The atmosphere in the room became a little eerie.

Lin Shu didn't expect that the young man in front of him would say that kind of thing.

It's outrageous!

His face turned ugly,

"Mr. Lu, there's no need to defile yourself, right?"

Lu Shiquan didn't hear it, and still didn't give face: "Mr. Lin, if you are here to find trouble, then leave quickly." I don't have that much time to play with you. ”

Lin Shu: "......"

I didn't catch my breath, and I was almost sent away on the spot.

Gu Hongming tried hard to hold back a smile, winked at Lin Shu, and said, "Look~ What did you say just now?" ”

As he said,

Lu someone, it's not easy to get along.

Lin Shulian took a few deep breaths to calm his chest that was constantly rising and falling due to anger, and then said: "Mr. Lu, you and I are both translators, we should be sympathetic to each other, how can we ......?"

Lu Shi raised his eyebrows,

Xindao,

Old man Lin's translation is actually more suitable for secondary creation.

For example, "The Remains of the Lady of the Camellias in Paris", translated in 1897 and published in 1899, that is, "La Traviata",

At that time, Lin Shu didn't know French at all.

How did that translate?

He even asked Wang Shouchang to hold the original French book and oral content, and then he sorted out and polished it himself, and compiled it into a collection with exquisite Chinese.

Modern people know how unreliable this kind of second-hand translation is.

Lu Shi asked knowingly: "What works has Mr. translated?" ”

Lin Shuxiao,

"The Remains of the Lady of the Camellias in Paris."

He was quite smug when he answered.

Lu Shi asked again: "So it seems that your attainments in French are very deep?" ”

"This ......"

Lin Shu also knew a small number of words, and his reading and writing were barely qualified.

He said: "In my translation, telling a good story is the first priority, and the accuracy of the language is not the primary pursuit. ”

Lu Shi couldn't help laughing,

"If the language and text are not translated accurately, how can we tell the story of the original book well?"

Lin Shu's eyes shrank.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Qing Dynasty literary scene was popular in the literary circle, and the narrow evil as a variant of talented and beautiful women was popular.

Among them, there are many famous works:

"The Legend of the Sea Flowers", "Nine-Tailed Turtle" ......

These blockbuster works of carnival literature have appeared one after another.

At the same time, the protagonist of "The Remains of the Paris Camellias" was a prostitute, and she was catching up with the tide and became a hit.

This incident inevitably makes people can't help but sigh:

"Chinese and foreign veteran drivers, sympathize with each other."

Of course, "The Last Affair of the La Traviata" is different from those carnival literatures after all, and it belongs to a relatively rare genre of pure love with prostitutes as the protagonists, so it is no wonder that it can be unique.

After publication, it was a great success, and for a time Luoyang paper was expensive.

With this achievement, Lin Shu must be extremely confident in his translation level.

What's more, when he was translating, he lost his wife not long ago, and his mood was sad, and every time he translated into a place of affection and lingering compassion, he couldn't help crying bitterly.

From this point of view, he did not allow Lu Shi to question "The Remains of the Camellias in Paris",

"Mr. Lu is too narrow-minded."

Lu Shi pursed his lips, he was too lazy to say anything,

"I was said to be generous just now, but now I have become narrow-minded. That's not bad, just an excuse to give me a drop-off. ”

He held on to the door frame,

"Please."

Lin Shu frowned,

"Mr. Lu hides his head and does not dare to discuss it, which is really not the translator's doing."

Lu Shi said: "I myself am indeed a translator, right. But do I recognize that you are also a translator? You're not even a translator, so what are we going to talk about? ”

Lin Shu: "......"

I was so stunned that I couldn't speak.

Gu Hongming, who was next to him, cleared his throat and said: "Lu Xiaoyou, although I don't recognize Qin Nan's initiative to provoke, I must also admit that his translation skills are still profound, and "The Remains of the Lady of the Camellias in Paris" is indeed an excellent translation. ”

Lu Shi groaned,

After a while, he asked, "Mr. Gu, do you know the author of the original work?" ”

Gu Hongming said: "Isn't it Mr. Dumas? ”

This guy read French directly.

Lu Shi coughed lightly,

"Then do you know, what two words does Mr. Lin translate it into?"

Gu Hongming replied: "It's 'Zhong' and 'Ma'." ”

Lu Shi went back to the house and got a pen and paper, and carefully wrote down a pronunciation:

ding。

Subsequently, he said: "I will translate those two words because of the influence of the Fujian dialect." In Mr. Lin's hometown, the word 'zhong' is pronounced 'ding', where 'i' is the result of the cracking of 'ü', and it is restored back to 'ü' when read continuously. ”

Gu Hongming tried to read,

"'Dumas' is pronounced 'dümma,' which is exactly the same as 'Dumas' in French."

On the other side, Lin Shu couldn't help but nod,

"Really."

Gu Hongming was stunned,

"Say what? I translated it myself, but I don't know? ”

Lin Shu was slightly embarrassed and didn't answer.

What I just discussed involves linguistics and phonetics.

How does he understand this?

Therefore, when Lu Shi made an induction, he, the authority, suddenly realized.

Gu Hongming nodded,

"Lu Xiaoyou, I think I understand the problem. A translator who can't get rid of the accent does have this strange situation. ”

But he shook his head again and again,

But who can get rid of accents entirely? This is something that some strong people can do. ”

That's a good point.

At present, the Qing Dynasty did not have a unified Chinese pronunciation system like Mandarin, and people in different regions read the same written text very differently.

Lu Shi said: "However, there is always the problem of majority and minority. ”

Gu Hongming was puzzled,

"What do you mean by that?"

Lu Shi replied: "I still take Fujian as an example. The phonetic system of Mindong dialect and Minnan dialect is very different, Minnan has voiced /b/ and /g/, Mindong does not; And eastern Fujian has /y/ (that is, ü), and southern Fujian does not. ”

These examples are preserved to the modern different,

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were even more differences.

Gu Hongming understood,

There is only a large population in Fujian, and the pronunciation is still "divided" like this,

So, how many people will be confused about translating "Dumas" into "Dumas"?

Now China has just opened its eyes to the world,

For this reason, translators should try to consider the needs of the majority of people, and it is not advisable to entertain themselves.

There are many similar things, Lin Shu,

He translated "Holmes" as "Sherlock Holmes" instead of "Holmes" or "Holmes".

But the former has been accepted by the majority of people, so they will be wrong;

Of course, there are also cases where you are not wrong and you are wrong.

For example, in "Robinson Crusoe", Lin Shu translated "Robinson" as "Robinson" instead of "Robinson".

As a result, in the 1989 (Second Revised Edition) of the "Handbook for Translating English Names" compiled by the Xinhua News Agency's Translation Materials Group, the translation of "Robinson" was clearly stipulated, which was regarded as an official correction.

Lin Shu also understands that he does have this kind of problem,

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly,

"Mr. Lu, these details do not affect the accuracy of the translation."

Still confident in your honey.

"Tsk......"

Lu Shi couldn't help but speak,

"What has the gentleman been translating lately?"

Lin Shu said: "Grateful for the failure of our dynasty last year, I have been mainly translating "Black Slave Calling Heaven" recently. ”

Don't look at the name crazy and cool,

In fact, the original book is "Uncle Tom's Cabin" by Harriette Beecher Stowe,

The two are almost completely incompatible in name, and they are not close to the letter of Xin, Da, and Yazhong.

Of course, the five words "Black Slave Calling Tianlu" still summarize the main content very vividly.

This kind of translation strategy is very good in some books.

But some are not, and even counterproductive.

Lu Shi asked again: "Is there anything else?" ”

Lin Shu continued to answer: "There are many other authors, Hagard, Doyle, Tolstoy, Dickens, Shakespeare, ......."

This answer is not surprising,

He translated tens of millions of words in his lifetime, and it is inevitable that the content will be huge.

The corners of Lu Shi's mouth are hooked,

"Doyle is referring to Conan Doyle, right? You're talking about his Sherlock Holmes series? ”

Lin Shu nodded,

"Yes."

Lu Shi continued to ask, "Then which ones have you translated?" ”

Lin Shu said: ""Yingbao Exploration and Theft Secret Treaty Case", "Revenge of the Chronicler", ...... Wait a minute! I also brought the manuscript with me! ”

The old man seemed to be injected, and ran quickly to the other end of the aisle and went downstairs.

After a short time, he returned,

"I've got it here."

There are three cases,

"The Case of the Secret Treaty of the British and Bao Exploration and Piracy", translated as the "Naval Agreement";

"The Revenge of the Servant", translated as "The Hunchback Man";

"Stepfather and Daughter Solve the Case", translated as "Identity Case".

Lu Shi roughly swept it and sighed when he saw it.

He complained: "In any case, the title of "Stepfather Solves the Case" is too outrageous, right? ”

Lin Shu frowned and said, "Mr. Lu can't refute for the sake of refutation. Isn't it accurate to summarize my proposition? ”

Lu Shi: "......"

Accurate is very accurate,

But this special meow is a detective adventure, hey!

In the title of the mystery is revealed.,It's equivalent to reading the comic of "Detective Conan" borrowed from the library.,I haven't turned a few pages.,Suddenly found that a character was drawn with a pen.,And write the mark "This is the murderer",

That read a hammer?

Lu Shi smiled bitterly and said his thoughts,

Lin Shu was stunned,

"This is? This is not a real case? ”

Lu Shi: "......"

was completely speechless.

Finally, he came back to his senses and continued: "There is also this "Yingbao Exploration and Theft Secret Treaty Case", the structure of the original text is to ask questions first and then answer, why do you want to directly change the structure and tell it directly? ”

Lin Shu said: "The average reader can't understand that kind of complex organization. ”

Lu Shi was a little annoyed,

"What's so nice to understand in popularity? You're probably looking down on the reader too much. ”

"Ah......h

Lin Shu couldn't refute it.

Because he found that he did seem to have decided in his mind that there were no smart people in the readership.

Even if there is, it is not as smart as itself.

Lu Shi said again: "And this "The Revenge of the Chronicler", why should it be rewritten in the order of the case? Written like this, what sense of suspense remains? ”

Lin Shu's face became more and more ugly,

"I'm still worried that readers won't understand the complex structure."

Lu Shi snorted coldly: "You don't call it translation, you should call it compilation." ”

Lin Shu's cheeks are like a swollen eggplant,

He snapped, "Say I'm not a translator...... Interesting...... It's really fun! In that case, what does Mr. Lu say about his translation? Let's just say "Lord of the Flies", those big vernacular words are really unsightly. ”

The topic has returned to vernacular writing.

Lu Shi said: "Summer insects can't talk about ice. Lord of the Flies is not a translation, the Chinese version and the Japanese version, I wrote it at the same time. ”

Of course Lin Shu didn't believe it,

The protagonists in it,

Masato Goto,

Keiichi Amano,

Which is not a Japanese name?

But if there is no evidence, there is no way to question it blindly, otherwise it is likely to be scolded.

Lin Shu also learned to be obedient, and said in a low voice: "Okay, since it was created at the same time, then I am very curious why Mr. Lu used vernacular instead of literary Chinese when he wrote the Chinese version." You know, Wenyan is born for simplicity, and it is clearly ......"

Interrupted by land,

"You're mistaken. Wenyan was not born for the sake of simplicity. ”

Lin Shu: "......"

I even thought I had heard it wrong,

The simplicity of the text is obvious to all. You say, 'Not born for simplicity'? ”

Lu Shi said: "Whether the literary language is streamlined or not, let's not mention it for the time being. But on the issue of streamlining, you are clearly mistaken about cause and effect. In fact, Wenyan itself is the spoken language of the pre-Qin period, and due to the polysyllabic nature of ancient Chinese, it can convey rich meanings in a few words. ”

Polysyllabic Chinese characters are not polyphonic characters, but a single Chinese character pronounced with two or more sounds.

For example

瓩 = kilowatts;

Phobec = Yingxun;

竔 = liters.

Gu Hongming was dumbfounded,

"So, Wenyan was spoken at first."

Lu Shi said: "That's right. Wenyan is the vernacular of that period, which is often said today, 'I write by hand and I speak'. ”

Gu Hongming asked: "What about after that?" ”

Lu Shi spreads his hands,

"In the Han Dynasty, the Chinese language underwent a phonetic change, and the number of syllables in a single word was greatly reduced, which created a problem: there were too many homophones, and if the pre-Qin grammar was followed, the listener would often not know what to understand. From then on, the colloquial and literary languages of Chinese began to be distinguished. ”

These conclusions need to be supported by a large number of archaeological discoveries,

At the beginning of the 20th century, those discoveries were necessarily non-existent.

But seeing that Lu Shi was so confident in Daoshi, Gu Hongming and Lin Shu also believed it,

After all, there is no evidence to refute it.

Lin Shu coughed lightly,

"Well, I got cause and effect wrong. Wenyan was not born to be concise, but it is more concise than the vernacular of today. But in any case, when translating or writing, a more concise language should be the first choice, right? ”

Lu Shi shook his head,

"I don't agree with you on two points. For one, streamlining is not necessarily the first option. ”

This time, even Gu Hongming disapproves,

"Lu Xiaoyou, let's not talk about those big truths, just talk about the printing cost. Isn't it good to use less paper and ink? Save costs and make more money! ”

Lu Shi couldn't help but be stunned,

Then he laughed,

"I never expected that Mr. Gu would start from such a utilitarian point of view."

Gu Hongming was embarrassed,

"You're saying I'm right, aren't you?"

Lu Shi replied: "In addition to throttling, you can also open source!" Abandon the cumbersome grammar and grammar, write in the vernacular, and unify the spoken and written language, so that more ordinary people can read books. The more books you sell, the more money you make. ”

Gu Hongming pondered for a moment, and suddenly smiled,

"You're right."

Lin Shu on the side said: "Mr. Lu, you don't agree with two points. The second point is ......"

Lu Shi said: "Vernacular is not necessarily not concise. ”

Lin Shu and Gu Hongming looked at each other,

They all felt that Lu Shi had a fever.

Lu Shi smiled: "Generally, when you arrive in a foreign country, what are the words you learn first?" ”

Gu Hongming teased: "Of course it's 'Bonjour' and 'Salut'." ”

Lu Shi said, "That's not right. The first thing to learn is usually swearing. ”

"Ah......h

Gu Hongming groaned,

"Really." 'Stupid pig' and 'stupid donkey', aren't they just scolding? ”

It's rare for my brother to be humorous.

Lu Shi continued: "Then in Chinese, how do you generally scold people? If I'm not mistaken, the most commonly used in literary language should be 'Bi Qi Niang', right? ”

"Ah, this ......" ×2

Gu Hongming and Lin Shu were speechless at the same time.

Indeed, if "Pi Qi Niang" is replaced with a vernacular, only three words are enough.

(End of chapter)