Chapter 18 Mother and Daughter

Mother and Daughter ——After translation Coincidentally, just after finishing the translation, I watched the American Oscar-winning film "Mother and Daughter Love". In an instant, the Chinese-style mother-daughter relationship and the pure American-style mother-daughter relationship formed a clear contrast in my heart. What Amy Tan, a Chinese-American female writer, shows is the traditional Chinese mother-daughter relationship that our Chinese readers know and are familiar with: daughters' filial piety, obedience, patience, and courtesy. Before she died, she still rushed to see her. In order to save her mother's life, she even cut off the penis on her own arm to make medicine for her... And the Chinese-style maternal love is even more overwhelming and shocking. , Selfless sacrifice, this is deeply understood by each of our Chinese readers.Maternal love in China: From the time a child is born until he (she) gets married, organizes weddings, wedding rooms, buys electrical appliances for them, and helps lead the child after giving birth. Some families have three members, and the parents are in their 30s and 40s. , but still need the pension of the mother of the previous generation to support.

Of course, the above is the author's supplement for Ms. Tan according to the current social atmosphere.But no matter what, I think Chinese-style maternal love is a rare kind of sacrifice in the world. The reason why they are willing to do this is because their mothers, mothers' mothers, have come from generation to generation. The American daughters described by Ms. Tan: Although they also have black hair and yellow skin, and one of them has half white blood, they were born and raised in the United States and were "fed up by Coca-Cola and Italian pizza".They don't understand, or they can only speak and can't read Chinese, and they don't understand China. They misheard "Taiyuan" as "Taiwan", and they are indeed Americans.These American daughters also love their mothers very much, but they cannot bear the overwhelming and pervasive maternal love of their Chinese mothers.As one of the American daughters said, "Chinese mothers express their love, but they often don't care about it: what they think, their confusion, their anxiety, but they care more about what they eat, and they keep feeding their children spring rolls and eight-treasure rice. ——but rarely ask them what they are thinking..." Indeed, their Chinese mothers only know how to eat and drink, and they want their daughters to become phoenixes wholeheartedly without respecting their daughters' personal wishes. That kind of domineering and loving interference makes the United States The daughters laughed and cried, and sometimes it did irritate them.As a result, they have had to struggle against the Chinese mothers for their little bit of independence and power since they were young.From protesting being a child prodigy to being an ordinary child, to major events such as marriage or divorce, I don't want my mother to interfere.American society taught them the American principles of life, and they became accustomed to living according to the American principles. These American principles were precisely the "rules of the game" that their Chinese mothers scoffed at.For example, according to American standards, the daughter insisted that even if the mother came to visit, she had to call and make an appointment first.The mother thinks why the relationship between mother and daughter should be so serious?The mother thinks her daughter's success is her pride, and the daughter thinks she is her, the mother is the mother, and the mother should not brag about her daughter's achievements.The daughter gave her mother a set of pots, but she didn't see her using them, so she decided that her mother must not like this set of pots. In fact, her mother didn't want to use this set of pots because she liked it so much.When a daughter encounters a marriage crisis, she would rather go to a psychiatrist than tell her mother. The mother thinks that a psychiatrist will only confuse people. There are certain obstacles between women, but they can't shake the natural affection between mother and daughter. If there is kindness and resentment, love and fight, the water will not stop until one of them passes away, and the other finds out that he loves so persistently Looking at my own mother!

The four Chinese mothers in the book all left mainland China and came to San Francisco in 1949. Each of them left a part of themselves, water, in mainland China forever!However, they had to do as the Romans did and make do with the American way of life: they believed in God and feared the Neptune, and one of their families lost a son during a seaside picnic imitating the American way of life.In a completely unfamiliar country, they only feel that there are dangers everywhere.In order to fight for a place of peace for their small families, the mothers struggle against some kind of indescribable panic almost every day, worrying that some kind of disaster will become a reality, and avoiding all kinds of hidden reefs and whirlpools, just like the criminals who were raped in ancient times , suffering the pain one by one, and was not relieved until he left this world.

Mothers are most worried about their daughters.Their daughters are entrusted with all kinds of unfulfilled wishes. They hope that their daughters born in a foreign country can become a luxurious swan.However, the facts disappoint the Chinese mothers: these daughters are "American-born fools who have never seen the world", and the mothers can only "watch these daughters grow up and have children helplessly", thus sending out "My daughter and I are separated by a ditch, and I can only stand on the other side of the shore and watch her forever," lamented.In order to communicate with their daughters, mothers have to talk hard. : Tell them their stories, but the daughters just keep chewing gum and blowing a bubble bigger than their cheeks!

American daughters also have their unspeakable hidden pain: they consider themselves Americans, but their mothers use Chinese standards to demand them, and society ranks them as "minorities" and outside authentic Americans. This prejudice even affected their marriage.What troubled them even more was the Chinese blood flowing in their bodies.They have a natural Chinese-style modesty and meekness, which makes them helpless and confused about their real American husband and pure American-style family life, which leads to a crisis or even a complete failure of marriage!This kind of Chinese gene lurking in the blood suddenly boils and surges only when they set foot on Chinese soil.At the end of the novel, Wu Meimei finally meets her same mother and sister who had been separated for 40 years at the Shanghai airport. Whether it is an American daughter or a mainland Chinese daughter, both of them share a great Chinese mother!This is a meaningful and natural, memorable.

The whole book is divided into chapters on mothers and chapters on daughters. As a Chinese reader, I naturally prefer the chapters on daughters, so as to understand the mentality and concepts of Chinese Americans; There will be a feeling of itching.However, as far as the whole book is concerned, the chapters on mothers and chapters on daughters are in harmony with each other, and they can be independent chapters or linked together. In order to take care of the reading habits of Chinese readers and try to retain the humor and American humor of the original work, in the translation process, literal translation and compilation were combined, especially the titles were added by the translator, not a literal translation of the original text.

The co-translator, Yan Ying, is a graduate of the 49th St. John's University. She received great support and guidance in the process of translating the book. I would like to express my gratitude! Cheng Naishan