Yang Jiang on reading: Don’t lose heart when you are frustrated, and don’t forget your shape when you are proud.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, May 25th. In the early morning of May 25th, 105-year-old Mr. Yang Jiang left.
Mr. Yang Jiang was indifferent to fame and fortune, honest and honest all his life, just as she commented on the author of her translation Jill Brass: "He was arrogant and refused to cater to the atmosphere and attach himself to the nobles. He dares to attack the current abuses and is not afraid of offending the power. He doesn’t seek fame, and he only makes a living by writing all his life. "
On being a man: strive to be an honest and sincere person who does not flatter, bully and abide by the principle of loyalty and forgiveness.
Mr. Yang Jiang was born in Beijing on July 17, 1911, named Yang Jikang, the fourth daughter in his family. Her father, Mr. Yang Yinhang, served as the director of the Jiangsu Provincial High Court of Justice and the director of the Zhejiang Provincial High Court of Justice. His integrity and integrity had a great influence on the cultivation of her character. Yang Jiang once said: "In my life, I have been trying to be an honest and sincere person who does not flatter, bully and abide by the principle of loyalty and forgiveness." When I was in the second year of college, the teachers all thought that Yang Jiang had the conditions to study science. She asked her father for advice, and his father said, whatever you like best, you should study. She is not at ease: "I like literature, should I study literature?" Love reading novels and learning novels? " My father said that what I like is the closeness of sex, which is the most suitable for me. Under the guidance of her father, she finally chose her favorite liberal arts among liberal arts, regardless of the teacher’s regret and persuasion. After completing her studies, Yang Jiang devoted her life to creation and translation, which was also inseparable from her father’s influence, because his father said to her, "It is better to translate some valuable foreign works than to write empty articles." He also said: "Translation is promising."
On reading: don’t lose heart when you are frustrated, and don’t forget your shape when you are proud.
Mr. Yang Jiang loved literature since he was a child. If he didn’t read books for a week, he felt that "a week was in vain". Even when she was criticized for "reading for spiritual enjoyment" during the Cultural Revolution, she never let go of her books. Mr. Yang Jiang thinks that reading is like an "invisible" door-to-door: "If you want to see an admired teacher or visit a famous scholar, you don’t have to say hello in advance, just open the book and break into the door, and then turn over a few pages and enter the room; And you can always come and go, and if you can’t get to the point, you can leave without saying goodbye, or find another clever person to confront him. You can also listen to the anecdotes of the previous dynasties and learn the most mysterious innovative theories of the contemporary era. If the words are not speculative or unpleasant, you might as well pull yourself out or even slam the door, which means that no one will blame you if you close the book. Often in books ‘ Chuanmener ’ , you can get rich experience and meet all kinds of people at all times and places. Reading is like reading the world. Reading more can make you smarter and more mature. Even if you can’t be humiliated, you can learn to be frustrated. Don’t forget your shape. "
Talking about creation: The stories created often surpass the author’s own experience in many ways.
In her love of literature, Yang Jiang also started writing herself. Several of her short stories vividly outlined various characters, and the novel Bath even described the common "face" in the movement against the three evils. These works are full of wit and humor, but also permeated with insight into the world. However, Yang Jiang often said: "I am not a professional writer, but an amateur author. In my novels, all kinds of characters are bred in my mind, and the story is naturally composed of characters. " Readers often regard the plots of characters in Yang Jiang’s novels as true stories, but Yang Jiang thinks that an important component of creation is imagination. "Experience is like a fire lit in the dark, and imagination is the light emitted by this fire; Without fire, there is no light, but the light reaches far beyond the size of the fire. The stories created often surpass the author’s own experience in many ways. " Her husband, Qian Zhongshu, once urged her to write novels out of thin air.
Some people have commented that Mr. Yang Jiang’s novels reflect the truth of life by dribs and drabs of personnel, and their brushwork is humorous and comic, which makes people think of Austin’s novels. After her dramas "Satisfied" and "Make True and Make False" created in the 1940s were put on the stage, they were also praised as "the two best comedies". These plays focus on petty-bourgeois youth to describe the world. They are good at joking without being sarcastic. Their humor is gentle and sincere. Moreover, what is hidden behind humor and ridicule is deep seriousness and sadness, which is reminiscent of several works she translated: Little lazarillo DE tormes, Jill Brass and Don Quixote. Just as her father asked her to study her "sex-similar" major, when she was engaged in translation, she also consciously or unconsciously chose her favorite works depicting little people with tears in their laughter.
On translation: Being responsible for "foreign masters" is only for being loyal to domestic readers.
Mr. Yang Jiang is a researcher at the Institute of Foreign Literature, China Academy of Social Sciences. Apart from writing academic papers, she spends the most time and is most praised for her highly translated works. She often said that translation is a chore, and a translator "has two masters" and has to serve two masters at the same time: "A foreign master is an original work, and every word of the original is required to be obeyed, and it is not allowed to disobey or perfunctory. The other master is the native readers of the translation. They not only want to see the original appearance, but also have to conform to their language habits. As a translator, I am right about ‘ Foreign master ’ Do your duty, just to be loyal to your readers. " For example, her translation of Little Lazarus on the Tomes River was originally called Little Lazarus, and the reason why she translated it into Little Lazarus was that she did her duty faithfully to her master and servant. In the Gospel of Luke in the New Testament, there is a leper named Lazarus. Later, this name refers to all lepers and beggars. At the same time, the lazarillo de tormes in Chinese refers not only to people with boils on their skin, but also to all rogue bachelors. The name "lazarillo de tormes" was used in the spoken language during the Tang and Five Dynasties, referring to rogues, as well as ruffian rogues in classical novels such as The Scholars and A Dream of Red Mansions, which are often called "Lazi" or "chili pepper".The name Lazarus also has the same meaning, so Yang Jiang skillfully translated the title into Little Lazarus.
Mr. Yang Jiang’s early translation was encouraged by Mr. Fu Lei, and later Mr. Zhu Guangqian praised her translation. Mr. Dong Hengxun, an expert in American literature studies at the Institute of Foreign Languages, recalled that when he was studying at Peking University, he liked to go to Mr. Zhu Guangqian’s house with his classmates. As young students, they always like to ask strange questions, such as "Who is the best in English in China?" "Who is the best translator in China?" Mr. Zhu Guangqian replied that translation can be divided into three aspects: prose translation, poetry translation and theoretical translation. Yang Jiang is the best prose translator. However, Yang Jiang is very modest. She said that although her translation was praised by her predecessors, for example, Jill Brass, published by stages in the World Literature of the Foreign Languages Institute, was praised by the editor-in-chief Comrade Chen Bingyi, but she always felt that her translation was very poor. Once, she asked Qian Zhongshu to proofread it for her. Qian Zhongshu took a pencil and scratched her manuscript all over the paper, saying, "I don’t understand these." Yang Jiang said: "That’s what the book says." But Mr. Qian stressed: "I don’t understand." Yang Jiang understood that this was because she didn’t translate the original into understandable Chinese, so she continued to retranslate it until Mr. Qian nodded to show that she understood it. She also explored a higher translation level and said, "To talk about my translation skills,It’s all from these failed experiences. "
After the death of Mr. Qian Zhongshu, Mr. Yang Jiang translated Plato’s Phaedo at the age of nearly 90. This article on Socrates’ discussion of "soul" with his disciples before his death entrusted her with her deepest grief. People who have read The Three of Us are all shocked by their deep love and affection. In this essay, Yang Jiang, who is witty and humorous, sadly recalls the life of her husband Qian Zhongshu and her beloved daughter yuan qian. Although they are all trivial things, people who have read it are all moved. After the death of her husband and daughter, Yang Jiang, who lives alone with her nanny, is still optimistic and strong, and her workload is amazing. While sorting out the words left by Mr. Qian, the Commercial Press published the Collection of Qian Zhongshu Manuscripts. While I’m still trying to create. Walking to the Edge of Life, published in 2007, explores human soul, personality, nature, the struggle and unity between spirit and flesh, fate and destiny, and human civilization, and asks itself about birth, illness and death. Later, the companion piece "Sitting on the Edge of Life" is to answer readers’ various questions at the age of 100. "I am one hundred years old this year, and I have reached the edge of my life. I can’t know exactly how far I can go. My life span is involuntary, but I know very well that I am fast ‘ Go home ’ Yes. I have to wash away the filth that has been contaminated for a hundred years and go home. "