To be said to be the most controversial work in the translation field recently, it must be "The Collection of Birds" translated by Feng Tang.
It’s not exactly a debate. Most of the critics were one-sided and criticized him and it as useless - Feng Tang became the Teddy of the literary world, and his "The Collection of Flying Birds" was even ridiculed that it should be called "The Collection of Flying Dicks".
Feng Tang once said, "No matter what the poetry circle says, I don't have to lie down on the train or die young. The seven words 'The spring breeze is not as good as you' have been spoken in Chinese while I was alive. The author is not convinced by local word of mouth. However, no matter what the literary circle says, many people do not need to browse blogs or surf the Internet. The word "Feng Tang" is familiar to them when they are studying. It's already being debated in Chinese-speaking places.
He is a person who easily gets into trouble.
This is probably due to his mother who allowed him to grow freely since childhood, his self-awareness of multiple professional identities, and his narcissism and elegance that can release hormones all the time.
He is not afraid of controversy. It seems that criticism and ridicule are indispensable things in his life. This can only make him happier to say to himself, look, you are truly awesome.
As a literati, he was a little too entertaining. As a poet, he said that he was not in this circle at all. There is actually no conflict between the two. However, when coupled with a translation that is too personal, those words mixed with his swollen heart and noise seem to have a strong chemical reaction with Tagore's original text and Zheng Zhenduo's classic translation. If you are not careful, it will It will shock people's minds.
So. Is this new translation so unreadable? I don't see it quite like that.
The song feels the infinite in the air, the picture in the earth, the poetry in the air and the earth; For its words have meaning that walks and music that soars.
< p> This is the 204th poem in "The Collection of Flying Birds". Zheng Zhenduo's version is as follows:Songs feel infinite in the sky, pictures feel infinite on the ground, and poetry is the same no matter in the air or on the ground. . Because the words of poetry contain meaning that can move and music that can fly.
And how did Feng Tang translate it——
Song Wuji
In the air
Painting Wuji
< p> On the earthPoetry is infinite
In the air and the earth
In the words of the poem
There is a meaning that can flow
p>There is music that can soar
Feng Tang said in the postscript that poems should rhyme, and poems that do not rhyme are as awkward as a girl without hair. I half agree with this statement. Rhythm plays a huge role in the inheritance of Chinese culture. Catchy poems, singing and dancing lyrics, without rhythm, are like missing the finishing touch. However, in the eyes of those who are accustomed to modern poetry, rhyme may be more like a restraint on the poet's free soul, a confinement, a constraint, and a beast that cannot be avoided.
Which one is right or wrong? There is nothing wrong with both classical and modern poetry, and there is nothing wrong with rhyme itself.
As mentioned in this paragraph, there is soaring music in the words of the poem. I think, in Feng Tang's ears, the most beautiful part of these sounds is the rhythm of ironing.
Let’s take a look at this one again:
You smiled and talked to me of nothing and I felt that for this I?had been waiting long.
Zheng Zhenduo : You smiled slightly and said nothing to me. And I feel that I have been waiting for this for a long time.
Feng Tang: You smiled at me without saying a word. I have been waiting for this sentence for centuries.
"Good short poems are not over-generalization of life, but jade in the mountains and pearls in the sea." I think Feng Tang achieved such an effect in this one. Only 17 words touched the hearts of many secret admirers. Needless to say, your smile is enough for me to remember forever.
A similar short poem is this one:
The clouds fill the watercups of the river, hiding themselves in the distant hills.
Zheng Zhenduo: The clouds pour water into the river's cups, but they themselves hide in the distant mountains.
Feng Tang: Yun filled the water cup of the river and hid in the distant mountains.
Looking at "fill" from the dictionary, we can only find the meanings of "fill, fill, fill". The beauty and greatness of Chinese lies in the ever-changing words with the same meaning.
You can "pour a cup of fish and birds to get drunk", you can also "clear your clothes with wine in front of Yingzun", when you are bold and unrestrained, you can "fill the sea with water", and when you are grand, you can "pour the wine to a full tenth of the time". I like Feng Tang's adaption to local conditions at this time. The word "pour" fully demonstrates Yun's elegance and restraint.
Regardless of the realm of faithful and elegant translation, if it can make people remember the original work, the author and the translator at the same time, then I think Feng Tang must have succeeded. Of course, this sentence is a bit exaggerated. What makes many people dissatisfied is that Feng Tang's translation is too personal, and even transcends the original meaning of "translation", making the poems run towards Feng Tang like a wild horse. Go away from the "swollen" world created by Tang.
However, translation is not the work of one family. Unless it is a self-written and self-translated work by Nabokov, Lin Yutang, etc., who can say that his or her translation must be "authentic"? However, in this "Collection of Flying Birds", Feng Tang's own seasoning is too strong, covering up the deliciousness of the work itself, making people who try it for the first time change their minds after hearing Feng Tang.
Feng Tang in the poetry world is like coriander in the food world. People who like it naturally like it, but people who hate it cannot accept it. However, the innate taste of coriander cannot be replaced by other foods, just like Feng Tang's poems, with their own flavor, standing alone and fearless.