179 逻辑与词序
原 文：
To our disappointment, he didn't even turn up at the meeting.
原 译：
使我们失望的是，他甚至没有在会上露面。
辨 析：
其实这样译说不上错，而且多数英汉词典上就是这样翻译的。不过笔者认为词序安排上可以商榷，至少这样译不够自然。因为to our disappointmnent是he didn't even turn up at the meeting造成的结果，由于汉语句子中词次序的安排常常按照“先因后果”的逻辑顺序安排，所以这一句译为“他甚至没有在会上露面，（为此）我们非常失望”更符合汉语的习惯。有人会说，“词典上就是译成“使我们失望的是”的，不错，可是词典上的译文主要是为了说明to our surprise这个短语的意思，而不着重于如何翻译更符合译入语习惯。如果将“他甚至没有在会上露面，我们非常失望”回译成英语，也应该译成本文开头的句子。如果译成He didn't even turn up at the meeting, and this disappointed us.英美人当然会懂，只是感到有点不自然，他们一般不会这样说。如果像原来的译文，要强调“使我们失望的”这一点（即将“失望”主题化），英语要说What disappointed us was (the fact that) he didn't even turn up at the meeting. 或 (The fact) that he didn't even turn up at the meeting disappointed us. 甚至可以用强调句型：It is his failure to turn up / his absence at the meeting that disappointed us. 类似的还有to one's surprise译成汉语时，最好将“（使）我们很吃惊”移到句末去。
其实，to one's disappointment之类的说法是和英语句子中一般将重点信息放在句首，然后再说原因、条件等是一致的。如 ：It must have rained as the ground is wet.译成汉语时最好也将词序调整一下：地上很湿，肯定下过雨了。
