Reading tips, friends, fashion restaurants... His elegance is in harmony with the years.
Some people, men like it, women like it too; the elderly like it, children like it; artists like it, ordinary people like it too.
When I met with mr. Zhou Kexi, a translator, in his exclamation of "getting old", I felt that his steps were still so light. His white hair made him more personable. Reading tips, friends, fashion restaurants... His elegance is in harmony with the years.
The phone rings: a southern magazine holds an event to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Proust's birth. The phone rings again..." The offer is pushed as much as I can, I'm old. Teacher Zhou said.
Readers
On the night of December 12, 2021, CCTV watched a set of "Readers" program on time. The important guest of this issue is Mr. Zhou Kexi.
(Video)
A dark suit and a light-colored shirt, a well-known French translator with a straight body talks to Dong Qing. The small meeting and lecture have all experienced Teacher Zhou's calm and wise teaching style. Talking to friends, Teacher Zhou will look more dashing and funny. The magnificent background of the "reader", the powerful aura of the female host, and the teacher Zhou who "talked in a round and round way" is still the teacher of that Week, but under the dazzling light, obvious changes have taken place.
It is a powerful role that a stage play needs. Corresponding to the question, it radiates light. After 30 years of teaching mathematics, he chose to start translating from scratch and was transferred to the translation agency, "no title, no position, no room." Dong Qing: "Each of these three articles is to the point!" Zhou Kexi: "It may seal the throat with a sword to others, but it is useless to me, and I have an iron heart!" ”
It is difficult to translate from proust's book, the longest sentence has 19 lines, the large subordinate clause is in the subordinate clause, the middle subordinate clause is the small subordinate, and the small subordinate clause has an allophone. To Miao used Liang Shiqiu to say that the secret of roasting radish soup is to put more ribs, using a metaphor for time is the translator's ribs. From Rilke's poem "You want to love your loneliness" to recalling the happiness of having the privilege of "sitting on an equal footing" with Fu Lei, Wang Ke and other favorite masters. Teacher Zhou almost snatched Dong Qing's play. Sincerity and passion, that is the natural dramatic power. When the stage is expanded, the real commentary is full of dramatic impact, and the music, under the lights, is intoxicated. Later, when congratulating Teacher Zhou on the success of the program, he said that it took more than two hours to shoot and cut a lot. For example, the title is not that there is no title, but the leader of the publishing house says that if you are transferred in, the title of the high school and the sub-house must be "re-queued". "Oh, the editing effect is what the director wants."
Television footage was also given to the audience. There was Teacher Zhou's wife and son. They smiled intently at their "reader." At that time, this scene immediately reminded me of a passage in Teacher Zhou's book. "I remember that it was the beginning of the air conditioning at home, and on a hot day, the whole family sat around the dinner table and helped me transcribe the translation of "The Three Musketeers", and the atmosphere was nostalgic." - A good warm support group, a loner's nest.
Mr. Zhou Kexi participated in the "Readers" program
Belonging to the grand evening of literature, Teacher Zhou read aloud an excerpt from "Tracing the Lost Time" that he himself translated. "He has to go through all the stages of life, before reaching the final stage, through all kinds of ridiculous and even abominable stages, in order to be able to become a wise man to a certain extent. Wisdom can not be taught, everyone has to discover it on their own, this journey of discovery is that no one can do it for you, no one can help you go, in the end, wisdom is a view of things. The life you envy, the demeanor that you perceive as noble, is not arranged by a parent or tutor or the church; it begins with a very different alternative life, and comes under the influence of the vulgar and mediocre behaviors around you. They mean struggle and victory. ”
Read Proust – it's never too late. Teacher Zhou's voice tells you so.
Friends
There's an idiom called "exhausting yourself." Zhou Kexi is the source of this idiom. ——This is what Chen Cun used to describe Zhou Kexi's repeated deliberations and exquisiteness on translations. "I once joked that this is a translation method that does not make a fortune. Spending half a day dealing with a word is a luxury. However, Chen Cun, Wang Anyi, and Zhou Kexi's writer friends were all happy to read the translations he sent them to read, or discuss them on the phone. Zhao Lihong said to him, "If I were you, I would translate Proust specifically." ”
Excerpt "In Search of Lost Time" Volume V Female Prisoner, sprinkled with gold wax notes
"Tu Weiqun, Hao Yun, Shi Kangqiang, Luo Xinzhang, Han Hulin..." The names of these translators remained in Zhou Kexi's writings and appeared in his conversations from time to time. Thanksgiving, nostalgia, praise. Strangely enough, writing or talking about dealings with them is the simplest words and the most simple words, but there is something deep in it that can impress you.
When I took the deputy senior title, the English test was 11 points. As a joke to Teacher Zhou, he must give me English tuition, one-on-one class between two people. "The great translator gives me a cram class?" How precious his time is. But despite his enthusiasm, I became a student of his three classes. French translators pronounce English as pure as they are, and teaching methods are so scientific. Teacher Zhou has the ability to let me "find a little feeling" about the discarded English. The title english test, later scored 88 points. Teacher Zhou was also very happy, "That's better than 90 points!" ”
Enthusiasm is used to resist the darkness halfway through the translation goal; enthusiasm is also used to support and encourage, praise and help his friends. Zhou Kexi, who served as the editor-in-charge of the Shanghai Translation Agency's Foreign Literature and Art, once successfully opened a column in the magazine "Writers' Translation Forum", and ten writers, including Wang Meng, Wang Anyi, Li Xiao, Zhu Lin, Wang Zhousheng, Zhu Rui, Xu Lan, He Ping, Xiao Tie, and Ding Liying, published translations of their novels. From choosing the original English work that suits their personal temperament, and then carefully revising it for them, probably no second editor will do this.
Calligraphers Liu Yiwen and Zhang Sen, seal engraver Yimao, and Liu Baoguo are his friends in the field of calligraphy and painting. In the busy Western-style restaurant behind him, he was writing with his head down (in fact, he signed the book), and the black-and-white photo that showed the charm of Teacher Zhou was taken for him by Yi mao. The poet Wang Yin also took a picture of him reading a book with a calm face. Teacher Zhou crossed the border strongly. Among his friends were pianists, and when he came to a concert, he gave him tickets to see. Entrepreneur friends, must invite him to a high-end clubhouse for dinner before stopping. Teacher Zhou's hands are not empty, and his new and old translations and different versions will be generously given to friends. And if he wants to feast on friends, it must be expensive and delicious. He doesn't grab the order with you, the dishes are good, he quietly pays first!
"Mr. Keshi". Mr. Huang Yongyu's daughter Hei Ni likes to call him that. A good impression of Shanghai is associated with Mr. Keshi.
"When I first met Mr. Zhou Kexi, he had not yet retired, and I had not yet worked. Now he is eighty years old, and I will know my destiny in a few years. I haven't seen Mr. Zhou for two years, and I sent him my newly published book the other day, and the chat began with the sleep time of the elderly.
Mr. Zhou said that he thought that the sleep time of the elderly should be shortened, not too much to sleep, did not expect to do a small operation last year, but also snoozed all day, and now generally recovered, but still got up late in the morning. The couple laughed, it was half past seven, the little grandson wanted to come and was already on the way to school, they were still lying on the bed, and they didn't get up until eight o'clock, which was really embarrassing.
Record Chen Mengjia's "A Wild Flower", sprinkled with gold wax notes
Mr. Zhou then laughed at himself, his age went up, and his eyes were no longer bright. For example, writing brush words, writing large characters does not matter, if you write small characters, sometimes you will not be able to see whether the nib has touched the paper, and then you have to add and change.
Life must not be empty. Mr. Zhou said: 'Life, emptiness is very terrible. He said that in addition to 'carrying translations', he often reads and writes, and tries to study how a simple single pen can produce such complex techniques and knowledge. This was indeed an interesting thing, and I was able to listen to some of his insights into calligraphy, as well as anecdotes and testimonials from the Shanghai book scene. This is a short article written by Xing Bin, a senior Chinese medicine doctor.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, a watercolor painting of a cat and a still life drawn by female writer Zhu Rui was used as a greeting card and sent to Teacher Zhou. "You must tell Zhu Rui that she is talented!" Teacher Zhou said. He praised the writer's paintings, and when he was not careful, he held a calligraphy and painting exhibition himself.
Romantic
Recently fascinated by the English tenderness and humor of Mrs. Gaskell, born in 1810, I bought her a series of novels. Naturally, I read Mr. Zhou Kexi's early translations: Yasen Ropin the Rogue and The Life of a Ghost. As Chen Cun said, "His translations are clean, bright and lifelike." "You don't see the traces of the translator, you're completely drawn to the story and characters in front of you. "Life on a Ghost" was published in 1986 by author Danielle. With his most talented pen, Salnaver depicts how the extramarital affair between a man and a woman in the French provinces went from fierce to extinguished.
The male protagonist Pierre took the notebook sent by his wife's bank to his lover, who was strongly indignant and he did not know it. This delicate mind can only be grasped by female writers. "When he said this to Teacher Zhou, he smiled." I once met Danielle Saler nafer when she was in her 60s and very fashionable. I asked her if the lovely heroine in the book had a shadow of her youth, and she laughed and didn't answer. ”
In "Rogue Yasen Luoping", there are several places where Teacher Zhou scribbled the printed words with a pencil, which shows how much attention has been paid to the text. The translation of LeBron, for Mr. Kesh, is undoubtedly handy and easy, which also shows that Mr. Kech does not despise detective novels. He was obsessed with Proust and also liked LeBron. This is what Chen Zishan said in the preface. Mr. Tan Lide said: "The language of Saler Nafer's novels is free and uninhibited, as clear and calm as flowing water. It often seems easy for translators, but it is not easy to convey its charm. ”
Excerpt from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, sprinkled with gold wax notes
In his later years, Zhou Kexi was still constantly attracted to new areas of translation. He translated 16 classic children's works in original French. The English-language Alice in Wonderland, The Book of Slopes, and The Book of Rockets. Translating Baudelaire's poem, he used the original poem to make him "stunning". "My childlike heart has not been extinguished." He said, "As long as there is curiosity and interest in learning new things, the mentality is not old." ”
"After Eighty", Zhou Kexi's self-painting exhibition
Wise men take everything in their lives as a script and collect mockery. Romantics compose everything in life into music and enjoy lightness. The sky of curiosity is always new, and Teacher Zhou is undoubtedly a popular romantic school. You find wisdom in his translations. His romantic life in Shanghai, known for its pragmatism, is both dazzling and inspirational. In the French classics, he reads and translates the happiness that only he can experience. That kind of happiness sometimes turns into a sweet loneliness. He usually walks on the road in front of his home on Fuxing Road, and his appearance is always different, and his friends just like and appreciate his difference. (Yang Xiaohui)