Chapter 653 Translation of Fish-flavored Shredded Pork
Mr. Gu smiled: "The little girl is very simple, she just used yu-xiangshreddedpork."
Zhou Zhiyi clasped his hands together: "Wonderful! Follow me. I thought exactly the same thing, I’ll call Hu Chu back first!”
This translation is exactly what Zhou Zhi thought.
In fact, it doesn’t have to be that complicated at all, just transliterate it directly. Once more people come into contact with it, they will naturally know that “yu-xiang” represents a special taste that combines fresh, sour, sweet and spicy flavors.
There is no need to worry about foreigners not understanding, don’t they? Order a dish and taste it, and you will understand.
When foreigners introduced hamburgers to China, did translators worry that Chinese people would not understand the meaning of the word? Not at all.
I believe that the word "yu-xiang" will eventually be popularized and even popular among foreigners, which is the key to solving this translation problem.
Of course the translation must be faithful and elegant, but when it is difficult to find an alternative word, just transliterate it directly, and then let people connect the transliteration with the true meaning of the word, and create it in other people's language family. A new word that is the most "honest and elegant" came out.
From a translation point of view, Xiao Yueyue did not make a mistake when translating "pizza" into "braised naan", but why does it have such a funny effect when it is said?
The reason is that "pizza", a loanword from Chinese transliteration, has become the most "faithful" synonym for this food in people's minds.
For the same reason, translating fish-flavored pork shreds into "Shredded Pork with Spicy Garlic Sauce" or "fish-flavored pork" is as funny as Xiao Yueyue's creation of the term "braised naan".
What is even more ridiculous is that these two translation methods actually became the translation of the most commonly used dish "Shredded Pork with Fish Flavor" in Zhou Zhi's previous life. It cannot but be said that this profoundly reflects the early stage of reform. a phenomenon.
Why can’t we let foreigners use “transliteration of foreign words”? In fact, I am afraid that others will not understand me. In fact, it is a kind of cultural inferiority mentality at work.
Of course Zhou Zhi does not have such a problem, so he thinks the translation adopted by Fu Xia is the best.
Such examples are not the first. For example, the translation of Kung Pao Chicken "Kung Pao Chicken" and the translation of Mapo Tofu created by foreigners themselves are good examples.
If you don’t know what to be afraid of, you will understand after eating it once? Why go to all that trouble?
There is no need to repeat the mistake of the May Fourth youth who translated Sonofabitch as "son of a bitch" instead of the ready-made "son of a bitch".
As soon as the phone call was made, the other person spoke immediately: "Brother Zhou, please help me, my brother is getting annoyed by that foreigner girl..."
This period is very special. , the country has just opened its doors, and foreigners who are willing to come and take a look are very polite and courteous, as if they are afraid of scaring them.
It is even more serious for those who come in with foreign capital.
The simplest example is the small building where Fu Xia and her group of international students live. It is the building with the best living conditions in Shu University.
The international student building of Shu University is surrounded by walls. There are rooms for two people, and some even have one room for one person and his family. Jinjiang is just across the street from the door. Even every room in the entire building has air conditioning.
This is a treatment that the academicians of the school, deans and deans of various colleges and departments do not have.
The same is true in society. When it comes to foreign affairs personnel, all units are very careful in handling it. Just like Fu Xia and others went to the cooking school and asked to learn how to cook. This matter was obviously a bit out of line, but in the end the school reported it to the cultural The school held several meetings and discussions in the hall, and finally agreed to allow several foreigners to become "transfer students" in Lao Zhang's class.
In the end, Fu Xia was the only one who persisted. The others were actually three minutes of enthusiasm. It was a shame that the Chinese side discussed and studied it as a special topic.
But this method won't work here in Zhou Zhi. In his heart, Fu Xia is just a greedy poor white ghost. This poor white ghost has a good character, and he has a little admiration for Zhou Zhi. In addition, the two of them have some common acquaintances in Sichuan Yin. Lao Zhang and Denzin can also be regarded as friends of Fu Xia's master Zhou Zhi.
The most important thing is that Fu Xia truly loves Chinese food and traditional culture from the bottom of her heart. This is different from the curious mentality of many foreigners who despise China. Same.
So Zhou Zhi also had a very good impression of Xia.
Fu Xia's translation of the names of Sichuan dishes made Zhou Zhi feel even more comfortable and satisfied.
In Hu Chu's introduction, Fu Xia was really persistent and had the temperament of a contemporary college student. After Zhou Zhi told her that the translation of "Sichuan Fun Talk" needed to be approved by the relevant departments, she really ran away I went to the publishing house to find someone.
This is also the first time that a publishing house has encountered a foreigner who came to ask for the translation of Chinese works. The last Sichuan writer who was praised by foreigners was Ba Jinba.
Between 1978 and 1981, many of Balao's works were translated into French and became very popular. Apart from Lu Xun, Balao also became the Chinese writer whose works were translated and introduced by most people. .
A few years ago, Balao also received the highest medal of honor awarded by President Mitterrand.
Therefore, the publishing house thought this was a big deal and said that it had to report it to the Provincial Department of Culture first and let Fu Xia and others respond.
Fu Xia quickly said that I know someone from the Provincial Department of Culture, whose surname is Hu. When Zhou Zhi held a banquet, he and she both participated.
The success of the overseas distribution of "Sichuan Fun Talk" is the first political achievement of Director Hu after he was transferred from the deputy director of the office to take charge of practical matters. Therefore, as soon as the publishing house heard what Fu Xia said, she knew that she Who is this Director Hu?
So he took Fu Xia over.
The office also attaches great importance to foreign affairs, so it doesn't bother the two masters about anything, and Director Hu is responsible for this matter.
Director Hu had been in contact with Fu Xia and knew that she was a college student who went to cook school to learn cooking without doing her job. At that party, as a foreigner, she also cooked Mapo tofu well, which left some impression on her.
But it was definitely not the translator’s impression, so he excused himself and said that he would wait until Zhou Zhi came back to discuss it.
It’s not over now. Fu Xia keeps running towards him every day. The little girl doesn’t know how difficult it is to enter the door of China’s provincial and ministerial level units. She works as hard as a neighbor, and makes a mess. The reason for the annoyance is because they are international friends. They can't be beaten, scolded, sent away, or pushed away, not to mention how angry they are.
After hearing the whole story, Zhou Zhi almost stopped laughing and said to Director Hu: "Actually, I think Fu Xia is good as a translator. First of all, she is enthusiastic and can do this for me. Coming to you every day means that she really wants to do it.”
"The second thing is her level. I heard from Grandpa Shi that she is now seriously studying Chinese and ancient Chinese under the name of Master Tenzin. We can't attack the love of international friends for Chinese civilization and traditional culture, can we?" ”
"The third one is that I am very satisfied with her translation level, especially her mentality when translating. I am even more satisfied with the vast majority of domestic translators."
"Oh? Why is this? ? "Hu Chu is interested.
Zhou Zhi told Fu Xia's translation method of fish-flavored shredded pork, and then compared it with the two domestic translations. After explaining the differences and reasons to Hu Chu, he finally He said: "These small dish names reflect Fu Xia's love for me. Our culture is an equal recognition. This is nonsense. To put it bluntly, even our own comrades, especially those who study foreign languages and work as translators, are unlikely to be able to do it..."
"Speak up!" Hu Chu laughed angrily at Zhou Zhi's pretentious old-fashioned attitude.
“Well, I personally think that this kind of equal recognition is far more important than translation skills and writing level.”
(End of this chapter)