Chapter 159 An Illustrated Natural History of Serpong

An Illustrated Natural History of Serpong Recently acquired an illustrated Natural History of Serpong. The content of this natural history published in England in the eighteenth century has somehow a fascinating power. Although its author only described the natural scenery of a small village in England, until today, Not only are there still countless British readers who love to read this book, even foreign readers also love this book. someone here.And most of them, like me, feel that what is written in the book is what we like to know, and at the same time Sometimes I want to write by myself.Of course, we do not study the natural sciences, but it is as if

Like the author of this book, Gilbert Fade, he did not specialize in the natural sciences.his job Yeh is a pastor in the Serpong countryside. It is a pity that there is no translation of this excellent book in our country.However, this shortcoming can be Forgive me, because there are so many names of birds, beasts, insects and fish in the book, I have to translate them into Chinese one by one, and I have to translate them truthfully And popular, it is not an easy task.This must have a rich knowledge of natural science and A translator with a good pen must also be interested in the job, only then can he be competent for the job happily.

Work. Japan has already had translations, and it is said that there are more than one version.However, for several birds Luzhi The name can be transliterated, and then re-annotated, which is naturally easier to start.we can't do that, The difficulty is here. Old man Qiming has always liked this book, and tried to translate a few chapters.The poet Liu Muxia is also a fan, he In the past few years, I also tried to translate one of the letters (this book is written in the epistolary style), which is about swallows, Later, it was collected in "Selected Prose of World Famous Writers" (Shanghai Book Company Edition), and it was translated very carefully.somehow not

He continued to translate.Maybe it's because of a healthy relationship? (He has recently entered the nursing home) Wade's "Natural History of Serpong" written in epistolary style, since the first edition was published in 1789 Since then, it has been welcomed by readers.After more than a hundred years, it is still a classic British work. Books are bestsellers, so there are many editions, there are more than one hundred copies, and the prices vary. There are cheap sixpence copies. There are also illustrated books as expensive as five pounds apiece. A book like the Natural History of Serpong is, of course, best illustrated.But in the eighteenth century

At the end of the century, photography technology had not yet been invented, so even if there were illustrations, they were drawn based on stripped specimens. This is naturally much inferior to the photos taken by the natural sciences of observing the lives of birds and beasts with a telescope today. up. However, there are also many exquisite illustrations in the old edition of "Natural History of Serpong", especially by the British The one in which many woodcarvers cooperate to illustrate is the cutest.I've seen one here before, unfortunately The price is too expensive. I didn't buy it immediately, but it was bought by someone else in a blink of an eye. It was really a missed opportunity.