E.g.5 一片孤城万仞山。
Wen Shu: On a steep high mountain the lone garrison town stands
Zhang Tingchen & Wei Bosi: Amid the massive mountains lies the solitary sliver of a town
Sun Dayu: And a lone pile lies by a mount a hundred furlongs high
Xu Yuanchong: The lone Great Wall lost amid the mountains proud
Fletcher: ‘Mid peaks so high our tiny town to sight is almost lost
Such units as “尺” (in its ancient meaning), “仞”have no equivalence in Anglo-American culture or modern Chinese culture. According to A Dictionary for Ancient Chinese Words, both of them are measures of length, height or depth. In ancient Chinese, 1尺≈0.26m; 1仞≈6.4chi(current)≈2.4~2.5meter. So “万仞”≈24000meter~25000m. Even people in China today may not know these. We may translate them semantically as 260m and 24000m, but which may make the translated versions lost their original charming and become more complicated. Therefore, Obata chooses another way, he adapts and makes the thought and cultural content of original more accessible to reader. In his version, “尺”is replaced by “fathom”, a word familiar to foreigners. 1尺≈0.26m, then 1000尺≈260m; 1fathom≈1.8m, then 1000fathoms≈1800m. Thus it seems the two figures differ largely from each other, but after all, the “千尺” here is in its exaggerated meaning. In this way, the readers can get the rough meaning of a great depth conveyed by the original poem.
While in the second version, Sun Dayu has semantically translated “仞”into “a hundred furlongs”. He used a similar unit in Anglo-American culture for replacement. 1furlong≈201m, then 100furlong≈20100m. This is almost equal to the height of “万仞”. The domesticating method here has not merely made the TL readers understand the grandeur of the mountains the author wanted to convey, but also given them a perceptual knowledge of this point. Thus we can see that Mr. Sun has really given much thought to the matter.
As for the other versions, they should be categorized under communicative translation. Although the key cultural word has been sacrificed, all the versions have become clear enough to be accepted by TL readers.
From the above examples, we see that semantic translation is not always the only valid method. Sometimes communicative translation may also help to translate those words that are heavily culture-loaded. However, when it is imperative to retain the culture, semantic translation should be considered, that is, we can translate the words literally and then add a note. In versions that aim to introduce Chinese culture, it is necessary to use this method.
3.3 Time Culture
Time culture refers to some culture that is related to time or the techniques to express time. During the development of Chinese history, ancient Chinese invent their own special methods to express time. Using lunar calendar to calculate months is a good case in point. That is to divide a year according to the twenty-four solar terms. In this way, people can easily depict what the climate or scenery is like during a period of time.
E.g.6 烟花三月下扬州
Yang Xianyi &Gladys Yang: In the mist and flowers of spring,
He goes down to Yangzhou.
Sun Dayu: In this flowery April clime,
For thickly peopled Yangzhou.
Xu Yuanchong: For Yangzhou in spring green with willows and red with flowers.
According to Best-Known Tang and Song Four-Line Poems,“烟花” is a phrase to depict the spring that is filled with the mist-like willow catkin and the brocade-like flowers, that is to describe a splendid spring. Here in the verse, it is used to modify “三月”. “三月”in the lunar calendar refers to the third month, the period almost from the pure Brightness till soon after Grain Rain. This period of time is nearly equal to the fourth month of the year,April. During this time, flowers blossom and the trees begin to put forth new leaves.”
Against such a background, starting from the TL culture, Mr. Sun Dayu communicatively translates it into “flowery April”. Thus, the TL readers can easily imagine the flowery scenery. The same strategy has been adopted in the others. From the readers’ angle, the other two translators have succeeded in avoiding confusion to the TL readers by omitting “三月”. Otherwise the TL readers will wonder why it says it is spring and flowery since it is obviously cold in March? By omission of “三月”, the two versions appear clearer in meaning and easier to understand.
From the above several examples, we may draw a conclusion that communicative translation is mainly adopted to transfer the culture, especially in appellation culture and culture about weights and measures, while semantic translation is added to render some culture in Chinese poetry. But no matter which method a translator adopts, he must render the original accurately and accurately convey the true information to the TL readers.
All in all, Peter Newmark’s translation theory applies successfully to the English versions of ancient Chinese poems. It proves that all translations must be in some degree both communicative and semantic. Both semantic translation and communicative translation are necessary in translation. The theory plays a key role in the English translation of Chinese poems.
【References】
[1] Graham. A.C. Poems of The Late T’ang [M]. Britain: Penguin Books Ltd, 1965.
[2] Steiner, George. After Babel: Aspects of Language and Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1998.
[3] Liu, James. J.Y. Art of Chinese Poetry [M]. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1970.
[4] Newmark, Peter. Approaches to Translation [M]. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. 2001.
[5] 丛滋杭. 中国古典诗歌英译理论研究[M].北京：国防工业出版社.2007.
[6] 吕叔湘. 英译唐人绝句百首[M]. 湖南：湖南人民出版社.1980.
[7] 孙大雨.古诗文英译集[M]. 上海：上海外语教育出版社.1996.