The translation of the sound of the frog flying in the ancient pond is as follows:
The sound of the frog jumping into the water in the ancient pond.
Comparing the original text and the translations of various versions, we can see that this haiku is a poem that depicts the artistic conception with the record of a momentary scene.
There are three key points, one is "ancient", the second is "sound", and the third is "quiet". Among them, "quiet" is the theme of this haiku, and "ancient" and "sound" are both foreshadowing of "quiet".
The "quiet" here superficially expresses the tranquility of nature and sings to express one's aspirations. In fact, what it really wants to express is the inner tranquility. This is an expression of life and the author's reflection on his own life. expression of status.
Based on the above writing purpose, let’s look at the translators listed above. It is not difficult to see that Zhou Zuoren and Feibai’s understanding and translation are closest to the author’s expressive intention. A master is a master, and the artistic cultivation of a master-level figure shows an overwhelming advantage in the understanding of a haiku.
Other translations are too cohesive in terms of language expression, and are too embellishment and subjective. They appear to be clean in expression, but fail to fully express the ethereal Zen spirit in the resulting picture.
However, the translations of Zhou Zuoren and Feibai still have room for further improvement from the perspective of today's richer and wider vocabulary of modern Chinese.
Let’s first look at Mr. Zhou Zuoren’s “Ancient Pond: The Sound of Frogs Jumping into the Water”. It respects the originality cleanly, and the translation captures the "ancient" and "sound" among the three elements of "ancient", "sound" and "quiet". The theme of "quiet" is left to the readers to figure out for themselves. Yes, there is no expression in the translation, which is why so many people later re-translated it.
In Zhou Zuoren's translation, there is a question about the word "green" in "frog": There is a sudden "plop" in the silent ancient pool. It must be a frog entering the water. You can only hear its sound. , how can we see its shape and distinguish its color? The art master Fei Bai noticed this problem and changed the frog into "a frog enters the water, the sound of water".