Maupassant is a French writer who is very popular among Chinese readers. In his works, there are extensive and deep descriptions of the world and human nature; in terms of writing techniques, he depicts the characters meticulously, the plot arrangement is realistic, but the ending is often unexpected. For readers who are used to reading old Chinese novels, it has a refreshing and special charm. Maupassant's works are not only liked by ordinary readers, but also by some well-educated cultural people, such as Hu Shi, the pioneer of the Chinese New Culture Movement. In addition to contacting and reading Maupassant's works very early, Hu Shi also personally translated several Maupassant's novels for the dissemination of new culture, as the objects of "taking methods" and "observation" of new literature. In the later years, Hu Shi also accompanied Mo's works from time to time, narrated for others, and published his impressions... This article attempts to capture these contents as a useful footnote to the dissemination and influence of Western literature in our country.
In 1910, Hu Shi took the "Gengzi Indemnity" to study abroad at public expense and entered Cornell University in the United States. When he first entered the school, he studied agriculture. After a year and a half, he felt that his interest was not there, so he changed to humanities. During this period, Hu Shi studied philosophy, politics and many other courses. As a result of learning English, he also read a lot of Western literature. Judging from the diaries at that time, British poets Byron, Shelley, Milton, Wordsworth, Browning, Tennyson; playwrights Shakespeare, Bernard Shaw; novelists Scott, Dickens... He all Through the English translation, he also read the Russian Tolstoy, Turgenev; French Rabelais, Molière, Dumas, Dude, and of course many works by Maupassant, who were influential in the French literary world .
After several years of reading and research, Hu Shi transformed and recast Chinese culture and gradually formed his own set of ideas. At that time, several domestic newspapers and periodicals, under the auspices of cultural pioneers such as Chen Duxiu, began to explore the way to advance China's progress. Hu Shi's proposition coincides with these explorations. In this case, Hu Shi in the United States opened the prelude to the "literary revolution" with papers such as "Literary Improvement" and other papers, and became an important part of the "new culture movement".
This movement, which Hu Shi later called the "Renaissance in China", had high hopes for the "improvement" of new literature. However, new literature cannot come out of thin air, and it is almost essential to learn from and import excellent literature and art from other countries. Hu Shi saw this very clearly. In February 1916, he said in a letter to Chen Duxiu: "...To create new literature for the motherland today, it is advisable to import famous European and Western novels, so that people in the country can learn from and observe, and then It can be said that there is a new literature created by oneself...Translation is easy to say. If you do it inadvertently, it will turn the rare treasures into dung, how can it be just abrupt? Books should be translated first by choosing those who are close to the Chinese people’s psychology, and others are not tolerated.”
Based on this understanding, Hu Shi translated several foreign novels one after another, in order to “enable people in the country to learn from the methods and observe them.” He chose at that time, first of all the works of French writer Maupassant. In January 1917, not long before and after writing the famous "Literary Improvement", Hu Shi translated Maupassant's "The Two Fishermen" (now translated as "Two Friends"), sent it back to China, and published it in "New Culture Movement" position "New Youth" magazine.
From Hu Shi's point of view, "Er Fisherman" is of course a "Oxi masterpiece", and it is an object that can be "observed" and "observed". So, does it belong to "people close to the Chinese people's psychology"? In "Er Fisherman" In the book, Maupassant wrote about two friends who loved fishing. During the siege of Paris, they went fishing together in an old place on the outskirts of the city. Although the fishing yielded a lot, it was a pity that they were discovered and captured by Prussian soldiers. The conditions offered by these soldiers are that since you can leave the city, you must know the password to enter the city. As long as you say the password, you can go home safely and reunite with your wives and children... These two Parisians, one opened a watch shop , one is the owner of a grocery store, they are all ordinary people, but they can weigh the seriousness of the matter. Although they were terrified at that time, they still "shivered" to say goodbye to each other, and were finally killed by the Prussian soldiers.
To write about a big war, but only from a very ordinary event, but finally shows the serious theme of responsibility. This way of writing is really worthy of Chinese people's "taking the law" and "observing"; as for "people close to the Chinese people's psychology", the author thinks it is in line with the ancient Chinese saying that "the rise and fall of a country is the responsibility of the individual". It should be said that this work is in line with Hu Shi's selection criteria for translation works.
However, in two months, Hu Shi started writing again and translated another novel by Maupassant, "Mei Luai" (now translated as "Manly Dance"). This is a sad and inexplicable story. There was a man who went to a sapling farm for a read and a walk for a while. It is very quiet here, and he often enjoys a rare state. By chance, he saw an old man come here too. The old man was wearing an outdated gown with lace ties, and an enormous wide-brimmed plush hat... In short, like a figure from a distant era. When the old man faced this tranquility and thought that no one was around, he began to dance a rare bird-like minuet, and flew back and forth repeatedly, even making a charming gesture; Bent, as if hugging the dance partner. At the end of the dance, the old man was still like a stage curtain call. He bowed and stepped back solemnly, while blowing kisses like the audience to the sapling in front of him... After that, the old man started walking again with a solemn demeanor.
These gestures sparked particular interest from onlookers. He met the old man and wanted to know about this particular dance. The old man later brought his wife, a dancing star who was once loved by princes and kings. The old man introduced to the interested person that this dance is called "Meilu Dance", which is the "queen" in the dance. It is a dance performed by queens in the palace. After the king was gone, there was nowhere to dance the "Melu Dance". In order to let him really understand this special dance, the old man invited his wife, the former dance star, to perform together. Next, the two old men swayed and bent their bodies with childlike postures, and danced with some stiff small steps... In the sense of onlookers, it was like two old dolls dancing a puppet dance... Seeing this situation, he had a feeling that he couldn't express whether he cried or laughed. The old man ended the dance, looked at each other, and hugged each other sobbing.
This novel undoubtedly shows more complex life feelings and emotions. The "Mei Luwu" that was once out of reach in the palace is no longer known, and the old man is still immersed in the past years, cherishing, missing, and reminiscing... a latecomer, to the presentation of the past in today's But it feels "sad and ridiculous"; the times have crossed, the years have passed, and everything has changed, which makes people feel lost.
The novel is presented in the first person, which is rarely seen in old Chinese novels; the complex and profound feelings about the paradoxical impressions of the past days in the minds of two generations have never been expressed in past novels. This is probably a sufficient reason for Hu Shi's efforts to translate this work for Chinese people to "take the law" and "observe" it.
These two Maupassant novels were published in the third volume of "New Youth", No. 1 and No. 2, only one week after the publication of the famous "Literary Improvement". This is not the end. At the end of 1918, Hu Shi took a break from his busy schedule and translated another novel by Maupassant with more specific content, "The Son of Killing the Father" (renamed "The Son of Killing Parents" when it was included in the collection of novels). The novel has a startling start: the bodies of an elderly couple are found in a reed beach. They were apparently killed with iron hooks. The local people know them. These are two rich and well-known people. They are good people, and they don't seem to have any enemies. Just when the case could not be investigated, a young carpenter turned himself in, saying that they had killed themselves. It is generally known that the couple has taken great care of the carpenter in recent years, often giving him some work and making high bids. How can this turn into a killing? People do not understand. Lawyers defending the carpenter then concluded that the carpenter was "unhinged." Just when everyone had accepted this judgment, the young man stood up to speak: he did not want to be put in a mental hospital because of "insane". The truth is that these two people are their own parents.
The young man revealed the whole story: he was the "illegitimate child" of the couple. At first they fell in love, but each had a family, which of course was not "moral". After the child was born, the man handed it over to the priest, who found a mother to raise it. For fear of affecting their reputation, although they have money, they do not provide living expenses and let their children live in hardships.
Decades later, the former lovers finally got married, and they remembered again this child. After finding out about the child's whereabouts, in order to make up for the past, they gave him some carpentry work and paid an excessive amount of money... The child traced the truth of the matter and hoped that his parents would admit him. In order to preserve their reputation, parents scold and condemn their children. During the fight, the child accidentally killed his parents and threw their corpses on the reed beach.
The story sounds terrifying, but it contains contradictions such as human victory, family affection, and worldly reputation and status, which are entangled with each other, and finally deduced into a human tragedy like killing one's parents. In old Chinese novels, it seems that it has never been. So deeply depicted and revealed. Therefore, we can think that "Children of Killing the Father" is a model work that can be "observed" and "observed" for new writers.
These works by Maupassant were picked up by Hu Shi in October 1919, and together with seven other translated works, they became the first episode of "Short Stories". Most of the authors of this episode only receive one article each, with the exception of Maupassant, who at most receive three articles. In the preface, Hu Shi reiterated his original intention of translating these works: "I am someone who really wants to promote short stories, but unfortunately I can't create them. I can only introduce a few famous works as reference materials for later new literati..." Fortunately After Hu Shi and others vigorously advocated: "In the past one or two years, some people in China have gradually been able to appreciate the benefits of short stories, and gradually some people have been able to write short stories of considerable literary value by themselves... This is a phenomenon that is extremely optimistic in the literary world. "The first episode of "Short Stories" sold surprisingly well after it was published. More than ten years later, Hu Shi said with a bit of self-satisfaction: "The sales are so widespread and the reprints are so many that I never dreamed of seeing them back then. The eleven chapters (press: a new one has been added to the printed edition) are still translated in recent years. The most widely circulated of the literary books.” (Preface to the Second Volume of Short Stories). He even sighed on the importance of translation from this: "This long-term welcome makes me particularly believe that the first condition for translating foreign literature is to convert it into a clear and fluent native language. In fact, all translations should meet this basic condition." He further developed his academic research: "Literary books are for people to enjoy and entertain, teaching and propaganda are secondary meanings, and there is absolutely no literary book that makes people unable to read and can't read it, but can receive lessons and propaganda. Therefore, the translation of literary works should strive to understand the basic conditions of fluency." We will not comment on whether Hu Shiinian's literary concept is appropriate or not. He believes that literary works should be translated "clearly and fluently", which is not too much. Basic requirements.
In March 1918, Hu Shi gave a special lecture "On Short Stories" for students at Peking University. The characteristics of the short stories are described, taking the example of Maupassant's works: "Now, let's take a few examples. In 1870, France and Prussia went to war. Later, France was defeated, Paris was broken, and a huge indemnity was paid, and two Only by saving land can we make peace. This war, in history, is called the Battle of the Commonwealth of France. It was a great event. If historians record this incident, they must trace back to the long-term cause of the provocation between the two countries. The details of the war, and the influence of the search for war and peace: if you record it in this way, you can record dozens of large pamphlets. This kind of big event is in the hands of a 'short story writer', and the most economical means are used to write the most important part of this big event. Excellent passage or aspect. I will not cite others, but Daudet and Mapassant as examples.” (Press: Daudet is Dude, Mapassant is Maupassant)
The next paragraph is devoted to Maupassant: There are also many kinds of novels. I have translated his "Deuxamis" (Deuxamis) and wrote about the siege of Paris, but I thought about the two drunkards. There are many more, such as 'Mile fifi' and so on (neither translation), or write about the situation of a prostitute being kidnapped by the soldiers of the Commonwealth, or write about the bachelors in the villages of the French inland, who took advantage of the national turmoil to set up a 'military government branch' and act as a monstrosity...—all From this, one can imagine the various states after the defeat of France at that time. This is what I call a short story of 'using
the most economical means to describe the most splendid fragments of facts, and making people fully satisfied'." In this monograph, we can see that the works of Maupassant involved in Hu Shi are far more than these three works. Of course, the works he cites should be "short stories" that he considers classic, and what he thinks can be "models" for Chinese writers.
After Hu Shi returned to China, he taught at Peking University. On weekdays, I am busy with class preparation and composition, and my thinking focuses on courses such as "History of Chinese Philosophy". However, when he has a little spare time, he still finds his original hobby to read Spanish novels. For example, on May 6, 1920, when Hu Shi checked into the Tianjin Hotel, he took out the Maupassant novel he carried with him and read it. He read a piece of "Life" and was fascinated by it. He didn't finish reading it until the early hours of the morning, and was greatly impressed: "This book is very good."
Later, there was a special opportunity, and Hu Shi read a lot of Maupassant's works. This reading also extended to one of his extramarital affairs, which became a flavorful concoction. It was April 1923. Hu Shi went south to Shanghai and Hangzhou. He soon fell ill. An American friend, Sawkes, took him to his home to recuperate. He stayed there for dozens of days. Hu Shi was a restless man. During his recuperation, he read a large number of English novels collected by Sawkes's home. Among them, "I have read two volumes of Ohnry (O. Henry) and two volumes of Dc Mapassant (Maupassant)." After reading two volumes, the number of articles must be quite large. Judging from the diary at that time, while recovering from his illness, he "slept in bed and read the novel Mapassant", which was still very comfortable.
Soon, he went to a place called Yanxia Cave in Hangzhou to recuperate. Here, I spent a "fairy day" with my cousin Cao Chengying. From the diary we can know that the literary works that accompanied him and his cousin were mainly from Maupassant. For example, on September 10, Hu Shi wanted to write a few banners for people, "I read a few novels by Mau Bosan (now translated as 'Sang') when I was grinding ink." The next day: "I read a long novel by Mo Bosan. The novel Les dimanches dun bourgeois ("Sunday of a Capitalist"." Hu Shi read the book quickly and finished it in one day. He also commented: "The first three paragraphs are good, but the following are not good."
On the third day, I changed another one: "Overcast and rainy. Read Maupassant's novel Theheritage ("Legacy"), this one is excellent." This work is a masterpiece by Maupassant. He started with a family's aunt with a generous savings, saying it would be a legacy for his niece. So the woman's father started picking sons-in-law at the Admiralty where he worked. He is a small person himself, and looking at the power of a major person, he chooses a young man who is likely to climb the ladder. After a variety of means, the young man finally married his daughter. Later, when his aunt died, his will asked for the money to be left to his niece's child, the direct bloodline of his own family. It's a pity that this little couple just can't have a child. In order not to lose the inheritance, the family made all kinds of efforts, and finally, with the help of another colleague, the woman became pregnant with a child and finally obtained the inheritance. Although this story is a little bizarre, Maupassant arranged every detail naturally, which is really unexpected and reasonable. For a society centered on money, he made a bone-chilling description and ridicule. This superb artistic technique is probably the reason why Hu Shi thinks it is "excellent".
This novel is not enough to read by himself. Two days later, he told it to his cousin Cao Chengying, who was living with him at this time. He said in his diary: "Tong Peisheng (Cao Chengying's character Peisheng) went to sit at Zhiqi Pavilion on the mountain. I told her about Mo Bosan's novel "Heritage". I was here in the morning and afternoon." This story is longer, So it took Hu Shi's time in the morning and afternoon. Fortunately, between couples, this does not care. The day before, he also "told a story of Mo Bosan" for Cao Chengying. Too bad it wasn't named, so I don't know which one it was.
However, a few days later, Hu Shi said in his diary: "She went out with Peisheng and sat on the stone under the tree, and I told her a story of three Mo Bo's, 'Toine'." It is said that in a small village, there was an old man named Tuva who sold wine. He is unusually fat, but he is happy, and he likes to joke with people. People who come to drink like him, but his wife scolds him that he can eat and can't make money. Later, Tuva suffered a stroke and was paralyzed, so he could only lie in bed. Although the neighbor who was a good drinker often came to help, his wife who hated him hated him even more. One day, a person joked that the big fat man was lying there and that he could hatch chicks. As soon as his wife heard it, she really put the YLd" egg under his arm. After more than ten days of everyone's jokes, the chicks hatched, and Tuva became happy because of his nature. In this story, there is more laughter, and Maupassant finally It was not included in the final edition before his death. At this time, when Hu Shi told the couple, he should have used his humorous plot to adjust the atmosphere.
It can be seen from the above description that Hu Shi really did not care about Maupassant's works. I like it very much. He first translated Maupassant's works, except for "taking methods" and "observing" for new writers, his love should be the first. After that, although time is limited and there are very few opportunities to read foreign novels, you can go out no matter what , or in his spare time, Hu Shi always brings Maupassant's works, which shows his full appreciation. This is probably unique among the foreign writers that Hu Shi pays attention to, and it can be said that he has a soft spot for it. In his
later years, Hu Shi, When talking with people, I also mentioned the situation when the first volume of "Short Stories" including Maupassant's works was printed and published, and hoped that after deleting a few articles, it would be handed over to the publishing house for reprinting. Furthermore, I hope that these works can play the role of "taking methods" and "observing", and more should be expressing their cherishing of the past and their love complex for these works.
Maupassant is a famous French writer in modern times, and Hu Shi is a leader of the Chinese New Culture Movement. With Hu's timely influence and appeal, he likes and translates Maupassant's works, and will certainly play an active role in "taking methods" and "observing" the development of Chinese new literature. What we can think about here is that there are so many famous writers and important works in the West. Many writers are richer than Maupassant, and their works are heavier. Why did Hu Shi prefer and choose Maupassant for translation introduction. What kind of purpose is contained in this, what kind of thinking and consideration are there, and what kind of influence did these works have on the new literature at that time... For scholars who study Chinese and foreign cultural exchanges today, this should be a useful topic for discussion. In describing this historical fact, there is also another layer of ideas that focuses on this and discusses the special phenomenon of cultural communication in depth.
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