1891年，处在写作生涯巅峰期的奥斯卡·王尔德（Oscar Wilde），遇见了阿尔弗雷德·“波西”·道格拉斯(Alfred “Bosie” Douglas)，两人很快成为了同性恋人。四年后，因为这段“不敢说出名字的爱”，王尔德 被判“有伤风化”罪而入狱。

在狱中，王尔德开始反思从前的生活，思索痛苦和人生的意义，艺术和爱的真谛 ，最终将那些痛苦的泪水都化作优美而深沉的文字，写成了这封名为”de profundis”(从深处)的长信。

原文选段：

I will begin by telling you that I blame myself terribly. As I sit here in this dark cell in convict clothes, a disgraced and ruined man, I blame myself. In the perturbed and fitful nights of anguish, in the long monotonous days of pain, it is myself I blame. I blame myself for allowing an unintellectual friendship, a friendship whose primary aim was not the creation and contemplation of beautiful things, to entirely dominate my life.

Read Also: Interesting discussion of Chinese characters in Japanese

【孙宜学译本】

我首先要告诉你的就是我强烈地谴责我自己。当我这个耻辱的被摧毁的人，穿着囚服坐在黑暗的牢房里时，我谴责我自己；在一阵阵烦恼的痛苦的夜里，在漫长单调的痛苦的白天，我谴责的也只是我自己。我谴责自己容许了一种不理智的友谊、一种最初目的不是为了创造和沉思美丽的事物的友谊完全支配了自己的生活。

【朱纯深译本】

一开头我要告诉你我拼命地怪自己。坐在这黑牢里， 囚衣蔽体， 身败名裂， 我怪我自己。暗夜里辗转反侧，苦痛中忽睡忽醒，白日里枯坐牢底， 忧心惨切，我怪的是自己。怪自己让一段毫无心智的友情，一段其根本目的不在创造和思考美好事物的友情，完完全全左右了自己的生活。

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Comparison:

“I blame myself terribly”，“ I blame myself.”，“it is myself I blame”，“I blame myself for”

In these four sentences, there are four times that Wilde blamed himself. His agony is obvious. Two versions adopt the same approach to express this point，”谴责” and “怪”. But considering the text is abstracted from a dairy. “怪” seems to be more suitable.

As I sit here in this dark cell in convict clothes, a disgraced and ruined man, “坐在这黑牢里， 囚衣蔽体， 身败名裂，”

In the perturbed and fitful nights of anguish, in the long monotonous days of pain, “暗夜里辗转反侧，苦痛中忽睡忽醒，白日里枯坐牢底， 忧心惨切，”

In Sun’s version, the exact meaning is conveyed. Yet the style is spoiled. Zhu uses the “four-charater” technique, like “囚衣蔽体，身败名裂”，”辗转反侧”,”忽睡忽醒”,”枯坐牢底”，which only takes care of the style but fully presents the inner torture of Wilde.

All in all, the translation of course gives priority to the conveying of meaning. However, the excellent translation is the successful reflection of the original text, including its style and implication.

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