《乔布斯传》翻译笔记：神奇的蓝盒子

《乔布斯传》自问世以来受到了全世界人民的关注，对此推出《乔布斯传》翻译笔记系列，让我们在翻译学习中回顾乔帮主的伟大一生。第二章“古怪的一对”介绍了乔布斯的挚友史蒂夫·沃兹尼亚克（Steve Wozniak）。乔布斯和沃兹一起发明了可以拨打免费电话的蓝盒子。这项恶作剧式的发明被突发奇想的乔布斯拿来出售赚钱。虽然后来出现被持枪男抢劫蓝盒子的插曲，但是这次初次合作的成功也为乔布斯和沃兹未来的合作奠定了基调：沃兹负责发明，乔布斯负责投入市场赚钱。

【英语原文】

The partnership paved the way for what would be a bigger adventure together. “If it hadn’t been for the Blue Boxes, there wouldn’t have been an Apple,” Jobs later reflected. “I’m 100% sure of that. Woz and I learned how to work together, and we gained the confidence that we could solve technical problems and actually put something into production.” They had created a device with a little circuit board that could control billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure. “You cannot believe how much confidence that gave us.” Woz came to the same conclusion: “It was probably a bad idea selling them, but it gave us a taste of what we could do with my engineering skills and his vision.” The Blue Box adventure established a template for a partnership that would soon be born. Wozniak would be the gentle wizard coming up with a neat invention that he would have been happy just to give away, and Jobs would figure out how to make it user-friendly, put it together in a package, market it, and make a few bucks.” (Chapter 2 Odd Couple: The Blue Box)

【译文】

这样的合作关系为以后更大的冒险铺平了道路。乔布斯后来回想道：“我百分之百确定，没有蓝盒子就没有苹果公司。沃兹和我学会怎样一起工作，我们也在解决技术难题和将发明投入生产的过程中获得了自信。” 他们发明的蓝盒子只是用一小块电路板做成的小装置，但是却能控制价值数十亿美元的基础设施。“蓝盒子的成功简直让我们自信心爆棚。” 沃兹也有同样的想法：“卖蓝盒子可能是个坏主意，但是的确让我们尝到了合作的甜头，我的工程技术和乔布斯的发展远见结合在一起可以做出一番成就。” 蓝盒子的冒险经历建立了乔布斯和沃兹将来的合作模式：沃兹是那个有很多巧妙发明又愿意与人分享的安静天才，乔布斯则负责如何将沃兹的发明变得方便使用，然后包装并投入市场，赚点钱。

1. pave the way: 为……铺平道路，为……做准备

Scientists hope that data from this expedition will pave the way for a more detailed exploration of Mars.
科学家们希望这次探险获得的数据能为将来的火星探测铺平道路。

Worse still, as policymakers rush to implement reforms in response to one financial calamity, they are apt to create disorders that pave the way for the next disaster.
更糟糕的是，当决策者匆忙实施改革以应对金融灾难时，往往容易造成新的混乱，为下一场灾难埋下隐患。

2. come to the/a conclusion (that): 得出结论，做出总结。短语后常接修饰conclusion的同位语从句。

From the foregoing discussion, we can come to the conclusion that the purpose of college education should always target at cultivating the overall abilities of the students.
基于以上论证，我们可以清楚地认识到：大学教育应该永远是以培养学生较强的综合能力为目标的。

come to a conclusion除了有“得出结论”这意，还可以表示某事或过程“告一段落、圆满结束”。

At last, the yearlong ordeal of buying a house came to a conclusion.
这场长达一年的买房折磨终于结束了。

3. make big bucks/make a few bucks: 赚大钱；小赚一笔

I made some big bucks last week. I didn\'t expect that I could make so much money.
上周我赚了一大笔钱，真没想到我能赚这么多。

buck是口语用法，指一美元，一般泛指“钱”。

4. 蓝盒子：蓝盒子是用来破解电话系统的工具，内建电子零件，可模仿电信营运商的播话控制讯号。蓝盒子常被用来拨打免费电话。乔布斯和沃兹打造的蓝盒子现收藏在位于硅谷的电脑历史博物馆中。