Chapter 26 "Bad Boys and Other Stories" [1]

"Bad Boys and Other Stories" [1] Preface (2) In the "Memorial of Chekhov" by Skitalez [3], his conversation is recorded—— "You must write more! You start singing the song of the nightingale, but if you write a book, you stop, and you become a crow! Let me say it myself: If I stop after writing the first few short stories, People never think of me as a writer! Chihongde! A small collection of jokes! People think that my talents and learning are all in it. Serious writers must say that I am a different person, because I can only laugh. How can it be possible in today's age Are you laughing?" (Geng Jizhi's translation, "Yanwen" Volume 2 Issue 5.)

This happened in January 1904, and by the beginning of July, he died.In the year before his death, he said that he was dissatisfied with his own works, referring to the era of "little jokes" as 1880, when he was 20 years old, and until 1887 for seven years .During this period, he not only used the pseudonym "Antosha Chekhonte" (4) but also various other pseudonyms, and published more than 400 short stories, sketches, sketches, and essays in various periodicals. , court correspondence and the like.It was only in 1886 that the article was published in the major Petersburg newspaper "New Times"; Elements, the observation has become more and more profound.This is consistent with Chekhov's self-reported words.

The eight short stories here are from the German translation, but they all belong to the "Chehongde" era. The original intention of the translator is not to introduce Chekhov's works seriously, but to assist Mathutin. (V. N. Massiutin) 〔6〕 woodcut illustration.Mathutin was originally a famous wood engraver. After the October Revolution, he still carved illustrations for "The Twelve" for A. Block in his own country, and then probably finally went to Germany. This book It is his way of earning a living in a foreign country.My translation also mainly introduces the meaning of woodcuts, and does not focus on novels.

Although the author considers these short stories "little jokes", they are completely different from the so-called "interesting stories" in China.It's not just about making people laugh.It is natural to laugh at first reading, but there is always something left after laughing——that is the problem.Lumpy make-up, poor dancing, that look can't help but make people laugh, and when they laugh, they know: It's funny because he's sick.This disease can be cured or not.Among these eight articles, I thought none of them could be just laughed off.But the author himself refers to these as "little jokes". I think this may be because he is modest, or he has become more profound and serious later.

September 14, 1935, translator. ※ ※ ※ [1] "Bad Boys and Other Stories" Chekhov's early short story collection, including "Persian Medal" and other eight articles.According to Lu Xun's German translation of "Persian Medals and Other Strange Stories", it was translated in 1934 and 1935, and it was first published in the fourth issue, sixth issue of the first volume and the second issue of the second volume of the monthly "Translation" ( Published seven articles in December 1934, February and April 1935); however, "Persian Medal" was not published at that time, and it was first published in "Literature" as a supplement to "Ta Kung Pao" a year later.The booklet was published by Shanghai Lianhua Book Company in 1936 and listed as one of the "Literature and Art Series" (cover title "Bad Boys and Eight Other Novels").

Chekhov (A.Q.jInTJ, 1860-1904), a Russian writer, once worked as a doctor. In 1880, he began to publish his works, including a large number of short stories and plays "Seagull", "Uncle Vanya", "The Cherry Orchard", etc. [2] This article, together with the translation of "Order of Persia", was first published on April 8, 1936, Issue 124 of the supplement "Literature" of Shanghai's "Ta Kung Pao".Later, it was printed into the booklet of "Bad Boys and Other Strange Stories". [3] Sikitarets (C.M.d] PYNUIh, 1868-1941) Russian writer.

His early short stories mainly described the life in the Russian countryside before the 1905 revolution.He went into exile during the October Revolution and returned to China in 1930.Author of the novel "The Chernov Family" and memoirs about writers such as Tolstoy and Chekhov. 〔4〕"Chehongde" is Antosha Chehongde (EFYTANjInTFYI), one of Chekhov's early pen names. 〔5〕New Era, a Russian publication, was founded in 1868.It was controlled by the liberals during the Tsarist period, and was used by the bourgeois provisional government after the February Revolution of 1917, becoming a counter-revolutionary propaganda tool.During the October Revolution, it was closed by the Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petersburg Soviet.

〔6〕Mashudin (B.LNXVYPF) was a copper engraving and woodcut painter in the Soviet Union, and then left the Soviet Union for Germany. [7] Blok (A.A.aUT], 1880-1921) Russian poet. "Twelve", a long poem reflecting the October Revolution, has a Chinese translation by Hu Xue. It is one of the "Wei Ming Series". Translator's Postscript [1] This group of Chekhov's novels was translated last winter for the "Translation", and the sequence is not according to the original translation.In December of that year, in the fourth issue of the first volume, three articles were published, namely "Fake Patient", "Bookkeeping Assistant's Diary Copy" and "That's Her", with a general title; it is called "Anecdote "Three Chapters", with a few postscripts——

Generally speaking, if a writer has his complete works or anthologies translated by another country, there should be more attention, readers and researchers of his works in that country, and the author will be more well-known. understood.But this is not the case in China. Once the translated anthology arrives, the anthology has not yet been published, and it will never be completed, and the author has been suppressed and killed long ago.Ibsen, Maupassant[2], Sinclair[3] are all like this, and so is Chekhov. But the name has probably not been forgotten.He has not been forgotten in his own country. In 1929, he commemorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, and now he is publishing his anthology.But here I don't want to say more.

"Three Anecdotes" was selected from the German translation "Der Persische Ordenundandere Grotesken" (Welt-Verlag, Berlin, 1922) (5) by Alexander Eliasberg (4).There are eight articles in this book, all of which were written by him in the early period. Although they are not as gloomy as the later works, they are not representative of the masterpieces of that time. College students, I think it must not be allowed to be called a "short story". I am also careful here and translated it as "anecdote" based on the word "Groteske". Translator's Postscript The first article introduces one poor and one rich, one kind and one cunning aristocrat; A lady who loves to hear gossip.Although the number of words is small, the characters are all vividly drawn.But even though the author is a doctor, the diary he wrote for the assistant in the bookkeeping class is not serious. If anyone reads this article and really uses mercuric acid to cure gastric cancer [6], then I guarantee that he will be on the same day. die.Although this kind of announcement is very close to "Qi Worry", I have also seen people copy the prescriptions mentioned by fox ghosts in old novels into serious medical books-people are sometimes quite weird.

The idea of ​​the translation this time is not so much for the article, but because of the illustrations; the publication of the German translation seems to be for the illustrations.This illustrator, V.N. Massiutin, was the first to show woodcuts to Chinese readers. The illustration of "Twelve" in "Wei Ming Series" is his work, which has been around since now. More than ten years. In February of this year, two more articles were published in the sixth issue: "Grumpy Man" and "Bad Boy".The epilogue is—— I have already introduced three of Chekhov's novels of this type.I am afraid that there is a translated version of this kind of light-hearted sketch in China, but I have another purpose: the original illustration, of course, is the decoration of the work, and my translation is only used as the illustration of the illustration. As far as the work is concerned, "The Grumpy Man" was written in 1887; according to critics, it was the time when the author's experience became richer and his observations more extensive, but his thoughts became increasingly gloomy and tended to be pessimistic.It is true that, apart from the fact that the irascible man did not dare to be irascible, "The Grumpy Man" also clearly shows the humbleness of the ladies at that time, the difficulty of marriage and boredom; however, the work written in 1883 was regarded as funny. The "Bad Boy" I watched as a sketch is even more pessimistic, because watching the narrative at the end is already saying: the joy of revenge is better than love. Then I sent three more articles: "Order of Persia", "Unexplainable Character" and, all of them are finished.But when it was published in the second issue of the second volume of "Translation", "Persian Medal" disappeared, and the postscript also deleted the words about this work, and changed "three articles" to "two articles"— — There are eight short stories by Chekhov in this volume with woodcut illustrations, and here are two more to be translated. Perhaps it was about the character of Charestov and the corruption of the medical profession at that time.But it also shows that the use of race is different from "peer jealousy".For example, because of his surname, Charestov is a Slav, so he excludes the "respectable colleagues of the Mosaic sect"--the Jews, as well as the physician Gustav Prechtel and Johann. Von Bronn and Grummer, the pharmacist, all three have German surnames and are probably Jewish or Germanic.This kind of relationship is obvious to readers in the author's home country, but it is a bit entangled to add some notes when they come to China.However, referring to the Japanese translation of "The Complete Works of Chekhov" by Nakamura Shiraha[8], there are two missing words about the Jews here, which is not good.First, it is missing the line after "Colleagues from the Mosaic sect gathered together and shouted": "'Hua la hua la, hua la hua la, hua la hua la...'"; 2, it is "Moses The respectable colleagues of the sect gathered together again" and the following sentence of "yelling" means "the usual routine--'crash clatter, clatter clatter'..." But I don't know the original text Are there two, or was it deleted by the German translator?I think that the Japanese translation will never add a little bit for no reason. In all fairness, most of these eight articles cannot be said to be Chekhov's better works. I am afraid that Mathutin did not make woodcuts for the novels, but the translator Alexander Eliasberg translated the novels for woodcuts.But the woodcut does not quite follow the narrative of the novel. For example, the woman in "Unexplainable Characters", according to the novel, should have a beard on the fan[9], glasses on the bridge of the nose, and hands should also be There are bracelets, but there are none in the illustrations.Take a general look, do it by hand, and don't have to match the book one by one, this is a very common temper of Western illustrators.Although "resemblance in spirit" is higher than "resemblance in shape", I always think that it is not the right track for illustration, and Chinese painters don't need to learn from him. Is it higher? But the word "eight" in "these eight articles" has not been changed, and in the three publications, there are only seven novels, but everyone will not notice it, except for the editors and translators. Who knew that in this year's publication, the newly added line "Central Propaganda Council Book and Magazine Review Committee [10] Examination Certificate... Zi No.... No." is the mark of "Defending the People's Mouth", but we seem to translate it The author's translation was deleted, banned, and confiscated in this institution, and he was not allowed to declare it, just like going to the execution ground with hemp walnuts in his mouth.This "Persian Medal", which is the so-called "Central Propaganda... Judging Committee" assassination account. "Persian Medals" is just a boring scene describing bureaucrats in the era of imperial Russia. It was still allowed to be published in the author's home country at that time, why is it banned in China now? —We can't guess.It had to be counted as a "strange news".However, since the censorship of books and newspapers was established, and until it disappeared due to the ""New Life" incident"[11] in June, in the publishing industry, it really felt "broken and dilapidated". There are very few translations that can preserve its integrity. Of course, now that the land, the economy, villages, and embankments are all in ruins, literature and art cannot of course keep their integrity alone.What's more, because of my translation, there is Shiwei from the imperial poet official, and the help from the idle literati, so it is of course expected that I will suffer.However, there are destroyers on the one hand, and preservers, remedies, and promoters on the other, so that the world will not be deserted.I am willing to belong to the latter category, and I clearly belong to the latter category.Now I still take eight articles and compile them into one volume to make this small collection complete. Although the matter is trivial, it not only leaves an Asian-style "strange story" for them in this year's literary world, but also serves as a small piece of ours. commemoration. On the night of September 15, 1935, remember. ※ ※ ※ 〔1〕This article was originally printed in the separate volume of "Bad Boys and Other Strange Stories", and has not been published in newspapers. [2] Maupassant (G. de Maupassant, 1850-1893) French writer. He is the author of more than 300 short stories and novels such as "One Life" and "Junyou". [3] Sinclair (U. Sinclair, 1878-1968) American writer.He is the author of novels such as "The Slaughterhouse" and "King of Charcoal", as well as a literary treatise "The Art of Worshiping Money". 〔4〕Alexander Eliasberg Eliasburg, the German translator of this book. 〔5〕German: "Persian Orders and Other Stories" (World Press, Berlin, 1922). 〔6〕Hercuric acid is a bactericidal topical medicine, which is highly toxic.Weijiadaer, Japanese: gastritis. 〔7〕Sect of Moses Moses was the leader of the Jewish nation. According to legend, most of the teachings and codes of Judaism came from Moses, so Judaism is also called the Sect of Moses. [8] Nakamura Baiye (1890-1974), formerly known as Nakamura Chosaburo, was a Japanese researcher and translator of Russian literature.He has translated "The Complete Works of Chekhov", etc., and once translated a part of "The Complete Works of Tolstoy" with Masao Yonegawa. 〔9〕The beard head is the beard (beard), the tassel, and the son.The novel talks about "a fan with a beard head". 〔10〕The full name of the Book and Magazine Examination Committee of the Central Propaganda Council is "The Book and Magazine Examination Committee of the Central Propaganda Committee of the Kuomintang".It was established in Shanghai in May 1934 and was abolished in May of the following year.For its activities, please refer to "Qijieting Essay II Collection Postscript". [11] "The Incident of Xinsheng" On May 4, 1935, the fifteenth issue of the second volume of the Shanghai "Xinsheng" weekly published Yi Shui (Ai Hansong)'s "Gossip Emperor", a general discussion of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign The monarchy system involved the Emperor of Japan. At that time, the Japanese Consul General in Shanghai protested on the grounds of "insulting the Emperor and hindering diplomatic relations".The Kuomintang government yielded to the pressure and took the opportunity to suppress progressive public opinion, shut down the journal and sentenced its editor-in-chief, Du Chongyuan, to one year and two months in prison.The Book and Magazine Review Committee of the Central Propaganda Committee of the Kuomintang was also abolished for "negligence of responsibility".