On January 17, the WeChat public account "Hangzhou Daily" published "Hangzhou Men Call from the Funeral Home: Can You Write About Our Gifted Son" quickly rose to "100,000 +", and in less than 10 hours, the number of likes reached "10,000".
This article originated from a phone call from Jin Sexyong. At that time, his wife Cao Meizao died, and Jin Shengyong, as a husband, used his elderly mobile phone to dial the "Listening to Life" column of Hangzhou Daily.
He told the growth history of his youngest son, Jin Xiaoyu - born in 1972, blinded by his playmate with a toy pistol at the age of 6, and could only squint his eyes since then, dropped out of high school for a while, was diagnosed with manic depression after being admitted to college, and was sick at home for many years after dropping out of school.
On the other side of the suffering, Jin Xiaoyu taught himself many foreign languages, translated 22 books in 10 years, and the latest translation of Benjamin's Epistles is about to be published. After his mother became seriously ill, Jin Xiaoyu also took care of his mother while translating.
On the evening of January 17, a reporter from China Publishing Media Business Daily dialed Jin's phone. At that time, he had just finished dinner and "could just talk." Hence the following article.
Here, it is the story of a family that has been devastated, but has almost overturned but continues to move forward. Two generations in the extreme situation, in the same boat, still choose love and companionship.
As the editor's note of The Hangzhou Daily wrote: "We believe that this small boat will eventually find a place to live in a huge harbor and a stable life." ”
(This article is transferred from "China Publishing media business daily, Hangzhou Daily")
01
More than 8 hours a day
When he was in the first year of high school, Jin Xiaoyu, who had excellent grades, was assigned to the top class. For some reason, my son became bored with school and did not continue to go to school. One day, he suddenly said that he wanted to go to college, so his parents sent Jin Xiaoyu, who had not been in high school for a few days, to a cram school. After a few months of study, he scored high marks — just 3 points away from a line. Later, he taught himself to get a self-examination diploma from the English Department of Zhejiang University.
The reason why Jin Xiaoyu was able to embark on the road of translation is inseparable from his early self-study of foreign languages. In a report by hangzhou daily, Jin Mentioned that in six years, Jin Xiaoyu taught himself German, Japanese, and consolidated English.
In the face of an interview with a reporter from China Publishing Media Business Daily, Jin Sexyong talked about the way his son taught himself a foreign language: the first step was to listen to cDs on a computer, usually the CDs attached to foreign language textbooks, and after mastering the standard pronunciation, the second step was to memorize words. "Pronounced accurately and the words are easy to remember." Jin Saidyong.
Jin Xiaoyu's computer | Source: Hangzhou Daily
After memorizing the words, Jin Xiaoyu began to watch the original movie. If there is Chinese subtitles, he will cover the subtitles with a small piece of paper, and then listen to the original sound and watch the original film repeatedly until he understands, no problem, and then change to the next one. Judging from Jin's father's narrative, Jin Xiaoyu first learned to apply a language before starting to translate.
When he was in good health, Jin Xiaoyu began to translate. As soon as he woke up in the morning, he began to translate, turning it over all morning, taking a nap at noon, and continuing to translate in the afternoon. "(More than 8 hours a day)." Jin Gave an accurate number. He went on to say: "When you are not in good health, then you will not turn over, there is no way." ”
Jin Sex Yong | Source: Hangzhou Daily
When translating, Jin Xiaoyu needs to be quiet. Jin Saidyong said, "He told me to be softer, then I would be lighter, sometimes closing the door and letting him translate." "Sometimes, the louder stir-frying will also affect Jin Xiaoyu. He would say, "Daddy, you lighten up. At this time, Jin Zhiyong would say "yes", and then his father would try to be as quiet as possible and close the door. "I don't dare to be loud, (for fear) that it will affect him."
During the translation process, Jin Xiaoyu rarely communicated with his father. But when the book is published, he gets 8 or 9 points on Douban, and he will share the joy with his father. Kim was impressed by Andrei Tarkovsky: Elements of Cinema.
In order to translate the book, Jin Xiaoyu found the original film of director Andrei Tarkovsky on the Internet to watch, and translated it while watching the film. He watched the movements in the movie and then compared them to the original English text. Jin SexYong remembered that his son said to him: I compared it, and I knew that it should not be wrong.
Douban screenshot
02
Translation work and the Encyclopædia Britannica
In 2010, Jin Xiaoyu began translating. In 10 years, he translated at a rate of 2 books per year, a total of 22 copies. Although the speed of translation is far beyond ordinary people, he is very rigorous in his translation. Once, Jin Xiaoyu said to his father: "I am very careful, (even if) a note is taken from the Encyclopedia Britannica, and the annotation is basically not wrong." ”
He once said to his father: If something goes wrong with me (the translator), I will smash my own job.
Jin Xiaoyu attaches great importance to this profession and also attaches great importance to external evaluation. If the evaluation is good, he will be happy; if the evaluation is not good, he will see for himself what the problem is and find room for improvement.
In the article "Hangzhou Man Calls from the Funeral Home: Can You Write About Our Genius Son", jin Xiaoyu's meticulous care for his mother is written. After his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Jin Xiaoyu was very sad, and he once said: "I can translate books to my mother's credit." ”
Jin Xiaoyu's childhood family photo | Source: Hangzhou Daily
Jin Shengyong explained, he said: "To be honest, if you don't have an acquaintance, it is difficult for the publishing house to immediately send you something that needs to be translated." There are certain difficulties. After you know someone, after you translate, it will be easy to do. ”
Jin Xiaoyu's initial exposure to translation work originated from her mother, Cao Meizao.
In 2010, Cao Meizao went to Nanjing University to open the 50th Anniversary Alumni Association. A classmate who stayed at the school as a professor asked her: Can you ask your son to do translation at home? Jin Xiaoyu's first translation assignment was 8 short stories by Andrea Barrett, who quickly finished one of them, "Ship Fever.". After turning it over, send the translated manuscript back to the publisher. "After reading it, they all said that they thought it was good and published it immediately, so the first book was very smooth, and then the second and third books were turned over."
Jin Sexyong remembers that because of the high quality of his son's translation, there were no typos in the entire manuscript. As long as the manuscript of his translation is sent to the editorial department, the editors rush to be responsible editors. Most of the books translated by Jin Xiaoyu were published in Nanda. Jin Xiaoyu has a good relationship with the editor and will call him a brother, and the editor will call Jin Shengyong "Uncle Jin". The editor has been to Jin Xiaoyu's house many times, "I know him very well, just like my family." Later, the editor left Nanjing, and Jin Xiaoyu translated fewer books in Nanda.
Reader's Message | Source: Hangzhou Daily
03
"It's not easy"
For Jin Xiaoyu, translation is not just a lucrative job. As Jin Zhiyong said in an interview with Hangzhou Daily: "Over the years, some people have not understood, saying that I want my son to do translation in order to make money, and I can only smile bitterly." They don't know that translation doesn't make money at all, and that new books are just a tonic when my son's life hangs in the balance. What is really important is that Jin Xiaoyu returns to a stable state of life through this opening. When he put in translation, the illness decreased.
The books translated and published by Jin Xiaoyu are mainly literature and art, and the subdivision fields involve literature, art, film, writing, and music. The Business of Hip Hop is about the hip-hop industry, Andy Warhol's Diary is a collection of diaries by American pop art master Andy Warhol, and "The History of Rock and Roll in Ten Songs" is a book on the history of music culture by contemporary American cultural critic and music critic Greer Marcus.
This is also a point specifically mentioned by Jin Zhiyong, these subdivisions have professional categories. Some people can only translate novels, some people can only translate movie books, some people can only translate music books, and Jin Xiaoyu can translate them. Jin Saidyong: "This is not easy. ”
When translating books on the history of music, music is played at home. "Boom-boom-boom", Jin Sexyong couldn't hear anything, the songs were similar, but Jin Xiaoyu could hear it. Jin Shengyong said: "He can hear which song is the representative work of which person. ”
On the one hand, Jin Xiaoyu's dedication and talent in translation, on the other hand, it is difficult for him to choose the manuscript submitted by the publisher. "There is no way, the editor sent this book, the music is music, the movie is the movie, this thing has no way, give it and turn it over." Jin Saidyong.
Jin Saidyong said that most of the books translated by Jin Xiaoyu are public edition books, and compared with books that need to buy copyright, the public edition book publishing house has invested less money in this regard. "Big-name translators can choose which one they like to turn", in contrast, Jin Xiaoyu has no choice. Jin gave an example, "(Assuming) that a book like Haruki Murakami's book would cost millions of dollars to buy, and he wouldn't be able to get such a book." ”
In an interview with Hangzhou Daily, Jin Zhiyong wanted to know more about the publishing house in Hangzhou through editing. "We are in Hangzhou and want to introduce Xiaoyu to some resources for translating books." The editor replied to him: "Yes, okay. ”
During the interview, Xu was the landline that rang, and Jin Shengyong answered another call that came in, saying: "(I)am old, and I am not used." ”
After hanging up the phone, he sent a text message to the other party. Therefore, in the suspension call with the reporter, the sound of him pressing the button of the elderly machine was heard, and a thick "da" sounded every two or three seconds, appearing silent and empty.