At 21:31 on September 2, 2022, the heart of xue fan, an 88-year-old famous translator, stopped beating. But his life grew because of his translations. In March 2020, this newspaper conducted an exclusive interview with him. His good friend writer Ma Xinfang learned the news, and also recalled the past and sent mourning.
"Evenings outside Moscow", "Katyusha", "Edelweiss", "Red River Valley"... The Scythians are gone, and the song does not stop.
"Evenings outside Moscow", "Katyusha", "Edelweiss", "Red River Valley"... Once a generation was humming his translation of the song.
Translator Xue Fan, some people say that he is the reflection of the years of the older generation Chinese, because he used that magic pen to return to the nostalgia of the Russian and Soviet unions, and the whole era has sung the moving songs he translated.
Xue Fan suffered from polio when he was 2 years old, and has been associated with crutches and wheelchairs ever since. But he had to fight for breath, so literature became a breakthrough in his life. Xue Fansu does not like others to "sensationalize", a few years ago, he said in an interview with the Xinmin Evening News, "Please look at me, not my wheelchair." ”
Recently, Xue Fan received a request from the Russian Consulate General in Shanghai to translate a hardcore and domineering song "Chinese People Will Win". Xue Fan said that this is the affection of the two peoples uniting together.
Listening to Xue Fan's songs will arouse national pride, he said that he wants to set up a choir dedicated to singing famous songs from all over the world in Chinese, an intoxicating bookish nature.
"Migratory Birds Flying" connects the Chinese and Russian people with deep friendship
Music is a good medicine to heal pain, xue fan is fighting life with his translated songs, and the hot temper and surging spirit also stir up the people who sing and listen to the songs.
"A Russian wrote a song about China's prevention and control of the new crown virus. Can you help us translate the song into Chinese if you have time? On the morning of the 18th of last month, Xue Fan received a text message from the Russian Consulate General in Shanghai.
Xue Fan said that he had been sorting out the score at home that morning, preparing for the concert for the second half of the year, and suddenly received this text message, "The name of this song is hardcore and domineering, "Chinese people will win." The original song was composed by composer Bronjiel (author of the song "Katyusha"),a famous song written in 1948, "Migratory Birds Flying". The Russian who re-wrote the song was A. Yevsuifiev, a staff member of the representative office of the Russian nuclear power construction and export company Jiangsu Lianyungang. "The Consulate General of Russia in Shanghai also expressed solidarity with the Chinese people in a text message." We sincerely admire the heroism of our Chinese friends who are fighting the coronavirus. We believe that because of their dedication, fearlessness, and loyalty to their country, they will win in the shortest possible time. Come on China! ”
Talking about this matter, Xue Fan said that he was "obligated", and immediately browsed the content and deeply felt the love of this Unknown Russian friend. "Fortunately, I was a 'night owl' who translated the songs overnight." After dawn, Xue Fan took a photo of the translation and sent it to the Changsha netizen "Valenkina", asking her to play the score, and at the same time asked the Beijing netizen "Captain" to search for accompaniment from the Internet, and then asked the Beijing netizen "Wuzhen GardenEr" to sing the lyrics of the Chinese. Unexpectedly, the "Owner of The True Garden" was spending the winter in Hainan, so he recorded and sang this song in a foreign country using computer software, and then sent it back to "Valentina", and finally she mixed and synthesized, edited and produced a video, and marked with Chinese and Russian bilingual subtitles.
The video "Chinese People Will Win" co-produced by Xue Fan and netizens was well received once it was released. Xue Fan sighed that a small song video was completed by netizens around the world with the greatest enthusiasm. Xue Fan said that after translating the song, he was also particularly excited. In the song, A. EvsjieFiev mentions that his grandfather fought against the Japanese in the northeast, which impressed Xue Fan. "The Chinese and Russian peoples have always fought side by side in the past and will always be, and this is the deep friendship between the two peoples." Xue Fan said.
The "Russian complex" is like the fragrance of lilacs
In 2015, Xue Fan registered his own "Xue Fan Music Studio", but in his words, it is "an iron signboard, a soldier of flowing water". Xue Fan is the general manager, secretary general and staff of the studio. Assisting Xue Fan is a group of Russian and Soviet culture enthusiasts, just like the video "Chinese People Must Win" produced this time, which is produced by "Xue Fan Music Studio". The studio will also go to the community in Shanghai to give some lectures on Russian songs. "No one is assigning tasks, I want to do them myself." Xue Fan said triumphantly.
Interestingly, in conversations with Xue Fan, he repeatedly stressed that his song translation work is not just about translating Russian songs. Indeed, this is the biggest "misunderstanding" of Xue Fan. Because in the minds of many music lovers, "Xue Fan" is the representative of their "Russian complex" and the embodiment of Russian songs. We often see that whenever Xue Fan appears, there are always countless music lovers around, begging him to sign, take photos with him, and compete to tell him that "we grew up singing your songs" and "your songs have affected an entire generation". The Russian government also has a high opinion of Xue Fan, believing that Xue Fan is "giving Russian songs a second life on the land of China." Xue Fan also has a special love for Russian songs, he told the author that this kind of song has a faint melancholy, just like a faint lilac fragrance, Russian songs have a high taste, the humanistic ideas contained in them are very rich, and there is love in its songs, but it is not a small love, it is a big heart.
Note, however, that of the more than 2,000 foreign songs translated by Xue Fan, Russian songs account for only half of them, and the rest are more than a thousand songs from nearly 100 countries. What you may not expect is that Xue Fan has also translated many European and American pop songs, and even rock music. Xue Fan jokingly said: "In fact, many Of the Russian songs that are now being sung are not translated by me, but more popular songs that everyone is familiar with are exactly what I have translated, such as "Rose Life", "Lily Marlene", "Pigeon", "Edelweiss", "Red River Valley", "Flower Girl" and so on. Many people in the industry call Xue Fan's translation of the lyrics Chinese, which also shows the uniqueness of Xue Fan's translation on the other hand.
Founded choir for "paranoid" young people
Xue Fan has always had the idea that no matter how much the song is translated, what remains on the paper is still "dead", and only by letting it be sung in people's mouths is it "alive". This is also his original intention in setting up a studio, he wanted to go out of the bookstore and work with music lovers all over the country to promote and disseminate excellent songs from all over the world.
"Can the Xinmin Evening News help me appeal that I would like to set up a choir that specializes in singing famous songs from all over the world with Chinese, aiming to promote and disseminate the musical culture of all countries in the world and promote the cultural exchange of Chinese and foreign music culture." Xue Fan said, "But I would like to state that this choir has no organization and no salary, and I look forward to young friends who love music and love art to create an artistic world with me." ”
In fact, for the current music ecology, Xue Fan is a little uneasy. He asked, do you know that there are no other songs in Russia besides "Evening Outside Moscow" and "Katyusha"? Do Italians sing anything other than "My Sun"? Poles and Bulgarians, Australians, Thais, Mozambicans and Mexicans what are they singing now?
"Now many people, especially young people, only know about European, American and Japanese pop music, but they don't know much about the excellent songs of other countries, and they have a serious partial diet and malnutrition in music." Xue Fan said, "Just like a person, growing up eating fast food since childhood, I thought that the most delicious thing in the world was hamburgers and fried chicken." He refused to try Sichuan, Hunan, Beijing, and Cantonese cuisine. In the past I thought that older people were prone to paranoia, but now it seems that young people are more paranoid. Young people should base themselves on the motherland and look at the world. You must know that every country and every nation in the world has its own unique and irreplaceable artistic treasures, which are worthy of our contact and attention. Xue Fan believes that in the long river of human history, the song treasures left behind are quite considerable, with the development of the times, good songs are constantly emerging, and they have their own irreplaceable contributions to the world music treasure house, and we should contact more to enrich the musical life.
Speaking of this, Xue Fan said with emotion that there are many beautiful songs in Latin America, East and West Europe and Southeast Asia that are worth including in our vision, "The beauty of beauty, beauty and beauty." That's a great way to say that. There is no conflict between various civilizations, and we must let the hundred gardens of world civilization compete with each other. (Shen Qihua)
Listen to the original song at Xue Fan's house
675 Julu Road used to be where I used to work, and the Shanghai Translators Association is upstairs in my office. One day, an elderly man arrived in a wheelchair. Shao Ru, secretary general of the association, introduced to me that this is Mr. Xue Fan. Ah, the translator of "Evening outside Moscow", the famous veteran translator. I stood in awe and stepped forward to shake hands. We've known each other ever since.
Unexpectedly, the news of Mr. Xue Fan's death came yesterday, which shocked me. The moment I saw him last year is now again.
That day, I came to Xue Fan's musical "hall" as promised, which is an old public house in the southern district of Shanghai.
I know that Xue Fan is used to working at night, working until the early hours of the morning every day, going to bed in the morning, and getting up in the afternoon to start the new day's work, so the time I agreed with him was 3 p.m. Xue Fan opened the door and said to me, I'm sorry, I just got up, don't see outside.
I said, you are the real "Night Fairy". He laughed.
I sat down in the living room full of books and newspapers. I was reminded of the question I posed: "I heard you have the original video of "Night Outside Moscow"? Let me see. ”
"Original song?" Xue Fan asked, "Is it a 1956 performance?" No, there was no video at the time. But I have a video of Trusson later singing the song. Let's also count the original song. Do you want to take a look? With that, he searched for it on his computer.
The familiar melody came out of the stereo, and Trusson lit up on the screen. The video has been made by Xue Fan. Looking at his translated lyrics and listening to the original Russian song, I couldn't help but hum. The rhythm of the translated words and the rhythm of the original song blend seamlessly together. This piece of music was the most familiar to Xue Fan, but I found that he seemed to be immersed in melodious music like me.
For example, since the publication of the first Russian song in 1953, Xue Fan has translated nearly 2,000 foreign songs, and "Evening outside Moscow" is undoubtedly the most popular work. Maybe he was too familiar with it, and some of the details of the translation of this song were really sorted out this time.
"Evenings outside Moscow" was published in 1956. It was one of four interludes written by the Soviet composer Solovyov Sedoy and the poet Maduzovsky for the documentary "On the Days of the Sports Congress" produced for that year's National Games. It wasn't well received by the studio at the time, but the following year, at the 6th World Youth Festival in Moscow, the lyrical song won a gold medal.
In July of that year, Xue Fan saw the list of winners of the festival from the Soviet Culture Newspaper, and five of the songs won the gold medal. Xue Fan happened to have the original score of three songs such as "Night outside Moscow" at hand, so he rushed them out for several nights to translate them. Xue Fan said that at that time, the translation and distribution of "Evening outside Moscow" was "the same" as other Soviet And Russian songs, and was not "impressed". Therefore, it will not foresee its later circulation and impact.
Xue Fan said that it took him two days to translate "Evening outside Moscow", and several translations were still unsatisfactory. That night, he went to the "Little Theater" to watch an opera performance. After the end, I walked on Huaihai West Road in a wheelchair. It had just rained a little, the ground was wet, and the French plane trees on the side of the road were dripping with water. Suddenly, from that building came the pleasant piano sound. He stopped and listened intently to Chopin's Nocturne in E major. Because he had also practiced it when he was a teenager, he was familiar with it. He guessed that the player was a young girl, and although the piano skills were not good, on that quiet summer night, the street lamps set aside a faint halo, and the sycamore leaves were whispering, melodious and fluttering piano sounds, which had a mysterious and sweet meaning. He listened intently to the girl's answer to Chopin, letting his mind wander through the ethereal illusion. When the sound of the piano finally stopped, he shook the car and left, and it was already midnight when he arrived home. Without any sleep, Xue Fan picked up the unfinished draft of "Night outside Moscow" spread on the table, and suddenly became inspired, translating the lyrics in just one hour.
Soon, Beijing's "Songs" and Shanghai's "Radio Song Selection" simultaneously published Xue Fan's translation of "Evening outside Moscow". Soon, the Soviet song was circulating throughout the country. At this time, it is less than two months before the end of the World Youth Festival.
According to later investigations, Xue Fan was the first person in the world to translate the Soviet song into a language other than Russian. It has also been counted that far more people in the world sing "Evening outside Moscow" in Chinese than in Russian. This song is no longer a simple love song, but integrates people's love and affection for their hometown, relatives and friends, as well as their yearning and hope for all beautiful things, and has become a classic work with a world reputation.
That day Xue Fan also told me, why is the translation of our song called "translation"? "Translation" is the transformation of language, and "matching" requires not only the words to conform to the rhyme, but also to conform to the rhythm of the music. Therefore, the choice of words here is "regulated" by music. This is not like a general translation. The so-called difficulty of "translation and matching" is to "dance with shackles". "Choose a career, spend a lifetime", Xue Fan's life, it is in this difficulty, so that I admire for life. (Ma Xinfang)