frustrates the plans of the peoples. / The counsel of the Lord stands for ever(天下各國之圖謀,上帝皆付諸流水;天下各族之計劃,上帝皆化為烏有。永恒不變者,唯有上帝之意旨)。
讀者示下那一段詩歌的counsel,也是指「意旨」。全段試譯如下:「我立身須神聖,此上帝之願,何得違背?上帝予我之恩典,有其深意,定當實現。」
問:「襯家」(例如老爺、女婿)等,英文怎麼說?
答:「襯家」應作「親家」,但這個「親」則應讀「襯」。「親家」英文是in-laws,截取father-in-law(岳父、公公)、daughter-in-law(兒媳、媳婦)等字後半而成。例如:She does not like her in-laws(她不喜歡她的親家)。