How did the earliest translation come into being?

An Italian proverb says, "Translation is betrayal." It is difficult to know when this proverb came into being. Think of it as an ancient cloud. Not only the ancients said so, but also the modern linguistic school should think so. George Munan's classic statement is that "if we accept the concepts of vocabulary, grammar and syntax popular in modern linguistic schools, then we can almost certainly say that translation is impossible". However, contrary translation theories and translation practices emerge one after another.

According to Mr. Luo's Essays on Translation, we can generally draw the conclusion that China's translation theory has undergone several major changes, all of which are accompanied by the arrival of translation climax. The first time was from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, which was the first "golden age" of China's translation theory and practice. Zhi Qian's theory of "following the theme without modification" may be the earliest translation theory in China. Later, when talking about the translation of Buddhist scriptures, Daoan put forward the theory of "transmitting scriptures". These are undoubtedly the earliest versions of literal translation theory. In the Tang Dynasty, with the further popularization of Buddhism, Master Xuanzang developed the translation theory in Wei and Jin Dynasties and put forward "seeking truth and metaphor". This takes into account the acceptance based on the "case manual". The great "change" brought by "the vulgarity of metaphor" ("easy to understand") may be the law summarized by Xuanzang for later generations, although it did not deviate from the tradition of literal translation in essence. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the continuous expansion of the field of translation, translation theory also made new progress. Especially in modern times, almost every translator has a sentence. Yan Fu has a classic of "faithfulness, expressiveness and elegance". Although Lin Shu did not explicitly put forward the theory of free translation, what he called "the brainpower of scholars all over the world, although separated from Europe and Asia, is no different", that is, "people are connected and the truth is the same"; Since "people are connected, hearts are connected", what matters is not the form, but the content. Then there is Lu Xun's "literal translation" theory. His admiration for literal translation (some people call it hard translation) must have something to do with the May 4th Movement's advocacy of vernacular Chinese, and it must also have something to do with Mr. Wang's not seeking new voices in foreign countries. Then Mao Dun's "verve" theory, Guo Moruo's "verve" theory, Fu Lei's "likeness" theory, Qian Zhongshu's "transformation" theory and so on.

Mr. Luo summarized the evolution history of this complex translation theory (actually translation practice) into four steps. In other words, in fact, China's translation theory has never deviated from the "Tai Chi Heart" of literal translation and free translation. Is this also true of foreign translation theories? Literary school tends to be "domestication", while linguistic school tends to emphasize "alienation". Just as some people put forward the perfect strategy of "spirit likeness" on the basis of literal translation and free translation, the two tit-for-tat theories of "foreignization" and "domestication" may also evolve into mysterious and fashionable theories in the works of language and culture scholars such as Eugene Nida. Nida considers language and culture from different perspectives or aspects such as material culture, social culture, religious culture, cultural ecology (or ecology) (that is, all natural and human factors of the text), and its coverage is daunting enough.

But Nida is not wrong, nor are those who advocate "both form and spirit" or "integration of the two". On the other hand, translators may not always stick to a certain theory in concrete practice. For example, Mr. Lu Xun is a famous literary translator. How did he satirize Professor Zhao in the 1930s? Professor Zhao copied the gourd and translated "Yinhe" into "Rudao". Lu Xun sarcastically said, "The poor Weaver Girl became Ma Lang's wife. Black magpie doubt not to come, milk all the way. " It can be seen that Lu Xun's view on "literal translation" is not without reservation. According to the true standard of "literal translation" or "alienation", Professor Zhao is not wrong. Of course, notes are indispensable. There are many such examples, which must be divided into "domestication" and "alienation". Among them, the classic Russian "Speak of the devil" (English "Speak of the devil", Spanish "Speak of the king") and so on. ); Or "Dancing the Sword in Xiangzhuang" and French "Kiss the Attendant and Love the Knight" (German "Kiss the Child and Think of Mom", Russian "Touch the Child's Hand and Think of Mom" and so on. ). A more extreme example is that we nod our heads in India, or we are easterly and westerly in Britain.

Jiang Yang's theory of "one servant and two masters" not only explains the difficulties in translation, but also contains the intention of "integration of the two". That is, the "servant" of the translator should be loyal not only to the "master" of the original, but also to the "master" of the reader in order to realize the ideal "transformation". However, most translators are afraid that because they have two "masters", they may ignore the other "master" for one of them (for example, "authenticity"). Or vice versa (for example, Mr. Fu Donghua said "give up a section" in order to "make the whole book interesting"). At the same time, it is precisely because there are two "masters" that most translators will temporarily abandon a certain theory intentionally or unintentionally in the specific translation process and stick to one pattern. Or, he (she) uses "domestication" in A place, but tends to "foreignization" in B place. For example, in Chapter 25 of Don Quixote, Mr. Jiang Yang transplanted Sancho's disdain for Don Quixote's "Mr. Right": "I can tell you that she can throw iron bars better than the strongest man in the village. God, how strong she is! The body is thick and strong, and there is hair on the chest! " But in another place, she cares more about readers and translates a long subtitle into "why bother to get to the bottom of it" In these two places, Professor Dong Yansheng, another translator of Don Quixote, handled them differently. So, Sancho's words became "Tell you the truth, playing with iron bars, she dares to compete with the strongest young man in the village." . What a rare girl, honest and husband-like. Obviously, Professor Dong translated "hairy chest" into "husband style". However, in Mr. Yang's translation of Why bother to get to the bottom of it, Professor Dong hates that words can't correspond, so that even the article stays: "There is a man here who wants to know the truth for nothing. "If someone asked me to translate, maybe I would translate the subtitle (Donde's Impression Novelette) into" Overcurious Story "or" Much ado about nothing ". In other words, translation theory and translation practice provide different possibilities. Therefore, to paraphrase an old saying of Goethe, "For a thousand translators, there are a thousand Shakespeare". But there is always only one objective Shakespeare, and whoever is close to him is a good translator (the so-called audience's language is changing, and the saying that translation "keeps pace with the times" is untenable. A Dream of Red Mansions can't be constantly rewritten for everyone to understand. The era can only give the task of popularization to abbreviations, film and television dramas and comics. And it can't be exactly the same. Therefore, Borges said that translation is problematic. "Without his language, Shakespeare would not be Shakespeare". However, Borges himself has always been a diligent literary translator.

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