Chapter 28 Simple and rich

Sometimes it is very interesting to look at the translated language. Maybe the original text is so delicious. The translated language removes some of the original text’s twigs, and the concise and precise expression suddenly improves the face-to-face loose expression.The translation language is the third language, which is simple and rich, interesting to read, accurate or misunderstood, imitating and expressing the inner meaning. In "The Other Shore Viewpoint" (China Foreign Translation and Publishing Company), there is an article "The Unique Table Manners and Saint Worship in Ancient China" (Kanas • Juno 1938), which describes Chinese table manners:

The most distinguished guests sit on the left, because only in this position can the host express to him the etiquette that must be expressed on this occasion in the most elegant and noble way.The host is on the right, and he can easily pick up all kinds of small and delicate dishes with chopsticks, or put them on the plate in front of the guests, or put them directly into the guests' mouths.On the contrary, if the guest sits on his right at this time, it will be very inconvenient.Out of etiquette, guests must force themselves to stuff excess food into the meal to show their appreciation for the feast.He can't leave anything in his bowl.He would hiccup in front of his master, expressing that he was very satisfied with the meal.

Regarding winter, Juno wrote: In many places, brick beds are spread over stoves to pass the cold night; There are so many that I can't move much.In their hands they carried a small basket-like hand warmer filled with hot charcoal. And family marriages: boys and girls engaged as babies and married as adults.The bride-to-be came to her husband's house and became her mother-in-law's maid, serving as long as her mother-in-law lived.You can see such small villages everywhere in China. They are all one family, and even the whole city is of the same blood. The kang where the northerners sleep, I also thought at first that they slept on the stove, and I was worried that they would burn their buttocks when they were sleeping soundly.However, I'm sure they'll have a secret mechanism in place to call the police before their ass burns. "The View from the Other Shore" is the product of the expedition team of the American "National Geographic" magazine to China. It mainly reflects China at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, which is extremely challenging.

Dr. Joseph Needham, a British historian of science and technology who wrote "History of Science and Technology in China" for China, wrote the scene very simply, which is unforgettable after reading it.He has a tasteful description of Kunming, but I still like his description of bamboo, which can reflect his observation and thinking logic of a historian of science and technology: China is mountainous, so it is necessary to dig terraces on the mountains.The rice fields look like giant steps on the hillside, and often a terrace may be only twelve feet across.Another difference is the stretches of bamboo forests on the hillsides beside the river.Seen from a distance, such as from a riverboat, the new and lush branches and leaves make the bamboo forest look like an explosive blast.For hundreds of years, the Chinese have used young bamboo shoots as food, and the fully grown trunks have been made into rattan, cables, sliding poles and baskets, and used for fences and building houses.Now used to make airplanes and gliders, the tensile strength of bamboo fibers is particularly high.Of course, bamboo is also used to make paper. ("Needham's Travels" Guizhou People's Publishing House)

I appreciate Mr. Needham's description of the bamboo sea as the air wave after the explosion. This feeling has a long history.In the bamboo sea in the south, the bamboo waves are raging, and the strong wind blows, the bamboo waves are intertwined in depth, and the waves are undulating, and the time has been cultivated into the valley, the abyss of giant camphor and red maple, and the water is full of white clouds.