"Puss in Boots" by French illustrator Gustave Dore
On March 5, 1931, the "Declaration" published an article written by He Jian, then chairman of the Hunan Provincial Government, entitled "Consulting the Ministry of Education to Improve the School Curriculum," in which he rebuked with great vigor, "In recent textbooks, every 'dog says', 'pig says', 'duck says', as well as 'Miss Cat', 'Big Brother Dog', and 'Niu Gonggong', overflowing the lines, birds and beasts can be human words, honorific titles are imposed on beasts, slang and grotesque, there is no way to speak", and then sighed worriedly, "If in a few decades, man will die, and all the beasts will eat man, and man will cannibalize." , "Stealing it will be immeasurable and boundless." He therefore strongly suggested that such textbooks "should not be burned for daily use" and should not be condoned. Not long after, Shang Zhongyi, who went to the United States to study psychology and education, and after returning to China, taught at Central University, attended the second annual conference of the China Children's Education Society and delivered a speech. In his later revelation of the speech, "Criteria for Choosing Children's Books" (published in Children's Education, Vol. III, No. 8, 1931), he stressed that the principle of "conforming to facts and not violating natural phenomena" should be adhered to as much as possible when compiling and selecting children's books, and that "birds and beasts cannot be used as human speeches, and if birds and beasts are made into human words in reading materials, it is more natural", and cited "children see cats speaking human language in reading materials" as examples, arguing that if a similar situation occurs, "it is not a perverse act in education". He and Shang's words are corresponding, although they are not named, but it is easily reminiscent of the protagonist of a popular Chinese fairy tale - a cat in boots.
He Jian "Consulting the Ministry of Education to Improve the School Curriculum"
1. From translation to adaptation
The folk tale of the "cat in boots" has spread throughout Europe and has spawned various forms of literary works: the German playwright Ludwig Tieck wrote a three-act fairy tale on the subject, and it was included in the first volume of the first edition of the first edition of the "Children and Family Stories" compiled by the German Chinese dialectologist Brüder Grimm, and most popularly by the French writer Charles Perrault Perrault's version of the adaptation of "The Tale of the Mother Goose", the British folklorist Andrew Lang, collected a selection of legends and stories from around the world and compiled it into "Lange's Fairy Tales", which is slightly polished into this Perrault version of the fairy tale.
Many of the many Chinese translations of this story in modern times are derived from the Perot version of fairy tales, but when the early translators mentioned the author, the names proposed by the translators were not yet unified, and it seemed a little dazzling. Ge Fuying's translation of "Puss in Boots" (in Women's Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 5, 1922), labeled the original author as "French White Basil". The translation is accompanied by a language written by Chang Hui, who was only the translator's boyfriend at the time and became her husband two years later, which briefly introduces the life and writings of "the author Charlie Baibasil", and relishes that "his fairy tales are simple, extremely beautiful, extremely simple, and very simple, and he has a kind of magic that attracts people to read." Dai Wangshu's translation of "The Cat in Boots" can be found in his translation of "Bellol" by "The Story of Mother Goose" (Kaiming Books, 1928). At the beginning of the book, "Preface", he tells the life of this "fairy tale writer who has enjoyed three hundred years of fame", and finally mentions, "In 1,697, he published a collection of prose stories in Paris", "The great name of the French fairy tale writer Bellor, because of this book", "This collection of prose stories is the "Tale of Mother Goose" that I now translate for children on the mainland", which naturally arouses the curiosity of young readers. A year later, Wei Congwu's translation of "French Bello" "Sleeping Beauty" (Beixin Books, 1929) was published, although this is only an selected translation of "The Story of Mother Goose", but fortunately this "Boots Cat" has not been abandoned, it seems that the translator still favors it. Xu Danian and Xu Yifei's "Collection of French Fairy Tales" (Zhonghua Bookstore, 1933) has a wide range of materials, and is not confined to one house. However, in the "Translator's Preface", Xu Danian still solemnly introduced, "When in the seventeenth century, France was famous for creating fairy tales, there was Peluo", especially praising his works as "elegant writing, rich imagination, and wonderful structure, all of which are unbearable to see". Among the three Perot fairy tales eventually selected in the book, "The Kitten in Shoes" is also included.
Chang Hui, Ge Fuying
Ge Fu's English translation of "Puss in Boots"
Some translations do not clearly state the origin of the underlying text, and although the main content of the story does not have many peculiarities, some plots are slightly different from the most popular Perot or Grimm's fairy tales. Taking the final ending as an example, in the Perot version, the youngest son from a humble background turned into a nobleman with the help of a cat, and married a princess, "The cat has become the master, only at home Nafu, and does not chase mice" (according to Ge Fu's English translation), in contrast to the previous plot in which the cat swallowed the monster that turned into a mouse, which is a bit of a joke and ridicule. The Green version does not have such a plot. However, when talking about the marriage of the younger son who became a duke and the princess, he continued, "When the king died, the duke became the king, and the cat in boots became the prime minister" (according to Yao Yi's translation of "The Complete Works of the First Edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales", People's Literature Publishing House, 2020), and in the end, everyone was happy and ended successfully. However, in "The Cat in the Wooden Boots" (published in Week No. 39, 1922), signed by the translator "Jade", when it is told that "a week later, a great wedding ceremony was held in this fortress, which turned out to be the marriage of Galapai and the princess", the whole story came to an abrupt end, and for unknown reasons, the cat was left aside and ignored. Huang Jieru's translation of "The Cat in Boots" (included in the first series of Huang's compilation of "Fairy Tales", Qunyi Books, 1921), focuses on the performance of cats on the wedding day, "The cat wore a new pair of boots with a pale red shoe roof and two rows of brilliant gemstones to the wedding feast". Huang Jieru once lamented that "China has never had literature exclusively for children" and "had to take funds for foreign works" (Introduction to the first series of Fairy Tales), and she should have had a copy when she searched for information and began to translate it, probably referring to translations and even adaptations in other languages, but its specific sources have yet to be further investigated. Roughly similar to the ending of the Huang translation, there are also Tong Xinyuan's translation of "The Cat in the Boots" (included in Tong's compilation "Liangchen Fairy Tales", Liangchen Friends Agency, 1924), and Yongru's translation of "The Cat in Boots" (published in "Youth", Vol. 15, No. 6, 1925), etc., which should be from the same source.
Huang Jieru's translation of "Puss in Boots"
In addition to translation, some translators have added and transformed the original story. Tang Xiaopu, who has successively compiled a variety of fairy tale collections, bluntly said that his works "are created and adapted, and as for simple compilation, it can be said that there are very few" (Tang Xiaopu's translation of Tolstoy Children's Literature Series, Part 1 "Stories and Translators' Preface", Commercial Press, 1923). His compilation of The Puss in Boots (included in the ninth volume of the first volume of Tang's Compilation of Family Fairy Tales, Commercial Press, 1923) adds many specific details to the slightly sketchy originals. For example, the Perot version only says when referring to the cat trying to catch the rabbit: "He put some grass in his pocket; He lay down as if dead. (According to Ge Fu's English translation) in just two words. When it came to Tang's writing, there was a calm narration: "When the cat went to the mountain, he found a piece of meadow, put his pocket in the ground, used a branch, put the pocket mouth up, and took some wild vegetables and bran, and put it in his pocket; Then he grabbed the rope that was pumping, hid on the side, lay on the ground, and acted as if he was dead, without saying a word. The ending of the Tang compilation is generally similar to that of Huang Jieru and other translations, but there are also detailed portrayals of events: "On the day of the wedding, the cat wore boots and came specially to congratulate Galabas and the princess, and some people who saw it said: 'The boots worn by this cat, which are set with extremely brilliant diamonds, shine on the eyes of the public. And he said, 'On this day, he liked more than the two newcomers, stood with a few beards, a glass on the left and a glass on the right, and drank a lot of happy wine.' This change of perspective and color is undoubtedly more immersive for the reader. Tang Xiaopu said to himself, "Every day at home, I have to tell a few fairy tales to several children in the family; Sometimes I often give a lecture at a fairy tale lecture at a friend's house; Sometimes, he gave lectures at a nearby elementary school" ("Discussion of Fairy Tale Teaching Materials", in Education Magazine, No. 4, 1922). Pan Linchang was full of praise for Tang Xiaopu's works, and also mentioned that Tang "every time he met children, his eyebrows fluttered and he was excited, either telling a fairy tale to children or doing interesting questions and answers with children", and he himself had such a personal experience in his childhood, "I have heard Mr. Fairy Tales, there are really 1,800" ("Family Fairy Tale Preface"). It can be seen that Tang's works also rely on the practice of oral speaking, and are not purely desk and written work. So after introducing the process of the three brothers' distribution of inheritance at the beginning of this fairy tale, he will suddenly insert a sentence "We don't mention the eldest and the second, just talk about the third", still retaining the idiomatic phrase in the oral narrative. In order to attract the attention of young readers, of course, it is indispensable to play those who do not tire and add to the egg.
Tang Xiaopu
Tang Xiaopu compiled "Cat in Boots"
2. Omissions and fallacies in the translation
As far as the storyline is concerned, "The Cat in Boots" is not complicated and the language is relatively easy, but some of the early translators are either limited in level, inexperienced, and sometimes a little casual, so they are not satisfactory when translating, and it is easy to have all kinds of problems. In order to edit the translation for his girlfriend Ge Fuying, Chang Hui once carefully "passed through several French texts", and of course she was familiar with the ins and outs of the story. He couldn't help but criticize in Bae language, "I remember that this "Cat in Boots" was also included in a collection of fairy tales published in Shanghai, but it was not translated from the original language, and it was not a 'human story', let alone a fairy tale", and the wording was quite scathing. According to the time, it is likely that it is Huang Jieru's translation that has been criticized. After a little investigation, you can understand that what Chang said has a reason and is not unreasonable. The Huang translation says that the cat went to the king with a captured rabbit, claiming that "the Marquis of Galajasi told me to offer you this rabbit", but it does not remind the reader as carefully and thoughtfully as the Ge translation that this lord who appears out of thin air is only "the name he gave his master at will", so that the "Marquis of Galajasi" appears repeatedly below three times, which inevitably makes readers of unknown reasons fall into the clouds. In terms of word choice, the Huang translation has decisively adopted the vernacular, which was still in its infancy at the time, but it is often stretched thin and appears to be left and right. The translation mentions that the cat deliberately said after seeing the monster: "Dear demon, what a strange story everyone tells you!" But really, can you change all kinds of forms? After the other party turned into a lion, the cat had to make new demands: "Anyone can become something bigger than their real body." But those who can make themselves smaller are smart. Can you become a rat? The translator, who was teaching Chinese at the Chengzhi School at the time and who later edited "Grammar and Composition" (Kaiming Bookstore, 1930) and "Misordered Essays for Middle School Students" (Dagong Bookstore, 1934), was obviously not yet able to use the vernacular skillfully at this moment, so that the translation was so difficult to read it, it is no wonder that Chang Hui was so angry and even spoke viciously.
Such cases of plot deviation or unsatisfactory words are actually common in other early translations. At the beginning of the story, the story tells the story of the three brothers' equal division of inheritance, and the jade translation of "The Cat in Wooden Boots" first says that "the eldest son got a mill, the middle son got a mule, and the younger son got a cat", although the title of "middle son" is still a little enduring; However, he then added, "The two eldest sons are very happy, but the younger son is sad in his heart", and the "middle son" who has just appeared not long ago suddenly died without a problem, and was inexplicably classified as the "eldest son". Tong Xinyuan's translation of "The Cat in the Boot" is easy to breed misunderstandings in terms of the title alone - in the text, it is unmistakably said that "the cat wears its boots", which shows that it has not gotten into the boots; And the cat's claim in his interview with the king that "this rabbit was ordered by the Marquis of Kabali-Bally" to be presented to you is the same as Huang Jieru's translation, which also does not explain who this marquis is sacred, making readers who are not familiar with the story, especially young children, very suspicious. In order to create an opportunity for the owner to approach the king's father and daughter, the cat arranged for him to bathe in the river in advance and hid his clothes in advance. But in Wei Congwu's translation, the cat first cried when he saw the king, "When his master was bathing, several robbers came and took his clothes away", and then confessed, "The bandits hid their clothes under a large rock", which is not only contradictory, but also inconsistent with the following plot in which the king takes another clothes to replace for his younger son. In Yongru's translation, in order to subdue the ever-changing youkai, the cat deliberately lures the opponent into the bait: "Anyone will blow up their body, swell larger than the original body, only really smart people can shrink themselves, shrink smaller than the original body, now for example: can you shrink a mouse?" "It seems a bit difficult to translate yokai into various animals at will, which can be translated as "blowing" and "contracting".
Wei Congwu's translation of "Cats in Boots"
Even translators with a more rigorous and cautious attitude are occasionally overlooked. Ge Fuying's translation mentions that the cat repeatedly took its prey to the king, and "the cat did this for two or three months, often giving it to the king and saying that it was the prey of his master's hunting ground", and the whole sentence is a bit tangled. According to Chang Hui, their translation "almost all the sentences in it are literal translations", presumably in order to correspond to the French expression habit. Unfortunately, sometimes the gains may outweigh the losses, not only is there a danger that Handan will learn to step and lose its old deeds, but it is also inevitable to make mistakes in the busyness. For example, when a youkai transforms into a lion, the cat immediately panicked. According to the Ge translation, "The cat was so afraid to see a lion in front of him that he immediately ran into the water leak, without effort or danger, because of his boots, it was very difficult to walk on the tiles." Since "there is no effort and no danger", how can it be "very weak"? There seems to be some tension between the front and back. Dai Wangshu, who also refers to the French translation, reads here as "The cat immediately saw a lion in front of him in horror and immediately fled up the tile ditch, which was inconvenient and dangerous, for it was inconvenient for his boots to walk on the tiles". Perhaps it is also possible to refer to Wei Congwu's translation with the help of the English version, whose translation reads: "The cat saw that the lion was so afraid, and ran to the roof, but not without great difficulties and dangers, because his boots were very stupid when walking on the tiles." It is not difficult to find that Ge and Chang neglected to adjust because they paid too much attention to the literal translation, and finally looked ahead and backwards, deviating from the meaning of the original text.
Due to the different texts and the different understandings of the translators, there are often discrepancies between the different translations. For example, the opening introduces the property left by the father of the three brothers, in addition to the cat, the veritable protagonist cannot be ambiguous, the other two things are somewhat varied, some are translated as mills and mules (Huang Jieru, Tong Xinyuan), some are said to be mills and donkeys (Dai Wangshu, Yongru), some become mills and mules (jade), some become mills and donkeys (Ge Fuying, Wei Congwu, Tang Xiaopu), and some become stone mortars and horses (Xu Danian, Xu Yifei). If it were just a mule, a donkey, a horse, or a mill or mortar that is not too different, it would be okay to ignore it, but the difference between the mill and the mill is almost heavenly, and it is unbelievable that the three brothers could calmly and quickly dispose of the division of the estate "without inviting a notary and an agent" (according to Ge Fu's English translation). To take another example of discrepancies in the details of the various translations: in order to win the king's trust, the cat repeatedly offered its captured prey. In the first time, all the translators said that it was a rabbit, but in the second time, they all went their own way, some thought it was "quail" (Huang Jieru, Yongru), some judged it to be "bamboo chicken" (Ge Fuying, Yu, Tong Xinyuan), some thought it was "partridge" (Dai Wangshu), some concluded that it was "pigeon" (Wei Congwu), and some simply did not make a distinction, just said in general terms "caught many birds" (Xu Danian, Xu Yifei). If curious readers carefully rank and specify, they will inevitably be confused and at a loss.
This seemingly simple plot and shallow language of this fairy tale has so many unexpected and even ridiculous problems in the process of Chinese translation, regardless of the complicated sources of the underlying sources (such as Xu Danian and Xu Yifei's co-translation of "French Fairy Tales" translated from the Japanese translation of Takusuke Nagahashi), and more importantly, it is probably because most translators have not carefully covered and scrutinized, let alone fully estimated the triviality and arduousness of the translation. Huang Jieru, the first official translator of this fairy tale, for example, was initially ambitious, planning to "edit a perfect children's literature", so she "decided to introduce 1200 foreign fairy tales first, which can be regarded as a draft of future children's literature; It can also be used as a small snack to satisfy a child's hunger" (Introduction to the first series of Fairy Tales), but after the translation of the first series of twenty-one works, the follow-up was weak, and there was no follow-up after that. Translating fairy tales may seem like a no-brainer, but even to meet the basic requirements of faithfulness, it is still "easy but difficult".
3. The growth and decline of Chinese and dialects
At the beginning of the May Fourth New Literary Movement, Hu Shi vigorously advocated "Chinese literature and literary Chinese", not only advocating "using the vernacular to make all kinds of literature", but even believing that even translation must be "translated into vernacular prose" ("On the Literary Revolution of Construction", in New Youth, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1918). But behind this exciting slogan, there is not only the question of what "Chinese" is, but also the confrontation between "Chinese" and "dialect". As Lü Shuxiang later concluded, "the name 'Chinese' is now used, on the one hand, to Chinese 'Zhong Chinese' and on the other hand, to treat the 'standard language' with dialects" (Essentials of Chinese Grammar, Chapter 1, "Characters and Words", Commercial Press, 1941). In the field of children's literature, this new view of language is also gradually showing its influence. Modern scholars initially collected folk fairy tales circulating in various places, "only seeking their authenticity in terms of materials", "their style is to write down according to the tone of peasant village women, so the spoken dialect is inserted into the text", Zhao Jingshen felt that this method was inappropriate, emphasizing that children must fully consider whether they "can properly dissolve the nourishment we give", especially educational fairy tales, "colloquial dialects cannot be used, and if they are used, they will hinder the universal" ("Ways to Study Fairy Tales", in Literature, No. 108, 1924). However, it is still difficult to actually implement this proposition. Even if all parties have gradually reached a consensus to adopt Beijing dialect as the standard Chinese, they have to face up to the question: "Beijing dialect is just a special dialect, how can it be considered Chinese?" (Chen Duxiu, "Correspondence and Answering Qian Xuantong", in New Youth, Vol. 3, No. 6, 1917)
Zhao Jingshen "Ways to Study Fairy Tales"
At the beginning of the popularization of Chinese, it was not uncommon for the southern and northern tones to be mixed. On the one hand, it will certainly cause hidden worries and criticism that "in order to make the new literature purely vernacular, different local dialects are different" (Huang Jueseng, "Eclectic Literary Innovation", published in Shiji Xinbao Xuedeng, August 8, 1918), but on the other hand, there are still people who are optimistic that "dialects are not invincible", and once the standards of literature Chinese are established, "not only are they not afraid of the literature of dialects competing with him, but they also have to rely on the new materials and new bloodlines provided by various local dialects" (Hu Shi, "Answer to Huang Jue Sengjun "The Theory of Eclectic Literary Innovation", in New Youth, Vol. 5, No. 3, 1918). Through the early translation of "Puss in Boots", you can also get a glimpse of the ebb and flow between "Chinese" and "dialect". Tang Xiaopu, who was originally born in Beijing and has worked in Beijing and Tianjin for a long time, is naturally familiar with "using pure Chinese" (Pan Linchang's "Family Fairy Tale Preface") in his works. The performance of other translators is different, in Jade's translation, it is said that after dividing the inheritance, the younger son was unwilling, and complained in a low voice, "Big brother and middle brother are not afraid of starving to death"; Huang Jieru mentioned in the translation that in order for the owner to have the opportunity to get acquainted with the king's father and daughter, the cat advised him, "I will show you a place in the river; You can take a good bath there"; Yongru's translation tells of the cat asking the king for help, "My master is now in the water, and if he is in the water for too long, he will become sick"; In Wei Congwu's translation, the cat threatens the farmers along the way that they must do what he tells them to do, or "you will be chopped into meatballs"; In the translation of Tong Xinyuan, the cat asks the youkai to turn him into a mouse, and the latter immediately replies, "It's very convenient." There are many words, interspersed with local dialects. It may seem like a deviation from the right path of establishing standard Chinese, but for readers familiar with these dialect vocabulary, there is a vivid and vivid sense of intimacy.
Speaking of forging dialect vocabulary in translation, it is worth detailing Ge Fuying's translation. It mentions that the younger son saw the cat "can spin the rat and the mouse very briskly", and then said that the cat waited until the rabbit got into his pocket and "immediately pulled the rope and stopped him", and saw the bamboo chicken flying into his pocket and "when he pulled the rope, both of them were gathered"; Near the climax of the story, "Uncle Cat finally arrives in a gorgeous palace, and the owner is an ant tiger", and later in the narration of the battle of wits between the cat and the monster, he also repeatedly calls the latter "Ant Huzi". The constant appearance of "㧹" and "ant tiger" in the translation is a bit jerky and puzzling. Fortunately, at the end of the translation, in addition to Chang Hui's Bae language, there is also a note from Zhou Zuoren, mentioning that "there are one or two sentences in this translation, or a little explanation", which has been well anticipated that the reader may be confused.
Regarding the former, Zhou Zuoren explained, "'㧹' is pronounced as ㄉㄞ, Yiyun catches, and it is this character that is written in Mr. Zhao Yuanren's translation of "Alice", not only for this phonetic interpretation, but also incidentally mentioned that Zhao Yuanren's translation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Commercial Press, 1922) also had a similar word. In the book "Ordinary Cases", Zhao Yuanren has a special "style" article, introducing the basic principles he adopted when translating, "The narrative is all in ordinary style. But to speak vividly in conversation, you have to use material from a living dialect. The wording of Beijing dialect is relatively easy to understand, but I am afraid that there are still too rustic and difficult places, so I will make a "special vocabulary" for reference." In the subsequent "Special Vocabulary", the entry "ㄉㄞ, 歹, capture" was prominently listed. Zhou Zuoren wrote a book review under the pseudonym "Zhongmi" as Zhao Translation, which was published in the Morning Post Vice-Edition on March 12, 1922, and the note he wrote for Ge's translation was signed at the end of the article on March 30, 1922. The distance between the two was only more than half a month, so he still remembered it and easily used Zhao's interpretation to add footnotes to the Ge translation.
As for the specific reference of the latter, Zhou Zuoren's explanation is more detailed, "'Ant Huzi' is a kind of utopian monster that children fear, and Beijingers say that it is based on the story of Mahu in the Sui Dynasty, and there are other explanations in the Popular Edition, and there is no need to test him now." The original Ogre is said to be derived from Oigour (Uighurs), but in fairy tales it refers to man-eating giants." The "Popular Compilation" is a dictionary compiled by Zhai Hao of the Qing Dynasty, classifying and examining various colloquial dialects. In volume 34 "Appearance", there is a "Mahu" article, hook the "Chaoye Yuzai", "Great Cause Gleaning Notes", "Zi Ji Ji", "Yang Wen Gong Tan Yuan", "Yeke Series" and other different records in Tang and Song Dynasty documents, it is believed that "the number is different, and the one is undecided". Zhou Zuoren, who is partial to folk customs, is quite partial to this book, and not only quotes and comments in various writings, but also specially purchased a publication of "Jijia Engraving" (Xie Dongrong compiled the inscription of the Zhitang Ancient Book Collection, National Library Press, 2023) for daily review, so when reading the Ge translation, he will quickly recall the relevant content in the book.
Although Zhai Hao's "Popular Compilation" lists different theories but does not distinguish right from wrong, Zhou Zuoren refers to local folk legends in Beijing and selects the phrase "Sui Dynasty Mahu" to interpret Ge's translation. This is reminiscent of a few years later, when Lu Xun also said in his article "Twenty-four Filial Piety Charts" (in Mangyuan, Vol. 1, No. 10, 1926), "Beijing now often uses the phrase 'sloppy' to intimidate children." Or in other words, that is the Ma Shumou contained in the "Records of Opening the River", who opened the river for Emperor Sui and steamed Xiaoer to death; To write it correctly, it must be 'hempbeard'. Then, this Uncle Ma is a Hu person." This essay was later compiled into Chao Hua Xi Shi (unnamed society, 1928), and in the "Afterword", Lu Xun added a correction, "At the beginning of my third lecture on 'Twenty-Four Filial Piety', I say that Beijing's 'sloppy son' who intimidates children should be called 'Ma Huzi', referring to Ma Shumou, and he is a Hu person. Now I know that it is wrong, 'Hu' should be called 'Hu', the name of Shumou", and then recorded the relevant records in the "Collection of Resources" as evidence. The difference between "horse" and "ant" is just the difference between recording spoken language, and it is actually the same thing. In connection with the explanations made by Zhou Shi Kunzhong, it is not difficult to know Ge Fuying's borrowing of "ant tiger" to refer to the intentions of the monsters in the story and their origins.
Zhou Zuoren was so enthusiastic about writing a postscript to Ge Fuying's translation, which should be related to Chang Hui. Chang and Zhou's acquaintance and intersection began with the establishment of the Song Research Association. The "Notice of Peking University Song Collection Office" (published in Peking University Journal, Nos. 768 and 769, December 14 and 15, 1920), signed by Zhou Zuoren, Shen Jianshi and Qian Xuantong, mentioned after introducing the relevant collection and editing matters, "We decided to launch a song research association after receiving a letter from Mr. Chang Weijun" (Chang Huizi Weijun), which shows that the planning of this matter originated from Chang's ideas and suggestions. After the formal establishment of the research society, he founded the weekly "Ballads", "the editors are Mr. Zhou Zuoren and Mr. Chang Hui" (Shen Jianshi, "The Origin of Song Weekly", published in "Song" No. 1, December 17, 1922), and since then the two have been communicating more and more closely. Zhou Zuoren's reward and promotion of the fledgling Ge Fuying needless to say is closely related to Chang Hui's recommendation on the side. At the same time, the characteristics of Ge's translation in terms of word choice and language formation were also fully in line with Zhou Zuoren's proposition at that time. In "Opinions on Chinese Transformation" (published in Oriental Magazine, Vol. 19, No. 17, 1922), Zhou Zuoren made a proposal to "adopt dialects", arguing that not only "those who are incomplete in the vernacular but unique in the dialect should be included", but also that "if the language is originally present in the Chinese, only the dialect has historical or literary meaning, it can also be included in the dictionary for reference or selection". Ge Fuying's introduction of dialect vocabulary in a snobbish manner is simply testing whether these opinions are practical.
In addition to having a relationship with Zhou Zuoren, Chang Hui's relationship with Lu Xun is also quite close. In the fall of 1920, Lu Xun began to lecture on the history of Chinese novels at Peking University, and Chang Hui, who was studying French, volunteered as a teaching assistant. According to Chang's recollection in his later years, he was "responsible for negotiating with the printing department and proofreading the lead printing lectures" ("Remembering Mr. Lu Xun", included in the Lu Xun Research Office of the Lu Xun Museum, edited "Lu Xun's Centennial Commemorative Anthology", Hunan People's Publishing House, 1981). Tai Jingnong, who was later admitted to Peking University, also mentioned that "at that time, the school's printing was extremely simple, and Wei Jun did all kinds of proofreading, and Wei Jun did a very thoughtful job", "Mr. Lu Xun taught at Peking University for four years, and Wei Jun also served for four years, and there was no second person like him among his classmates" ("Remembering Chang Weijun and Peking University Song Research Association", in "New Literary Historical Materials" No. 2, 1991), which can prove that what he said is true. When Lu Xun translated Chefchuan Shiramura's "Symbol of Bitterness", Chang Hui, who was fluent in French, helped him, "translating a "necklace" from the original language for me to attach to the back of the volume for the reader's reference" (Lu Xun's "Introduction", in Chuchuan Shiramura's "Symbol of Bitterness", New Tide Society, 1925). On the occasion of Chang Hui and Ge Fuying's marriage, Lu Xun also exchanged courtesies, "visiting Chang Weijun in the afternoon, congratulating him on his marriage on the 18th, to the first part of "Taiping Lefu" (Lu Xun's diary, May 15, 1924). The friendship between teachers and students is not shallow, and it goes without saying. When compiling "Chaohuaxi Picking", Lu Xun also specifically mentioned, "Because I wanted to find a few illustrations, Brother Chang Weijun collected a lot of materials for me in Beijing, several of which I had never seen before" ("Chaohuaxi Picking: Afterword"), and he was very grateful to Chang for his great assistance. From this, it is bold to speculate that Lu Xun's repeated discussion of the origin of "sloppy child" seems to have some connection with the translation of this fairy tale.
4. The origin and type of the story
Another important reason why Zhou Zuoren agreed to write a postscript for Ge Fuying's translation was that he was already very familiar with the origin of this fairy tale. He had previously translated Ljov Tolstoj's The Empty Drum (in New Youth, Vol. 5, No. 5, 1918), with an afterword at the end revealing that the novel derives from folklore, "in the study of legends, belonging to the 'Friendly Animal Cycle', the fairy tale "Le Chat Botte" compiled by Perrault in France, is the representative of this series, which has been thrown out" Beast of Friendship". This translation was later included in two collections of translations, Dian Di Di (Peking University Press, 1918) and Empty Drum (Kaiming Bookstore, 1928), and Zhou Zuoren added the Chinese translation name "Pi Basil" or "Pi Luol" to Perrault appearing in the afterword for the reader's convenience. Chang Hui also quoted this comment in the Ge translation of Ba, and they chose this fairy tale to translate, perhaps also related to Zhou Zuoren's praise and beauty.
The postscript written by Zhou Zuoren for Ge's translation is actually a continuation of his original topic. The postscript introduces the origin of the "beast of friendship" type story, "according to folklore research, it is out of the elven belief and totem thought of the primitive era", the so-called "friendship beast", "originally with the protagonist with the totem, has a blood relationship, so he tried his best to help, relieve him of danger, or seek luck", but over time, the relevant historical traces gradually disappeared, causing future generations to "feel that there is no source". Referring to folklore to explore the perverse phenomena in myths and legends has always been a topic of deep interest to Zhou Zuoren. He later summed up this "method of folklore" in simple terms: "If you see a custom that is obviously absurd and bizarre in one country, you have to find another country, and there is a similar custom there, but it is not absurd and strange there, but it is in line with the etiquette thinking of that people" ("My Miscellaneous Studies VII", in Ancient and Modern Times, No. 50, 1944, signed "Zhitang"), which may be transferred as a reference.
After revealing the origin of this type of story, Zhou Zuoren added in the postscript, "According to the research of Andrew Lang in the United Kingdom, as far as the content of this article is concerned, there is a distinction between rich and poor in society, which is probably no longer the work of a very low cultural era, but the molecules in it are still very ancient", indicating that with the development of the times, the specific background of such fairy tales will also be changed. The "Antluland" mentioned here is a British writer and scholar greatly admired by Zhou Zuoren, and at different times and on different occasions he also called it "Andulang" (Roda Hagard and Anduyan, "The History of the Red Star", Commercial Press, 1912, translated by "Zhou Qi"), "Antluran" ("Bouquet Prelude", in Yusi, Vol. 4, No. 3, 1927) or "Antluran" ("Customs and Myths", in Youth World, Vol. 5, No. 1, 1934, signed "Yiming"). When sorting out his personal academic interests, Zhou Zuoren specifically mentioned that "Antlulang is a multifaceted scholar and scholar, and he has written many books", "The two books "Customs and Myths" and "Mythological Rituals and Religion" that I have influenced the most here are the two books in the mythology category, because I know the proper interpretation of myths, and the study of legends and fairy tales has a way out"; It was under his guidance that Zhou Zuoren began to search for various fairy tales, "The French Bellor, a collection of stories compiled by the German Brothers Grimm is an authoritative work, and all of my long quotations by Antlulang are very useful" (My Miscellaneous Studies VII). He mentioned in the postscript the research made by Ahn, which immediately came from this.
Zhou Zuoren's "Lyrics"
These traceability work introduced by Zhou Zuoren was quite enlightening to later researchers. Zhao Jingshen, who has been in contact with him and has discussed many fairy tale topics, said that he was deeply taught in the exchange, "I know that the origin of fairy tales is the myths and legends of primitive societies; So you use folklore to explain fairy tales, and I am now more convinced that this is the most accurate" ("Discussion of Fairy Tales III," in Morning Post Supplement, March 28, 1922). Later, in "The Divisions of Fairy Tales" (published in Literary Weekly No. 200, 1925), Zhao proposed that "the divisions are divided according to the events in fairy tales, that is, according to the rituals, customs and beliefs of the early people reflected in fairy tales", which was obviously also influenced by folklore theory. He divided various fairy tales into four categories and twelve series, including the "beast of friendship" in the category of "totem belief", and stated that "his real name is translated by Zhou Zuoren"; He then excerpted Zhou Zuoren's relevant remarks in the appendix to Ge's translation, arguing that "he said it very concisely, and I don't need to explain it further", apparently feeling that there is no need to rap and repeat it.
In correspondence with Zhao Jingshen, Zhou Zuoren recommended that "Macculloch of England wrote a study of fairy tales called "The Childhood of the Novel" ("Discussion of Fairy Tales," in the Morning Post Supplement, January 25, 1922). The sensitive and studious Zhao Jingshen referred to it in the article "The Divisions of Fairy Tales" a few years later, "Macculloch's 'Childhood of Fiction' began to make a more sophisticated division of fairy tales; The division in this article is also according to his division." He also translated McGolauck's Fairy Tale Studies (serialized in Lectures on Literary Creation, Vols. 1-4, Guanghua Books, 1931-1933), the first chapter of which was entitled The Beast of Friendship: The Cat in Boots—again borrowing the name of Zhou Zuoren's translation. The chapter begins, "The events of the beast of friendship, such as helping a protagonist in distress, doing difficult work, or giving him wealth and happiness, are found everywhere in various types of stories or stories of separation." Many readers have long been familiar with Belor's famous fairy tale "The Puss in Boots". So let's explore the story first"; Immediately cited a large number of similar stories from all over the world, which is breathtaking; After careful analysis and comparison, it was finally concluded that "this is the period of the mind of the elves of all things." People then feel that they have souls of their own, and they think that other creatures have souls just like them, and even that no living things are the same, and they give them the same personality as themselves. They believe that people can become animals, and of course they believe that animals can become people." Although the translator only translated the original book and did not continue to develop it, it does provide a wealth of information for readers who want to understand the evolution of this type of story.
Zhou Zuoren, Children's Literature
Zhao Jingshen, who was still interested in the field of fairy tale research, then consulted the research of Western scholars such as Macleod Yearsley, MacGolauck, Edwin Sidney Hartland, and participated in his own opinions, and compiled a book "ABC of Fairy Tale Studies" (World Book Company, 1929), which systematically introduced the basic theories and main achievements of fairy tale studies. In the third chapter, "The Belief of the First People in Fairy Tales", the first section of "The Theory of the Elves of All Things", it is said, "The so-called 'Animism' means that in the eyes of the first people, everything in the world is alive and soulful, and they can also speak, and they are friends with human beings"; According to James George Frazer's discussion in The Golden Bough, he pointed out that "the spirit theory of all things can also be called totemism belief, and the two are very related"; At the same time, as an example, "fairy tales such as "The Cat in Boots", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Catless Country", etc., are all based on animals as the protagonists", "Animals often repay the favor because they are grateful for the favor of humans." The most common are cats, mice, ants and so on." When tracing back to the original beliefs and ways of thinking reflected in fairy tales like Khaoso, the theories that can be followed are more abundant and diverse.
In addition to Zhou Zuoren and Zhao Jingshen, some scholars are also interested in this topic. Gu Junzheng, who has translated a large number of children's literature, has published a series of columns "Introduction to World Fairy Tale Masterpieces", and when describing "The Story of Mother Goose" (published in Novel Monthly, Vol. 17, No. 8, 1926), he solemnly recommends the "intelligent beast" in the book - "cat in boots" to readers. He believes that "from the primitive tolerance of the human mind, there is nothing different about a cat that does not whine, but can speak human words"; He also said that "scholars have been studying the story of Belor for a long time, and they have found many traces of ancient folklore from here, because most of the stories they have found a utopian explanation based on various myths; These explanations are not necessarily reliable." Although there are still reservations about individual conclusions, it has been fully affirmed that cats can be traced back to their own origins, and it is not worth making a fuss.
Yang Chengzhi and Zhong Jingwen co-translated the British scholar Joseph Jacobs' Indo-European Folktale Pattern Table (Institute of Language and History, National Sun Yat-sen University, 1928), which grouped kaleidoscopic folktales into 70 genres in a simple and complex manner. Ranked sixty-first is "Pussy in Boots Type" and lists three basic plots of the story. Although the material is small and messy, and the content is only a rough synopsis without delving into it, it is still interesting to try to extract common narrative elements from the same type of story. Zhao Jingshen, who also did the work of classifying fairy tales, added in "Commenting on the List of Indo-European Folktale Types" (published in Folklore, Nos. 21 and 22, 1928), that "the kitten style in the boot (sixth first style) is most famous for Perrault's account", and it seems that he was particularly impressed by this Perrault version of the story.
In the "Fuyin Inscription" at the beginning of the "Indo-European Folktale Style Table", Zhong Jingwen believes that "this short article is very helpful to those who want to briefly understand the state of European folk tales, or to sort out and study Chinese folk tales", and the original intention of translating this book is to use stones to attack jade and guide scholars to continue to explore Chinese folk tales. Of course, such work can never be accomplished overnight, as Ge Fuying lamented, "There are still few people in China who have done historical research on these popular works, and because no one has previously searched for and preserved these things, it is now difficult to obtain rich materials for the work of examination and exploration" ("Talking about Fairy Tales", in Ballads, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1937). Fortunately, decades later, Ding Naitong searched Yuanshao, collected a large number of Chinese folk tales, and tried to do classification research. He found that there were even stories of "cats in boots", but "the animals that help others are usually foxes or rabbits" (Chinese Folk Tale Type Index II. "General Folk Tales", No. 545B, translated by Zheng Jiancheng et al., China Folklore Publishing House, 1986), and the powerful derivation of this type of story can be seen.
Yang Chengzhi and Zhong Jingwen translated Jacobs' Indo-European Folktale Style Table 61 "Puss in Boots Type"
5. "No meaning"?
In the appendix to the Ge translation, Zhou Zuoren also praised "The Cat in Boots" itself, "According to my meaning, it is one of the best fairy tales in the world, because he is so beautiful, light and stubborn", and seriously deduced, "a special thing about this piece is that there is no meaning", and there is no subtle meaning related to human morality. He went on to recount the adventures that had happened to the fairy tale in its circulation, "the British Krushang compiled a collection of fairy tales, and deleted him a lot, because 'the story was, according to him, a series of successful falsifications,—— clever lessons of the story, a system of fraud that was finally rewarded with the best interests of the world." He was very unimpressed by this practice of overstepping the line, and bluntly said that "although Uncle Cat's behavior is indeed immoral, he will never teach a child to be a bad person", and there is no need to worry about the world.
Opposing the use of adult thinking and value standards to judge the merits of children's literature is Zhou Zuoren's consistent proposition. As early as in a speech entitled "Children's Literature" (published in the "Republic of China Daily, Enlightenment" on December 10, 1920), he did not shy away from criticizing, "In the past, people could not properly understand children, did not regard him as a shrunken adult, and poured in the 'biblical sages' as much as possible, so they regarded him as an incomplete villain, saying that what children know, erasing him, and ignoring him"; At the same time, it is also pointed out that "the spiritual life of children is similar to that of the original man, his literature is a children's song fairy tale, the content form is not only the same as the original man's literature, but also many of them are relics of primitive society, often containing barbaric or absurd ideas", adults need not be overly afraid of this, "can boldly provide children with the needs of the ballad stories, do not worry about what bad influence he has", only need to conform to the natural development of the child's life, "carefully consider, do not make him stagnate and deviate from the proper track".
In a later book review for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (published in the Morning Post Supplement, March 12, 1922), Zhou Zuoren made no secret of his admiration for the author Lewis Carroll and the translator Zhao Yuanren, noting in particular that "the special feature of this book, as stated in the translator's preface, is its meaningful 'uninteresting.'" He admires the strength of "Puss in Boots" in that it has "no meaning", which is similar to the "no meaning" mentioned here. What seems absurd to adults is full of interest in the eyes of children, and they are often very interested and happy about it, because "children are generally genius poets, so they can appreciate these things alone." Adults should have a full understanding and tolerance of children's unfettered nature in terms of mind, "in the age of the development of his imagination there is indeed a need for such utopian works, and we adults, no matter what divine name of god, emperor, or country, do not deprive them of this need, just as we do not deprive them of the right to food and clothing", and must not be self-righteous or even interfere, otherwise it will only backfire.
Ge Fuying, who is both a translator and a mother, appeared and said that in "Talking about Fairy Tales", he talked about telling stories to children, "I don't know how these ordinary stories can be so moving, they are more fascinated by them than reading pictorial newspapers and storybooks." In their astonished eyes, it seems that this story is in front of them, and they are the protagonists inside", "After listening to a story, the child seems to have personally met an adventure, after a bizarre change, and returned from this adventure safely, feeling the satisfaction of a day's life", and she herself couldn't help but immerse herself in it, "forgetting experience and reason, and forgetting that cats and dogs are animals that can't speak, and talk about a simple and absurd story with relish". Far from being a disease, "superficial absurdity" has become the key to fascination. These wonderful bedtime stories include, of course, her own "translations of several fairy tales by the famous French fairy tale writer Perrault".
The cat in the fairy tale constantly deceives in order to help the owner, and does everything to the extreme, which is really not a positive character. But Zhou and Ge both abandoned adult morality and focused instead on the story's "light and tenacious" style and "bizarre and changeable" plot. Behind this seemingly inverted trade-off, I am afraid that there is a strong dissatisfaction with the focus of children's books on preaching and neglecting entertainment. Zhou Zuoren once hit the nail on the head when he pointed out, "China has always lacked literature for children. Even if there is a little codification of writings, it is also mainly based on lessons, and has little artistic value" ("Lu Kun's "Playing Xiao'er Yu", in Ballads, No. 12, 1923). This bias has a long history, and it is difficult to return, and even affected the translation of foreign fairy tales for a time. Zhao Jingshen recalled, "When I was a child, I read Sun Yuxiu's "Fairy Tales", and I always didn't read the first two pages, and his biblical sages not only could not understand, but even understood and did not want to read them", because the compiler was in a hurry to achieve results, and added many moral teachings at random when translating, "so regardless of whether the children could use it, he tried to stuff the food into it as much as possible and get the result, but only made the children more disgusted" ("Discussion of Fairy Tales III", in the "Morning Post Supplement" on March 28, 1922). Mao Dun, who assisted Sun Yuxiu in compiling the "Fairy Tales" series, also implicitly admitted that "when there were still ready-made Western 'fairy tales' to be translated, we had honestly translated them, although it was inevitable that the translation would change its appearance slightly, because we remembered very well that we should 'learn as the body' at that time" ("On 'Children's Literature'", in Literature, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1935, signed "Jiang"). The so-called "middle school as a body" is nothing more than some far-fetched and pedantic preaching. Zhou Zuoren strongly opposed "the method of advocating gregariousness in poetry, advocating patriotism in stories, and envisioning for the future, regardless of the needs of children's lives now" ("Children's Literature"), and Ge Fuying strongly advocated that "adults speculate on the psychology of children observing things, adapt to their imagination, intersperse the things in front of them and ideal things, and turn them into deeds of activities" ("Talking about Fairy Tales").
However, is this fairy tale really "without meaning" as Zhou Zuoren emphasized? At least, this is not the case with the most widely circulated version of the Perot fairy tale, which ends with a comment from the author: "What is the moral of this story?" / For all the young people of the world, / the legacy of their fathers / The greatest value is not gold and silver jewelry, / but craftsmanship and talent. / Want to win the love of a beautiful woman, / Do you only need gorgeous clothes and handsome faces? /No! It should also be added that / The sincere help of friends and the scheming are just right. (According to Dong Tianqi's translation of Perot's Fairy Tales, Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House, 2001) This admonition is undoubtedly aimed at the nameless, obedient male host, not the resourceful and eloquent cat, which is very different from the reader's reading experience. It is worth noting that early translations, without exception, omitted all of them. When recommending Perrault's work, Gu Junzheng has noticed that "every story ends with a short moral rhyme, but in the British translation book, most of it is omitted" ("Introduction to World Fairy Tales (VII) - The Story of the Goose Mother"), presumably some translators are influenced by the underlying text. Other translators did it intentionally, and Dai Wangshu confessed that he felt that the "few rhyming aphorisms" attached to each story were really "a relatively dull and unmodern word" ("The Story of Mother Goose, Prologue"), so he simply deleted it. Ge Fuying, who directly refers to the French translation, probably did not translate the full text for the same reason. Zhou Zuoren, who has studied fairy tales deeply, must be well aware of the original appearance of Perot's fairy tales, so the "no meaning" he focuses on is just the result of screening and reshaping according to personal will.
Dai Wangshu translates "The Story of Mother Goose"
Although Zhou Zuoren's approach will inevitably attract criticism, it does speak the voice of many people. When explaining the reason for his deletion of the original work, Dai Wangshu justifiably declared, "I really don't want to let the moral concepts contained in it bind the lively souls of children" ("The Story of Mother Goose, Prologue"). When summing up the characteristics of Tang Xiaopu's fairy tale creation, Pan Linchang especially appreciates his conscious pursuit of "focusing on fun", "always seeking children's happiness, so as to arouse children's sympathy, and develop children's intelligence, imagination and judgment; Therefore, it is different from the self-cultivation book that focuses on lessons and is boring" ("Family Fairy Tale Preface"). Therefore, in the future, He Jian, Shang Zhongyi and others stared at the "birds and beasts" that appeared in children's literature and kept talking, emphasizing that "it is advisable to select foreign philosophers to teach diligently, and it is necessary to choose those who are excellent in learning and doing well to handle education" (He Jian, "Consulting the Ministry of Education to Improve the School Curriculum"), lest children's books "violate social values and distort the relationship between life" (Shang Zhongyi, "Criteria for Choosing Children's Books"), and even advocate that "our responsibility to children to society is to teach children to use faithful efforts for social and personal welfare." Never encourage many unearned happiness like in fairy tales" (Shang Zhongyi, "Revisiting Children's Books", serialized in the "Declaration" of May 10 and 13, 1931), and was quickly ridiculed by many children's literature workers. Even Lu Xun, who has not directly participated in the controversy but has always paid attention to children's literature, also used the topic to ridicule, "For fairy tales, even civil and military officials have a high opinion recently; Some say that cats and dogs should not be able to speak, called sir, lose the human system", in his opinion, this is simply "unfounded worry", the reason is very simple, "the child's heart, unlike civil and military officials, it will evolve, and will never stay at one point forever", if it cannot keep pace with the times and discern things, "it is born imbecile, even if he does not read a fairy tale for life, he will still have no performance" ("School Afterword", in Petofi Shanda, Sun Yong's translation of "Brave John", Lake Wind Books, 1931). Searching for the cause and effect of this matter, Zhou Zuoren's good intentions in "covering up the facts" may be able to have a little "sympathy for understanding".