Chapter 46 Essay on "Aesop's Fables"

Literary essays about It was introduced to China very early, and there was a Chinese translation in the late Ming Dynasty.In addition to the Buddhist scriptures In addition, this is probably the earliest foreign classical literary work translated into Chinese.Niimura Deshi The Chinese translation of Yisu's Fables published in the late Ming Dynasty, who was engaged in this work was a missionary in China at that time Jesuit priest.This was dictated by the Belgian missionary Kinney Court, and then by a Chinese surname Zhang Recorded by the parishioners.It was named "Kuang Yi" at that time, and the comparison of Kuang Zhe was also compared with that of Han Shu.

Although the title of the book is elegant enough, it is really difficult for us to know it today without explanation. It's Aesop's fables. According to the textual research of the Xincun family, "Kuangyi" was dated to 1625 AD, that is, the fifth year of Mingqi. Published in Xi'an Prefecture, only the Paris Library has two manuscripts so far, so not only have I seen this book There are very few people, even if there are not many people who know about it. Around 1837 (the seventeenth year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty), the church in Guangzhou published another Selected translation of Aesop's fables in English and Chinese, the title of the book is "Yi Shi Meng Yin", and the translator's signature is "Beginner

"Sheng". "Yishi" is a different translation of "Aesop". I have never seen this book. Although it has only been published so far It is said that it is difficult to see for more than a hundred years.According to the English "China Library" published in Guangzhou in 1840 (Volume IX, p. 201) The introduction and translation of this book were dictated by a Mr. Tom, and then It was recorded in Chinese by this "Mr. Ignorant".Tom was the salesman of Jardine's in Guangzhou at that time. This "Mr. Ignorant" is his Chinese teacher.According to the introduction of "China Library"

According to records, this English-Chinese translation of Aesop's fables has translated a total of 81 fables, and the whole book has a total of 100 fables. Four pages, in addition to English-Chinese bilingual, each page also has Chinese transliteration of Roman characters, Chinese is centered, The transliteration is on the right, and the English is on the left.It was exclusively used by foreigners who were interested in studying Chinese characters at that time. It was well received after publication, so after it was published in Guangzhou in 1837, it was reprinted in 1840. once.Unfortunately, it is not easy to see now.

When this "Yi Shi Meng Yin" was published in Guangdong, it was banned by the government at that time.Josiah, UK This matter was mentioned in "A Short History of Aesop's Fables" written by each family.Mr. Zhou Zuoren in "Ming Translation of Aesop's Fables" (See "Own Field") In the article, he expressed doubts about this matter, saying that it does not seem to be true. And think that "now there is no way to check".However, according to the introduction article in the above-mentioned "China Library" In it, it also mentioned that the first edition of "Yi Shi Meng Yin" was banned by the Chinese government after its publication.Since in

It is mentioned in the publications of the time (1840), and it seems to be credible. Since then, "Aesop's Fables" has taken root in China, although I have not yet found out Who first translated the name Aesop into the word "Aesop" that we use today.in Qing In Mongolian children's books and elementary school textbooks from the end of the Republic of China to the beginning of the Republic of China, we have read about the race between the tortoise and the rabbit. run, bats wander among birds and beasts, ridiculed, crows with peacock feathers are ridiculed story up.Unfortunately, apart from occasional excerpts from children's books, we still don't have a decent

translation, not to mention reading it as a classical literary work.Therefore, although we There was the first translation in North Korea, but for the history of Aesop and the origin of his fables and It has been circulated, and almost still not much is known about it.There are many people who have read Aesop's fables one by one, I didn't even know that Aesop was a personal name, and thought it was an ancient country or place name. Let me give a brief introduction to his life here. Aesop was a man from the time of ancient Greece.Because of the preserved records of the great fabler

There are not many records, and the authenticity of many records is not very reliable, so the What I personally know about his life is really limited.All ancient texts concerning Aesop today, The most reliable is from the works of the famous ancient Greek historian Herodotus, because he and Aesop's The difference in the age of survival is not more than a hundred years, and other records in his historical works have changed from Reliable confirmation has been obtained in all aspects, so the part about Aesop is naturally better than what others have recorded. more believable. Some ancient Greek writers believed that Isu had no such person, or even thought it was just a hypothetical

Arrow-like figures, because of many fables known as Aesop's "fables", were later found to be early Some were circulated before the time of Aesop, and some were apparently first introduced many years after Aesop's death. The ones that appeared for the first time are now regarded as "Aesop's fables".But this only proves that Aesop's fabler His reputation is too great, so this phenomenon cannot overthrow the existence of Aesop.Besides, Since Aesop is also mentioned in Herodotus' "History", his authenticity cannot be doubted. According to Herodotus' records, Aesop, the fabler, was born in the son of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amasis.

The era, which is the middle of the sixth century BC, but according to modern reliable textual research, it is generally known that Aesop's birth date is considered to be 620 BC.His line is slaves, because slaves, So his hometown is unknown.Herodotus said he was born on the Greek island of Samos.but queen Just as people argue about the hometown of the great poet Homer, at least four places are now disputed as the home of the great poet Homer. Suo's hometown, and each has its own reasons.The four locations are: 1: Sardis, the capital of Lydia; 2: Samos, a small Greek island; 3: Misan

Mbulia, an ancient colony of Terras; IV: Kodiam, of the province of Felekia a big city. Regarding these four places, which one should be Aesop's hometown, because no one can find out Very reliable literature, so it is still a mystery. The fact that Aesop was born as a slave, although some people doubt it, say that there is nothing definite The data can prove it.But there is no proof that he was not a slave, so we don't For example, I still trust the records of Herodotus, because he said that Aesop was the slave of Edmund of Samos. and had changed hands once before belonging to Edmund, the last time being Sass Oss, sold a second time to Edmund, who, thanks to Aesop's wit and learning, exempted His slavery made him free and qualified as a Greek citizen. Some biographers, such as Sir Roger, who wrote the biography of Aesop, said that Aesop was at least once It has been sold three times, and the earliest document mentioning Aesop's name is that he accompanied other slaves Let's go together to the slave market in Ephesus to wait for the buyer.It was at this market that he gave Ed Meng took a fancy to it and bought it.Sir Roger relayed another story about Aesop, proving his witty.It is said that on the way to the Ephesus slave market, the master ordered the slaves to Carrying luggage and other items used on the way, several slaves picked up lighter packages to get them, but Aesop took them. Heaviest breadbox ever.His companions ridiculed him for being stupid, but bread was the food along the way, and the more he ate, the less he ate. The weight is also lighter, so after walking half the distance, Aesop's burden has been reduced by half.until will By the time he got close to the destination, he had nothing to carry but an empty basket. The story is funny, almost as funny as it is, but not much Believable, because there are too many legends about Yi Su, we have to be skeptical.As for his being sold for two Once or three times, it doesn't matter.Because being a slave, what does it matter if you are sold twice or thrice? What is the difference?The most important thing is to meet Edmund who can appreciate him and restore his freedom. According to the law of ancient Greece, a slave who has recovered his freedom is entitled to enjoy a rights of ordinary citizens.Therefore, Aesop has the opportunity to travel around, while expanding his knowledge, Absorbing new scholarship while impressing others with her wit and storytelling, soon Like philosophers in general, he has achieved a very respectable and lofty position.both athens and corinth found According to his whereabouts, he later came to Sardis, which is the capital of Lydia and is the academic literature of the time. one of the centers.Aesop became the counselor of King Crosus, and was invited to stay in Sardis, assuming Various public and private duties.Later, on one occasion, under the order of Crosus, in the name of a minister to the special Erfei to settle a debt.Somehow, the citizens of Delphi offended him, and he offended them.He had been ordered to pay the debt, but he refused to pay, and ordered the debt to be brought Back to Sardis.This of course angered the Delphi people even more, and they ignored Aesop's status as an envoy. He was treated as an ordinary criminal and sentenced to death.According to legend, he died a terrible death and was killed by Telferi. People pushed him off the cliff and fell to his death. In which year Aesop was killed by the people of Delphi, it is still not at all reliable data are available for review.There are, however, many different opinions about the circumstances of his murder by the Telphians. recorded.It is said that Aesop's death was due to his refusal to pay the debts he brought to the people of Delphi, which angered the people. killed them, and were put to death by them.To say that because of the witty fables that Aesop loves to tell, detracts from the character. and the dignity of the people of Elphi, they accused him of blasphemy, and condemned him to death.According to Yari According to Stoven's record, the people of Delphi said that Aesop had stolen a golden cup from their temple, and that this was done He committed the wrath of heaven, so they put him to death.However, some ancient writers recorded that because of Delphi People don't like Aesop, they deliberately stuffed a gold cup in his bag, said he stole, deliberately make him guilty.These records are very touching, but unfortunately they are not very credible.Therefore it is now considered possible to The fact of trust is only: Aesop's death was at the hands of the Delphi people, and the time and reason are different. Obviously, it probably has something to do with his liking to use fables to teach people and satirize people. Because of Aesop's death, it seems that he died innocently. The legend of revenge.It is said that since they murdered Aesop, there have been disasters in Delphi, The disease was prevalent, this is why Aesop's soul complained to the sky, and later all citizens confessed to Aesop's spirit Sorry, this is all right.Therefore, in ancient times, there was a proverb "Aesop's blood", which means that the blood of evil ends. Must be punished. The appearance of this great fabler has become a mystery to this day.recorded in Greek history Two hundred years after Suo's death, the Greeks erected a statue in Athens for the great fabler, from the The hand of the then famous sculptor Recipos.What this statue is like, we still don't know a little bit road.There are many ancient records about Aesop's appearance, saying that he was born lame and hunchbacked, with deformed facial features, He looks ugly and stutters.These weird records have now been proven to be fictitious. Not reliable at all. In front of Sir Roger's translation of Aesop's Fables, published in England in the seventeenth century, with a frame of Esop Aesop's portrait, this portrait can represent the general people's concept of Aesop since ancient times. In this portrait, Aesop is painted as ugly and disabled as in the general legend. There is a tree under his feet. A monkey and a fox, behind a lion, in front of an eagle eating a rabbit. There is also a tree in the painting, on which stand a peacock, an owl, and a strange bird crow.Aesop wore armor to adorn his hunchback and protruding chest.Holding a scroll of ancient paper in one hand, Holding a knife and pen in one hand. This portrait can be said to represent the general people's impression of Aesop since ancient times.he is the great fable At home, he himself has apparently become a fabled figure. Although we have many strange legends about Aesop's life, we must take a cautious attitude to distinguish Don't be true, but for the most basic fact, Aesop is the most famous fable in ancient Greece This fact should be firmly believed, and he is simply the greatest allegorist of all time. Yan Jia, we only need to look at how his fables have been circulated all over the world for more than two thousand years. You can know the shape. Since the fifth century AD, and the legend about Aesop, in Greece has been It spread widely, especially in Athens, the cultural center, when Aesop was mentioned in many works, such as Aesop The works of Christophe, Zinofini, Plato, Aristotle and others all mentioned Aesop's man and quote his fables.According to Plato's records, the great philosopher Socrates was waiting to die in prison. When I received news of the execution, I wrote some of Aesop's fables in the form of poems from memory.But according to As far as we know today, the earliest collection of Aesop's fables appeared in the third century BC. Made up by a man called Themetrius, one of the philosophers of Athens, but his book It has not been handed down.Later, the Latin text of Fatrus appeared, which is the earliest Aesopian The Latin text of the language, and also in the poetic genre.What a coincidence, Fart Ruth was also born as a slave, but because of his talent and learning, he was later pardoned by Emperor Augustus for himself. It's up to people.Some of Aesop's fables compiled by him are taken from ancient Greek books, and some are from unknown sources. the writings of Fatruus himself, and some of them are clearly the work of Fatruus himself, since the writing of fables has become a It was a fashion among scholars at that time.The book of Fatrus, the oldest Aesop The ancestor of the fables. We have now found no evidence that Aesop ever had any manuscripts of his fables preserved. If it survives, did he himself write down these fables, as well as the collection of Aesop's fables that have been handed down to this day? Which of them are the real Aesop's works?These questions are now difficult to answer. Just as Homer's epic is Homer's work, but it is not Homer's handwriting, so today Aesop's fables, as we know them today, were apparently originally dictated by Aesop and then passed on to others People dictate it, and then others write it down according to their own opinions.Since Aesop is a fabler If the reputation is too great, all fables must be "Aesop's fables", so the Aesop's fables we read today fables, many of which may have nothing to do with Aesop, at least some fables have been found in Popular in Greece before the time of Aesop, some were first mentioned even after AD. played.These are obviously not Aesop's writings. During the Middle Ages in Europe, Aesop's fables were once forgotten, but became popular in the Near East. Let's go, until the fall of Constantinople and the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, Aesop's fables followed The cultural tide of westward migration re-entered Europe.At one time, apart from the Bible, it was the most influential Great classic.In fact, the early church attached great importance to Aesop's fables, and found out from them There are many teachings that are consistent with Christianity.Martin Luther himself translated many Aesop's Fables Word. In 1610, the Swiss Isaac Neferert collected all the materials available at that time. Kind of ancient copies of Aesop's fables, brought them together, and recreated them from the ancient manuscripts kept in the Vatican Several articles have been translated, forming the most complete collection of Aesop's fables since the Greek era.Currently various The translations of the text are almost all directly or indirectly translated from Neferet's original text. There are four hundred and twenty-six articles in the most, and there are more than three hundred articles in the other.Undoubtedly, there are Many articles are about Aesop's contemporaries, as well as his previous or later popular works.really reliable There are about two hundred works belonging to Aesop.