Self-portrait of Gao Keyi. Courtesy of the author
When I was writing this article, I hesitated for a long time to figure out what topic to use.
We have known Mr. Gao Keyi (pen name Qiao Zhigao) for decades, from the time he came all the way from the United States to Hong Kong Chinese University in 1972 to found the "Translation Series", and until his death in the Winter Garden in the United States in 2008, we have been going back and forth for many years. In the blink of an eye, before he knew it, he had been gone for sixteen years. Sixteen years is a long time, but it also flies very quickly, a toddler in the swaddling years, after 16 long years, can grow into a beautiful girl in the age of 28, or a beautiful young man full of vitality; but once an old man returns from the crane, even if he has made outstanding contributions to the great cause of cultural exchanges between China and the West, how many people will still remember him? In addition to his close friends, in addition to the younger generations who have benefited from him.
I still vividly remember that on May 19, 1999, at Mr. Gao Keyi's house in Florida Winter Garden, I once visited him, what is the next book called? He replied with a smile: "The title of the next book has already been decided." It's called "Hard to Say: My Bilingual Career". On the one hand, my life has been trapped by bilingualism, I can't speak Chinese or English alone, there are too many things in life, a thousand words, and I can't finish a sentence. As we all know, Mr. Gao is a master of humor and a master of using "puns", and the meaning of "one word is difficult to describe" in his mouth is rich, and the double meaning of "Chinese and English bilingual" and "a thousand words" is indeed infinitely wonderful!
After another seven or eight years, after Mr. Gao was widowed, his life was lonely, except for letters and letters, I often crossed the ocean by long-distance telephone calls, and we chatted non-stop, saying everything from the bottom of my heart. Mr. Gao is usually positive and optimistic, especially when talking about the news of the literary translation world or the recent news of friends in the cultural circles. At that time, he suddenly sighed: "I really have achieved nothing in my life!" I was stunned for a moment, and wondered why I had suddenly changed from "indescribable" to "accomplished nothing"? "How could it be? You have made such great contributions to bilingual and literary translation in Chinese and English throughout your life, and from 1973 to 1982 you served as the editor-in-chief of the 'Translation Series', and your translations of "The Great Gatsby", "The Long Night and the Long Road", and "Angel, Look at the Hometown" and other famous works, the achievements are so high, no one can match, you are a Chinese and English translation everyone, a living encyclopedia dictionary in everyone's minds, don't be blind and modest!" Unexpectedly, the old man Sang Yu on the other end of the phone still insisted on his opinion, saying that he had lived a lifetime and had not achieved anything. Standing on the top of the great mountain of culture, the masters are so humble and humble, so shouldn't we, who are still wandering at the bottom of the valley and looking up, be even more ashamed? This can't help but make me think of my friend and pianist Fu Cong. Whenever I think of him frowning and sweating backstage after playing, smoking a pipe while bowing down to introspection, and severely criticizing himself, "No! No, that kind of concentration, that kind of sincere expression, is really moving! It turns out that the real masters in this world are all humble and never complacent, and only those shallow and mundane things can be mediocre and complacent.
Mr. Ko came to CUHK in 1972 as a senior visiting researcher at the Centre for Translation and Translation, and returned to the United States in 1975, although he continued to work remotely on the other side of the ocean until 1982. However, the translation center and the translation department where I taught at that time are actually two different units, we do not have any daily work contact, that short period of two or three years, could have passed by, not to communicate with each other, somehow became familiar with each other, Mr. Gao is not only my future translation career in the guiding light, but also the acquaintance of each other, open the cabinet, the thick stack of letters, cards, The photographs, from the 70s of the last century to 2008 of this century, span four decades, recording a process of the pioneers of the translation industry to support the backwards, and also witnessing how a cultural predecessor was kind to the future learners and ardent teaching.
Gao Keyi and Jin Shenghua (left) took a group photo at the Winter Garden Gao Mansion in the United States. Courtesy of the author
There are so many letters, such a long span of time, and the contents are overflowing, so I have to borrow Mr. Gao's words "it is difficult to explain" in detail.
As for why do you say "Sing Coats"?
Speaking of which, I first fell in love with Mr. Gao, probably because we are all Shanghainese, and as soon as we slipped out of Shanghainese, we felt very cordial, even if we talked in Mandarin later. Anyway, as soon as I recognize it as a fellow countryman, this situation is like Fu Cong and I met not long ago, and in casual conversation, we talked about Shanghainese and called fried peanuts "oily pulp", and immediately felt that each other was our own people. There are many things and many words, which come from the depths of childhood thoughts, and are everyone's common memories, all of which are self-evident! This is why when you watch Wong Kar-wai's "Flowers" now, you must watch the Shanghainese version.
It was about 1973! I suddenly received a letter from Mr. Li Rutong of the U.S. Information Service, inviting me to translate the novella The Ballad of the Sad Cafe by the American female writer McClers, and in early 1974, I took advantage of my first long leave to study at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and spent several months in Vancouver from the cold winter to the warm spring, completed the first draft of the translation, and returned to Hong Kong. Before the manuscript was delivered, he took great pains to translate the title of the book and did not know the essentials, so he had to ask Qiao Zhigao, a master in the translation industry, for help. What is rare is that he not only read through the whole manuscript for me, but also came up with a suitable translation for me entitled "The Tragedy of the Tavern", and took the trouble to explain the reason to me, a fledgling post-student. It turns out that the word café is not suitable for literal translation as "café", because this noun has a wide meaning, and in the original book, it refers to a tavern located in the middle of nowhere. As a result, this far-reaching masterpiece, titled "The Sad Song of the Tavern", was published in Hong Kong in 1975, becoming the earliest Chinese translation of the book (Li Wenjun's translation of "The Song of the Sad Café" was published in 1979).
"The Tragedy of the Tavern" is the beginning of my long translation career, thanks to Mr. Gao's guidance and encouragement, I have taken this first step steadily and steadily, and I am not afraid to move step by step, no matter how difficult the road ahead. In addition, the book "The Tragedy of the Tavern" also contributed to the opportunity for me and Lin Qingxia to suddenly meet from distant circles and develop into close friends who talk about everything.
Looking back on Mr. Gao's life, although many people jokingly called him "the old man in the translation industry" because of his surname and Fu Lei's famous works, he could refuse to accept this title because of his gentle and elegant demeanor. In fact, over the years, Mr. Gao has not only made a lot of contributions to the cultural exchanges between China and the West, but also facilitated many cultural events that he has facilitated, such as translating Lao She's "Taoli Spring Breeze" to help Pearl Race promote Chinese drama to Broadway during the Anti-Japanese War, introducing Zhang Ailing to Xia Zhiqing, and serving as a navigator for Bai Hsien-yong's translation of "Taipei People".
Mr. Gao Keyi came to Chinese University in 1972 to found Renditions, and returned to the United States in 1975. However, he is on the other side of the strait, with his heart in the East, and he is very concerned about Hong Kong's cultural undertakings, especially some academic activities in the field of translation. In those years, I didn't think much of myself, and agreed to edit the "New English Glossary" for the Hong Kong Translation Society, and I was busy with this important task, Mr. Gao is an expert in American language, a master of new words, and constantly gave me encouragement from afar, hoping that I would not be discouraged.
At the end of 1979, I took advantage of the public vacation of the Chinese University to go to Paris, France for further study, and when I first arrived, I was unfamiliar with the place, and spent several months in the Salvation Army dormitory "Women's Palace" (according to Mr. Gao's humorous words, "what a contemplative address!"), and in early 1980, I had the opportunity to move to the university town, began to familiarize myself with the environment, took classes at the Sorbonne, and officially entered the state of concentrating on study. In February of that year, I received a letter from Mr. Gao, saying: "Xia Zhiqing told me that there was a conference on modern Chinese literature in Paris in June, and he was going to read his papers. I wonder if you will attend?" (1980-2-9) That was the first time I learned of this conference, and I didn't know if I was invited to attend at that time! At the end of March, Mr. Gao wrote again, in which he told me that he had published an article in Taiwan's "United Daily News" recommending "New English Vocabulary," and he also said more fervently, "I have something to go to New York in two days, and I have made an appointment with Xia Zhiqing to tell him that someone is waiting to meet him in Paris." Not for any literary conference, but for your guide to visit the art galleries of Jeu de paume and Orangerie!" (1980-3-23) Speaking of which, Mr. Gao is such an elder who is willing to promote the juniors, just like his friend Song Qi does not hesitate to make wedding clothes for others.
In May of the same year, Mr. Gao happily sent a letter: "Zhiqing also encouraged me to go to Paris in June, and he could have a 'congenial company'. Then he said, "My friend Paul Bady, who is also a contributor to the Translation Series, wrote to me without waiting for me to ask, saying that he had arranged for me to stay at the Annex (46 rue d'Ulm) of his school, and this really moved me and made me want to come!" (May 13, 1980) He then playfully asked me, "Now that the matter is serious, do I regret agreeing to be their guide?" On May 19, he sent me the China Times published an article I wrote in Paris, "The Death of Saudi Arabia in Paris", which he noted at the front of the newspaper that "I only saw it today". After more than a week, Mr. Gao wrote that there were suddenly a lot of things going on at that time, and he was busy with his son Jeffrey's wedding, and he had to go to Florida to receive a freshly built Condo, which made me overwhelmed, and I wondered if the trip to Paris would be ruined. Now my trip has been extended, I have to fly from Florida to New York, and then to Paris" (1980-5-28) Despite this, he was still in high spirits and carefully instructed me not to go to the airport to pick me up when he arrived, and he would take the airport bus to the city himself. It turned out that Mr. and Mrs. Gao drove more than 1,000 miles in order to go to Florida to receive Condo, and after two nights of running and traveling, they finally arrived at their destination, but found that the new house was "surrounded by walls, everything to be done, and the southerners were lazy, so we ran around and groped...... In the face of this reality, Mei Qing didn't want me to run away, and of course I couldn't leave her alone to deal with the situation here" (1980-6-8), so he had no choice but to break the appointment. For this self-reproachful "scalping incident", Mr. Gao repeatedly explained, first sending a telegram notice on June 7, stating in a long Chinese letter on June 8: "As for why I went up and down like this, it is difficult to explain why." Then he repeatedly apologized in an English letter on June 19. It is hard to imagine that a senior in the translation industry can be so courteous and humble to the younger generation. Even Mrs. Gao's wife, Mei Qing, was worried on the sidelines, afraid that I would not receive the telegram, so I ran to the airport to pick up the plane in vain. In fact, the main reason why Mr. Gao was so concerned that he would not be able to go to Paris for a meeting was that he originally wanted to take the opportunity to introduce Xia Zhiqing, a palace-level figure in the academic world, to me, but since he couldn't go, he could only propose in a letter in a hurry: "I will call Xia Zhiqing tomorrow and tell him that I can't go...... When he came to Paris for a meeting on 6/13, you introduced yourself. He is also a good friend of Song Qi. (1980-6-8) In addition, he also took the trouble to tell me that the meeting was attended by his old friend Xu Jie, his old friend Xu Jieyu and others, who seemed to be eager to guide me on the academic path.
As a result, the "International Conference on Chinese Literature in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" was held in Paris from June 16 to 19, 1980, hosted by La Fondation Singer-Polignac. Xia Zhiqing and many other well-known French sinologists, that three-day conference can really be said to be a great and unprecedented, I was invited to attend the meeting, with a learning attitude, to listen to the high opinions.
夏志清发表的论文是：“Tuan-mu Hung-liang’s The Korchin Banner Plains : A biographical and critical Study”。
I remember that he spoke at the first session of the first day, and after many years, I have a vague impression of the content of his speech at that time, but what I will remember for a long time is his movements, demeanor, voice and smile when he spoke. The first time I took a photo, I found that this well-known academic scholar was not tall and did not look particularly outstanding, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his speech with a Shanghainese accent made people feel particularly cordial. In fact, Xia Zhiqing was fifty-nine years old at that time, and he was close to his sixtieth birthday, but he didn't look like a respected university scholar left and right, but an out-and-out old naughty boy. When he loves to laugh, he laughs out loud and his eyes shine; when he loves to boast, he boasts about himself and does not choose what to say; no wonder many people in academic circles say that he is funny, Bai Xianyong praises him as a "real person," and Sun Kangyi calls him a "fast man"! I remember that at that meeting, he also argued with many participants about the content of his speech, and when he said it, he praised himself for being smart and great!
In June 1980, the participants of the "International Conference on Chinese Literature of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" took a group photo in Paris, and the second from the left in the front row was Jin Shenghua. Courtesy of the author
After the meeting, although Gao Keyi did not come, I still acted as a guide, taking the three scholars Xia Zhiqing and Xia Ruian and Liang Jialuo from Hong Kong to travel to Paris at night. Remember we didn't have a specific route or program, just wandering around the streets, going wherever we went, and eating wherever we went. Among the three visitors, Xia Zhiqing was the oldest, but he was the most interested, and he had to ask everything he saw, studying various signboards and notices on the road while walking. Suddenly, he saw a French word on the side of the slope: "Funiculaire", and hurriedly asked, "What is this?" "Funiculaire. I replied. He didn't react when he heard this, and continued to say, "Ahh But when I took a closer look, he didn't look like a tall Malaysian, so why didn't he say he was "Japanese"?
In mid-July of that year, I had already completed my written exams and returned to Hong Kong to prepare my research materials, and decided to go to Paris the following year to write my doctoral dissertation. Mr. Gao sent two letters in a row, saying that he couldn't hear from me, and he was afraid that I was still blaming him for breaking the appointment and was going to "break off" with him. In addition, he specifically mentioned: "There are a number of letters at home that are too late to transfer to Boca (note: refers to the address of Florida), including many letters from Stephen (note: Song Qi) and a long letter from Xia Zhiqing. I have spoken to him, and he praises you exceedingly. He said he would dine twice with you and Gaylord Leung. (1980-7-16) In mid-August, he wrote again: "Please forgive me, don't blame me for relying on the old and selling the old, calling you a 'rookie'. It's a bad word, because you've accomplished a lot more than I do, but you're always new and showy in my eyes. (1980-6-20) These words still do not lose his usual humorous tone, but in fact, his support, care and encouragement for future students are also overflowing.
At the moment of revisiting the old letters, I only felt that Mr. Gao was still alive, because every word in his letter continued to exude bursts of warmth and warmth through the yellowed paper from a long time ago.
Kim Sung-hwa
Editor-in-charge: Xing Renyan