no more than ²

上列译文的译者们忽略了 not more than + 数词(或名词)与 no more than + 数词(或名词)这两个短语在意义上、口气上的区别。not more than 没有什么特殊的意味，只是客观地表示“不超过”“不大于”。从这里看不出作者对数量多少或事物大小的主观态度或口气。no more than 则不同，它主要是用来表达作者的主观看法或口气的：强调数量之少，事物之小或微不足道。一般可译作“仅仅”“只不过”“才”“跟……一样少(小)”。例如：

1. This first orbit nearest to the nucleus contains no more than 2 electrons. (言其少) 最靠近原子核的轨道仅仅含有两个电子。

2. Poison enables the snake to get its food with very little effort, no more effort than one bite. (强调用力之小) 毒液能使毒蛇毫不费力地获取食物, 只要咬一口就行了。

3. In this case, the drops do not get very big, and the earth receives no more than a drizzle. (强调雨之小) 在这种情况下,雨滴不会变大,因而落到地上的仅仅是毛毛细雨。

4. Because of their frequent wars, many of their inventions were no more than improvements in the design of Greek weapons with which they were familiar. (言罗马人发明之微不足道)由于他们常年进行战争,他们的许多发明只不过是对他们所熟悉的希腊武器的结构所作的某些改进而已。

5. He was so poor that he had no more than one hundred dollars. (TOEFL) 他穷得只有100美元了。

这里应当补充说明的是, nothing more than 具有与 no more than 相同的语气, 亦可译为 “仅仅” “只不过” 等。例如:

1. “Actually,” says one of our great computer-scientists, “computers are nothing more than unintelligent animals. They haven’t the brains of a bird. And they can’t do the jobs that must be done”. 有一位著名的计算机专家说:“实际上,计算机只是一种没有智力的动物。计算机还不如鸟聪明,也干不了应做的工作”。

2. The thermostat is nothing more than an electric switch that opens and closes itself at the proper temperature. 恒温器只不过是一种到达适当温度就自动开关的电闸。

3. The electrical “fluid” that early scientists talked about is nothing more than electrons flowing along a wire. 早期科学家们所说的电“流体”，只不过是沿着导线流动的电子。

4. After the two have thrust upward more than a hundred miles, the V-2 has exhausted its supply of fuel. Now it is nothing more than dead weight. 当它们俩上升到一百多英里的高 空以后，V-2火箭就烧完了它全部的燃料。此时，V-2火箭只不过是无效重物而已。

5. She was certain they had been intended as nothing more than a means to get the Cryptography Department involved tonight. (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code) 她肯定祖父写下这个数列只是为了让密码破译部门也参与到今晚的侦破工作中来，别无他意。（《达·芬奇密码》）

[试译]他的解决办法，是使船在只有一二英尺厚的气垫上行驶，从而使其离开水面。

[试译]每一个电路的大小可能只有一英寸的十分之几。