Chapter 58 re-translation
It was only when I saw the end of the second part (2) of Mr. Mu Mutian's "On Retranslation and Others" that I realized that I was explaining my misunderstanding.But I don’t think there is any misunderstanding. The only difference is that the weight is reversed. I advocate that the quality of the results should be judged first, regardless of whether the translation is direct or indirect, and what the translator’s motivation is.
Mr. Mutian wants the translator to "know himself" and use his own strengths to translate it into a "once and for all" book.Otherwise, it is better not to do it.That is to say, instead of planting thorns, it is better to leave a blank field for other good gardeners to plant beautiful flowers that will last forever.However, there are some words of "once and for all", but there are very few things about "once and for all".Moreover, the white ground can never be kept forever. Where there is open space, thorns or brome will grow.The most important thing is that someone will deal with it, or cultivate it, or delete it, so that the translation world will be a little less chaotic.This is criticism.
However, we have always looked at translation lightly, especially heavy translation.When it comes to creation, critics are always open. When it comes to translation, there were occasional articles referring to mistranslations in the past few years, but these days it is extremely rare;But in terms of work, it is more difficult to criticize translation than to criticize creation. Not only does one need to have a translator's skill to read the original text, but also needs to have a translator's understanding of the work.As Mr. Mutian said, there are several translations for reference in the retranslation, which is extremely convenient for the translator, because when A’s translation is suspicious, he can refer to B’s.Direct translation is not the case. Once there is something that you don’t understand, you can’t think about it, because there is no author in the world who uses different articles to write two works with the same meaning.There are so many retranslated books. This may be one reason, and it is okay to say that I am lazy, but it is probably also due to the lack of linguistics.It is even more difficult to criticize this kind of translation based on reference to various versions, at least you must be able to read various original translations.For example, Chen Yuan's translation (3) and Lu Xun's translation of "Destruction" (4) all belong to this category.
I think that the way of translation should be relaxed, and the work of criticism should be emphasized.If the argument is very strict and the translators are trying to be cautious, the opposite result will be obtained. It is better to be more cautious, but random translators still translate randomly. At this time, there will be more bad translations than slightly better translations.
There are a few unimportant words at the end.Mr. Mutian retranslated due to doubts. After seeing the German translation, even his own translation of "Tashkent" was determined to be an abridged version of the original French translation. (5) Actually it is not.Although the German translation is thick, it is a binding of two novels, and most of the latter is Sirafimovich's "Iron Stream" (6).Therefore, all our Chinese translations of "Tashkent" are not abridged versions.July 3rd.
(1) This article was originally published in "Shen Shen Free Talk" on July 7, 1934. (2) Mu Mutian's "On Re-translation and Others (Part 2)" was published in "Shen Shen Free Talk" on July 2, 1934, which said: "When we do translation, we must have the right to change the method, but, The once-and-for-all solution cannot be ignored. Naturally, we must allow or even require indirect translation under unavoidable conditions. However, we must also prevent those inferior products that hinder the indirect translation of the true direct translation. Understanding is the prerequisite for translation. The way of expression in the work should also be paid attention to. When you can 'once and for all', it is best to think of a 'once and for all' method. Comprador-style translation without a deep understanding is not allowed." And Said: "There are many issues that can be discussed about translated literature. I hope that loyal literary scholars can express some opinions. After seeing Mr. Shi Ben's "On Retranslation", I have to express the above opinions to explain their misunderstandings." (3) Chen Yuan's translation of Russian Turgenev was based on the English and French translations and was published by the Commercial Press in 1930. (4) Lu Xun's translation of "Destruction" is based on the Japanese translation, with reference to the German and English translations. (5) Mu Mutian said in the article "On Retranslation and Others (Part 1)" published in "Shenzhen Free Talk" on June 30, 1934: "I translated Nevilov from the French text. "Tashkent", but I saw the German translation of the book last year, which is almost twice as important as the French translation." "Tashkent", originally called "The Fertile City of Tashkent", was translated by Mu Mutian in Shanghai in 1930 Published by Beixin Book Company. (6) Sirafimovich (A.C._J^GYJg, 1863-1949) Soviet quasi-shake!A short novel written by Ao Fei*.
(1) This article was originally published in "Shen Shen Free Talk" on July 7, 1934. (2) Mu Mutian's "On Re-translation and Others (Part 2)" was published in "Shen Shen Free Talk" on July 2, 1934, which said: "When we do translation, we must have the right to change the method, but, The once-and-for-all solution cannot be ignored. Naturally, we must allow or even require indirect translation under unavoidable conditions. However, we must also prevent those inferior products that hinder the indirect translation of the true direct translation. Understanding is the prerequisite for translation. The way of expression in the work should also be paid attention to. When you can 'once and for all', it is best to think of a 'once and for all' method. Comprador-style translation without a deep understanding is not allowed." And Said: "There are many issues that can be discussed about translated literature. I hope that loyal literary scholars can express some opinions. After seeing Mr. Shi Ben's "On Retranslation", I have to express the above opinions to explain their misunderstandings." (3) Chen Yuan's translation of Russian Turgenev was based on the English and French translations and was published by the Commercial Press in 1930. (4) Lu Xun's translation of "Destruction" is based on the Japanese translation, with reference to the German and English translations. (5) Mu Mutian said in the article "On Retranslation and Others (Part 1)" published in "Shenzhen Free Talk" on June 30, 1934: "I translated Nevilov from the French text. "Tashkent", but I saw the German translation of the book last year, which is almost twice as important as the French translation." "Tashkent", originally called "The Fertile City of Tashkent", was translated by Mu Mutian in Shanghai in 1930 Published by Beixin Book Company. (6) Sirafimovich (A.C._J^GYJg, 1863-1949) Soviet quasi-shake!A short novel written by Ao Fei*.