Chapter 161 Speech at the Arabic Literature Symposium

I am very happy to learn that the Arabic Literature Symposium will be held at Xiangshan Villa on October 18th.But because of my limited mobility, I can't bow down to him, and I am very sorry. I don't understand Arabic, and I have only been to Egypt in the Arab world, so I know very little.I once translated a book written in English by the Lebanese philosopher Gibran himself, because when I read that prose poem in English, which is full of oriental atmosphere, it aroused my love and moved me. It is necessary to translate it and make it public, although I did not know that this book received such a warm welcome when it was published in the United States!

I hope that scholars who know Arabic can translate more Arabic literary masterpieces, because I feel that we Orientals can appreciate Oriental works more.At the same time, I also feel that in addition to being relatively proficient in foreign languages, translators must also study their own literary works assiduously.Only in this way can we translate foreign literary works with more suitable words.Just because I failed to do this myself, I hope that young translators and comrades will work harder! October 17, 1983