Natsume Soseki was surprised,

"Pull ...... Pull a banner? The British still engage in this? ”

Lu Shi complained: "You, rare and strange." Pulling banners, that's what people in elected countries do best. ”

Natsume Soseki was amazed.

Lu Shi did not continue this topic,

He first gestured to George Bernard Shaw and Waldhouse,

He then greeted Cavendish again, raised his chin slightly at the UCL gang, and asked in a low voice, "Isn't it arguing?" ”

Cavendish looked embarrassed.

Lu Shi said: "I didn't expect this to happen, I knew it would be like this, so I shouldn't have made any open letters." ”

Cavendish smiled, "Professor Lu, your mentality is really good. Let's go, let's go to school. ”

As he spoke, he took the lead and walked to the other side of the platform.

They left the smoky train station,

Lu Shi and Natsume Soseki found that the environment in Cambridge was much better than in London, at least there was no haze in the air all day.

The group rode in a carriage to King's College.

Of course, the students of the University of London Union are not so well treated, and can only walk,

From a distance, it looks like a demonstration.

It was also the first time that the residents of Cambridge had seen this kind of "Western view" and asked what was going on.

In the midst of people's attention, the carriage of the land time arrived at its destination.

The University of Cambridge has always been regarded as the highest university in the United Kingdom, and King's College is even more famous.

But the style here is quite elegant, there is no huge school gate, famous brand, except for the grand chapel, there are almost no giant buildings, libraries, teaching buildings are scattered on both sides of the river.

The environment is so comfortable that it is indeed suitable for academics.

Cavendish asked, "Would you like to take a break first?" ”

Lu Shi shook his head,

"Let's finish the speech first."

Cavendish actually wanted Lu Shi to rest,

The lecture was originally held outdoors, on the banks of the river on campus.

However, now that so many students from the University of London Alliance have come, it is likely that they will be smashed, and Cavendish wants to change to the room to limit the number of participants.

Moving from outdoor to indoor takes time.

Cavendish said, "Professor Lu, or ......"

Lu Shi shook his head,

"Rest assured, the students at the University of London will not tear down Cambridge. With Sir Wardhouse and Mr Siu present, I am confident that they will restrain the behaviour of the pupils without any problems. ”

Speaking of which, Cavendish naturally couldn't persuade anymore.

Together, they went to the banks of the river on campus.

There, a makeshift podium had already been set up.

As the audience gradually entered, more than 700 King's College students, and more than 1,300 students from the University League of London, it was really hard to tell whose home was it.

Lu Shi was a little nervous,

Although he has given speeches in London politics and economics many times, it is the first time that such a big battle has been held.

The following students are not easy to fool,

Cambridge University has a transcendent status and is known as "the hotbed of the Palace of Westminster" and "the candidate camp for the prime minister".

The two nicknames look like bragging, but the reality is even better.

No matter how big Lu Shi's heart is, he will not treat these elites as fools.

So, he decided to only talk about what he is good at today-

Translation.

Cavendish asked, "Professor Lu, what is the title of today's speech?" ”

Lu Shi said: "Faithfulness, Expressiveness and Elegance. ”

Cavendish looked at Lu in surprise, but he didn't expect that a Chinese would speak English so standardly, and the words would be so elegant.

He asked, "Translationally?" ”

Lu Shi nodded,

"Yes."

Cavendy praised: "Although Professor Lu is Chinese, he is very good at English writing, and he is indeed suitable for translation." ”

Lu Shi said: "Mr. Supervisor has won the award. ”

Cavendish nodded and ran to find James.

The two exchanged words in a low voice, and James walked quickly to the podium,

He said aloud: "Today's speaker for us is Lu Shi, a visiting professor of politics and economics from London. He is also the author of "No One Survives", "Yes! The Prime Minister, Author of The Mystery of Roger. The title of his speech today is "Faith, Reach, and Elegance." ”

As soon as the words fell, there was warm applause from the podium.

The students in Cambridge had a flat response,

On the contrary, the people of the University of London Alliance were elated, and even cheered.

The feeling of home and away inversion is becoming more and more obvious.

Lu Shi looked at George Bernard Shaw, who was desperately leading the applause below, and was speechless for a while,

He stepped up to the podium,

"Hello everyone, Lu Shi, a student sent to London by the Qing court, has not even had an undergraduate degree. Therefore, it is really not qualified to give a speech to you. But even so, I still hope that everyone will applaud a lot, just to see the performance. ”

The posture of these words is relatively low,

The Cambridge students couldn't help but smile.

Lu Shi continued:

“

I put forward this title by Mr. Yan Fu, a Chinese scholar. In his "Translation Examples" in "The Theory of Heavenly Evolution", he said, "The three difficulties of translation: faith, attainment, and elegance. It is very difficult to ask for their faith! Gu Xinyi, if it is not reached, although it is translated, it is still not translated, and it is still up to Shangyan. ’

Faith means that the meaning does not contradict the original text, that is, the translation should be accurate, not deviated, not omitted, and not arbitrarily add or subtract meaning;

Da refers to not being confined to the original form, and the translation is smooth and clear;

Elegance means that the words used in the translation should be appropriate, and the pursuit of the article itself should be quaint, concise and elegant.

”

After this opening, the students realized that Lu Shi did have real talent and real learning.

The words "letter", "reach" and "elegance" are concise and to the point.

Lu Shi said: "Xin, Da, Yazhong, the first two have no objections, but the word 'Ya' is difficult to understand, easy to argue. Ya, is it brilliant or fluent and beautiful? Or is it an ethereal 'literary'? ”

As he spoke, Lu Shi pointed at James and said, "I'm afraid it's difficult to translate Professor James's ghost story into a literary one, right?" ”

Everyone was stunned,

Immediately after, the audience burst into laughter.

The students felt that Lu Shi was not a simple character, and even ridiculed the professor of Cambridge University in public, which had the humor of Westerners.

James smiled: "What kind of literary do you want for popular reading~ I think the literary nature of "Roger's Mystery Case" is also very average. ”

This drew laughter from the audience.

Of course, everyone knows that if the essay is academic, "Roger's Mystery Case" still has to win a lot.

is also popular, and the purpose is for the reader's entertainment, but "Roger's Mystery" provides a new way of writing narrative trickery, which is so innovative that it is really difficult for ordinary people to touch porcelain.

Lu Shi saw that the atmosphere of the scene had been hot, and his heart gradually let go.

He went on to speak,

"Now, I miss a poem to illustrate my understanding of Ya."

After speaking, take a deep breath,

“

When you are old, with gray hair, and drowsy,

Tired of sitting by the fireside, take down the book,

Reading slowly, chasing the eyes of the dream,

Her feminine look and deep shadows;

……

”

This paragraph is read in Chinese.

In the audience, only Natsume Soseki could clearly understand the meaning of this poem, and couldn't help muttering: "It's really beautiful......"

Others can't understand the meaning of the poem, but they can feel its rhyme.

After reading the poem, Lu Shi said: "This poem is called "When You Are Old". ”

Everyone couldn't help but be stunned.

"When You're Old" is a poem written by William Butler Yeats in 1893, which is a passionate and sincere love poem he dedicated to his friend Maud Gang,

The language of the poem is concise, but it is rich and emotional, revealing the unbridgeable distance between real love and ideal love.

This love poem has only been written for seven years, but it has been quoted by countless romantic suitors.

Lu Shi asked: "Everyone, although you can't understand Chinese, you should be able to feel the 'ya' in my recitation just now." From a prosodic point of view, is the Chinese translation more memorable than the original text? ”

What Lu Shi just recited was Mr. Bingxin's translation,

As a professional translator, he believes that the original English text is the most beautiful.

But in terms of prosody, Chinese has more advantages.

Especially this translation of Bingxin, Lu Shi thinks that it is not exaggerated or beautiful, and when reading, he can imagine a pair of reminiscing eyes, old and bright.

(The main character's point of view, not related to the author.) ）

Lu Shi thought so,

But the British certainly don't think the same way.

Cavendish frowned,

"What did Professor Lu just say?" From a prosodic point of view, is the Chinese translation more memorable than the original text? Is he serious? ”

He deliberately kept his voice low in order not to let his words affect the students.

The Cambridge master of linguistics did not know how many, and immediately someone said: "Mr. Chancellor heard me right, Professor Lu really said so." And, I also think...... Ahem......"

He also felt that the Chinese language had its own school of prosody.

But there are British people all around, and they don't dare to express their opinions casually.

James chuckled,

"Xin, Da, Ya, Professor Lu said that translation should do these three things, but we don't know Chinese, I don't know if he deliberately ignored the accuracy of the poem for the sake of translation. If the original text is indecent, how elegant is the translation? ”

The other professors nodded.

But they were all very gentlemanly and did not question it publicly.

Natsume Soseki said, "Ladies and gentlemen, Professor Lu's translation should be accurate. ”

It's a pity that people are soft-spoken,

No one took Natsume Soseki's words seriously.

At the same time, the students below also challenged Lu Shi,

Someone said directly: "Professor Lu's words are a bit outrageous, right?" Mr. Yeats is a poet and playwright of our British Empire, and "When You Are Old" is also a poem written in English, how can it not be compared to a translation in rhyme? ”

Lu Shi wanted to laugh a little when he heard it.

To be precise, Yeats was an Irishman,

In the eyes of the English, Ireland and Scotland have always been synonymous with the countryside.

Now it's good that Yeats turned out to be a "literati of the British Empire",

Just like after Lu Shi became famous, Oxford and Cambridge wanted to rush to give him an honorary degree or even a teaching position.

"I knew that Mr. Yeats was English, and I even knew that he was a mystic and a staunch supporter of the 'Irish Renaissance movement.'" ”

The student said, "So you were talking nonsense just now?" ”

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"I didn't ...... Forehead...... You should be listening, I just talked about rhyme. ”

For a moment, the following students whispered,

Discontent is brewing.

George Bernard Shaw's brows furrowed tightly, and he couldn't help but say, "Alas, why bother with this? ”

As a playwright, he often wrote all kinds of arias,

Therefore, he has a clear understanding of prosody, and he also understands that Chinese and English have their own strengths, which does not mean that Yeats, who works in English, necessarily has an advantage over Lu Shi, who translates in Chinese.

It is the same first language, and it depends on the level of the author and translator.

But the question is,

"I'm afraid it's hard for the students at Cambridge to accept this view, right?"

George Bernard Shaw worried.

Wardhouse, who was on the sidelines, said: "Not only Cambridge, but also the students in our school have a lot of complaints. ”

The two looked around,

Students in the University of London Alliance are also debating nervously.

Wardhouse lowered his voice and asked, "Xiao, do you agree with Professor Lu's point of view?" ”

George Bernard Shaw cautiously said, "Partially agreed." ”

Wardhouse raised an eyebrow and immediately punctured: "'Partial approval' is 'complete approval'." Agreeing not entirely equals completely disagreeing, and vice versa. ”

George Bernard Shaw was helpless,

"Well, I surrender. I couldn't agree more. ”

Wardhouse nodded and said, "Since you have said so, then it seems that Professor Lu is still objective. It's just that I'm afraid the students can't be objective~"

As soon as the words fell, someone stood up to refute Lu Shi: "Professor Lu doesn't think that Chinese is stronger than English?" ”

This is a question sentence,

But the students at Cambridge couldn't help but laugh,

Because in their eyes, it is actually a rhetorical question that does not need to be answered.

For a moment, the atmosphere that was very relaxed just now became extremely tense.

Cavendish looked at Lu Shi,

Suddenly, he waved his hand and motioned for the professors to come out and take the student who asked the question away from the scene.

Lu Shi was invited by Cambridge University in an open letter in the newspaper, and he must not be so embarrassed, otherwise it will appear that their invitation is like a trap,

This is by no means a gentleman's doing.

The professors understood, and walked over to the questioner.

As a result, someone stood up and said, "Professor Lu, Chinese civilization has not continued for a long time, why do you still have such stupid ideas?" ”

The question is more acute.

The professors at Cambridge came out to separate the two.

However, Lu Shi motioned for them to stop, and said with a smile: "It's okay, I can try to answer their questions." ”

Wardhouse was stunned,

"Professor Lu, is this going to respond positively?"

George Bernard Shaw chuckled,

"Seeing him like this, I was relieved. Sir, you have seen his eloquence, and you have read his works, and this little trouble before you is not too much for him. ”

Together, the two set their eyes on Lu Shi.

Unexpectedly, Lu Shi's words were shocking,

"In fact, not only the British, but also many Chinese feel that the Chinese language is a burden, backward, and needs to be outlawed."

Mr. Lu Xun once said: "If Chinese characters do not perish, China will perish." ”

Of course, this view has the limitations of the times,

But it is also true that for quite a long time, there was a certain collective conviction of the Chinese literati.

The students in Cambridge were a little disappointed,

I didn't expect Lu Shi, who was waiting for his work, to be cowardly so quickly.

Boring!

However, Lu Shi's words changed again and said, "But I don't think so. ”

(End of chapter)