Building a Rainbow to Communicate hearts (Translator & Book)

Source: People's Daily

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Translators meet books, integrate wisdom, knowledge and emotion in the resonance of the soul, and at the same time switch language, open the window of mutual hope between different cultures, and become an important part of the process of civilization. Classic retranslations, new works and new translations, between the lines, full of condensed knowledge, silent stories and the imprint of cultural communication. Since this issue, this edition has launched the "Translators and Books" column, in the translator's narration, read the story behind the translation, and pursue the resonance of civilizational exchanges.

The Argentine writer Borges wrote in "On the Death of Martin Berger" in "The Work of the Argentine Writers" "At some literary gatherings in Europe and america, I am often asked about Argentine literature. I can't help but say that Argentine literature (which has always been ignored) exists, and at least one book is Martin Fierro."

Repeatedly deliberated, and strive to translate the Chinese and Western similarities

In my third year of college, we had an Argentine foreign teacher who chose Martin Fierro as a pan-reading textbook. The content and artistic style of Gaucho's epic appealed to me, so I tried to translate some verses into Chinese. Intermittently, over time, by 1979, I had finally finished translating the first volume of the epic, "Martín Fierro the Gaucho." In the same year, I had the opportunity to go to the Mexican Academy for further study, and I wanted to finish translating it there. There happened to be a few Argentinian teachers and students there who could ask them about the problems encountered in translation. After returning to China two years later, the translation was basically completed, and only a few sporadic problems remained unsolved. Fortunately, I met Professor Carlos Alberto Regissamón, who taught at the Second Chinese Institute of Foreign Studies in Beijing, who was the head of the Department of Literature at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina and was an expert on Gaucho's epics. With his help, I finally completed the translation of Martin Fierro, which I put on the shelf and never had the luxury of publishing it.

In 1984, the 150th anniversary of the birth of the epic author José Hernandez, the Argentine government wanted to exhibit martin fiero in various texts. Our Embassy in Afghanistan has contacted china and hopes to publish this book as soon as possible and send it to the exhibition. With the strong support of relevant departments, Hunan People's Publishing House published the hardcover "Martin Fierro" (see top right picture, file picture). The Gaucho singer, who sang with Chinese, was warmly welcomed in his hometown, and the Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Afghanistan, commissioned by the Argentine "Martin Fierro" Translators Association, brought me a translator certificate and commemorative silver coins.

In May 1988, when then-Argentine President Alfonsin visited Peking University during a visit to China, then-President Ding Shisun presented him "Martin Fierro" as a gift, and the president immediately said: "I invite the translator to visit Argentina. "Unfortunately, I was in Spain at the time presiding over the translation of the Spanish version of Dream of the Red Chamber.

"Martin S. Fierro is the first translation I have done independently, and its difficulty can be imagined. Fortunately, in the process of translation, I unconsciously to consciously pursue the best approximation between the translated work and the original work, neither raw nor stripped alive, nor divorced from the original text, and tried my best to seek the harmonious coexistence of "alienation" and "naturalization". The first is the approximation of poetic forms. The epic authors are imitating the impromptu singing of the bard (wandering singer), using the most common folk song style of eight syllables per line in Spanish, and consistently, 7200 lines are octets. However, there are very few "eight-character poems" in Chinese, and seven-word poems are very popular, so I decided to use the seven-word folk song style to translate. The original poem rhymes, and the translated poem naturally rhymes. Since it is a Chinese translation, of course, it is necessary to follow the rules of Chinese poetry, otherwise it will be "unsatisfactory". 6 examples of acts that begin with the epic:

I'm singing here,

Accompanied by the melodious sound of the piano.

A man cannot sleep at night,

Because there is great sadness.

Like an isolated bird,

Borrow songs to soothe the desolation.

This is basically a literal translation. One senior once suggested that I change it to:

A song of the here and now,

The sound of the guitar accompanies me.

A lifetime of singing,

Suffering is buried deep in the heart.

Like a lone bird,

I consoled myself with this song.

Thanks to the kindness of the senior, I still insisted on my original translation. First of all, the rhyme of the original poem "A" (a) is an open tone, suitable for chanting; the "song, language, bottom, self" in the translated poem is a closed accent, which is not suitable for chanting. Moreover, in terms of content, there are also big differences with the original poem: for example, in the first line, the original poem is "start singing", not "song and song", and the whole book has a total of 46 chapters and 7200 lines, not to mention "one song". The third and fourth lines, in particular, are entirely the work of the translators themselves. I still think my translation is slightly better, maybe "blind mother holding a bald doll - others don't praise themselves".

Across borders, poetry translation brings people closer together

In the 1990s, when Argentina's new ambassador to China arrived, he knew that I was the translator of "Martin Fierro" and invited me to the embassy. I gave him the humble translation. The ambassador was very pleased, invited me to drink yerba mate tea, and then said: "Mr. Zhao, can you please read a passage and let me hear how Martin Fierro sang in Chinese." I said of course I could, and I read the opening paragraph aloud. He listened, excited, and first stood up, gave me a hug, and then tried to find a gift for me, but beforehand, he took out a Gajo's Facón (long dagger) from the exhibit in the living room window and gave it to me. I joked with him: "We Chinese gifts without knives, one knife and two cuts!" He smiled and said, "No, no, not only will I not cut you off, but I will also apply and ask our president to award you the medal!" ”

He did not renege on his word. In 1999, Yilin Publishing House included Martin Fierro in the Translation Series of World Hero Epics. The Argentine Embassy in Beijing held a ceremony for the launch of the new Chinese translation of "Martin Fierro" and took the opportunity to award me the Knight's "Order of May" issued by the President.

In December 2008, a publishing house in Buenos Aires published a Spanish, English and Chinese trilingual edition of Martin Fierro, which was not only well received by readers, but also attracted the attention of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They immediately purchased 1,000 copies and were willing to support the publication of a luxurious trilingual edition of Martin Fierro on a sheepskin gilded cover as a gift to dignitaries from all over the world.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Gomez Farias, President of the Argentine Association of Translators of "Martin Fierro", compiled a book "Confucius and Martin Fierro", which compares the aphorisms in the epic with the quotations of Confucius in the Analects, although it is a bit far-fetched, but it can be seen that the author's love for the epic and his reverence for Chinese civilization can be seen.

In 2009, for translating "Martin Fierro", I had the privilege of meeting the famous Argentine poet Juan Herman and recommended him to participate in the first Golden Tibetan Antelope International Poetry Prize. Hermann was not only the winner of the Cervantes Prize for Literature, but also a respectable revolutionary fighter. He was a special correspondent of Xinhua News Agency and was invited to visit China twice. When Premier Zhou Enlai asked him what he wanted, he said he "wanted to take the Long March" and really completed his "Long March" in the footsteps of the Red Army. During the second Qinghai Lake International Poetry Festival, we became good friends. Before leaving, he wrote a poem for me entitled "Qinghai Lake".

In 2011, I invited the poet Roberto Alifano, vice president of the Argentine Writers Association, to participate in the Third Qinghai Lake International Poetry Festival. From 1974 to 1985, Roberto worked as Borges's assistant, working with him as a translator. After returning to China, he wrote an article entitled "The Great Poetry Festival" in the Argentine newspaper El Paía, borrowing the words of the Peruvian writer Llosa to praise China: "This is a modern, confident, prosperous, and truly 21st century country, and its rapid development and changes have attracted worldwide attention." Today's world is still struggling with poverty, marginalization and insecurity, and what is happening in China is a model for the world. ”

After returning to Beijing from Qinghai, I accompanied Roberto on a tour of the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. When he learned that the University of Ricardo Palma in Peru had invited me to give a lecture on the translation of Bariojo's poetry in October of that year and awarded me an honorary doctorate, he made sure that I visit Buenos Aires and also give a lecture on the translation of Martin Fierro. I gladly accepted that this compensated for the lack of access to Argentina that year. In the hall of the Argentine Writers Association, hundreds of Argentine poets, writers and cultural figures gathered and listened to me talk about the contrast between Chinese and Spanish and the problems I encountered in translation. Among those who listened to the lecture, a Chinese teacher at a Confucius Institute told me that the next day, when he talked about it in class, a student said to him, "Teacher, my grandfather has a Chinese friend who also translated Martin Fierro." It turned out that the student's grandfather was Professor Regisamon. I quickly got in touch with the professor's daughter Monica. In 2012, Monica, her sister and a colleague came to China for a trip, and I invited them to visit home and visit Peking University. It was a surprise for them and for me.

Through the translation of "Martin Fierro", I deeply realized that language is a bridge that connects people's hearts, and translation is to build a rainbow bridge to communicate the heart, which can add bricks and tiles, and the translator will feel happy and happy all his life.

Zhao Zhenjiang, born in 1940. He was the director of the Department of Spanish Languages at Peking University, the president of the Chinese Association for the Study of Spanish-Portuguese and Latin American Literature, and was awarded the Order of the Knights of Queen Isabel of Spain, the Order of Alfonso X the Wise, and the Centenary of the Birth of Neruda in Chile. In 2004, he was named a national model teacher. He has won the Zhongkun International Poetry Award and the Lu Xun Literary Translation Award. His major works include "Introduction to Spanish and Spanish-Language American Poetry", and his translations include the Spanish version of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and more than 20 selected poems in Spanish.

Typography: Cai Huawei