《九歌》体句式的最大特点是句句皆有“兮”字,且位于诗句的句腰,其用法独特,意义特殊;英译《九歌》时,如何处理“兮”字,译家们的翻译手法多有不同.纵观阿瑟?韦利的《九歌》英译,其对“兮”字的译法可谓是既得其意,又不忘其形,实属难得.详解《九歌》“兮”字,可定其形,明其意,再以我国楚辞英译的知名译家与阿瑟?韦利在《九歌》“兮”字译法上进行比较和评析,可以看出阿瑟?韦利的“兮”字译法更契合《九歌》“兮”字在原诗上的形和意,这表明阿瑟?韦利在古汉语诗歌英译方面自有其独到和过人之处.
The outstanding features of the Nine Odes written by Quyuan , is that in the right middle of each verse line there is a Chinese character “Xi” , whose usage and meaning are unique .In English translation version of the Nine Odes , transla-tors respectively adopt various methods to deal with the character “Xi”.Arthur Waley’s translation of the character “Xi” gain not only its meaning but also remain its form of the character .By analyzing the character “Xi” and comparing the translation with that Chinese famous translators , it is found that Arthur Waley’s translation may be more in accord with the original mean-ing of the character “Xi”.