Abstract:With a variety of frequent and deepening communication among the people of the countries in the world, the translation is increasingly important and prominent. But the translation practices have revealed that a good translated text is closely associated to the good understanding and application of the context. According to his deepening study of the context, Mr. Hu Zhuangling has broadly grouped it into a contextual knowledge system, and divided it into three levels: "(1) linguistic context, which is also known as context, refers to the structure and logic of its own coherence; (2) situational context that refers to the discourse involved in the specific scenes, events and participants; (3) cultural context, which is known as language articles involved in cultural and social background." 

　　Broadly speaking, the purpose of translation is to help the target-language readers understand the different country's culture. However, in translation practice, the translators often encounter such a situation: the original does not contain any new words, but it is very difficult for them to understand and translate some parts with exotic culture into the understandable target language. And what is more, some mistranslation often occurs. The problem is due to the translators’ failing to understand the relevant background, knowledge, and the context of the original version. Actually, translation is not just a language problem, and it is also related to the cultural context of the original. 

Key words: communication; translation; context; understanding; the Gift of the Magi

摘要:随着世界各国之间各种交流的日益频繁与深化，翻译扮演着一个越来越重要的角色。但翻译实践显示，一个好的翻译文本与正确理解上下文是密切相关的。根据胡壮麟先生的研究，他将语境分为三个层次：“（1）语言语境，亦称上下文，指语篇自身的结构及逻辑连贯；（2）情景语境，指的是语篇所涉及的具体场景、事件及参与者；（3）文化语境，即语篇所涉及的文化、社会背景。”

　　从广义上说，翻译的目的是使译入语的读者通过本国文字了解他国文化，然而在翻译实践中，译者常常会遇到这样一种情况：原文中没有任何新单词，但理解起来却很困难，难以把部分外来的文化翻译成可理解的目标语。造成这种难译、误译、甚至无法译的原因是由于译者不了解原语的相关背景知识。翻译不仅仅是语言问题，它还与原文所处的文化语境有着重大的联系。本选题选取了《麦琪的礼物》的译本，着重对国内通用的中文翻译文本进行具体分析。通过比较，继而对语境在中英翻译中的影响进行分析。

关键词：交流；翻译；语境；理解；《麦琪的礼物》