Liang Qichao once thought in the article "On the Relationship between Fiction and Group Governance" that "Fiction has incredible power to dominate human nature". Therefore, he strongly emphasized that novels should take enlightening people's wisdom and transforming people's ideology and morality as their own responsibility. Although this is mainly to create novels, it can be said that many translated works in the history of modern literature also take this as a sacred purpose.
The last lesson was introduced to China because of patriotism. This can be proved by several translations published successively:1965438+The last lesson in the version of Flying Stone published in 2003 10 was marked as an educational novel, and 19 15 published in May. In addition, Hu Shi's translation and Jiang Baihen's translation also changed the title of the novel respectively. Hu translated it as "cutting land" and Jiang translated it as "children's records". Obviously, the translation emphasizes the deep hatred of losing power and humiliating the country. These details are quite illustrative, but what is more noteworthy is that the above three versions are very solemnly annotated in front, and some even have postscript. These "prefaces and epilogues" clearly show their intention of translating this novel.
At present, the original text of The Last Lesson was translated by Fei Shi and published in the second volume of Hunan Education News,No. 19 13,No. 1. Translator life is unknown, not many people take the name of "bandit stone", so it is not known whether it is a bandit stone of Nanshe Chen. According to Mr. Zheng's Southern Editorial, Chen studied in Japan in his early years. "In the era of Geng Xin, new learning is booming. He teaches in a kindergarten school and encourages students on the grounds that the country is weak and the powers are strong, saying that' learning must be used in the world and learning is the first'. " Judging from the above records, Chen may have been translated from Japanese. Its translator's note: "1870, France and Pu were coaxed, the legal person was defeated, and the Pu Jun army tried its best to obey the law in the East. In Paris next year, the legal person is exhausted and unable to resist. It's an alliance at the gate, and it's an appropriation of 5 thousand francs, about 2 thousand yuan of Huayin, covering five times? Boxer indemnity at night. In addition to compensation, the land in Assisi and Nariyan provinces and Pupu was reclassified. At that time, everyone witnessed the literature, but he was hurt, because he wrote a tragic land cut in the tone of a pupil in assisi Province, in order to arouse the patriotism of the legal person. Words are vulgar, but they contain essence. French primary school teacher, salty as a textbook, for children to eat? " This commentary is concise, which not only explains the background of the work, but also deeply places sympathy for France and hatred for the invaders. Love and hate are clear. The translation is simple and clear, but the original text is slightly deleted. For example, the scene where "I" met a blacksmith and his apprentice in the city hall before going to school was completely deleted. Generally speaking, translated works, especially short stories with only two or three thousand words, caused little response at that time. However, only two months after the publication of Fisher's translation, some people wrote poems and published their thoughts after reading them. The title of this poem is "Inscription of the Last Lesson", and the author is Tie Jian. The poem says: "Berlin's book is full of meaning, and Mr. Han Mai stopped giving lectures. I have been studying for forty years and know where to go up and down. Sit up and stare at all the classmates, but can't bear to cry. Whether the culture of this country knows it or not, mountains and rivers are the most desolate. With a loud noise, the sun in Muduo rose, but Mr. Mu was blamed for changing his robe. Young children also know that they hate the country, and the spring breeze and tears look at walnuts. "
The tone of the poem is painful, but there is no lack of anger, which shows that the work deeply aroused people's feelings at that time.
The second translation was translated by Hu Shi. Hu Shi received the second boxer scholarship on July 19 10 and went to Cornell University in new york for further study. The last lesson was translated into the United States and published in the spring issue of American Quarterly Study Abroad in March, 19 15. According to the editor of the newspaper, Hu Shi's translation was published in a newspaper in Shanghai. If this statement is true, Hu Shi's translation was first published around 19 13, because Hu Shi's translation was marked with the words "recorded in the United States in September of the first year of the Republic of China". Judging from the time, the publication date should be basically the same as the translated version of Fei Shi. In addition, Hu Shi's Translator's Note is basically the same as Fei's in content, and even the words used in each sentence are roughly the same, which is quite puzzling. Hu Shi's translation has always been abridged and was once ridiculed as "Hu translation". This translation is also the most abridged of the three versions. Generally, it is the description of the scenery, the language of the characters, etc. , without prejudice to the basic plot, abridged. Later, someone criticized Hu Shi's translation by quoting the original French text in Flood magazine. Nevertheless, Hu Shi's translation was standardized in language and popular at that time. 19 17 published the short story of the last lesson (the first episode), which was reprinted 2 1 times in 1940, which is not difficult.
Following Hu Shi's translation, Jiang Baihen also published the translation of The Last Lesson in Volume 2, No.5 of China Fiction Circle published in May 19 15. Jiang Bai hate is unknown. He rarely published his works, and occasionally published them in newspapers at that time. Xia Yun's translation. He also added a note before the translation, saying? "After the Franco-Prussian War, the legal person was divided into two states, Alsace and Luo Heng, and Alsace people often remembered their motherland. This view is an article, and the patriotic feelings of legal persons can also be seen. " Between the lines, we can see that it is full of love for the motherland and its translation intention is obvious. Different from the above two translations, Jiang Baihen translated in classical Chinese, but the translation is faithful to the original, basically sentence by sentence, which can be said to be the first complete translation of the last lesson.
In addition to strong patriotic feelings, the exquisite artistic conception of the last lesson is often appreciated. It is commendable that China translators noticed this as early as 70 years ago. Fei Shi and Hu Shi wrote postscript to the translation respectively, praising Du De's artistic skills. Here, we transcribe a "postscript" of Hu Shi, and look at his praise: "The beauty of this article lies in the strangeness of imagination. How important is it for a slave to be afraid of cattle and horses when his husband cuts the land miserably? But in the tone of a child. The whole article is a small matter of a Mongolian school, and the time is only half a day. In the reader's mind, he seems to want to see the strength of foreigners and the regret of national subjugation. Waving five strings, watching Hong Fei is really wonderful. This short story is excellent. "