Chapter 29 Good translation, weak creation

In addition to the new vernacular poems, Hu Shi's most powerful works are short stories.He once said: "I am a person who really wants to advocate short stories, but unfortunately I can't create them. I can only introduce a few famous works as reference materials for later new literati. I am ashamed, ashamed." In the literary revolution of that year, not only was there no need to be "ashamed", but it was also an extremely useful work for reference and reference.During the May 4th Movement, in order to oppose the old literature and modernize the new literature, they focused on introducing and studying Western Enlightenment thoughts and Western literature.That was really an era when the door was wide open and people could fully absorb exotic nutrients.New literature was first born, whether it is ideological tendency, or form, structure and expression methods, it has received extensive foreign influence.From Goethe, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Chekhov to Gorky, etc., the masterpieces of many famous writers can be said to have nurtured the first generation of writers in my country's new literature.

Hu Shi thinks: Today, if one wants to create new literature for the motherland, it is advisable to start by importing European and Western classics, so that people in the country can learn from them and observe them, and then they can have new literature created by themselves. ② His translation is the work of transporting exotic nutrition.Started in September 1912.What he originally translated was a famous patriotic article by Daudet in France. At that time, Hu Shi translated it as "Ceding the Land" and published it in Shanghai's "Grand Republic Daily".Then, he translated Dude's "The Siege of Berlin". ③ From 1916 to 1919, he translated several works by Maupassant, Chekhov and others.By September 1919, Hu Shi compiled them into the first volume of "Short Stories", which was published by Shanghai Yadong Library in October. ④ Thin notebook, 10 short stories, most of which are translated in vernacular, blowing a breath of fresh air into the Chinese literary world.At that time, the popular novels of mandarin ducks and butterflies school of talented scholars and beauties, as well as those notebook novels based on "Liao Zhai", all of them were "a certain person, a certain place person, born with extraordinary talents, write a thousand words, ... a day , met a girl in a certain place,...everything goes on forever...so I died for love", stereotyped cliches.Literary youths who are interested in reform have long since hated these things.After reading this "Short Stories" translated by Hu Shi, I naturally feel very fresh and eye-opening.The publication of this book undoubtedly provides a timely and beneficial reference and example for those who are committed to the modernization of Chinese novels.Therefore, it spread like wildfire, and it was republished in half a year.Some of these famous works were selected into the Chinese textbooks of middle schools and were widely circulated for decades; they even had a profound impact on the thoughts and careers of some young literary youths. ⑤.

Hu Shi's enthusiasm for promoting the short story prompted him to give a special lecture on the short story.It was March 15, 1918, the fourth meeting of the Fiction Department of the Institute of Chinese Studies of Peking University.Two teachers, Zhou Zuoren and Hu Shi, and four students, Fu Sinian and Yu Pingbo, attended the meeting. Facing the five teachers and students, Hu Shi talked about short stories from 4:00 p.m.This speech was later rewritten as "On the Short Story". ⑥ Now it seems that what Hu Shi said is very superficial, and there are many far-fetched statements.But at that time, most Chinese literati didn't even know what a short story was.In newspapers and magazines, miscellaneous notes are often compiled, and those that are not long in length are all called "short stories".In such an era, "On the Short Story" is still competent as an enlightenment reader for modern novel theory.Just look at his definition of the short story:

A short story is an article that uses the most economical literary means to describe the most exciting paragraph or aspect of the fact, and can fully satisfy people. When elaborating this definition, Hu Shi also said that short stories should describe a "cross-section" of a person's life, a country's history, and a society's changes.This statement is not necessarily very accurate, but it is close. The most important part of "On Short Stories" is about "a brief history of Chinese short stories".From the fables of the pre-Qin philosophers to the harmony of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Except for the shortcomings of pulling some verses to make do with it, it is generally good. It can be regarded as the earliest attempt to outline the historical outline of ancient Chinese short stories with new modern concepts and methods.The analysis of some specific works is sometimes brilliant; even if the works are used to explain definitions and confirm definitions, ordinary creators and readers of new novels at that time can also get inspiration and help from them.

Hu Shi himself also tried to write a vernacular novel called "A Question". ⑦ It is about Xiao Shan, a philosopher who returned from studying abroad. When he was visiting Beijing Central Park, he met Zhu Ziping, an old classmate who had been separated for many years, and he could hardly recognize him.Zhu Ziping, who was very heroic back then, is now dragging his children and taking care of his daughters, and his situation is very poor.When he saw Xiaoshan, he said that he wanted to ask "a question", and described his experience over the years: the Revolution of 1911 "recovered" his family's shop in Hankou. My husband works as a tutor at home.Mr. Chen acted as a matchmaker for him and got married. His wife was a graduate of a women's normal school and also taught.The first year of marriage was a lot of fun.But they gave birth to three children in a row, but because of the difficulty of living, they could not afford to hire a nurse, and the second child died.Later, Ziping lost an errand, and his income decreased; his wife also lost his job, and the situation became even more difficult.Ziping had no choice but to write novels at night to earn some extra money.He was busy all day, just to eat for himself, his wife and children.One day, on the road, he thought to himself: "Why is life alive?" From then on, he thought about this question every day, and asked Xiaoshan for advice on this question.Finally Zhu Ziping said:

"Xiaoshan, you are a student of philosophy. If you raise a wife and feed children like me, do you count as a lifetime person?" This is the "one question" that Zhu Ziping, the protagonist in the novel, wants to ask, and it is also the "one question" that the author wants to explain.However, the content of the work is relatively superficial, and the technique is mediocre. It is only an illustration of the philosophical question of "why is life alive".What's more, his half-life experience is described in a straightforward manner, which is quite different from his own definition for short stories.

Hu Shi himself often lamented that he was "careful in advocating, but weak in creation".This is especially true when it comes to short stories. ① Hu Shi translated the first volume of "Short Stories", "The Translator's Preface", contained in the preface of the book, published by Shanghai Yadong Library in October 1919. ② "On translation of books sent to Chen Duxiu", see "Zanghui Room Notes", Shanghai Yadong Library, 1936 edition, volume 12, p. 845. (Third Edition Note) ③According to the "Translator's Preface", this article was translated in "September of the first year of the Republic of China"; :

Daudet, a French writer, is very rich in books and is one of the giants of modern literature. His short stories are especially moving.Yu the year before last translated "La Dernière Classe", renamed it "Cutting Land", and published it in Shanghai's "Grand Republic Daily".In August last year, ... translated "Le Sège de Berlin" ("The Siege of Berlin") and published it in No. 4 "Jia Yin". According to this, it should be translated in 1913, with a one-year difference in time, so I doubt it. ④ "Short Stories" Volume 1, first edition in October 1919, collected 10 foreign short stories translated by Hu Shi from 1912 to 1919, including 2 French Dude, Maupassant 3, British Ji Bailing, Russian Tailaixia Fu, Chekhov, Strindberg of Sweden, and Cardano of Italy, one each."On Short Stories" written by the translator is attached at the end of the volume. It was republished in 1920, adding a Soviet Gorky novel.

⑤ As for the influence of Hu Shi’s translations on literary youths, one can cite a recent article written by the writer Mr. Zhong Jieying as an example.Zhong Jieying talked about the influence of Lu Xun's works on him in his article "Miscellaneous Feelings and Random Thoughts", and also talked about Hu Shi's prose and translation. He said: Not only Lu Xun's works, but also Hu Shi's beautiful prose may be of benefit to students.As for the texts, Tianxiang's "Song of Righteous Qi", ancient poems, historical stories "Shi Kefa", "Yan Dian History", "Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan", "The Siege of Berlin", "Meteor" and "The Girl Selling Matches", etc. , it has strongly and stubbornly affected my thoughts and beliefs throughout my life. (See Beijing "Lu Xun Research" No. 3, 1984)

Among them, "The Siege of Berlin", the original translator was Hu Shi.Zhong Jieying's experience objectively reflects the influence of Hu Shi's proses and translations on young people. ⑥ Hu Shi’s lecture, recorded by Fu Sinian, was titled “On Short Stories” and was serialized in the “Peking University Journal” from March 22 to 27, 1918. It was about 3,000 words, very rough.Revised by the author, the expansion was nearly doubled, and it was published in Volume 4, No. 5 of "New Youth"; it was later included in Volume 1 of "Hu Shi Wencun". ⑦ Contained in "Weekly Review" No. 32, published on July 27, 1919; later included in "Hu Shi Wen Cun" Volume 4.