國立臺灣師範大學翻譯研究所
博士論文
Doctoral Dissertation Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation
National Taiwan Normal University
五四前《悲慘世界》故事中譯的底本研究
Chinese Translations of Les Miseacuterables Stories in the Pre-May-Fourth Period A Source Study
指導教授李奭學 博士 Advisor Dr Sher-shiueh Li
研究生強勇傑
Advisee Ivan Yung-chieh Chiang
中華民國 103 年 1 月 January 2014
Acknowledgments
It never occurred to me that my dissertation would be completed while I was on chemotherapy The medication prescribed by my doctor which not only burdened and weakened my body but also dulled my brain made the writing process an extremely inefficient and tough one Every day for the past two years I had to struggle against writers block with very limited energy as I trudged along in constructing my thesis point by point at a snails pace It was a long testing process and there were times when hope was nowhere in sight and I felt like giving it all up Fortunately however this thought would soon be left behind by my befuddled and forgetful head Before I knew it the work was nearing the end and I finally did it Therefore the hardships and difficulties I endured all along the way have made the completion of the dissertation especially valuable and memorable to me The visit to deaths door has inspired me to better cherish everything I have The list of the people I would like to thank is hence a long one but within the limited space here I can only mention them briefly without being able to enumerate their kindnesses which have been treasured in my heart First of all I would like to thank my advisor Professor Li Sher-shiueh whose erudition and instruction have not only benefited my knowledge over the years but also helped me solve many problems related to this doctoral project A chronic pain sufferer himself he was thoroughly sympathetic to the persistent discomfort in my neck as a consequence of surgery and gave me useful advice on how to live with my pain Without his patient instructions the fulfillment of my dissertation would have been absolutely impossible Next I shall show my profoundest appreciation to the thesis defense committee membersmdashDr Jeng Hengsyung Dr Ma Yiu-man Dr Lai Tzu-yun and Dr Lee Ken-fang along with my advisormdashfor their leniency during my viva voce and for their insightful comments and constructive advice on the improvement of my dissertation Besides I owe the finishing of this task to some friends who gathered important research resources for me Kuo Yu-jen and Liau Yun-jen went several times to the NTU library to borrow many useful books for me Chen Mei-ching also provided me with some indispensable Meiji Japan material from the FJU library Cheng Che-ming came back from the United States with a rare out-of-print version of Les Miseacuterables which proved vital to my research To Yang Ruei-ying my gratitude is boundless because she had to bear the inconvenience of paying two visits to the British Library to bring back some rare material for me I also feel grateful to Tang Chun-nien Wu Tsai-yi Tu Yun Lee Te-yun Chang Chia-hao Chih Szu-chin and Tsai Shu-yuan who helped download many priceless electronic books in the public domain that could only be accessed from the United States Without their assistance the conclusion of my dissertation could not have been reached
My heartfelt thanks also go to many members of GITI both for the numerous stimulating intellectual exchanges during my career as a PhD student and for the substantial aid they offered me about applying for an extension of my leave of absence from school for my catastrophic illness Without their help and support I would have had no chance to return to school to finish my dissertation My sincere thanks are due to Chou Chung-tien Lai Tzu-yun Lee Ken-fang Wu Min-chia Lee Chiu-hui Chang Jung-yen Chen Hung-shu Li Yi-chin Lin Chun-hung Chuo Jia-chen Tu Hsin-hsin Chang Yu-min Li Yen-hui Chen Pi-chu Yee Soh Fee Wu Chien-lin and Liao Guey-lan There are many good friends of mine who have continued to express their care and concern over my health during the long process of my thesis writing Their friendship has always warmed my heart and given me extra strength to combat any obstacles that got in my way Here I am particularly indebted to Hsiang Jen-hui Huang Shun-chia Liang Jeng-shin Cai Sheng-han Chen Huang-yu Li Chun-yen Chao Wen-chi Luo Jie Peng Jing-jun Chen Hui-qi Zhou Yong-zhi Hsu Chung-kai Chuang Ho-ren and Chen Shao-kai Furthermore I would also like to extend my gratefulness to my swimming buddies a special group of friends who always surround me with positive cheerful vibes that never fail to boost my morale and set my energy going full blast whenever we spend time together either swimming or doing anything fun I can never thank them enough because many of them took time out of their busy schedule to pay me more than one visit during my hospitalization just to keep me company and cheer me up I owe my speedy remission of cancer to Wu Fu-ren Li Yi-syuan Tsui En-chuan Liao Ying-da Peng Yu-hao Izumi Yoko Huang Bing-yi Lin Wei-shen Chen Shan-yuan Chang Ting-hsuan Lin Chun Chang Chun-hao Liu Chao-an Lee Yuan-chun Liu Yi-chen Hsieh Yao-sheng Fu Jian-chao Peng Yi-wen Huang Chou-dian Chen Chun-yen Yan Yi-xiang and Lin Jheng-chang Finally my superlative thanks are to be given to Chiang Hsiu-chun my lifeguard training instructor and my life-saving angel whose timely advice led to the discovery of the tumor cells lurking in my body It is by no means an exaggeration to say that I owe my life to her Last but not least I would like to thank my family for tolerating my short temper in the course of my medical treatment
摘要
五四以前中國出現了九個法國雨果《悲慘世界》相關故事(包括《悲
慘世界》《克羅德葛》〈芳婷之源〉三篇作品)的中譯本但這些中譯
本並非都是根據雨果的法文原文所翻譯本研究旨在探討這九個中譯本所
根據的底本為何探究方式係從譯者背景及譯文內容來判斷如譯者背景
不詳則僅依賴譯文之蛛絲馬跡在檢視譯文內容時採跨語言之文本比
較方式將中文譯本與先前的日譯本英譯本及法文原文加以對照比較
從中尋找可能的傳承關係進而推斷出可能的底本若無法確認翻譯的原
本則退而求其次推斷所可能根據的語言為何研究結果發現中文本
譯自英譯本者最多其次是日譯本直接譯自法文原文者最少由此可知
英文與日文的譯本在悲慘世界相關故事的傳播方面扮演至關重要的角色
尤其是英譯本此外不管在法英日中各語言當中節(譯)本所
佔的比例皆不容小覷有些中譯本所根據的底本即為節(譯)本而此時
期的日譯本與中譯本皆為節譯本由此可知節譯本對於《悲慘世界》相關
故事在中國早期的傳遞功勞很大最後從追本溯源研究中發現五四前
《悲慘世界》相關故事的翻譯有明顯的重譯接力現象不僅是跨語言的接
力(從法文透過英文日文而成中文)也在同種語言中接力(例如英譯本
與中譯本各自內部的前後傳承關係所形成的接力)為接力翻譯史上值得注
意的現象
關鍵字跨文本比較系譜研究文本細讀接力翻譯(重譯)雨果悲
慘世界克羅德葛芳婷之源魯迅蘇曼殊黑石周作人陳景韓
解吾孝宗雪生哀塵慘社會慘世界天鷚兒孤兒記孤星淚
逸犯天民淚怪客縲紲盟心森田思軒黒岩淚香原抱一庵田山
花袋
Abstract Before the May-Fourth Movement in 1919 China saw the emergence of nine
Chinese translations of Les Miseacuterables stories (including Les Miseacuterables Claude
Gueux and LOrigine de Fantine) This dissertation seeks to trace the sources of the
nine Chinese texts The source-tracing is conducted with the help of the background
information of the translators and the content of their translations If the background of
a translator is not known intertextual investigation will be solely relied on In
determining the source of a Chinese text this study juxtaposes different versions of the
same story including Chinese Japanese English and the French ones and pins down
the specific source text used by the Chinese translator by sorting out the genealogical
relationship among the cross-lingual texts If the source text cannot be ascertained
then effort is made to judge the probable language from which the Chinese version is
derived The results of the present source-tracing reveal that the Chinese versions
before 1919 are translated mostly from English versions that Japanese versions are the
second most used intermediary texts in China and that Hugos French originals are the
least adopted sources Hence English and Japanese versions especially the English
ones play an important role in the dissemination of Les Miseacuterables stories Moreover
abridged versions account for a considerable proportion in the book market whether in
French English Japanese or Chinese Some Chinese texts are derived from a
shortened version in another language and all the Japanese and Chinese versions are
partial rather than complete translations Thus bowdlerized versions are the major
contributor to the early introduction of Les Miseacuterables stories to China Finally the
present source-tracing also identifies an intriguing relaying in the translations not only
across the different languages (as from French through English and Japanese to
Chinese) but also within a specific language (such as the relaying within versions in
English and Chinese respectively) a significant phenomenon in the history of relay
translation
Keywords intertextual comparison and contrast genealogical study close reading relay translation Victor Hugo Les Miseacuterables Claude Gueux LOrigine de Fantine Lu Xun Su Manshu Hei Shi Zhou Zuoren Chen Jinghan Xie Wu Xiao Zong Xue Sheng Aichen Can Shehui Can Shijie Tian Liu Er Guer Ji Guxing Lei Yifan Tianmin Lei Guai Ke Leixie Mengxin Morita Shiken Kuroiwa Ruikou Hara Houitsuan Tayama Katai
Contents Chapter One Introduction 1
11 Les Miseacuterables and Its Related Stories1 12 Early Chinese Translations of the Stories Related to Les Miseacuterables 4 13 Potential Source Versions Consulted in the Present Dissertation15
131 Potential Source Versions of Claude Gueux16 132 Potential Source Versions of LOrigine de Fantine21 133 Potential Source Versions of Les Miseacuterables 22
Chapter Two Aichen and Guer Ji The Role of Translator as (Re)Writer43 21 Aichen and Its Source The Ambiguous Identity of the Translator 43 22 Guer Ji and Its Source More Creation than Translation60
Chapter Three The Sources of Leixie Mengxin Yifan and Tianmin Lei 67 31 Leixie Mengxin A First-hand Translation from the French67 32 Yifan An Adaptation Based on a Japanese Version81 33 Tianmin Lei A Close Rendition from a Second-hand French Text91
Chapter Four Su Manshus Can Shehui A Case of Multiple Mysteries103 41 Probable Language Sources Critical Conjectures Revisited 106 42 Intralingual Screening Probable English Versions 113 43 Intralingual Screening Probable Japanese Sources 119 44 Intralingual Screening Versions of Su Manshus Can Shehui 122 45 Interlingual Screening the Chinese Text versus French English and
Japanese Les Miseacuterables136 Chapter Five The Authorship of Can Shijie The Devil Is in the Details of
Source-tracing159 51 The Problem of Authorship in the Two Versions of Su Manshus
Chinese Les Miseacuterables 159 52 Clarifications of Sus and Chens Linguistic Faculty and an Alternative
Approach to the Authorship of Can Shijie 160 53 In Search of the Most Likely Source and the Most Likely Translator
Interlingual and Intertextual Comparative Analysis174 Chapter Six The Untraceable Texts of Tian Liu Er Guxing Lei and Guai Ke
199 61 The Indeterminate Sources of Tian Liu Er Multiple Possibilities 199 62 The Two Likely Sources of Guxing Lei215 63 The Difficulty of Source-tracing in Guai Ke Insufficient Textual
Evidence 238 Chapter Seven Conclusion 249
71 Abridged Versions of Les Miseacuterables Stories249 72 The Relay in Translation of Les Miseacuterables Stories in the
Pre-May-Fourth Period253 Works Consulted265 Appendix List of Chinese and Japanese Phonetic Transcriptions279
1
Chapter One Introduction
11 Les Miseacuterables and Its Related Stories
Les Miseacuterables written by Victor-Marie Hugo (1802minus1885) and acknowledged
worldwide as one of the greatest French novels in the nineteenth century is generally
known in the Chinese community as Beican Shijie1 悲慘世界2 The original work is
comprised of five volumes each divided into books which are subdivided into chapters
There is a total of 48 books and 365 chapters in this lengthy five-volumed novel
This voluminous novel is the locus of several short stories intertwined into an
organized whole It is noteworthy that some of the stories in the novels end product
had long existed in Hugos previous writings as separate pieces Especially worthy of
mention here are two such foregoing works to be introduced briefly To begin with it
took Hugo many years of preparation before Les Miseacuterables saw the light of day in
1862 Prior to the publication of the novel Hugo had produced two stories which in
terms of plot have been believed to be its forerunners Claude Gueux and LOrigine
de Fantine3 Published in 1834 Claude Gueux presented a documentary short story
about a good man turned murderer and its main character Claude Gueux heralded the
emergence of a couple of characters in Les Miseacuterables The relationship of the two
works is firmly established as the name of the leading role in the earlier piece is
mentioned in the later enlarged text At the end of the Sixth Chapter of Book Two in
the First Volume there is a paragraph which runs like this
Place pour une courte parenthegravese Cest la seconde fois que dans ses
eacutetudes sur la question peacutenale et sur la damnation par la loi lauteur de ce
livre rencontre le vol dun pain comme point de deacutepart du deacutesastre dune
destineacutee Claude Gueux avait voleacute un pain Jean Valjean avait voleacute un
pain Une statistique anglaise constate quagrave Londres quatre vols sur cinq
ont pour cause immeacutediate la faim4 (LM I 137)
1 In order to avoid confusion caused by variations in translation in this dissertation all the terms originally in Chinese are represented in phonetic romanization using the Pinyin system 2 Literally The Sad Miserable World 3 Literally The Origin of Fantine 4 Because the present dissertation contains many space-taking quotes from different languages their English translations either by other translators or by myself will for the most part be placed in the footnote so as not to disturb reading of the main text Here is a translation for the passage Room for a brief parenthesis This is the second time during his studies on the penal question and damnation by law that the author of this book has come across the theft of a loaf of bread as the point of departure for the disaster of a destiny Claude Gueux had stolen a loaf Jean Valjean had stolen a loaf English statistics
2
Here theft of bread is pointed out in this passage as something shared by the heroes in
the two related works In fact there is much more in common between them than is
mentioned in the quote The protagonists in the two stories concerned are both
kind-hearted innocent citizens forced into theft by desperate circumstances of poverty
and then condemned to imprisonment for their misdemeanor Just as Claude Gueux
the hero in the short story is imprisoned for stealing food for his mistress and her child
so Jean Valjean one of the major characters in Les Miseacuterables is put in jail for
pilfering a loaf of bread for his starving sister and her seven children whose father is
dead Thus it may be said that Claude Gueuxs reason for incarceration serves as a
basis on which Hugo develops Jean Valjeans plot line though the subsequent
development in Jean Valjeans story is very dissimilar to that in Claude Gueuxs
However Jean Valjean is not the only personification of the prototypical figure of
Claude Gueux In Chapter Seven of the First Book of Volume Three of Les Miseacuterables
a section which elaborates on the admirable characteristics of the street Arabs in Paris
Hugo makes brief mention of the word gamin as a synonym for street urchin and
traces its first appearance to the earlier work of Claude Gueux in 1834 According to
Hugo it is from this little piece that the term gamin originated and then came into
popular use Here Hugo does not explicitly point out the significance of his newly
coined word in the early piece but if we inspect the original work we shall find its
relevance is compelling In Claude Gueux the protagonist decided to kill the inspector
who had categorically rejected his pleas for returning his comrade Albin to his side
After Claude Gueux finally announced his resolution of murder to his whole company
of inmates there is a depiction of the heros tranquility and light-heartedness
manifested in his prankish act of blowing out some candles with his nostrils Here
Hugo reveals that Claude Gueux used to be a gamin des rues 5 with some
ill-educated habits in his childhood which continued to influence his behavior as a
grownup (CG 369) Here lies the link between the two related works the positive traits
in the seemingly negative figure of gamin embodied by Claude Gueux are given full
expression and development in Gavroche a street Arab and the main gamin character
in Les Miseacuterables Thus Claude Gueux is succeeded not only by the adult Jean Valjean
but also by the little Gavroche
prove the fact that four thefts out of five in London have hunger for their immediate cause (Hapgood I 83) 5 street Arab
3
Besides Claude Gueux LOrigine de Fantine also foreshadows the advent of
Les Miseacuterables Published posthumously in 1887 Choses Vues6 contains a record in
1841 known as LOrigine de Fantine which recounts an incident of a woman
wrongly accused of assault in her self-defense and brought to freedom by the signed
deposition of V H7 as eyewitness This story is later included in Chapters Twelve and
Thirteen titled Le Deacutesœuvrement de M Bamatabois8 and Solution de Quelques
Questions de Police Municipale9 respectively in the Fifth Book of Volume One The
unnamed streetwalker in the earlier piece is embodied in the character of Fantine in
Les Miseacuterables the dandy who thrusts a handful of snow into her back figures as
Bamatabois in the later work the policemen who arrest the woman of the streets are
represented by the single inspector of Javert and V H who has the prostitute set free
turns into M Madeleine the pseudonym adopted by Jean Valjean as he turns over a
new leaf The similarity between the two stories is striking compared with that
between Claude Gueux and Jean Valjean
Not surprisingly the simple incident in LOrigine de Fantine is extended and
elaborated in Les Miseacuterables into a more detailed account of Fantines miserable life
and the separate works of Claude Gueux and LOrigine de Fantine when integrated
in Les Miseacuterables become intertwined as Jean Valjean crosses paths with Fantine
resulting in a novel with several interlaced story lines Since the two preceding stories
were often included in the early translations and discussions of Les Miseacuterables and
since together with the expanded full-blown work they were the material that was first
used by Chinese translators for the introduction of Hugos works and thoughts into
China my study on the earliest Chinese renditions of Les Miseacuterables will encompass
the two antecedent pieces of Claude Gueux and LOrigine de Fantine In order to
avoid confusion of terms this dissertation shall use Les Miseacuterables stories stories
related to Les Miseacuterables stories about Les Miseacuterables and so on to embrace the
three works under discussion When only one of them is addressed its specific title
will be given
6 Literally Things Seen 7 Victor Hugo Throughout the story Victor Hugos name appears in abbreviation The incident is written in the third person because it was dictated by Hugo to Adegravele his wife See Edward Behr Les Miseacuterables History in the Making (London Pavilion 1996) 32 8 M Bamataboiss Inactivity The English translation of the chapter title follows Isabel F Hapgoods 1887 translation of Les Miseacuterables 9 The Solution of Some Questions Connected with the Municipal Police The English translation of the chapter title follows Isabel F Hapgoods 1887 translation of Les Miseacuterables
4
12 Early Chinese Translations of the Stories Related to Les Miseacuterables
The period of late Qing and early Republican Era saw a great wave of translation
activities in China According to Shi Zhicun 施蟄存10 the introducing of foreign
literatures to the mainland soil of China reached its peak of prosperity during the thirty
years between 1890 and 1919 (18) Not incidentally Chinese translations of Victor
Hugo also made their appearance during this flourishing period According to Wong
Tak-wai 黃德偉 the reception of Hugo in China started with Chen Jinghans 陳景韓
rendition of an essay about Hugo titled Long Caipan 聾裁判11 published in
Xiaoshuo Yuebao 小說月報12 in 1901 (1-2) Then in 1902 Hugos portrait was
circularized by Liang Qichao 梁 啟 超 along with his comments in the No2
(November 15) issue of the journal Xin Xiaoshuo 新小說13 These events initiated the
introduction of the French writer-thinker to China and triggered the interest of the
Chinese intelligentsia including Zhou Zuoren 周作人 (1885minus1967) and Lu Xun 魯
迅14 (1881minus1936) (Zhou Zuoren Xuexiao Shenghuo de Yiyie 49-50 Wang Fong 4)
It should come as no surprise that in less than a year after the report in Xin Xiaoshuo
Lu Xun released his translation of one of Hugos works In terms of the stories related
to Les Miseacuterables their translations into Chinese were initiated in 1903 by Lu Xun
with his Aichen 哀塵 a Chinese version of LOrigine de Fantine From known
and obtainable literature as of the May Fourth Movement in 1919 nine texts of
rendition about Les Miseacuterables stories were produced They are listed in chronological
order in the following table
Title Year Translator Original Story
Aichen 哀塵 1903 Lu Xun 魯迅 LOrigine de
Fantine
Can Shehui 慘社會
Can Shijie 慘世界
1903
1904 Su Manshu 蘇曼殊 Les Miseacuterables
10 Throughout this dissertation Chinese names are ordered in accordance with Chinese usage as family names followed by given names contrary to the order in the English appellation 11 Literally Deaf Judges 12 Literally The Short Story Monthly 13 Literally New Fiction 14 Lu Xun is the pen name of Zhou Shuren 周樹人 Because he is better known in his pen name than in his real name this dissertation follows the general usage and refers to him in his pen name throughout
5
Tian Liu Er 天鷚兒 1905 Hei Shi 黑石 Les Miseacuterables
Guer Ji 孤兒記 1906 Zhou Zuoren 周作人 Claude Gueux
Guxing Lei 孤星淚 1907 Unknown Les Miseacuterables
Yifan 逸犯 1907 Chen Jinghan 陳景韓 Les Miseacuterables
Tianmin Lei 天民淚 1915 Xie Wu 解吾 Les Miseacuterables
Guai Ke 怪客 1916 Xiao Zong 孝宗 Les Miseacuterables
Leixie Mengxin 縲紲盟
心 1918 Xue Sheng 雪生 Claude Gueux
The nine translations in this pre-May-Fourth period are the main texts to be
studied in the present dissertation Before the start of discussions two preliminary
clarifications need to be made here First in the no 19 (1915) issue of Yuxian Lu 娛閒
錄 can be found a short story translated jointly by Wu Wo 毋我 and Jue Nu 覺奴
The title of the piece is Can Shijie 慘世界 which is identical to that of Su Manshus
1904 translation This titular identicalness seems to lead some critics to link the
translation by Wu Wo and Jue Nu with Victor Hugo because Su Manshus same-titled
rendition is from Hugos Les Miseacuterables For example Peng Jianhua 彭建華 places
the Can Shijie by Wu Wo and Jue Nu in the list of Hugos works in Chinese
translation (24) However according to Han Yiyu 韓一宇 Wu Wo was an editor of
Yuxian Lu who in the realm of French literature translated just a few works by
Alexandre Dumas pegravere (126) Jue Nu whose original name is Liu Changshu 劉長述
(1889minus1918) was a well-known journalist at the time of the translation and his
collaboration with Wu Wo typically took the form of the latter interpreting and the
former inscribing as evidenced in their co-translated Yanku Wang 岩窟王 which is
based on Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas pegravere The information
provided by Han may be enlisted as an argument against Wu Wo and Jue Nus Can
Shijie being related to Hugo In fact with a perusal of the story in this short piece
which recounts the sad fate of the French workman Duanna 端拿 and his family as a
result of the despotism of Napoleon the present study is unable to identify its origin
except that the narrated tale therein is a far cry from any of the stories about Les
Miseacuterables So far what can be said for sure is that whether it is from Hugo or Dumas
pegravere or neither the joint work of Can Shijie by Wu Wo and Jue Nu has nothing to do
6
with Hugos Claude Gueux LOrigine de Fantine or Les Miseacuterables Therefore it is
excluded from discussion in the present dissertation
The other point that needs to be clarified here concerns the distinction of the three
French works addressed in the present dissertation The incorporation of the plot of
LOrigine de Fantine in Les Miseacuterables causes some critics to make no
differentiation between the two works For instance in listing the early Chinese
translations of French literature Peng Jianhua adds to the item of Lu Xuns Aichen a
parenthetical note informing that the story is based on one of the episodes in Hugos
Choses Vues (16) but then in a later passage when the focus is trained on those of
Hugos works that had been rendered into Chinese in the early period Peng attaches
the parenthetical note of Les Miseacuterables to Lu Xuns Aichen (24) The
informational inconsistency regarding the origin of Aichen betrays that LOrigine de
Fantine and Les Miseacuterables are mixed up here Likewise in introducing Lu Xun Yue
Min 樂敏 writes that Lu Xuns excerpted translation of Aichen (Les Miseacuterables)
was second-handedly rendered from Morita Shikens Fantine no Moto15 芳梯之源 in
Zuikenroku 隨見録16 (139) Here Yue also confuses Aichen with Les Miseacuterables in
the added message in parentheses Actually as has been briefly introduced before
LOrigine de Fantine and Les Miseacuterables are two separate works and Aichen is a
rendition of the story of LOrigine de Fantine not Les Miseacuterables though the
translation is not based on the French original but on Morita Shikens Japanese text
Besides the fact that LOrigine de Fantine was translated into Chinese earlier
than Les Miseacuterables leads some to conclude that Lu Xun is the first Chinese translator
of the novel of Les Miseacuterables An example of this can be seen in Ding Fu-sheng 丁富
生 who once stated that Aichen comes in fact from Fantine the first part [volume]
of Les Miseacuterables It is the earliest translation of Les Miseacuterables done by someone
from China17 (67) Obviously Dings confusion of LOrigine de Fantine with Les
Miseacuterables causes him to believe that Aichen is the earliest Chinese translation of
Les Miseacuterables In comparison She Xiebin 佘協斌 offers a safer but ambiguous way
15 In order to avoid confusion caused by the similarity in titles between the different language versions of the same work in the present dissertation all the terms originally in Japanese are represented in phonetic romanization of the Japanese kanas 16 The original Chinese text 他[魯迅]節譯雨果的《哀塵》(《悲慘世界》)也是由森田思軒
翻譯的《隨見録mdash芳梯之源》轉譯 17 The original Chinese text 《哀塵》其實就是《悲慘世界》中的第一部分《芳汀》這是中
國人最早對《悲慘世界》的翻譯
7
of talking about the issue A fragmented story of the masterpiece Les Miseacuterables first
appeared in translation as Aichen in China in the June 15 (ie May 20 on the lunar
calendar in the Guangxu 光緒 reign) edition of the monthly Zhejiang Chao 浙江潮
in 1903 and the translator is Lu Xun then only twenty-two years of age under the pen
name of Gengchen 庚辰18 (66) What is meant here by a fragmented story of the
masterpiece Les Miseacuterables is somewhat ambiguous and open to interpretation
However the ambiguity serves to put Shes statement on the safer side Since he talks
about the story rather than the work of Les Miseacuterables what he says in the cited
passage is justifiable judging from the close relation between LOrigine de Fantine
and Les Miseacuterables in terms of story plot Indeed if a stricter and more accurate
distinction between story and text is applied and if an attempt is to be made to
elucidate the sources which directly inspired the Chinese translations stress can be
placed on the clarification that Lu Xun basing his version on the story of LOrigine
de Fantine can be credited as the first Chinese translator of Hugo and also the first
one in China to touch upon a translated story which is related but not identical to Les
Miseacuterables while Su Manshu modeling his rendition on the text of Les Miseacuterables is
pioneer in introducing the work of Les Miseacuterables to China through translation The
same principle of distinction should apply to the case of Claude Gueux which is not to
be muddled up with Les Miseacuterables and about which can be said that the first Chinese
translation of the work is done by Zhou Zuoren 周作人 though his is a drastically
reduced and altered version
After the previous clarifications it is time to turn attention to the works to be
studied in the present dissertation Commonly found among the nine Chinese versions
are two correlated facts on the one hand all of them are partial translations with
varying degrees of simplification modification abridgment and even concoction on
the other hand they all show a strong orientation to plot giving the utmost attention to
the unfolding of the main story line but ignoring or reducing minor digressive details
and other elements of fiction such as the original narrative angles authorial reflections
and the original rhetorical strategy This practice is best summed up in the words of the
editor of a much later English version of Les Miseacuterables
What is chiefly lost is the novel of ideas the novel which treats a 18 The original Chinese text 這部傑作[悲慘世界]的故事片斷最早見於光緒 29 年 5 月 20 日
(即 1903 年 6 月 15 日)出版的《浙江潮》月刊該期月刊發表了年僅 22 歲的魯迅翻譯的雨果
短篇小說《哀塵》譯者署名為庚辰
8
number of the central problems and interests of nineteenth-century
France What remains is a novel of character and action seen in much
clearer outline By means of such cutting there emerges more clearly
the moving heroic life of a simple and good man19 (Robinson ix)
The focus on plot together with the translators penchant for rephrasing and creating
characterizes most of the nine Chinese renditions as a particular form of writing based
on the original story but somewhat independent of it It is arguable that all of them are
half translations and half creations
Besides this tendency to focus on plot also recalls Chen Pingyuans 陳平原
observation about a late-Qing phenomenon in the literary circles in China
Distinguishing between the late Qing literary climate (which he periodizes as from
1898 to 1916) and the May Fourth literary climate (which he demarcates as from 1917
to 1927) Chen theorizes that late-Qing novelists while trying to import Western ideas
and exercise some techniques of narration borrowed from the West were unable to go
beyond the conventional confines of domestic classical novel whereas fiction and
poetry by the major writers from the May Fourth Movement onward were Westernized
to a significantly greater extent In the field of translation as Chen argues by the same
token late-Qing translators tended to translate liberally and plot-ize Western novels
from a conventionally Chinese narrative perspective whereas translators in the climate
of the May Fourth evolution frequently practiced literal rendition in the name of
fidelity resulting in abstruse psychologizing and poetizing in the texts rendered (125)
Chens observation is particularly relevant to the previously listed nine texts not only
because the period covering the nine translations (from 1903 to 1918) roughly concurs
with Chens late-Qing periodization of 1898 to 1916 but because the tendencies
exhibited in these renditionsmdashto plot-ize to interpret freely to remodel foreign works
in the frame of Chinese literary convention and so forthmdashall bear witness to Chens
theorization It may well be argued that aside from thematic connections the late-Qing
characteristics of rendition exhibited commonly in these translated works also lend
some coherence to them as a group of texts worth studying together despite the fact
that each relates a different segment of the stories about Les Miseacuterables
The fact which interests and prompts the present study is that translations of the
stories related to Les Miseacuterables like those of so many other works in the 19 Though the editor is talking about his own abridgment rather than any of the nine Chinese translations here his statement is nevertheless applicable to them
9
pre-May-Fourth late-Qing period were not necessarily based on the original works
Many were retranslated through an intermediary text which may or may not be written
in the language of the original This phenomenon has resulted in transformations of
various kinds in the end product of translation and sparked many interesting critical
ideas and discussions In almost all cases late-Qing translators never specified what
material or which version they adopted as their source of rendition Some might reveal
the name of the original author and some might even offer a little sketchy introduction
of the foreign writer but it is doubtful whether the original work was the master copy
used in the course of rendering and it remains a mystery which version was really the
source text from which the translation was created To trace the origin of each
translated text helps to clarify what happened during the process of translation and thus
provides important basic material for further studies in translation-related fields
Therefore this dissertation seeks to find out the source versions used by the translators
as they produced the Chinese versions of the French stories To achieve this end the
present study resorts to the method of interlingual intertextual comparison and
contrast juxtaposing several texts which have been selected from an initial screening
based on authorial or circumstantial information and looking for signs of a possible
kinship relation from the similarities and differences among the chosen versions
Focusing on the verbal aspect of texts this qualitative study is microscopic in
essence as opposed to macroscopic research which goes beyond the text to embrace
contextual factors of any dimension As summed up by Chen Hung-shu 陳宏淑 since
the last decades of the twentieth century translation studies has moved away from the
traditional intra-textual concern with the faithfulness of the translated text and marched
on to a broader extra-textual penchant for issues such as gender power structure and
ideological manipulation (Mystery of a Birth 175-76 Rev of Lin Shu Inc) In this
light my textual study seems at first sight to be an old-fashioned retrograde approach
that falls behind the modern trend in the field of translation studies However the two
modes of research are complementary to each other rather than mutually exclusive or
hierarchically ordered The fruits reaped from microscopic textual analyses provide a
solid foundation on which macrocosmic perspectives can develop and blossom
Without careful meticulous textual study an extra-textual discourse might easily fall
into groundless or over-generalized talk which fails to do justice to the origin and
target of its study Therefore the microscopic research of textual analysis is worth
pursuing in its own right
10
Chen Hung-shu also voices a similar opinion and stresses the importance of close
reading as Michael Gibbs Hill also does (Chen Rev of Lin Shu Inc) The close
reading encouraged by Chen and Hill is aimed at finding extra contextual implications
in the translated texts as opposed to the close reading recommended by New Criticism
which looks upon a literary work as an autonomous self-sufficient organic unity and
disregards any element outside the text Contrastively the intertextual analyses in the
present dissertation also involve the exertion of close reading However my close
reading is different from Chens Hills or New Criticisms in that within the confines
of the scope of this dissertation the present study does not propose to reach beyond the
translated texts for extra-textual discussions which interesting and relevant as they
may be are more suitably left for future studies nor does this research approach the
texts from a self-contained and self-referential perspective and deny the contextual
allusions within the textual body The close reading of which my research avails itself
here is to analyze the relationship between narrations which are expressed in different
languages with a view to identifying an affinity or lineage between the studied texts In
this pursuit the traditional question of faithfulness or fidelity is never my concern My
approach steers away from the fidelity-mindedness of the age-long dichotomous
framework of word-for-word versus sense-for-sense translations and takes a step
forward to concentrate on discerning a possible genealogical relationship between texts
of the same story across languages In other words the close reading in the present
dissertation breaks loose from the boundary penned up by New Criticism and the
traditional mindset in translation discourse and moves beyond the text not up to the
contextual level stated by Chen and Hill but onto another text that alludes to the same
fictional origin It is in a word cross-textually interlingually and genealogically
oriented
The degree to which the nine Chinese versions of the miserable tales diverge from
the original French works varies greatly from text to text In the case of the closest
rendering of them all Lu Xuns Aichen bears a strong resemblance to LOrigine de
Fantine in its preservation of the original narrative mode and the minor deviations
found in the translation are of a linguistic and rhetorical nature that does not affect the
reproduction of the original plot At the other extreme Zhou Zuorens Guer Ji is for the
most part a creative fictional writing with only the latter half of the novel borrowing
some plot elements from Claude Gueux and giving a very rough and loose account of
the original anecdote Can this piece count as translation To include Zhous work in
11
the present research on the pre-May-Fourth translations of the stories associated with
Les Miseacuterables requires a specific definition of translation adopted by the present
dissertation In this respect Andre Lefeveres conception turns out to be illuminating
and useful In clarifying the idea of translation which varies historically culturally
and even personally Lefevere in his Translating Literature Practice and Theory in a
Comparative Literature Context defines translation as rewriting (6-7) a definition that
encompasses all the possible appearances a translation may take on This broad-sense
definition is particularly useful here in that it not only embraces the different forms of
translation discussed in the present dissertation but gives translation an authorial
autonomy granting translation an independent life of its own As Lefevere powerfully
puts it translation of literature does not take place in a vacuum but is constrained
by the times in which they [translators] live the literary traditions they try to reconcile
and the features of the languages they work with (6) Indeed as can be seen from the
respective stance in which each translation is placed the Chinese translators of the
stories related to Les Miseacuterables do not mechanically copy their source texts but
inventively create their own versions which betray the particular conventions and
agendas that motivate the renderings In other words they rewrite their source texts for
purposeful use in the the particular time and space which we call late-Qing and early
Republican China If translation is treated as a type of writing which is closely
connected with but virtually independent of the original then the antiquated
long-debated issues of fidelity versus liberty of word for word versus sense for sense
and so on become secondary or even trivial Therefore the definition of translation as
rewriting allows the nine texts of my investigation to qualify as eligible material for
translation studies and to become a subject of interest to the present dissertation
After the qualifications and justifications of my research in the previous
paragraphs the source-tracing problems of the nine Chinese translations related to Les
Miseacuterables may now be addressed As is mentioned earlier none of the translators of
the nine renditions made it clear as to what source they adopted in translating the
stories Before the appearance of these Chinese versions there had existed some
English and Japanese translations in addition to the French originals In China there
were more translators at the time who could read English or Japanese than those who
could read French and the relatively easy availability of Japanese and English versions
of Western works provided another impetus for translators to select their sources in
favor of the intermediary texts It comes as no surprise that translators of Hugo in this
12
eastern country back then did not necessarily resort to the French texts for translation
but quite often referred instead to renditions in other languages mostly English or
Japanese Therefore the language versions involved in my intertextual juxtapositions
are those written in the four languages of French English Japanese and Chinese
In my academic quest for the source of each Chinese rendition of the French
miserable histories I do not ignore the possibility that a translator in early
twentieth-century China might not refer for rendition to one source text only Indeed
the outcomes of my comparative intertextual analysis show that some Chinese versions
are a synthetic product from more than one textual material In Guxing Lei for
example signs of two English versions are equally persistent and forceful making me
unable to pass any judgment on how the translation was produced without further
evidence In most cases however from the Chinese translation can be detected quite a
number of clues pointing strongly to a foreign version as the major source in spite of
the concurrent existence of some minor evidence which suggests other possibilities
Judging from the fact that some material consulted by the translator may not be
reflected in the translated text and that the formation of the end product of translation
might involve a processing of various kinds which defy any subsequent guesswork or
reconstruction it is next to impossible to track down all the texts and references which
contributed to the ultimate translation even with the help of biographical digging and
delving A more feasible approach is to discern the predecessor version if there is one
which dominates the translation from the way the translated text is presented to us In
other words the present dissertation does not intend to exhaust all the possibilities or
to uncover all the source texts having been consulted by a single translator Rather my
focus is on identifying the main influence that was exerted on the translation ie the
major text employed by the translator in the process of rendering On the premise that
even though a translator may have consulted several versions in advance in the
translating practice usually only one text was used as the model for imitation the
present research contents itself with finding out that major source when the textual
evidence is cogent and convincing enough without assuming to present the whole
picture of what happened all along the translating course
Of the nine texts studied by the present dissertation the source texts of Aichen
and Guer Ji have been affirmed by other critics The prototypical version for Leixie
Mengxin has also been speculated without further exploration and confirmation In
addressing the two renditions whose sources are already known my discussion shall
13
shift from source-tracing to the particular tactics adopted by the translator In doing so
my analyses still rely a lot on cross-language intertextual comparison the methodology
applied by the present dissertation to tracking the major sources of the other seven
Chinese translations As my research seeks to find out the major precedent model of a
Chinese rendition significant counterpart passages will be cited from the versions
chosen after a process of sifting A close examination on the cited texts juxtaposed for
contrast will shed some light on the degree of relationship between the different
versions
As is noted previously a majority of the translations in late-Qing and early
Republican China are more like free rewritings than close renderings of their sources
Quite often the translators tended to alter the original plot which they replaced with
their own concocted tales Such inventions on the translators part are unhelpful or
sometimes even misleading to the present intertextual investigation Besides in
dealing with the translated passages the Chinese translators under discussion were not
as meticulous as the English ones Generally plot-oriented most of the writers of the
nine Chinese versions were inclined to simplify the original narration The roughness
and sketchiness with which they treated the passages rendered is another factor that
conduces to my hardship in sorting out the relationship between different texts What
is more the language styles in which the nine translations were couched are either
classical Chinese or contemporary vernaculars Except for some proper names which
give the texts some exotic flavors through their transliteration the renditions are
generally written in fluent and idiomatic Chinese whether classical or vernacular and
the linguistic constructions and standard usages exhibit little if any likeness to those
of the foreign texts This immunity of the Chinese texts to the influence of Western
language structures is an example of what Lawrence Venuti calls domesticating
practice in translation20 To be sure such a mode of translation also adds to the
difficulty of the present source-tracing
With all the above-mentioned impediments there are still some passages that
betray a close connection to a certain foreign text By attending to both the macro level
of plot structure and the micro level of linguistic subtleties this study manages to find
some helpful clues that indicate some affinity between texts In practice my research
not only compares the plot elements but also pays extra heed to modes of narration
20 See Lawrence Venuti The Translators Invisibility A History of Translation (London Routledge 1995)
14
nuanced choice of diction sentence-patterning and so on Sometimes the difference in
plot is sufficient to exclude certain candidate texts In the cases where the plot
presented by the different versions concurs my study looks deeper into minute details
such as phrasing and wording This way the present dissertation has identified almost
positively the primary source versions for four Chinese renditions The qualification of
almost positively here is just an acknowledgment on my part that despite the potent
textual evidence supporting my conclusions other possibilities are not deniedmdashthat is
if proofs of any sort to the contrary present themselves in the future As to the
remaining three Chinese translations the present research is unable to pinpoint specific
source texts for them with what few clues can be gathered from within the texts
Nevertheless my exploration does manage to recognize the language from which they
are derivedmdashalso almost positively for the same reason as provided above
Specifically the results of my source-tracking study can be divided into two groups
the first group contains those whose major source texts can be discerned they are
Aichen Can Shehui (Can Shijie) Guer Ji Yifan Tianmin Lei and Leixie Mengxin
The other group consists of the remaining three renditions Tian Liu Er Guxing Lei
and Guai Ke in which my study is unable to find any forceful evidence hinting at a
specific source except that the particular language from which they came can be
decided
The chapter division of the present dissertation is based on the grouping of the
results shown above Instead of addressing the texts in chronological order this study
places Aichen and Guer Ji whose source texts are already known previously in one
chapter the source-unknown translations of Tian Liu Er Guxing Lei and Guai Ke
are addressed in another chapter the three renditions of Yifan Tianmin Lei and Leixie
Mengxin whose sources are successfully tracked down by my study are collected in
still another chapter An exceptional case worth noting here is Can Shehui Can Shijie
translated by Su Manshu For one thing Sus multilingualism entails more languages
and more versions to be taken into consideration For another Sus Chinese rendition
entails two versions which need to be distinguished and the authorship of one of them
has remained an issue of controversy Therefore the complexity of Sus translation is
the reason why this dissertation dedicates a full chapter to handling its source-tracing
problems and another chapter to addressing the authorship dispute which the present
thesis contrives to settle through source-tracking
All in all the present dissertation is composed of seven chapters In the first
15
introductory chapter aside from a synopsis of my research subject which has been
given so far inclusive of my motivation aim and scope and methodology I will in the
next section briefly introduce the candidate source versions explored in the present
dissertation embracing French English and Japanese ones The Second Chapter deals
with Aichen and Guer Ji the two texts whose master copies have been uncovered
elsewhere Chapter Three handles Yifan Tianmin Lei and Leixie Mengxin the three
texts whose sources are identified through my interlingual intertextual investigation
The Fourth Chapter elaborates on the complicated issues related to the source-tracing
of Su Manshus Can Shehui or the first eleven chapters of Can Shijie In Chapter Five
the problem of authorship or translatorship of the last three-odd chapters of Can
Shijie is discussed and solved through tracking down the language source of the
translation by means of my intertextual comparative analysis In the Sixth Chapter my
futile efforts at pursuing the sources of Tian Liu Er Guxing Lei and Guai Ke are
demonstrated The concluding Seventh Chapter endeavors to provide a general contour
of translations of Hugos stories connected with Les Miseacuterables in the pre-May-Fourth
period placing special emphasis on the significance of partial translations in helping to
disseminate Hugos works and the phenomenon of translation relaying not only across
languages as from French through English and Japanese to Chinese but also within a
specific linguistic community particularly English and Chinese Hopefully the
outcomes of this research can serve as a basic foundation on which more advanced and
comprehensive studies can be conducted
13 Potential Source Versions Consulted in the Present Dissertation
In tracing the source texts of the nine Chinese translations the present study has
referred to some possible candidate versions in English and Japanese besides the
French originals Theoretically any text depicting stories related to Les Miseacuterables
which appeared before a specific Chinese translation came out would be a potential
source for that Chinese version However with an initial screening my research has
precluded some obviously impossible versions and reserved only some major texts that
show considerable probabilitymdashmajor because it is rather unlikely that the Chinese
translators would rely for translation on lesser texts where for instance parts of the
stories connected with Les Miseacuterables are retold in a drastically simplified manner or
16
adapted with a somewhat different plot development21
In the first section of the present chapter I have profiled the three related French
works of Claude Gueux LOrigine de Fantine and Les Miseacuterables Now it is
necessary to offer brief introductions to the earlier translations of these works which
have survived my preliminary screening in the English and Japanese languages The
sequence shall be arranged chronologically starting with Claude Gueux followed by
LOrigine de Fantine and lastly by Les Miseacuterables
131 Potential Source Versions of Claude Gueux
Of the nine Chinese texts discussed by the present dissertation Zhou Zuorens
Guer Ji and Xue Shengs Leixie Mengxin stem from the story of Claude Gueux In
Hugos original construction the work is composed of two parts the main text and an
epilogue The story is narrated in the straight matter portion followed by the Epilogue
which criticizes the injustice of the social system in France Both of the Chinese
versions deal with the major body text ie the story only with little if any reference
to the critical epilogue This reflects the previously mentioned general tendency of
translators of the time to orient their renditions primarily to plot
Apart from the French original there are quite a few English versions preceding
the two Chinese renditions Some of them are complete translations some are partial
The unabridged versions consulted by the present dissertation include those translated
by Duncombe Pyrke jr (1869) George Burnham Ives (1894) Eugenia de B (1895)
and Arabella Ward (1896) respectively The bowdlerized translations presented in the
present dissertation are Gilbert Campbells rendition (ca 1886) and Nottingham
Societys version (1907) What is remarkable about the partial translations is that they
are abridged in almost the identical way though the translated texts may be diversified
Among the different truncated versions what is deleted and what is modified are
almost the same To illustrate this this study juxtaposes the two aforementioned
simplified versions with a complete English translation and the French original text for
comparison and contrast We may first look at an example where deletion is
involved22
21 An example of such a radically reduced text can be found in a later version Herbert D Laube ed The Story of Jean Valjean Extracted from Les Miseacuterables By Victor Hugo (Geneva NY P of W F Humphrey 1928) 22 In order to pave the way for easier comparison and contrast most of the juxtaposed texts in the present dissertation are put in tables
17
French (Victor Hugo) English (Duncombe Pyrke jr)
Il y a sept ou huit ans un homme
nommeacute Claude Gueux pauvre ouvrier
vivait agrave Paris Il avait avec lui une fille
qui eacutetait sa maicirctresse et un enfant de
cette fille Je dis les choses comme elles
sont laissant le lecteur ramasser les
moraliteacutes agrave mesure que les faits les
segravement sur leur chemin Louvrier eacutetait
capable habile intelligent fort maltraiteacute
par leacuteducation fort bien traiteacute par la
nature ne sachant pas lire et sachant
penser Un hiver louvrage manqua Pas
de feu ni de pain dans le galetas
Lhomme la fille et lenfant eurent froid
et faim Lhomme vola Je ne sais ce quil
vola je ne sais ougrave il vola Ce que je sais
cest que de ce vol il reacutesulta trois jours de
pain et de feu pour la femme et pour
lenfant et cinq ans de prison pour
lhomme (CG 355)
Seven or eight years ago a man named
Claude Gueux a poor workman lived at
Paris With him lived a young woman
who was his mistress and her child I
relate things as they are leaving the
reader to gather the moral lessons which
the facts present on the way The
workman was capable clever intelligent
very badly treated by education very
well treated by nature not knowing how
to read and knowing how to think One
winter work was not to be had There
was neither fire nor bread in the garret
The man the girl and the child were
cold and hungry The man committed a
theft I know not what he stole or where
he stole what I know is that the result of
this theft was three days food and fire for
the woman and child and five years
imprisonment for the man (23)
English (Gilbert Campbell) English (Nottingham Society)
Claude Gueux was a poor workman
living in Paris about eight years ago
with his mistress and child Although
his education had been neglected and
he could not even read the man was
naturally clever and intelligent and
thought deeply over matters Winter
came with its attendant miseriesmdashwant
of work want of food want of fuel
The man the woman the child were
Claude Gueux was a poor workman
living in Paris about eight years ago with
his mistress and child Although his
education had been neglected and he
could not even read the man was
naturally clever and intelligent and
thought deeply over matters Winter came
with its attendant miseriesmdashwant of
work want of food want of fuel The
man the woman and the child were
18
frozen and famished The man turned
thief I know not what he stole What
signifies as the result was the same to
the woman and child it gave three days
bread and firing to the man five years
imprisonment (309)
frozen and famished The man turned
thief I know not what he stole What
signifies as the result was the same to the
woman and child it gave three days bread
and warmth to the man five years
imprisonment (319)
In this instance what is to be noted is that right after introducing the protagonist and
his mistress and her child the complete versions present an authorial remark which is
absent in the shortened versions
Je dis les choses comme elles sont laissant le lecteur ramasser les
moraliteacutes agrave mesure que les faits les segravement sur leur chemin (Hugo)
I relate things as they are leaving the reader to gather the moral lessons
which the facts present on the way (Pyrke)
The versions by Campbell and Nottingham Society both omit this authorial voice In
fact the abridged texts not only delete in the same way but also narrate in the same
way In the remaining parts of the quoted passages similar messages are conveyed
including the heros natural good quality the harshness in a certain winter and the
consequence of the heros theft What is remarkable is that in terms of narration the
truncated versions are in agreement with each other but in distinction from the
complete texts
Je ne sais ce quil vola je ne sais ougrave il vola Ce que je sais cest que de ce
vol il reacutesulta trois jours de pain et de feu pour la femme et pour lenfant
et cinq ans de prison pour lhomme (Hugo)
I know not what he stole or where he stole what I know is that the result
of this theft was three days food and fire for the woman and child and
five years imprisonment for the man (Pyrke)
I know not what he stole What signifies as the result was the same to
the woman and child it gave three days bread and firing to the man five
years imprisonment (Campbell)
I know not what he stole What signifies as the result was the same to
the woman and child it gave three days bread and warmth to the man
five years imprisonment (Nottingham Society)
In the complete narration the narrator mentions what he stole (quil vola) and
where he stole (ougrave il vola) whereas the abridged texts both go without where he
19
stole Then in stating the result of the protagonists theft the complete versions adopt
the plain and direct expression the result of this theft was (de ce vol il
reacutesulta ) By contrast the abridged versions employ a different rhetorical strategy
a less lucid and less direct way of expressing the result What signifies as the result
was the same The homogeneity between the two simplified versions is
underscored by the fact that here in this paragraph Nottingham Societys text is
identical to Campbells except for one word toward the end of the paragraph instead
of Campbells bread and firing Nottingham Society offers bread and warmth
Similar instances are too numerous to account here Suffice it to provide one more
example to demonstrate a significant transformation done by the shortened texts
French (Victor Hugo) English (Duncombe Pyrke jr)
Claude Gueux eacutetait grand mangeur
Ceacutetait une des particulariteacutes de son
organisation Il avait lestomac fait de
telle sorte que la nourriture de deux
hommes ordinaires suffisait agrave peine agrave sa
journeacutee M de Cotadilla avait un de ces
appeacutetits-lagrave et en riait mais ce qui est
une occasion de gaieteacute pour un duc
grand dEspagne qui a cinq cent mille
moutons est une charge pour un ouvrier
et un malheur pour un prisonnier (359)
Claude Gueux was a large eater It was
a pecularity of his organization He had a
stomach of such a nature that the food
which was sufficient for two ordinary
men barely sufficed him for the day M
de Cotadilla had one of these appetites
and made a joke of it but what is a
laughing matter for a duke a grandee of
Spain the possessor of five hundred
thousand sheep is a burden for a
workman and a misfortune for a
prisoner (28-29)
English (Gilbert Campbell) English (Nottingham Society)
Such popularity ever has its
attendant hatred and though beloved by
the prisoners Claude was detested by
the gaolers To him two mens rations
would have been scarcely sufficient The
inspector laughed at this as his own
appetite was large but what would be
mirth to a duke to a prisoner would be a
Such popularity ever has its attendant
hatred and though beloved by the
prisoners Claude was detested by the
jailers To him two mens rations would
have been scarcely sufficient The
inspector laughed at this as his own
appetite was large but what would be
mirth to a duke to a prisoner would be a
20
great misfortune (311) great misfortune (321)
Here attention is drawn to the narration of the heros capacity for eating In the
complete texts allusion is made to a Spanish duke who jokes about his own great
appetite However the abridged versions make no mention of the Spanish aristocrat
but in its place put forward the prison inspector and turn the self-joking of the duke to
a laughing done by the inspector at the protagonist It is significant that the same
deviation from the original is shared by the two shortened versions it is even more
striking that here in the cited passages Campbell and Nottingham Society present the
exact same translated text except for two insignificant variations in format the
punctuation difference of attendant hatred followed by a comma (Campbell) versus
attendant hatred followed by a semicolon (Nottingham Society) and the spelling
alternative of gaolers (Campbell) versus jailers (Nottingham Society)
All in all the distinction between complete texts and abridged texts of Claude
Gueux in the English translations is useful to the present research in that if in terms of
plot narration one truncated version is disqualified by my intertextual comparing and
contrasting then all the other truncated versions can also be ruled out from further
consideration This saves a lot of energy and time in screening the potential texts
Claude Gueux was translated not only into English but also into Japanese before
the emergence of the Chinese versions In the pre-May-Fourth period covered by the
present dissertation there existed one Japanese version of Claude Gueux titled
Claude ク ラ ウ ド which was translated by Morita Shiken 森 田 思 軒
(1861minus1897)23 This work is included in the memorial collection of Moritas Japanese
translations of Hugos works with the Japanese heading Hugo Shouhin ユーゴー小
品24 Published in 1898 a year after Moritas death the compilation contains several
translated short pieces from Hugos Choses Vues as well as a Japanese version of
Claude Gueux The table of contents shows the time each translation was done and
from here we know that the Japanese Claude Gueux was finished in 1890 There is no
doubt about the fact that the Japanese Claude was rendered from English rather than
from French because Morita did not read French but English
故思軒氏の文學者として半生の事業はユーゴーを我國の讀書界
に紹介するにありき彼は佛語を解せず故にユーゴーの文を譯す
23 Throughout the dissertation Japanese names are in family name first order in accordance with the usage in Japanese as distinct from the order in the English appellation 24 Literally Short Pieces of Hugo
21
るや之を英文よりせざる可らざるの不便ありき25 (Tokutomi 1)
Moritas dependence on English for rendition of Hugos Claude Gueux makes one
wonder which English version he employed in his translating process In this regard
Kawato Michiaki 川戸道昭 has given us the answer In his Meiji Jidai no Victor
Hugo Morita Shiken no Houyaku o Megutte26 Kawato establishes that the specific
source text used by Morita in his rendition is Gilbert Campbells [ca 1886]27 English
translation (420-22) One of the pieces of evidence proposed by the Japanese critic is
that with the exception of a few minor changes probably done by the translator on
purpose Moritas text is a close rendition of Campbells English version Later in the
next chapter both texts shall be subjected to intertextual juxtaposition and comparison
132 Potential Source Versions of LOrigine de Fantine
After the previous briefing on the possible source texts for the Chinese versions
of Claude Gueux it is time now to continue with LOrigine de Fantine Of the nine
Chinese versions addressed in the present dissertation only Lu Xuns Aichen is
based on the episode of LOrigine de Fantine The source for Lu Xuns Chinese
rendition has been known previously As Kudo Takamasa 工藤貴正 points out rather
than translating from French or English Lu Xun modeled his Chinese version on
Morita Shikens Japanese text of Fantine no Moto (Cong Benshijichu Xiou Wenxue
de Yijie Kan Dangshi de Zhongri Wenxue Jiaoliu 56) Like the Japanese Claude the
Japanese Fantine no Moto is among the short pieces compiled in the 1898
posthumous collection of Hugo Shouhin translated by Morita and the Japanese
rendition of Fantine no Moto was finished in 1888 a year after Hugos original
LOrigine de Fantine was published posthumously in 1887 The fact that Morita not
knowing French had to resort to English for his introduction of western works to
Japan along with the fact that the emergence of Fantine no Moto was antedated by
the French LOrigine de Fantine by one year only clearly underscores the efficiency
with which Japan brought in Western thought and knowledge at the time and the
25 The late Morita Shiken as a man of letters dedicated half of his life to introducing Hugo to our literary circles He did not know French so he had the inconvenience of unavoidable dependence on English for translation of Hugos works 26 The original Japanese title 明治時代のヴィクトル ユゴー森田思軒の邦訳をめぐって 27 The publication date of this text is not available in the compilation where it appeared However Kawato saw in the original copy stored as a rare book in the British Library a stamped mark showing the date when it was received by the library as October 1886 (See p422 in his essay mentioned above) In other words Campbells text must be dated earlier than October 1886
22
readiness with which Morita responded to western works through translation In
Fantine no Moto Morita not only translates the Fantine incident but also writes a
translators note which is placed before the main text of the rendition Similarly in Lu
Xuns Aichen attached to the straight matter of the Fantine episode is a translators
epilogue which borrows some of its content from Moritas note It is interesting to see
how the borrowing creates ambiguities regarding the identity of the translator A full
account and discussion shall be given in the section dealing with Aichen in the next
chapter
133 Potential Source Versions of Les Miseacuterables
After informing the potential versions of Claude Gueux and LOrigine de
Fantine attention is now turned to the different versions of the bulky work Les
Miseacuterables A majority six out of the nine Chinese renditions dealt with in the present
dissertation are translated from the stories in Les Miseacuterables Aside from Hugos
original French there are some excerpted versions in French which are deemed
possible sources for some Chinese translations They are extracts rather than
translations of Hugos original novel Three versions deserve particular mention here
they are edited respectively by H C O Huss (1892) F C de Sumichrast (1896) and
Douglas Labaree Buffum (1908) The 1892 abridgment singles out from the original
novel one book which the editor deems most representative of the authors language
style and plot The preface makes this very clear
This extract of Victor Hugos Les Miseacuterablesmdashit is Book Second of Part
Firstmdashrecommended itself for a separate edition partly because it stands
by itself as an independent and well-rounded whole and partly because it
is unusually interesting reading but above all because it is strikingly
characteristic of Victor Hugos thought and style and therefore highly
instructive as a literary study It is surprising how much these four-score
pages reveal of their author what a clear-cut profile they present of him
and how well they thus fulfill the highest requisite of representative prose
Can this latter excellence ever be rated too highly in books destined to
serve as basis for a course in literature (Huss iii)
Out of the total of forty-eight books the Husss version presents only Book Two of
Volume One of the French novel The thirteen chapters in the book are presented as
they are all in the original French and without any alterations The facts that it was
23
published in the United States and that an English preface and English notes to the
major text were provided by the editor indicate that its target audience is directed
mainly to non-native speakers of French mostly English speakers The notes to the
text offer a good guide for anyone interested in learning the French language or
studying a French literary classic through reading the most well-known part of the
story This excerpted French-language version covers the same part of the original that
Su Manshu selects for his Chinese rendition though Sus translation garbles the
original text to a considerable extent The completely overlapping segment treated by
the two texts points to the likelihood that Sus translation may have been based on this
French extract or that Sus decision to select the Second Book of the novels First
Volume for rendition may have been inspired by it
Another version of Les Miseacuterables published in 1896 is abridged by F C de
Sumichrast then assistant professor of French in Harvard University Like the one
edited by Huss although the selected text here is in the French language rather than in
English translation its target readership is also primarily for English students of
French literature as can be discerned from the brief outline of French politics and the
English notes which are included therein to explain allusions events biographies and
political changes in the text In terms of the abridged presentation of Hugos original
the Sumichrast version does not limit itself to a single book as in the case of the Husss
excerpt or to a single volume but extends to the entire five volumes of the novel
Keeping to the order and structure of the original volumes books and chapters this
extract omits the passages the editor regards as minor and replaces them with brief
summaries where necessary
The object sought in making these Selections has been to present within
the compass of a text suitable for class use the story of Jean Valjean The
excisions have necessarily been considerable but in order to preserve at
least the appearance of unity brief summaries of the parts
omittedmdashexcept where the abridgment does not interfere with the
connectionmdashlink the various selections (Prefatory Note unpaged)
The passages deleted may be as small-scale as a few paragraphs within a chapter or as
large-scale as an entire chapter sometimes even several chapters in a row Take the
Second Book of Volume One for example In Hugos original text this book contains
thirteen chapters In dealing with the Fourth Chapter the Sumichrast version preserves
24
only the bracketed heading [Deacutetails sur les fromageries de Pontarlier]28 and cuts out
the content totally (31) Chapters Six and Seven are merged and the original French
titles are juxtaposed in the heading Jean ValjeanmdashLe dedans du deacutesespoir29 Within
the amalgamated text some passages are summarized rather than presented wholly In
relating Jean Valjeans background prior to his release from jail the Sumichrast edition
gives the following bracketed summary
[Jean Valjean agrave vingt-neuf ans a voleacute un pain pour donner agrave manager
aux enfants de sa soeur Arrecircteacute et reconnu coupable il est condamneacute au
bagne Envoyeacute agrave Toulon il y devient le numeacutero 24601 Quatre tentatives
deacutevasion eacutechouent et entraicircnent chaque fois un prolongement de la peine
agrave subir Entreacute au bagne en 1796 il est libeacutereacute en 1815]30 (33)
Moreover Chapters Eight to Eleven of the French original are also combined and
given merely a single synoptic sentence in brackets [Jean Valjean se reacuteveille vole
largenterie de leacutevecircque et senfuit]31 (36) The other parts of the translation are
bowdlerized in similar fashion Its potential as a source for some Chinese translations
of Les Miseacuterables will be discussed in the following chapters of the present
dissertation where the possible sources of Tianmin Lei and Can Shehui are addressed
respectively
A much later shortened version of Les Miseacuterables edited by Douglas Labaree
Buffum is published in 1908 Hugos original bulky five tomes are condensed in this
truncated version into a single volume of which the title page bears the remark Edited
with Introduction Notes and Vocabulary by Douglas Labaree Buffum PhD
Preceptor in Romance Languages in Princeton University From this English remark
can be known that this book is intended for the English-reading audience The
condensation into one volume and the addition of notes and vocabulary are
necessitated by the editors intention to make this version double as a textbook for
English-speaking learners of French [W]ith the aid of the vocabulary and a
knowledge of the elementary principles of French grammar the student should find
little difficulty with the text (Buffum Preface iii) The guiding principle of the
28 Details Concerning the Cheese-Dairies of Pontarlier (Hapgood I iii 74) 29 Jean ValjeanmdashThe Interior of Despair (Hapgood I iii 79 83) 30 [At the age of twenty-nine Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread in order to feed his sisters children Arrested and found guilty he was committed to prison After he was sent to Toulon he became Number 24601 there Four escape attempts failed and each entailed a lengthening of his suffering in prison He entered the jailhouse in 1796 and was released in 1815] 31 Jean Valjean woke up stole the bishops silverware and ran away
25
editors bowdlerizing act is conditioned by this purpose as the editor states in the first
paragraph of the two-paragraphed preface
In this edition of Les Miseacuterables I have endeavored to reduce the novel
to the limits of a text-book With this in view all extraneous matter such
as the description of the battle of Waterloo the long dissertations on
convent establishments and on the riots of 1832 and the description of
Parisian sewers has necessarily been omitted The early history of
Fantine and a few episodes have also been omitted brief summaries of
these will be found in the notes (iii)
With the large-scale deletion of all extraneous matter only the central plot remains in
this textbook Here some statistics are provided below to show how the original French
novel is abridged In the first place the forty-eight books in five volumes in the
original are reduced to twenty-seven in one volume in the abridgment The following
table diagrams how the books are reduced in each volume
Volume number of books in Hugos Les Miseacuterables
number of books in Buffums Les Miseacuterables
Volume One (Fantine) 8 6
Volume Two (Cosette) 8 5
Volume Three (Marius) 8 6
Volume Four (Saint Denis) 15 2
Volume Five (Jean Valjean) 9 8
The reduced twenty-seven books are not numbered in the single-volume version Each
book bears a title which is for the most part duplicated from the counterpart book in
the original In very rare cases the title is altered to suit the abridging and merging of
books and chapters For instance the original Books Two to Twelve of Volume Four
are integrated into a single book with the new fragmentary title Lidylle rue plumet32
taken from the heading of the Fourth Tome and the Thirteenth to Fifteenth Books of
the same volume are merged into the book Leacutepopeacutee rue Saint-Denis33 also part of
the heading of Tome Four Under the books the original chapters are also reduced and
shortened As a result in the bowdlerized version some books contain only one
combined chapter while in the books with more than one chapter the chapters are
numbered All in all Hugos 365 titled chapters are transformed into Buffums 58
32 The Idyll in the Rue Plumet (Hapgood IV 1) 33 The Epic in the Rue Saint-Denis (Hapgood IV 1)
26
chapters without any title
Within the chapter of the truncated version the text that remains basically
corresponds word for word to Hugos original text The editor does not rephrase or
spice up the narration but deletes and splices the description Typically the editor
erases the original text on the level of paragraphs preserving some passages in
paragraphs and skipping some paragraphic passages For example the preliminary four
paragraphs at the onset of Book One of the original novel run like this
En 1815 M Charles-Franccedilois-Bienvenu Myriel eacutetait eacutevecircque de Digne
Ceacutetait un vieillard denviron soixante-quinze ans il occupait le siegravege de
Digne depuis 1806
Quoique ce deacutetail ne touche en aucune maniegravere au fond mecircme de ce
que nous avons agrave raconter il nest peut-ecirctre pas inutile ne fucirct-ce que pour
ecirctre exact en tout dindiquer ici les bruits et les propos qui avaient couru
sur son compte au moment ougrave il eacutetait arriveacute dans le diocegravese Vrai ou faux
ce quon dit des hommes tient souvent autant de place dans leur vie et
surtout dans leur destineacutee que ce quils font M Myriel eacutetait fils dun
conseiller au parlement dAix noblesse de robe On contait de lui que son
pegravere le reacuteservant pour heacuteriter de sa charge lavait marieacute de fort bonne
heure agrave dix-huit ou vingt ans suivant un usage assez reacutepandu dans les
familles parlementaires Charles Myriel nonobstant ce mariage avait
disait-on beaucoup fait parler de lui Il eacutetait bien fait de sa personne
quoique dassez petite taille eacuteleacutegant gracieux spirituel toute la premiegravere
partie de sa vie avait eacuteteacute donneacutee au monde et aux galanteries
La reacutevolution survint les eacuteveacutenements se preacutecipitegraverent les familles
parlementaires deacutecimeacutees chasseacutees traqueacutees se dispersegraverent M Charles
Myriel degraves les premiers jours de la reacutevolution eacutemigra en Italie Sa
femme y mourut dune maladie de poitrine dont elle eacutetait atteinte depuis
longtemps Ils navaient point denfants Que se passa-t-il ensuite dans la
destineacutee de M Myriel Leacutecroulement de lancienne socieacuteteacute franccedilaise la
chute de sa propre famille les tragiques spectacles de 93 plus effrayants
encore peut-ecirctre pour les eacutemigreacutes qui les voyaient de loin avec le
grossissement de leacutepouvante firent-ils germer en lui des ideacutees de
renoncement et de solitude Fut-il au milieu dune de ces distractions et
de ces affections qui occupaient sa vie subitement atteint dun de ces
27
coups mysteacuterieux et terribles qui viennent quelquefois renverser en le
frappant au coeur lhomme que les catastrophes publiques neacutebranleraient
pas en le frappant dans son existence et dans sa fortune Nul naurait pu
le dire tout ce quon savait cest que lorsquil revint dItalie il eacutetait
precirctre
En 1804 M Myriel eacutetait cureacute de Brignolles Il eacutetait deacutejagrave vieux et
vivait dans une retraite profonde34 (Hugo LM I 5-7)
Buffums excerpted version presents the start of the book in this way
En 1815 M Charles-Franccedilois-Bienvenu Myriel eacutetait eacutevecircque de Digne
Ceacutetait un vieillard denviron soixante-quinze ans il occupait le siegravege de
Digne depuis 1806
En 1804 M Myriel eacutetait cureacute de Brignolles Il eacutetait deacutejagrave vieux et
vivait dans une retraite profonde (Buffum 3)
The juxtaposition of the above quotes reveals that the Buffum abridgment deletes the
second and third paragraphs of the original which contain the narrators observation on
the gossiping nature of the ordinary people rumors about the bishops nobility
background and his early exile as a result of the fall of his family To the two
paragraphs that remain the editor did not do any editing
This jumping-paragraph mode of truncation sets the basic tone of Buffums 34 In 1815 M Charles-Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of D---- [Digne] He was an old man of about seventy-five years of age he had occupied the see of D---- [Digne] since 1806 Although this detail has no connection whatever with the real substance of what we are about to relate it will not be superfluous if merely for the sake of exactness in all points to mention here the various rumors and remarks which had been in circulation about him from the very moment when he arrived in the diocese True or false that which is said of men often occupies as important a place in their lives and above all in their destinies as that which they do M Myriel was the son of a councillor of the Parliament of Aix hence he belonged to the nobility of the bar It was said that his father destining him to be the heir of his own post had married him at a very early age eighteen or twenty in accordance with a custom which is rather widely prevalent in parliamentary families In spite of this marriage however it was said that Charles Myriel created a great deal of talk He was well formed though rather short in stature elegant graceful intelligent the whole of the first portion of his life had been devoted to the world and to gallantry The Revolution came events succeeded each other with precipitation the parliamentary families decimated pursued hunted down were dispersed M Charles Myriel emigrated to Italy at the very beginning of the Revolution There his wife died of a malady of the chest from which she had long suffered He had no children What took place next in the fate of M Myriel The ruin of the French society of the olden days the fall of his own family the tragic spectacles of 93 which were perhaps even more alarming to the emigrants who viewed them from a distance with the magnifying powers of terror--did these cause the ideas of renunciation and solitude to germinate in him Was he in the midst of these distractions these affections which absorbed his life suddenly smitten with one of those mysterious and terrible blows which sometimes overwhelm by striking to his heart a man whom public catastrophes would not shake by striking at his existence and his fortune No one could have told all that was known was that when he returned from Italy he was a priest In 1804 M Myriel was the Cure of B---- [Brignolles] He was already advanced in years and lived in a very retired manner (Hapgood I 1-2)
28
version There are nevertheless very rare occasions where the deletion of passages
involves only part of a paragraph instead of the entire paragraph One example shall
suffice In the Fourth Chapter of Book One of the original First Volume there is a
paragraph about Bishop Myriels linguistic versatility his knowledge of several
dialects of southern France Hugos original is as follows
Neacute provenccedilal il seacutetait facilement familiariseacute avec tous les patois du
midi Il disait laquoEh beacute moussu segraves sageacuteraquo comme dans le bas
Languedoc laquoOnteacute anaras passaraquo comme dans les basses Alpes
laquoPuerte un bouen moutou embe un bouen froumage graseraquo comme dans
le haut Dauphineacute Ceci plaisait au peuple et navait pas peu contribueacute agrave
lui donner accegraves pregraves de tous les esprits Il eacutetait dans la chaumiegravere et dans
la montagne comme chez lui Il savait dire les choses les plus grandes
dans les idiomes les plus vulgaires Parlant toutes les langues il entrait
dans toutes les acircmes35 (Hugo LM I 23)
The counterpart passage is presented by Buffum like this
Neacute provenccedilal il seacutetait facilement familiariseacute avec tous les patois du
midi Ceci plaisait au peuple et navait pas peu contribueacute agrave lui donner
accegraves pregraves de tous les esprits Il eacutetait dans la chaumiegravere et dans la
montagne comme chez lui Il savait dire les choses les plus grandes dans
les idiomes les plus vulgaires Parlant toutes les langues il entrait dans
toutes les acircmes (Buffum 6-7)
The alignment of the two texts makes it clear that in this particular paragraph Buffum
cuts the three instances of the dialectal sentences which the bishop said while keeping
the remaining text intact This trimming results in a paragraph which contains the same
narration of the bishops linguistic advantages without giving the three minor
illustrations as the original novel did All the above introduction to Buffums abridged
French version provides a background for further elaboration in Chapter Two of the
presentation dissertation where the source-tracing of Tianmin Lei is engaged
Following the three French versions in bowdlerization it is time to direct
attention to the English translations of Les Miseacuterables To be expected there existed 35 Born a Provencal he easily familiarized himself with the dialect of the south He said En be moussu ses sage as in lower Languedoc Onte anaras passa as in the Basses-Alpes Puerte un bouen moutu embe un bouen fromage grase as in upper Dauphine This pleased the people extremely and contributed not a little to win him access to all spirits He was perfectly at home in the thatched cottage and in the mountains He understood how to say the grandest things in the most vulgar of idioms As he spoke all tongues he entered into all hearts (Hapgood I 12)
29
both complete translations and partial renditions of the French novel in English before
the emergence of the Chinese versions The earliest version a full-text translation was
published by the translator Charles E Wilbour in the United States in 1862 within just
a few months after the original work was released Some time later in the same year
Lascelles Wraxall offered a nearly full translation in the United Kingdom Hence the
two versions represent the earliest complete and partial translations respectively While
Wilbours complete rendition seeks to reproduce the original form and content taking
care that every unit of the French text is treated as faithfully as possible Wraxall also
translates meticulouslymdashexcept for the fact that some sections of the original text
which the translator deemed unimportant or irrelevant to the English context are
truncated thoroughly The parts that are left out by Wraxall involve the following three
bundles
1 Chapter Eight of Book Two of the First Volume Titled LOnde et lOmbre36 this
chapter portrays the desperation of a sailor falling in the billowy sea as a simile for
the hopelessness of a powerless man sinking in the treacherous torrents of society
2 Chapter Eleven of Book Five of the First Volume Titled Christus Nos Liberavit37
this chapter deplores the helplessness of Fantine as she was trapped in the nets of ill
destiny
3 Book Seven of the Second Volume Containing eight chapters the whole book
constitutes Hugos dissertation on the convent system in the Christian world
Wraxall did not just erase the said passages he also reduced the original structure
of 365 chapters in his translation The division of the chapters does not follow the three
levels of Volume Book and Chapter in French but is rearranged in a single stratum of
280 chapters represented in Roman numerals from Chapter I to Chapter CCLXXX
The succession of events and narrations are in accordance with the French original
and some of the text shows a chapter-to-chapter correspondence to the French text but
for the most part the translator typically combined two chapters in one or in some rare
cases even merged three chapters together With this reduction comes the erasure of
the original titles of Volumes and Books and the integration of two or three chapters
also means that some chapter headings of the original are sacrificed For instance the
original Chapters Six to Eight in the Fifth Book of the Second Volume with the three
36 Billows and Shadows (Hapgood I iii) 37 Christ Has Freed Us
30
respective titles of Commencement dune Eacutenigme38 Suite de lEacutenigme39 and
LEacutenigme Redouble40 are conjoined into a single chapter (Chapter 104) in Wraxalls
version with the single title The Beginning of an Enigma (LM [1880] I 351)
Besides the major omissions and chapter reductions stated above Wraxall also
deleted some passages in a chapter The 32nd Chapter a combination of the original
Chapters Six and Seven in Book Three of the First Volume has some passages
untranslated Tholomyess speech and Listoliers response in the following passage are
removed from Wraxalls text
mdashQuirites gentlemen Caballeros mes amis voulez-vous ne sentir
aucun aiguillon et vous passer de lit nuptial et braver lamour Rien de
plus simple Voici la recette la limonade lexercice outreacute le travail forceacute
eacutereintez-vous traicircnez des blocs ne dormez pas veillez gorgez-vous de
boissons nitreuses et de tisanes de nymphaeas savourez des eacutemulsions de
pavots et dagnuscastus assaisonnez-moi cela dune diegravete seacutevegravere crevez
de faim et joignez-y les bains froids les ceintures dherbes lapplication
dune plaque de plomb les lotions avec la liqueur de Saturne et les
fomentations avec loxycrat
mdashJaime mieux une femme dit Listolier41 (Hugo LM I 211-12)
In the same chapter the ditty sung by Blachevelle Listolier and Fameuil is also
eliminated in Wraxalls translation
Les pegraveres dindons donnegraverent
De largent agrave un agent
Pour que mons Clermont-Tonnerre
Fucirct fait pape agrave la Saint-Jean
Mais Clermont ne put pas ecirctre
Fait pape neacutetant pas precirctre
Alors leur agent rageant
38 The Beginning of an Enigma (Hapgood II iv) 39 Continuation of the Enigma (Hapgood II iv) 40 The Enigma Becomes Doubly Mysterious (Hapgood II iv) 41 Quirites gentlemen caballeros my friends Do you wish never to feel the prick to do without the nuptial bed and to brave love Nothing more simple Here is the receipt lemonade excessive exercise hard labor work yourself to death drag blocks sleep not hold vigil gorge yourself with nitrous beverages and potions of nymphaeas drink emulsions of poppies and agnus castus season this with a strict diet starve yourself and add thereto cold baths girdles of herbs the application of a plate of lead lotions made with the subacetate of lead and fomentations of oxycrat I prefer a woman said Listolier (Hapgood I 130)
31
Leur rapporta leur argent42 (Hugo LM I 215)
Interestingly enough some later editions of Wraxalls translation contrive to restore the
formal construction and textual intactness of the French original by filling in the
translational blank left by Wraxall with compensatory renditions For instance the
five-volumed edition of Wraxalls Les Miseacuterables published in 1893 by Little Brown
and Company has the omitted chapters and passages specially translated for the
present issue43 (Wraxall LM [1893] I Publishers Preface v) Another Wraxalls
edition published by Donohue around 1900 makes up for Wraxalls omissions and
reductions by supplying Wilbours translation With all the different editions of
Wraxalls Les Miseacuterables however the present study will only adopt Wraxalls primal
version for further intertextual comparison and contrast because the genealogical
relationships to be sorted out among the various versions require genuine and
exclusive texts to be used
A nearly complete English version of Les Miseacuterables known as the Richmond
translation (1863) was a joint effort first done by Professor Alexander Dimitry (up to
page 49) and subsequently taken up by an editor with the initials A F signed in the
Editors Preface What is noteworthy is that as stated in Editors Preface this
Confederate translation from Virginia is a reprint of Wilbours version issued with the
intention of revising and correcting the numerous errors and misapprehensions of
peculiar French idioms in the first English translation (Dimitry and F I iv) Apart
from the corrections the Richmond version duplicates Wilbours text for the most
part with sparse modifications of a trivial nature such as substitution of Miss for
Wilbours Mademoiselle Sir or Mr for Monsieur Mrs for Madame my
lord for monseigneur curate for cureacute and employment of alternative
punctuations such as the use of a semicolon in place of a period Besides this southern
translation was originally intended to be unabridged but then some omissions occurred
in the course of translating including several long and rather rambling
disquisitions exclusively intended for the French readers and a few antislavery
42 The father turkey-cocks so grave Some money to an agent gave That master good Clermont-Tonnerre Might be made pope on Saint Johns day fair But this good Clermont could not be Made pope because no priest was he And then their agent whose wrath burned With all their money back returned (Hapgood I 133) 43 The Publishers Preface was dated 1887 but the five-volumed work was published in 1893
32
paragraphs (qtd in Moore 244-45) For example the original fourteen chapters in
Book One of the first Volume are reduced to ten chapters in the Richmond version
cutting out the last four chapters of the original altogether In fact the rendition does
not just erase on the chapter level but goes up to the level of books The original
forty-eight books are cut down by four making the Richmond version feature
forty-four books one book short in Volume Two and three books wanting in the Fourth
Volume The removed books are the Seventh Book in Volume Two Books Four Seven
and Nine in Volume Four of the French novel However the omitted books do not
necessarily mean the chapters within them are categorically struck out too The first
two Chapters titled Jean Valjean and Marius of Book Nine of the Fourth Volume
are incorporated into its subsequent Book (Book Ten) after the deletion of the Book
where they originally were
In 1887 Isabel F Hapgood produced another unabridged translation of the French
novel Like Wilbours text Hapgoods version is a close rendering of the French
original endeavoring to reconstruct the original narration in every detail In certain
passages Hapgood is even more meticulous and considerate than Wilbour For
instance the love verses recited by the insurgents as they waited at the barricades for
the warfare to start (Chapter Six of the Twelfth Book of Volume Four) are presented by
Wilbour in the French form and content
Vous rappelez-vous notre douce vie
Lorsque nous eacutetions si jeunes tous deux
Et que nous navions au cœur dautre envie
Que decirctre bien mis et decirctre amoureux
Te rappelles-tu nos bonheurs sans nombre
Et tous ces fichus changeacutes en chiffons
Oh que de soupirs de nos cœurs pleins dombre
Se sont envoleacutes dans les cieux profonds (Hugo LM IV 426-28 Wilbour
931-32)
Hapgood also shows the verses in French in the main text (IV 267-68) But unlike
Wilbour who merely left the lyrics as they were Hapgood took one step forward and
offered an English translation of the rhymes in a footnote In the footnote the
translation does not break lines the way the original does but is arrayed in a paragraph
Do you remember our sweet life when we were both so young and
33
when we had no other desire in our hearts than to be well dressed and in
love Dost thou recall our innumerable joys and all those fichus
changed to rags Oh what sighs from our hearts full of gloom fluttered
forth to the heavenly depths (IV 268-69)
All in all because they are both complete translations of the French work the
candidateship of the one would also mean the candidateship of the other Therefore
they are juxtaposed with the same frequency in the subsequent interlingual intertextual
analyses
In addition to the two complete and two abridged renditions in English stated so
far there appeared in 1894 still another full-text version Included in the 28-volumed
series entitled The Novels Complete and Unabridged of Victor Hugo is a full-length
English version of Les Miseacuterables in ten volumes from Volume Eleven to Volume
Twenty rendered jointly by four translators This ten-volumed series has a two-to-one
correspondence to the five-volumed French original and the four translators
cooperated in the following way
volume no in the series French counterpart translator
Volumes 11 and 12 Volume One Fantine William Walton
Volumes 13 and 14 Volume Two Cosette J Carroll Beckwith
Volumes 15 and 16 Volume Three Marius M Jules Gray
Volumes 17
Volume Four Lidylle Rue
Plumet et Leacutepopeacutee Rue
Saint-Denis
(not specified)44
Volumes 18
Volume Four Lidylle Rue
Plumet et Leacutepopeacutee Rue
Saint-Denis
M Edouard Jolivet
Volumes 19 and 20 Volume Five Jean Valjean M Jules Gray
What is noteworthy about this particular English version is that the translators appear
to take their cue of translation primarily from Wraxall and secondarily from Wilbour
In other words the text in this version is strikingly similar to Wraxalls version for the
most part and in some minor cases where Wraxalls version is not followed Wilbours
version is used instead Since this series involves four translators who were assigned 44 Volume 17 does not show any authorship information in the book but judging from the mode of collaboration where one translator is responsible for two serial volumes that are equivalent to a complete French volume the translator of Volume 17 is probably M Edouard Jolivet However without any positive and definite evidence we cannot validate this speculation at the moment
34
different volumes of the work each translators rendition will be inspected individually
For demonstrations I shall compare William Waltons text with Wraxalls first
Lascelles Wraxall William Walton
There was in the first quarter of this
century a sort of pot-house at
Montfermeil near Paris which no longer
exists It was kept by a couple of the name
of Theacutenardier and was situated in the
Rue du Boulanger Over the door a
board was nailed to the wall and on this
board was painted something resembling
a man carrying on his back another man
who wore large gilt generals epaulettes
with silver stars red dabs represented
blood and the rest of the painting was
smoke probably representing a battle At
the bottom could be read the inscription
THE SERGEANT OF WATERLOO
(LM [1880] I 120 emphases added)
There was in the first quarter of this
century a sort of pot-house at
Montfermeil near Paris which no
longer exists It was kept by a couple of
the name of Theacutenardier It was situated
in the lane Boulanger Over the door a
board was nailed to the wall On this
board was painted something
resembling a man carrying on his back
another man who wore large gilt
generals epaulettes with silver stars red
dabs represented blood and the rest of
the painting was smoke probably
representing a battle At the bottom
could be read the inscription The
Sergeant of Waterloo (Walton et al
XII 7 emphases added)
In the above cited passages the French-style name of the lane Rue du Boulanger is
converted to a more English-sounding lane Boulanger Apart from this there are
some formal changes First by deleting the connective and in Wraxalls text Walton
turns the two clauses linked by and into two independent sentences without
conjunction Notice the shifts from It was kept by a couple of the name of Theacutenardier
and was situated in the Rue du Boulanger to It was kept by a couple of the name of
Theacutenardier It was situated in the lane Boulanger and from Over the door a board
was nailed to the wall and on this board was painted something resembling a man
to Over the door a board was nailed to the wall On this board was painted something
resembling a man Then at the end of the passages the difference in the
inscription is a question of the upper case versus the lower case of the English letters
With all these trifling distinctions the two versions are essentially the same on the
whole except for some formal and minor modifications made by the later translator
Next it is time to turn to J Carroll Beckwiths text juxtaposed with Wraxalls as
35
follows
Lascelles Wraxall J Carroll Beckwith
Jean Valjean had never loved
anything For twenty-five years he had
been alone in the world and had never
been father lover husband or friend At
the galleys he was wicked gloomy
chaste ignorant and ferociousmdashthe
heart of the old convict was full of
virginities His sister and his sisters
children had only left in him a vague
and distant reminiscence which in the
end entirely faded away he had made
every effort to find them again and not
being able to do so forgot themmdashhuman
nature is thus constituted The other
tender emotions of his youth if he had
any had fallen into an abyss (LM
[1880] I 335 emphases added)
Jean Valjean had never loved anything
For twenty-five years he had been alone
in the world He had never been a father
lover husband or friend At the galleys
he was cross sullen chaste ignorant
and untamedmdashthe heart of the old
convict was full of freshness His sister
and his sisters children had left in his
memory only a vague and distant
reminiscence which in the end entirely
faded away He had made every exertion
to find them again and not being able to
do so forgot themmdashhuman nature is thus
constituted The other tender emotions of
his youth if he had any were lost in an
abyss (Walton et al XIV 21
emphases added)
It is also obvious from the added emphases in the quotes that Wraxalls text is used as a
master copy to which some slight alterations are made to produce the new translation
that is attributed to Beckwith Except for some formal variations ( away he
versus away He ) and synonymous rewordings and rephrasings (effort
versus exertion had fallen into an abyss versus were lost in an abyss) the two
quoted passages are identically patterned a clear indication that Beckwiths translation
is derived from Wraxalls version
Now it is time to examine M Jules Grays translation The following quotes are
available for comparison
Lascelles Wraxall M Jules Gray
it was a beauteous summers
day and Marius was joyous as men are
when the weather is fine He felt as if he
had in his heart all the birds songs that
It was a beautiful summer morning
and Marius was joyous as men are when
the weather is fine He felt as if he had in
his heart all the birds songs that he
36
he heard and all the patches of blue sky
of which he caught a glimpse between
the leaves He went straight to his
walk and when he reached the end he
noticed the well-known couple seated on
the same bench but when he drew near
he found that while it was the same
man it did not seem to be the same girl
The person he now saw was a tall and
lovely creature possessing the charming
outlines of the woman at the precise
moment when they are still combined
with the most simple graces of the
childmdasha fugitive and pure moment
which can alone be rendered by the two
words fifteen years (LM [1880] I
523 emphases added)
heard and all the patches of blue sky of
which he caught a glimpse between the
leaves
He went straight to his walk and
when he reached the end he noticed the
well-known couple seated on the same
bench However when he drew near he
found that while it was the same man it
did not seem to be the same girl The
person he now saw was a tall and lovely
creature possessing the charming
outlines of the woman at the precise
moment when they are still combined
with the most simple graces of the
childmdasha fugitive and pure moment
which can alone be rendered by the two
words fifteen years (Walton et al
XVI 13-14 emphases added)
Here is another piece of evidence demonstrating Wraxalls influence on the later
rendition Again the two versions here are identically structured and organized with a
minor revision of a beauteous summers day with a beautiful summer morning and
some insignificant stylistic variations such as the replacement of but with however
In a word the two translations are homogeneous
Now we come to the last translator M Edouard Jolivet whose translation seems
to be based on a different source The following juxtaposition reveals a close
resemblance which Jolivets version bears to Wilbours rendition
Charles E Wilbour M Edouard Jolivet
In the spring of 1832 although for
three months the cholera had chilled all
hearts and thrown over their agitation
an inexpressibly mournful calm Paris
had for a long time been ready for a
commotion As we have said the great
In the spring of 1832 although for
three months the cholera had chilled
minds and cast over their agitation I
know not what mournful calm Paris
had been for a long time ready for a
commotion As we have said the great
37
city resembles a piece of artillery when
it is loaded the falling of a spark is
enough the shot goes off In June 1832
the spark was the death of General
Lamarque
Lamarque was a man of renown and
of action He had had successively
under the Empire and under the
Restoration the two braveries necessary
to the two epochs the bravery of the
battlefield and the bravery of the
rostrum He was eloquent as he had
been valiant men felt a sword in his
speech Like Foy his predecessor after
having upheld command he upheld
liberty (890 emphases added)
city resembles a piece of artillery when
it is loaded it needs only that one spark
should fall the gun goes off In June
1832 the spark was the death of General
Lamarque
Lamarque was a man of renown and of
action He had had successively under
the Empire and under the Restoration
the two braveries necessary to the two
epochs the bravery of the battle-field
and the bravery of the tribune He was
eloquent as he had been valiant men felt
a sword in his words Like Foy his
predecessor after having upheld
command he upheld liberty (Walton
et al XVIII 115 emphases added)
Here in this case Jolivets text is modeled on Wilbours version rather than on
Wraxalls translation It is as if Jolivet had done some editing on Wilbours translation
to generate a revised text which was used as a new rendition The editorial alterations
like those in the previous examples are all minor ones mostly rewordings and
paraphrasings
As a matter of fact Wilbours version is not only used for adaptation in the
volume ascribed to Jolivet The present thesis has previously stated that Wraxalls
version erases three major sections which are found in Volumes One and Two of the
original French work In the ten-volumed joint translation which claims to be
complete and unabridged as the title manifests the two Volumes are covered by
William Walton and J Carroll Beckwith respectively and their translations have been
shown to be based on Wraxalls rendition However where Wraxall leaves the original
text untreated Wilbours version is adopted as a draft for revision into a new
translation Thus in Waltons and Beckwiths volumes Wraxalls and Wilbours
translations are both present
In the final analysis the ten-volumed series of translation of Les Miseacuterables is a
joint effort of four translators who model their translations largely on Wraxalls
rendition and secondarily on Wilbours translation with varying degrees of
38
modification in different passages of the work This enterprise though not strictly
original has managed to produce a different translation of the French novel Therefore
it shall also be included in later intertextual comparative studies
In 1897 appeared a differently titled version The Story of Jean Valjean From
Victor Hugos Les Miseacuterables edited by Sara E Wiltse As the heading suggests the
story of Jean Valjean constitutes the major plot line of this version and as can be
expected this is a partial rather than complete version of Hugos novel Intending this
text for school reading the editor expresses in the introduction that her purpose is to
bring out its central character because there are few studies of the development of
character that equal Victor Hugos chief hero Jean Valjean (iii-iv) Interesting is the
fact that without any acknowledgment this excerpted version is based on Hapgoods
1887 translation keeping the majority of the original translation intact while pruning
away a few insignificant passages and chapters so that the forty-eight books in the
original are shortened to thirty-nine in the condensation
Apart from chapter elimination there are some omissions within the preserved
chapters in Wiltses bowdlerized text One instance suffices to demonstrate this where
the counterpart passages in Wiltses and Hapgoods texts are quoted for comparison
and contrast as follows
Isabel F Hapgood Sara E Wiltse
The sweat the heat the journey on foot the dust
added I know not what sordid quality to this
dilapidated whole His hair was closely cut yet
bristling for it had begun to grow a little and did not
seem to have been cut for some time
No one knew him He was evidently only a chance
passer-by Whence came he From the south from
the seashore perhaps for he made his entrance into
Dmdash by the same street which seven months
previously had witnessed the passage of the Emperor
Napoleon on his way from Cannes to Paris This man
must have been walking all day He seemed very
much fatigued (I 56)
The sweat the heat the
journey on foot the dust
added I know not what
sordid quality to this
dilapidated whole His hair
was closely cut yet
bristling for it had begun to
grow a little and did not
seem to have been cut for
some time
This man must have been
walking all day He seemed
very much fatigued (40)
While Wiltses first paragraph in the quote is identical to Hapgoods the second
paragraph exhibits obvious removal of some sentences including the speculation on
39
where the stranger came from and the allusive mention of Napoleons previous route of
journey from Cannes to Paris Because this version overlaps in some parts of the story
with some Chinese translations it shall be subject to the intertextual scrutiny to be
conducted subsequently
So far my research has introduced six English versions of Les Miseacuterables of
which three are complete full-text translations (Wilbour Hapgood Walton et al) and
the other three are abridged renditions (Wraxall Richmond Wiltse) Next we move to
Japanese versions of the French novel Two important Japanese translators had
translated stories of Les Miseacuterables prior to the appearance of the Chinese versions
Hara Houitsuan 原 抱 一 庵 (1866minus1904) and Kuroiwa Ruikou 黒 岩 淚 香
(1862mdash1920) Hara Houitsuans Jean Valjean ジャンバルジャン was initially
serialized sometimes weekly sometimes biweekly or triweekly from May 8 to August
28 1892 in Kokumin Shinbun 国民新聞45 As the title suggests this excerpted work
narrates Jean Valjeans history from his childhood up to the time when he was
repeatedly rejected in the town of Digne and the translation covers Chapters One Six
Seven and Eight of Book Two in Volume One of the French novel What is distinctive
about this version is that the translator turns the original flashback narration into a
chronological account Chapters Six to Eight the flashback part which recounts Jean
Valjeans tale prior to his liberation from jail are introduced first in the translation It is
only after Chapter Eight is finished that the Japanese narration jumps back to the First
Chapter to deal with the treatment the protagonist received in society as an ex-convict
This adjustment to the narrational sequence results in a story that is told in
chronological order As to the strategy of translation with the exception of a few
untreated passages the translator generally follows the original text rather closely
giving due attention to almost every phrase and sentence
Besides Jean Valjean Hara also translated ABC Kumiai ABC 組合 which
was initially serialized in the magazine Shounenen 少年園 in 1894 and later appeared
as a separate edition in 1902 The identically titled but textually enlarged reprint ABC
Kumiai in which Hara expressed in 例言二則46 that the newly translated part
accounts for eighty percent of the entire text (ABC Kumiai unpaged) is a partial
translation of the passages about the 1832 insurgency organized by those affiliated
45 Literally National News 46 Literally Two Notes by the Translator
40
with the Society of the Friends of the A B C in Les Miseacuterables The content of the
rendition extends from the latter half of Volume Four to the beginning of the Fifth
Volume of the French novel Because none of the Chinese translations treat this
particular segment of plot except Guxing Lei and because Guxing Lei is obviously
rendered from English versions neither the old translation of ABC Kumiai nor the
new translation of ABC Kumiai is a possible source for any of the Chinese texts
In 1896 Hara published another piece Mizu Mei Hen 「水冥」篇 in the
magazine Bungei Kurabu 文芸倶楽部 47 Translated from Chapter Eight of the
Second Book in Volume One this text is entirely covered by Jean Valjean for the
latter also embraces the same Chapter in its rendition In other words Mizu Mei Hen
can be said to be a selective offprint of Jean Valjean One wonders whether the two
completely overlapping chapters in their respective publications are textually identical
or not and a juxtaposition of them shows that they are almost the same except for a
few minor phrasal differences which do not alter the general intent and contour of the
chapter such as the variation of 那一人48 versus 渠49 in referring to the man
overboard (Jean Valjean 391 Mizu Mei Hen 119)
Several years later Kuroiwa Ruikou known as a prolific writer and translator in
Meiji 明治 Japan produced another significant Japanese version of Les Miseacuterables
The longest Japanese version of Les Miseacuterables so far at the time Aamujou 噫無情50
was first published serially from October 8 1902 to August 22 1903 in 150
installments in Yorozu Chouhou 萬朝報 In 1906 the translation was reprinted
separately by Husoudou 扶桑堂 with a total of 152 chapters in two volumes the first
78 chapters in Volume One and the remaining chapters in the Second Volume Also a
partial translation Aamujou was abridged in a way that is very dissimilar from Haras
Jean Valjean Unlike Hara who selected only a few chapters for close rendition
Kuroiwa sought to cover the major plot network of his source text in the manner of
retelling the stories with some sections narrated elaborately or even inventively some
described succinctly or summarily and others left untranslated This way the original
48 books and 365 chapters are reductively re-segmented and re-sectionalized into 152
chapters each with a new title given by the translator In the translators foreword to
47 Literally Literatures and Arts Club 48 that one or that man 49 that one or he 50 Literally Oh Heartless
41
Aamujou Kuroiwa explained that the chapter reduction was intended to allow the
reader to absorb the story within the confines of average human memory
若も
し原書げんしよ
を句每く ご と
に 譯 述やくじゆつ
すれば五百 回くわい
にも達たつ
す可べ
し少すな
くとも三
百回より以下い か
なる能あた
はず然しか
れども余よ
は成な
る可べ
く一般ぱん
の讀者どくしや
が初はじ
め
の部分ぶ ゞ ん
を記憶き お く
に存ぞん
し得う
る程度て い ど
を限かぎ
りとし百五十 回くわい
乃至な い し
二百 回くわい
以
內ない
に譯やく
し終おわ
らんとを期き
す51 (Kuroiwa Foreword 4)
To be sure the final settlement for 152 chapters entails considerable deletions of the
original text Instead of treating the story from the beginning of the original work
Kuroiwas version starts from the Second Book of the original It is because the
Japanese translator believed that the account would fascinate the reader more if started
with the anecdote of Jean Valjean introduced in Book Two than if begun with Bishop
Myriel the opening figure in Book One
思おも
ふにミリールは先生せんせい
が理想り そ う
とせし人ひと
なる可べ
けれは卷 首くわんしゅ
に之これ
を揭かか
ぐるが當然とうぜん
なる可べ
きも晚年ばんねん
に及およ
び讀者どくしや
に與あた
ふる感覺かんかく
の如何い か ん
に 從したが
ひて次章じしょう
に移うつ
したるならんか余よ
は新聞紙し ん ぶ ん し
に揭かか
ぐるには後者こうしゃ
の
順 序じゅんじょ
が面白おもしろ
かるべきを信しん
じ其そ
れに 從したが
ふ事こと
としなり52 (Kuroiwa
Foreword 3)
It has seemed common for plot-oriented versions of Les Miseacuterables to start narration
from the Second Book where the protagonist Jean Valjean is introduced as has been
exemplified by Husss 1892 abridgment53
In rendering Kuroiwa did not treat the original on a phrase-by-phrase or
sentence-by-sentence basis like Hara did Additions omissions and adaptations were
51 If the original novel had been translated sentence by sentence my translation would have run up to 500 chapters and it is not possible to cover it in less than 300 chapters However in consideration of the limitation of average human memory I decided that 150 chapters or at most 200 chapters would be suitable for a reader to finish reading the novel without forgetting the beginning part of the story 52 I regarded it as only natural to begin the story with narration of Bishop Myriel because he was the ideal figure in Hugos mind Later however I began to ponder whether to move it to the second chapter considering how the reader would feel When I serialized the story in the newspaper I believed that the later adjusted sequence [to relocate Myriel to the second chapter] would probably appeal the reader more so that is what I have done accordingly 53 Some later condensed texts in English and Japanese alike also follow this practice such as Takano Yaichis 高野彌一 1929 version of Miserable ミゼラブル and James K Robinsons 1996 abridged text
42
bound to occur in his rewriting of the original stories Kuroiwas typical process of
translation is best expressed in an essay co-authored by Graham Law and Morita
Norimasa 森田範正 as follows Kuroiwas adaptations were remarkably
unrestrained His preferred technique was to read a section of the novel in hand at
home the previous evening and then go to the newspaper office to compose the
Japanese version without taking the work in question with him (120) This practice of
translation was voiced by Kuroiwa himself in the specific case of rendering Les
Miseacuterables In the translators foreword to Aamujou Kuroiwa unambiguously stated
that his translation strategy was to treat the original story in the fashion of retelling
stories
譯 述やくじゅつ
の體裁ていさい
は余よ
が今いま
まで譯やく
したる諸書しょしょ
と 同おなじ
く余よ
が原書げんしょ
を讀よみ
て余よ
の 自みずか
ら感かん
じ得え
たるが儘まま
を余よ
の意い
に 従したが
ひて述の
べ行ゆ
く者もの
なれば
翻訳ほんやく
と云い
はんよりも人ひと
に聞き
きたる 話はなし
をば我われ
が知し
れる 話はなし
として人ひと
に話はな
すものなり若も
し此これ
を讀よ
みて原書げんしょ
に引ひき
合あわ
せ以もっ
て原書げんしょ
を解讀かいどく
す
るを欲ほっ
する人ひと
あらば失望しつぼう
す可べ
しhelliphellip54 (Kuroiwa Foreword 3-4)
Kuroiwas practice of free translation in the manner of story-retelling is shared by
many a Chinese translator In the next chapters his Japanese text shall be included for
juxtaposition in the source-tracing of some Chinese renditions
54 The way I translate [this novel] is like I always have done with other books After going through the original work I narrated the story according to the feeling I got from itmdashjust like that Hence it was not so much a translation as a story which I retold in my own words after hearing it from others Anyone who attempts to read the original work by juxtaposing my book with it will feel disappointed
43
Chapter Two Aichen and Guer Ji The Role of Translator
as (Re)Writer
Of the nine Chinese translations related to Les Miseacuterables that were published
before the advent of the May Fourth Movement two will be addressed in this chapter
Lu Xuns 魯迅 Aichen 哀塵 (1903) and Zhou Zuorens 周作人 Guer Ji 孤兒記
(1906) each of which will be given an independent section in what follows Since the
sources of these Chinese translations have been unveiled previouslymdashby critics for
Aichen and by the translator himself for Guer Jimdashmy discussions shall shift from
source-tracing to the translation strategy in each particular case
21 Aichen and Its Source The Ambiguous Identity of the Translator
Lu Xun became the first Chinese translator of Hugo through his rendition of
Aichen literally The Mournful Dusty World which recounts an episode of
Fantines experience of being wronged The story originates from Hugos LOrigine de
Fantine an incident in 1841 which is registered in the 1887 posthumous compilation
Choses Vues Published in the fifth issue of the monthly Zhejiang Chao 浙江潮55
released on June 15 1903 the Chinese version of LOrigine de Fantine consists of
two parts the main text which is a nearly complete rather close rendering of the
original story and a translators note which is enclosed after the straight matter As is
not uncommon at the time of its appearance the translated text is couched in classical
Chinese the literary language used for creative writing and communication among
men of letters across China from ancient times down to the early Republican period
Approximating as it is to the original text Aichen still leaves some French
passages untranslated The most prominent omission is the footnote provided by Hugo
about the change of opinion in General Bugeaud who came to be convinced of the
benefits of annexing and colonizing Algeria five years after his encounter narrated in
the main text of LOrigine de Fantine with Hugo at Madame de Girardins in 1841
when he originally saw no point in the conquest and government of Algeria by France
En 1846mdashcinq ans apregravesmdashlopinion de Bugeaud eacutetait entiegraverement
changeacutee Il vint trouver Victor Hugo alors pair de France pour le prier
55 Literally Zhejiang Tide Zhejiang is a sea-bordering province in eastern China
44
de parler dans la question du budget Bugeaud dit quapregraves expeacuterience il
avait acquis la conviction que lannexion de lAlgeacuterie agrave la France avait
dexcellents cocircteacutes quil avait trouveacute un systegraveme de colonisation
applicable quil peuplerait la Mitidja grand plateau au milieu de
lAfrique de colons civils quagrave cocircteacute il eacutelegraveverait une colonie de troupes Il
prit pour comparaison une lancemdashle manche serait un civil la flegraveche la
troupe de faccedilon que les deux colonies se touchassent sans se mecircler etc
etcmdashEn reacutesumeacute le geacuteneacuteral Bugeaud que lAfrique avait fait mareacutechal et
duc dIsly eacutetait devenu tregraves favorable agrave lAfrique56 (Note de Victor
Hugo) (Hugo LOrigine de Fantine 204)
Aside from this salient curtailing the other truncations in the translation are minor and
trivial mostly on the level of phrases and words An example is available in the
following paragraph
Victor Hugo Lu Xun
Mme de Girardin mit le geacuteneacuteral agrave sa droite et V
H agrave sa gauche La conversation seacutetablit entre le
poegravete et le troupier Mme de Girardin servant de
truchement57 (LOrigine de Fantine 203)
席拉覃夫人令將官坐其右
囂俄坐其左而自處其中
於是此詩人與武人之間乃
生縱論58 (Aichen 165)
Here the French description of Madame de Girardin acting as interpreter (servant de
truchement) for the two guests finds no counterpart in the Chinese text
Another point worthy of mention here is that the Chinese translator attached to
the end of the story a translators note which the original French text does not contain
In the form of a short essay this note expresses the translators lament over the
helplessness of the ill-fated Fantine and the injustice in society Later I will have a
detailed discussion of the note Currently suffice it to point out that apart from the 56 In 1846mdashfive years afterwardsmdashthe opinion of Marshal Bugeaud had completely changed He came to see Victor hugo then a Peer of France to beg him to speak on the subject of the Budget Bugeaud said experience had convinced him that the annexation of Algeria to France had excellent points that he had discovered a suitable system of colonization that he would people the Mitidjamdasha great table-land in the interior of Africamdashwith civilian colonists that side by side he would establish a colony of soldiers He took a lance as a comparison the handle would be the civilians the spear the troops so that the two colonies would join without being intermingled etc etc To sum up General Bugeaud whom Africa had made a marshal and Duke dIsly had become very favourable to Africa (Hugo Origin of Fantine 43) 57 Madame de Girardin placed the general on her right and V H on her left A conversation sprang up between the poet and the soldier Madame de Girardin acting as interpreter (Hugo Origin of Fantine 42) 58 Madame Girardin sat the general on her right and Hugo on her left herself inbetween the two men Then a conversation ensued between the poetic man and the military man
45
above-shown omissions and addition Aichen is rather close to the French original
The question arises as to whether Lu Xun translated Aichen directly from
Hugos text In its initial appearance in the magazine under the title of the piece are
specified the names of the original author and the translator 法國囂俄著庚辰譯59
However as was typically the case back then no information is profferred as to
whether the translator produced the text directly from French or indirectly from any
other language Even so the source of Lu Xuns rendition is not difficult to trace for
the translators background and the translated text both offer enough clues for us to
make sure that its inspiration lies with the Japanese writer Morita Shiken 森田思軒
To begin with because Lu Xuns education background did not include French training
it is fairly unlikely that he referred to Hugos original piece for translation The
linguistic schooling he had received at the initiation of Aichen provides important
suggestions as to the source of his rendition As of 1903 Lu Xun had learned English
and German in Nanjing 南京 China (Lu Xun Lu Xun Zizhuan 26-28) and Japanese
in Tokyo Japan (Zhou Zuoren Lu Xun de Qingnian Shidai 33) not to mention his
native tongue Chinese His knowledge of English and German at the time was a rather
basic one which hardly enabled him to read a literary work in those languages60
Contrastively his command of Japanese advanced rapidly as his stay in Japan
continued for about a year In this light Japanese was more likely than English and
German to be the medium for Lu Xun to gain access to Hugos works at the time of his
rendering
Indeed Kudo Takamasa 工藤貴正 points out that rather than rendering from
French Lu Xun based his Chinese version on Morita Shikens Japanese text of
Fantine no Moto 芳梯之源 (Cong Benshijichu Xiou Wenxue de Yijie Kan
Dangshi de Zhongri Wenxue Jiaoliu 56) Following the year of the death of Morita
Shiken a memorial collection of Moritas translation of Hugos works into Japanese
was published in 1898 titled Hugo Shouhin ユーゴー小品 61 Included in this
59 written by Hugo in France translated by Gengchen 庚辰 [Lu Xun] 60 Lu Xuns proficiency in the German language was not cultivated until he studied in Sendai Medical Academy 仙台醫學專門學校 from 1904 to 1906 He never had a good command of English throughout his life See Zhou Zuoren 周作人 Lu Xun yu Yingwen 魯迅與英文 [Lu Xun and English] Zhitang Jiwai Wen Yibao Suibi 知堂集外文《亦報》隨筆 [Miscellanies in Knowledge Hall Short Pieces in the Yi Daily] ed Chen Zishan 陳子善 (Changsha 長沙 Yuelu Shushe 嶽麓書社 1988) 588 61 Literally Short Pieces of Hugo
46
compilation are among others selected translations of Hugos Choses Vues as well as a
Japanese version of Claude Gueux The table of contents shows the period of time
during which the translator did each piece and Fantine no Moto is shown to be
finished in 1888
In terms of translation strategy Lu Xuns Aichen is almost a literal
word-for-word rendering of Fantine no Moto The Japanese versions paragraph
arrangement similar to that of a popular English version62 but different from that of
the French original is strictly followed by Lu Xun Both the Chinese and the Japanese
texts contain twenty-nine paragraphs with a one-to-one correspondence to each other
Later an example in this respect will be in order when intertextual comparisons are
conducted
A careful perusal of the Chinese and the Japanese texts also reveals striking
matches throughout their contents A few interesting examples that follow will suffice
to illustrate the lineage of the Chinese text from the Japanese source For the first
instances we have a case of error two cases of omission and a case of rhetorical
choice of diction to demonstrate in what follows The error is addressed here first
Comparing the Chinese translation with the French original Chen Mengxiong 陳夢熊
finds that the original mardi63 in the beginning sentence of the first paragraph is
rendered wrongly as 土曜日(禮拜六)64 in Chinese and suspects that the mistake
might be traceable to the Japanese version on which Lu Xun bases his translation (9)
Without recourse to the Japanese text Chen can only speculate on the reason behind
the slip in rendition Here I may substantiate Chens suspicion by providing the four
related texts for illumination
French (Victor Hugo) English (Anonymous)
V H fut nomeacute agrave lAcadeacutemie un mardi
(LOrigine de Fantine 203)
V H was elected to the Acadeacutemie one
Tuesday (Origin of Fantine 42)
62 The English source of Morita Shikens Fantine no Moto is not clear as yet and it is not among the problems to be dealt with in the present dissertation Because as demonstrated in the case of the English versions of Claude Gueux translators in the late nineteenth century frequently felt free to copy existing English versions in their rendition of a work resulting in the general similarity between different versions chances are that the different English versions of LOrigine de Fantine are similar to each other in content For this reason we have conveniently chosen the most popular version of Origin of Fantine published by Estes and Lauriat and reprinted over and again subsequently and will refer to this particular version where necessary in our later discussions 63 Tuesday 64 Saturday
47
Japanese (Morita Shiken) Chinese (Lu Xun)
ウ井クトルユーゴー去る土曜日に於て學士
會 院の員に舉げられたり 65 (Fantine no
Moto 46)
惠克德爾囂俄既於前土曜日(禮
拜六)舉學士院會員66 (Aichen
165)
The quotes show clearly that whereas the French and the English texts agree on the
day as Tuesday Moritas Japanese version does contain the wrong message of 土曜
日67 which impacts on Lu Xuns text Another noteworthy distinction can also be
discerned here While the French and the English texts give Hugos name in
abbreviation V H Morita restored the name in full in his Japanese translation ウ井
クトルユーゴー which was transliterated by Lu Xun into 惠克德爾囂俄 Clearly
the Chinese texts deviation from the French original is due to the Japanese source
which inspires it
Incidentally in commenting on Chen Mengxiongs essay Ge Baoquan 戈寶權
claims that he finds in Lu Xuns text another lapse which he presumes to result from
the Japanese translators mispronouncing of a French name Bugeaud translated
phonetically as 球歌特 (pronounced qiugete in Chinese) by Lu Xun (qtd in Chen
18)68 Like Chen without access to the Japanese text Ge bases his supposition on the
gap in pronunciation between the Chinese transliteration and the French original and
postulates that the discrepancy is caused by their intermediary linkage the Japanese
text However if we examine Moritas text which serves as Lu Xuns master copy we
find that Moritas rendering of Bugeaud as ビュウゴード (buugoudo) obviously
derives from the English pronunciation of the French name This observation is
supported by the fact that Moritas translation is from English not French
Pronunciationally speaking the Japanized name is so to speak faithful to the English
one though a far cry from the original French This source-tracing analysis enables me
to argue that the judgment of whether or not the deviation of Lu Xuns translation of
the proper name from the French original is caused by the Japanese translators
mispronunciation really depends on which source is being used as the point of
reference Ge Baoquans judgment basis is clearly on the original French text which
65 Victor Hugo was elected to be an Academician on a past Saturday 66 Victor Hugo was elected to be an Academician last Saturday 67 Saturday 68 Ge Baoquans Chinese version of the French name Bugeaud is Biru (比茹)
48
surely betrays the Japanese departure from the French However if placed in his own
context the Japanese translator does not exactly mispronounce considering the
English source he adopts It may also be added that Moritas reliance on English for
introducing Western works is characteristic of the Meiji 明治 climate in Japan Cases
of second-hand translation such as Moritas Fantine no Moto and Claude Gueux are
abundant not only in Meiji Japan but in many other countries all through the history of
translation It seems more fruitful to contextualize each translation for analysis than to
judge absolutely by the ultimate origin
Similarly the evaluation of Lu Xuns rendition of the French name is more
productively based on its relation with the Japanese text than on the French original
Contrasting Lu Xuns 球歌特 with Moritas ビュウゴード we see that the initial
phonemic in ビ (resembling the English consonant b as in boy) is peculiarly
represented as q (similar to the English ch as in chair) in the Chinese This
discrepancy marks Lu Xuns phonetic deviation from his Japanese predecessor
Because the Japanized name is proper in terms of its original English pronunciation as
is mentioned previously the divergence of the Chinese phonetic translation from the
French cannot be ascribed to the Japanese translator but to Lu Xun himself It is not
the purpose of the present dissertation to judge whether Lu Xuns treatment of this
particular name in translation is appropriate or not but just to point out that in the case
of the name Bugeaud the Japanese version is not responsible for Lu Xuns performance
in Chinese translation69 It may also be added in passing that Lu Xuns borrowing from
the Japanese for importing Western thought is not uncommon in late-Qing and early
Republican China If Moritas text is a second-hand translation then Lu Xuns
rendition is a third-hand one Many implications can be drawn from this process of
transformation such as linguistic incompatibility cultural influence the image-making
of self and other and the blending of authorial and translatorial voices To exhaust all
the possibilities would go beyond the scope and range of the present dissertation and is
in fact practically impossible Suffice it to conclude briefly that in this relay process of
translation where the French original travels through English and Japanese to Chinese
69 It is unclear why Lu Xun chose the sound of qiu (球 literally ball) for the Japanese ビュ
ウ Whether pronounced in Mandarin Chinese or in the Shaoxing 紹興 dialect which is Lu Xuns mother tongue the character qiu does not approximate the Japanese phonetic representation A possible explanation is that Lu Xun might have mistaken the Japanese katakana ビ for ヂ owing to their similarity in form
49
metamorphoses of different kinds due to various reasons are bound to occurmdasha
phenomenon that makes it partial and futile to employ the French original as the only
reference in discussing each translation version
Besides the common error regarding the rendition of Tuesday in French I have
previously mentioned Lu Xuns erasure of the French description of Madame de
Girardin functioning as interpreter between her two guests Now with Lu Xuns source
of translation known to us it is not surprising that the Japanese versions omission of
this description is the reason why the Chinese translator turned a blind eye to the
narration of Madame de Girardins role in the original story as the following
juxtaposition of the two texts reveals
Japanese (Morita Shiken) Chinese (Lu Xun)
ジラーデン夫人は將官を其右にユーゴーを其
左に座せしめり斯くしてジラーデン夫人其中
に處り此の詩人と武人との間に一場の會話起れ
り70 (Fantine no Moto 47)
席拉覃夫人令將官坐其右
囂俄坐其左而自處其中
於是此詩人與武人之間乃
生縱論71 (Aichen 165)
In the above citations the Japanese text does not describe Madame de Girardins role
as interpreter as the French original does Unaware of this omission the Chinese
translator can never have recovered Hugos account once the Japanese text was
adopted for rendition
Another example of omission concerns Hugos footnote Mention is made earlier
of Lu Xuns ignoring an original footnote which has been quoted previously Without
doubt the Chinese translators skipping of the footnote results from its deletion by the
Japanese translator In the original note Hugo chronicles how five years from their
encounter General Bugeaud changed his views on the colonization of Algeria by
France from opposing to favoring Ge Baoquan notices Lu Xuns exclusion of the
footnote from his translation and surmises that the Japanese text might also leave the
passage undealt with (qtd in Chen 18) Ges conjecture can be confirmed through an
inspection of Moritas translation where the said passage is not found So we may rest
assured that the omission of Hugos note by the Japanese translator explains why the
note is also absent in Lu Xuns text
70 Madame Girardin sat the general on her right and Hugo on her left thus placing herself inbetween the two men Then a conversation arose between the poetic man and the military man 71 Madame Girardin sat the general on her right and Hugo on her left herself inbetween the two men Then a conversation ensued between the poetic man and the military man
50
Furthermore the shift in rhetoric caused by translation is also an interesting topic
to note A close scrutiny of the choice of diction betrays the commonality of the
Japanese text and the Chinese one as differentiable from the French (and the English)
The following citations in the four languages in question serve to illustrate this point
French (Victor Hugo) English (Anonymous)
V H quitta dassez bonne heure
Mme de Girardin Ceacutetait le 9 janvier Il
neigeait agrave flocons Il avait des souliers
minces et quand il fut dans la rue il vit
limpossibiliteacute de revenir agrave pied chez
lui Il descendit la rue Taitbout sachant
quil y avait une place de cabriolets sur
le boulevard au coin de cette rue Il ny
en avait aucun Il attendit quil en vicircnt
Il faisait ainsi le planton quand il vit
un jeune homme ficeleacute et cossu dans sa
mise se baisser ramasser une grosse
poigneacutee de neige et la planter dans le
dos dune fille qui stationnait au coin du
boulevard et qui eacutetait en robe
deacutecolleteacutee
Cette fille jeta un cri perccedilant tomba
sur le fashionable et le battit Le jeune
homme rendit les coups la fille riposta
la bataille alla crescendo si fort et si
loin que les sergents de ville
accoururent (LOrigine de Fantine
204-205)
V H left Madame de Girardin rather
early It was on the 9th of January It was
snowing in large flakes He had on thin
shoes and when he was in the street he
saw that it was impossible to return home
on foot He went along the Rue Taitbout
knowing that there was a cab-rank on the
boulevard at the corner of that street
There was no cab there He waited for one
to come
He was thus waiting like an orderly on
duty when he saw a young man well and
stylishly dressed stoop and pick up a
great handful of snow and put it down the
back of a woman of the streets who stood
at the corner of the boulevard in a
low-necked dress The woman uttered a
piercing shriek fell upon the dandy and
struck him The young man returned the
blow the woman responded and the
battle went on in a crescendo so
vigorously and to such extremities that the
police hastened to the spot (Origin of
Fantine 43-44)
Japanese (Morita Shiken) Chinese (Lu Xun)
ユーゴーは差々早めにジラーデン夫人を辭せ 未既囂俄辭席拉覃夫人
51
り時方さに一月九日なりき大片の雪紛々ふり
居りユーゴーは薄き半靴を穿てり街上に立ち出
でたるに迚も步しては家に歸へる可らざるとを
知れりユーゴーはタイトボート町を進み行けり
此町の角に至れば大通りの馬車の溜場あるとを
知りたればなり至り見れば馬車は一輛もあら
ずユーゴーはそこに立ちて馬車の過きるを待て
り
ユーゴーが主命を受けたる僕の如く斯くソコ
に立ちて待ち居るうち忽ち見る一個の立派なる
ハヤリの衣服を着けし少年あり俯して雪を手一
杯に掬し之を大通りの角に立てる短領の着物き
たる街上の一個の婦人の背に投せり婦人は忽ち
驚き叫ひ彼の風流少年に飛ひかゝりて之を打て
り少年も亦打ち返へせり婦人も復た之に答へ
り斯して兩人の闘は益々烈けしくなりゆける
か餘りに盛に甚しかりしかは遂に巡查の其場に
走せつくるに及へり72 (Fantine no Moto 48-49)
以行時方一月九日雪花
如掌繽紛亂飛囂俄僅着
薄半鞋徑出街上知不能
以徙步歸也乃往泰波的
街蓋以素知街角有馬車之
憩場故既至則萬徑寥寂
絕無輪音囂俄遂鵠立路
隅以待馬車之至
囂俄如受主命之僕鵠立
以俟瞥見一少年衣裳麗
都俯而握雪以投立路角
着短領衣之一女子之背女
子忽驚呼奔惡少年而擊
之少年亦返擊女子復答
之於是兩人闘益烈以其
益烈也瞬間而巡查至73
(Aichen 166)
72 Hugo left Madame de Girardin very early It was the 9th of January Large flakes of snow were falling wildly Hugo was wearing thin shoes When he was out in the street he knew that he could not possibly return home on foot through the lanes He went along the Rue Taitbout knowing that at the corner of the block there was a coach station on the boulevard Arriving there he found no coach there so he stood there waiting for one to come Hugo stood there waiting like a servant following the instructions of his master when suddenly he saw a stylishly dressed young man bend down to pick up a handful of snow and throw it at the back of a streetwalker who stood on a corner of the boulevard in a low-necked dress The woman shrieked suddenly as she dashed over to strike the dandy The young man returned the blow the woman responded and the fight was growing increasingly fierce It was so fierce that the police hastened to the spot 73 Hugo left Madame de Girardin before the dinner ended It was the 9th of January Palm-sized flakes of snow were falling wildly He was wearing thin low shoes When he was out in the street he knew that he could not possibly return home on foot so he headed for the Rue Taitbout because he knew that at a corner of the street there was a coach station Arriving there he found the street deserted and the station empty of vehicles so he stood there waiting for a coach to come Hugo stood waiting like a servant following the instructions of his master Then he saw a stylishly dressed young man bend down to pick up a handful of snow and throw it at the back of a girl who stood on a corner of the street in a low-necked dress The girl shrieked suddenly as she dashed over to strike the bad boy The rascal returned the blow the woman responded and the fight was growing increasingly fierce It was so fierce that the police arrived at the spot
52
What is remarkable here is that the original phrase Il faisait ainsi le planton74 in the
second paragraph of the quote rendered into English in a similar mode of expression
as He was thus waiting like an orderly on duty is replaced with a substantially
different form of rhetoric in Japanese as ユーゴーが主命を受けたる僕の如く斯く
ソコに立ちて待ち居るうち75 which is reduplicated into Chinese as 囂俄如受主
命之僕鵠立以俟76 The Japanese simile 主命を受けたる僕の如く斯く turns the
military metaphor in the French faisait le planton and the English like an orderly on
duty into a domestic hierarchy where a servant follows the instructions of his master
This domestic analogy finds its way into the Chinese text where it materializes as the
figurative 如受主命之僕 Lu Xun cannot have employed the same type of phrasing
as the Japanese version had he not adopted the Japanese text rather than the French and
the English ones for translation
Moreover the above excerpts show that apart from the French original which
narrates the occurrence in three paragraphs the Japanese and the Chinese (as well as
the English) merge the second and the third paragraphs in the original passage into one
Lu Xuns following up closely on the Japanese text is obvious here As has been
mentioned before a general survey on the Japanese and Chinese texts manifests that
the paragraph arrangements in both versions are identical as distinct from the French
original on several spots Therefore from what has been presented so far the close
kinship between the Chinese text and the Japanese one can be established without
doubt
To say that Lu Xuns text is one hundred percent true to the Japanese version is
too naive and one-sided a view to see the different aspects of his translation In fact Lu
Xun does not exactly follow Moritas text to the letter While generally the Chinese
text is very close to the Japanese an exception or two can still be picked out showing
some nuanced differences Here one example will suffice Following the deposition
made by V H in the streetwalkers favor there is a passage describing the surprised
reaction of the girl For this the Japanese text has the passage as 此の辯護のうちに
婦人は益々驚きて懽喜と感激の色を發灼せり77 (Morita Fantine no Moto 54)
74 He stood waiting like an orderly on duty 75 Hugo stood there waiting like a servant following the instructions of his master 76 Hugo stood waiting like a servant following the instructions of his master 77 During the defense the woman was more and more surprised as a look of joy and gratitude beamed on her face
53
By comparison Lu Xuns counterpart text goes 辯護既畢此女子懽喜與感激交見於
面78 (Lu Xun Aichen 169) Here attention is first drawn to the difference in the
temporal phrases employed by the two versions The Japanese literally talks about an
event happening during the defense (此の辯護のうちに) whereas the Chinese
phrasing gives the impression that the womans reaction happened after the defense (
辯護既畢) In addition the womans growing surprise (益々驚きて) conveyed in
the Japanese sentence is not rendered in the Chinese text Lastly in narrating the
womans facial expressions the Japanese text adopts the metaphorical diction 發灼せ
り79 which characterizes her face as seemingly giving out light This rhetorical
strategy is not retained in the plain matter-of-fact description 交見於面80 of the
Chinese sentence With all these minute differences Lu Xuns text generally follows
the Japanese semantics rather closely
Not only does Lu Xun render the main text of Fantine no Moto but he also
includes in his translation a translators note at the end What is intriguing here is that
this note borrows a significant part of Moritas introductory note to Fantine no Moto
In its first appearance in Zhejiang Chao in 1903 this translated note was placed right
after the main text without any heading but later it was commonly known as Aichen
Yizhe Fuji 〈哀塵〉譯者附記81 A first glance at the texts in the two languages draws
attention to the interesting contrast that while the Japanese note precedes the main text
like an introduction or foreword the Chinese note is attached to the end of the main
body in the form of an epilogue Besides since Lu Xuns borrowing of Moritas note is
partial containing some ambiguities as well as omissions and additions the identity of
the speaker in the note becomes an issue open to interpretation It is advisable to make
a comparison here to illuminate the question In the first place Moritas preliminary
note starts with a quote from Hugos preface to his 1866 novel Les Travailleurs de la
Mer82
ユーゴー氏か水夫傳の序に曰ふ「宗教社會天物是れ人の三敵
78 The defense having finished an expression of joy and gratitude showed on the womans face 79 beamed brightly 80 showed on the womans face 81 Literally Translators Note to Aichen This heading is given in later reprints of the note See for example Lu Xun Aichen Yizhe Fuji 〈哀塵〉譯者附記 [Translators Note to Aichen] Yuwai Yinjie Ji 域外引介集 [Works from Across the Boundaries] (Taipei Fengyun Shidai 風雲時代 1991) 173-75 82 Literally Toilers of the Sea
54
なり而して人の三要も亦た茲に存せり人は必す歸依の處あるを要
す故に寺院あり人は必す立つ所あるを要す故に市邑あり人は必す
活くるを要す故に地を耕し海に航す三の者の要此の如くにして其
害又た更に甚し凡そ人生の艱苦にして其由を悟り難きもの皆な斯
の三の者より來るに非さるなし故に人は常に迷執の為めに苦めら
れ弊習の為めに苦められ風水火土の為めに苦めらる是に於てか宗
教教義の人を危くし殺すに足るあり社會法律の人を壓抑するあり
天物の人力もて奈何ともす可らさるあり作者嘗てノートルダムに
於て第一者を發し哀史に於て第二者を表し今ま此書に於て第三者
を示す」とhelliphellip83 (Fantine no Moto 43-44)
Lu Xuns version also quotes the exact same passage in Chinese translation
氏之水夫傳敘曰宗教社會天物者人之三敵也而三要亦存是人
必求依歸故有寺院必求存立故有都邑必求生活故耕地航海
三要如此而為害尤酷凡人生之艱苦而難悟其理者無一非生於斯
者也故人常苦於執迷常苦於弊習常苦於風火水土於是宗教教
義有足以殺人者社會法律有足以壓抑人者天物有不能以人力
奈何者作者常于諾鐵耳譚發其一于哀史表其二今于此示其三云
84 (Aichen 170)
What is notable here is that Lu Xuns quoted passage is not the beginning of the
paragraph in his translation Before the quote he adds another piece of information as
the starting sentence of the paragraph
譯者曰此囂俄隨見錄之一記一賤女子芳梯事者也85 (Aichen 170)
83 The preface to Hugos Les Travailleurs de la Mer says Religion society and nature are three enemies of mankind but three essentials of mankind also lie therein Humans need a spiritual home so there are temples humans need establishment so there are towns and cities humans need living so they cultivate land and go out to sea The three essentials are so vital that they can also cause great harm It cannot be denied that generally ones suffering whose cause one does not realize is attributable to any of the three Hence people often suffer for obsession for ill practice for the elements As a result the doctrine of a religion can kill the law of a society can oppress nature cannot be overpowered by humans The author used to demonstrate the first in his Notre-Dame de Paris the second in Les Miseacuterables and now here in this book the third one is shown 84 Because Lu Xuns Chinese translation here follows the Japanese text rather closely with almost a one-to-one correspondence its English translation can be shared with the Japanese text cited above For economy of space the English translation of Lu Xuns text is omitted here but referrable to the one provided previously for Moritas Japanese note 85 The translator says This is one of the pieces in Hugos Choses Vues and it relates an incident about a miserable girl named Fantine
55
Here the question arises as to who the 譯者 (translator) refers to in Lu Xuns words
and different interpretations occur as a result For example Zhang Yaojie 張耀杰
seems to regard the translator as Lu Xun himself when in Lu Xun yu Zhou Zuoren 魯
迅與周作人86 he writes that Following The translator says Lu Xun states his case
by making a connection between the Western order which began to practice separation
of government and religion only recently and the Chinese order which despotically
integrates politics and religion in the theory of unity of man and nature Religion
society and nature are three enemies of mankind 87 (97) Zhangs identification of
the translator with Lu Xun is a reading which usually comes to mind when a reader
approaches the translators note without any reference to its original However there is
another way of understanding what is meant by the translator in Lu Xuns text In his
Lu Xun Zaoqi Sanbu Yizuo de Fanyi Yitu 魯迅早期三部譯作的翻譯意圖88 Kudo
Takamasa points out that the translator at the start of the note actually refers to
Morita Shiken though Lu Xun does not state it clearly (39)89 Kudos conclusion may
have been reached through finding the fact that Lu Xuns epilogue note bears a close
resemblance to Moritas
However the answer to the identity of the translator in the translated note does
not seem so definite and absolute if more factors are taken into consideration The
difference in interpretation is further complicated if we continue to compare Lu Xuns
text with Moritas After quoting the same passage as Morita did Lu Xun goes on to
follow Moritas subsequent content which in the original Japanese goes
フハンティーンは哀史ラミゼラーブル
中の一人にて即ち社會の弊習缺陷に苦めら
るゝ一人なり無心なる薄命なる賤しき女子と生れ中ころ不幸なる
一女兒を舉け哀史の中に在て母なる者の哀を閱し盡すものはフハ
ンティーンなりhelliphellip90 (Fantine no Moto 44-45)
86 Literally Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren 87 The original Chinese text 魯迅在「譯者曰」中借題發揮把西方社會初步實現的政教分離
的現代法治與中國本土天人合一加政教合一的皇權專制掛起鉤來「宗教社會天物者人
之三敵也helliphellip 88 Literally Lu Xuns Intentions in His Three Earliest Translations 89 The passage is cited from a Chinese translation of Kudo Takamasas Japanese essay The Chinese translation of the cited passage is as follows 有一點須加說明的是「譯者曰」的譯者實為
森田思軒魯迅未予言及 90 Fantine is a character in Les Miseacuterables who suffered in a society of ill practice Born an innocent ill-fated and poor girl she gave girth to an unhappy daughter in the story The one who tastes
56
This passage in Lu Xuns translation runs like this
芳梯者哀史中之一人生而為無心薄命之賤女子復不幸舉一女
閱盡為母之哀而轉輾苦痛於社會之陷阱者其人也91 (Aichen 170)
After this roughly close rendering of Moritas first half of the note Lu Xun skips a
passage in which Morita tells his own experience of reading Fantines story and then
jumps to a quote by Morita from the textual body of Fantine no Moto The original
Japanese quote 六個月間からきめみるべし92 is a sentence fragment (Fantine no
Moto 45) It is extracted from the utterance which the police investigator makes to the
prostitute in the main text Of the investigators expression in full the Japanese text
and the Chinese translation are quoted for comparison as follows
其方は此科により六個月間からきめみるべし93 (Fantine no Moto
50)
依定律請若嘗試此六閱月間94 (Aichen 167)
Interestingly enough Lu Xuns Chinese translation contains the phrases 依定律
(according to the law) and 嘗試 (try) These additional senses are found neither
in Moritas partial citation in the preliminary note nor in the main text of the Japanese
version The two phrasal deviations from the Japanese source deserve our close
scrutiny To begin with the Chinese translation of according to the law obviously
takes its cue from the Japanese phrase 此科により which should mean according
to your wrongdoing rather than according to the law The addition of the law
message seems to fit in with the context in Lu Xuns translation it serves as a turning
point where what precedes is translation and what follows is creative writing By
inserting the concept of law in the sentence Lu Xun is able to introduce what he has
to say in the following passage so that the idea of law becomes something like
hinges
噫嘻定律胡獨加此賤女子之身頻那夜迦衣文明之衣跳踉大躍
all the bitterness as a mother in Les Miseacuterables is no other than Fantine 91 Fantine is a character in Les Miseacuterables The poor girl was born innocent ill-fated and poor Her misery is deepened with the birth of her daughter The one who tastes all the bitterness as a mother and falls into the trap of society is no other than Fantine 92 to suffer for six months 93 You will have to suffer for six months for your misdemeanor 94 According to the law we will have you try for six months This sentence when quoted in Lu Xuns Chinese note is phrased somewhat differently as 依定律請若嘗試此六月間 in which the character 閱 from the main textual body is missing Notwithstanding with or without the lost character both sentences are identical in meaning so no problem arises here
57
於璀璨莊嚴之世界而彼賤女子者乃僅求為一賤女子而不可得誰
實為之而令若是老氏有言聖人不死大盜不止彼非惡聖人也
惡偽聖之足以致盜也嗟社會之陷阱兮莽莽塵球亞歐同慨滔滔
逝水來日方長使囂俄而生斯世也則剖南山之竹會有窮時而
哀史輟書其在何日歟其在何日歟95 (Aichen 170)
This passage is not a translation of Moritas work but an expression of Lu Xuns own
mind It is clear that the inclusion of the law message in the quote makes it possible
for the writer to deplore the injustice of the law and the evils of human society in the
latter half of the note Nevertheless the law message is Lu Xuns creation rather than
a translation from the Japanese version
Also interesting about the policemans sentence is the fact that Lu Xun uses the
verb try in his Chinese version which renders the whole sentence meaningless and
unintelligible in the Chinese context The employment of the peculiar verb may have
resulted from Lu Xuns misinterpretation of the Japanese sentence for the Japanese
expression contains the kanas からきめみる without offering any kanjis which in
this particular case can cause confusion if parsed incorrectly Lu Xun may have broken
the original phrase in the wrong way and got the sense of try from the supposed
phrase きめみる or 決き
め見み
る an ancient form of 決き
めて見み
る which denotes
try deciding or try judging However the more likely parsing in this context should
be からき (or 辛から
き an old form of 辛から
い meaning harsh) plus め (or 目め
signifying experience) plus みる (or 見み
る conveying the sense of suffer or
meet with) This reading forms the concept of to meet with a harsh experience or
to suffer from pain which is totally lost in Lu Xuns verbal try This lapse in
translation is coupled in the supplementary note with another lapse in citation where
Lu Xun quotes Laozi 老子 (or Liaoshi 老氏 in the citation) as saying 聖人不
95 Alas the law Why does it have to impose itself on this miserable girl Vinayaka throws his weight around in his civilized clothes in the magnificent and majestic world whereas the miserable girl cannot even afford to remain miserable Who caused her to drift into this condition Laozi used to say If no saint is alive no thief will arise The speaker does not actually find saints repulsive but the fact that a hypocrite saint will bring about the practice of theft Alas society is full of pitfalls and in this boundless globe people in Europe and Asia lament together The river of no return surges on with no end of days to come If Hugo were to live to this day the South Mountains bamboos for recording evil deeds might have been used up but when can we ever put a stop to what happened in Les Miseacuterables When can we
58
死大盜不止96 when the actual one quoted is not Laozi but Zhuangzi 莊子
Lu Xuns translators note in Aichen ends with the close of his self-expressing
passage cited above leaving untranslated the original Japanese ending where Morita
expresses his preference of LOrigine de Fantine to Les Miseacuterables on the grounds
that a plain factual record is better than an artificially polished work (Fantine no
Moto 45-46)
From the comparison in previous paragraphs we know that Lu Xun combines
translation with creation in his epilogue to Aichen In order to weigh the proportion
of translation in Lu Xuns text here I may attempt to roughly calculate in the Japanese
source how much is translated and how much is left out and in the Chinese translation
how much is rendition and how much is creation First let us take a look at Moritas
original text my calculation shows that more than half of Moritas original
introduction is carried over to Lu Xuns translatorial note the remaining untranslated
part being relatively little In other words Lu Xun relies on much of Moritas
introduction for his epilogist note Likewise in Lu Xuns version what belongs to
creative writing only constitutes the lesser part of the text while the majority of it falls
in the realm of translation a rendition based on Moritas text Therefore as far as the
proportion of translation is concerned Lu Xuns text contains more translation than
creation
What is translated says a lot indeed but what is left out of translation may be just
as revealing In Moritas original Japanese text of introduction the unrendered part
contains a passage about Moritas own experience of reading Hugos works and a
passage about Moritas assessment of LOrigine de Fantine and Les Miseacuterables The
two passages are both highly personalized expressions attributable to Morita but not to
Lu Xun By contrast the great majority of what is translated in Lu Xuns text is not
from Moritas own words but a quote from another of Hugos novels Les Travailleurs
de la Mer as is mentioned earlier Though it also says something of Moritas mind in
this very choice the quote is relatively impersonalized in that anyone including Lu
Xun can quote it without the risk of mixing their personality with Moritas Hence the
omission of the two Moritaized passages together with the fact that the translated part
is largely a quote but not rendition of Moritas own words seems to suggest that Lu
Xun was attempting to suppress or even erase Moritas voice in his Chinese translation
96 if no saint is alive no thief will arise
59
of the note This probability becomes even greater if we look at what is creation rather
than translation in Lu Xuns text Aside from the initial sentence which provides the
reader with some basic information about the main text halfway through the note Lu
Xun adds the concept of law to Moritas quote from the textual body and uses it as a
vantage point from which he begins to elaborate his viewpoints in the passage that
follows The utterance of his opinion from this point to the end of the attached note
indicates the deliberate exertion of Lu Xuns personal voice in the note Therefore
whether from the rendition omission or creation in Lu Xuns version of Morita we
know that Lu Xuns voice dominates the translators note whereas Moritas voice with
the exception of his choice of the citation is weak almost inaudible
From the previous analysis two contradictory findings are obtained on the one
hand Lu Xuns translators note to Aichen contains more translation than creation and
that on the other hand Lu Xuns voice reigns supreme in this epilogue With such a
contradiction can the translators note Aichen Yizhe Fuji qualify as a translation or
should it be categorized as creative writing To be sure the answer to the question
depends on how one defines translation and creative writing respectively and different
definitions would certainly lead to different conclusions The seemingly lucid starting
phrase the translator says gives the impression that Lu Xun the translator is making
the introduction but a significant part of it is Moritas text in translation In modern
terms this is doubtless a plagiarized work an infringement of Moritas copyright
However to approach the question by modern standards is to take it out of context a
failure to do it justice If historical context is taken into consideration it is found that
the concept of intellectual property was not in circulation in Lu Xuns time Translators
then tended to half translate and half create basing their translation on a certain
foreign text while tampering with the form and content of the original mixing the
translators voice with the foreign authors As Fan Ling 范苓 points out translators in
late-Qing China and Meiji Japan commonly manipulated their jobs by adding deleting
and modifying their source texts to suit their purposes of educating the public and
improving the society (98)97 As a result the boundary between translation and
creative writing is blurred to the extent that fidelity is beside the question
As Lu Xun adopts Moritas text and rewrites it the end product turns out to be a
97 The original Chinese text 在明治晚清意譯之風盛行的時代中日兩個譯本均以開啟民智
為目的譯者的翻譯策略自然重在影響目標讀者群的思想使譯文能夠為社會改良起到作用因
而操作上難免有意的增刪或改變原文
60
text which takes on a dual identity so that the translator in the inceptive sentence
The translator says is both Lu Xun and Morita Shiken or neither to put it differently
The apparently transparent phrase The translator says is in this case actually rather
ambiguous and misleading Lu Xuns manipulation of the identity of the translator
exemplifies the conception which characterizes the translator as a writerrewriter with
a considerable degree of independence from the confines of the source text
Hugos original LOrigine de Fantine does not have any opening note nor is a
translators note with the same content as the two oriental versions found in any
English translation available It is Morita Shiken who adds the note in his translation
The comparison and contrast between Lu Xuns attached note to Aichen and Morita
Shikens introductory note to Fantine no Moto has provided another piece of
evidence that in rendering LOrigine de Fantine into Chinese Lu Xun does not resort
to the original French or a then more popular English version but turns to the Japanese
translation for inspiration
22 Guer Ji and Its Source More Creation than Translation
Zhou Zuorens Guer Ji98 was first published in 1906 under the pen name of Ping
Yun 平雲 by Xiaoshuolin Press 小說林社 a modern publishing house specialized in
the publication of novels Written in classical Chinese the work is divided into
fourteen chapters which are preceded by a preface (序言) a section of general
notices (凡例) and a preamble (緣起) and followed by a remark (識語) and an
appendix (附錄) The work was initially meant by the author to be a creative novel
but midway through the job the writing partially morphed into translating with the
latter part of the plot taken from Hugos Claude Gueux Zhou Zuoren himself admitted
that the second half of the life of Afan 阿番 the hero in the story was the life of
Claude Gueux
一九0六年的夏天住在魚雷堂的空屋裡忽然發心想做小說定名曰
《孤兒記》敘述孤兒的生活上半是創造的全憑了自己的貧弱的
想像支撐過去但是到了孤兒做賊以後便支持不住了於是把囂俄的
文章盡量的放進去孤兒的下半生遂成為 Claude 了99 (Zhou Zuoren
98 Literally Story of an Orphan 99 In the summer of 1906 when I lived in the empty Yu Lei Dormitory the idea flashed through my mind to write a novel titled Guer Ji on the life of an orphan The first part of the story was my
61
Xuexiao Shenghuo de Yiyie 50)
The fact of basing the second half of his story on Claude Gueux was also mentioned
elsewhere in Zhous writings (Jiu Riji lide Lu Xun 306 Yu Lei Tang 214-15)
In Guer Ji there is a section of general notices preceding the main text The
author indicates in the notices that the Tenth and Eleventh Chapters of the novel are for
the most part a rough translation of Hugos Claude Gueux (498) However a close
examination on the texts of Guer Ji and Claude Gueux reveals that the translation is
not limited to the two chapters but that the similarity in plot between the two works
can be found present from Chapters Eight to Fourteen in the fourteen-chaptered Guer
Ji Specifically the likeness starts from the end of the Eighth Chapter where Afan was
condenmed to five-year imprisonment for stealing and sent to the prison workroom
just like what Claude Gueux had gone through Chapter Nine carries Claudes plot by
describing the hunger Afan suffered in the jail and his newly established friendship
with Difu 笛夫 a counterpart of Albin in Claude Gueux who satiated Afans stomach
by sharing his bread with him The Tenth Chapter continues the thread with Afans
forced separation from Difu and his futile attempts to plead for Difus return in his
company Chapter Eleven presents Afans slaughter of Haina 海那 the opposite
number of the jailer Monsieur Dmdash in the French story and his trial and death sentence
The next chapter contains descriptions of the poor environment of the jailhouse and the
miserable life of the inmates Though the major proportion of the account in the
chapter is the authors own invention rather than translation there do exist some bits of
text that are rendered from Claude Gueux For example in addressing the hardships of
the populace the narrator quotes Hugo as saying 諸君試黜此八十人之刑吏以其俸
供教師當可得六百也100 (535) This sentence is taken from the critical epilogue in
Claude Gueux where Hugo expresses that Puisque vous ecirctes en verve de
suppressions supprimez le bourreau Avec la solde de vos quatrevingts bourreaux
vous payerez six cents maicirctres deacutecole101 (382-83) Chapter Thirteen narrates the
procedure of preparations for Afans execution with details about the priest and the
executioner comparable to those in Claude Gueux The final chapter wraps up the story creation fueled up by my feeble imagination but as the orphan became a robber I could not continue my narration I incorporated as much of Hugos text as possible into my novel and so the orphan was virtually turned into Claude [Gueux] in the second half of his life 100 If you dismiss eighty hangmen the salaries spared will be enough to afford six hundred teachers 101 Since you are so set on suppressions supress the executioner you could defray the expenses of six hundred schoolmasters with the wages you give your eighty executioners (Eugenia de B 218)
62
of Claude Gueux by presenting the scene of the execution site where Afan ultimately
succumbs to the scaffold To sum up what is illustrated so far of the fourteen chapters
of Guer Ji seven chapters (from the eighth to the fourteenth) are found to draw on the
content of Claude Gueux in varying degrees Hugos original work consists of two
parts the main body which recounts the story and an epilogue which voices the
authors criticism on the injustice of the social system in France It is interesting to note
that while the plot of the last seven chapters of Guer Ji is based mostly on the main
text of Claude Gueux some of the content of the critical epilogue also appears in the
Chinese text as the instance in Chapter Twelve cited above
As for the source on which Zhou Zuoren based his translation there were
versions of Claude Gueux in English and Japanese besides the original French prior to
the appearance of Zhous Guer Ji Since Zhou did not know French for him to
translate from the French work is out of the question His education in English and
Japanese makes the English and Japanese versions worthy of our consideration
However fortunately in this case Zhou mentioned more than once in his reminiscent
short pieces of prose how he got hold of an eight-volume English collection of Victor
Hugos works published in the United States (Xuexiao Shenghuo de Yiyie 50 Jiu
Riji lide Lu Xun 305 Yu Lei Tang 215 Choubei Zazhi 262 Wu Yizhai 218)
Some of the writings even specifically point out that it is in the collection that he
gained access to the story of Claude Gueux (Xuexiao Shenghuo de Yiyie 50 Jiu
Riji lide Lu Xun 306 Yu Lei Tang 215) This information not only rules out any
version in Japanese but also narrows the English versions down to one What remains
is for us to find out what the collection of eight volumes really is and what version of
Claude Gueux is compiled in it In this regard the Japanese critic Matsuoka Toshihiro
松岡俊裕 has done some research and discovered that at the time when Zhou obtained
the copy of Hugos works in 1904 there were two different sets of eight-volume
collections of Hugos works in English namely The Works of Victor Hugo (1896) and
The Romances of Victor Hugo (1896) each including a different version of Claude
Gueux (68) By comparing the English terms offered by Zhou in the appendix of Guer
Ji with the two English versions of Claude Gueux Matsuoka concludes that Zhous
source is from The Works of Victor Hugo where Claude Gueux translated by Arabella
Ward is placed in the Second Volume (68)102
102 In The Romances of Victor Hugo a different version of Claude Gueux translated by George
63
With Matsuokas contribution we may proceed to examine how the Chinese
translator handled his source A comparison between Wards Claude Gueux and Zhous
Guer Ji reveals that the translation is a sketchy rather than close one and that the
translator does not hesitate to make changes to his original and even invent his own
plot In naming the characters in the Chinese text the translator does not follow the
original story but invents his own names Claudes intimate inmate Albin is altered to
Difu and the superintendent M D (Mr D) in the penitentiary is renamed Haina The
difference in the names of the protagonists ie the original Claude Gueux versus the
Chinese Afan is relatively inevitable because the Chinese name is a continuation from
the creative writing in the first half of Guer Ji and is thus unchangeable as the plot
begins halfway to draw on the English translation Aside from rechristening the
translator sometimes adds some extra narrations that are absent in the English Claude
Gueux As already mentioned earlier the portrayals of the prison life and environment
in the Twelfth Chapter of the Chinese text are largely created by the translator There is
no lack of other descriptional additions of a smaller scale in the chapters based on the
English version One example will suffice here about the prison the English
description runs Clairvaux was an abbey which had been turned into a bastile a cell
turned into a prison an altar changed to a pillory (Ward 329) In Guer Ji we have the
counterpart passage 場本為神寺所改僧房改為囚室神龕改為立枷而長老則
易之以獄吏103 (523) In this instance the depiction of how the prison was rebuilt
from a religious institute is similar in both versions with the exception that the
Chinese translator gives the additional description of jailers taking the place of senior
monks (長老則易之以獄吏)
Apart from additions omissions are also characteristic of the Chinese version
While Claude Gueux was in the cell awaiting his execution the English text contains a
narration of how other prisoners tried to provide him with various escape tools which
he refused to take (Ward 347-48) The Chinese version by contrast does not offer any
such plot but comes up with an alternative description of how Afans cell was jealously
guarded and how the hero in there reminisced about his deceased mother (535-36) The
reminiscence plot serves to hark back to the beginning part of Afans story which is
creation rather than translation To cite one more example for illustration of omission
Burnham Ives is in the Eighth Volume 103 The place was a temple resconstructed into a prison with the rooms for monks changed to cells the altars turned into pillories and in place of senior monks were jailers now
64
let us look at the following passages The English text reads as follows
Claude Gueux was a hearty eater This was a peculiarity of his
temperament His stomach was such that the food of two ordinary men
was scarcely enough for him Monsieur de Cotadilla had a similar
appetite and used to laugh about it but what is a subject for mirth in a
duke a Spanish noble who has five hundred thousand sheep is a
troublesome thing for a workman and a misfortune for a prisoner (Ward
332)
The parallel Chinese text runs like this
阿番善啖為其性昔西班牙貴族柯達第拉氏亦有是癖人以為笑
然氏家富有五萬頭之羊故啖癖同而其效異一在侯爵僅為笑謔
之資一在囚人則入餓鬼之道矣104 (523)
Despite the similarity between the two quoted texts the original message of Claudes
stomach being more than two mens food could fill is omitted in the translation And
then the phrase is a troublesome thing for a workman in the last sentence of the
English version finds no representation in the Chinese text Besides the two
conspicuous omissions also noticeable is the difference in the subjects who laugh
about the appetite of the Spanish nobleman In the English it is Cotadilla himself who
jokes about his own big stomach whereas in the Chinese the laughers are others than
Cotadilla himself (人以為笑) Moreover there is also the disagreement in the title of
Cotadilla which the English text specifies as duke but the Chinese version renders as
侯爵 (marquis) A final disparity lies in the number of sheep owned by Cotadilla
in the English it is 500000 but the Chinese text reduces the number to one tenth of it
Changes in narrative details can also be found elsewhere Two more examples are
enough to demonstrate this With regard to the fare in prison the English version
narrates that Claude Gueux in prison worked all day and invariably received for his
trouble one pound and a half of bread and four ounces of meat (Ward 332) The 15
pounds of bread and four ounces of meat are reduced to one pound of bread and two
taels of meat in the Chinese translation 今在獄力作竟日照常例得一磅之麵包
104 Afan was a big eater This was his inborn nature In former times the Spanish nobleman Cotadilla had the same appetite and people used to laugh about it However since the rich nobleman had 50000 sheep in his household the same big appetite did not cause him the same trouble To a marquis it was topic of mirth and entertainment to a prisoner it meant starvation
65
與二兩之肉食之105 (523-24) One last instance of plot change has to do with the
heros attitude before execution The English text is narrated in the following way
The priest arrived then the hangman Claude was humble with the
former gentle with the latter He refused them neither his soul nor his
body
He listened to the priest with great attention accusing himself greatly
and regretting that he had not been taught the Bible (Ward 348)
The Chinese version is described in a different way
其時牧師亦至為阿番懺悔令自陳惡業求天帝恕
阿番拒之曰「吾心無玷勿須爾爾helliphellip」106 (537)
Other differences aside here attention is drawn to the attitude of the death convict In
the English version the protagonist repented of his faulty past and humbly turned his
soul over to the priest In contrast the Chinese text portrays the hero as a man who
confident in his own moral purity refused to go through the ritual of repenting
To sum up in Guer Ji we see a combination of writing and translating the greater
first half of the story being creative composition and the lesser latter half being
translation The Chinese authors initial intention was to write a novel and the foreign
text was appropriated to make up for the shortage of imagination in the writer Here the
boundary between translation and creative writing is blurred and the translators role
as a writerrewriter is thrown into sharp relief Although the novel bases nearly half of
its plot on Claude Gueux the Chinese author-translator does not refrain from
tampering with the original story and creating his own version of narration In terms of
translation the rendition is a rather free and rough one despite the fact that the
translated plot is generally similar to that in the source text
105 Now imprisoned he labored all day and received according to the rules one pound of bread and two taels of meat for his daily fare 106 At the time the priest also arrived to hear confession He asked Afan to confess his wrongdoings and implore Heavens condonation Afan uttered his rejection saying My soul is immaculate I dont need this ritual
67
Chapter Three The Sources of Leixie Mengxin Yifan and
Tianmin Lei
This chapter tackles the problems involved in tracking down the sources of Xue
Shengs 雪生 Leixie Mengxin 縲紲盟心 (1918) Chen Jinghans 陳景韓 Yifan 逸
犯 (1907) and Xie Wus 解吾 107 Tianmin Lei 天民淚 (1915) The order of
presentation will be arranged topically rather than chronologically starting from
Claude Gueux followed by Les Miseacuterables Thus first in the sequence is Leixie
Mengxin a Chinese version of Claude Gueux Then discussions will be conducted on
Yifan and Tianmin Lei both taken from Les Miseacuterables With varying degrees of
difficulty and different problems entailed in source-tracing each text will be handled
in a separate section
31 Leixie Mengxin A First-hand Translation from the French
A translation of Hugos Claude Gueux Xue Shengs Leixie Mengxin108 was first
serialized in two installments on July 25 and August 25 1918 respectively in
Xiaoshuo Yuebao 小說月報109 Hugos original work consists of two parts the main
body which recounts the story and an epilogue which voices the authors criticism on
the injustice of the social system in France The Chinese translation only deals with the
major body leaving the epilogue untreated However in the translated part which
constitutes the major proportion of the original work Xue Sheng was on the whole
faithful to Hugo On the whole this is not a complete version but it basically is a close
translation though in terms of closeness to the original Lu Xuns translation of Morita
Shiken has the upper hand Besides like Aichen and Guer Ji the language used in
the story is classical Chinese Like the other works addressed in the present
dissertation the translator gives the authorship information 法國 Victar Hngo [sic]原
著110 below the title but does not reveal the source he used in translation
107 Since there is as yet no biographical information about the translator it is not clear whether 解
吾 is the autonym or a pseudonym If it is the real name of the translator then the character 解 constitutes the surname and should be romanized as Xie If it is a false name or pen name then 解 can be either Xie or Jie Unable to decide which is the case the present dissertation tentatively adopts the romanization of Xie 108 Literally Prison Brotherhood 109 Literally The Short Story Monthly 110 Originally written by the French author Victor Hugo
68
To trace the version from which a Chinese translation is derived one frequently
resorts to the linguistic background of the translator for clues In the case of Leixie
Mengxin however the present research is unable to obtain any information about what
language training Xue Sheng had undergone at the time of his rendition because there
has been as yet no way of even knowing who Xue Sheng was Without knowledge of
the translators biography this study can only dig into the text to see if it directs us to
any possible or specific source In this regard Han Yiyu 韓一宇 has noticed
something in Leixie Mengxin that is revealing Basing her argument on the evidence of
the voustu contrast narrated in the Chinese text Han believes it was translated directly
from the French original (78) The passage mentioned by Han is about the rude
condescending manner in which the superintendent of the jail talked to Claude Gueux
as the latter approached him with his last desperate plea for the return of Albin We
may take a look at how it is presented in French and Chinese respectively
French (Victor Hugo) Chinese (Xue Sheng)
mdashQue fais-tu lagrave toi dit le
directeur pourquoi nes-tu pas agrave ta
place
Car un homme nest plus un
homme lagrave cest un chien on le
tutoie111 (CG 370-71)
監督曰汝耶汝何為汝胡不歸汝原
位監督言時不稱 Vous 而稱 Tu其意
蓋不以克洛特為人類直視之如家畜耳
(Vous 為多數Tu 為單數稱呼必用多
數禮意也惟至親不在此例)112 (14212)
The derogatory tu in the French text is replaced with a neutral 汝 (you) in the
Chinese version so that the superintendents words do not sound as impolite in
Chinese as they are in French In order to underscore the rudeness of the speaker after
the jailer finished his words the translator informs the reader of the superintendents
use of tu in place of vous in the original and then adds a parenthetical note to
explain the French distinction between the two forms of you The appearance of
vous and tu here in the Chinese text is the single example offered by Han Yiyu as
evidence showing that Hugos French original is the source of Xue Shengs Chinese
Claude Gueux In fact this is not the only place in the Chinese text where the
111 What are thou doing here the superintendent said why are thou not in your place Since a man is no longer a man but a dog there they address him as thou 112 The superintendent said Its you What are you doing here Why dont you return to your place As he addressed Claude the superintendent used Tu instead of Vous as a way of treating him like a domestic animal rather than a human (Vous is plural Tu is singular To address a person one uses the plural to show respect with the exception of when one addresses a close relative)
69
differentiation between vous and tu appears In the court scene where the hero was
put to trial for his murder of the superintendent there is a long speech made by Claude
Gueux to explain how he had long been provoked by the jailer The speech includes
the following expressions
French (Victor Hugo) Chinese (Xue Sheng)
Je lui dis vous agrave lui mouchard il me
dit tu113 (CG 376)
吾稱之為 Vous敬謹陳詞彼則呼我為
Tu賤如雞狗114 (14216)
Since in addressing second person classical Chinese does not have a distinction
between a polite you and a discourteous you the translator has to present the
original French words in the Chinese text to show the discrimination that Vous is 敬
謹陳詞 (a respectful address) while Tu is 賤如雞狗 (as worthless as a chicken
or a dog)
The total of two presences of the voustu contrast in the Chinese version is
suggestive of the likelihood that Leixie Mengxin was translated directly from French
As a matter of fact the phonetic translations of the proper names in the Chinese
version also hint at the same probability The transliterations of the prison of Clairvaux
as 格列窩 of the convict Faillette as 費列德 and of another inmate Pernot as 佩
懦 all approximate French pronunciations (Xue Sheng 14035 14039 14040)
However it would be dangerous to close our case based on these little pieces of
evidence alone for they do not provide a solid ground on which we may rest assured
of Hans conclusion More substantial supporting material from the text is needed for
confirmation Hence it is advisable to select some possible source texts and subject
them to comparison and contrast to see if there are other clues which point to the same
result As to what texts are to be singled out for comparison the lack of biographical
information of the Chinese translator offers us no standard on which to make our
choice What can be done is to venture some conjectures based on probability China in
the late Qing and early Republican periods saw the importation of a great many
Western works through translation and English and Japanese were the most commonly
used mediums for translators to approach and translate literatures from all over the
world Placed in this context Leixie Mengxin might also have arisen from either of the
113 I say you to him to the spy and he says thou to me 114 I call him Vous a respectful address and he calls me Tu as if I were as worthless as a chicken or a dog
70
two language sources besides the original French In other words my speculation of
the possible linguistic sources of the Chinese Claude Gueux includes three candidate
languages French English and Japanese
Before the publication of the Chinese version of Claude Gueux in 1918 there was
a Japanese version by Morita Shiken as well as several English translations in
circulation Together with the French original these are all possible sources for the
Chinese Claude Gueux The Japanese text titled Claude クラウド was translated
in 1890 from English rather than French which leaves no room for doubt because as
was illustrated in the opening chapter of the present dissertation Morita did not read
French but English Moreover in his Meiji Jidai no Victor Hugo Morita Shiken no
Houyaku o Megutte115 Kawato Michiaki 川戸道昭 establishes that the specific
source text used by Morita in his rendition is Gilbert Campbells [1886]116 English
translation (420-22) One of the proofs proposed by Kawato is that with the exception
of a few minor changes probably done by the translator on purpose Moritas text is a
close rendition of Campbells English version
Besides the Campbell text there were several other English versions of Claude
Gueux in distribution before the publication of the Chinese text in 1918 so they
qualify as possible sources of the Chinese rendition What is remarkable here is that
the different versions bear resemblance to each other in varying degrees Identical
sentences can be found readily among them which is not explainable except by the
calculation that it was customary for translators back then to refer to existing versions
other than the ultimate original and to freely adopt expressions and sentences from
their reference material This practice of standing on the shoulders of giants of the
past also found in the history of Bible translation seems to have been very common
before intellectual property rights came to be a widely recognized concept For this
reason it would be practically unnecessary and make little sense to present for
comparison and contrast all the English texts published before 1918
The present research on the available relevant material in the said period shows
that among the English versions of Claude Gueux two types of translation can be
distinguished one is a complete close rendering of the French work and the other is a
115 The original Japanese title 明治時代のヴィクトル ユゴー森田思軒の邦訳をめぐって 116 The publication date of this text is not available in the compilation where it appeared However Kawato saw in the original copy stored as a rare book in the British Library a stamped mark showing the date when it was received by the library as October 1886 (See p422 in his essay mentioned above) In other words Campbells text must be dated earlier than October 1886
71
mildly abridged translation What lends substance to this seemingly tautological
distinction is the remarkable fact that as was demonstrated in the First Chapter of the
present thesis in the second type the manner of abridgment in the different texts is
surprisingly similar and that what is omitted and what is reserved in translation are
almost identical among them The left-out untranslated parts which constitute only a
very little portion of the translation are mostly narratorial interference irrelevant to the
plot of the story as will also be shown in the textual comparison to be made shortly
Here I may well mention some other English texts in addition to the Campbell version
and fit them to the two categories of translation distinguished here The translations
respectively by Duncombe Pyrke jr (1869) George Burnham Ives (1894) Eugenia de
B (1895) and Arabella Ward (1896) fall into the first group (of complete close
rendition) whereas Campbells text (in the 1880s) and Nottingham Societys version
(1907) belong to the second group (of slightly reduced translation) The striking
similarity between texts within the set of truncated versions has been illustrated in the
introductory chapter of the presentation dissertation This provides reason for me to
select only one version from each group for comparison here in order that what will be
compared and contrasted is essential and wont fall into futile triviality From the group
of complete versions the present thesis decides on Duncombe Pyrke jr not only
because his rendition is the closest to the French original among the versions in the
group but because he sometimes gives the original French text of his translation in the
footnote for readers reference a fact that increases the versions probability as a source
for the Chinese rendition As for the partial versions since I have demonstrated in
Chapter One that the renditions by Campbell and Nottingham Society are highly
homogeneous to each other it makes very little difference which one is chosen I shall
just select the earlier one ie Campbell text Hence in the textual criticism that
follows Pyrkes and Campbells texts are juxtaposed with the Chinese version as well
as the French original and the Japanese rendition
In the first place how the beginning paragraphs are presented in the five texts
selected illuminates something about the genealogy this study is trying to trace here of
Xue Shengs Leixie Mengxin
French (Victor Hugo) English (Duncombe Pyrke jr)
Il y a sept ou huit ans un homme
nommeacute Claude Gueux pauvre ouvrier
Seven or eight years ago a man named
Claude Gueux a poor workman lived at
72
vivait agrave Paris Il avait avec lui une fille
qui eacutetait sa maicirctresse et un enfant de
cette fille Je dis les choses comme
elles sont laissant le lecteur ramasser
les moraliteacutes agrave mesure que les faits les
segravement sur leur chemin Louvrier eacutetait
capable habile intelligent fort
maltraiteacute par leacuteducation fort bien traiteacute
par la nature ne sachant pas lire et
sachant penser Un hiver louvrage
manqua Pas de feu ni de pain dans le
galetas Lhomme la fille et lenfant
eurent froid et faim Lhomme vola Je
ne sais ce qursquoil vola je ne sais ougrave il
vola Ce que je sais cest que de ce vol
il reacutesulta trois jours de pain et de feu
pour la femme et pour lenfant et cinq
ans de prison pour lhomme
Lhomme fut envoyeacute faire son temps
agrave la maison centrale de Clairvaux
Clairvaux abbaye dont on a fait une
bastille cellule dont on a fait un
cabanon autel dont on a fait un pilori
Quand nous parlons de progregraves cest
ainsi que certaines gens le comprennent
et lexeacutecutent Voilagrave la chose quils
mettent sous notre mot
Poursuivons
Arriveacute lagrave on le mit dans un cachot
pour la nuit et dans un atelier pour le
jour Ce nest pas latelier que je blacircme
Claude Gueux honnecircte ouvrier
naguegravere voleur deacutesormais eacutetait une
Paris With him lived a young woman who
was his mistress and her child I relate
things as they are leaving the reader to
gather the moral lessons which the facts
present on the way The workman was
capable clever intelligent very badly
treated by education very well treated by
nature not knowing how to read and
knowing how to think One winter work
was not to be had There was neither fire
nor bread in the garret The man the girl
and the child were cold and hungry The
man committed a theft I know not what
he stole or where he stole what I know is
that the result of this theft was three days
food and fire for the woman and child and
five years imprisonment for the man
He was taken to the central
establishment of Clairvaux to undergo his
sentence Clairvaux which was formerly
an abbey now converted into a bastile
where the monastic cell has been turned
into a prison cell and the altar into a
pillory When we speak of progress it is
thus that certain people comprehend it
and carry it into effect That is what they
place under our word
Let us continue
Arrived there he was placed in a cell at
night and in a workshop by day It is not
the workshop that I blame
Claude Gueux an honest workman but
lately henceforth a thief was of a grave
73
figure digne et grave (CG 355-56) and dignified appearance (23-24)
English (Gilbert Campbell) Japanese (Morita Shiken)
Claude Gueux was a poor
workman living in Paris about eight
years ago with his mistress and
child Although his education had
been neglected and he could not
even read the man was naturally
clever and intelligent and thought
deeply over matters Winter came
with its attendant miseriesmdashwant of
work want of food want of fuel The
man the woman the child were
frozen and famished The man turned
thief I know not what he stole What
signifies as the result was the same
to the woman and child it gave three
days bread and firing to the man
five years imprisonment
He was taken to Clairvaux the
abbey now converted into a prison
its cells into dungeons and the altar
itself into a pillory This is called
progress
But to continue our story Claude
クラウドと云へるは八年ばかり前巴里バ リ
にありて其の妻子と俱とも
に暮せる貧しき傭
夫なりき教育とても受たることあらざれ
ば物讀むことさへ能はず去れども此の男
生れ得て敏く明かにして物事に 慮おもんば
かり
深かり
冬は其の種々なる不幸を伴ふて至れり
仕事の空乏食物の空乏薪料の空乏此の
男此の妻此の子は凍ひ
へ且つ飢へをれり斯
くて此の男は遂に盜ぬすみ
となれり余は渠か れ
が
何物を盜めるやを知らず何物を盜めるに
せよ其の結果は同じきなり妻子は以て三
日の麵包パ ン
と火とを得たり此の男は以て五
年の禁錮を得たり
渠はクライルボーに押送されたり昔し
の寺は今や監獄と為れり其の諸室は今や
牢舍となれり其の神を祭れる机は今や直
117 Claude Gueux lived with his wife and child in Paris about eight years ago He was a poor workman He did not receive any education so he could not read Even so he was naturally smart and intelligent and thought deeply over matters Winter came with all kinds of miseries Lack of work lack of food and lack of firewood left the man and his wife and child frozen and famished As a result the man became a thief I did not know what he stole Whatever it was that he stole the result was the same His wife and child got three days bread and firing the man got five years imprisonment He was sent to Clairvaux The former abbey was now used as a prison the former rooms in the abbey became the cells and the former altar was directly turned into a pillory This is what people called progress Claude Gueux the honest workman who was forced into theft by such desperate circumstances had a countenance that tugged at peoples hearts
74
Gueux the honest workman turned
thief from force of circumstances
had a countenance which impressed
you (309)
ちに 枷くびかせ
となれり人は之を進步と謂ふ
さて斯く事情の為めに迫られて盜とな
れる律義なる傭夫クラウドは其容貌以て
人を動かすべしhelliphellip117 (Claude 181-82)
Chinese (Xue Sheng)
距今七八年前有貧工名克洛特者挈一女子一男孩居巴黎女乃其情人
孩則所生也工性絕敏習無弗能能無弗日精顧得天極厚而以幼年失學
故不知讀但知思某冬百工咸歇陋室中無火無麵包三人凍且餒
瀕死工遂盜其以何術盜盜於何地余皆弗詳所知者自是婦與孩得三
日糧工人則獲五年禁錮罪被囚於格列窩監獄中
此獄由修道院改建而成齋宮易作勞舍講堂易作工場堂上祭台易作縛人
示眾之柱凡因盜罪者咸度活於此中夜則幽處牢舍晝則赴工場操作焉
克洛特篤實工人也今始不幸以盜聞其儀容謹肅一如曩時helliphellip118 (14035)
To infer the most probable one or ones my exploration shall start from examining the
Japanese version which will be compared with the Chinese translation as well as the
three Western texts First attention is drawn to an observation made by Kawato As is
pointed out in Kawatos essay mentioned above despite the incredible correspondence
between the two texts there is one prominent deviation of Moritas Japanese from
Campbells English in the beginning paragraph of the story the word mistress in
English is transformed into 妻 (wife) in Japanese (Kawato Meiji Jidai no Victor
Hugo Morita Shiken no Houyaku o Megutte 421) Here the motivations or effects in
the transformation are not my concern What is at issue is that the Chinese version of
118 Seven or eight years ago there was a poor workman named Claude Gueux who lived with a girl and a boy in Paris The girl was his mistress and the boy was from her Claude Gueux was very intelligent and learned things quickly and profoundly That was a rare innate gift However since he did not get to receive education in his childhood he could not read Even so he knew to think independently One winter all work was suspended There was neither fire nor bread in the humble room The three of them were frozen and famished to the point of dying The workman turned thief I did not know how and what he stole What I knew was that the woman and the child got three days food while the man got five years imprisonment He was confined in the prison of Clairvaux The prison was reconstructed from a monastery The rooms were changed into cells the studies were used as a workroom the altar was turned into a pillory Those who were convicted of robbery spent their time working here At night they stayed in the cells in the daytime they labored in the workroom Claude Gueux was an honest workman but was now unfortunately tainted with the reputation of theft His countenance was as serious as it used to be
75
the term is 情人 which synonymous with the English mistress and the French
original maicirctresse is distinct from the Japanese translation If the Chinese translator
had based his text on the Japanese version he could not possibly have changed the
perfectly normal husband-wife-child relationship (其の妻子) shown favorably in the
Japanese into a relationship with immoral overtones ie one involving a man and a
paramour and an illegitimate child (女乃其情人孩則所生也) Besides Campells
text the other English version of Pyrkes also narrates about the mistress of the
protagonist Therefore in this first instance the Japanese version is the least likely
source for the Chinese translator
Besides two phrases which are translated differently in the Japanese and the
Chinese deserve our scrutiny Regarding the time of the episode the Japanese text
narrates 八年ばかり前 (about eight years ago) while the Chinese description is
距今七八年前 (seven or eight years ago) An examination of the Western texts
reveals two modes of description the Japanese translation is derived from Campbells
about eight years ago whereas the Chinese narration is in line with the French Il y a
sept ou huit ans or Pyrkes Seven or eight years ago The other phrasal difference
between the Japanese and the Chinese concerns the misery in winter the former text
talks about 食物の空乏 (lack of food) whereas the latter renders it as 無麵包
(no bread) An inspection of the Western texts manifests again two types of narration
the Japanese expression is inspired by Campbells want of food while the Chinese
phrase is in accord with the French ni de pain or Pyrkes nor bread In these two
instances the phrasal differences appear to have more to do with rhetorical strategy
than with semantic value In other words the Chinese expressions seem to be basically
synonymous with the Japanese ones in the two cases However in the context of the
early Republican China bread was not a common food It is rather unlikely that the
Chinese translator would deliberately change the Japanese 食物 (bread) into the
Chinese 麵包 (bread) when 食物 the Chinese characters which are identical
with the Japanese kanjis both in form and in meaning was more commonly used to
refer to food in China Hence here again the Japanese text is the least probable
version to be related to the Chinese rendition
Another piece of evidence against the Chinese texts relationship with the
Japanese has to do with paragraph arrangement The content of the first two
paragraphs in the cited Japanese passage is comparable to the first paragraph of the
76
Chinese text In Moritas treatment of Campbells text the Japanese version breaks the
single English paragraph in two and this is done with good reason in the new
paragraph division the first paragraph provides the background information of the
protagonist while the second paragraph narrates what happens in one particular winter
However this reasonable rearrangement of paragraph does not appear in the Chinese
version which like the two English texts and the French original presents the same
content in one single paragraph This also makes the Japanese text less likely than the
other versions to be the model for the Chinese rendition
Furthermore even more decisively against the Japanese texts relation with the
Chinese rendition is the passage about the construction of the jailhouse arranged in the
third paragraph in the Japanese quote and the second paragraph in the Chinese
respectively where mention is made about the prison being once a religious institute
Here the Japanese refers to the establishment as formerly a 寺 (temple) Loaded
with Buddhist reference this term should have found easy entry into the Chinese text
if the Chinese translator had based his version on the Japanese but what we have here
in the Chinese passage is a Christian 修道院 (monastery) a rather uncharacteristic
transformation given the fact that Chinese society was dominantly more Buddhist than
Christian back at the time The conformity of the Chinese translation to Hugos
abbaye Pyrkes abbey and Campbells abbey illustrates that the Western texts
are more genealogically related to the Chinese version than the oriental one is
Finally and decisively in the same passage the Chinese text contains a
description about the activity of the prisoners there 凡因盜罪者咸度活於此中夜則
幽處牢舍晝則赴工場操作焉 119 Obviously this description harks back to the
French narration Arriveacute lagrave on le mit dans un cachot pour la nuit et dans un atelier
pour le jour120 or Pyrkes counterpart sentence Arrived there he was placed in a cell
at night and in a workshop by day though the Chinese is expressed in a collective
manner as opposed to the individual description in the French and the English What is
noteworthy here is that no passage of similar import can be found in the Japanese text
As has been observed before Campbells version is a slightly abridged translation My
textual citation above demonstrates that Campbell also leaves out this particular part of
description which is found present in the texts by Hugo Pyrke and Xue Sheng
119 Those who were convicted of robbery spent their time working here At night they stayed in the cells in the daytime they labored in the workroom 120 Arriving there he was put in a cell at night and in a workroom by day
77
respectively The fact that Morita inherits Campbell in his translation of Claude Gueux
serves to explain the omission in the Japanese text here in this specific example
Therefore not only can the Japanese version be dismissed here but Campbells
English text can also be safely excluded from further consideration in the present
search for the source of the Chinese Claude Gueux
After the exclusion of Morita and Campbell from my discussion the candidates
for the most probable source referenced by Xue Sheng are reduced to the texts by
Duncombe Pyrke jr and the French author Although Pyrkes translation is so close to
the French original that both qualify as highly probable sources of Xue Shengs
Chinese version some nuances in the texts can be detected to help clarify their
relationships with the Chinese translation As the story gets to the part where Claude
Gueuxs persistent and repeated petitions for Albins return began to tire the
superintendent out there is a passage deserving of our notice
French (Victor Hugo) English (Duncombe Pyrke jr)
Le directeur fatigueacute lui infligea une
fois vingt-quatre heures de cachot
parce que la priegravere ressemblait trop agrave
une sommation (CG 365)
The director wearied out once inflicted on
him twenty-four hours of the dark cell
because the petition bore too strong a
resemblance to a summons (38)
Chinese (Xue Sheng)
[監督]hellip終乃科以黑牢二十四小時之罪謂其呼籲煩瀆形同迫脅云121
(14040)
Concerning the reason for the protagonists solitary confinement we have the three
texts narrating that Claudes request borders on une sommation (French) a
summons (English) and 迫脅 (Chinese) respectively Here it is advisable to take a
closer look at the three terms to distinguish the subtle differences The Chinese 迫脅
is a combination of coercion and intimidation the English summons indicates an
authoritative command and the French sommation denotes a menacing demand In
short all three versions agree in communicating a coercive request but the French and
the Chinese expressions share a threatening gist which the English word does not
convey Therefore the French original is more likely than the English version to be the
121 The superintendent finally gave him twenty-four hours of solitary in the dark cell saying that his request was repetitious and even went out of line like coercion and intimidation
78
source for the Chinese rendition
So far my comparative analyses of the interlingual versions concerned have
pointed to Hugos French original as the most probable source Now let us return to the
two previously mentioned passages where the distinction between vous and tu in
French appears in the Chinese text
French (Victor Hugo) English (Duncombe Pyrke jr)
mdashQue fais-tu lagrave toi dit le
directeur pourquoi nes-tu pas agrave ta
place
Car un homme nest plus un homme
lagrave cest un chien on le tutoie122 (CG
370-71)
What art thou doing there said the
director why art thou not in thy place
For a man is no longer a man there he is a
dog they thee and thou him (47)
Je lui dis vous agrave lui mouchard il me
dit tu123 (CG 376)
I say to himmdashto him a spymdashyou he says
to me thou (55)
Chinese (Xue Sheng)
監督曰汝耶汝何為汝胡不歸汝原位監督言時不稱 Vous 而稱 Tu
其意蓋不以克洛特為人類直視之如家畜耳(Vous 為多數Tu 為單數稱呼必
用多數禮意也惟至親不在此例)124 (14212)
吾稱之為 Vous敬謹陳詞彼則呼我為 Tu賤如雞狗125 (14216)
With Pyrkes English text juxtaposed with the other two versions the genealogical
relationship between the French text and the Chinese rendition is even more evident
The English version employs the differentiation of you versus thou in place of the
French discrimination of vous versus tu whereas the Chinese translator is lavish in
explicating the French distinction which finds no expression in classical Chinese
Pyrkes version of you and thou cannot have been the material adopted by Xue
Sheng in the translating process Judging from the textual proofs the present research
122 What are thou doing here the superintendent said why are thou not in your place Since a man is no longer a man but a dog there they address him as thou 123 I say you to him to the spy and he says thou to me 124 The superintendent said Its you What are you doing here Why dont you return to your place As he addressed Claude the superintendent used Tu instead of Vous as a way of treating him like a domestic animal rather than a human (Vous is plural Tu is singular To address a person one uses the plural to show respect with the exception of when one addresses a close relative) 125 I call him Vous a respectful address and he calls me Tu as if I were as worthless as a chicken or a dog
79
has gathered abovemdashincluding the Chinese transliterations of the French proper names
the deviation of the Japanese and English versions from both the French and Chinese
texts and the approximation of the Chinese rendition to the French originalmdashthe
Chinese text is most probably translated from Hugos original French work It is the
only one of the nine Chinese versions addressed in the present dissertation that is
directly derived from the French original
One last point to be made here about the Chinese text of Claude Gueux is its
degree of closeness to the French original Like many of his contemporaries Xue
Sheng seems to orient his translation mainly to the story and this can be inferred from
the fact that as mentioned earlier he selected only the story-narrating main body to
translate leaving out the critical epilogue attached by the French author to the end of
the story This tendency to be plot-oriented is also witnessed in the translated text
Despite his general closeness and fidelity exhibited in the translation additions and
omissions in the service of the plot can be identified in his text Passages that are left
untreated by the translator usually contain descriptions that do not bear direct
relationship to the development of plot Two examples of omission can be found in the
first two paragraphs in the cited passages above After introducing the three characters
the French text has the narrator turn up to emphasize the truthfulness of his account
Je dis les choses comme elles sont laissant le lecteur ramasser les moraliteacutes agrave mesure
que les faits les segravement sur leur chemin126 This expression of the narrators stance
does not exist in the Chinese translation Another instance is a passage that follows the
description of the prison construction and here the French original goes Quand nous
parlons de progregraves cest ainsi que certaines gens le comprennent et lexeacutecutent Voilagrave la
chose quils mettent sous notre mot127 Here the subject of progress broached by the
narrator in a sarcastic tone is not part of the plot line Its omission in the Chinese
version seems to reveal the translators impatience with the narratorial interference in
the plot made by the original author This tendency on the translators part is also
evidenced in the treatment of the ending of the story The Chinese translation ends with
the decapitation of the protagonist a climax arranged in the last but one paragraph in
the main body of the original text The last paragraph in the original is a sarcastic
remark on public executions beginning with the sentence Admirable effet des 126 I state the facts as they are and let my reader derive the moral lessons as realities get them around on the road 127 When we talk about progress this is how some people see it and practice it That is what they say in their own words
80
exeacutecutions publiques128 (Hugo CG 379) It is not surprising that this part of the
French ending anticlimactic to the plot was eliminated in the plot-oriented Chinese
translation
Interestingly while the Chinese translator felt free to cut the narrators voice
supplied by the French author he did not hesitate to add some accounts to enhance the
effect of the plot and include his own narratorial comments on the story during the
process of translating Here two examples will be given to demonstrate this First after
the prison inspector informed Claude Gueux that his mistress had become a prostitute
and the childs whereabouts were unknown the French original says nothing about the
protagonists reactions but shifts immediately to a new paragraph relating how the hero
got used to prison rule after a while Claude demanda froidement ce queacutetait devenu
lenfant On ne savait Au bout de quelques mois Claude sacclimata agrave lair de la
prison 129 (Hugo CG 358) The sparing description in the French original
becomes a well-developed passage in the Chinese text which not only describes the
main characters reactions but also interpolates a commentary passage
而幼兒亦不知蹤跡矣克洛特大慟幾欲自戕其生喈乎男子安
貧食力窮極而陷於法網少婦夫囚子散無依而墜入青樓淪落天
涯滔滔皆是其人寧曰無過然強半為惡社會之潮流驅之使然有
未可專為匹夫匹婦咎者
匝月後漸習獄中風氣helliphellip130 (Xue Sheng 14036)
Here in the quote between the first sentence 而幼兒亦不知蹤跡矣 (stating the
childs missing status) in the former paragraph and the first sentence 匝月後漸習獄中
風氣 (describing the heros adaptation to the prison environment) in the latter
paragraph both taken from the French work there is this long passage absent in the
original text but inserted by the translator in the target text This interpolation consists
of an extended narration (of the protagonists suicidal thought) and a comment (about
128 What an admirable effect of public executions 129 Claude inquired coldly what happened to the child No one knew After a few months Claude accustomed himself to the prison environment 130 No one knew the childs whereabouts It grieved his heart so that Claude nearly put his thought of suicide into practice Alas the man earned his living by his own labor but was led astray by poverty and caught in the meshes of law The young woman was forced into prostitution and drifting in the world because her imprisoned husband and lost child left her forlorn and helpless Such anarchy was all over the world Can we say they were blameless However people like them were mostly driven by the development of a deteriorating society The blame cannot after all be ascribed to the man and woman only A month later he was accustomed to the climate of the prison
81
the judgment of the heros situation) in the narrators voice
The other intriguing instance of extra messages offered by the Chinese translator
concerns the final desperate attempt of Claude Gueux to plea to the superintendent for
the return of Albin to his former ward During the interactions between the hero and
the inspector the other convicts whose number was described to be eighty-one in a
previous passage were watching closely Here the French text is inconsistent with its
former passage in narrating that les quatrevingts voleurs regardaient et eacutecoutaient
haletants131 (372) The eighty-one inmates described formerly are now reduced to
eighty in the French original The Chinese translator smooths out this inconsistency by
supplying the following explanatory remark in parentheses right after the incoherent
number of eighty appears 場中除克洛特外實有八十一人此云八十者因有一少
年不敢正視即上文所敘諦視克洛特而顫慄者是132 (14213) This explicative note
is not part of the French text but is appended by the Chinese translator to make the plot
sound more reasonable The additions together with the omissions exemplified by the
preceding instances characterize Xue Shengs Chinese translation of Claude Gueux a
practice of rendition common among translators in the early twentieth-century China
Although the translation is generally true to the original story Xue Sheng also exhibits
something of a rewriter in his translating practice
32 Yifan An Adaptation Based on a Japanese Version
Yifan133 was serialized in Shibao134 時報 from August 16 to September 4 1907
by the translator Leng 冷 one of the pen names of Chen Jinghan (1878minus1965)
Divided into 15 chapters in 18 installments the translation is concentrated on Mayor
Madeleines surrendering himself to justice in order to rescue the wrongly accused
Champmathieu The selected story covers parts of Book Five (Chapters One and Two
of thirteen chapters) Book Six (Chapter Two of two chapters) and Book Seven
(Chapters Two Five Seven Eight to Eleven of eleven chapters) in Volume One of the
original novel leaving untranslated the episodes about Fantine and Fauchelevent in the
three books The translators effort at such an excerpting results in a single plot line
131 The eighty thieves watched and listened breathless 132 Besides Claude there were actually eighty-one people in the scene Here we say eighty watchers because a young man dared not turn his head to look and that is the one who formerly looked at Claude tremblingly 133 Literally Prisoner at Large 134 Eastern Times a translation offered on the front page of the newspaper
82
that is very focused and coherent The language adopted in the rendition is vernacular
rather than classical Chinese in which the majority of translations addressed in the
present dissertation are written
Besides the translated text proper the translator gives two remarks on the plot
one at the end of Chapter Four (the August 21 edition) and the other at the conclusion
of Chapter Fifteen (the end) of the translation The remarks feature the translators
comments on the story as well as his purpose of rendition First the latter part of the
Fourth Chapter contains a long depiction of the inner struggles of the protagonist who
was torn between the easy choice of leaving the wrongly accused Champmathieu
condemned to life imprisonment and the difficult option of turning himself in for
Champmathieus rescue but at the expense of sacrificing the welfare of thousands of
workers in the town of Montreuil-sur-Mer who depended on his factories for
livelihood The narration of the dilemma lasts until the end of the chapter upon which
the translator supplements a note by the side of the main text
冷曰閱者試捫心思之二者果孰是而孰非也此之謂天人之際135
(558)
This comment underscores the difficulty the mayor was faced with and invites the
reader to think in the shoes of the main character The other note is placed right after
the ending of the story as the translators general comment on the whole translated text
冷曰寫蒙都市長自首心地何等光明人情何等周緻世無此人則
已世有此人若佛若耶若孔無多讓哉又曰我譯此文非
偶然也蓋以愧彼恐禍及己殺友滅口之卑怯小人也卑怯小人其
善讀之136 (131)
Aside from specifying the general intent of the original story this final remark shows
the translators edifying purpose in selecting it for rendition the heros sacrificing his
own benefit for the good of others was a saintly act that set a good example for the
scoundrels in Chinese society
135 Leng says Readers please think of the two options with your conscience Which is the right one and which is wrong Such is an example of a conflict between heaven and earth 136 Leng says The story depicts how the mayor of Mondu [Montreuil-sur-Mer] surrendered himself to justice With how clear and noble a conscience and how thoughtful and considerate an understanding of the way of the world he fulfilled his part The world may not find someone like him But if someone like him does exist it will be like Buddha or Jesus or Confucius reincarnatemdashhe will be comparable to any of them Leng adds I did not translate this story by mere chance or on a whim If one feels guilty and afraid that some catastrophe might befall oneself one is a mean person who will sacrifice ones friends life to conceal ones evil action Such a person should read the story well
83
The mode of translation in Yifan is rather free and unfettered with innumerable
omissions additions and alterations This would make origin-tracing a difficult task if
the background of the translator were not sufficiently known Fortunately for the
present research it is known that Chen Jinghan studied in Japan from 1899 to 1902 (Li
Zhimei 33-36 Xu Yonggang Liang Yan 134) and that it was during this period of time
that Chen was exposed to a lot of literary works from the West This piece of
information offers the important message that he had a background in Japanese
training which points to the possibility that his partial translation of Les Miseacuterables
may have been based on a Japanese version rather than an English version or the
French original
Before the appearance of Chens Yifan in 1907 there were a lot of Japanese
translations of Les Miseacuterables in Japan They were all partial translations each dealing
with a certain part of plot in the original stories Numerous as they were only one
translation covered the story narrated in the Chinese version and that is Kuroiwa
Ruikous 黒岩淚香 Aamujou 噫無情 Longer than any other Japanese version of Les
Miseacuterables at the time Aamujou was initially serialized from October 8 1902 to
August 22 1903 in 150 installments in Yorozu Chouhou 萬朝報 Then a separate of
152 chapters was released in 1906 by Husoudou 扶桑堂 dividing the work into two
volumes of 78 and 74 chapters respectively Chapters Fourteen to Thirty-Seven contain
the episodes narrated in the Chinese translation though a large portion in this segment
of the Japanese plot was not found in the Chinese version such as Father
Fauchelevents being caught in the wheels confrontation between Javert and
Madeleine about Fantines arrest and Madeleines careful arrangements for Fantine
and her daughter Obviously the Chinese deletions were done for the purpose of
concentrating the plot on Madeleines inner and physical struggles as he hurried to the
court to rescue the wrongly identified victim
It is noteworthy that in the Chinese newspaper serial the heading Yifan was
accompanied by the superscript remark 哀史之一節137 This annotation is revealing
enough for Aishi 哀史 was a Japanese title for Les Miseacuterables in the literary circles
in Meiji Japan The adoption of the Japanese term by the Chinese translator to refer to
the French novel suggests the possibility that Chen Jinghan might owe his knowledge
of the French story to Japanese translations Indeed although Chens mode of
137 a segment of Aishi
84
rendering has characterized his translation as an adaptationmdasha form of
rewritingmdashmaking the Chinese text quite distinct from the original story as well as
from Kuroiwas narration a meticulous comparison between Chens translation and
Kuroiwa Ruikous Aamujou betrays a close affinity and establishes that the Chinese
version is derived from Kuroiwas text
The kingship between the Chinese rendition and the Japanese version can be
shown on three levels proper nouns terms and plot narration In the first place
Chens treatment of some proper nouns in the story exhibits a direct lineage from
Kuroiwas Japanese text The town where Jean Valjean was imprisoned is called
Zulong 祖龍 a phonetic transliteration in the Chinese version (498) As far as
phonetic transcription is concerned the initial consonant [t] of the original Toulon is
rather unlikely to be represented as [z] in Chinese whether the original is pronounced
in French or in English when to a Chinese ear the two sounds are far removed from
each other and in the Chinese language there are other consonants available which are
more similar-sounding to the original [t] such as [t] and [d] However the eccentricity
in which Toulon is transliterated as Zulong in Chinese becomes totally
understandable and even inevitable if Kuroiwas version is included in the comparison
The Japanese transcription Tsulon ツーロン clearly explains how the Chinese
translator came up with Zulong instead of say Tulong or Dulong which sounds
more similar to the original Toulon precisely because the Japanese consonant [ts]
easily reminds a Chinese ear of the sound of [z] in Chinese (Kuroiwa I 92) Another
example has to do with the rendition of Champmathieu which is transcribed
respectively as Mashilang 馬十郎 in Chinese and Umajurou 馬十郎うまじふらう
in Japanese
(Chen Jinghan 510 Kuroiwa I 95) Here in this case the pronunciation of the Chinese
name is vastly dissimilar from that of the Japanese (or the French or the English)
However to users of languages with the written representation system of kanji (or
Chinese characters) nothing is more conspicuous than the plain-to-see fact that the
Chinese translator directly loaned the Japanese kanji in the service of his rendering
resulting in a Chinese name that is the same in form with but disparate in
pronunciation from the Japanese In still another instance the protagonist Jean Valjean
morphed into Yemaozi Jinboer 野貓子金鉢兒 when translated into Chinese (498)
Contrastively Kuroiwas counterpart version is Janbarujan 戎 瓦 戎ぢゃんばるぢゃん
a phonetic
85
transliteration of the French name (Kuroiwa I 95) What is notworthy here is that the
Chinese version contains two parts a nickname Yemaozi (literally wildcat)
followed by a personal name Jinboer While it is without doubt that Jinboer is a
product of phonetic transcription the nickname added by the Chinese translator
deserves closer attention In fact though the Japanese text here offers nothing related
to the Chinese nickname it did use Noneko 野猫の ね こ
(literally wildcat) as an abusive
nickname for Jean Valjean in a previous passage when the hero surprised at Bishop
Myriels kindness in receiving him blurted out helliphellip 私わたく
しをエ追拂おひはら
ひもせずに
前科者ぜんくわもの
を貴君き く ん
などと貴方あ な た
は誰だれ
でも此こ
の野猫の ね こ
めなどと云い
ひますのにhelliphellip138
(Kuroiwa I 18) The Chinese Yemaozi obviously mirrors the Japanese epithet with
similar kanji characters and similar meanings The three examples of rendition of
proper names illustrated above are evidence enough to demonstrate the close
connection between the Chinese and the Japanese
Traces of the Japanese origin of the Chinese text can be found not only in
rendition of proper nouns but also in rendition of some terms Three examples in this
regard are in order In the first two the terms adopted in the Chinese translation are
peculiarly Japanese and Kuroiwas texts again provide elucidation for the peculiar
usage of Chinese The last instance involves a term which is not Japanized but is
nevertheless derived from the Japanese First as Javert informed Madeleine of
Champmathieus arrest the Chinese text has the description 那馬十郎偷了人家的果
物被那邊的警察們拿到helliphellip139 (510) Kuroiwas counterpart text runs 馬十郎うまじふらう
と
云い
ふhelliphellip者もの
が或家あるいえ
の果物くだもの
を盗ぬす
んで賣う
ッたのです140 (Kuroiwa I 95) Despite the
fact that the Chinese text does not mention Champmathieu sold the stolen things as the
Japanese does what is intriguing here is that the Chinese translators choice of words
involves the Japanized term 果物 which is clearly borrowed from the Japanese
果物くだもの
Here the appropriation of the Japanese kanji for use in Chinese results in
138 You didnt throw me out I am an ex-convict and you address me as Monsieur Everybody else calls me a damned wildcat 139 This Mashilang [Champmathieu] stole someone elses fruit and other things and was arrested by the police there 140 The man called Umajurou [Champmathieu] stole the fruit from someones house and sold it
86
semantic disparity for the Japanese 果物くだもの
signifies fruit alone while the Chinese 果
物 inspires the Chinese reader to think of both fruit 果 and other things 物
Another example is also found in Javerts information of Champmathieus arrest in the
Chinese we have 葛羅溪的警署因此便將罪人送往阿勒斯裁判所141 (522) and in
the Japanese we find 本統ほんとう
の 戎 瓦 戎ぢゃんばるぢゃん
がアラスの裁判所さいばんしょ
へ引ひ
き出だ
されて居ゐ
る142
(Kuroiwa I 95) Here the Chinese use of the term 裁判所 for courthouse is
peculiarly Japanized a more idiomatic alternative would be 法院 or 法庭
Apparently the Chinese translator could not have come up with the Japanized term on
his own if he had not based his rendition on the Japanese 裁判所さいばんしょ
One last example
concerns a scene at the entrance to the courthouse The Chinese text goes 上了樓只
見有一個警察兵立在門口helliphellip143 (42) In the French original the one who stood at
the entrance was un huissier (Hugo LM I 398) which denotes an usher in this
context not the 警察 (police officer) described in the Chinese version The
Chinese texts deviation from the original as far as this term is concerned is explainable
by its conformity with the Japanese text which reads 彼か
れはhelliphellip傍 聽 席ぼうちょうせき
の入い
り口ぐち
に進すす
んだ茲こ こ
には警吏け い り
が立た
って居ゐ
る144 (Kuroiwa I 127) Manifestly the Japanese
警吏け い り
(police officer) is what induced the Chinese translator to narrate a police
officer instead of an usher at the entrance to the courthouse The above three
instances all testify to the fact that Chen Jinghans translation of Yifan is contingent on
Kuroiwa Ruikous Aamujou
The affinity between Chens Chinese rendition and Kuroiwas Japanese version
also manifests itself in narration of plot Suffice it to cite three examples to illustrate
this Firstly Mayor Madeleines admission into the courtroom where the trial was
underway involves the following process
Quand lhuissier ouvrant discregravetement la porte qui communiquait de la
chambre du conseil agrave laudience se pencha derriegravere le fauteuil du
141 Therefore the Police Administration of Geluoxi [Ailly-le-Haut-Clocher] dispatched the criminal under police escort to the courthouse in Arras 142 The real Jean Valjean was sent under police escort to the courthouse in Arras 143 He [Madeleine] went upstairs and saw no one but a police officer standing at the entrance 144 He (Madeleine) proceeded to the entrance to the gallery where a police officer stood
87
preacutesident et lui remit le papier ougrave eacutetait eacutecrite la ligne quon vient de lire
[M Madeleine maire de Montreuil-sur-mer] en ajoutant Ce monsieur
deacutesire assister agrave laudience le preacutesident fit un vif mouvement de
deacutefeacuterence saisit une plume eacutecrivit quelques mots au bas du papier et le
rendit agrave lhuissier en lui disant Faites entrer145 (Hugo LM I 400-401)
The Chinese translation has a counterpart passage which goes like this
警察兵便將名片送至問官處問官一看面上甚是驚喜因想遠近有
名的蒙市長今日也來這裡觀審我等如何榮幸一面便將名片遞授至
各個陪審官處同看一面因命警兵請市長上來146 (Chen Jinghan 59)
The two quoted texts exhibit similar but different plot descriptions Among the
differences two deserve our attention First in the original narrative the usher handed
the judge a piece of paper (le papier) with Mayor Madeleines name on it By
contrast in the Chinese text it is a name card (名片) instead that was handed to the
judge The other noteworthy difference lies in the judges reaction to the message on
the paper or the name card In the French original upon reading the paper the judge
immediately expressed approval on the paper and told the usher to allow Madeleine in
In the Chinese version the judge also voiced his approval of the mayors entrance but
there is an extra action which is absent in the French text the judge passed the name
card around for the jurors to see The two cases of the Chinese versions departure from
the original plot can be traced to Kuroiwas text The counterpart passage in Japanese
is quoted as follows
警吏け い り
はhelliphellip内うち
に入はい
って名刺め い し
を裁 判 官さいばんくわん
に取次とりつい
だが裁 判 官さいばんくわん
は其そ
の
表面へうめん
を見み
て 聊いささ
か意外いぐわい
の 思おもひ
を為な
した容子よ う す
であるモントファーメ
ール147の市長しちゃう
斑まだら
井ゐ
此この
名な
は數す
年來ねんらい
徳望とくぼう
の附牒ふ て ふ
として此土地こ の と ち
へま
145 When the usher discreetly opening the door which connected the council-chamber with the court-room bent over the back of the Presidents arm-chair and handed him the paper on which was inscribed the line which we have just perused [M Madeleine Mayor of M sur M] adding The gentleman desires to be present at the trial the President with a quick and deferential movement seized a pen and wrote a few words at the bottom of the paper and returned it to the usher saying Admit him (Hapgood I 249-50) 146 The police officer handed the name card to the judge The judge was pleasantly surprised as he glanced through it thinking how he and his colleagues were honored by the presence of the widely-known mayor of Montreuil-sur-Mer He passed the card around for each of the jurors to see and at the same time ordered the police officer to usher the mayor in 147 Here in the Japanese text Madeleine is described as mayor of モントファーメール (Montfermeil a town where the evil Theacutenardiers resided) This is a momentary misrepresention on the
88
で聞きこ
えて居ゐ
る誰たれ
とて尊敬そんけい
せぬ者もの
は無な
い裁 判 官さいばんくわん
は此人このひと
の來臨らいりん
を得え
て職務しょくむ
の上うえ
に光 榮くわうえい
を加くは
へた様やう
に感かん
じた卓子てーぶる
の影かげ
から其その
名刺な ふ だ
を
同僚どうれう
の 手て
か ら 手て
に 廻まわ
し 終つひ
に 撿 察 官けいさつくわん
の 手て
に ま で 傳つた
は ツ た 148
(Kuroiwa I 128)
Here in the Japanese version the term 名刺め い し
(a name card) is used in place of the
paper in the original plot and there is a depiction of the under-the-table circulation of
the name card among the judiciary officials The similarity between the Chinese and
Japanese texts along with their deviation from the original French indicates the
Chinese translations hereditary relation to the Japanese version
The last two instances are about Madeleines effort to to reveal his true identity
They are words said by Madeleine in court to Brevet and Cochepaille respectively
both his former inmates in order to prove that he was the true Jean Valjean Now
attention is first drawn to what Madeleine said to Brevet in the French novel
Te rappelles-tu ces bretelles en tricot agrave damier que tu avais au bagne149
(Hugo LM I 427)
The comparable passage in the Chinese version is as follows
helliphellip又叫那蒲拔脫道蒲拔脫我在祖龍牢內的時候我將我的衣褲
懸在鐵格上和你相戲你難道忘了150 (119)
The knitted suspenders with a checked pattern (bretelles en tricot agrave damier) in the
French story is lost in the Chinese translation which tells instead about clothes
suspended on iron gratings (衣褲懸在鐵格上) This peculiar shift is also traceable to
part of the Japanese translator because elsewhere in the Japanese rendition the translator correctly identifies Madeleine as mayor of モントリウル (Montreuil-sur-Mer) The 2005 revised reprint of Kuroiwa Ruikous Aamujou has rectified this error See Kuroiwa Ruikou 黒岩淚香 trans Aamujou (Zenpen) 噫無情(前篇) [Alas Heartless (I)] by Victor Hugo (Tokyo Harushobo はる書房 2005) 127 148 The police officer went in and handed the name card to the judge The judge gave a look of surprise as he glanced at the surface of the card and found on it the name of Madeleine mayor of Montfermeil [Montreuil-sur-Mer] a name which had been equivalent to great virtue and reputation for the past years and which had spread to the present soil where there was no one who did not respect it To the judge the advent of this person felt like an honor bestowed on his duty From under the table he passed the card around among his colleagues and at last the card found its way to the hand of the prosecutor 149 Do you remember the knitted suspenders with a checked pattern which you wore in the galleys (Hapgood I 266) 150 [Madeleine] called to Brevet saying Brevet back in the time when I was imprisoned in Toulon I used to suspend my clothes on the iron gratings to play with you Dont you remember
89
the Japanese version which goes like this
『オ武ぶ
ラバツトよお前まえ
は忘わす
れたのか己おれ
と一いっ
緒しょ
にツーロンの牢らう
に居ゐ
たとき市松格子いちまつがうし
に染分そ め わ
けた筒袴吊つぼんつり
を懸か
けて自慢じ ま ん
して居ゐ
た事こと
を』151 (Kuroiwa I 147)
The Japanese text also talks about checkered suspenders (市松格子いちまつがうし
に染分そ め わ
けた
筒袴吊つぼんつり
) like the French original and unlike the Chinese rendition Although the
Chinese text also deviates semantically from the Japanese the characters used in the
translation betray something of a connection between the two The Chinese noun 鐵
格 (iron gratings) may be based on the Japanese 格子が う し
(grating or lattice) and
the Chinese verb 懸 may come from the Japanese verb 懸か
ける (suspend or
hang) with an identical kanji However the Japanese 格子が う し
when combined with a
preceding 市松い ち ま つ
(checkered pattern) conveys a checkered pattern rather than a
grating This is an instance of the Chinese translators misreading of the Japanese text
and the misinterpretation may be due to semantic disparity in the shared characters
between the two languages
The final example concerns how Madeleine identified himself to Cochepaille The
original narration goes like this
Cochepaille tu as pregraves de la saigneacutee du bras gauche une date graveacutee en
lettres bleues avec de la poudre brucircleacutee Cette date cest celle du
deacutebarquement de lempereur agrave Cannes 1er mars 1815 Relegraveve ta
manche152 (Hugo LM I 427)
Here is the Chinese passage
市長又叫著谷希培道谷希培你曾在那破崙上陸那年那月那日你在
兩腕上彫著一千八百十五年三月一號幾個字在字的旁邊恰有一個黑
151 Hey Brevet dont you remember while we were in the prison in Toulon you used to playfully flaunt your checkered suspenders 152 Cochepaille you have near the bend in your left arm a date stamped in blue letters with burnt powder the date is that of the landing of the Emperor at Cannes March 1 1815 pull up your sleeve (Hapgood I 267)
90
痣你試捲了你的左袖看看是還有或沒有153 (131)
Here attention is drawn to two significant differences between the French and the
Chinese The first is about the spot of the burnt letters In the original French story the
letters of the date of Napoleons landing were stamped on the prisoners left arm (bras
gauche) whereas the Chinese version positioned the characters of the date on two
wrists (兩腕) The other difference consists in the extra description of a mole (黑痣
) beside the burnt date in the Chinese textmdasha description which is absent in the
original French narration The discrepancy between the Chinese text and the original
plot is also a result of the Japanese version being the source of the Chinese translation
The counterpart passage in the Japanese text is as follows
『お前まへ
は皇 帝くわうてい
拿 翕なぽれをん
がカンに 上 陸じゃうりく
した年月日ねんぐわつぴ
を二の腕うで
に彫附ほ り つ
けて
居ゐ
たが今いま
でも一八一五年ねん
三 月ぐわつ
一日じつ
の文字も じ
が讀よ
めるだらう 確たしか
に其そ
の傍そば
に黒子ほ く ろ
も有あ
つたドレ 左ひだり
の手て
の袖口そでぐち
を捲まく
つてお見み
せ』154
(Kuroiwa I 147-48)
According to the Japanese narration the date of Napoleons landing was tattooed on
二の腕うで
(the upper arm) which is close to the description of the original story
However the Chinese translator may have been misled by the kanji combination of
二 and 腕うで
to take it as meaning two wrists because the two kanji characters are also
used in Chinese and mean two and wrists respectively As for the additional
message of a mole beside the burnt marks in the Chinese version it is clear now that it
results from the Japanese text which contains an account of a 黒子ほ く ろ
(mole) beside
the date marks The two points of deviation of the Chinese version from the original
story again confirm the fact that the Chinese story of Yifan is translated from Kuroiwas
Japanese Les Miseacuterables
All in all judging from the translators language backgound and from the
instances of proper nouns terms and plot narration illustrated above it is beyond
153 The mayor then called to Cochepaille saying Cochepaille on the date of Napoleons landing you tattooed on both your wrists the characters of March 1 1815 beside which there happened to be a mole Try lifting up your left sleeve and let us see if there are still there 154 You had the date of Emperor Napoleons landing at Cannes tattooed on your upper arm Now the sign of March 1 1815 should still be visible there I remember there was a mole beside it Lift up your left sleeve and let us have a look
91
doubt that Chen Jinghans Yifan is rendered from Kuroiwa Ruikous Aamujou
Though basing his text on Kuroiwas version the Chinese translator actually did
more adapting than rendering For example in the Chinese version the inner struggles
of the mayor Madeleine are given a prolonged and vivid description with many details
of psychological workings which are not part of the Japanese narration In fact the
Chinese translator adapts and rewrites the story to such an extent that it is hard to
juxtapose the Chinese text with its master copy in a recognizable way save for the few
examples illustrated above as evidence for their genealogical relations
33 Tianmin Lei A Close Rendition from a Second-hand French Text
In June 1915 in the journal Yuxian Lu155 娛閒錄 appeared a short piece entitled
Tianmin Lei156 a story about the selfless beneficence and immaculate morals of
Bishop Myriel in Les Miseacuterables Below the title is the authorship information 法國
囂俄Victor Hugo 原著解吾譯157 The translated text is couched in classical Chinese
just like the majority of the Chinese texts addressed in the present dissertation
Translated by Xie Wu the main text of this short piece is preceded by a note which
states the translators purpose of introducing Hugos great work to Chinese society
是書都十萬餘言描寫社會狀態窮形盡相而又能推極其所以然之
故過去之因未來之果種種難題苦心研究世界小說家多馳騖
乎情文無甚裨於世道囂俄先生十九世紀名大家也以愛人之心
為救世之論掃去一切舊習獨於身心性命之中發揭自然真理之微
妙有功社會不少至其結構之精思筆之奇神昧之永特為餘事
法人幾家手一編歐美各國靡不競相翻印以公諸世譯者目擊吾
國現況不盡悲傷用以貢獻借作他山我輩欲造社會社會自不
能離我輩而獨立也 譯者識158 (8755)
155 Literally Leisure Entertainment Pieces 156 Literally Tears of Heavenly People 157 Originally written by the French author Victor Hugo translated by Xie Wu 158 The original novel consists of over 100000 words It is a comprehensive depiction of society at large an in-depth exploration into the roots of social phenomena which explains the unusual length of the work The author traces everything to its past cause and future effect endeavoring hard to probe into the core of every problem The novelists in the world tend to let their expressions of emotions run amok This does not help to improve the way of the world Mr Hugo was a celebrated master in the nineteenth century With a loving heart he expressed his theory to save the world emphasizing the breaking of convention and the revealing of the mystery of natural truth through exercising the innate intuition which cultivates body and mind character and destiny What he did is of great benefit to society The novel is so well-structured so well-written so full of intriguing episodes and lasting relish
92
As in the case of Yifan the translation of Tianmin Lei was intended to ameliorate the
Chinese society by enlightening the people on the importance of morals and providing
a good model for them to follow The short text of the Chinese translation is suffused
with descriptions of the impeccable benevolence the sublime self-sacrifice the frugal
life and the moral wisdom of the saintly bishop
Besides the general title of the story the text is also given a heading 第一部義
士159 and at the end of the piece can be found the remark 未完160 in parentheses
This clearly indicates that Tianmin Lei was originally meant to be the first episode of a
serial in the periodical According to Han Yiyu the translator may have proposed or
even finished a complete rendering of the French novel but only the first episode
[Book One] went to publication161 (74) and this is what is left of Tianmin Lei so far
However even in the published piece the translation is excerpted rather than complete
if it is compared with Hugos original work The translated story is taken from the First
Book (Un Juste) of Volume One (Fantine) of the French novel The Chinese
heading mentioned above is obviously a rendition of the French title Un Juste of the
book In this inceptive episode the Chinese translator treats the first six chapters of the
original fourteen-chaptered book with the exception of Chapter Three which is left
totally untranslated This fact alone disqualifies the Chinese translation from being a
complete version Then in the five chapters handled by the translator omissions are
done on a large scale All in all Xie Wus Chinese version of Les Miseacuterables gives the
first impression of a greatly reduced and roughly translated one just like most of the
other translations addressed in the present dissertation
However the first impression of reduction and simplification in terms of the
completeness of the translation is gradually undermined as the tracing of the source of
the Chinese rendition proceeds I will come to the question of the undermined
impression after addressing the problem of source-tracing At present very little is
known about Xie Wu Without sufficient background knowledge of the translator it is
hard to narrow down the scope of linguistic sources from the repertoire of world
languages and the source-tracing will be a difficult task without promise of success that almost every household in France has a copy of it and the countries in Europe and America all vie to translate it for their populace to see Deploringly sad at seeing the status quo in China the present translator contributes this translation to provide a model for our society After all as we seek to create a brave new society the society cannot work without our model mdashBy the translator 159 Book One A Man of Integrity 160 to be continued 161 Hans original Chinese 天民淚似乎有譯全文的計畫或實蹟但只刊出一次
93
Fortunately in the case of Tianmin Lei however the mode of translation is revealing
enough to compensate for the lack of authorial information The first important clue is
found in the translators treatment of the proper names the phonetic properties of the
proper names in Chinese transliteration point to the positive fact that they are derived
from the French pronunciations Examples will be offered later in my intertextual
comparison A more important and decisive lead is taken from the manner of
truncation in the Chinese translation As is already mentioned previously the Chinese
version combines in translation some passages from the original Chapters One Two
Four Five and Six of the First Book and leaves out the Third Chapter altogether In
the treated chapters the translator typically skips passages on a paragraph basis For
instance the First Chapter of the original work comprises seventeen paragraphs and
the Chinese translator preserves only eight paragraphs (Paragraphs One Four Five to
Eight Twleve and Thirteen) in his version This practice of paragraph-skipping is
shared by two foregoing versions of Les Miseacuterables F C de Sumichrasts 1896
excerpted version and Douglas Labaree Buffums 1908 shortened edition both texts
expressed in the French language The Sumichrast version can be ruled out here for it
is short of some passages which are presented in the Chinese version In Chapter Four
of the French original for example the second paragraph about the Bishops joking
about his own grandeur to Madame Magloire is deleted by Sumichrast but is treated
in the Chinese rendition (Hugo LM I 20 Xie Wu 8756) The Chinese translator
cannot have retained this passage if he had based his translation on the 1896 version by
Sumichrast Therefore Sumichrasts text can be excluded from further consideration
As for the version edited by Buffum it is streamlined in the same way as the
Chinese version whether on the level of chapters or on the level of paragraphs Like
the Chinese text Buffums version also keeps the First Second Fourth Fifth and
Sixth Chapters of the original First Book leaving out the remaining chapters altogether
Even more significant is the fact that the French abridgment also agrees with the
Chinese version in the textual truncation done to the selected five chapters resulting in
a striking correspondence between the two texts A scrutiny on them shows a
conspicuous similarity in content The initial seven paragraphs serve as a good
example for demonstrating the relationship between the two versions In the following
quotes for ease of comparison numbers in brackets are added to counterpart passages
signifying a unit of paragraph as the Chinese text following the ancient Chinese
tradition of textual presentation is not divided into paragraphs in its maiden
94
appearance on the periodical Heres Buffums French text and the Chinese version in
juxtaposition
French (Douglas Labaree Buffum) Chinese (Xie Wu)
[1] En 1815 M Charles-Franccedilois-Bienvenu
Myriel eacutetait eacutevecircque de Digne Ceacutetait un vieillard
denviron soixante-quinze ans il occupait le siegravege de
Digne depuis 1806
[2] En 1804 M Myriel eacutetait cureacute de Brignolles Il
eacutetait deacutejagrave vieux et vivait dans une retraite profonde
[3] Vers leacutepoque du couronnement une petite
affaire de sa cure on ne sait plus trop quoi lamena agrave
Paris Entre autres personnes puissantes il alla
solliciter pour ses paroissiens M le cardinal Fesch
Un jour que lempereur eacutetait venu faire visite agrave son
oncle le digne cureacute qui attendait dans lantichambre
se trouva sur le passage de sa majesteacute Napoleacuteon se
voyant regardeacute avec une certaine curiositeacute par ce
vieillard se retourna et dit brusquement
[4] mdashQuel est ce bonhomme qui me regarde
[5] mdashSire dit M Myriel vous regardez un
bonhomme et moi je regarde un grand homme
Chacun de nous peut profiter
[6] Lempereur le soir mecircme demanda au cardinal
[1] 西曆一千八百一十五
年有底業主教沙爾勒佛
朗刷彼顏斐呂密爾野
者甚老近七十五歲其
位置底業始自一千八百零
六年 [2] 當一千八百零
四年時密爾野為伯衣蹶勒
教士年已老矣生活頗受
優待 [3] 其加冠期中
教士忽赴巴黎人莫測也
後乃知彼為勢力中人特為
會友事請求大主教耳一日
法皇來晤其伯父教士時在
側廳瞻仰頗覺天威咫尺
拿破崙奇之漫語之曰
[4] 「視朕之懦夫為誰」
[5] 密爾野曰「陛下見懦
夫臣仰英雄均益也」
162 [1] In 1815 M Charles-Francois-Bienvenu Myriel was Bishop of Dmdash [Digne] He was an old man of about seventy-five years of age he had occupied the see of Dmdash [Digne] since 1806 [2] In 1804 M Myriel was the Cure of Bmdash [Brignolles] He was already advanced in years and lived in a very retired manner [3] About the epoch of the coronation some petty affair connected with his curacymdashjust what is not precisely knownmdashtook him to Paris Among other powerful persons to whom he went to solicit aid for his parishioners was M le Cardinal Fesch One day when the Emperor had come to visit his uncle the worthy Cure who was waiting in the anteroom found himself present when His Majesty passed Napoleon on finding himself observed with a certain curiosity by this old man turned round and said abruptlymdash [4] Who is this good man who is staring at me [5] Sire said M Myriel you are looking at a good man and I at a great man Each of us can profit by it [6] That very evening the Emperor asked the Cardinal the name of the Cure and some time afterwards M Myriel was utterly astonished to learn that he had been appointed Bishop of Dmdash [Digne] [7] M Myriel had arrived at Dmdash [Digne] accompanied by an elderly spinster Mademoiselle Baptistine who was his sister and ten years his junior (Hapgood I 1-3)
95
le nom de ce cureacute et quelque temps apregraves M Myriel
fut tout surpris dapprendre quil eacutetait nommeacute eacutevecircque
de Digne
[7] M Myriel eacutetait arriveacute agrave Digne accompagneacute
dune vieille fille mademoiselle Baptistine qui eacutetait
sa soeur et qui avait dix ans de moins que lui162
(3-4)
[6] 是晚皇帝詢教士之名
於大主教已而密爾野遂被
任為底業主教矣 [7] 至
時攜其妹巴低市底勒老
處子也少其兄十歲163
(8755)
In the above citations the seven consecutive paragraphs in Buffums version are a
result of the editors deleting some of Hugos original passages in between them The
Chinese versions likeness to Buffums text here in preserving only the same seven
counterpart paragraphs in translation argues for the likelihood that Buffums abridged
version is the source of the Chinese translation This likelihood becomes almost a
certainty if we look more closely and compare the contents of the seven paragraphs in
French and Chinese Indeed the Chinese text can be said to be a rather close
translation almost a sentence-for-sentence rendering of the abridged French version
despite the existence of some semantic simplifications and minor deviations In
paragraphs one and seven the Chinese text describes the exact same message as the
French The only exception is that in both paragraphs the French abbreviation M for
Monsieur which is used to address Bishop Myriel is not transferred to the Chinese
translation Nevertheless this ignorance of the prefix to a name is a minor problem
and the bishops name without a prefix works rather well here in the Chinese context
Leaving the prefix aside the bishops name in fullmdasha combination of four
namesmdashis carried whole-sale over to the Chinese text rendered as 沙爾勒佛朗刷
彼顏斐呂密爾野 obviously a phonetic transliteration from French not English The
extraordinarily long name in thirteen Chinese characters is hard enough for a Chinese
reader to bear as a Chinese name typically contains two to four characters merely It is
163 [1] In 1815 there was a bishop named Charles-Franccedilois-Bienvenu Myriel in Digne He was very old almost seventy-five years old His ordainment in Digne started from 1806 [2] In 1804 Myriel was the cure of Brignolles He was already old and lived a well-treated life [3] In the period of the coronation the cure went to Paris abruptly and nobody could make any speculation about this Only later did people know that the cure a prestigious personage went there to solicit help from the Cardinal for his parishioners One day the French emperor came to visit his uncle The cure who happened to be in the lobby of the wing looked up to him in awe and admiration Napoleon was curious about the cures manner and asked casually [4] Who is this coward who is staring at me [5] Myriel said Sire you are looking at a coward and I am looking at a hero Either way is good [6] That evening the emperor asked the Cardinal the name of the cure Some time later Myriel was appointed bishop of Digne [7] When the time came for him to go to Digne Myriel took along his sister Baptistine an old spinster who was ten years younger than her brother
96
even more buffling and disconcerting to the Chinese audience that in Yuxian Lu where
the Chinese translation was published the thirteen characters were presented in the old
conventional formatmdashie in close succession without any separating punctuatin
between the namesmdashresulting in an impression of a strange meaningless combination
of thirteen successive characters that are not easily decipherable at first sight In the
face of long Western names of a person most Chinese translators usually adopt the
strategy of shortening the names into workable numbers of characters to make them
more easily readable and acceptable to Chinese readers Xie Wus unusual treatment of
the bishops long names is caused by his strict adherence to the original French names
and herein lies a little piece of evidence for his close translation
In paragraph two the semantic content of the French text is also conveyed in the
Chinese translation except the ending phrase vivait dans une retraite profonde
translated into 生活頗受優待 in Chinese The original sense of living in a retired
manner is replaced by the translator with living a well-treated life The reason for
this shift is not clear for the context does not seem to necessitate it and the shift does
not seem to serve the edifying purpose for which the translator did the rendering A
possible explanation may be attributed to the translators misinterpretation In fact a
few cases of misreading can be found in this piece of translation Suffice it to cite one
example for illustration In paragraph three there is an account of Napoleon finding
himself looked at with curiosity by the bishop (se voyant regardeacute avec une certaine
curiositeacute par ce vieillard) So the curious one is originally the bishop The Chinese
translation 拿破崙奇之 (Napoleon was curious about it) makes Napoleon the
curious one and betrays the translators misreading of the French text
While some deviations from the French text may be ascribed to the translators
unconscious misconstruction some are clearly intentional on the translators part The
dialogue between Napoleon and Myriel described in paragraphs four and five
involves a contrast between great man (grand homme) and good man
(bonhomme) For this pair the Chinese version sets hero (英雄) and coward (
懦夫) in contradistinction Now to turn the great man into a hero in a context
where Napoleon is the subject in question may not be an exact translation on the
phrasal level but it is nevertheless acceptable and works well in the Chinese context
not only because the two terms are closely related to the point of almost being
regarded as synonyms by some but also because Napoleons status as a heroic figure is
97
widely recognized in China What seems questionable here is the the suitability of
coward as a substitute for good man The two nouns are far from synonymous and
to use the one for the other raises the suspicion of the translators misinterpretation
However if this peculiar conversion is approached from the contextual perspective it
is not difficult to see the reason for the translators strange choice of diction it is
precisely because coward forms a far better contrast with hero than good man
does that the translator opted for the former instead of the latter In other words once
the translator adopted the word choice of hero for great man the purpose for
contrast in this context would certainly require that coward be used as a better match
with hero than a synonymous Chinese term for good man In the final analysis the
Chinese deviation of 懦夫 from the original bonhomme results not so much from
the translators misunderstanding of the French term as from his deliberate intention to
form a sharply contrastive pair with its precedent 英雄
Paragraph six manifests another type of deviation from the original In this part
the Chinese text corresponds to the French in narrating that Monsieur Myriel was
appointed bishop of Digne some time after Napoleon inquired about Myriels name on
the evening of the day the conversation between the two took place The only disparity
in translation is that the message of Myriels surprise upon knowing his appointment is
not present in the Chinese text Hence the deviation in this paragraph is caused by the
translators omission whether intentional or not
There is still another kind of deviation which may not be imputed to
misinterpretation or deliberate intention but to a momentary lapse of attention on the
part of the translator An example of this goes beyong the seven paragraphs cited above
to a later passage about the list of Bishop Myriels household expenses For easy and
clear comparison the original French text is put in parentheses after each Chinese item
in the following quotation
修理房室用款一覽表 (Note pour reacutegler les deacutepenses de ma maison)164
164 The French text is translated by Hapgood as follows (I 5)
NOTE ON THE REGULATION OF MY HOUSEHOLD EXPENSES For the little seminary 1500 livres Society of the mission 100 For the Lazarists of Montdidier 100 Seminary for foreign missions in Paris 200 Congregation of the Holy Spirit 150 Religious establishments of the Holy Land 100 Charitable maternity societies 300 Extra for that of Arles 50
98
初修道院 (Pour le petit seacuteminaire) 一千五百佛郎 (quinze cents
livres)
勸教會 (Congreacutegation de la mission) 一百佛郎 (cent livres)
莽的底兒之昧增爵會 (Pour les lazaristes de
Montdidier)
二百佛郎 (cent livres)
巴黎外國教士之修道院 (Seacuteminaire des
missions eacutetrangegraveres agrave Paris)
二百佛郎 (deux cents livres)
聖神會 (Congreacutegation du Saint-Esprit) 一百五十佛郎 (cent cinquante
livres)
聖地之教士建築物 (Eacutetablissements
religieux de la Terre-Sainte)
一百佛郎 (cent livres)
慈善賑濟社 (Socieacuteteacutes de chariteacute maternelle) 三百佛郎 (trois cents livres)
又阿爾勒慈善賑濟社 (En sus pour celle
dArles)
五十佛郎 (cinquante livres)
改良監獄之工程 (Œuvre pour lameacutelioration
des prisons)
四百佛郎 (quatre cents livres)
賑恤獄犯 (Œuvre pour le soulagement et la
deacutelivrance des prisonniers)
五百佛郎 (cinq cents livres)
償清獄犯家人之欠債 (Pour libeacuterer des
pegraveres de famille prisonniers pour dettes)
三千佛郎 (mille livres)
補足教區學校窮困教員之薪金
(Suppleacutement au traitement des pauvres
maicirctres deacutecole du diocegravese)
二千佛郎 (deux mille livres)
補足阿爾伯士山之倉穀 (Grenier
dabondance des Hautes-Alpes)
一百佛郎 (cent livres)
Work for the amelioration of prisons 400 Work for the relief and delivery of prisoners 500 To liberate fathers of families incarcerated for debt 1000 Addition to the salary of the poor teachers of the diocese 2000 Public granary of the Hautes-Alpes 100 Congregation of the ladies of D---- [Digne] of Manosque and of Sisteron for
the gratuitous instruction of poor girls 1500 For the poor 6000 My personal expenses 1000 Total 15000
99
底業馬陸豕格兮飾德爾隴教育貧子之夫人
會 (Congreacutegation des dames de Digne
de Manosque et de Sisteron pour
lenseignement gratuit des filles
indigentes)
一百五十佛郎 (quinze cents
livres)
濟貧 (Pour les pauvres) 六千佛郎 (six mille livres)
自用 (Ma deacutepense personnelle) 三千佛郎 (mille livres)
總共 (Total) 一萬五千佛郎 (quinze mille
livres)
(Xie Wu 8756 Buffum 5-6 asterisks added)
What is my concern here about the list is not the translation of the items but the
transcription of the number in each individual sum entry The four items marked with
an additional symbol of asterisk in the Chinese version show a departure in the amount
of money from the original French The sum for the entry of 莽的底兒之昧增爵會
(Pour les lazaristes de Montdidier) is 100 in French and 200 in Chinese respectively
for 償清獄犯家人之欠債 (Pour libeacuterer des pegraveres de famille prisonniers pour
dettes) 1000 in French and 3000 in Chinese for 底業馬陸豕格兮飾德爾隴教育貧
子之夫人會 (Congreacutegation des dames de Digne de Manosque et de Sisteron pour
lenseignement gratuit des filles indigentes) 1500 in French and 150 in Chinese and
for 自用 (Ma deacutepense personnelle) 1000 in French and 3000 in Chinese There is
the possibility that the translator modified the sum for a particular purpose However
this possibility is negated by the fact that the values in the Chinese items do not add up
to the professed 15000 bottom line but instead to 17750 a figure not presented here
The agreement of the Chinese sum total with the French original quinze mille
bespeaks the translators attempt at reproducing the original expenses of the bishops
household Therefore the four aberrant figures in the translation may be ascribed to an
inadvertant error committed by the translator
It has been mentioned at the start of the section that the translation of Tianmin Lei
was triggered by the edifying purpose of the translator It comes as no surprise that the
translated text contains numerous passages about the saintly bishops sayings offered
as words of wisdom and food for thought How the translator handled the sayings
deserves close attention Here two selected paragraphs serve as examples (The
100
unparagraphed Chinese version is quoted with a number added to each paragraph for
ease of comparison)
French (Douglas Labaree Buffum) Chinese (Xie Wu)
Il eacutetait indulgent pour les femmes et les
pauvres sur qui pegravese le poids de la socieacuteteacute
humaine Il disait mdash Les fautes des femmes
des enfants des serviteurs des faibles des
indigents et des ignorants sont la faute des
maris des pegraveres des maicirctres des forts des
riches et des savants
Il disait encore mdash Agrave ceux qui ignorent
enseignez-leur le plus de choses que vous
pourrez la socieacuteteacute est coupable de ne pas donner
linstruction gratis elle reacutepond de la nuit quelle
produit Cette acircme est pleine dombre le peacutecheacute
sy commet Le coupable nest pas celui qui fait
le peacutecheacute mais celui qui fait lombre165 (8)
[1] 其待婦人及貧人殊寬厚面
處社會亦極平允無所輕重於其
間曰「婦女幼孩僕婢
弱者貧者愚者之罪皆其夫
其父其師與強者富者智者
之罪非彼輩之罪也」 [2] 復
曰「庸愚之人而敎以己之所
難能是不欲與人以教育而置
無數生民於不顧乃反以不可敎
罪人則社會誠萬惡矣凡靈魂
充滿疑慮則罪惡即自此產出
夫罪人豈自甘犯罪者不過靈魂
疑慮充實失所主耳」166 (8757)
Here in the cited passages my first focus is on the bishops sayings In the first
paragraph of the citation the bishops adage is rendered faithfully into Chinese
faithfully to the degree that a one-to-one word-for-word correspondence can be
identified between the original and the translation despite the fact that the Chinese text
adds a final clause 非彼輩之罪也 (not their own faults) which works well in the
Chinese sentence structure and also serves as an emphatic explicitation for the original
sense of the saying In the second paragraph however the original message of the 165 He was indulgent towards women and poor people on whom the burden of human society rest He said The faults of women of children [of servants] of the feeble the indigent and the ignorant are the fault of the husbands the fathers the masters the strong the rich and the wise He said moreover Teach those who are ignorant as many things as possible society is culpable in that it does not afford instruction gratis it is responsible for the night which it produces This soul is full of shadow sin is therein committed The guilty one is not the person who has committed the sin but the person who has created the shadow (Hapgood I 12-13) 166 [1] He was exceptionally generous and tolerant with women and poor people In society he treated everyone with equilibrium and equity without any partiality He said The faults of women children servants the feeble the poor and the ignorant are not their own but the faults of their husbands fathers masters the strong the rich and the wise [2] He also said To teach the ignorant what one finds difficult is to refuse them education and leave their multitudes uncared for while at the same time blaming them for their unteachable ignorance In this condition society is evil indeed When the soul is full of doubt it produces evils A criminal did not commit a crime because he wanted to but because his soul was doubtful and he was lost
101
bishops maxim is somewhat distorted in the rendition Though successfully conveying
the original idea of societys fault in both denying education to the ignorant and
imputing sin to their ignorance the Chinese text is couched in a completely different
rhetorical manner Firstly the imperative French phrase enseignez-leur le plus de
choses que vous pourrez (teach them [the ignorant] as many things as possible) is
lost in the Chinese version This loss results in the difference that while the original
French besides accusing society of the said fault offers a positive urging to educate
the ignorant the Chinese text is concentrated on denouncing society without
suggesting any measure for amelioration Moreover the French figurative word
ombre (shadow) is applied here to associate with the preceding nuit (night)
and the associative pair functions here to elucidate Hugos opinion that society is more
to blame than individul because the shadow caused by society on the individual is the
underlying reason for the individuals surrender to sin The Chinese text replaces the
French night-shadow metaphor with the concept of 疑慮 (doubt) in an individual
Without the original metaphor the ascription of the individuals sin to society is greatly
diluted in the Chinese translation
Apart from the bishops words of wisdom the first sentence in the first quoted
paragraph is also worthy of note The adjectival clause sur qui pegravese le poids de la
socieacuteteacute humaine (on whom the burden of human society weighs) contains a
description of societys heavy burden on individuals here women and poor people in
particular The counterpart text in the Chinese version describes instead how the bishop
does not discriminate Such a description is digressive here for it does not seem to fit
into the Chinese context The translator may have neglected the idea of the French
phrase peser sur (weigh on) and derived the Chinese concept of 輕 重
(discriminate) from the single verb peser (weigh consider)mdashbecause the
Chinese words 輕重 are literally about weight and to assign different weights to
different things is to discriminate in Chinese
From the above illustrations it is more than certain that Xie Wus Tianmin Lei is
rendered from Buffums abridged version of Les Miseacuterables and that the translation is
rather close By close I mean the translator did the rendering on a
sentence-for-sentence and even word-for-word basis as opposed to the free unbridled
mode of rendition exemplified by Chen Jinghans Yifan and Zhou Zuorens Guer Ji
Although Xie Wus text presents some deviations from his source the deviations are
102
caused by the translators alternative reading or misinterpretation and do not change the
fact that the translation generally follows the narration of the French text rather closely
After the comparson between Buffums French abridgment and Xie Wus Chinese
translation on the volume-book-chapter level as well as on the sentence-phrase level
let us return to Han Yiyus calculation quoted earlier in this section that Tianmin Lei
was originally meant to be a complete translation of the French novel but only the first
episode got to be serialized If we appraise the text of Tianmin Lei using Hugos
original novel as standard Hans speculation will be totally dismissable because the
extant first episode alone betrays large-scale omissions of the original passages
However when the evaluation of the Chinese translation is based on Buffums
truncated version of Les Miseacuterables the first episode in the Chinese text shows a close
and complete rendering of its source and Hans surmise is given substantial ground At
first sight Xie Wus Chinese version of Les Miseacuterables is rather simplified for its
massive deletion of the original passages but the results of my source-tracing serve to
do justice to Hans argument and change the impression of deviation by showing the
renditions closeness to its source This harks back to my previous argument in
discussing the rendition of Aichen that the review of a translated text should not be
based merely on the ultimate original as the only point of reference but the source text
from which the translation is produced deserves equal if not more attention
103
Chapter Four Su Manshus Can Shehui A Case of Multiple
Mysteries
While Lu Xun 魯迅 pioneered the introduction of Hugo to the Chinese society
by translating a short story that is related to Les Miseacuterables the French novelists
major work of Les Miseacuterables was not rendered into Chinese until the appearance of
Su Manshus 蘇曼殊 (1884minus1918) translation Originally titled Can Shehui167 慘社
會 Sus vernacular translation was first serialized every other day in Guomin
Riribao168 國民日日報 in Shanghai in 1903 from the eighth of October to the first of
December when the roman-feuilleton stopped in the middle of the eleventh chapter as
a result of the termination of the newspaper In 1904 a separate of an enlarged fourteen
chapters was published by Jingjin 鏡今 Bookstore in Shanghai The title of this
offprint was changed to Can Shijie169 慘世界 and the authorship or translatorship
was also modified to include Chen Duxiu 陳獨秀 (1879minus1942) in Sus undertaking
In 1921 Taidong 泰東 Bookstore also in Shanghai published a memorial reprint of
the work with the title altered to Beican Shijie170 悲慘世界 and the authorship
restored to Su Manshu alone The content however was proved by Qian Xuantong 錢
玄同 to be identical to that of the 1904 edition (Liu Xinhuang 208) In 1925 when
Taidong Bookstore issued a second print the name of the novel was shifted back to
Can Shijie from whence no titular variation has occurred
The development of Sus translation described above can be summed up in two
ways In terms of title we have Can Shehui for the unfinished serialized version Can
Shijie for the 1904 Jingjin edition and the 1925 Taidong reprint and Beican Shijie for
the 1921 Taidong republication As far as content is concerned except for the
incomplete serialized one all the other editions are of the same version Thus there are
actually two versions of Su Manshus Chinese Les Miseacuterables For ease of
167 Literally The Miserable Society 168 The China National Gazette In his introductory work on Su Manshu Liu Wu-chi 柳無忌 refers to Guomin Riribao as National Peoples Daily a good semantic translation probably done by Liu himself See Wu-chi Liu Su Man-shu (New York Twayne 1972) 32-35 However the daily already offered its own English title as The China National Gazette on the head page of each edition Accordingly the English title offered by the daily is adopted here 169 Literally The Miserable World 170 Literally The Sad Miserable World
104
identification throughout the present dissertation I shall use Can Shehui for the
uncompleted eleven-chaptered newspaper serial and Can Shijie for the subsequent
expanded reprints of fourteen chapters When critics talk about Sus Chinese
translation of Les Miseacuterables they usually refer to the fourteen-chaptered version of
Can Shijie In the present chapter however my main concern is with the serialized
Can Shehui for the expanded Can Shijie involves the issue of authorship which shall
be dealt with in the next chapter of the present thesis
Sus Chinese versions of Les Miseacuterables follow the tradition of zhanghui xiaoshuo
章回小說 a popular form of vernacular fiction prevalent in the Ming 明 and Qing 清
Dynasties in China The adoption of this particular type of popular fiction conditions
Sus rendition to a considerable extent In the first place instead of classical Chinese
which is the linguistic medium of other literary genres in ancient China and also of
most of the Chinese translations discussed in the present study Su adopts vernacular
language in his rendition to conform to the convention of the zhanghui novel In
addition each chapter is endowed with a couplet heading which gives the tenor of the
particular part of the story For example the First Chapter bears the heading of 太尼
城行人落魄苦巴館店主無情171 Such a couplet is not inspired by the chapter title
in the original story but is oriented to the textual part which it introduces in the
translation Moreover at the end of each chapter excepting the concluding one an
expression is used to keep the interested reader in suspense and anticipation This
expression similar in meaning but somewhat varied in wording in each chapter
usually denotes the concept of If you want to know what happened next please wait
until the next issue (or chapter)172
An interesting fact is to be mentioned briefly here The suspense-arousing phrase
which ends a chapter is a remanent from the earlier shuoshu 說書173 tradition in
China The long tale told by the storyteller to a group of people gathered together is
broken into many sessions each of which concludes with the suspense address to keep
the listeners in anticipation to come back for more in the future This technique when
later emulated in the written form of novel by men of letters becomes purely formal
and loses its suspense-inspiring effects as is the case of the separately printed Can
171 The town of Digne witnessed a forlorn traveller La Croix de Colbas had an apathetic host 172 The original Chinese text 欲知後事如何且待下回分解 an example taken from the end of Chapter Five in the Chinese translation 173 Literally taletelling
105
Shijie The appearance of newspapers magazines and other periodicals and the
prevalence of stories serialized on them promise to revive the effect of suspense
achieved by the storyteller in the shuoshu tradition if each installment ends at the right
place However the serialized publication of Sus Can Shehui does not take advantage
of its edge in this regard Guomin Riribao does not seem to break the serialized story
according to the section or chapter of the translation but spatial availability on the
layout seems to be the major consideration behind the division of the serials Given the
two-day interval between the installments the story would have achieved its suspense
effects if an installment had ended with the end of a chapter but an examination on the
issues of the newspaper which published the installments shows some evidence to the
contrary For example the October 16 issue presents the part of the story comprising
the end of Chapter Two and the beginning of Chapter Three This cross-chapter
presentation in a single installment completely nullifies the suspense as the sentence
要知道他後事如何且聽下回分解174 at the end of the Second Chapter is followed
immediately by the revelation offered by the next chapter
Aside from the vernacular language the couplet in the chapter title and the
end-of-chapter suspense phrasing Sus version of the French novel also shows other
traces of the zhanghui xiaoshuo form Since it is not the purpose of the present
research to exhaust all the zhanghui novel elements exhibited in Sus translation
suffice it to mention just two more salient features here introducing an incident by the
starting set phrase huashuo 話說 or queshuo 卻說 which is roughly translatable as
it happened that and addressing the audience directly as kanguan 看官 which is
approximately equivalent with dear audience to engage the attention and interest of
the reader These narrative techniques are not characteristic of the French original but a
formal adaptation made by the translator
Unlike Aichen which is almost a complete rendition of the original story Su
Manshus Chinese version of Les Miseacuterables is only a partial translation Of the total of
forty-eight books in the original five-volumed novel Su deals only with the Second
Book (La chute)175 of Volume One (Fantine) Even in his treatment of the
translated part there are many deletions alterations and additions These changes
along with the Chinese zhanghui form adopted by the translator make his text drift far
174 If you want to know what happened to him please listen to what the next issue (or chapter) has to say 175 Literally The Fall
106
apart from the original and characterize the version more as a creative fiction than a
translation Like so many of his contemporaries local and abroad Su only offered
information of the original author in his translation but did not specify what source he
used as the master copy of his translation In the daily newspaper where Can Shehui
appeared the first installment of the serialized rendition revealed the authorship as 法
國大文豪囂俄著中國蘇子穀譯176 While this piece of information is clear about
the author of the original work it remains unknown which text the original French or
any other version was used by Su Manshu for translation
The problems involved in tracking down the source of Sus Chinese Les
Miseacuterables is far more complicated than any other rendition treated in the present
dissertation Sus multicultural background and multilingual faculty the existence of
several English and Japanese translations of Les Miseacuterables before Sus version came
out his supposed exposure to known translations of the French novel in different
languages in his time and his tendency to translate freely to the extent of making
large-scale changes to the original storymdashthese factors seem to lend plausibility to
many possibilities and make it difficult to decide which text was the source of Sus
Chinese rendition Moreover the distinction of Can Shehui and Can Shijie has entailed
another issue Does the inclusion of Chen Duxiu in the authorship of the 1904 offprint
mean that the supplemented three-odd chapters of Can Shijie were translated by Chen
If Chen was a co-translator the source text he referred to for translation might
probably be different from that used by Su owing to the difference in their respective
linguistic background Since this question has been a subject of dispute without any
agreed-upon conclusion among critics in the present chapter the source-tracing will be
limited to Can Shehui only and the problems related to the last three-odd chapters of
Can Shijie will be dealt with in the next chapter In the following sections an attempt
will be made to explore into the different aspects of the problems in tracing the source
text on which Su based his rendition of Can Shehui
41 Probable Language Sources Critical Conjectures Revisited
The source from which Su Manshu translated his Chinese Les Miseacuterables has
remained a mystery Sus multilingual capability makes the issue of source-tracing a
rather complex one Because of his cross-cultural background and acquired education
176 Written by Hugo the French literary giant translated by Su Zigu [Su Manshu] in China
107
Sus linguistic abilities are known to embrace Chinese Japanese English Sanskrit and
Frenchmdasha multilingualism which distinguished him as a rare language genius among
his contemporaries Of the five languages he was capable of the first two are doubtless
his mother tongues for they were developed very early in his childhood through his
exposure to the native environments and continued to be improved through later
education By contrast English Sanskrit and French are his secondary languages
learned through deliberate effort in non-native conditions from teenage on
The linguistic advantages in Sus case mean that the issue of possible sources
involved in the first Chinese Les Miseacuterables is more complicated than any other
translation dealt with in this dissertation In temporal terms all versions of Les
Miseacuterables which were published in any of the five languages before the first
appearance of Sus Can Shehui in 1903 are possible sources Su might have availed
himself of By the time Su began to serialize his translation in the newspaper there had
been no known Les Miseacuterables in Chinese or Sanskrit but there had existed several
complete and abridged translations in English as well as many partial translations in
Japanese not to mention the French original Hence Chinese and Sanskrit can be ruled
out from our consideration leaving us with the remaining three languages which
deserve closer scrutiny If Sus command of Japanese English and French was good
enough for rendition then all the English and Japanese versions which antedated the
advent of Sus translation as well as the French original were possible sources which
Su might have drawn on
Conjectures on Sus source of translation vary among critics It is advisable here
to first review the major critical ideas to see how the question has been addressed In
talking about the influence of Japanese translations on the prevalence of the
localization strategy177 adopted by Chinese translators in the late-Qing period
(Translator Manipulation 63) Chen Hung-shu 陳宏淑 ventures a guess in passing
when she says that Beican Shijie the Chinese version of Les Miseacuterables done by Su
Manshu in 1903 might have also been translated second-handedly from the Japanese
Aamujou by Kuroiwa Ruikou in 1902178 (Translator Manipulation 63) Chens
surmise is based on her observation of the phenomenon that many writers and
translators in late-Qing China such as Liang Qichao 梁啟超 (1873minus1929) Bao
177 The original Chinese phrase is 在地化作法 178 The original Chinese text 蘇曼殊於 1903 年所譯的《悲慘世界》亦可能是透過日譯者黑岩
淚香於 1902 年的日譯本《噫無情》轉譯而來
108
Tianxiao 包天笑 (1876minus1973) Wu Jianren 吳趼人 (1866minus1910) Lu Xun and Su
Manshu either had the experience of studying in Japan or had the practice of
translating from Japanese In fact it may well be added that together they reflect the
growing awareness among nationally minded intellectuals and officials of Japans
worth as a model of reform for China as a result of Chinas defeat in the Sino-Japanese
War in 1895 Since Japans modernization is Westernization to a significant extent by
the end of the nineteenth century there had appeared in China some opinions
expressed in favor of learning Western knowledge through Japan specifically through
translating the Japanese versions of Western works The primary reason for Japans
adequacy as a go-between for the introduction of Western learning into China is
unambiguously offered by leading figures such Zhang Zhidong 張之洞 (1837minus1909)
Kang Youwei 康有為 (1858minus1927) and Liang Qichao In his 1898 essay Guangyi
Diwu 廣譯第五179 Zhang expressed that all the important books of learning in the
West have been translated into Japanese If we can make good use of such resources in
Japan we will be able to spare a lot of effort and obtain quick effects Thus Japanese is
very useful180 (85) In 1898 and 1899 respectively Kang and Liang also voiced the
similar opinion that since Japans Meiji 明治 Reformation thirty years before all the
essential books in different fields of knowledge from the West had been translated into
Japanese and were useful resources for China (Kang Qing Kaiju Yi Riben Shu Zhe
254 Qing Guangyi Riben Shu Pai Youxue Zhe 302 Liang 1372)
In addition to the rich repertoire Japan had of Western learning which the three
personages pointed out above the similarities between the Japanese language and
Chinese were another important factor that prompted the Chinese thinkers to argue for
rendering from Japanese versions rather than from their Western originals Kang
believed that Japans employment of Chinese characters which constituted eighty
percent of a typical Japanese text made it convenient for Chinese translators to render
from Japanese (Qing Guangyi Riben Shu Pai Youxue Zhe 302 Jincheng Riben
Mingzhi Bianzheng Kao Zhe 223) Zhang also advocated the practice of rendering
from Japanese Though he did not expressly point it out the message of the likeness
between Chinese and Japanese was implied when Zhang said that learning the
179 Literally Part V Promotion of Translation 180 The original Chinese text 各種西學書之要者日本皆已譯之我取徑於東洋力省效速
則東文之用多
109
Japanese language was more efficient than learning Western languages and that
translating from Japanese is better than translating from Western languages (86)
To sum up Zhang Kang and Liang are among the first in the Chinese to awaken
to Japans shifting role as yesterdays foe but todays model181 to China (Xiong 638)
While Zhang and Kang both high-ranking government officials of the Qing Dynasty
represent the awakening among the authorities in the center of power to the important
part played by Japanese in Chinas process of enlightenment Liang Qichao a thinker
and political activist registers the same realization in the Chinese intelligentsia Their
pleas to capitalize on Japans rich resources of Western learning seem to have worked
wonders judging from the abundant translations from Japanese that sprang up in China
in the last years of the Qing Dynasty Xiong Yuezhis 熊月之 rough statistics show
that during the fifteen years from 1896 to 1911 China produced at least 1014
translations from Japanese books a figure which not only far exceeds the sum total of
the Chinese translations from Western languages over the fifty years prior to 1896 but
also dominantly surpasses the number of Chinese translations from Western languages
that appeared during the same fifteen years182 (640) From the illustrations offered so
far it is without doubt that during the years after the Sino-Japanese War the trend in
China toward translating from Japanese was growing ever more prevalent Done in
1903 can Su Manshus Chinese text of Les Miseacuterables be also translated from
Japanese under the Japanizing climate of the time Chen Hung-shus conjecture
seems plausible
Chens plausibility becomes even more alluring if we look at some facts about the
specific Japanese version of Les Miseacuterables she mentioned Kuroiwa Ruikous 黒岩淚
香 Aamujou 噫無情 This famous rendition was published serially from October 8
1902 to August 22 1903 in 150 installments in Yorozu Chouhou 萬朝報 Significantly
enough the said period of Aamujous serialization in the newspaper also concurred
with Su Manshus stay in Japan After studying for five years in the eastern island
nation Su left Japan embarking on a mail liner called Hakuaimaru 博愛丸 from the
port city of Yokohama 橫濱 and returned to Shanghai 上海 in early September
1903 The time required for the sea voyage between Yokohama and Shanghai can be 181 The original Chinese phrase is 昨天的敵人今天的榜樣 182 The original Chinese text 據不完全統計從 1896 年至 1911 年15 年間中國翻譯日文
書籍至少 1014 種這個數字遠遠超過此前半個世紀中國翻譯西文書籍數字的總和也大大超過
同時期中國翻譯西文書籍的數字
110
estimated at less than ten days an estimate based on the experience of a group of
Chinese students studying medicine in Japan who also started their home-bound trip
from Yokohama by taking Hakuaimaru on November 19 and arrived in Shanghai on
November 26 to perform their rescue action (Chi Zihua 27)183 This rough calculation
allows me to draw the conclusion that to reach Shanghai in early September Su must
have left Japan at the end of August 1903 that is well after the serialized publishing
of Aamujou was completed In other words Sus sojourn in Japan witnessed the
gradual unfolding of a Japanese Les Miseacuterables on the Japanese newspaper Greatly
interested in arts and literatures of the world Su cannot have ignored the fame of
Kuroiwa and Hugo in Japan nor can he have missed the event of the Japanese
translation of one of Hugos major works The appearance of Sus own rendition of the
same novel in just a little more than a month after his return to China and notably on
the anniversay of the initiation of Kuroiwas serial seems to point to the probability
that Sus translation was inspired by Japanese versions and that particularly by
Kuroiwas From the above discussions Chen Hung-shus supposition about the likely
source of Sus translation is reasonably convincing
Compared with Chens surmise Liu Wu-chi 柳無忌 offers a wider range of
probability speculating that Sus Chinese rendering of Les Miseacuterables is probably
from English or Japanese considering his language skills at the time (34) In other
words Liu includes Japanese and English but rules out French in his guess based on
Su Manshus linguistic skills at the time of the translation This draws us to the
attention that at the debut of Can Shehui in Guomin Riribao in 1903 Su was only
nineteen years old184 Up until this point in time Sus English education starting at the
age of twelve had continued though intermittently for seven years and his Japanese
ability acquired in the first five years of his birth and stopped with his return to China
at the age of five was improved considerably during his study in Japan from ages
fourteen to nineteen With almost seven years of English training and nearly ten years
of Japanese education plus the generally agreed-upon opinion that he possesses a
183 Lu Xuns navigation between China and Japan is also a piece of supporting evidence though his trip is in the reverse direction In 1902 he left Nanjing 南京 on a steamship on March 24 passing by Shanghai on the way and arrived at Yokohama on April 4 (Bao and Qiu 33) 184 Throughout this dissertation Su Manshus age is counted in our modern sense which makes him nineteen years old in 1903 (he was born in 1884) as opposed to the ancient Chinese way of counting age adopted by most biographies on Su Manshu which makes him one year old as soon as he was born Hence our way of talking about Sus age will make him one year younger than what is recorded in most biographical material about him
111
special gift for language Sus linguistic capacity for rendering from Japanese and
English is unquestionable at the age of nineteen The persuasiveness of Sus probable
adoption of a Japanese source for translation having been argued before now Liu
Wu-chi reminds us of another equally likely source of language worth considering
English
The likelihood of English is also pointed out in a recent study by Wang Xiaoyuan
王曉元 Exploring the various critical speculations on Sus levels of proficiency in the
languages he was capable of Wang also narrows down the possibilities to Japanese
and English but he takes one step forward to conclude that English is the most likely
medium through which Su did his Chinese rendition because Chen Guochuans 陳國
權 reply confirmed and forwarded by Luo Xiaomings 羅孝明 to Liu Yazis 柳亞子
question about Sus command of Japanese bears out the fact that Sus grasp of the
Japanese language falls only on the basic level of daily conversation (Wang Xiaoyuan
126-128 Liu Yazi Su Manshu Yanjiu de Sange Jieduan 21)
Indeed aside from Sus English capability the easy availability of English
versions of Western works serves to substantiate Liu Wu-chis postulation The extant
Maruzen 丸善 bookstore was founded in Yokohama in 1869 and dealt extensively in
cheap American editions of literary works (Law and Morita 117-19) which were the
typical sources of translation adopted by Kuroiwa Ruikou (Law and Morita 120) With
numerous cheap English reprints of Western literatures accessible in Yokohama where
Su Manshu spent the majority of his time in his five-year study abroad Su may have
obtained some copies probably including an English version of Les Miseacuterables Thus
it is also likely that Su consulted English for translation of the French novel
Liu Yazi father of Liu Wu-chi holds a different viewpoint from his son and
believes that Su Manshu worked his translation from French Sus French was studied
around the time of his stay in Japan so he was able to translate Hugos novel at the
early age of twenty [nineteen] while he was in Shanghai (The subjects of fine arts and
politics both have a great deal to do with French so he must have had access to French
at Ueno 上野 [fine arts school] and Waseda 早稻田 [university])185 (Su Heshang
Zatan 208) Since Liu Yazi was a close friend of Su Manshu and the most important
contributor to the first compilation of Sus complete works his opinion cannot be
185 The original Chinese text 法文大約是在日本時所讀所以二十歲在上海已能譯囂俄小
說(美術與政治都和法文有重大的關係故上野及早稻田必均有法文可讀)
112
ignored but should be taken into serious consideration
Ding Fu-sheng 丁富生 besides confirming Sus Japanese and English abilities
cites some evidence to demonstrate how high-level Sus French calibre is (67) and
then argues that Su could translate from any of the three languages without difficulty
though there is no knowing which one is his source For lack of related literature we
cannot be sure which language version is the master copy of Su Manshus Chinese Les
Miseacuterables Whether it is the Japanese English or French version Su had the
linguistic skills required for its translation186 (67) Dings argument functions to sum
up the probabilities we are facing about the source language on which Su based his
Chinese translation
Since Japanese English and French are all possible sources for Su Manshus
translation and the reasons offered by supporters for each language are all very
convincing the present study has to resort to textual material for more substantial clues
In the search for an origin here this dissertation seeks to juxtapose Sus text with
versions in Japanese English and French to sort out their relationships Here comes
the question of which texts in these languages are supposed to be the right candidates
for intertextual comparison Evidently to put Sus translation side by side with all the
Japanese and English versions that precede it in time together with the French original
would be spatially uneconomical and too distracting for the comparison to be
presented clearly A more feasible approach is to break the screening process into two
stages The first stage features intralingual screening by which this thesis filters out
impossible candidate texts in each single language leaving only the most probable
one(s) for further comparison in the second stage an interlingual comparison is
conducted where the chosen versions in the four languages (French English Japanese
and Chinese) are set against each other for closer comparative scrutiny The two-staged
screening enables the present study to focus on the most probable texts which might
inspire Sus translation
In the next few sections possible versions in the four languages will be discussed
the most probable one(s) in each language will be singled out and then further
intertextual comparison between the selected texts will be conducted A note should be
given first about the French language sources Besides the complete text of the original
186 The original Chinese text 《慘世界》的翻譯是根據何種語言版本由於缺乏文獻資料
我們已無法認定helliphellip不管是日文版英文版或法文版《悲慘世界》蘇曼殊都有相應的翻譯的
語言能力
113
French Les Miseacuterables there were also abridged versions in French some of which I
find to be likely sources Because the truncated texts discussed here in my study
happened to be meant primarily for English readers who were interested in learning
French or studying French literature they will be placed together with other English
abridgments for comparison and contrast under the section of English versions This
leaves the French original standing all by itself making the section for French versions
unnecessary Therefore the following divisions will go without a French section
42 Intralingual Screening Probable English Versions
Six possible English versions of Les Miseacuterables which survive my initial
screening are introduced in the First Chapter of the present dissertation they are
translated by Charles E Wilbour (1862) Lascelles Wraxall (1862) Alexander Dimitry
and A F [better known as the Richmond translation] (1863) Isabel F Hapgood (1887)
William Walton et al (1894) and Sara E Wiltse (1897) Also presented in the same
chapter are three abridged French versions which are intended for English readers
they are edited by H C O Huss (1892) F C de Sumichrast (1896) and Douglas
Labaree Buffum (1908) respectively Now a further more specific screening is to be
made among these texts Whether a text is a complete or abridged version it qualifies
for candidateship in my final intextextual comparison if it is released before Sus
translating in 1903 and if it covers Book Two of Volume One of the original story ie
the part treated by Su Manshu in his Chinese rendition In temporal terms Buffums
abridged edition came several years after Sus translation was published so it can be
precluded The other versions enumerated above meet the temporal standard because
they all predated Sus translation Thus it is necessary to examine their content one by
one To be sure the full-length and close translations respectively by Charles E
Wilbour (1862) Isabel F Hapgood (1887) and William Walton et al (1894) are
certainly eligible texts for further intertextual scrutiny
As to the partial translations my research shall begin by inspecting how Wraxall
version (1863) handles the Second Book of Volume One Of the original thirteen
chapters in the Book Wraxall preserves all of them except the Eighth Chapter Since
this particular chapter is also ignored by the Chinese translator Wraxalls text has a full
coverage of the segment presented in the Chinese version and so is qualified for further
cross-textual juxtaposition
The Richmond translation also prunes away the entire Eighth Chapter making its
114
Second Book one chapter less than the original thirteen chapters It is already known
that this deletion is shared by the Chinese translator so it does not deprive the
Richmond version of candidateship for Su Manshus possible source In the twelve
chapters that remain in the Richmonds Book Two some long passages of the original
are found missing For example in Chapter Two of the original there is a description
of a book on Duty which Bishop Myriel was working on This Confederate version by
Professor Dimitry and A F does mention this fact but omits the more detailed recount
of the contents of the book In the same chapter the portrayal of Mademoiselle
Baptistine and Madame Magloire which sets the two figures in sharp contrast is also
obliterated by the translators of the Richmond version Nevertheless these passages
are digressions from the plot and the Chinese translator also turns a blind eye to them
in his plot-oriented rendering Even though the war-time paper shortage resulted in
longer and longer omissions (Moore 246) what was left out is mainly in the latter
volumes of the novel affecting little if any of the front part of the story where Book
Two of the First Volume is situated The Confederate texts complete covering of the
part treated by Su together with the remarkable fact that it is essentially a nearly
identical copy of Wilbours meticulous translation makes it qualify as a another source
worth comparing and contrasting with the Chinese translation
Sara E Wiltses edition a condensed text from Hapgoods full-text translation
coincides with Wraxalls version and the Richmond translation in reducing the thirteen
chapters to twelve in Book Two of the original by leaving out Chapter Eight altogether
This does not nullify its possibility as a source for the Chinese rendition However
within the preserved chapters in the Wiltses excerpt there are some omissions which
are not shared by the Chinese translator Two examples are available here For the
purpose of contrast and illumination Wiltses prototypical text ie Hapgood version
is included in the citations
English (Sara E Wiltse) Chinese (Su Manshu)187
The sweat the heat the journey on foot the dust added I know
not what sordid quality to this dilapidated whole His hair was
closely cut yet bristling for it had begun to grow a little and did
not seem to have been cut for some time
進得城來
神色疲倦大
汗滿臉一見
就知道他一定
187 All the Chinese passages of Can Shijie in this section are quoted from Su Manshus Manshu Dashi Quanji 曼殊大師全集
115
[No one knew him He was evidently only a chance passer-by
Whence came he From the south from the seashore perhaps for
he made his entrance into Dmdash by the same street which seven
months previously had witnessed the passage of the Emperor
Napoleon on his way from Cannes to Paris] This man must have
been walking all day He seemed very much fatigued
(Hapgood I 56 Wiltse 40)
是遠遊的客人
了但是他究
竟從什麼地方
來的呢暫且
不 表 188
(113)
A preliminary note is to be made The bracketed text in Wiltses quote is present in
Hapgoods version but deleted by Wiltse in her excerpted edition The removed
sentences include the speculation on where the stranger came from and the allusive
mention of Napoleons previous route of journey The Chinese text here shows a rather
different depiction an instance of the translators inventive retelling of the original
story What is remarkable here is that Sus text contains the interrogative 但是他究竟
從什麼地方來的呢189 which brings to mind the corresponding question Whence
came he in Hapgoods unabridged rendition Contrastively Wiltses condensed text
does not raise any similar question This suggests that Sus translation is not based on
Wiltses truncated version Indeed a closer examination on the texts concerned
displays other proofs against the lineage between Wiltse and Su A decisive piece of
evidence is available in the following passage
English (Sara E Wiltse) Chinese (Su Manshu)
One of the men seated at the table however was
a fishmonger who [ before entering the public
house of the Rue de Chaffaut] had been to stable
his horse at Labarres It chanced that he had that
very morning encountered this unprepossessing
stranger on the road [between Bras dAsse andmdashI
have forgotten the name I think it was
Escoublon] Now when he met him the man
who then seemed already extremely weary had
requested him to take him on his crupper to
helliphellip同坐的有一位漁夫自從
這日早晨就在路上遇過華賤
一次待到華賤在苦巴館被逼
的時候他在馬房裡繫馬隨
後他也就來到這盧茶福店裡
卻又看見華賤來了不覺吃了
一驚尋思道「我卻忘記在什
麼地方遇過這古怪的東西莫
非是在愛士可弗論麼不料現
188 In town he looked very fatigued and was sweating all over his face A mere glance enabled one to know that he must have travelled here from far away But where did he come from Lets drop this subject for the time being 189 But where did he come from
116
which the fishmonger had made no reply except
by redoubling his gait This fishmonger had been
a member half an hour previously of the group
which surrounded Jacquin Labarre and had
himself related his disagreeable encounter of the
morning to the people at the Cross of Colbas
From where he sat he made an imperceptible sign
to the tavern-keeper The tavern-keeper went to
him They exchanged a few words in a low tone
The man had again become absorbed in his
reflections (Hapgood I 60-61 Wiltse 45-46)
在又碰著他看他這種疲倦的
神氣好不討人厭」想著
便兇狠狠地對華賤渾身上下打
量了一回又令華賤坐在他背
後自己急忙立起身來逕自
開門去了不多一會便急回
來將華賤的來歷一一告訴
了這客寓裡管事的還低聲說
了些別的話190 (117)
Here again the bracketed texts present in Hapgoods original translation are deleted
in Wiltses bowdlerization Although there are some differences in description between
Sus text and the two English versions what is noteworthy here is that the place name
Escoublon which is erased in Wiltses edition is treated in the Chinese as 愛士可
弗論 a phonetic transliteration of Escoublon If Su Manshu had modeled his
translation on the Wiltse extract he could not have come up with such a proper name
on his own Therefore Wiltses version can be excluded from consideration in the
present quest for the source of Su Manshus Chinese translation
The English versions having all been addressed it is time now to examine the two
English-reader-oriented French shortened texts H C O Husss version excerpts only
Book Two of Volume One of the French novel which is the exact same part that is
selected by Su Manshu for his Chinese manipulative translation Thus Husss text is
also eligible for further consideration However since its text is identical to Hugos
original my subsequent intertextual juxtapositions will present Hugos text as
representative of Husss content
F C de Sumichrasts version presents the Second Book of Volume One in a
bowdlerized form just like what Su Manshu does with his rendition but the two are
190 Also in the tavern was a fisherman who had encountered Jean Valjean on the road that morning When Jean Valjean was declined by the host at La Croix de Colbas the fisherman was there in the stable putting up his horse Then he came to the tavern in the Rue de Chaffaut and was surprised to find Jean Valjean also arriving He thought to himself I forget where I came across this weird guy Can it be Escoublon What a coincidence to see him here again His look of weariness in pride is really repulsive At the same time he looked him from head to toe in an unfriendly manner and turning his back on him stood up in a hurry and went out the door Not long after he returned and revealed Jean Valjeans background to the host of the inn He also said some other things in a low voice
117
shortened in different ways Unlike the chapter-faithful arrangement in the condensed
version in French the fourteen chapters in Sus translation do not follow the original
chapter division though the order of plot narrated by the French author is generally
preserved in the Chinese text In terms of the detailedness with which they present the
original plot in this particular book the two versions vary with different parts of the
story At some sections the Sumichrast condensation offers more details to the plot
than Sus translation For example the description of Jean Valjeans appearance in the
town of Digne includes the following account in the excerpted version in French
English (F C de Sumichrast) Chinese (Su Manshu)
Personne ne le connaissait Ce neacutetait eacutevidemment
quun passant Dougrave venait-il Du midi Des bords de la
mer peut-ecirctre Car il faisait son entreacutee dans Digne par la
mecircme rue qui sept mois auparavant avait vu passer
lempereur Napoleacuteon allant de Cannes agrave Paris Cet
homme avait ducirc marcher tout le jour Il paraissait tregraves
fatigueacute191 (18)
進 得 城 來 神 色 疲
倦大汗滿臉一見就
知道他一定是遠遊的客
人了但是他究竟從什
麼地方來的呢暫且不
表192 (113)
A comparison between the two versions reveals that the French text contains more
details than the Chinese Some narrative differences aside the Chinese text does not
mention the Napoleon part which the French text does Notwithstanding the
larger-scale abridgment in some parts of the Chinese text does not preclude the
possibility that they may have been trimmed from those in the Sumichrast extract
What invalidates the possibility is found in reverse situations where Sumichrasts text
omits more than Sus version In the following paragraphs evidence will be offered in
this regard
Besides the parts where the Chinese text is more condensed than the French Sus
rendition sometimes covers more of the original plot than Sumichrasts excerpt For
instance Chapter Four of the original book narrates the table chitchat between Jean
Valjean and the bishop about the formers destination and the latters past experience
there While Sus Sixth Chapter touches upon quite some part of the particular plot in
191 No one knew him He was evidently only a chance passer-by Whence came he From the south from the seashore perhaps for he made his entrance into Dmdash by the same street which seven months previously had witnessed the passage of the Emperor Napoleon on his way from Cannes to Paris This man must have been walking all day He seemed very much fatigued (Hapgood I 56) 192 In town he looked very fatigued and was sweating all over his face A mere glance enabled one to know that he must have travelled here from far away But where did he come from Lets drop this subject for the time being
118
the original chapter Sumichrasts text omits the entire chapter leaving only the chapter
title Deacutetails sur les fromageries de Pontarlier193 In addition the Sixth Chapter in the
French original relates Jean Valjeans background his theft his imprisonment his
escape attempts and his lengthening of jail terms The Sumichrast edition summarizes
the entire passage in brackets and combines it with the next chapter which reflects on
Jean Valjeans misdeeds and societys evils The succinct summary reduces the long
chapter to a few bracketed sentences
[Jean Valjean agrave vingt-neuf ans a voleacute un pain pour donner agrave manager
aux enfants de sa soeur Arrecircteacute et reconnu coupable il est condamneacute au
bagne Envoyeacute agrave Toulon il y devient le numeacutero 24601 Quatre tentatives
deacutevasion eacutechouent et entraicircnent chaque fois un prolongement de la peine
agrave subir Entreacute au bagne en 1796 il est libeacutereacute en 1815]194 (Sumichrast 33)
Compared with the succinctness of the Sumichrast summary Su Manshus version in
the counterpart section presents a lot more detailed account of the plot Each event
mentioned in the above summary is elaborated and developed more fully in Chapters
Seven Eight and Thirteen in Sus textual arrangement For example how the
protagonist made a living by doing odd jobs and how much he earned prior to his act
of theft are depicted unsparingly by Su but completely scissored by Sumichrast
An even more seriously truncated section in the Sumichrast text involves chapters
eight to eleven The four chapters are summed up in one single sentence in the French
abridgment Jean Valjean se reacuteveille vole largenterie de leacutevecircque et senfuit195
(Sumichrast 36) In contrast the Chinese translator treats the said section with much
more elaboration The process of silverware-pilfering and the heros inner struggles
during the act are given reasonable development in the Chinese rendition The
examples given above which demonstrate the Chinese texts treatment of some part of
plot found absent in the Sumichrast version prove that this French-language extract of
Les Miseacuterables cannot have been the source of Sus Chinese translation
So far in the previous discussion of several English and French versions of Les
Miseacuterables some texts have been marked impossible as the source of Su Manshus
193 Some Account of the Dairies of Pontarlier The English translation of the chapter title follows Charles E Wilbours 1862 translation of Les Miseacuterables 194 [At the age of twenty-nine Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread in order to feed his sisters children Arrested and found guilty he was committed to prison After he was sent to Toulon he became Number 24601 there Four escape attempts failed and each entailed a lengthening of his suffering in prison He entered the jailhouse in 1796 and was released in 1815] 195 Jean Valjean woke up stole the bishops silverware and ran away
119
Chinese translation What are left for further examination besides the original French
text are Charles E Wilbours 1862 American version Lascelles Wraxalls 1862
British edition the 1863 Confederate translation at Richmond Isabel F Hapgoods
1887 text in English William Walton et als 1894 joint rendition and Husss 1892
French abridgment Of the six possibilities the 1892 French text is a duplicate extract
from the original French novel ie without altering a word so it will be treated as one
with the French original in the subsequent intertextual comparisons This leaves us
with five English versions eligible for further interlingual comparison with other
language versions
43 Intralingual Screening Probable Japanese Sources
In the last decades of the nineteenth century when Hugo began to capture the
imagination of the Japanese literati Les Miseacuterables was commonly known as Aishi196
哀史 in the literary circles in Japan197 and some fragments of Les Miseacuterables were
rendered into Japanese However none of the Japanese translations did bear the
heading of Aishi or レミゼラブル (the phonetic transliteration of the original
French title) as it later came to be known Rather they were usually retitled according
to the episodes chosen for rendition such as Hara Houitsuans 原抱一庵 ABC
Kumiai ABC 組合198 and Jean Valjean ジャンバルジャン In other words Aishi
is a Japanese proper name rather than the title of a version of translation in Japanese
for the original French novel199 The appearance of Kuroiwa Ruikous 黒岩淚香
relatively more complete rendition from 1902 on gave the story a new Japanese title as
Aamujou 噫無情
According to the renowned Japanese literary scholar and translator Yanagida
Izumi 柳田泉 Hugos works were not introduced to the literary circles of Japan until
after 1883 though his fame had reached Japan several years before (qtd in Kudo
196 Literally A Miserable History 197 For example in his preface to Fantine no Moto in 1888 Morita Shiken 森田思軒 referred to Les Miseacuterables as Aishi (Fantine no Moto 44) In 1892 Hara Houitsuan 原抱一庵 also mentioned Aishi as the original of his excerpted translation about the story of Jean Valjean (Jean Valjean 379) 198 Literally ABC Society 199 Probably following Japans example China also witnessed the use of Aishi for Les Miseacuterables For example in response to Liu Yazi Chen Duxiu says Su Manshus Can Shijie was translated from Hugos Aishi (Liu Yazi Ji Chen Zhongfu Xiansheng guanyu Su Manshu de Tanhua 283) Notice here that the Chinese and Japanese languages share the same characters 哀史 and the same romanization Aishi with different pronunciations
120
Cong Benshijichu Xiou Wenxue de Yijie Kan Dangshi de Zhongri Wenxue Jiaoliu
55) However Hugo became all the rage in the late nineteenth century and the early
twentieth century in Japan and Japanese translations of Hugo grew significantly in
number during this period As Kudo Takamasa 工藤貴正 points out Hugo and Jules
Verne (1828-1905) were two highly translated writers during the Meiji reign and from
1884 to 1906 there were 30 translations of Hugo and 41 renditions of Verne (Lu Xun
Zaoqi Sanbu Yizuo de Fanyi Yitu 38) In another essay Kudo modifies his statistics
and states that during the said period Hugos Japanese translations were numbered at
31 including those published independently and those initially serialized in
newspapers or magazines (Cong Benshijichu Xiou Wenxue de Yijie Kan Dangshi de
Zhongri Wenxue Jiaoliu 55)
From the information provided by Kudo can be known that before Su Manshus
Chinese Les Miseacuterables was published in 1903 Japan had witnessed quite a few
translations of Hugos works starting from 1884 It is therefore crucial to inquire how
many of them were rendered from Les Miseacuterables during the twenty years of Hugos
growing popularity on Japans literary stage In this respect the collected material
published by the Ozorasha 大空社 Bookstore turns out to be of enormous help
Edited by Kawato Michiaki 川戸道昭 and Sakakibara Takanori 榊原貴教 the
collection presents many important Japanese translations of Hugos works during the
Meiji era A chronology enclosed as appendix to this compilation lists Hugos works in
Japanese translation from 1884 to 1909 including independent publications and
serialized ones The period covered in the listed table coincides with the time when
what is known as the Hugo craze happened in Japan More importantly this list
offers a vital clue to the possible Japanese sources for Sus Chinese translationmdashthat is
if he translated from Japanese From the table can be gathered that the illustriousness
of Les Miseacuterables did not escape the Japanese literary circles which produced quite a
few translations based on the novel though there were as yet no complete Japanese
renderings of the French novel After screening out those translations which came later
than Su Manshus and those which treat different parts of the French story the present
study has three texts emerging as possible sources for Su Hara Houitsuans Jean
Valjean ジャンバルジャン and Mizu Mei Hen 「水冥」篇200 and Kuroiwa
Ruikous Aamujou
200 Literally Waters and Shadow Chapter
121
Mizu Mei Hen is translated from Chapter Eight of the Second Book in Volume
One of the French novel the part which is omitted in Su Manshus Chinese translation
and Jean Valjean embraces the whole content of Mizu Mei Hen Hence the
Japanese chapter of waters and shadow has nothing to do with the Chinese rendition
so it can be ruled out first
Jean Valjean covers Chapters One Six Seven and Eight of Book Two in
Volume One of the French novel Significant is the fact that Hara changes the
flashback fashion of the original narration to one in chronological order The flashback
part in the original from Chapters Six to Eight which relates what happened before
Jean Valjeans release from prison is presented first by the translator with some
portion of the Seventh Chapter and the entire Ninth Chapter skipped After finishing
the Eighth Chapter the translator returns to the beginning chapter of the book about
Jean Valjeans appearance in Digne This way the story is recounted chronologically in
the Japanese translation However as the first chapter ends with the kind womans
advice to the stranger to try knocking on the bishops door the Japanese narration does
not go on to Chapter Two but jumps beyond Book Two of the novel back to the
previous book excerpting first a passage from Chapter Four of the First Book and then
another passage from the Second Chapter of the same book In other words Haras
translation leaves untreated Chapters Two to Five and Nine to Thirteen of Book Two
totally nine out of thirteen chapters in the French novelmdasha large-scale omission
unshared by the Chinese text
The mere fact that Su Manshus Chinese translation includes some chapters of the
original story which are absent in Haras version is evidence enough to show that
Haras text is not likely to be Sus source of inspiration To be more precise of the nine
chapters left out of rendition by Hara as many as eight chaptersmdashChapters Two to
Five and Ten to Thirteenmdashconstitute the principle axis of the story line and are
seriously treated by Su Manshu in his translation Besides the chronological order of
narration in Haras text is quite distinct from the technique of flashback adopted in Sus
text This structural discrepancy also suggests the same conclusion Finally my
judgment is further strengthened by some textual proofs in the passages that are
handled by both translators Suffice it to exhibit here just one salient example of such
evidence The innkeeper of La Croix de Colbas is named Jacquin in the original story
However the Japanese text does not translate the name but simply refers to the keeper
122
of the inn as 客舍は た ご や
の主人あ る じ
201 (Hara 395) In the Chinese text by contrast the
tavern-keeper is specifically called 紮昆202 apparently a phonetic transcription of
Jacquin in the source (Su Manshu Dashi Quanji 114) Su cannot have translated
from Haras Japanese version if the Japanese text offers no information whatsoever of
the innkeepers name Therefore structurally or textually Haras Jean Valjean is by
no means Sus source of rendition
After exclusion of Haras versions the only Japanese translation left for
consideration is Aamujou by Kuroiwa Ruikou known as a prolific writer and translator
in Meiji Japan The longest Japanese version of Les Miseacuterables so far at the time
Aamujou was serialized in 150 installments from October 8 1902 to August 22 1903
in Yorozu Chouhou 萬朝報 In 1906 the translation was published separately in book
form by Husoudou 扶桑堂 with a total of 152 chapters in two volumes the first 78
chapters in Volume One and the other chapters in the Second Volume The reprinted
book version rather than the newspaper serials is adopted when its content is referred
to or cited in the present dissertation Kuroiwas practice of free translation in the
manner of story-retelling is shared by Su Manshu This easily arouses the curiosity as
to whether Sus unrestrained translation was a result of translating from the Japanese
text Besides the previously mentioned fact that both versions begin the story from
Book Two of Volume One of the original adds to the suspicion that they are strongly
related Finally the part of plot selected by Su for rendition is also covered by the
Japanese version in Kuroiwas Chapters One to Eleven All these observations
together with the circumstantial judgment made in Section 41 of the present chapter
justify the inclusion of Kuroiwas version for further comparison and contrast with
versions in other languages
44 Intralingual Screening Versions of Su Manshus Can Shehui
As has been mentioned at the beginning of the present chapter there are two
versions of Su Manshus Chinese Les Miseacuterables the uncompleted eleven-chaptered
newspaper serial of Can Shehui and the expanded fourteen-chaptered reprint of Can
Shijie Since the authorship of the three-odd additional chapters in Can Shijie has
remained an unsettled question my source-tracing of Su Manshus rendition here is
201 Literally host of the inn 202 Romanized as Zhakun in the Pinyin system
123
targeted on Can Shehui only The original text that appeared on Guomin Riribao is
preferred to the first eleven chapters of the later enlarged reprint for it was subjected
to relatively fewer redactions and transformations and would thus betray
comparatively more clues to its ancestry However a fatal disadvantage in employing
Can Shehui for further juxtapositions and comparisons is that no complete copy of it
can be found so far as has been pointed out by Chen Wanxiong 陳萬雄 (Chen 10 qtd
in Wang Xiaoyuan 王曉元 125) The majority of the original serialized version on the
newspaper has been lost and so far it cannot be retrieved in full What is accessible
now about the newspaper version consists of the part serialized from October 8 to
October 18 1903 only which presents Chapters One and Two and an unfinished
Chapter Three This means that as many as eight chapters of the newspaper version are
missing Consequently for the full content of the first eleven chapters of Can Shehui
the present thesis cannot but rely on the version of Can Shijie Then ensues the
question of how different the two versions are from each other as far as the first eleven
chapters are concerned In this regard the question can be boiled down to two aspects
characterization and verbal style
In his Can Shehui yu Can Shijie Liu Yazi elaborates on the distinctions
between the two versions in characterization According to his observation aside from
some minor differences such as the shift of the protagonists name from 華賤203 in
Can Shehui to 金華賤204 in Can Shijie and the conversion of Myriels title from 和
尚205 in Can Shehui to 孟主教206 in Can Shijie the major disparity between the
two texts consists in the characterization of Myriel in Can Shehui he is portrayed as a
hypocritical and avaricious monk quite unlike the figure in Hugos original story but
in Can Shijie he is changed back to Hugos benevolent and charitable clergyman
though the editor did not see to it that all the necessary textual adjustments were made
in accordance with his intended characterization resulting in inconsistency in the
portrayal of the bishops character in Can Shijie (Liu Yazi Can Shehui yu Can Shijie
423-30) The reasons for this intentional transformation are not my concern here What
is at issue is that the distortion of the religious character done purposely and creatively
by Su Manshu will not affect the results of my source-tracing for its juxtaposition
203 A transliteration of Valjean 204 A transliteratiion of Jean Valjean 205 Monk 206 Bishop Mong Mong being a transliteration derived partly from the name Myriel
124
with other interlingual versions would surely betray or even underscore the fact that it
belongs to the translators concoction a deviation from Hugos original as well as all
the other versions which unanimously depict the bishop as a positive figure instead of
the negative one under Su Manshus hand Similarly comparison of the inconsistent
character of Bishop Myriel in Can Shijie with other versions of different languages
would also evoke an awareness on my part that the inconsistency is due to translatorial
or editorial revisions rather than to strict adherence to its foreign model and so my
source-tracing would not be misled by this discrepancy Therefore as far as
characterization is concerned to use the text of Can Shijie in place of Can Shehui will
not cause any problem to my tracing of the source of Sus Chinese rendition
In terms of verbal style it is known that when the newspaper version was later
separately reprinted with an expanded content not only had the final three-odd
chapters been appended but the first eleven chapters had also undergone some editing
What concerns me here is whether the later revision drifts too far apart from its
predecessor to direct my interlingual comparison straight In other words if the editing
and revising in Can Shijie is done on a large scale with major changes making the two
versions significantly distinct then we cannot rely on just the offprinted text but have
to cross-examine both versions when we are trying to track down their sources On the
contrary if no remarkable disparities are found between them the fourteen-chaptered
version will be adopted for further comparison
The question still remains that we have only less than the first three chapters of
Can Shehui at hand and that the examination of the editorial shifts from Can Shehui to
Can Shijie in the first eleven chapters will be limited to the initial two-odd chapters
only Precisely speaking the text from the second paragraph of Chapter Seven to the
middle of Chapter Thirteen in Can Shijie constitutes the digression which is not based
on the French story but is made up by the Chinese translator Since the digressive part
has little if any to do with translation its irrelevant text will not be used for the
intertextually comparative analyses in my study Thus what concerns my
source-tracing lies actually in the first six chapters plus the first paragraph of the
Seventh Chapter The less than three initial chapters available to us occupy about half
of the text in the first six-odd chapters for Chapters Three to Six are short chapters
compared with the first two chapters which are considerably longer In order to
continue with the research the present thesis has to infer the general editorial patterns
from the limited resources that can be obtained Hence in what follows the texts from
125
Chapter One to middle Chapter Three in Can Shehui and Can Shijie will be compared
to see what transformations result from the editorial process It is presumed that the
editorial patterns derived from the first half of the six-odd-chaptered text also apply to
the other half which is missing
Through textual comparison the present study is able to identify different types of
editing as Can Shehui morphed into Can Shijie Numerous as they are the textual
revisions are mostly done on the minor phrasal level without resulting in any
significant semantic shift or any change in the plot except for the prominent
characterization of Myriel That is the contents of the two versions are basically the
same so the revisions are insignificant and can be ignored making the first eleven
chapters of Can Shijie qualify both as a replacement for Can Shehui and as a candidate
for further comparison In what follows demonstrations will be made to this effect
Formal differences such as paragraphing and punctuating being insubstantial are
excluded from my comparative analysis
The results of my comparison show different types of alterations done by the
editor For analytical convenience the cited passages that follow will be arranged in
tabular juxtaposition Revisions of a similar type are put in the same table and each
specific example is tagged with a number for later reference
In the first place some of the colloquial expressions in Can Shehui are rephrased
to become more formally written ones in Can Shijie Here are some examples
no Can Shehui207 Can Shijie208
1 此人年紀約四十六七歲身子不
高不矮helliphellip209 (341)
此人年紀約莫四十六七歲身量不
高不矮helliphellip210 (113)
2 他helliphellip就和和氣氣的脫下帽子向
那坐在門旁的憲兵行禮211 (340)
他helliphellip就和顏悅色的脫下帽子向那
坐在門旁的憲兵行禮212 (113)
3 歇息了一會兒又將背上的行李放 歇息片時又將背上的行李放下當
207 All the passages of Can Shehui are quoted from Wu Xiangxiangs 吳相湘 compilation of Guomin Riribao 國民日日報 with added emphases 208 All the passages of Can Shijie in this section are quoted from Su Manshus Manshu Dashi Quanji 曼殊大師全集 with added emphases 209 This man was about forty-six or forty-seven years old with a medium stature 210 Ibid 211 He took of his cap gently and saluted the gendarme who was sitting at the entrance 212 Ibid 213 He rested for a while and then put down the knapsack which he used as a pillow
126
下當做枕頭213 (421) 做枕頭214 (120)
In the above instances 約莫215 is synonymous with 約 so is 身量216 with 身
子 和顏悅色217 with 和和氣氣 and 片時218 with 一會兒 In each pair of
synonyms the rephrasing is directed toward a more formal style to replace the original
colloquialism However changes of this kind do not alter the textual meaning at all
There are also some editorial modifications that show personal preference in
diction without transforming the meaning or style of the earlier version Consider the
following passages
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
4 客人重復把大皮袋收在懷裡氣忿忿的
拿 著 行 李 用 力 放 在 門 邊 下 helliphellip219
(341)
此人重復把大皮袋收在懷裡氣
忿忿的拿著行李用力放在門邊
下helliphellip220 (114)
The passages narrate what Jean Valjean did after entering the inn of Cross of Colbas
To refer to Jean Valjean as 客人221 or 此人222 makes no virtual difference here in
the context for they are just narrative variations that can be used interchangeably
Another type of rephrasing consists in making the narration more vivid while
retaining the same sense Compare the usage of different verbs in the following
passages
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
5 忽然間有一管事的人名叫做扎昆
的 跑 將 過 來 在 袋 裡拿一 枝 鉛
筆helliphellip223 (341)
忽然見有一管事的人名叫做扎昆
的跑將過來在袋裡摸出一枝鉛
筆helliphellip224 (114)
The excerpts above delineate how Jacquin Labarre the host of the inn took a pencil
214 Ibid 215 about 216 stature 217 gently 218 for a while 219 The guest again held the big leather bag in his chest under his coat before he sullenly put his knapsack down hard on the ground at the door 220 The man again held the big leather bag in his chest under his coat before he sullenly put his knapsack down hard on the ground at the door 221 the guest 222 this man or the person 223 Suddenly the host of the inn named Jacquin ran over here and took out a pencil from his bag 224 Suddenly the host of the inn named Jacquin ran over here and took out a pencil after fumbling in his bag
127
from his pocket In the two versions the verbs 拿 and 摸出 both bear the meaning
of taking out but the latter sounds more graphic because it conveys an extra sense of
fumbling which is absent in the former This additional message serves only to add
relish to the passage but it does not change its basic semantic value
At some points the editing is targeted on Westernized Chinese in the former
version Here are two examples
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
6 那憲兵也並不還答並且睜開眼晴
留神看了他一看225 (340)
那憲兵也並不還答還睜開著眼
留神看了他一回226 (113)
7 店主人猛然聽得開門的聲音瞥見來
了一個新客人他並不轉眼瞧他一
瞧helliphellip227 (340)
店主人猛然聽得開門的聲音瞥見
來了一個新客人也並不轉眼望他
一下helliphellip228 (114)
The passages of no 6 describe how the gendarme at the gate of the town-hall
responded to Jean Valjeans salute Three verb phrases are used here to illustrate the
response 並不還答229 睜開眼晴230 and 留神看了他一看231 Chinese syntax
does not require any conjunction here so the use of 並且232 in this part of Can
Shehui is redundant Such redundancy is frequently caused by translation or imitation
of the grammatical concept of and but and so on in Western languages (Yu
Kwang-chung 137-38)233 though it is not clear whether Sus application of this style
resulted from his rendition or from his exposure to such writing The replacement of
並且 with 還234 in the revised version erases the awkward foreign construction and
makes the sentence smoother in Chinese reading
The no 7 passages show the indifference of the keeper of the inn to the entrance
225 The gendarme did not respond He just opened his eyes wide and stared attentively at him for a while 226 The gendarme did not respond He simply opened his eyes wide and stared attentively at him for a while 227 At the sound of the door suddenly opening the host of the inn knew it was a new guest from the corner of his eye but he did not bother to turn his head to look at him 228 Ibid 229 did not respond 230 opened his eyes 231 stared attentively at him for a while 232 and 233 The Westernized Chinese was not limited to rendition of Western works but could be found in creative writing in Chinese as more and more Chinese writers were exposed to such a style of writing introduced to Chinese through translation 234 similar to but and even
128
of a guest The three predicates of 猛然聽得開門的聲音235 瞥見來了一個新客
人 236 and 並不轉眼瞧他一瞧237 share the same subject 店主人 238 The
pronoun 他239 in the earlier text is superfluous for pronouns are used very sparingly
usually when absolutely necessary for clarification in Chinese quite unlike the much
wider usage of pronouns in Western languages The new version crosses out the
Westernized 他 and substitutes 也 240 for it rendering the sentence more
traditionally Chinese The two cases of re-sinicization of Westernized construction in
Chinese function to beautify the text rather than modify the sense
The editor sometimes modifies the previous version in consideration of sentence
patterning The following is an example
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
8 只見他helliphellip還沒有走到二百步在
街上泉場裡痛飲了兩次241 (340)
只見他還沒走到二百步便在街上泉
桶裡痛飲了兩次242 (113)
The passage in the earlier version adopts a sentence pattern of 還沒243 and such a
structure is usually coupled with a subsequent conjunction 便 or 就 in Chinese
forming a construction similar to the pattern barely hellip when in English However
the conjunction is missing in the first version so that the sentence reads a little
awkwardly just like how the sentence will sound in English if the word when is
omitted in the barely hellip when structure In the revised passage the addition of 便
to the pattern perfects the structure and renders fluent the Chinese sentence which is
roughly equivalent to the English pattern He had barely walked two hundred steps
when he drank voraciously from the fountains in the street twice Certainly the
perfection of the sentence structure does not affect the content
In addition some syntactic peculiarities found in Can Shehui are corrected in Can
Shijie One example is as follows
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
235 at the sound of the door suddenly opening 236 knew it was a new guest from the corner of his eye 237 did not bother to turn his head to look at him 238 the innkeeper 239 he 240 still or even 241 He had barely walked two hundred steps when he drank voraciously from the fountains in the street twice 242 Ibid 243 barely
129
9 行不多時來到一所客寓門前抬頭
一看上寫到館名苦巴迺太尼算是
這城中有名的一個客寓244 (340)
行不多時來到一所客寓門前抬
頭一看上寫著「苦巴館」迺是太
尼城中有名的一個客寓245 (113)
The earlier text of 迺太尼算是這城中246 contains some misplaced words making
the sentence anomalous in Chinese What was originally meant is obviously 迺算是
這太尼城中247 and the mistake might have occurred during the printing process The
later version not only corrects the anomaly but also turns 迺算是 into 迺是
making the resultant phrase 迺是太尼城中248 sound more certain about the
reputation of the tavern To be sure the correction and revision do not result in
semantic shift in the least
Aside from eccentric expressions the first version of Chinese Les Miseacuterables also
carries some typos which are easily distinguishable A couple of examples are
provided here
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
10 卻說這座太尼城本原來在嶺上
頭也就有有些招風helliphellip249 (341)
卻說這座太尼城原來建在嶺上也
就有些招風helliphellip250 (114)
11 世上人的嘴是狠消薄的那時到不
好看哩251 (381)
世上人的嘴是很輕薄的那時倒不好
看252 (116)
In the no 10 passages an unwanted character 有 somehow slips into the phrase 有
些253 in the first version In the passages of no 11 狠 and 到 are wrong
characters for 很 254 and 倒 255 respectively Of course in both cases the
rectifications in the revised text do not alter the meaning
Since the Chinese version of Les Miseacuterables is rendered in the form of zhanghui
244 Before long he found himself in front of a tavern He turned up his head and saw a sign displaying La Croix de Colbas a famous inn in the town of Digne 245 Ibid 246 literally is Digne can be said to be in the town 247 can be said to be in the town of Digne 248 is in the town of Digne 249 The town of Digne having been built on the mountain range was rather windy 250 Ibid 251 People in the world liked to wag their bitter tongues It would be humiliating to be subjected to them 252 Ibid 253 somewhat 254 very 255 then
130
xiaoshuo 章回小說 some modifications in the revised version are aimed at endowing
the text with more elements of this particular type of novel Let us examine the
following example
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
12 一見就知道他一定是遠遊的客人
了但是他究竟從什麼地方來的
呢256 (340)
一見就知道他一定是遠遊的客人
了但是他究竟從什麼地方來的呢
暫且不表257 (113)
In the earlier passage the narrator puts a question 但是他究竟從什麼地方來的呢258
and goes on with the narrative without answering the question In contrast the revised
text appends a phrase 暫且不表 259 This attached phrase is a set expression
employed typically in a zhanghui novel to keep the interested reader in suspense This
is a technical alteration which strengthens the suspension effect without changing the
semantic content
On certain spots the narrative sequence in the first version is switched around in
the revision The beginning of the Chinese texts offers a salient instance
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
13 卻說一日天色將晚四望無涯一人
隨那寒風落葉一片淒慘的聲音走
進法國太尼城裡這時候乃是西歷一
千八百十五年十月初旬將交冬令
天氣寒冷260 (341)
話說西曆一千八百十五年十月初
旬一日天色將晚四望無涯一
人隨那寒風落葉一片淒慘的聲
音走進法國太尼城裡這時候將
交冬令天氣寒冷261 (113)
The newspaper version starts with an unspecified 一日262 and then provides the
specific day as 西歷一千八百十五年十月初旬263 after introducing the protagonist
256 A mere glance enabled one to know that he must have travelled here from far away But where did he come from 257 A mere glance enabled one to know that he must have travelled here from far away But where did he come from Lets drop this subject for the time being 258 but where did he come from 259 lets drop this subject for the time being 260 It happened that one day at dusk a man walked from the boundless fields into the town of Digne in France accompanied by cold winds fallen leaves and bleak saddening sound It was early October of 1815 on the Western calendar The winter was approaching and the weather was chilly 261 It happened in early October of 1815 on the Western calendar One day at dusk a man walked from the boundless fields into the town of Digne in France accompanied by cold winds fallen leaves and bleak saddening sound Now the winter was approaching and the weather was chilly 262 one day 263 in early October of 1815
131
In the later updated edition the story points out the specific day at the very beginning
and proceeds with narration of the coming event Both kinds of narration are
acceptable in Chinese though each one serves a somewhat different purpose The
different arrangements in narrative order result in slightly different dramatic effects
but the information imparted in the above passages remains the same
Sometimes the old sequence of description is rearranged in the new version not
for the purpose of bringing about different effects as in the previous instance but
because the old narration is not organized enough The following is a case in point
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
14 只見他那時候渴極了有幾個小孩
子跟在他的後面還沒有走到二百
步在街上泉場裡痛飲了兩次264
(340)
只見當時有幾個童子看見是遠來的
生人就跟在他的後面只見他還沒
走到二百步便在街上泉桶裡痛飲了
兩次265 (113)
The above extracts contain three major messages the heros thirst his drinking from a
fountain and his being followed by some children In Can Shehui the narrator first
mentions the heros thirst then adds the information of the protagonists being followed
by some children and then resumes talk about the heros quenching his thirst by
drinking from the fountain after walking for some distance This somewhat rambling
description is rewritten in Can Shijie which narrates several children following the
hero first and then recounts the heros thirst-quenching act The rearranged narration
makes for a more logical flow of descriptive development and the messages conveyed
in the earlier version are not compromised
The editing process also entails some additions like the following examples
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
15 helliphellip管事的人又對著這用人的耳
邊唧唧咕咕的說了一會那用人就
一直跑到衙門裡去了266 (341)
helliphellip並對著那用人的耳邊唧唧咕咕地
說了一會那用人點了點頭便一直
跑到衙門裡去了267 (114)
264 Apparently he was extremely thirty Some children were following in his wake He had barely walked two hundred steps when he drank voraciously from the fountains in the street twice 265 Some children seeing that the stranger must have come from far away were following in his wake He had barely walked two hundred steps when he drank voraciously from the fountains in the street twice 266 The innkeeper whispered something into the servants ear Then the servant ran all the way to the yamen 267 [The innkeeper] whispered something into the servants ear The servant nodded before running out to the yamen
132
16 正想解那衣衫鈕子睡下耳邊忽聽
得一種兇惡聲音268 (421)
正想解衣睡下耳邊忽聽得一種兇惡
聲音呱呱的叫來269 (120)
17 一天到晚跑了好幾十里我實在
不能再走了helliphellip270 (421)
一天到晚跑了幾十里粒米也不曾
吃過我實在不能再走了helliphellip271 (119)
The no 15 passages describe how the host of the inn whispered something in the ears
of a servant who then ran out to the yamen The revised edition adds a phrase to
indicate the servant 點了點頭272 to the host before rushing to the yamen In the no
16 case while the earlier text shows that the protagonist was about to take off his
clothes to sleep when he heard a fierce growling noise the later revision characterizes
the noise by an additional expression of 呱呱的叫來273 In the passages of no 17
the protagonist said to the owner of a house that he had travelled for scores of leagues
from morning till night and that he was too tired to walk on The revised text tries to
underscore the heros energy exhaustion by adding the clause 粒米也不曾吃過274
before the heros articulation of fatigue These additions are evidently made to enhance
the contextual messages and enrich the illustrative flavors The general information of
the passage remains unchanged with these embellishments
Besides additions the editor also makes some reductions two of which can be
cited for illustration
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
18 同坐的有一位漁夫helliphellip急忙立起身來逕
自開門去了275 (381)
話說那漁夫去了不多一會便急回來將
同坐的有一位漁夫helliphellip急忙
立起身來逕自開門去了不
多一會便急回來將華賤的
268 He was just about to unbutton his coat before sleep when he heard a ferocious sound 269 He was just about to unbutton his coat before sleep when he heard a ferocious sound bowwowing nearer and nearer 270 I have covered scores of leagues on foot from morning till evening and I simply cant walk on 271 I have covered scores of leagues on foot from morning till evening without even eating a grain of rice and I simply cant walk on 272 nodded 273 bowwowing nearer and nearer 274 without even eating a grain of rice 275 Also in the tavern was a fisherman who stood up in a hurry and went out the door 276 It so happened that not long after he left the fisherman hastened back and revealed Jean Valjeans background to the host of the inn
133
華賤的來歷一一告訴了這客寓裡管事
的helliphellip276 (401)
來歷一一告訴了這客寓裡管
事的helliphellip277 (117)
19 卻說這太尼城因為一千八百十五年有宗
教的戰爭所以到了現在環城四面還有
圍牆278 (441)
卻說這太尼城因為以前經過
兵亂所以到了現在環城四
面還有圍牆279 (121)
The no 18 instance reveals an intriguing phenomenon caused by the distinction
between serializing and separate printing The excerpts narrate how a fisherman
walked out the door upon seeing Jean Valjean and returned with information of Jeans
background which he disclosed to the innkeeper Probably because of space limitation
the newspaper version breaks the passage in two so that they appear in different
editions of the paper but the division of text does not make the fragments fall into
different chapters of the novel The October 12 1903 edition ends with 逕自開門去
了280 and the October 14 edition continues with an inaugural clause 話說那漁夫去
了不多一會281 which is intended to help the reader pick up the threads of the story
in the last issue Hence the introductory phrase is necessitated by serialization
However no consideration of this kind is necessary when the story is printed whole in
a volume particularly when the broken parts constitute a cohesive chain of action
Therefore it comes as no surprise that by leaving out the introductory sentence the
later revision manages to describe the series of the fishermans movement sequentially
and in a tightly packed manner Again this adjustment does not alter the semantics of
the passage
Case no 19 traces the walling of Digne to the religious wars of 1815 The specific
mention of 一千八百十五年有宗教的戰爭282 in the earlier text is simplified to
become 以前經過兵亂283 in the later revision The simplification may be ascribed
to the editors consideration that religious warfare unknown in Chinese history is next
to unthinkable to Chinese readers Whether this conjecture is valid or not the loss of
information in the new version is relatively minor and the main message of war is 277 Also in the tavern was a fisherman who stood up in a hurry and went out the door Not long after he hastened back and revealed Jean Valjeans background to the host of the inn 278 The town of Digne having seen wars of religion in 1815 was protected by walls on four sides 279 The town of Digne having been torn by wars was protected by walls on four sides 280 walked out the door 281 not long after the fisherman left 282 having seen wars of religion in 1815 283 having been torn by wars
134
preserved
Still another act of editing involves correction of mistakes which may result from
misusage or misinterpretation in the first version In a passage that depicts Jean
Valjeans looks the two versions of Chinese Les Miseacuterables use different adjectives
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
20 臉上雖是瘦弱卻很有些英氣helliphellip284
(340-41)
臉 上 雖 是 瘦 弱 卻 很 有 些 兇
氣helliphellip285 (113)
The earlier version says that Jean Valjeans face is characterized by some quality of 英
氣286 whereas the revision turns the positive adjective into the negative 兇氣287
Judging from the context where the townspeople of Digne were appalled by the
appearance of Jean Valjean the ex-convict the latter choice of words seems more
appropriate What is at issue here is whether this semantic change will affect the results
of my further intertextual comparison For this reason a check on the texts concerned
becomes imperative and it is found after the inspection is performed that the
depictions of 英氣 and 兇氣 are both invented by the translator The absence of
such descriptions at least not on the literal level in the other texts selected for
comparison means that the textual discrepancies caused by no 20 editing are irrelevant
to my search for Sus source
My last example of the editorial traces has to do with the editors consideration of
social practices Consider the following example
no Can Shehui Can Shijie
21 華賤便道「先生求你寬恕我來得
唐突我現在把錢給你買一點飯菜
吃還求你把那花園拐角下的小房
子借我睡一夜不曉得可不可以
呢」288 (401)
華賤便道「先生求你寬恕我來得
唐突請你給點飯菜我吃還求將花
園拐角下的小房子給我歇宿一夜明
日走時一發算錢給你不曉得可能俯
允嗎」289 (119)
284 His face thin and feeble was characterized by a sort of heroic spirit 285 His face thin and feeble was characterized by a sort of ferocity 286 heroic spirit 287 ferocity 288 Jean Valjean said Monsieur I beg your pardon Im now offering my money to buy some food from you and Im begging you to allow me to sleep in the shed at the corner of your garden for the night Could you please 289 Jean Valjean said Monsieur I beg your pardon Could you give me some food to eat and the shed at the corner of your garden to sleep in for the night I will pay you tomorrow when Im leaving Could you please
135
The passages narrate how Jean Valjean implored a man of the house to offer him food
and shelter in exchange of money The first version uses the expression 我現在把錢
給你買一點飯菜吃290 which denotes that the guest offers to pay in advance The
message of offering money is relocated in the narrative sequence and rephrased as 明
日走時一發算錢給你291 in the new version Thus the prepaid mode of supplication
in the old text becomes a pay later one in the revision The editor may have had in
mind the social customs in China when he made the change for it was rather rare for a
host in China to accept payment first before actually providing food and
accommodation Anyway the semantic shift caused by the editing necessitates an
investigation on the texts concerned and it is noted that although payment is an
important message here the timing of payment varied in the two Chinese editions is
not described in the other versions chosen for comparison It does not matter when the
payment is to be made in the Chinese texts for it is impertinent to the present source
study
In the preceding paragraphs I have listed fourteen types of modification with a
total of twenty-one examples to illustrate the editorial process from Can Shehui to Can
Shijie Before making my decision as to whether they result in significant changes I
need to put my finger on my judgment criteria which are conditioned by Sus strategy
of translation As is typical of the translation practice of his time Sus rendition of Les
Miseacuterables involves a lot of omissions additions and alterations quite unlike the
fidelity orientation of the English versions Sus point lies not in taking care of every
word phrase clause or sentence in the original but in propagandizing his own agenda
through appropriating the stories and ideas of the French novelist For this very reason
my comparison of Sus translation with its likely sources will be concentrated first and
foremost on the level of plot and structure aided secondarily by clues from diction or
syntax when the different texts manifest the same plot elements Therefore when I
make the initial comparison between Can Shehui and Can Shijie to see if they vary
significantly my primary concern is with those elements that result in plot change and
my secondary attention is on radical semantic shifts Any modification that does not
affect the plot or entails replacement with synonymous or similar semantics will be
considered minor and negligible
290 Im now offering my money to buy some food from you 291 I will pay you tomorrow when I am leaving
136
With this assessment standard in mind we may proceed to see to what extent Sus
two versions differ from each other Except for cases no 15 16 17 19 20 and 21 all
the examples show that the later editing done to the first version of Chinese Les
Miseacuterables does not alter the semantic value That is the content remains unchanged
after the editing procedure Even where semantic transformation takes place the plot is
not altered Cases no 15 to 17 witness the addition of a phrase which serves to
intensify its contextual message rather than cause informational deviations In the no
19 case the primary message of war is preserved even though its cause (religion) and
time (1815) are omitted In the instance of no 20 the rectification fits more reasonably
to the context and being a piece of characterization added by the translator proves
unrelated to my intertextual comparison Lastly the semantic change in the no 21
example does not eliminate from the context the topic of payment which is all that
counts regardless of when the payment is to be made All in all the differences
analyzed above between Can Shehui and Can Shijie are only minor ones Since the
focus of my comparison between Sus translation and its probable sources is more on
the elements of plot than on the linguistic subtleties all the variations detected between
Sus two texts can be ignored as the present research proceeds with next source-tracing
steps Since what is analyzed in the above instances generally exhibits common and
typical patterns of editing it may be assumed that the same editorial patterns would
most likely be identified if the missing text of Can Shehui were recovered especially
when the same editor of Chen Duxiu was in charge of finalizing the entire Can Shijie
In other words the above conclusion about the initial two-odd chapters of the two
Chinese variants may be justifiably applied to the missing chapters of Can Shehui
Therefore the completed fourteen-chaptered Can Shijie can be selected as the Chinese
basis for subsequent comparison
45 Interlingual Screening the Chinese Text versus French English and Japanese
Les Miseacuterables
In the previous sections eight texts from the four languages in question are
singled out and they are Hugos French original (embracing the whole of Husss 1892
abridged version) English versions of Les Miseacuterables by Charles E Wilbour Lascelles
Wraxall Alexander Dimitry and A F (the Richmond translation) Isabel F Hapgood
and William Walton et al respectively Kuroiwa Ruikous Japanese Aamujou and Su
Manshus Chinese Can Shijie Now it is time to subject them to intertextual
137
comparison and contrast
My strategy of comparison is oriented primarily to plot and secondarily to
nuanced linguistic subtlties In practice my comparison is conducted first from a
macro perspective and then in a micro manner The macroscopic comparison deals
with the structures of narration in the different texts concernedmdashthat is how the plot
elements are presented in what sequence they are arranged and what not In the
microscopic comparison my study compares the individual plot elements to sort out
the relationships between the different versions When different texts show common
plot elements my research shall get down to the minute linguistic details such as
choice of words phrases and syntax to see if they reveal nuanced distinction The two
levels of comparison and contrast serve to inform my judgment about the most
probable source of Sus translation
As mentioned earlier Su Manshus Chinese rendition of the French novel handles
only the Second Book (La chute) of Volume I (Fantine) out of the forty-eight
books in five volumes in the original In the original French work the major plot line
of Book Two starts from Jean Valjeans entrance in the town of Digne through his
recurrent rejections by the townspeople his kind reception by Bishop Myriel his abuse
of the bishops beneficence to his disappearance from Digne Interspersed in the story
line are some digressions and flashbacks including reflections on the evils of society
and some information of the heros background his theft and imprisonment
Structurally speaking in the total of thirteen chapters in this book the first five
chapters are narrated in chronological order beginning in medias res from the
protagonists appearance in Digne through his constant rejections and frustrations in
seeking food and shelter there to his falling asleep in the bishops house The Sixth
Chapter opens with a single-sentence paragraph purporting that Jean Valjean woke up
in the middle of the night From the second paragraph of this chapter on the narrative
flashes back to some accounts of the heros background and history including his
desperate act of theft his imprisonment and the elongation of his term of punishment
as a result of his four escape attempts The Seventh Chapter digresses to reflect on the
correlation between crimes of individuals and crimes of society and also on the ill
impacts of the punitive systems on a good-natured person Chapter Eight extends the
digression by comparing the socially disadvantaged to a drowning man who hopelessly
struggles to survive in the billowy sea The Ninth Chapter also a digression describes
the exploitation of labor Jean Valjean suffers in jail and the unfair treatment he receives
138
in payment of wages after his release from the prison house The Tenth Chapter picks
up what was left off in the first paragraph of Chapter Six and continues the
chronological narration until the end of the Thirteenth Chapter which concludes Book
Two with episodes inclusive of the protagonists larceny of the bishops silverware his
capture by the gendarmes his condonation by the more than magnanimous bishop his
robbery of Petit Gervaiss coin and his final remorse
The above chapter descriptions of the Second Book of the original novel can be
summed up by differentiating the plot line from the digressions The principle axis of
the story starts from Chapter One onward breaks at the first paragraph of the Sixth
Chapter resumes from Chapter Ten and then follows through to the end of the
Thirteenth Chapter The digressive part comprises the majority of Chapter Six and the
whole of Chapters Seven to Nine This differentiation will prove useful in my later
comparison and analysis
A close rendering of the French work the five English versions have the exact
same narrative structure
Now we shall look at the Chinese version first before examining the Japanese one
Despite the fact that Sus text contains numerous omissions additions and inventions
the sequence of the episodic elements in Sus text is in perfect match with that in the
French original The thirteen chapters in the French text are rearranged in Sus
translation in fourteen chapters of the zhanghui novel form In Sus text the first six
chapters concur with the first five chapters of the French original the same episodes
and the same sequence of events As the French text starts digressing with the second
paragraph of Chapter Six after a single sentence describing Jean Valjeans wakening in
the first paragraph the Chinese translation also drifts into digression from the second
paragraph of Chapter Seven onward after the first paragraphs brief mention of the
dormancy of Jean Valjean and the bishops family The deviating part of the Chinese
version from early Chapter Seven to middle Chapter Thirteen consists of another
story line about the adventures of Ming Nande 明男德 which is invented by the
translator The two plot lines cross each other as Ming Nande learns of Jean Valjeans
arrest and decides to rescue him from prison Subtly woven into the invented plot are
sporadic descriptions of Jean Valjeans background his theft of bread his
imprisonment his lengthening of jail time and his subjection to cruel abuse Sus
fabricated digression ends with the failure of Ming Nandes attempt to assassinate
Napoleon in the middle of the Thirteenth Chapter and then the story reverts to the
139
major story line ie the scene in the bishops abode where Jean Valjean awoke at two
oclock after some hours of repose The portion from the latter half of Chapter Thirteen
to the end of Chapter Fourteen in the translation echoes Chapters Ten to Thirteen in the
French novel recounting Jean Valjeans waking in the night his running away with the
bishops silverware his capture by the policemen his obtaining forgiveness from the
bishop his pillage of Petit Gervais and his ultimate regrets In a nutshell except the
part of the text which deals with the narrators reflections on the heros situation in
relation to society at large all the main episodic elements of plot in the original work
are retained and followed in the same order in the Chinese translation albeit in a
condensed and rephrased manner
Kuroiwa Ruikous Aamujou begins like Sus Chinese rendition from the Second
Book of Volume One of the French novel and the first eleven chapters of the Japanese
text as a whole correspond to the content of the Second Book ie the part treated by
Su Manshu Generally speaking Kuroiwas version follows the narrative order of the
French novel for the most part However four exceptions are prominent To begin with
the Japanese text initiates the First Chapter with a brief introduction to the town of
Digne a piece of information that is absent in the corresponding portions in the
original and in Sus version alike Second where the original story proceeds to Chapter
Two describing Bishop Myriels activity before dinner the Japanese version inserts a
passage to give some accounts of the bishops status and background and his acts of
benevolence in the past This interpolation is taken from Book One of Volume One of
the original novel and is absent here in the counterparts in the French and Chinese
texts Moreover Kuroiwas version differs from the French and the Chinese in the
process of interactions between Jean Valjean and the bishops family The entry of the
culprit in the bishops house and their conversation at the dinner table are depicted in
Chapters Three and Four of the original story The part of the dialogue where the
bishop inquires about Jean Valjeans suffering and then warns him against harboring
hatred for past inflictions is moved by the Japanese translator from Chapter Three to
Chapter Four of the original division so that the episodic sequence is changed
Specifically the scene at the table in the French novel includes the following
interactions and topics of conversation in sequential order
1 Jean Valjeans offering to reveal his name and hometown to the bishop (Chapter
Three)
2 the bishops inquiry about Jean Valjeans suffering (Chapter Three)
140
3 the serving of food by the female servant (Chapter Three)
4 the presentation of six pieces of silverware on the table (Chapter Three)
5 Jean Valjeans expressing that the wagoners live better than the bishop (Chapter
Four)
6 talk about Jean Valjeans destination the bishops past experience there and the
bishops relatives there (Chapter Four)
While the French and Chinese texts follow the listed order the Japanese version
relocates the bishops inquiry about his guests suffering (no 2 in the above sequence)
to somewhere between the talk about wagoners (no 5) and the chat about the heros
destination (no 6)
There is one last outstanding difference in the Japanese texts presentation of
events Whereas in the original story the digressive parts arranged from the Sixth to
Ninth Chapters providing some information about Jean Valjeans family background
theft imprisonment and maltreatment are followed by descriptions in Chapters Ten to
Thirteen of Jean Valjeans waking in the dead of night and his subsequent acts of
stealing the Japanese translator postpones the digression until Jean Valjean has entered
the bishops room in preparation for stealing the silverware In other words the French
and Chinese digression occurs before Jean Valjean decides to steal the silverware
while the Japanese digression is inserted in the act of stealing
Through the above macroscopic structural comparison of the eight texts of Les
Miseacuterables the present thesis finds that in terms of narrative structure the Chinese text
agrees with the French and the English but differs somewhat from the Japanese in
certain points Here it is necessary to take another look at the four conspicuous
structural differences analyzed above in order to judge how possible it is for the
Japanese version to be Sus source The first two differences involve the respective
insertions of introductions to a place and a character ie Digne and Bishop Myriel
The absence of such insertions in the Chinese version is not sufficient proof that the
Japanese version is not the Chinese translators source for it is Sus tendency to delete
and rewrite especially in a context where the information of Digne and Bishop Myriel
is only trivial to the plot line And then there are the last two differences which have to
do with rearrangement of narrative sequence Can it be that based on the Japanese text
Su reorganized the topics of the table conversation in an order that was more to his
liking and so is the case with the placement of the digressive part This possibility
cannot be denied However the fact that Sus deviation from the Japanese text entails
141
his concurrent conformity to the French original seems to greatly compromise the
Japaneses possibility and point to another better likelihoodmdashthat Su did not base his
translation on the Japanese version
The above analysis is directed in terms of probability Though of the three
language sources Kuroiwas text is the least likely one Su might have drawn on my
study cannot exclude the Japanese version altogether for certain To make my
judgment more decisive will require more substantial and powerful evidence from the
texts and this leads me to the second stage of comparison a microcosmic comparison
which involves juxtaposition of the different texts to sort out their relationships
In my micro-perspective research I find numerous instances which serve to argue
against the Japanese translation In most cases the Chinese plot is presented similarly
to the French and English ones but shows some evident differences from the Japanese
To present all of such examples however would be impractical and make little sense
In what follows only some selected cases ie the ones which are found representative
will be given to show how the different versions are related For ease of reading
comparing and referring the instances will be numbered and all the cited texts will be
put in tables
Example 1 The first example has to do with the presentation of time At the
onset of Book Two the time of action is given respectively as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Dans les premiers jours du mois
doctobre 1815 une heure environ avant
le coucher du soleil (LM I 93)
An hour before sunset on the evening of
a day in the beginning of October
1815 (51)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
At the beginning of October 1815 and
about an hour before sunset (LM
[1880] I 55)
An hour before sunset on the evening of
a day in the beginning of October
1815 (I 44)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Early in the month of October 1815
about an hour before sunset (I
55)
At the beginning of October 1815 and
about an hour before sunset (XI 123)
142
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)292
helliphellip千八百十五年ねん
三月一日彼か
の 怪 雄くわいゆう
拿 翁なぽれおん
がエルバの孤島こ た う
を脫出ぬけいだ
してカン(Cannes)の 港みなと
に上 陸じやうりく
し巴里ぱ り ー
の 都みやこ
を指さ
して
上のぼ
つたとき二日目め
に一泊ぱく
した 所ところ
てあるhelliphellip
helliphellip
今いま
は其それ
より七ケ月の後のち
同おな
じ年とし
の十月の 初はじめ
或日あ る ひ
の夕方ゆふがた
helliphellip293 (I 1-2)
話說西曆一
千八百十五
年 十 月 初
旬一日天
色將晚helliphellip
294 (113)
In the French English and Chinese versions the temporal information of the event that
is about to be narrated is offered directly and clearly as the evening of a day in early
October in 1815 By contrast Kuroiwas Japanese translation indicates the time in a
relatively roundabout manner The text first introduces the town of Digne as the place
where Napoleon spent the night on March 1 1815 on his way from Elba to Paris The
time of March 1 1815 here refers to an event about Napoleon that happened sometime
prior to the appearance of Jean Valjean in the town of Digne The Japanese narrator
uses this time about Napoleon as a point of reference and after a couple of paragraphs
brings in Jean Valjeans emergence in relation to this particular point in time The
reference to Napoleon here in this context is peculiar to the Japanese version and not
found in the corresponding parts in the other texts So here the Japanese mode of
temporal narration is vastly distinct from the French English and Chinese ones which
are similar to each other This suggests that the Japanese version is the least likely
source for Sus Chinese translation
Example 2 The description of Jean Valjeans entry into the town of Digne
involves another passage worth comparing
292 All the Chinese passages of Can Shijie in this section are quoted from Su Manshus Manshu Dashi Quanji 曼殊大師全集 293 The Japanese passage is translated into English as follows This is the place where the hero Napoleon spent the second night as he landed on the shore of Cannes on March 1 1815 and proceeded on his way to Paris after escaping from the isolated island of Elba Now seven months later on an evening in early October of the same year 294 It happened that in early October of 1815 on the Western calendar on the evening of this particular day
143
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Il fallait quil eucirct bien soif car des
enfants qui le suivaient le virent encore
sarrecircter et boire deux cents pas plus
loin agrave la fontaine de la place du
marcheacute (LM I 94)
He must have been very thirsty for some
children who followed him saw him stop
not two hundred steps further on and drink
again at the fountain in the market-place
(51)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
He must have been very thirsty for
the children that followed him saw
him stop and drink again at the
fountain on the market-place (LM
[1880] I 55)
He must have been very thirsty for some
children who followed him saw him stop
not two hundred steps further on and drink
again at the fountain in the market-place (I
44)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
He must have been very thirsty for the
children who followed him saw him stop
again for a drink two hundred paces
further on at the fountain in the
market-place (I 56)
He must have been very thirsty for the
children that followed him saw him stop
and drink again at the fountain on the
market-place (XI 124)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
町ま ち
の入口いりぐち
で汗あせ
を拭ふ
き拭ふ
き井ゐ
戶ど
の水みづ
を汲上く み あ
げて吞の
み又また
一二丁行ちやうゆ
きて町ま ち
中なか
の井ゐ
戶ど
で水みづ
を呑の
んだhelliphellip295 (I 2)
只見當時有幾個童子看見是遠來的生
人就跟在他的後面只見他還沒走到二
百步便在街上泉桶裡痛飲了兩次296
(113)
Here some plot elements are worthy of notice Regarding the way the hero quenched
his thirst the French English and Chinese versions say that his drinking source was
fountain water but according to the Japanese text it was water from a well that he
295 At the entrance to the town wiping his sweat he drew water from a well and drank it One or two blocks later he drank again from a well in the town 296 Several children who saw the stranger obviously coming from afar followed behind In less than two hundred steps he voraciously drank twice from the bucket of spring water (or fountain water) in the street
144
drank Since wells were very common as a source of drinking water in both Japan and
China in the nineteenth century it is quite unlikely that the Chinese translator could
have deliberately turned the well water in the Japanese into the fountain water in the
Chinese if he had translated from Japanese Then about the interval of the
protagonists thirst-slaking acts the French English and Chinese texts excepting the
versions by Wraxall and Walton et al use step or pace as a unit of measurement
and specify less than two hundred steps or paces as the interval of the action
Contrastively the Japanese unit of measurement is 丁ちやう
or lane or block and the
distance offered is one or two blocks farther Apart from that the Japanese text is the
only one of the eight that does not mention the part where the protagonist was
followed by some children All these instances show the Chinese texts similarity to the
French and the English and its concurrent departure from the Japanese If Su had
referred to the Japanese text as his major source he could not have modified the
Japanese plot elements and invented his own version that coincides with the French
and English versions This also indicates that Japanese is less likely than French and
English to be Sus source of translation
Regarding the five English texts the Richmond translation copies Wilbour
without altering a word and the version by Walton et al is a replicate of Wraxalls
rendition While the plot offered by the five texts as well as the original French is
similar on the whole Wraxall and Walton et al distinguish themselves by omitting the
description about the interval of two hundred steps altogether Since the Chinese text
contains this description the probability of the versions by Wraxall and by Walton et al
to be Sus source is reduced enormously
Example 3 Another example is the scene at a peasants house at which the main
character paused in his aimless wanderings after his repeated rejections by the taverns
in the town Following his brief peek into the house Jean Valjean decided to knock and
beg for shelter and food The process from his action to the response in the house is
presented as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Il frappa au carreau un petit coup tregraves
faible
On nentendit pas
Il frappa un second coup
He rapped faintly on the window
No one heard him
He rapped a second time
He heard the woman say
145
Il entendit la femme qui disait mdashMon
homme il me semble quon frappe
mdashNon reacutepondit le mari
Il frappa un troisiegraveme coup
Le mari se leva prit la lampe et alla agrave la
porte quil ouvrit (LM I 102-03)
Husband I think I hear some one
rap
No replied the husband
He rapped a third time The
husband got up took the lamp and
opened the door (56)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
He tapped very slightly on a
window pane but was not heard he
tapped a second time and he heard the
woman say Husband I fancy I can hear
some one knocking
No the husband answered
He tapped a third time The husband
rose took the lamp and walked to the
front door (LM [1880] I 60)
He rapped faintly on the window
No one heard him
He rapped a second time
He heard the woman say Husband I
think I hear some one rap
No replied the husband
He rapped a third time The husband
got up took the lamp and opened the
door (I 48-49)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
He tapped on the pane with a very
small and feeble knock
They did not hear him
He tapped again
He heard the woman say It seems to
me husband that some one is knocking
No replied the husband
He tapped a third time
The husband rose took the lamp and
went to the door which he opened (I 62)
He tapped very slightly on a
window-pane but was not heard
He tapped a second time
He heard the woman say Husband I
fancy I can hear someone knocking
No the husband answered
He tapped a third time
The husband rose took the lamp and
walked to the front door which he
opened (XI 135)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
茲こゝ
ならばと旅人たびゞと
は近寄ちかよつ
て戶と [華賤]輕輕地將窗戶敲了幾下哪曉得也靜悄
146
を叩たゝ
いた二度ど
叩たゝ
いて三度ど
目め
に主人あ る じ
が窓まど
まで立たつ
て來き
て
『何方ど な た
』と問と
ふたhelliphellip297 (I
9)
悄的竟沒有一人答應又用力再敲幾下只聽得
那婦人道「我的夫呀我聽得好像有人敲門的聲
音哩」那男子道「哪來的話」華賤又把窗戶
敲了幾下那男子聽真了便起身拿了燈來開門
298 (119)
Here two spots of diversity in plot elements can be detected The first is about the way
the traveller attracted the attention of those in the house In the French English and
Chinese versions the protagonist achieved his purpose by tapping on the window
whereas in the Japanese text it is 戶と
or the door not the window that the hero was
knocking Moreover all the quoted passages delineate three rounds of knocking in the
process but at the interval between the second and the third there is a description
about the wifes reaction and the husbands denial in the French English and Chinese
texts The Japanese translation is the only one that does not contain this husband-wife
exchange but goes straight to the husbands response of walking over to the window
after the third knocking This proves once again that Kuroiwas Japanese version is not
likely to be Sus source
As to the French and English texts all of them specifically narrates that the
husband went and opened the door after he heard the third round of knocking with the
exception of Wraxalls version which states merely that the husband walked to the
front door with the sense of opening the door implied but not explicit on the surface
value The Chinese rendition 起身拿了燈來開門 explicitly showing the husbands
door-opening act is less in accord with Wraxalls version than with the French original
and the other English versions In this light Wraxalls probability as the source of the
Chinese version decreases to some degree
Example 4 The dialogue that occurred as the innkeeper of La Croix de Colbas
tried to dismiss Jean Valjean from the premises also betrays some resemblance and
dissimilarity between the eight texts of Les Miseacuterables
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
297 So the traveller stepped forward and knocked on the door He knocked again At the third knock the man of the house walked to the window and asked Who is it 298 [Jean Valjean] tapped on the window lightly but not a sound of response came from the house He gave some more taps with more force and heard the woman say My husband I seem to hear someone knock on the door The man replied Impossible Jean Valjean knocked once again on the window The man heard it He got up to take the lamp and opened the door
147
mdashMonsieur dit-il je ne puis vous
recevoir
Lhomme se dressa agrave demi sur son
seacuteant
mdashComment Avez-vous peur que je ne
paye pas Voulez-vous que je paye
davance Jai de largent vous dis-je
mdashCe nest pas cela
mdashQuoi donc
mdashVous avez de largent
mdashOui dit lhomme
mdashEt moi dit lhocircte je nai pas de
chambre
Lhomme reprit tranquillement
minusMettez-moi agrave leacutecurie
mdashJe ne puis
mdashPourquoi
mdashLes chevaux prennent toute la place
mdashEh bien repartit lhomme un coin
dans le grenier Une botte de paille Nous
verrons cela apregraves dicircner
mdashJe ne puis vous donner agrave dicircner (LM
I 97)
Monsieur said he I cannot
receive you
The traveller half rose from his seat
Why Are you afraid I shall not pay
you or do you want me to pay in
advance I have money I tell you
It is not that
What then
You have moneymdash
Yes said the man
And I said the host I have no
room
Well put me in the stable quietly
replied the man
I cannot
Why
Because the horses take all the
room
Well responded the man a corner
in the garret a truss of straw we will
see about that after dinner
I cannot give you any dinner (53)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
I cannot make room for you sir he
said
The man half turned on his stool
What do you mean Are you afraid I
shall bilk you do you want me to pay you
in advance I have money I tell you
It is not that
What is it then
Sir said he I cannot receive
you
The traveller half rose from his seat
Why Are you afraid I shall not pay
you or do you want me to pay in
advance I have the money I tell you
It is not that
What then
148
You have money
Yes said the man
But I have not a spare bed-room
The man continued quietly Put me in
the stables
I cannot
Why
The horses take up all the room
Well the man continued a corner in
the loft and a truss of straw we will see to
that after supper
I cannot give you any supper (LM
[1880] I 57)
You have moneymdash
Yes said the man
And I said the host I have no
room
Well put me in the stable quietly
replied the man
I cannot
Why
Because the horses take all the
room
Well responded the man a
corner in the garret a truss of straw
we will see about that after dinner
I cannot give you any dinner (I
46)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
I cannot receive you sir said he
The man half rose
What Are you afraid that I will
not pay you Do you want me to pay
you in advance I have money I tell
you
It is not that
What then
You have moneymdash
Yes said the man
And I said the host have no
room
The man resumed tranquilly Put
me in the stable
I cannot
Why
Monsieur said he I cannot receive
you
The man half rose on his stool
How Are you afraid I shall not pay
you Do you want me to pay you in
advance I have money I tell you
It is not that
What is it then
You have money
Yes said the man
But I have not a spare bed-room
The man continued quietly Put me in
the stables
I cannot
Why
The horses take up all the room
149
The horses take up all the space
Very well retorted the man a
corner of the loft then a truss of straw
We will see about that after dinner
I cannot give you any dinner (I
58)
Well the man continued a corner in
the loft a truss of straw we will see to that
after dinner
I cannot give you any dinner (XI 128)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
[主人あ る じ
]『何ど
うも貴方あ な た
をお留と
め申まを
す譯わけ
に行ゆ
きません』全まつた
く打うつ
て 變かはつ
たと云い
ふ
者もの
だ 客きやく
は半分顏はんぶんかほ
を揚あ
げ『エ何なん
だ
と騙かた
られるとでも思おも
ふのかでは
先 拂さきばらひ
に仕し
やう金かね
は持もつ
て居ゐ
る 斷ことわ
ツた
のに』主人『イエ室へや
の空あい
た 所ところ
が有あ
りませんゆゑ』客きやく
は未ま
だ失望しつぼう
せぬ最い
と 靜しづか
に『室へや
が無な
ければ馬屋う ま や
で好よ
い』
主人『馬屋う ま や
は馬うま
が一ぱいです』客『で
は何ど
の樣やう
な隅すみ
ツこでも搆かま
はぬ藁わら
さへ
有あ
れば敷しい
て寢ね
るから先ま
ア兎と
も角かく
も
食事しよくじ
を濟す
ませてからの相談さうだん
にしやう』
helliphellip[店主人]「我卻不能留你住在
這裡」
此人忙立起身來問道「你怕我欠你
的賬嗎若是要先交錢我這裡還有點
銀子你不知道嗎」
店主人說道「哪裡是為著這些事
體」此人道「那麼是為著什麼事」
店主人道「你是有銀子」此人道「不
錯」
店主人又道「怎奈我沒有房子留
你」此人急忙介面道「就是在貴寓
馬房裡住下也不打緊」店主人道
「那也不能」此人道「這是什麼緣
故」店主人道「我的馬已經住滿」
此人道「也好那邊還有一間擱東西
的房子我們等吃了飯再商量吧」店
主人道「有什麼人供你的飯吃」300
299 [The host said] I cant receive you here This attitude was in stark contrast with the kind attention a while ago The traveller half raised his head and replied Hey what are you talking about Are you afraid Id cheat you If so let me pay you first The host explained No not that There is no room available The traveller was not discouraged In a temperate tone he said If there is no room a place in the stable will do The host insisted The horses take up all the space The traveller Then any corner of the house is all right Just give me some straw to sleep on Anyway let me have dinner first and then well discuss the matter The host rejected Food is not available either 300 The Chinese passage is translated into English as follows [The host said] I cannot let you live here
150
主人『食事しよくじ
もお生憎樣あいにくさま
です』helliphellip299 (I
4)
(114-15)
In the exchange of conversation between host and guest the Chinese is similar to the
French and the English in the process of going back and forth between the two parties
involved The Japanese text by contrast shortens the process of verbal exchange to a
considerable extent The multiple interchange passagemdashIt is not that What then
You have money Yes And I have no roommdashis abbreviated by the Japanese
translator to become the single straightforward explanation No not that There is no
room available And the dual exchangemdashPut me in the stable I cannot Why
Because the horses take all the roommdashis simplified in the Japanese version as a
single back-and-forth A place in the stable will do The horses take up all the space
These abridgments greatly dilute the hosts hesitation in the face of the guest pressing
for specificity to reveal the truth behind his decision to expel the guest The condensed
form of dialogue in the Japanese text cannot have inspired the Chinese translator with
the more detailed and vivid rendition in Chinese which is so to speak in concert with
the French and English texts
Also here in the cited passages another interesting comparison is worth making
When the host explained to the guest that there was no room available the latters
response put me in the stable is made in a manner that is expressed respectively as
tranquillement in French quietly in Wilbour Wraxall the Richmond and Walton
et al tranquilly in Hapgood and 急忙 in Chinese The semantic deviation of the
Chinese from the French and the English is intriguing here and lends occasion for a
suspicion of misinterpretation on the translators part For a Chinese translator to base
his translation on the French original it is rather unlikely that he will take the word
tranquillement wrongly nor is it likely that Hapgoods tranquilly a word not easily
mistaken would be misconstrued to mean 急忙 301 if the translator adopted
Hapgood as his original By contrast if a translator models his rendition on the other The man rose up immediately and asked Are you afraid I dont pay If you want me to pay in advance I have some money with me Dont you know that The host said It is not that The man pressed What then The host went on You have money The man answered Yes The host continued But I have no room for you The man quickly replied Its all right for me to sleep in the stable The host refused That wont do either The man demanded How come The host explained The horses take up all the space The man pressed on All right There is still that storeroom over there Lets talk about this after dinner The host said Who do you think youll get your food from 301 hurriedly or quickly
151
English versions the word quietly may be inadvertently misread as quickly owing
to the similar spelling contour of the two words which easily explains the resultant
rendition of 急忙 in Chinese Can this be the reason why Su Manshu deviates from
the original If so then the French original and Hapgoods version are less likely
sources for Su Manshu than the other English translations Notwithstanding the above
suspicion will fall into a dismissible wild guess if no other supporting evidence is
present After all the Chinese texts difference from the French and the English here
may also be explained away by an act of alteration done on purpose by the translator
The relationships of the Chinese with the French and the English become
increasingly clear as more instances are found pointing to the similar likelihood
Suffice it to quote two more passages for illustration
Example 5 In the bishops house the heros wonder at the bishops kindness in
receiving him is expressed at a certain point as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
mdashVrai quoi vous me gardez vous ne
me chassez pas un forccedilat Vous
mappelez monsieur vous ne me tutoyez
pas Va-t-en chien quon me dit
toujours (LM I 117)
True What You will keep me you
wont drive me away a convict You call
me Monsieur and dont say Get out
dog as everybody else does (64)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Is it true You will let me stay you will
not turn me out a convict You call me
Sir you do not thou me Get out dog
that is what is always said to me
(LM [1880] I 67)
True What You will keep me you
wont drive me away a convict You
call me Sir and dont say Get out dog
as everybody else does (I 54)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Really What You will keep me You
do not drive me forth A convict You
call me sir You do not address me as
thou Get out of here you dog is what
people always say to me (I 71)
Is it true what you will let me stay
you will not turn me out a convict You
call me monsieur you do not thou me
Get out dog that is what is always said
to me (XI 153)
152
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
『エ泊とめ
て吳く
れるエ本統ほんとう
エ何なん
と仰有おつしや
ツ
た私わたく
しをエ追拂おひはら
ひもせずに前科者ぜんくわもの
を貴君き く ん
などと貴方あ な た
は誰だれ
でも此こ
の野猫の ね こ
めなどと云い
ひま
すのにhelliphellip』302 (I 18)
「你真留我嗎不趕我嗎
你為什麼稱呼我做先生卻
不叫我做狗趕出去和別
的人那一樣說法呢helliphellip」
303 (125)
The abusive term by which the hero is addressed is a dog in the French English and
Chinese versions but in the Japanese text the derogatory name becomes 野猫の ね こ
literally a wildcat which is connotative of a homeless rascalmdashanother piece of
evidence to exclude the Japanese translation as a source for Sus Chinese rendition
What is even more worthy of note here is how the French phrase vous ne me tutoyez
pas304 is treated in the English translations In Wilbours and the Richmond texts the
French differentiation between vous and tu is ignored and left untranslated
Contrastively Wraxall Hapgood and Walton et al drew on the English distinction
between you and thou to make it a parallel to the French and came up with you do
not thou me (Wraxall Walton et al) or you do not address me as thou (Hapgood)
The fact that Su leaves the French distinction out of translation a distinction that
would have been expressible in vernacular Chinese had the translator been conscious
of the original differentiation seems to indicate that Wilbour and the Richmond are
more likely sources for Su than the French original and the other English versions
Example 6 Also in favor of Wilbours and the Richmond texts is the passage
about the dogs kennel cited as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Agrave la lueur du jour expirant leacutetranger
aperccedilut dans un des jardins qui bordent
la rue une sorte de hutte qui lui parut
maccedilonneacutee en mottes de gazon et
by the light of the expiring day the
stranger perceived in one of the gardens
which fronted the street a kind of hut
which seemed to be made of turf [I]t
302 Ah you will keep me Really What did you say You didnt throw me out I am an ex-convict and you address me as Monsieur Everybody else calls me a damned wildcat 303 You will really keep me You dont throw me out Why do you call me Monsieur and not dog get out as everybody else does 304 Literally you dont address me in the second person singular tu The use of second person singular tu here conveys an unpleasantly too-familiar attitude that is disrespectful or even insulting
153
elle ressemblait agrave ces constructions que
les cantonniers se bacirctissent au bord des
routes Il se coucha agrave plat ventre et
se glissa dans la hutte Il y faisait chaud
et il y trouva un assez bon lit de paille
(LM I 104-05)
resembled in its construction the
shanties which the road-labourers put up
for their temporary accommodation
He got down and crawled into the hut It
was warm there and he found a good bed
of straw (57-58)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
By the light of the expiring day the
stranger noticed in one of the gardens a
sort of hut which seemed to him to be
made of sod or turf [The hut]
resembled the tenements which
road-menders construct by the side of
the highway [H]e lay down on his
stomach and crawled into the hut it was
warm and he found a rather good straw
litter in it (LM [1880] I 61)
by the light of the expiring day the
stranger perceived in one of the gardens
which fronted the street a kind of hut
which seemed to be made of turf [I]t
resembled in its construction the
shanties which the road-labourers put up
for their temporary accommodation
He got down and crawled into the hut It
was warm there and he found a good bed
of straw (I 50)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
By the light of the expiring day the
stranger perceived in one of the gardens
which bordered the street a sort of hut
which seemed to him to be built of
sods [I]t resembled those buildings
which road-laborers construct for
themselves along the roads He threw
himself flat on his face and crawled into
the hut It was warm there and he found a
tolerably good bed of straw (I 63-64)
By the light of the expiring day the
stranger noticed in one of the gardens a
sort of hut which seemed to him to be
made of sods of turf [The hut]
resembled the tenements which
road-menders construct by the side of
the highway He lay down on his
stomach and crawled into the hut it was
warm and he found a rather good straw
litter in it (XI 137-38)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
154
少すこ
し行ゆ
くと或家あるいへ
の庭には
に低ひく
い借小屋か り ご や
の樣やう
な
者もの
が有あ
る多分た ぶ ん
は土方ど か た
か何なに
かゞ道具だ う ぐ
でも入い
れて置お
く為ため
に 作つくつ
て有あ
るのだらうhelliphellipけれ
ど彼か
れは潜もぐ
り込こん
だが背せな
の 袋ふくろ
が邪魔じ や ま
に成な
る
から向む
き直なほ
して卸おろ
さうとするとhelliphellip305 (I
9-10)
朦朧間忽見街前花園裡有一個
泥和草做的小屋helliphellip尋思道「這
屋必定是過路的行人所做預備
一時過往用的」helliphellip隨即低下身
來爬將進去哪曉得這屋裡十
分和暖又在裡面尋得一張稻草
的床鋪306 (120)
Except the Japanese version which depicts the action differently307 all the cited texts
share a similar delineation So the Japanese text is excluded from the present
discussion What deserves special attention here is that some of the phrasings of the
Chinese text seem to reveal a specific lineage In the first place the Chinese 街前花
園裡 specifies the location of the supposed hut which is in fact a dog kennel Let us
compare the Chinese phrase with its counterparts in the Western texts We have in the
Western versions
dans un des jardins qui bordent la rue (Hugo)
in one of the gardens which fronted the street (Wilbour the Richmond)
in one of the gardens (Wraxall Walton et al)
in one of the gardens which bordered the street (Hapgood)
Here Hugo and Hapgood both adopt the verb border308 to indicate the gardens
position in relation to the street Wraxalls and Walton et als texts do not mention the
street so the two versions are ruled out here Wilbour and the Richmond use the verb
front in place of border The concept of border here if understood in Chinese
would have been something like 沿著 or 旁邊 and so forth A Chinese translator
would have probably phrased his translation as 街旁花園裡 or something like that
It is intriguing that instead of 街旁花園 Su Manshu came up with 街前花園 an 305 A little distance further he saw in someones garden a cabin which was probably set up by construction workers to store tools and implements He tried to get into it nevertheless but was hampered by the knapsack on his back so he turned around and put down his knapsack 306 In his drowsiness he saw in a garden which fronted the street a cabin made of clay and turf He thought to himself This is definitely built by road travellers as a makeshift shelter He got down immediately and crawled into it The cabin was very warm and he found a bed of straw there 307 In the Japanese text the kennel is mistaken by Jean Valjean as a storeroom for tools not the temporary shelter which it was thought to be in the other versions Besides the Japanese text contains an account of the knapsack forming an impediment to the heros entry into the hutmdasha description which is absent in the other versions 308 Here the French bordent and the English bordered share the same infinitive border
155
apparent reflection of Wilbour and the Richmonds gardens which fronted the street
This instance suggests a close affinity between the Chinese text and the versions by
Wilbour and Dimitry and A F
What is more as to the presumed function of the hut we have in the Chinese text
過路的行人所做預備一時過往用的 which has the following counterparts in
juxtaposition
les cantonniers se bacirctissent au bord des routes (Hugo)
the road-labourers put up for their temporary accommodation (Wilbour the
Richmond)
road-menders construct by the side of the highway (Wraxall Walton et al)
road-laborers construct for themselves along the roads (Hapgood)
Here attention is drawn to the adverbial structure at the end of each version The
French phrase au bord des routes is synonymously rephrased as by the side of the
highway by Wraxall and Walton et al and along the roads by Hapgood respectively
Wilbours and the Richmonds versions are made conspicuous here by their departing
from the original with a phrase emphasizing instead the purpose for their temporary
accommodation The Chinese text 預備一時過往用的309 clearly echoes the
interpretation offered by Wilbour and the Richmondmdashanother proof of the kinship
relationship between Wilbour and the Richmonds English texts and Sus Chinese
rendition
In sum all of the above six examples argue against the Japanese version so
Kuroiwas text can be safely ruled out as a possible source for the Chinese translation
As for the other versions we have three instances against the French original
(Examples 4 5 6) four against Wraxall (Examples 2 3 5 6) three against Hapgood
(Examples 4 5 6) and three against Walton et al (Examples 2 5 6) Though the
cases against them are made with varying degrees of plausibility the convincingness of
each individual argument is given more force as other pieces of evidence turn out to
illustrate the same effect Precisely because several examples conspire to strengthen
the arguments made in each individual case it is advisable to exclude the French
original Wraxall Hapgood and Walton et al from consideration regarding the
309 The original expression in the serialized Can Shehui is 預備過來過往用的 (Wu Xiangxiang 421) Though phrased somewhat differently from the later reprinted version it still brings into relief the purpose rather than the position of the hut Therefore edited or not the Chinese text here shows an approximation to the versions by Wilbour and the Richmond
156
probable source for Su Manshu The exclusion of the French original entails the
concurrent elimination of Husss 1892 abridgment because the two texts are identical
So now we are left with only two probabilities Wilbours version and the
Richmond translation To decide between the two this thesis would like to resort to the
perspective of genealogy for illumination The Richmond translation was produced
with a view to correcting Wilbours errors in the treatment of some French idioms and
phrases but corrections aside it nearly duplicated Wilbours text wholesale as
examplified by the quoted passages in the six instances provided above Its increasing
dependence on Wilbour as the translation progressed is also observed by Moore (246)
Thus it is by no means an exaggeration to say that the Richmond translation is based
on Wilbours text The genealogy in the particular case of Wilbour versus the
Richmond draws attention to the intriguing fact that the Richmond rendition achieves
its candidacy as one of the most probable sources for Sus Chinese version through its
reproducing Wilbours text For this very reason in the present interlingual intertextual
comparisons verification of the one inevitably entails the simultaneous confirmation
of the other It is not clear which copy of the English versions Su had at hand when he
did his rendition but no matter which was adopted it is always Wilbours in essence
and in substance Even if Su based his translation on the Richmond text it is still
arguable that Su translated from Wilbour After all the concern of the present
dissertatioin is to identify the source rather than the original copy of Sus Chinese Les
Miseacuterables
So far I have demonstrated that Wilbours version is the most probable source for
Sus Chinese translation of Les Miseacuterables However there is one problematic point to
be addressed before my inquiry comes to a conclusion The town of Digne is
presented as Dmdash throughout the English versions concerned but in the Chinese text
we have for its translation 太尼 which is a phonetic transliteration of Digne This
betrays that the Chinese translator knew the full spelling for Dmdash If Wilbours text
had been Sus only source Su would have had no way of knowing what Dmdash stands
for For Su to be able to know what Dmdash reprersents and come up with the translation
of 太尼 would require some knowledge outside of Wilbours text In other words in
addition to Wilbours text Su must have had referred to other material whether it be
Husss French abridgment which gives the full name unambiguously or Kuroiwas
Japanese text which presents the transliteration of Digne as ダイン followed by a
157
parenthetical remark offering its original spelling or some other resources of various
kinds
Despite the existence of other sources for the Chinese translator the evidence I
have found in favor of Wilbours version is too numerous and forceful to be dismissed
as mere coincidence The single peculiar exception in the case of Digne serves not so
much to invalidate my conclusion as to enrich my findings Diverse guesses could be
ventured here It may suggest that Su had known the town of Digne from other sources
before he actually undertook to do the translating based on Wilbours text It is also
possible that not until he encountered Dmdash in rendering an English Les Miseacuterables
did Su begin to check its original spelling in other reference material Whatever the
possibilities are and whichever source or sources the Chinese translator might resort to
for rendition of Dmdash are of little importance here What is significant and noteworthy
is the undeniable conclusion drawn and confirmed from the textual evidence I have
exhibited and the genealogy I have traced that during the act of translating there is
only one major and primary text for Sus reference and that text is most probably
Charles E Wilbours
159
Chapter Five The Authorship of Can Shijie The Devil Is in
the Details of Source-tracing
51 The Problem of Authorship in the Two Versions of Su Manshus Chinese Les
Miseacuterables
As has been stated in the previous chapter Su Manshus 蘇曼殊 rendition of Les
Miseacuterables involves two versions of varied lengths the serialized eleven-chaptered
Can Shehui 慘社會 and the expanded fourteen-chaptered reprint of Can Shijie 慘世
界 The difference between the two versions was caused by the editing and
supplementing in the 1904 offprint after the abortion of Guomin Riribao 國民日日報
on which the original serial was published The 1904 Can Shijie picked up where its
serialized forerunner had left off and wrapped up the translation in fourteen chapters
This enlarged and finalized version bore the subheading 蘇子穀陳由己同譯310 as
opposed to the single authorship in the first appearance of the shorter translation Then
the memorial edition of the 1921 Taidong 泰東 reprint ascribed authorship to Su
Manshu alone
The contradictory phenomenon where Chen Duxiu 陳獨秀 was included in the
authorship of the 1904 offprint but excluded from the authorial heading in the 1921
reprint along with the chapter difference between the newspaper serial and the
book-form republications has triggered critical speculations as to what part Chen
Duxiu really played in the forming of the fourteen-chaptered Can Shijie Did he take
part in the act of rendering or was he just an editor or polisher in the process This
question of authorship or translatorship calls for further research and is the subject of
scrutiny in this chapter
Specifically the first eleven chapters or more precisely the initial ten chapters
plus the first half of the Eleventh Chapter are indisputably authored by Su Manshu
though the content was revised and edited by Chen Duxiu in the 1904 separate as
already witnessed in Chapter Four of the present dissertation However Chen Duxius
name entered the authorship as the last three and a half chapters were appended to the
translation This gave rise to the question of whether the added chapters in the revised
offprint were translated by Su Manshu or by Chen Duxiu or co-rendered by both In
310 Co-translated by Su Zigu 蘇子穀 [Su Manshu] and Chen Youji 陳由己 [Chen Duxiu]
160
this regard no critical consensus has been reached so far In what follows I shall
address the problem in detail and propose an alternative approach to solve the case
52 Clarifications of Sus and Chens Linguistic Faculty and an Alternative
Approach to the Authorship of Can Shijie
Apropos of the problem of authorship or translatorship of the last three-odd
chapters of Can Shijie the views of those in favor of Chen Duxiu being the translator
of the last three-odd chapters can be summed up in the reasons offered by Liu Yazi 柳
亞子 a close friend of Su Manshus
我們知道中國報館的習慣長篇小說總是臨時陸續做的決不會預先
有完整的稿子存在著據仲甫所講似乎報館被封以後曼殊不久即
離開上海那麼此書下半部的續成恐怕未必是曼殊自己的手筆吧
在我最近的主張以為曼殊原稿只到十一回的上半回為止而十一
回的下半回以及十二回至十四回都是仲甫所續成的311 (Can
Shehui yu Can Shijie 428-29)
Liu Yazi based his observation on the general practice of Chinese newspapers at the
time and the absence of Su Manshu after the termination of Guomin Riribao and
concluded that Chen Duxiu aside from editing Su Manshus eleven-odd chapters also
finalized the rendition by offering his supplementary translation which materialized in
the last three-odd chapters making the end-product a fourteen-chaptered novel This
mode of collaboration Liu Yazi believed is what conduced to the inconsistency of
characterization in the Chinese rendition as mentioned in the preceding chapter of the
present dissertation
Given Liu Yazis authoritative status in studies on Su Manshu this supposition
was widely held for a long timemdashuntil Ding Fu-sheng 丁 富 生 voiced his
disagreement by arguing that Su is the sole translator of all the fourteen chapters of
Can Shijie an argument that relegates Chen to the role of minor editorship Dings
conclusion is reached through his examination of Chen Duxius language skills and the
311 We know that as is the practice of newspapers in China serialized novels are always done at the last minute and no complete draft of a novel can have been finished and reserved beforehand According to Zhongfu [Chen Duxiu] Su Manshu seemed to leave Shanghai shortly after the abortion of the newspaper If so the rendition of the last chapters of the book cannot have been done by the hand of Su Manshu Ive come to believe that Su Manshus manuscript covered up to the first half of the eleventh chapter only and that the latter half of Chapter Eleven and Chapter Twelve to Chapter Fourteen were picked up and translated by Zhongfu
161
writing style in Sus works According to Ding Chens foreign language abilities were
not good enough for him to translate Les Miseacuterables and the writing style is consistent
within the whole of Can Shijie as well as across Sus different works Armed with the
personal and textual evidence Ding maintains that Can Shijie was rendered all by Su
Manshu alone
Since Liu Yazi not only was the greatest contributor to the early studies of Su
Manshu but also had the advantage of knowing the translator personally the picture he
offered seems complete and cannot be neglected On the other hand the reasons
provided by Ding Fu-sheng are equally well-argued and seem convincing The
opposing views render the authorship of the Chinese Les Miseacuterables even more opaque
and mysterious Here I would like to propose an alternative perspective to approach the
problem the method of source-tracing through intertextual comparison I have
conducted in the previous chapters may help to decide the real translator(s) of Can
Shijie given the fact that Chen and Su have different backgrounds in language training
In other words by sorting out the original language from which the Chinese translation
most probably stems my study contrives to know the linguistic abilities required for
the job and decide which one of them is more likely to perform the task Because my
approach is contingent on language proficiency an issue already addressed by Ding
Fu-sheng it is necessary to first make some clarifications by inspecting Dings points
with particular concentration on linguistic capability before I propose my standpoint
and reach my conclusion with the help of intertextual comparison and contrast
Of the two observations made by Ding Fu-sheng ie linguistic abilities and
writing style the former is the more decisive one which helps to shape the judgment
In comparison the stylistic consistency in the texts is only secondary in Sus case
functioning as no more than supporting material It is secondary here for the reason
that both as Sus mentor in Chinese and as Sus polisher in translation Chen may also
have contributed to the consistency of writing style in Sus works despite the fact that
there may be some truth in Dings assertion Precisely because it is hard to judge the
degree to which the stylistic uniformity may be attributed to Su or Chen we may not
rely on this alone for decision but require more ample evidence So it is time now to
turn to the question of linguistic capability We may say that Dings judgment of the
authorship of Can Shijie is based most significantly on Chens linguistic facility Here
special attention should be given to Dings particular stance on Chens language skills
I shall first inspect and discuss Dings views before resuming my investigation of the
162
authorship problem of Can Shijie
In order to support his view that Su Manshu finished translating Les Miseacuterables
all by himself that is without the help of Chen Duxiu Ding refers to Chens career of
language learning to demonstrate that in 1903 and 1904 which marked the
appearances of the serialized Can Shehui and the reprinted Can Shijie respectively
Chen Duxius linguistic abilities were not up to the level where he could inspire Su
with anything in French English or Japanese translation let alone supplement Sus
unfinished text with his translation (67) Ding claims that Chen started to learn English
in 1906 and French in 1914 both in Japan as proof that Chen lacked knowledge of
English and French at the time of his editorship for Guomin Riribao in 1903 It is not
clear where Ding got this piece of biographic information about Chen but according to
Tang Baolin 唐 寶 林 and Lin Maosheng 林 茂 生 Chens English and French
education was initiated as early as in 1898 when he was tutored in Qiushi College 求
是書院 in Hangzhou 杭州 Zhejiang 浙江 a new-fashioned institute comparable to
modern senior high school in China (12) and it was in 1907 not in 1906 that Chen
commenced to take English lessons in Seisoku English school 正則英語學校 in
Japan (43) Notwithstanding my corrections to Dings material of Chens
language-training profile do not serve to modify his conclusion about Chens
insufficient English and French knowledge in 1903 and 1904 for Chens stay in Qiushi
College was shorter than a year and between the years 1898 and 1903 no records are
found about Chens continued education in the two languages It is indeed doubtful that
during his term of office as editor to Guomin Riribao in 1903 or during the publication
of the separate of Can Shijie in 1904 Chen could help Su Manshu in the matter of
English or French translation
However Ding Fu-shengs argument about Chen Duxius Japanese capability
during the said period is not as convincing as that about Chens English and French He
traces Chens Japanese learning career to two periods of time before 1903 one from
October 1901 to March 1902 about six months in all the other from September 1902
to March 1903 approximately seven months in total Then he concludes
這前後約一年且並非全力學習日語的日本留學生活對陳獨秀來
講一般日語交際也許沒有問題但要達到精通日語且能翻譯日文
163
版的《悲慘世界》也應是一件難事312 (67)
In other words Ding does not believe that with a year of training in Japanese Chen
could possibly be able to translate from a Japanese Les Miseacuterables This judgment may
make sense in the case of modern Chinese versus modern Japanese for nowadays
Chinese and Japanese have both undergone drastic changes making the two languages
drift further and further apart and rendering it difficult for speakers of the one
language to learn the other and vice versa However it might not hold true more than
100 years back in Chens time around the Meiji 明治 period in Japan when Chinese
characters pronounced differently in Japanese but signifying almost the same sense as
in Chinese dominated the major proportion of the Japanese text With this respect we
may take a look at how Chinese intellectuals at the time saw the relationship between
Chinese and Japanese as opposed to the relationship between Chinese and Western
languages First comes Kang Youweis 康有為 view
習西國文字語言五六年後始能通其文字helliphellip日本helliphellip文字與我同
但文法稍有顛倒學之數月而可大通人人可為譯書之用矣313
(Qing Kaiju Yi Riben Shu Zhe 254)
Kang stressed the convenience resulting from the shared usage of characters with
slight differences in syntactic structure in the two languages and claimed that several
months was all it took for a Chinese to gain a good command of Japanese and to
translate from Japanese A similar opinion is also voiced by Liang Qichao 梁啟超 in
his argument for the advantages of learning Japanese
學英文者經五六年而始成其初學成也尚多窒礙猶未必能讀其政
治學資生學智學群學等之書也而學日本文者數日而小成
數月而大成日本之學已盡為我有矣天下之事孰有快於此者
314 (1372)
312 Totaling a year or so Chens sojourns in Japan when he was not bent whole-heartedly on learning Japanese may give him the competence to engage in daily conversation in Japanese but it should be very difficult for him to master Japanese to the degree of being able to translate the Japanese version of Les Miseacuterables 313 It takes five to six years to be able to read a Western language Japan uses the same characters as we do though Japanese syntax is slightly different from Chinese It takes no more than several months to master Japanese so everyone can be trained to translate Japanese books 314 It takes at least five or six years for [Chinese] learners of English to grasp that language but this does not mean a good grasp With still many difficulties in this phase they are not necessarily able to read Western books on politics economics philosophy sociology and what not In contrast learners of Japanese take several days to understand Japanese and several months to master it In this way all fields of Japanese learning can be put to our use and benefit What thing in the world can be
164
It should be noted here that what is called Chinese or Japanese in the cited
passages is not the Chinese or Japanese used today In fact Kang and Liang had
classical Chinese and Meiji Japanese in mind when they judged the ease of learning
Japanese from the standpoint of an intellectual with a firm background of classical
Chinese education Modern Chinese by contrast is a vernacular vastly distinct from
classical Chinese to such an extent that they can be considered two different tongues A
similar case goes to the transition of Japanese Modern Japanese has gone through a
great deal of de-sinicizing transformation from Meiji Japanese with greatly reduced
and simplified kanjis 漢字 and an explosion of gailaigo 外来語 borrowing to
mention just the most outwardly apparent The growing distancing between Chinese
and Japanese in modern times means that what Kang and Liang stated above cannot be
applied to modern Chinese speakers who do not have a classical education background
as firm as theirs In other words for the issue we are discussing the judgment of the
ease or difficulty of Japanese should be made according to the standards of educated
people in Chen Duxius time such as Kang and Liang
Both Kang and Liang thought that whereas five years of training in a Western
language was not enough for one to get a good command of it one needed only several
months to master Japanese The sense of mastering a foreign language may be open to
interpretation and there may be doubt about whether Kang and Liang had the same
sense of proficiency in mind when they talked about linguistic mastery within several
months of learning In Kangs case it is clear that his criterion lies in the capability of
translation if one understands a foreign language to the point of being able to translate
from it one can be said to master it When one translates from a foreign language the
primary prerequisite is a good reading comprehension In other words in terms of the
four linguistic skills of reading writing speaking and listening Kangs stress is
primarily on reading comprehension of a foreign language an ability that allows one to
do translating judging from the fact that lacking the other three skills does not nullify
ones ability to read that foreign language ie to translate from that foreign language
In comparison to Kangs somewhat narrow view on language Liang makes more
differentiations in foreign language skills Recognizing various aspects of linguistic
skills Liang further clarifies in the same essay
有學日本語之法有作日本文之法有學日本文之法三者當分別言
accomplished more quickly than this
165
之學日本語者一年可成作日本文者半年可成學日本文者數日小
成數月大成余之所言者學日本文以讀日本書也日本文漢字居
十之七八其專用假名不用漢字者惟脈絡詞及語助詞等耳其文
法常以實字在句首虛字在句末通其例而顛倒讀之將其脈絡詞語
助詞之通行者標而出之習視之而熟記之則已可讀書而無窒閡矣
315 (1372)
Here Liang is more specific in discriminating different linguistic skills (speaking
reading writing) and showing the basic difference in syntax between Japanese and
Chinese Like Kang he also accentuates reading ability as his point in promoting
mastery of Japanese By now it becomes more than evident that both Kang and Liang
set great store by reading comprehension as the primary goal of learning the Japanese
language and their beliefs converge on the time required for achieving the reading
ability for translation from Japanese several months
The above theory shared by Kang and Liang about Japanese learning finds
support in practice in the person of Lu Xun 魯迅 Lu Xuns Japanese education began
in mid-1902 after he had acquired a solid background in classical Chinese training in
China A year later in Zhejiang Chao 浙江潮 appeared his translation of Morita
Shikens 森田思軒 Fantine no Moto 芳梯之源 a Japanese version of Hugos
LOrigine de Fantine The highly acclaimed quality of Lu Xus rendition from
Japanese testifies to the fact that a Chinese with a good classical Chinese background
can indeed achieve a considerable reading comprehension of Meiji Japanese to the
degree of being able to translate from it within a year of training By the same token
Chen Duxius one-year education in Japanese may well give him at least the ability to
read a literary work in Japanese
Kangs and Liangs views manifest that the kinship between Meiji Japanese and
classical Chinese was greatly felt by Chinese intellectuals on the late-Qing stage where
Chen Duxiu was a character Ding Fu-sheng does not think Chens one-year training in
315 We need to distinguish the different times needed for obtaining the three skills in Japanese speaking writing and reading It takes one year to be able to speak the Japanese language well half a year to be able to write in Japanese several days to be able to read it and several months to be able to read well in Japanese My emphasis is on gaining the ability to read Japanese books Chinese characters account for seventy to eighty percent of a Japanese text Kanas are used only as indicators of syntactic relations or auxiliaries of mood specification Japanese syntax usually places content words in the front part of a sentence and closes a sentence with function words As a rule of thumb by reversing the order of Japanese phrases and marking up the auxiliaries for analysis one gets to read Japanese without difficulty after some practicing and memorizing
166
Japanese could possibly endow him with sufficient capacity for reading and translating
a Japanese version of Les Miseacuterables This judgment would be quite plausible if Ding
were referring to a modern Chinese student learning modern Japanese without enough
training in classical Chinese However Dings opinion may not be applicable to Chen
Duxiu an acknowledged man of letter who passed an imperial examination at the early
age of seventeen (in 1896) which is proof enough that Chens classical Chinese
background is unquestionable Therefore the likelihood is greater than not that Chens
knowledge of Japanese would sufficiently empower him to read a Japanese Les
Miseacuterables well enough after taking lessons in Japanese for one year in the Japanese
environment Ding Fu-shengs argument about Chen Duxius language competence
holds for English and French but his denial of Chens ability to translate from
Japanese is based on flimsy reasoning A more plausible and probable case would be
that with year-long training in Japanese Chen was able to read Japanese and translate
from it if he chose to
Interestingly while Ding Fu-sheng is negative about Chen Duxius foreign
language competence for translation he is positive about Su Manshus multilingual
calibre especially about English Japanese and French the three possible language
sources for Sus Chinese rendition of Les Miseacuterables While there is little question
about Sus proficiency in English and Japanese the claim that at the age of nineteen
the time when Can Shehui was serialized Su also mastered the French language is
open to dispute Of all the available biographies written about Su very little is
mentioned of his French education The only information found about it is provided by
Liu Yazi quoted in Chapter Four of the present dissertation but it is couched in
uncertain terms Liu Yazi seems to base his argument on his understanding that Hugos
novel which Su translated is written in French so he comes to the optimistic
conclusion that Su must have learned French in Japan in his adolescent years which
gave him the competence to translate from French However there have been no
records in any of his biographies or documents to show that Su ever received a formal
or long enough training in French either before or after he went to Japan for studies at
age fourteen
Ding Fu-sheng presents some material as proof of Sus French capacity He first
cites some statements including Liu Yazis and Li Weis 李蔚 to show that Sus
French proficiency is well-documented For example Li is quoted as saying Su
167
Manshu is well versed in French very talented and knowledgeable316 (307) However
the claim of Sus French command found in many biographies should be taken with a
grain of salt In the first place with the exception of Liu Yazis none of the biographies
or chronologies on Su Manshu provides any information about Sus ever undergoing
any training in French It is curious that a biography on Su while profuse in describing
Sus tutelage in Chinese Japanese English and Sanskrit should say nothing about
when or where Su learned the French language Most of them just mention Sus
mastery of French succinctly and stop at that without ever giving any further details
Li Weis comment above is a typical case in this regard How was Su Manshus French
competence at the age of nineteen Was it good enough for him to translate from
French specifically from Hugos Les Miseacuterables This question calls for more
substantial material to settle
Another piece of information presented by Ding concerns what Su writes in the
beginning of his Wenxue Yinyuan Zixu317
先是在香江讀「Candlin」師所譯《葬花詞》318詞氣湊泊語無增
減若法譯《離騷經》319《琵琶行》320諸篇雅麗遠遜原作321 (Su
Manshu Dashi Quanji 102 Ding 67)
According to Ding Sus description of the French translations being far inferior to the
Chinese originals betrays the fact that Su is able to read French and evaluate the
quality of a French translation (67) Here attention should be drawn to the fact that
Wenxue Yinyuan 文學因緣 322 an anthology of English translations of classical
Chinese poetry was published in 1908 and Sus preface to it was finished in 1907
when he was twenty-three which is four years later than the appearance of Can Shehui
Sus French ability at the age of twenty-three does not guarantee that he was equally
good at French at age nineteen to say nothing of the doubt that Sus comment on the
316 The original Chinese 蘇曼殊精通法文才富五車 317 文學因緣自序 (Preface to Affinities in Literature) 318 Zanghuaci (The Flower-burial Song) is a song by Lin Daiyu 林黛玉 a female lead in the Chinese novel The Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓夢 by Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 in the Qing Dynasty 319 Li Sao (On Encountering Sorrow) is a long lyrical ballad by Qu Yuan 屈原 in ancient China 320 Pipa Xing (Song of the Pipa Player) is a long lyrical poem by Bai Juyi 白居易 in ancient China 321 I first read my teacher [George T] Candlins [English] translation of Zanghuaci [The Flower-burial Song] in Hong Kong It was condensed and soft-spoken not too much and not too little for the Chinese original By contrast the French translations of Chinese epics such as Li Sao [On Encountering Sorrow] and Pipa Xing [Song of the Pipa Player] are far inferior to the originals in elegance and beauty 322 Literally Affinities in Literature
168
French translations necessarily signifies he had the linguistic capability for the job
Such a comment may also be taken to mean a generalized impression or knowledge Su
had obtained second-handedly not necessarily from his own studied observation For
an example here we can look at what Su says in the preface after the beginning
sentences quoted above In this prefatory piece to Wenxue Yinyuan while talking about
his views on poetry translation Su also inserted a passage about comparative
linguistics
況詩歌之美在乎節族長短之間慮非譯意所能盡也衲謂文詞簡麗
相俱者莫若梵文漢文次之歐洲番書瞠乎後矣323 (Su Manshu
Dashi Quanji 102)
Here Su makes a comparison among Sanskrit Chinese and European languages Does
it denote that besides Sanskrit and Chinese he knows all the European vernaculars so
that he can pass his judgment on them Of course not It is more of an arbitrary
judgment based on generalization than of an indication that he is well conversant with
all the European languages While Su might be well-read in the fields of languages and
literatures around the world the expression of his view on the European tongues is not
equal to his mastery of them By the same token the voicing of his comment on the
French translations of Li Sao and Pipa Xing is too slender a cue from which to
pick up the threads of his French proficiency If Su did know French more ample
evidence is needed for us to know to what extent he mastered it Since to translate a
language requires more than a medium level of linguistic proficiency especially
relevant here is the question of whether Su was equipped with enough French
knowledge to translate from French particularly at the age of nineteen when he did
the Chinese version of Les Miseacuterables So far there is nothing in the literature to show
that
Ding Fu-sheng goes on to furnish another piece of material which he believes
serves to demonstrate Sus French capability In 1912 Taipingyang Bao 太平洋報324
put on two advertisements announcing Sus intention to translate La Dame aux
Cameacutelias by Alexandre Dumas fils The first one runs like this
林譯《巴黎茶花女遺事》為我國輸入譯本小說之鼻祖久已名重一時
323 And the beauty of poetry lies in the alternating length and shortness of its rhythm and I am afraid that the mere rendition of the meaning of a poem by no means does it justice If we talk about languages that combine simplicity with beauty I as a monk would say that Sanskrit is definitely number one Chinese ranks second and European languages fall far behind 324 The Pacific News
169
頃曼殊攜小仲馬原書見示並云「林譯刪節過多殊非完璧得暇擬
複譯一過以餉國人」必為當世文學界所歡迎也325 (Ding 67 Liu
Xinhuang 89)
A couple of days later appeared a second announcement in the paper quoted by Ding
as follows
曼殊重譯《茶花女遺事》前日報端已略言之漢文譯本已兩見乃
並曼殊之譯而三矣今以天生情種而譯是篇吾知必有洛陽紙貴之
聲價也326 (Ding 67 Liu Xinhuang 89)
Su Manshus presentation of a copy of the French original together with his publicized
intention to come up with a third Chinese translation prompts Ding to come to the
conclusion that although Su did not translate La Dame aux Cameacutelias after all his
proficiency in French can be verified by his decision to translate from French after he
ran over the French original 327 (Ding 67) However two problems are worth
reconsidering here First the question of time like the previous instance is again
neglected by Ding The placement of the advertisements happened in 1912 when Su
was twenty-eight which means nine years had elapsed since Sus Chinese version of
Les Miseacuterables first saw the light of day To claim Sus French capability nine years
after the event of actual translation is not equal to certifying that Su had the same
linguistic competence at the time of translation What is shown in Taipingyang Bao
cannot be evidence enough to prove Sus command of French at the age of nineteen
Then also noteworthy is the semantic subtlety in the announcements The news
reported that Su proposed to produce another Chinese rendition of the French story but
it never said the translation would be based on the French original Dings assumption
that Su would have translated from French had he actually undertaken the project is a
personalized reading which is definitely not the only reading of the advertisements
325 Lin Shus translation of La Dame aux Cameacutelias is the first translated novel from the West to enjoy fame and appreciation here in China Lately Manshu has shown us a copy of the French original by Alexandre Dumas fils with the observation that Li Shus rendition is too abridged to give a complete outlook of the original Manshu said that granted the time he would intend to provide another translation to entertain our Chinese people This will surely be an event welcomed by the contemporary literary circles 326 Manshus plan to offer another translation of La Dame aux Cameacutelias was announced briefly in this paper the other day So far there have been two Chinese versions of the French work and the advent of Sus translation will mark a third We can predict that Sus innate sentimentality will certainly make his translation a best-seller 327 The original Chinese 茶花女的翻譯雖未完成但蘇曼殊能通讀法文版茶花女並打算依原
文重新翻譯茶花女的情況也進一步證實了蘇曼殊確實通曉法語
170
Indeed if we consider the sources from which Su could obtain knowledge of La
Dame aux Cameacutelias it becomes more than obvious that to translate from French is by
no means the only scenario for Su Now we may attempt to trace Sus familiarity with
La Dame aux Cameacutelias At the time of the first publication of Lin Shus translation
titled Chahuanuuml Yishi 茶 花 女 遺 事 328 in Chinese in 1899 Su was studying
assiduously in Japan While the sensational stir caused by Lins rendition on the
Chinese mainland might not have traveled overseas to reach Su at the time several
years later Su must have come to know what Chahuanuuml Yishi is about In 1906 an arts
club called Chunliushe 春柳社 was founded by Li Shutong 李叔同 Zeng Xiaogu
曾孝谷 and other Chinese students in Japan on February 11 of the following year the
club launched its maiden performance on stage and the show they put on was
Chahuanuuml 茶花女329 a theatrical version of La Dame aux Cameacutelias (Zhang Wei 35)
Two days later Su went to Japan with the married couple Liu Shipei 劉師培 and He
Zhen 何震 Though he failed to catch the show the success of the stage performance
well-circulated in the Chinese community in Japan cannot have escaped Su This
suggests that Su may have known something about the story of La Dame aux Cameacutelias
several years before he came to the decision to translate it in 1912 Sus knowledge of
the novel by no means comes solely from the French original
Second I would like to refer to another passage not quoted by Ding which
immediately follows the cited text in the second advertisement in Taipingyang Bao
After making the prediction that Sus version would achieve the best-selling status the
news announcement went on to provide more background
日本早稻田大學出版部譯本名曰『椿姬』較漢譯為詳細英文亦有
兩譯小仲馬之作不徒然矣330 (qtd in Liu Xinhuang 89)
Here it is clear that by the time the newspaper made the announcement there had been
at least two English versions and one Japanese version not to mention the two
shortened Chinese translations With so many versions for his reference especially
when English and Japanese were his two most familiar languages besides Chinese it is
doubtful that Su would refer only to the French original for rendition Chances are
328 Literally The Sad Story of the Deceased Lady of Camellias 329 Lady of Camellias 330 The Japanese version [of La Dame aux Cameacutelias] entitled Tsubakihime was published by Waseda University Press It is a more detailed translation than the Chinese ones There have also been two English translations The effort of Alexandre Dumas fils in writing this novel is not futile
171
good that he would havemdashhad he actually undertaken the translationmdashdepended a lot
on the English and Japanese versions for translation Working from French is an option
that is simply not convenient for Sumdashnot even feasible given the busy schedule that
led him to shuttle back and forth between several sites in China and Japan during that
particular period of time in 1912
Similarly Sus criticism of Lin Shus version of La Dame aux Cameacutelias as 刪節
過多殊非完璧331 does not necessarily mean that he had read the French original
more probably his acquaintance which allowed him to pass intertextual judgment with
the content of the French novel may also come from the English Japanese and
Chinese sources mentioned above Likewise the display of the copy of the French
original in Sus hands is not tantamount to the promise that he would use the French
original as his primary source of translation given that Japanese English and Chinese
versions of the novel were already available then for his reference It does not follow
either that Su had a knowledge of the French language that was good enough for him
to handle French translation
To sum up what has been argued against Dings views on Su Manshus French
ability Dings affirmation of Sus French proficiency is grounded on the
impressionistic statements in biographical material that lacks substantial records and
also on his anachronistic reading of the Preface to Wenxue Yinyuan and the news
announcements in Taipingyang Bao What Ding demonstrates here cannot lead to the
surety that Su was proficient enough in French at the age of nineteen to translate from
French More ample and cogent evidence is needed to ascertain Sus French ability
particularly at the time of his rendering Can Shehui My contradiction of Dings
optimistic views is not meant to negate the possibility that Su Manshu had the
capability of translating from French but rather to point out that so far no forceful and
decided evidence can be found to back up the presumption that at the age of nineteen
Su Manshus French competence was already good enough for rendition from the
French language particularly from Hugos Les Miseacuterables a difficult and complicated
novel
The above rectification of Ding Fu-shengs argument serves to weaken Dings
conclusion of Su Manshu being the only translator of Can Shijie and open the
possibility that Chen might play a part in the rendering with the help of his Japanese
331 too abridged to give a complete outlook of the original
172
reading comprehension In order to polish Sus manuscript and even come up with his
own rendition to enrich and finalize Sus work Chen could only refer to Japanese
versions for his criteria in editing and rendering because on the one hand his French
and English capabilities were not good enough to support his reading the original work
or the English translations that were available to him and on the other hand no
Chinese rendition of the main text of Les Miseacuterables had existed by 1903 that could
serve as his reference document Japanese versions were the only sources Chen could
consult if he needed to familiarize himself with the content of the French novel
As a matter of fact the above discussion about Chen Duxius Japanese
proficiency sheds some light on Sus translation of Les Miseacuterables if we look at
another piece of material In the September 6 1926 interview with Chen Duxiu Liu
Yazi inquired about the collaboration of Su with Chen in rendering Les Miseacuterables to
which question Chen answered
《慘世界》是曼殊譯的取材於囂俄的《哀史》而加以穿插我曾
經潤飾過一下曼殊此書的譯筆亂添亂造對原著者很不忠實而
我的潤飾更是馬虎到一塌糊塗332 (Ji Chen Zhongfu Xiansheng
guanyu Su Manshu de Tanhua 283)
As colleagues Chen and Su were both regular contributors to Guomin Riribao the
daily paper where Can Shehui was premiered Chens polishing of Sus manuscript and
his remark of Sus rendition as very unfaithful to the original betrays the fact that
Chen had at least some knowledge of the original However what is intriguing here is
that it is Aishi instead of Les Miseacuterables that Chen was referring to as the original
Aishi 哀史 (also romanized as Aishi in Japanese) is a Japanese kanji title for Hugos
Les Miseacuterables Until the serialized publication of the relatively more complete version
titled Aamujou 噫無情 by Kuroiwa Ruikou 黒岩淚香 from 1902 to 1903 Les
Miseacuterables was commonly known as Aishi in the literary circles in Japan even though
there were only fragments of Les Miseacuterables in Japanese so far and none of them was
actually entitled thus For example in his preface to Fantine no Moto in 1888
Morita Shiken referred to Les Miseacuterables as Aishi (Fantine no Moto 44) when there
was as yet no complete translation of it in Japanese In 1892 Hara Houitsuan 原抱一
332 Can Shijie is translated by Manshu from Hugos Aishi [Les Miseacuterables] with interpolations and I have done some polishing on his manuscript Sus rendition here is very unfaithful to the original for its concoctions and inventions and my polishing was done in a rather careless way
173
庵 also mentioned Aishi as the original of his excerpted translation about the story of
Jean Valjean (Jean Valjean 379) also at a time when no complete Japanese version
of Les Miseacuterables was found In short in the last decades of the nineteenth century
when Hugo began to capture the imagination of the Japanese literati the extracted
translations of Les Miseacuterables in Japanese did not bear the title of レミゼラブル
(the phonetic transliteration of the original title) as it later came to be known but were
usually retitled according to the episodes rendered such as Hara Houitsuans ABC
Kumiai ABC 組合 and Jean Valjean Aishi was a Japanese title rather than a
Japanese translation for the French original work The appearance of Kuroiwas
rendition from 1902 on gave the novel a new Japanese christening as Aamujou
It came as no surprise that the common use of Chinese characters in Japan and
China enabled Chinese literati such as Chen Duxiu to expediently adopt the Japanese
kanji in the title for reference to the French novel in the Chinese context To allude to
Hugos work in a Japanese way seems to imply some overtones in Chens case if we
direct our attention to Chens experience of overseas studies Specifically Kuroiwas
Aamujou was published serially from October 8 1902 to August 22 1903 in 150
installments in Yorozu Chouhou 萬朝報 Chen Duxius second study tour in Japan
(from September 1902 to March 1903 as mentioned before) coincided with the
serialization for half a year Along with what was stated in the previous paragraph this
coincidence points to the likelihood that Chens knowledge of Les Miseacuterables might
come from the variously abridged Japanese translations including Kuroiwas version
When Chen undertook the task of editing and revising Sus manuscript chances are
best that he used Japanese versions as his point of reference
So far I have demonstrated that Chen was most likely equipped with a sufficiently
good Japanese reading competence which allowed him to obtain information of Les
Miseacuterables from the Japanese versions However the question remains whether Chen
actually took over the translation of the last three-odd chapters of Can Shijie besides
performing the polishing job The answer to this question can be derived from two
perspectives First in my last quote where Chen Duxiu replied to Liu Yazi about his
way of collaboration with Su Manshu Chen mentions nothing about his ever doing
any of the translation except giving the unequivocal expressions that Can Shijie is
translated by Manshu and that his polishing was done in a rather careless way If
Chen had contributed more than three chapters of translation to the undertaking there
174
would have been no need for him to be shy of revealing the fact Therefore Chens
statements should be taken at face value to mean that he did not supplement the
rendition of the last three-odd chapters of Can Shijie but simply played his role as
polisher
Second judging from the fact that Chens language background capacitated him
for Japanese rather than French or English reading Chen would most likely have
referred to Japanese versions of Les Miseacuterables for inspiration if he had translated the
additional chapters of Can Shijie In order to find out if Chen really did the translating
we may conduct an interlingual intertextual comparison for clues to see whether the
final three-odd chapters of Can Shijie bear closer resemblance to Japanese texts or
English versions or the French original If the Chinese text is derived from Japanese
then we can be sure that the additional translation in Can Shijie is ascribed to Chen
Duxiu333 Otherwise Chen was only an editor and polisher in the formation of the
Chinese Les Miseacuterables
53 In Search of the Most Likely Source and the Most Likely Translator
Interlingual and Intertextual Comparative Analysis
The texts that are selected for comparison in French English Japanese and
Chinese are the same as those juxtaposed for comparison in Chapter Four of the
present dissertation for the same reasons as provided therein To be noted the
comparative juxtaposition is to embrace the final three-odd chapters of Can Shijie but
since Chapters Eleven and Twelve and the first half of Chapter Thirteen are of a
digressive plot line which is not rendered from the stories of Les Miseacuterables but is
concocted by the translator my intertextual studies will exclude the digression and be
targeted on the translation alone which covers the text from middle Chapter Thirteen
to the Fourteenth Chapter For convenience of further reference each example will be
numbered in the following ten cases which serve to illustrate the Chinese texts
relationship to the other foreign versions
Example 1 In the original story the part of the flashback where Jean Valjean was
given a sum of money upon release from prison is recounted in the following passages
333 It should be noted that although Su Manshu who was versed in Japanese could also base his translation on a Japanese version the intertextual comparison we conducted in Chapter Three of the dissertation has shown that his Chinese text stems from English rather than Japanese versions Therefore if the closing three-odd chapters are rendered from Japanese it is rather unlikely that the translation is done by Su
175
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Il avait calculeacute que sa masse
pendant son seacutejour au bagne avait ducirc
seacutelever agrave cent soixante et onze francs
Il est juste dajouter quil avait oublieacute
de faire entrer dans ses calculs le repos
forceacute des dimanches et fecirctes qui pour
dix-neuf ans entraicircnait une diminution
de vingt-quatre francs environ Quoi
quil en fucirct cette masse avait eacuteteacute
reacuteduite par diverses retenues locales
agrave la somme de cent neuf francs quinze
sous qui lui avait eacuteteacute compteacutee agrave sa
sortie
Il ny avait rien compris et se
croyait leacuteseacute Disons le mot voleacute (LM
I 151)
He had calculated that his savings
during his stay at the galleys would
amount to a hundred and seventy-one
francs It is proper to say that he had
forgotten to take into account the
compulsory rest on Sundays and holydays
which in nineteen years required a
deduction of about twenty-four francs
However that might be his savings had
been reduced by various local charges to
the sum of a hundred and nine francs and
fifteen sous which was counted out to him
on his departure
He understood nothing of this and
thought himself wronged or to speak
plainly robbed (82)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
he had calculated that his
earnings during his stay at the bagne
should have amounted to 171 francs
We are bound to add that he had
omitted to take into his calculations
the forced rest of Sundays and
holidays which during nineteen
years entailed a diminution of about
24 francs However this might be the
sum was reduced through various
local stoppages to 109 francs 15
sous which were paid to him when
he left the bagne He did not
understand it all and fancied that he
He had calculated that his savings
during his stay at the galleys would amount
to a hundred and seventy-one francs It is
proper to say that he had forgotten to take
into account the compulsory rest on Sundays
and holydays which in nineteen years
required a deduction of about twenty-four
francs However that might be his savings
had been reduced by various local charges
to the sum of a hundred and nine francs and
fifteen sous which was counted out to him
on his departure
He understood nothing of this and
thought himself wronged or to speak
176
had been robbed (LM [1880] I 83) plainly robbed (I 67-68)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
He had calculated that his earnings
during his sojourn in the galleys ought to
amount to a hundred and seventy-one
francs It is but just to add that he had
forgotten to include in his calculations the
forced repose of Sundays and festival
days during nineteen years which entailed
a diminution of about eighty francs At all
events his hoard had been reduced by
various local levies to the sum of one
hundred and nine francs fifteen sous
which had been counted out to him on his
departure
He had understood nothing of this and
had thought himself wronged Let us say
the wordmdashrobbed (I 92)
He had calculated that his
earnings during his stay at the galleys
should have amounted to a hundred and
seventy-one francs We are bound to
add that he had omitted to take into his
calculations the forced rest of Sundays
and holidays which during nineteen
years entailed a diminution of about
twenty-four francs However this might
be the sum was reduced through
various local restrictions to a hundred
and nine francs fifteen sous which
were counted out to him at his
departure
He did not understand it all and
fancied that he had been wronged (XI
194-95)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)334
helliphellip其そ
れから在獄中ざいごくちう
の工錢こうせん
を受取う け と
るに及およ
び彼か
れの腹はら
の中うち
で計算けいさん
して二百 法ふらん
の餘よ
に為なつ
て居ゐ
る事こと
と思おも
ッて居ゐ
た所ところ
が 纔わづか
に百 法ふらん
の餘よ
しか無な
い是これ
は多分休たぶんやすみ
の日ひ
の分ぶん
や種しゅ
々〲
の費用ひ よ う
を差引さしひか
れた結果けっくわ
で有あ
らうけれど彼か
れは
helliphellip當其在監
中做工所得工價
除去用度還應存百
零九個銀角子和九
個銅角子不料時運
不濟盡被強人搶劫
334 All the Chinese passages of Can Shijie in this section are quoted from Su Manshus Manshu Dashi Quanji 曼殊大師全集
177
爾さう
は思おも
はぬ確たしか
に役人やくにん
に半分はんぶん
だけ盜ぬす
まれた者もの
と信しん
じた
是これ
に就つ
けても世よ
の中なか
の憎にく
さが増ま
した335 (I 31)
去了一些兒也不能
留下336 (178)
Here attention is drawn to the sum received by the protagonist as he was set free by the
prison Closely rendering the French original the English versions detailedly describe
how some amounts were subtracted from Jean Valjeans original wage of one hundred
and seventy-one francs for various reasons making the ultimate remainder one
hundred and nine francs and fifteen sous The Japanese version is less precise and even
erroneous in the expression of the amounts It presents an approximate sum of initially
two hundred-odd francs which was ultimately reduced to one hundred-odd francs The
Chinese rendition greatly shortening the narration only states the eventual sum as one
hundred and nine silver coins and nine copper coins without revealing the original
value Despite the shifts in monetary unit and the numerical deviation in the part of
copper coin the Chinese version is obviously derived from the Western texts rather
than from the Japanese in that the rough sum of one hundred-odd francs given in the
Japanese text cannot have inspired the Chinese translator to come up with the definite
value of one hundred and nine silver coins a value that corresponds to what is
expressed in the texts in French and English Therefore this example serves to argue
against the Japanese version as a possible source for the Chinese translation
Example 2 In the meticulous portrayal of the process of Jean Valjeans act of
stealing the bishops silverware the manners in which the hero attempted to enter his
hosts bedroom are described as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Louverture eacutetait assez grande
maintenant pour quil pucirct passer Mais il y
avait pregraves de la porte une petite table qui
faisait avec elle un angle gecircnant et qui
barrait lentreacutee
The opening was now wide
enough for him to pass through but
there was a small table near the door
which with it formed a troublesome
angle and which barred the entrance
335 Afterwards when he got to receive his earnings for the labor he had done in jail he had calculated the total wage at more than two hundred francs in his mind However he got only one hundred-odd francs instead The difference might have been the result of deduction of rest days and miscellaneous expenses But he did not think so he was convinced that half of what he was supposed to get must have just been stolen by the jailer and so his enmity toward the world grew more bitter 336 He labored in jail and saved an amount of one hundred and nine silver coins and nine copper coins after paying some expenses As ill luck would have it he was left all penniless after his savings were robbed by bandits
178
Il prit son parti et poussa une troisiegraveme
fois la porte plus eacutenergiquement que les
deux premiegraveres Cette fois il y eut un gond
mal huileacute qui jeta tout agrave coup dans cette
obscuriteacute un cri rauque et prolongeacute
Jean Valjean tressaillit Le bruit de ce
gond sonna dans son oreille avec quelque
chose deacuteclatant et de formidable comme le
clairon du jugement dernier (LM I 157)
He so determined and pushed the
door a third time harder than before
This time a rusty hinge suddenly sent
out into the darkness a harsh and
prolonged creak
Jean Valjean shivered The noise of
this hinge sounded in his ears as clear
and terrible as the trumpet of the
Judgment Day (85)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
and the opening was soon large
enough for him to pass through But
there was near the door a small table
which formed an awkward angle with
it and barred the entrance
He made up his mind and
pushed the door a third time more
energetically still This time there was a
badly oiled hinge which suddenly
uttered a hoarse prolonged cry in the
darkness Jean Valjean started the
sound of the hinge smote his ear
startlingly and formidably as if it had
been the trumpet of the day of
judgment (LM [1880] I 86)
The opening was now wide enough
for him to pass through but there was a
small table near the door which with it
formed a troublesome angle and which
barred the entrance
He so determined and pushed the door
a third time harder than before This time
a rusty hinge suddenly sent out into the
darkness a harsh and prolonged creak
Jean Valjean shivered The noise of this
hinge sounded in his ears as clear and
terrible as the trumpet of the Judgment
Day (I 70)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
The opening was now large enough
to allow him to pass But near the door
there stood a little table which formed an
embarrassing angle with it and barred the
The opening was now large
enough for him to pass through But
there was near the door a small table
which formed an awkward angle with it
179
entrance
He decided on his course of action and
gave the door a third push more energetic
than the two preceding This time a badly
oiled hinge suddenly emitted amid the
silence a hoarse and prolonged cry
Jean Valjean shuddered The noise of
the hinge rang in his ears with something
of the piercing and formidable sound of
the trump of the Day of Judgment (I 96)
and barred the entrance
He made up his mind and pushed the
door a third time more energetically
still This time there was a badly-oiled
hinge which suddenly uttered a hoarse
prolonged cry in the darkness
Jean Valjean shivered The sound of
this hinge smote his ear startlingly and
formidably as if it had been the trumpet
of the day of judgment (XI 202-203)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
其そ
れは扨置さ て お
き戶と
が開あ
いて先ま
づ嬉うれ
しやと一步進ひとあしすゝ
む足許あしもと
に小ちさ
い臺だい
が有ツた其そ
れが彼か
の足あし
に 掛かゝつ
て倒たふ
れ靜しづか
な室へや
に異樣い や う
な物音ものおと
を為な
したビク
ビクして居ゐ
る彼か
れの耳みゝ
には 殆ほとん
ど 警 鐘けいしよう
を打う
た
れた樣やう
に感かん
じ身動み う ご
きも為な
し得え
で其その
まゝ蹙すく
ん
だhelliphellip337 (I 33)
又推一下門又稍啟足容一
人出入華賤便挨身進去不
料有一小几攔阻不能前進
華賤再將門一推只因用力過
猛將窗上之鐵螺絲震下豁
琅的一聲響亮華賤嚇得渾身
發抖不止急忙抽身跑出來
了338 (179)
The above ways of describing the process of Jean Valjeans entering the bishops room
show a similarity between the Western texts and the Chinese translation and the
Japanese texts alienation from them To begin with the French the English and the
Chinese all highlight the narrowness of the door opening
Hugo Louverture eacutetait assez grande maintenant pour quil pucirct passer
Wilbour The opening was now wide enough for him to pass through
Richmond The opening was now wide enough for him to pass through
337 To put that aside after he opened the door he took one joyous step into the room but was tripped by the small raised threshold at his feet The tripping created some unusual noise in the quiet room He cowered in horror frozen on the spot as if at the sound of the alarm going off 338 Jean Valjean gave another push to the door which opened more to the point of allowing one person to pass through He tried to edge in but was barred by a small side table in there He pushed the door further with such force that a screw on the window was shaken off with a jingling noise that sent shudders of horror to the intruder He retreated in a fluster
180
Wraxall the opening was soon large enough for him to pass through
Hapgood The opening was now large enough to allow him to pass
Walton et al The opening was now large enough for him to pass through
Su 門又稍啟足容一人出入339
By contrast the Japanese version mentions nothing of this Then the Chinese and the
Western texts all tell of the heros being tripped by a small table as he tried to enter
whereas in the Japanese passage the guest stumbled over the raised threshold
Hugo une petite table
Wilbour a small table
Richmond a small table
Wraxall a small table
Hapgood a little table
Walton et al a small table
Kuroiwa 小ちさ
い臺だい
340
Su 小几341
Moreover as regards the noise it is described respectively as coming from the friction
of a hinge in the French and English from a falling screw from the window in the
Chinese and from the heros tripping in the Japanese
Hugo un gond mal huileacute
Wilbour a rusty hinge
Richmond a rusty hinge
Wraxall a badly oiled hinge
Hapgood a badly oiled hinge
Walton et al a badly-oiled hinge
Kuroiwa 其そ
れが彼か
の足あし
に 掛かゝつ
て倒たふ
れ 靜しづか
な室へや
に異樣い や う
な物音ものおと
を為な
した342
Su 將窗上之鐵螺絲震下豁琅的一聲響亮343
Although the Chinese is not identical to the English in every detail it is evidently
closer to the English than it is to the Japanese in the general mode of description
339 The door opened more to the point of allowing one person to pass through 340 the small raised threshold 341 a small side table 342 But he was tripped at his feet by the raised threshold The tripping created some unusual noise in the quiet room 343 A screw on the window was shaken off with a jingling noise
181
Finally as to Jean Valjeans reaction to the creaking noise all the versions contain a
similar depiction of the heros shivering except the Japanese text which has the
protagonist frozen on the spot in fear
Hugo Jean Valjean tressaillit
Wilbour Jean Valjean shivered
Richmond Jean Valjean shivered
Wraxall Jean Valjean started
Hapgood Jean Valjean shuddered
Walton et al Jean Valjean shivered
Kuroiwa 身動み う ご
きも為な
し得え
で其その
まゝ蹙すく
んだ344
Su 華賤嚇得渾身發抖不止345
Incidentally although judging from the description of Jean Valjeans reaction to the
noise the Western texts are all possible sources for the Chinese text Wraxalls version
is the least likely one for its choice of diction started denotes only a sudden slight
movement of the body different from the trembling motion described in the other
Western texts and the Chinese one This serves to offer another clue against Wraxall
when my inquiry was dealing with the source-tracing of Su Manshus Can Shehui in
Chapter Four of the present dissertation Anyway all the above instances contribute to
the present judgment that the Japanese version cannot have been the source for the
Chinese translator to draw inspirations from
Example 3 After Jean Valjean managed to enter the bishops room as he stood
before the bed in which the host lay asleep there is a passage worth mentioning
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Au bout de quelques instants son bras gauche se
leva lentement vers son front et il ocircta sa
casquette sa casquette dans la main gauche
sa massue dans la main droite (LM I 161)
In a few moments he raised his
left hand slowly to his forehead
and took off his hat his cap
in his left hand his club in his
right (87)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
344 He cowered in horror frozen on the spot 345 [The noise] sent shudders of horror to Jean Valjean
182
At the expiration of a few minutes his left
arm slowly rose to his cap which he took
off with his cap in his left hand his
crowbar in his right (LM [1880] I 88)
In a few moments he raised his left
hand slowly to his forehead and took
off his hat his cap in his left
hand his club in his right (I 72)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
At the expiration of a few minutes his
left arm rose slowly towards his brow
and he took off his cap his cap in
his left hand his club in his right
hand (I 98)
At the expiration of a few minutes his
left arm slowly rose to his cap which he
took off with his cap in his left
hand his crow-bar in his right (XI
207)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
彼か
れは我知わ れ し
らず帽子ぼ う し
を脫ぬい
だ彼か
れの 額ひたひ
に
は脂 汗あぶらあせ
が浮うい
て居ゐ
るhelliphellip346 (I 34)
華賤才將帽子摘下便右手執棍
左手執帽helliphellip347 (180)
Here all the quoted passages narrate that the thief took off his hat However the
Japanese text follows this narration with a statement of his forehead perspiring as
opposed to the other versions which subsequently describe the burglars left hand
holding the cap and his right hand clutching a stick The Chinese texts agreement with
the Western versions and its concurrent distinction from the Japanese text register yet
another proof against the Japanese version as a possible source for the Chinese
translator
Example 4 The scene where the bishop gave the recaptured Jean Valjean an extra
present instead of identifying him as a thief to the gendarmes is also worthy of
comparison and contrast
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Il alla agrave la chemineacutee prit les deux
flambeaux dargent et les apporta agrave Jean
Valjean Les deux femmes le regardaient
faire sans un mot sans un geste sans un
He went to the mantelpiece took the
two candlesticks and brought them to
Jean Valjean The two women beheld the
action without a word or gesture or
346 He took off his hat without realizing it His forehead was perspiring violently 347 Jean Valjean took off his hat then held the hat in his left hand and a stick in his right
183
regard qui pucirct deacuteranger leacutevecircque
Jean Valjean tremblait de tous ses
membres Il prit les deux chandeliers
machinalement et dun air eacutegareacute (LM I
165)
look that might disturb the bishop
Jean Valjean was trembling in every
limb He took the two candlesticks
mechanically and with a wild
appearance (90)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
He went to the mantel-piece fetched
the two candlesticks and handed them to
Jean Valjean The two females watched
him do so without a word without a
sign without a look that could disturb
the bishop Jean Valjean was trembling
in all his limbs he took the candlesticks
mechanically and with wandering looks
(LM [1880] I 91)
He went to the mantelpiece took the
two candlesticks and brought them to
Jean Valjean The two women beheld the
action without a word or gesture or
look that might disturb the bishop
Jean Valjean was trembling in every
limb He took the two candlesticks
mechanically and with a wild
appearance (I 74)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
He stepped to the chimney-piece took
the two silver candlesticks and brought
them to Jean Valjean The two women
looked on without uttering a word
without a gesture without a look which
could disconcert the Bishop
Jean Valjean was trembling in every
limb He took the two candlesticks
mechanically and with a bewildered air
(I 101-102)
He went to the mantel-piece fetched
the two candlesticks and handed them
to Jean Valjean The two females
watched him do so without a word
without a sign without a look that could
disturb the bishop
Jean Valjean was trembling in all his
limbs he took the candlesticks
mechanically and with wandering
looks (XI 213)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
急いそ
ぎて次つぎ
の室ま
に行ゆ
き彼か
の二個こ
一對つゐ
を持もつ
て來き
て『サ 說著便到檯上取來一對
銀蠟臺交給華賤那凡
184
ア是これ
もお前まへ
さんのだから』と云いつ
て差出さ し だ
して渡わた
した
瓦 戎ばるぢやん
は 頭あたま
から足あし
の先さき
まで震ふる
ひつゝ受取う け と
ツた殆ほとん
ど何なに
を受取う け と
るのか自分じ ぶ ん
で知し
らぬ程ほど
だらうhelliphellip348
(I 39)
媽和寶姑娘二人眼見如
此也不敢多嘴華賤滿
面羞容兩隻手抖抖地接
過了蠟臺349 (181)
Here the cited texts all narrate the bishop fetching a pair of candlesticks and gave them
to Jean Valjean and the latter taking the gift in a trembling manner However the
Chinese and the Western versions also mention the speechless reactions of Madame
Magloire and Mademoiselle Baptistine to their hosts behavior though the Chinese
description is simplified The Japanese text is the only one here that does not provide
any account of the two womens response This indicates another piece of evidence that
the Chinese translation is not derived from the Japanese version
Example 5 In his remorse-torn wanderings after he got away with stealing the
silverware Jean Valjean crossed paths with a little boy The introduction of the child
into the story is given the following descriptions
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Il tourna la tecircte et vit venir par le
sentier un petit savoyard dune dizaine
danneacutees qui chantait sa vielle au
flanc (LM I 168)
He turned his head and saw coming along
the path a little Savoyard a dozen years
old singing with his hurdygurdy at his
side (91)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
He turned his head and saw a little
Savoyard about ten years of age coming
along the path with his hurdy-gurdy at his
side (LM [1880] I 92)
He turned his head and saw coming
along the path a little Savoyard a
dozen years old singing with his
hurdygurdy at his side (I 75)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
348 He hurried to the next room took the pair [of candlesticks] and brought it to him saying Take this Its also yours Jean Valjean trembled all over as he took the gift confused almost to the point of not knowing what it was that he was receiving 349 Meanwhile he fetched a pair of silver candlesticks and gave it to Jean Valjean Madame Magloire and Mademoiselle Baptistine witnessed the action without daring to say a word His face covered in shame Jean Valjean took the extra gift with trembling hands
185
He turned his head and saw a little
Savoyard about ten years of age
coming up the path and singing his
hurdy-gurdy on his hip (I 103)
He turned his head and saw a little
Savoyard about ten years of age coming
along the path with his hurdy-gurdy at
his side (XI 216)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
helliphellip孰いづ
れよりか可愛か あ い
い子供こ ど も
の聲こゑ
で歌うた
を謠うた
ふて來く
るのが聞きこ
えた350 (I 41)
回頭看時helliphellip內中有一十多歲的童
子一隻手拿了風琴且走且唱helliphellip351
(182)
All the above texts talk about a child singing The French the English and the Chinese
provide the information that the child was carrying a hurdygurdy or an accordion with
him The Japanese version distinguishes itself from the others through its omission of
description of this musical instrument It is more than certain that the Chinese
description of 風琴352 stems from one of the Western versions rather than the
Japanese rendition
Incidentally the Japanese version excluded a subtle difference among the other
texts calls for our further deliberation With respect to the age of the boy Wraxall
Hapgood and Walton et al coincide in using the phrase about ten years of age which
closely mirrors the French dune dizaine danneacutees In comparison the Wilbours and
the Richmond translations a dozen years old is semantically similar to the French
original and the other three English counterparts but they are not exactly synonymous
For a dozen years old evokes an impression of more than ten years old whereas
about ten years of age and dune dizaine danneacutees designate ten as a rough number
while embracing the dual possibilities that the actual age could be a little more or a
little less than that number The Chinese rendition 十多歲353 is more in concert with
the Wilbour-Richmond version than with the other Western texts This finding testifies
and adds to the plausibility of the conclusion reached in Chapter Four of the present
dissertation that Su Manshus Chinese translation is most probably based on Wilbours
text
350 out of nowhere came the lovely sound of a child singing as he came nearer and nearer 351 He looked back and found in there a teenaged boy with an accordion in his hand walking and singing at the same time 352 an accordion 353 ten-odd years old or more than ten years of age
186
Example 6 The singing boy whom Jean Valjean encountered was narrated as
stopping intermittently on the way to play at tossing up some coins in the air and then
catching them on the back of his hand In this part of narration there is a sentence
about the value of one of the pieces of money that were being flung up
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Parmi cette monnaie il y avait une piegravece
de quarante sous (LM I 168)
Among them there was one forty-sous
piece (91)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Among these coins was a two-franc piece
(LM [1880] I 92)
Among them there was one forty-sous
piece (I 75)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Among this money there was one
forty-sou piece (I 103)
Among these coins was a two-franc
piece (XI 217)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
落お
ちたのは二 法ふらん
の銀貨ぎんくわ
でhelliphellip354
(I 42)
錢落地時有一個四開錢(值四十文)helliphellip
355 (182)
Regarding the value of the coin mentioned the French quarante sous is literally
transferred to forty-sous by Wilbour the Richmond and Hapgood but is converted to
two-franc by Wraxall and Walton et al The Japanese 二 法ふらん
is in agreement with
Wraxalls and Walton et als versions Intriguingly the Chinese version talks about a
four-kai piece the kai here being a unit of measurement in the ancient monetary
system in China but right after this the text adds a piece of parenthetical information
giving its equivalent value in a different unit so that the coin is valued at forty wen
Although the Chinese wen is not equivalent to the French sou the number forty in the
Chinese translation clearly refers back to the Western versions excepting Wraxall and
Walton et al It is rather unlikely that the Chinese translator would convert the
354 Dropping to the ground was a two-franc coin 355 One of the coins that dropped to the ground was a four-kai piece (which is worth forty wen)
187
monetary expression from the Japanese This instance rules out the Japanese version as
well as Wraxalls and Walton et als texts
Example 7 When the singing child approached Jean Valjean to claim his piece of
money the following interaction between adult and child is worth comparing and
contrasting
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
mdashMonsieur dit le petit savoyard avec
cette confiance de lenfance qui se
compose dignorance et dinnocencemdashma
piegravece
mdashComment tappelles-tu dit Jean
Valjean
mdashPetit-Gervais monsieur
mdashMa piegravece cria lenfant ma piegravece
blanche mon argent (LM I 169)
Monsieur said the little Savoyard
with that childish confidence which is
made up of ignorance and innocence
my piece
What is your name said Jean
Valjean
Petit Gervais monsieur
My piece exclaimed the boy my
white piece my silver (91-92)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Sir the little Savoyard said with that
childish confidence which is composed of
ignorance and innocence my coin
What is your name Jean Valjean
said
Little Gervais sir
My coin the boy cried my silver
piece my money (LM [1880] I 92-93)
Sir said the little Savoyard with
that childish confidence which is made
up of ignorance and innocence my
piece
What is your name said Jean
Valjean
Petit Gervais sir
My piece exclaimed the boy my
white piece my silver (I 76)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Sir said the little Savoyard with
that childish confidence which is
composed of ignorance and innocence
Monsieur the little Savoyard said
with that childish confidence which is
composed of ignorance and innocence
188
my money
What is your name said Jean
Valjean
Little Gervais sir
My piece of money cried the child
my white piece my silver (I 104)
my coin
What is your name Jean Valjean
said
Little Gervais monsieur
My coin the boy cried my silver
piece my money (XI 217-18)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
思案し あ ん
もせずに 戎ぢやん
に 近ちかづ
き『伯父お ぢ
さ
ん其樣そのやう
な事こと
を仕し
ては可い
けないよ』
戎ぢやん
は無言む ご ん
だ子供『其足そのあし
を擧あ
げ
て呉く
れヨウ伯父お ぢ
さん』helliphellip356 (I
42)
helliphellip童子早已瞧見便前來在華賤身邊
道「客人曾見我的四開錢嗎」
華賤道「你叫做什麼名兒」童子道「我
名叫做小極可哀」helliphellip童子又大聲叫道
「我的錢呢我的白錢呢我的銀錢呢」
357 (182)
In the interaction between the young and the old the French and the English texts start
with the child directly demanding his money from the old man Contrastively in the
Japanese version the childs initial demand for the money takes the form of moralizing
about the wrong of the strangers action The Chinese rendition has the child begin
with a rhetorical question which is equal to a polite request for the money Thus the
Chinese version is distinct from the Japanese but a lot closer to the Western versions
Besides in the Western texts as well as the Chinese the old man responded to the
childs intention by asking his name and got the answer whereas the Japanese
translator omitted this part of exchange so that there is no introduction whatsoever of
the boys name in the Japanese story The Chinese rendition of the childs name can
never be explained by the Japanese text It is definitely a Western source that provided
the basis for the Chinese translator to come up with his own version
Finally the persistence of the boy in requiring his money is expressed somewhat
356 Without a second thought the child approached Jean Valjean saying Sir you cant do such a thing The old man remained silent The young one continued Please lift up your foot sir 357 having seen this the boy came over to Jean Valjean and asked Sir did you see my four-kai piece Jean Valjean said What is your name The boy replied My name is Petit Gervais The boy said loudly Where is my money My white piece My silver piece
189
differently among the passages cited We may well take a closer look at the subtle
differences
Hugo Ma piegravece ma piegravece blanche mon argent
Wilbour My piece my white piece my silver
Richmond My piece my white piece my silver
Wraxall My coin my silver piece my money
Hapgood My piece of money my white piece my silver
Walton et al My coin my silver piece my money
Kuroiwa (no counterpart translation)
Su 我的錢呢我的白錢呢我的銀錢呢358
In the Chinese text the boys crying of 我的白錢 and 我的銀錢 clearly mirrors
ma piegravece blanche and mon argent in French or my white piece and my silver in
English Wraxalls and Walton et als identical version my silver piece and my
money entails a different rhetoric and is not likely to be the source of the Chinese text
The Japanese version does not include any similar expression in the counterpart
passage relating the childs action of demanding the coin Therefore the Japanese
source can again be excluded from our consideration
So far the seven examples quoted above show a similar pattern of relationship
the Chinese text drifts apart from the Japanese rendition but concurrently approximates
to the Western versions There are other cases where the Chinese translation alienates
itself from both the Japanese text and the Western versions but their lineage is still
traceable Three such examples are in order
Example 8 After scaring the boy away Jean Valjean met a priest on horseback
by chance Their exchange includes the following part
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Il tira deux piegraveces de cinq francs de sa
sacoche et les remit au precirctre
mdashMonsieur le cureacute voici pour vos
pauvres (LM I 172)
He took two five-franc pieces from his
bag and gave them to the priest
Monsieur cureacute this is for your
poor (93)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
358 Where is my money My white piece My silver piece
190
The convict took two five-franc pieces
from his pouch and handed them to the
priest
Monsieur le Cureacute this is for your
poor (LM [1880] I 94)
He took two five-franc pieces from
his bag and gave them to the priest
Mr Curate this is for your
poor (I 77)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
He drew two five-franc pieces from
his money-bag and handed them to the
priest
Monsieur le Cureacute this is for your
poor people (I 106)
He took two five-franc pieces from his
pouch and handed them to the priest
Monsieur le cureacute this is for your
poor (XI 221)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
戎ぢやん
は銀貨ぎんくわ
を差出さ し だ
して『何どう
か之これ
を貧民ひんみん
に
お 施ほどこ
し成な
さツて下くだ
さい』helliphellip359 (I 44-45)
華賤道「我看你很覺困苦今給
你兩塊半元的銀錢」360 (183)
In the Japanese and the Western versions the hero wanted the priest to give his
donation to the poor while in the Chinese the assumed poverty of the priest is the
reason why the protagonist gave him the money So here we have a case where the
Chinese text is in disagreement with the Japanese as well as the Western versions To
decide whether any genealogical relationship exists among the texts we may first look
at the Japanese passage Jean Valjeans earnest request in the cited Japanese is
expressed in a dative structure a simple and obvious construction More significantly
the indirect object in the dative structure contains the kanji characters 貧民 which
are morphologically and semantically shared by the Chinese language Judging from
Su Manshus background in the Japanese and Chinese languages it is next to
impossible for him to misread the easily intelligible sentence in the Japanese text
Hence the misinterpreted message of the priests poverty in the Chinese text is rather
unlikely to have anything to do with the Japanese This judgment is in line with the
result achieved in the last seven examples
359 Jean Valjean took out the coin and said Please give this to any poor one 360 Jean Valjean said I saw youre poor Please accept my two half-yuan coins
191
After examining the Japanese quotation I shall turn to the Western versions for
clues to possible explanations for the Chinese translators misinterpretation While
Hugos pour vos pauvres and Hapgoods for your poor people are clearly expressed
enough not to be easily misunderstood the phrasing for your poor in Wilbour
Richmond Wraxall and Walton et al may not be as transparent to a Chinese reader
Chances are that the Chinese translator might mistake your poor for youre poor or
your poverty in his rush job resulting in the Chinese interpretation 我看你很覺困
苦 It is true that this speculation is unverifiable but compared with the Japanese text
the English versions are more likely to be the source adopted by Su Manshu in
rendering Les Miseacuterables
Example 9 After Jean Valjean ran away with the bishops silverware Madame
Magloire came to the bishop with the news and we have the following talk between
master and servant
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
mdashMadame Magloire je deacutetenais agrave tort
et depuis longtemps cette argenterie Elle
eacutetait aux pauvres Queacutetait-ce que cet
homme Un pauvre eacutevidemment
mdashHeacutelas Jeacutesus repartit madame
Magloire Ce nest pas pour moi ni pour
mademoiselle Cela nous est bien eacutegal
Mais cest pour monseigneur Dans quoi
monseigneur va-t-il manger maintenant
(LM I 163)
Madame Magloire I have for a long
time wrongfully withheld this silver it
belonged to the poor Who was this
man A poor man evidently
Alas alas returned Madame
Magloire It is not on my account or
mademoiselles it is all the same to us
But it is on yours monseigneur What is
monsieur going to eat from now (88)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Madame Magloire I had wrongfully
held back this silver which belonged to
the poor Who was this person
evidently a poor man
Good gracious Madame Magloire
continued I do not care for it nor does
mademoiselle but we feel for
Mrs Magloire I have for a long time
wrongfully withheld this silver it
belonged to the poor Who was this man
A poor man evidently
Alas alas returned Mrs Magloire
It is not on my account or Miss
Baptistines it is all the same to us But it
192
monseigneur With what will
monseigneur eat now (LM [1880] I
89)
is yours my lord What is my lord going
to eat from now (I 73)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Madame Magloire I have for a long
time detained that silver wrongfully It
belonged to the poor Who was that man A
poor man evidently
Alas Jesus returned Madame
Magloire It is not for my sake nor for
Mademoiselles It makes no difference to
us But it is for the sake of Monseigneur
What is Monseigneur to eat with now (I
100)
Madame Magloire I had
wrongfully and for a long time held
back this silver It belonged to the
poor Who was this man One of the
poor evidently
Alas Alas returned Madame
Magloire I do not care for it nor
does mademoiselle But it was for
monseigneur With what will
monseigneur eat now (XI 210-11)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
僧正そうじやう
は又また
も 靜しづか
に振向ふりむい
て『爾さ
う云い
はずに先ま
づ 考かんが
へねばndashndashndash
第だい
一那あ
の皿さら
は此家こ の や
の物もの
だらうか今いま
ま私わた
しが惜をし
んで居ゐ
たの
が惡わる
がツた那あ
れは當然たうぜん
に 貧まづし
い人ひと
の物もの
である昨夜さ く や
の 客きやく
は 確たしか
に 貧まづし
い人ひと
だらう』 貧まづし
い人ひと
が持もつ
で行ゆ
くのは當あた
り前まへ
だ
との意味い み
が現あら
はれて居ゐ
る何なん
たる 宏 量くわうりやう
な 心こゝろ
だらう何なん
十
年來ねんらい
僧正そうじやう
の德とく
に服ふく
して一言ひとこと
も批評ひゝやう
らしき言葉こ と ば
を吐はい
た事こと
の
無な
い老女らうぢよ
だけれど餘あんま
り殘念ざんねん
だ『盜ぬす
まれたとて 私わたく
し共ども
は
搆かま
ひませんお妹御いもとご
もお搆かま
ひは無な
いのでせうけれど
孟主教聞說便滿
面堆著笑容向凡
媽道「你且不要
著忙你知道那銀
器到底是誰的
原來是一個窮漢
的我久已就有些
不願意要了」凡
媽道「雖然不是
我們的但是我們
用了這麼久也就
合 我 們 的 無 異
193
貴方樣あ な た さ ま
が直すぐ
にお困こま
り成な
さるでは有あ
りませんか今朝こんてう
は何ど
の
器うつは
でお汁つゆ
をお召上めしあが
りに成な
りますか』helliphellip361 (I 36-37)
了」362 (180)
Here in the quotes unlike Examples 1 to 7 the Chinese text shows some evident
discrepancies from the Japanese and Western versions As far as the bishops opinion
of who owns the silverware is concerned the Chinese version uses the individualized
expression 一個窮漢363 to indicate the supposed owner of the ware whereas in the
other versions it is the poor or 貧まづし
い人ひと
364 collectively that the ware should belong
to Then in the maidservants reply the Japanese and Western texts contain the similar
message that Madame Magloires concern lies not so much with herself or the bishops
sister as with the bishop The Chinese text offers by contrast a totally different
rendition of the female servants justification of their rightful claim to the ware Finally
the Japanese and Western versions all have the maid putting to the bishop the question
of what tableware is to be used in place of the stolen silverware The Chinese text
contains no such inquiry
The cause of the Chinese renditions drifting apart from the other versions may
involve complex considerations on the part of the translator but the rhetoric employed
in the Chinese text seems to offer a glimpse of its possible heritage We may look more
closely into how the maidservant expressed herself in the different versions
Hugo Ce nest pas pour moi ni pour mademoiselle Cela nous est bien eacutegal
Wilbour It is not on my account or mademoiselles it is all the same to us
Richmond It is not on my account or Miss Baptistines it is all the same to us
Wraxall I do not care for it nor does mademoiselle
Hapgood It is not for my sake nor for Mademoiselles It makes no difference to us
361 The bishop turned around and said calmly We should think things through before we jump to this conclusion In the first place does the silverware belong to us It is not right for us to have kept it like treasure for so long because it naturally belongs to the poor The guest who came last night was certainly poor Which meant that it was taken for granted that a poor guy like that one should take it away How magnanimous Over the past ten years the old woman had been in admiration for the surpassing morality of the bishop She had not so much as uttered anything like criticism against the bishop but this time she was greatly perplexed It does not matter to me and it should not matter to your sister but are you not simply vexed to find the silverware stolen What will you use for eating soup this morning 362 At Madame Magloires words Bishop Myriel said with a smile Take it easy Do you know who in the world the silverware belongs to It belongs to a certain poor man I have long been unwilling to keep it Madame Magloire retorted Although it was not ours we have kept it for so long that we have a rightful claim to it 363 a certain poor man 364 the poor people
194
Walton et al I do not care for it nor does mademoiselle
Kuroiwa 盜ぬす
まれたとて 私わたく
し共ども
は搆かま
ひませんお妹御いもとご
もお搆かま
ひは無な
いのでせう
365
Su 雖然不是我們的但是我們用了這麼久也就合我們的無異了366
The Japanese sentence contains the key word 搆かま
う which in this context conveys
the idea of causing trouble to someone or mattering to someone With years of
education in Japanese Su Manshu would surely have been able to grasp this simple
structure and its idea if he had translated from Japanese The drastic deviation of the
Chinese text from the Japanese can only mean that Kuroiwas text is not the reference
material for the Chinese translator to render from As for the Western passages the
Chinese expression 也 就 合 我 們 的 無 異 may possibly be a misreading of
Wilbour-Richmonds it is all the same to us or Hapgoods It makes no difference to
us for it is the same as belonging to us but the version by Wilbour and the
Richmond is more likely than that by Hapgood if context is taken into consideration
Indeed if we take its preceding sentence into consideration we find that
Wilbour-Richmonds not on my account or mademoiselles [Miss Baptistines] is not
as easy to understand for a Chinese reader as the French pas pour moi ni pour
mademoiselle or Wraxalls and Walton et als I do not care for it nor does
mademoiselle or Hapgoods not for my sake nor for Mademoiselles Su Manshu
might fail to comprehend the phrase on someones account employed by Wilbour
here so he turned to its ensuing clause it is all the same to us for inspiration resulting
in his deviant interpretation This conjecture is in agreement with my former
conclusion in Chapter Four of the present dissertation in pointing to Wilbours text as
the most probable basis on which the Chinese translator produced his version
Example 10 Jean Valjean ran way with the bishops silverware but was caught
by the gendarmes and brought back before the bishop for identification When he
heard how they addressed the clergyman the thief had the following reaction worthy
of notice
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
mdashMonseigneur murmura-t-il Ce Monseigneur he murmured then it
365 The fact that it was stolen does not matter to me and it does not matter to your sister either 366 Although it was not ours we have kept it for so long that we have a rightful claim to it
195
nest donc pas le cureacute (LM I 164) is not the cureacute (89)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Monseigneur he muttered then he is
not the cureacute (LM [1880] I 90)
My lord he murmured then it is
not the curate (I 74)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Monseigneur he murmured So he
is not the cureacute (I 101)
Monseigneur he muttered then he
is not the cureacute (XI 212)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Su Manshu)
戎ぢやん
瓦 戎ばるぢやん
helliphellip 殆ほとん
ど呆あき
れた樣やう
に顏かほ
を上あ
げて 呟つぶや
いた
『閣下か く か
とは閣下か く か
とは其それ
では只たゞ
の牧師ぼ く し
さんでは無な
い
のだ』helliphellip367 (I 38)
[金華賤]還低聲道
「孟主教一定沒有主教
的職分」368 (181)
In the Japanese and Western texts the protagonists sudden realization of the bishops
true religious status is expressed in a soliloquy of surprised recognition but in the
Chinese text disbelief and denial take the place of the recognition To sort out the
relationship of the Chinese text to the other versions we may first draw our attention
to the difference between the Japanese text and the Western versions in their respective
way of communicating the similar idea In the Western texts the clerical ranks cureacute
(also cureacute in French) and bishop (eacutevecircque in French) are differentiated whereas
the Japanese version employs the generic term 牧師ぼ く し
369 and emphasizes the high
ranking by employing the rhetoric 只たゞ
の牧師ぼ く し
さんでは無な
い 370 The Japanese
rhetoric couched in a simple sentence could not have escaped Su Manshu if he had
used the Japanese version for rendition Rather the misconstruction of the Chinese
translation here may be ascribable to the translators failure to distinguish between the
Catholic ranks when he translated from one of the Western texts The Chinese
367 A look of surprised stupefaction covered the face of Jean Valjean who muttered to himself Monseigneur monseigneur So he is not an ordinary priest 368 [Jean Valjean] murmured Bishop Myriel is surely not a bishop 369 a priest 370 not an ordinary priest
196
translator might mix cureacute up with bishop and the confusion caused him to come
up with the errant rendition we have above Therefore the above analysis again brings
us to the certainty of the lack of genealogy between the Japanese and the Chinese The
Chinese version is undeniably derived from a Western source and most probably from
Wilbours version as Examples 5 and 9 and my research in Chapter Three of the
dissertation suggest
My discussions above have sorted out the relationship of the Chinese rendition to
the Japanese and Western versions Now let me turn to the primary question to be
addressed in this chapter Are the final three-odd chapters of Can Shijie translated by
Su Manshu or Chen Duxiu The answer is obvious Because it is certain that the
appended chapters in the enlarged version of Can Shijie are not rendered from
Japanese but probably from an English source and most likely from Wilbour and
because Chen Duxius training in foreign languages would only allow him to translate
from Japanese and by no means from English (or French) there is no way that Chen
Duxiu could be the translator of the supplemented text Judging from the fact that the
intertextual comparisons I have done across the four languages in this chapter yield a
result consistent with the result achieved in Chapter Three which deals with the
preceding shorter version of Can Shehui I find it more than likely that the rendition
was done by the same translator all through the fourteen chapters In other words Su
Manshu is the translator of both Can Shehui and Can Shijie and Chen Duxius role in
the process consists mainly in editing and polishing
Also the reinforced conclusion about Sus Chinese translation deriving from an
English version also reminds us that the question of Sus French ability at age nineteen
is still unanswered Notwithstanding from what has been discussed in this chapter I
may venture to say that at the age of nineteen Su Manshus English and Japanese
calibre was a lot higher than his French level a judgment which corresponds to Liu
Wu-chis assumption and which I believe is more plausible than Ding Fu-shengs
argument that Su possessed the abilities required for rendition from the French
English and Japanese texts of Les Miseacuterables
Though I do not fully agree with Dings viewpoints on Chen Duxius language
abilities the result of my research into the problem of authorship for Can Shijie
concurs with Dings conclusion and so collides with Liu Yazis presumption Anyway
what I do in this chapter is an example of how source-tracing through interlingual
intertextual juxtapositions can turn out helpful in solving a long unsettled case in the
197
history of Chinese translation
199
Chapter Six The Untraceable Texts of Tian Liu Er
Guxing Lei and Guai Ke
Three Chinese translations of Les Miseacuterables in the pre-May-Fourth period will
be discussed in this chapter Tian Liu Er 天鷚兒 by Hei Shi 黑石 (1905) Guxing
Lei 孤星淚 (1907) and Guai Ke 怪客 by Xiao Zong 孝宗 (1916) In these cases
my interlingual intertextual comparison fails to track down their source texts but
contrives to identify their source language They will be presented chronologically in
the following sections each dedicated to a specific text
61 The Indeterminate Sources of Tian Liu Er Multiple Possibilities
Tian Liu Er371 a translation by Hei Shi from Les Miseacuterables was published in
1905 in the compilation issue comprising Numbers Four and Five of the journal Nuumlzi
Shijie372 女子世界 Couched in classical Chinese the unchaptered text presents the
plot comparable to the Fourth Book of Volume One of the original novel that is about
how Fantine entrusted her daughter Cosette to the care of the Theacutenardiers The original
Book titled Confier cest quelquefois livrer373 contains three chapters of which the
beginning and ending ones are the primary concern of the Chinese translation In an
essay presented at a conference Hinosugi Tadahiro 日 野 杉 匡 大 makes the
affirmative observation that Chapter Two of the original book which supplies an
in-depth introduction to the Theacutenardier couple was left completely untreated by the
Chinese translator (66) As a matter of fact however although the Chinese plot is
taken for the most part from Chapters One and Three traces of the middle chapter can
be found in the translation For example as the translator drifts from Chapter One to
Chapter Three of the original there is an in-between passage of transition which
involves the description 覃自云曾為軍曹門外之圖即自表其戰功者374 (Hei Shi
90) This description harks back to a passage in the original Second Chapter which
goes as follows
Ce Theacutenardier sil fallait len croire avait eacuteteacute soldat sergent disait-il il
371 Literally skylark 372 Literally Womens World 373 To Entrust Is Sometimes to Abandon (Wilbour 122) 374 Theacutenardier claimed that he had once been a sergeant and that the sign outside his door was emblematic of his feats in the war
200
avait fait probablement la campagne de 1815 et seacutetait mecircme comporteacute
assez bravement agrave ce quil paraicirct Nous verrons plus tard ce quil en eacutetait
Lenseigne de son cabaret eacutetait une allusion agrave lun de ses faits darmes375
(Hugo LM I 238)
Here the Chinese passage is obviously a translation of the opening sentence (Ce
Theacutenardier sil fallait len croire avait eacuteteacute soldat sergent disait-il) and the closing
sentence (Lenseigne de son cabaret eacutetait une allusion agrave lun de ses faits darmes)
Thus Hei Shis treatment of the Second Chapter should be given due acknowledgment
no matter how little a proportion it occupies in the chapter or how transitional a part it
plays in the translation
In terms of translation strategy as Hinosugi points out the translator renders
sentence by sentence rather than word for word376 (69) To be more specific the
original text is generally followed sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph
though the Chinese version arranges the paragraphs differently from the French text
usually breaking a single paragraph in the original into several ones in the translation
Sometimes the translator adjusts the sequence of narration so that the interaction
between the characters in the story is simplified and easier for the Chinese reader to
digest For instance in the original account Mrs Theacutenardiers humming of a then
popular tune as she rocked her little children on the swing was interrupted by Fantines
sudden appearance with comments about the young ones being very beautiful In order
to depict the interruption the original author separates the two lyrical lines of a couplet
in the song and inserts between them a description of Fantines approaching with her
remark
Tout en berccedilant ses deux petites la megravere chantonnait dune voix fausse
une romance alors ceacutelegravebre
Il le faut disait un guerrier
Sa chanson et la contemplation de ses filles lempecircchaient dentendre et
de voir ce qui se passait dans la rue
Cependant quelquun seacutetait approcheacute delle comme elle commenccedilait le
premier couplet de la romance et tout agrave coup elle entendit une voix qui
375 This Thenardier if he himself was to be believed had been a soldiermdasha sergeant he said He had probably been through the campaign of 1815 and had even conducted himself with tolerable valor it would seem We shall see later on how much truth there was in this The sign of his hostelry was in allusion to one of his feats of arms (Hapgood I 147) 376 Hinosugis original words are 黑石的翻譯方法不是逐字的翻譯而是逐句的翻譯
201
disait tregraves pregraves de son oreille
mdashVous avez lagrave deux jolis enfants madame
Agrave la belle et tendre Imogine
reacutepondit la megravere continuant sa romance puis elle tourna la tecircte377 (Hugo
LM I 227-28)
In the Chinese text by contrast the narration of Fantines comment appears after the
couplet is rendered in full so that the two lines of lyrics are not disconnected or
inserted with any passage but run smoothly
其母怡然弄兒口中以不協音之調微吟曰
是必如是兮古勇士之所云欹彼意摩琴兮美麗而輕盈
吟聲未已忽聞其後有聲云hellip夫人汝有如此佳兒歟378 (Hei Shi
84)
The Chinese translator makes up for the loss of the interruptive effect by adding a
phrase 吟聲未已忽聞其後有聲云 to bring it to the readers attention that Fantines
voice is an interruption to the humming The shift in the narrative strategy renders the
Chinese text plainer and more straightforward than the French original
Another example has to do with the treatment Cosette received in the Theacutenardiers
house
Tant que Cosette fut toute petite elle fut le souffre-douleur des deux
autres enfants degraves quelle se mit agrave se deacutevelopper un peu cest-agrave-dire
avant mecircme quelle eucirct cinq ans elle devint la servante de la maison
Cinq ans dira-t-on cest invraisemblable Heacutelas cest vrai La
souffrance sociale commence agrave tout acircge
On fit faire agrave Cosette les commissions balayer les chambres la cour la
377 As she rocked her little ones the mother hummed in a discordant voice a romance then celebratedmdash It must be said a warrior Her song and the contemplation of her daughters prevented her hearing and seeing what was going on in the street In the meantime some one had approached her as she was beginning the first couplet of the romance and suddenly she heard a voice saying very near her earmdash You have two beautiful children there Madame To the fair and tender Imogenemdash replied the mother continuing her romance then she turned her head (Hapgood I 140) 378 While pleasantly rocking her children the mother hummed a melody in an out-of-tune manner It must be so said an ancient warrior Oh Imogine fair and soft As the humming continued she suddenly heard a voice from behind saying Madam you have beautiful children
202
rue laver la vaisselle porter mecircme des fardeaux 379 (Hugo LM I
242)
Here in the French text the first paragraph ends with an account of Cosette becoming
the servant of the household What she was required to do as a servant is not described
until the third paragraph The second paragraph containing authorial voices and ideas
is digressive and disruptive to the plot In comparison the Chinese version moves the
details of Cosettes servant work to the first paragraph
康雪幼時即為二兒之罪羊(意替罪者)逮少長未及五歲已
為全家之公僕洒掃房庭潔街道滌食器間且負重荷
五歲讀者必曰是妄也噫然是乃其實社會之苦惡起始於
任何年歲helliphellip380 (Hei Shi 92-93)
The original three paragraphs are reduced to two by the Chinese translator through
incorporating the third paragraph into the first As a result the information of Cosettes
functioning as house servant is followed immediately by description of the servants
job in the Chinese translation The combination of the two paragraphs in the Chinese
text contributes to a cohesive narration of the girls misery The intervening paragraph
in the original becomes less of a noise when placed after the combined paragraph in
the translation
Besides sequential adjustment the Chinese version also shows some omissins
additions and alterations as is a salient characteristic of the translations in late-Qing
and early Republican China In the first three paragraphs of the original the second
which expresses how cumbersome and eye-catching the fore-carriage was in the spring
of 1818 is completely ignored by the translator the other two paragraphs have been
compared with the Chinese version by Hinosugi After conducting a meticulous
comparison and contrast Hinosugi definitively points out some phrasal deletions
379 As long as Cosette was little she was the scape-goat of the two other children as soon as she began to develop a little that is to say before she was even five years old she became the servant of the household Five years old the reader will say that is not probable Alas it is true Social suffering begins at all ages Cosette was made to run on errands to sweep the rooms the courtyard the street to wash the dishes to even carry burdens (Hapgood I 150) 380 When Cosette was little she was the scapegoat (someone who bears the blame for others) of the other two children As she grew older when she was not yet five years of age she became the servant of the household cleaning the rooms and the courtyard sweeping the street washing the dishes and even carrying heavy burdens Five years of age The reader would say it is impossible But it is true Social suffering begins at any age
203
expressive additions and rhetoric modifications in the first paragraph (68-69) The
content of the original though is generally preserved in the translation with the said
alterations relatively minor As to the third paragraph Hinosugi observes that the first
half which depicts the structure of the fore-carriage is roughly carried over to the
Chinese rendition whereas the second half which narrates in a literary manner the
aspects of the vehicle with allusions to fictive figures of Polyphemus under Homer and
Caliban under Shakespeare is totally erased in translation (69)
In rare cases the Chinese translator supplies specific details where the original
text is not explicit While Fantines daughter was playing with the two children of the
Theacutenardiers an event happened which scared and excited the three The original story
tells about a gros ver381 emerging all of a sudden out of the ground (Hugo LM I
234) The unspecified big worm is explicitly transformed into a 蠐螬 (dung beetle
larva) in the Chinese rendition which goes 有蠐螬自土中出382 (Hei Shi 88)
Despite the differences illustrated above between original and translation on the
whole the Chinese text retains the general structure and narration of the original story
To trace the version on which the Chinese translation is based as usual the
present study first turns to the author or translator for clues However the translatorial
information does not help here for Hei Shis identity cannot be known for certain In
Hinosugi Tadahiros and Han Yiyus researches mention is made of the critical
suspicion that Hei Shi might be a pen name of Zhou Zuoren 周作人 (Han 74
Hinosugi 66) Hinosugi points out that the speculation has to do with a chronology of
Zhou Zuoren compiled by Zhang Juxiang 張菊香 and Zhang Tierong 張鐵榮 in
which under the year 1905 is a statement which goes [周作人]翻譯英國作家雨果
的作品譯名為《天鷚兒》383 (Zhang and Zhang 263) This piece of chronological
information is according to Hinosugi traceable to and derived from Chen
Mengxiongs 陳夢熊 correspondence with Zhou Zuoren (Hinosugi 66-67) However
after doing some meticulous investigation in this respect Hinosugi states that the
evidence in favor of the identification of Hei Shi with Zhou Zuoren is inconclusive
(68) Apart from this indeterminate conjecture nothing more is known about Hei Shi
Therefore the tracing of the source of Tian Liu Er cannot rely on the translatorial
381 Literally big worm 382 There was a dung beetle larva emerging from the earth 383 [Zhou Zhuoren] rendered a work by the English author Hugo titled Tian Liu Er
204
information
Without any clue from the translators identity my research has to probe into the
text to see if it relates to any specific version In Tian Liu Er there appear in the
Chinese text an English place name M surM (Hei Shi 86 91) which is used to refer
to Fantines native town and a birds name Lark (Hei Shi 93) which is attached to
the Chinese characters 天鷚兒 to specify its original at the end of the main text The
existence of the two English terms in the Chinese text leads Hinosugi to argue for the
probability of a certain English version as Hei Shis source of translation (68)
Hinosugis argument for a probable English source is plausible but his concurrent
exclusion of the French original as a likely source calls for careful examination
According to Hinosugi the place described in the orginal French work is the
unabbreviated Montreuil-sur-mer as opposed to the abbreviated M surM in the
Chinese text as well as in several English versions This constitutes part of the ground
on which he argues in favor of the English versions However Hinosugi fails to
recognize the process of transformation from M surM to Montreuil-sur-mer in
Hugos scheme In this regard Maurice Allem provides us with a clear picutre
Victor Hugo avait eacutecrit sur une page formant chemise laquoApregraves ma mort
quant on reacuteimprimera ce livre il faudra mettre en toutes lettres le nom des
villes Au lieu de D Digne au lieu de M-sur-M Montreuil-sur-Merraquo
Les noms furent mis en toutes lettres deux384 ans avant la mort de Victor
Hugo ce fut dans leacutedition Quantin (1881)385 (Allem 1490)
From the above citation we know that the French editions of Les Miseacuterables published
before 1881 showed the abbreviated names of the towns such as D and M-sur-M
while those which came after 1881 had the names of the towns in full letters like
Digne and Montreuil-sur-Mer Specifically when Les Miseacuterables was first published in
1862 Fantines hometown was shown in abbreviation (Hugo LM I 230) instead of in
full letters (as for example in Maurice Allem 156) The English versions are
obviously based on the earlier editions because for instance Wilbours and Wraxalls
translations both came within just some months after the first release of the French
384 This is an obvious typo Since Victor Hugo died in 1885 the appearance of the Quantin edition in 1881 should be quatre ans (four years) rather than deux ans (two years) before the death of Hugo 385 Victor Hugo once wrote on a page-format jacket of his book When the book is reprinted after my death the names of the cities and towns should be given in full letters Digne should be used instead of D Montreuil-sur-Mer is to take the place of M-sur-M These names were given in full letters two years before the death of Victor Hugo in the Quantin edition (1881)
205
novel so that they also exhibit the place in shortened form Therefore the presence of
M surM in the Chinese text should mean that the French and English versions are all
likely to be the source of the Chinese Tian Liu Er Contrastively the attachment of
Lark at the end of Chinese text is more plausible as evidence for the greater
likelihood of an English source
Interestingly in affirming the probability of the English versions Hinosugi also
articulates the unlikelihood of a Japanese text as Hei Shis source According to
Hinosugi before the appearance of Tian Liu Er in 1905 there was no excerpted
translation in Japanese which dealt with Book Four of Volume One of the French novel
other than Kuroiwa Ruikous 黒岩淚香 Aamujou 噫無情 but Kuroiwas was a
greatly reduced and Japanized version which cannot have been the chief source for the
Chinese translation (67) However Hinosugi did not give any textual evidence to back
up his generalized observation that Kuroiwa was an unlikely source for Hei Shi To be
on the safe side it is necessary to look into the text to see if it supports Hinosugis
argument The Fourth Book of Volume One of the French novel finds its counterpart in
Chapter Thirteen with the heading 小雪こ ゆ き
386 of Kuroiwas Japanese version A
perusal of the Japanese text shows that the original story was retold rather than
translated by the Japanese translator as is characteristic of Kuroiwas translating
practice noted by Graham Law and Morita Norimasa 森田範正 as well as by
Kuroiwa himself (Law and Norimasa 120 Kuroiwa Foreword 3-4) Many details of
the original plot were lost in the retelling What is significant here is that there are
quite some details which are omitted by the Japanese version but which are preserved
in the Chinese rendition and this provides a cogent reason for excluding the Japanese
text in the source-tracing of the Chinese translation Two examples serve to illustrate
my point First the French novel locates the Theacutenardiers tavern in la ruelle du
Boulanger387 in Montfermeil (Hugo LM I 225) which finds its rendition in the
Chinese version as 抱蘭格之巷388 in 莽芬米爾389 (Hei Shi 83) The Japanese text
however makes no mention of this particular lane but narrates the tavern as situated at
386 The Japanese name for Cosette 387 Boulanger Lane 388 Lane of Boulanger 389 A Chinese transliteration of Montfermeil
206
汪多樓ワ ウ タ ル ー
へ行ゆ
く追分路おひわけみち
hellipの 所ところ
390 in the town of フアメール391 instead (Kuroiwa
I 50) Not only is it impossible for the Chinese translator to obtain the information of
Boulanger Lane from the Japanese but the mispelled or fragmentary Japanese
transliteration フアメール (phonetically fermeil of Montfermeil) for the town
cannot have been the inspiration for the phonetically adequate transliteration 莽芬米
爾 in the Chinese A second instance is more conspicuous by the absence of any
description about Mrs Theacutenardiers chanting of a popular melody in the Japanese text
Contrastively the presence of the song-humming narration in the Chinese text as well
as in the French and English versions negates the possibility that Hei Shi based his
rendition on Kuroiwas text The above textual evidence serves to substantiate
Hinosugis observation and allows me to exclude the Japanese version from further
consideration
After the exclusion of the Japanese text I would like to follow up on my previous
argument about the French and English versions being likely sources of the Chinese
Tian Liu Er In the First Chapter of the present dissertation I have mentioned several
English versions of Les Miseacuterables including complete translations and partial ones
and some French abridgments in addition to Hugos original novel Here I shall first
make a preliminary screening among the said versions and then conduct an intertextual
comparison between the texts singled out from the initial screening to see if any
lineage is exhibited
To start with the French versions first Hugos original text specifically the 1862
version is without doubt a possible source on which Hei Shis Chinese rendition might
be based Though the presence of the English word Lark in the Chinese text might
hint at an English source more textual evidence is needed for confirmation of this lead
To be on the safe side the French original will be included in my subsequent
comparative exploration Next Husss 1892 excerpted version can also be ruled out for
the reason that the range of the text ie the Second Book of Volume One does not
cover the part treated by the Chinese rendition As for Sumichrasts 1896 truncated
version although its contents cover the book handled by the Chinese translator its
390 (At) the corner of a forked road which leads to Waterloo 391 A mispelled or fragmentary Japanese transliteration of Montfermeil It was replaced with the correct spelling モントフアメール in a modern revised edition of Kuroiwas rendition See Murase Machiu 村瀨巷宇 ed Aamujou 噫無情 [Alas Heartless] Trans Kuroiwa Ruikou 黒岩淚香 By Victor Hugo vol 1 (Tokyo Harushobo はる書房 2005) 52 2 vols
207
narration is too simplified to be the source for the Chinese version For example the
originally detailed account of the process by which Fantine implored the Theacutenardiers
to take care of her daughter is reduced wholesale to a single-sentence summary
Arrive Fantine qui obligeacutee de chercher du travail confle sa petite fille Cosette aux
Theacutenardier malgreacute le prix eacuteleveacute quon lui demande pour sa pension392 (Sumichrast
49) The whole of the Third Chapter in the original book is also summarized in a single
sentence Danneacutee en anneacutee la pauvre petite Cosettemdashque lon appelle lAlouettemdashest
de plus en plus maltraiteacutee par les Theacutenardier 393 (Sumichrast 50) These
simplifications cannot explain the elaborate narration in the corresponding parts of the
Chinese text Therefore Sumichrasts abridgment can be safely excluded from further
consideration Finally the abridged version edited by Douglas Labaree Buffum is out
of the question because it was published three years later than the Chinese translation
and because Hugos Fourth Book of Volume One was totally deleted in this
bowdlerization In a nutshell of the French versions sifted above only Hugos 1862
work is eligible for further intertextual comparison
As far as the English versions are concerned the complete translations which
were published before the appearance of Tian Liu Er in 1905 are all likely sources
for the Chinese translation We have three texts qualifying as full rendition Charles E
Wilbours 1862 translation Isabel F Hapgoods 1887 version and the ca1894
collaborated rendition by William Walton et al Of the partial translations in English
those which cover the three chapters of Book Four of the First Volume are worthy of
further examination because the Chinese text is about the chapters In this regard
Wraxalls 1862 rendition and the 1863 Richmond translation are both probable material
for the Chinese text Another condensed text The Story of Jean Valjean From Victor
Hugos Les Miseacuterables edited by Sara E Wiltse and published in 1897 is a shortened
version of Hapgoods 1887 translation as was mentioned in a previous chapter This
version is not a possible text to inspire the Chinese rendition for to mention just one
instance it prunes away one of the two lyrical couplets hummed by Madame
Theacutenardier whereas the Chinese version has the couplets represented in full To sum up
the above screening process is in favor of the five versions respectively by Wilbour
Hapgood Walton et al Wraxall and Dimitry and A F (the Richmond translation) 392 Fantine arrives Obliged to find a job she entrusts her daughter Cosette to the Theacutenardiers despite the high price they demand for the little girls board and lodging 393 Year after year the poor little Cosettemdashwhom people call the Larkmdashis increasingly maltreated by the Theacutenardiers
208
Together with the French original they will be subjected to my subsequent intertextual
examination
My intertextual comparison exhibits a general tendency of the Chinese text
toward Hapgoods version but the existence of some exceptions seems to point to
other possibilities A few examples that follow will serve to illustrate the complex
results the present study has found Each instance will be tabulated and numbered for
ease of comparison and later reference
Example 1 To begin with the style of presentation of Fantines native town in
abbreviation is worthy of notice We may compare how it is presented respectively in
my selected versions
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Mmdash sur Mmdash (LM I 230) Mmdash sur Mmdash (125)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
M sur M (LM [1880] I 123) Mmdash sur Mmdash (I 98)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
M sur M (I 142) Mmdash sur Mmdash (XII 14)
Chinese (Hei Shi)
M surM (86 91)
The differences in the style of presentation here lie in whether there is a dot or a dash
after the letter M The French contains both each of the English versions has either
of them the Chinese has neither In terms of form and visual impression the
abbreviation with a dash is farther removed from the Chinese than that with a dot
Hence the versions by Wraxall and Hapgood are closer to the Chinese representation
in this first instance However this is no guarantee that the Chinese text is derived
from either of them because the superficial resemblance may due to mere chance
More evidence is needed to increase the probability
Example 2 A second example concerns the description of Madame Theacutenardiers
two childrens and we have the following versions
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
209
lune denviron deux ans et demi lautre
de dix-huit mois la plus petite dans les bras
de la plus grande 394 (LM I 227)
the smaller eighteen months old
in the lap of the larger who was two
years and a half old (123)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
one about two years and a half the other
eighteen months the younger being in the
arms of the elder (LM [1880] I 121)
the smaller eighteen months old
in the lap of the larger who was two
years and a half old (I 96)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
one about two years and a half old
the other eighteen months the younger
in the arms of the other (I 139)
one about two years and a half the
other eighteen months the younger being
in the arms of the elder (XII 9)
Chinese (Hei Shi)
長兒年約二歲有半幼者十八月倚其腕而坐395 (83)
Here in the quotes attention is drawn to the distinctive narration of Wilbours version
and the Richmond translation Whereas the other versions relate the elder daughter of
two and a half years old first Wilbours and the Richmond texts have the description of
the younger child of eighteen months of age precede that of the elder one Besides
with regard to the relative positions of the two daughters only Wilbours and the
Richmond versions depict the young one being in the lap of the older one while in the
other alphabetical versions it is not the lap but the arms in which the younger one was
positioned The Chinese version 腕 (wrist) which is part of the arm is more likely
to derive from the other versions than from Wilbours and the Richmond translations
Example 3 A third instance is drawn from the description of the distance of
Madame Theacutenardier from her daughters as they were on the swing Let us see how this
is narrated in the related versions
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
394 one about two and a half years old the other eighteen months old the younger in the arms of the older 395 The older was about two and a half years old the younger eighteen months of age was sitting against the wrist of the older
210
Agrave quelques pas accroupie sur le seuil de
lauberge la megravere 396 (LM I 227)
The mother was seated on the sill of
the inn (123)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
A few yards off and seated in the inn
door the mother (LM [1880] I 121)
The mother was seated on the sill of
the inn (I 96)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
A few paces apart crouching down upon the
threshold of the hostelry the mother (I 140)
A few yards off and seated in the
inn door the mother (XII 9)
Chinese (Hei Shi)
相距數武其母坐門檻上397 (84)
Here Wilbours version as well as the Richmond translation stands out again from the
other texts by failing to mention the distance between mother and daughters Besides
the Chinese narration 相距數武 (a few paces away) bears a rhetorical resemblance
more to the French Agrave quelques pas or Hapgoods A few paces apart than to
Wraxalls and Walton et als A few yards off Hence in this instance Wilbours
Wraxalls Walton et als and the Richmond renditions are the least likely of them all
Example 4 Another example has to do with the depiction of Fantine as she
appeared in front of Madame Theacutenardier It is narrated in the following manner
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Une femme eacutetait devant elle agrave quelques
pas Cette femme elle aussi avait un
enfant quelle portait dans ses bras
Elle portait en outre un assez gros sac de
nuit qui semblait fort lourd398 (LM I 228)
A woman was before her at a little
distance she also had a child which
she bore in her arms
She was carrying in addition a large
carpet-bag which seemed heavy (124)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
396 A few paces off crouching down on the sill of the tavern the mother 397 A few paces away the mother was sitting on the threshold 398 A woman was before her a few paces away This woman also had a child which she was carrying in her arms She was carrying in additiion a large overnight bag which seemed very heavy
211
A woman was standing a few
paces from her who also had a child
which she was carrying in her arms
She also carried a heavy bag (LM
[1880] I 122)
A woman was before her at a little
distance she also had a child which she
bore in her arms
She was carrying in addition a large
carpet-bag which seemed heavy (I 97)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
A woman stood before her a few paces
distant This woman also had a child which
she carried in her arms
She was carrying in addition a large
carpet-bag which seemed very heavy (I 140)
A woman was standing a few
paces from her This woman also
had a child which she was carrying
in her arms She also carried a
heavy carpet-bag (XII 10-11)
Chinese (Hei Shi)
hellip則一婦人立其旁近不數步彼亦有一兒抱之臂際一手攜一氈製之行
囊其量若甚重者399 (84)
Here about the distance between Fantine and the hostess of the inn Wilbours and the
Richmond translations use the phrase at a little distance whereas all the other
versions adopt the more specific expression a few paces away The Chinese version
近不數步 (no more than a few paces away) is more probably based on the other
versions than on Wilbours and the Richmond translations Moreover the account of
the bag carried by Fantine also reveals something of the relationships between the texts
Wraxalls shortened phrase She also carried a heavy bag lacks the description of the
material of the bag contained in the Chinese text and the heaviness of the bag is
expressed in a different rhetorical manner from the Chinese Walton et als She also
carried a heavy carpet-bag though not short of describing the bags material also
conveys the heaviness of the bag in a different rhetoric from the Chinese The Chinese
rendition 一手攜一氈製之行囊其量若甚重者400 corresponds perfectly to the
other versions not only in semantics but also in rhetoric Also worthy of close scrutiny
is the Chinese term 氈製之行囊 (woolen carpet-bag) Rhetorically speaking this
399 A woman was standing nearby no more than a few paces away She also had a child which she held in her arm In the other arm she carried a woolen carpet-bag which seemed very heavy 400 In the other arm she carried a woolen carpet-bag which seemed very heavy
212
rendition is more likely to derive from the English a large carpet-bag than from the
French un assez gros sac de nuit (a very large overnight bag)
Example 5 The narration of Fantines appearance deserves our extra attention
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Elle avait les mains hacircleacutees et toutes
piqueacutees de taches de rousseur lindex
durci et deacutechiqueteacute par laiguille une
Mante brune de laine bourrue une robe
de toile et de gros souliers401 (LM I
229)
Her hands were tanned and spotted with
freckles the forefinger hardened and
pricked with the needle she wore a
coarse brown delaine mantle a calico
dress and large heavy shoes (124)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Her hands were rough and covered with
red spots and her forefinger was
hardened and torn by the needle she had
on a brown cloth cloak a cotton gown
and heavy shoes (LM [1880] I 122)
Her hands were tanned and spotted with
freckles the forefinger hardened and
pricked with the needle she wore a
coarse brown delaine mantle a calico
dress and large heavy shoes (I 97)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Her hands were sunburnt and all dotted
with freckles her forefinger was hardened
and lacerated with the needle she wore a
cloak of coarse brown woollen stuff a
linen gown and coarse shoes (I 141)
Her hands were tanned and covered
with red spots and her forefinger was
hardened and torn by the needle she
had on a brown woolen cloak a cotton
gown and heavy shoes (XII 12)
Chinese (Hei Shi)
渠手多黃斑食指有針痕身著粗惡紫罽之外套加列哥布之上衣曳敝革履
402 (85)
About the mantle Fantine was wearing the Chinese description 粗惡紫罽之外套 (a
coarse purple woollen cloak) may be traceable to any of the cited texts except 401 Her hands were tanned and covered with freckles the forefinger hardened and torn by the needle She wore a coarse brown delaine cloak a linen dress and coarse shoes 402 Her hands were covered with freckles the forefinger dotted with needle marks She wore a coarse purple woollen cloak a calico dress and worn-out (leather) shoes
213
Wraxalls a brown cloth cloak and Walton et als a brown woolen cloak which do
not offer as much information about the material as the Chinese does As regards
Fantines shoes the Chinese 敝革履 (shabby shoes) comes more likely from
Hapgoods coarse shoes than from Wilbours and the Richmonds large heavy shoes
or Wraxalls and Walton et als heavy shoes
So far in the five instances provided above we have found five pieces of evidence
against the Wilbours and the Richmond translations (Examples 1 to 5) three against
Wraxalls text (Examples 3 to 5) three against the version by Walton et al (Examples 3
to 5) and two against the French original (Examples 1 and 4) This means that
Hapgoods version is the most probable source for the Chinese rendition while
Wilbours and the Richmond translations are the least likely ones Hapgoods high
probability also finds support in the treatment of the two lyrical couplets in the First
Chapter of the book Of all the English versions only Hapgoods text and Walton et
als version give the couplets an English translation (Hapgood LM I 140 143 Walton
et al XII 10 16) but evidence against the latter is strong enough to rule out its
possibility of being the major reference material for the Chinese rendition The other
versions do not translate the couplets but present them in the original French (Wilbour
123 126 Dimitry and F I 97 99 Wraxall LM [1880] I 121 124) For the Chinese
translator to render from English Hapgoods text offers the most convenient material
in that no knowledge of the French language is needed to translate the couplets
However despite the great likelihood of Hapgoods version being the source of
the Chinese translation there also exists some textual evidence which points to other
possibilities A salient case is found in Example 5 Noteworthy here is the sketch of
Fantines dress The Chinese text describes Fantine wearing 加列哥布之上衣 Since
the Chinese 加列哥布 is a phonetic transliteration of the word calico Wilbours
and the Richmonds a calico dress is the only one among the above quoted versions
that could provide the model on which the Chinese translator might make the rendition
The other versions whether the French une robe de toile Wraxalls and Walton et
als a cotton gown or Hapgoods a linen gown cannot possibly have led to the
Chinese rendition This finding registers the contradictory result that Wilbours and the
Richmonds texts the least probable sources for the Chinese translator might also play
a part in the formation of the Chinese text In other words Hapgoods translation may
not be the only text to which the Chinese translator referred in the process of
214
rendering
To further compound the problem of the present source-tracing I would like to
draw attention to another piece of material in the Chinese text The former occupation
of Monsieur Theacutenardier is described in the Chinese translation as 軍曹 (sergeant)
in the army (Hei Shi 90) This term belongs to the Japanese system of military ranks It
is intriguing why in the context of the story which has nothing to do with anything
Japanese the Chinese translator should adopt the Japanese title instead of a Chinese
one which could have been 軍人 or 士官 just like soldat and sergent in the
French original or soldier and sergeant in the English versions (Hugo LM I 238
Wilbour 129 Wraxall LM [1880] I 127 Dimitry and F I 102 Hapgood LM I 147
Walton et al XII 23) Here attention is drawn to Kuroiwas Aamujou in which the
tavern-keeper said he used to be a 軍曹ぐ ん さ う
(Kuroiwa I 51) This seems to suggest that
Kuroiwas Japanese version might be among the references consulted by the Chinese
translator even though it was definitely not the major source which inspired the
Chinese rendition
Mention was made earlier in this chapter of the critical speculation that Hei Shi
might be Zhou Zuoren It was also stated in a previous chapter that Zhou Zuoren
incorporates the plot of Claude Gueux into the latter half of his Guer Ji The English
version of Claude Gueux used by Zhou is taken from The Works of Victor Hugo (1896)
an eight-volume collection which found its way to Zhous hands in 1904 This
compilation also includes in the Fourth to Sixth Volumes an English version of Les
Miseacuterables translated by Isabel F Hapgood This piece of information would be a
strong backing for Hapgoods text being the major source of the Chinese traslationmdashif
the Chinese translator was Zhou However there is as yet no ascertaining whether Hei
Shi and Zhou Zuoren are one and the same person Moreover Zhou expressed in a
short piece of writing in 1922 that the eight-volume collection was too bulky and
lengthy for him to read through and that he ended up occasionally flipping through
Claude Gueux and The Last Day of a Condemned Man only403 (Xuexiao Shenghuo
de Yiyie 50) If Zhou had translated Tian Liu Er from Les Miseacuterables why did he
not mention any reading of the novel in the collection other than the above two works
especially when in China back then Les Miseacuterables was too well-known a Western
403 Zhous original Chinese 這是不曾見過的一部大書但是因為太多太長了卻也就不能多
看只有《死囚的末日》和《Claude Gueux》這兩篇時常拿來翻閱
215
novel to be neglected by Zhou who had a copy of it on hand To solve all these
uncertainties would require a more comprehensive research and go beyond the scope
of the present dissertation The purpose of mentioning them here is to underscore the
complexity of the problems related to the source-tracing of Tian Liu Er
All in all my tracing for the Chinese Tian Liu Er points to the possibility of
multiple sources There is some evidence which intimates that the Chinese text might
be based on Hapgoods English version However the question remains on the one
hand why the Chinese translator suddenly turned to the Wilbours or the Richmonds
text for rendition in the case of the calico dress if he adopted Hapgoods version as
his master copy during his translating process and on the other why he chose to
employ the Japanese system of military title for the non-Japanese character in a
non-Japanese context Are the two instances of exception unquestionably indicative of
the translators adoption of different sources The textual evidence I can find is not
numerous enough for me to make any affirmative argument I can only say in
conclusion without negating other possibilities that Hei Shis Tian Liu Er is
probably translated from more than one source that the major source for reference is
probably an English one and that the most probable English source for the Chinese
rendition is Isabel F Hapgoods 1887 version
62 The Two Likely Sources of Guxing Lei
Guxing Lei404 was published in 1907 by the publishing company of Shangwu 商
務 in Shanghai 上海 Written in classical Chinese it is comprised of fifty chapters in
two volumes the First Volume covering Chapter One to Chapter Twenty-one the
Second Volume continuing with the remaining twenty-nine chapters With a total of
309 pages (142 pages in Volume One 167 pages in Volume Two) it was the longest
and most comprehensive translation of Les Miseacuterables in pre-May-Fourth China In
contrast with the single-episode renditions of the other Chinese versions addressed in
the present dissertation Guxing Lei embraces all the major plot lines in the five
volumes of the original novel Of the forty-eight books in the French work forty-one
are treated in the translation The omitted seven books are mostly digressions that are
only tangentially relevant to the main plot including the analytical description of
Napoleons downfall at Waterloo (Book One in Volume Two) the system and practice
404 Literally Tears of a Lone Star
216
of the convent of Petit-Picpus (Book Six in Volume Two) Hugos idiosyncratic view
on the convent system as a whole (Book Seven in Volume Two) Gavroches desertion
and slight by the Theacutenardier couple (Book One in Volume Three) the introduction of
some major criminals who dominated the underworld in Paris from 1830 to 1835
(Book Seven in Volume Three) Hugos point of view on the function and significance
of slang (Book Seven in Volume Four) and Hugos opinion on the significance of the
sewer system to the civilized world (Book Two in Volume Five)
Like most Chinese versions of Les Miseacuterables dealt with in the present
dissertation Guxing Lei is oriented to the plot and the translators strategy is to relate
the story in a concise manner cutting off the minor details and trifles For example the
long passage narrating Bishop Myriels beneficence in exchanging his vast episcopal
palace with the humble small hospital including the conversation between the Bishop
and the director of the hospital in Chapter Two of Book One in Volume One of the
original is summed up in the translation in one sentence only 捨所居室為醫院405
(Guxing Lei I 1) In the original Chapter One of the Second Book in Volume One the
extended and vividly graphic account of Jean Valjeans repeated rejections in the town
of Digne including the scenes at the tavern at the Cross of Colbas at the public house
at the Rue de Chaffaut at a peasants house and at a dogs kennel are also rendered
summarily into a single sentence 尋常社會中皆不納406 (Guxing Lei I 2) However
the Chinese translator does not treat all the original text in so succinct a fashion The
translators typical way of handling a paragraph can be illustrated in the following
instance a scene where the inspector Javert was taking his own life The French
original and the Chinese translation go respectively as follows
Javert demeura [quelques minutes] immobile regardant [cette
ouverture de teacutenegravebres il consideacuterait linvisible avec une fixiteacute qui
ressemblait agrave de lattention] Leau bruissait [Tout agrave coup] il ocircta son
chapeau et le posa sur [le rebord du quai] [Un moment apregraves] une figure
haute et noire [que de loin quelque passant attardeacute eucirct pu prendre pour
un fantocircme] apparut debout [sur le parapet se courba vers la Seine] puis
se redressa et tomba droite dans les teacutenegravebres il y eut un clapotement
sourd [et lombre seule fut dans le secret des convulsions de cette forme
405 He allowed his house to be used as hospital 406 He was not accepted or received by any of the ordinary society
217
obscure disparue sous leau]407 (Hugo LM V 242 brackets added)
hellip茄伐注視不動但知水流滾滾永無息時乃摘帽下置石上
此時第見至長之影向上佇立猛一躍起長影墜入黑潭略有波點
濺起而已嗚呼茄伐竟漫漫長夜不知何時復旦408 (Guxing Lei II
137)
As can be seen from the above quotes the translator gives a rough instead of a full
rendition of the original passage The bracketed texts in French are left out in the
translation which nevertheless sustains the gist of the original paragraph Also
noteworthy is the fact that the concluding clause in the French text is deleted and
replaced in Chinese with a sentence of the translators own invention 嗚呼茄伐竟漫
漫長夜不知何時復旦 From this instance we see that the translator not only deletes
original passages but also adds his own narration in the practice
Brought out in book form Guxing Lei does not show any authorship information
on the covers whether on the front or on the back on the inside or on the outside
However the beginning of the main text contains several introductory sentences
addressed to the reader which offer a glimpse of what the book is about
讀者志之是書篇帙至繁多者情事亦至離奇至慘變者凡世事之弱
肉強食人情之畸善偏惡皆刻畫盡致矣嗟乎鷦巢蝸角登鐵血
之舞台塵網魔淫敗金輪之法相金銀世界中果有此獰惡慘痛晦
塞酷毒之一境耶請述法國大文家囂俄之言矣曰有舊主教麥理爾
者helliphellip409 (Guxing Lei I 1)
From this initial passage can also be known that the author of the story is Hugo
407 Javert remained motionless [for several minutes] gazing [at this opening of shadow he considered the invisible with a fixity that resembled attention] The water roared [All at once] he took off his hat and placed it on [the edge of the quay] [A moment later] a tall black figure [which a belated passer-by in the distance might have taken for a phantom] appeared erect [upon the parapet of the quay bent over towards the Seine] then drew itself up again and fell straight down into the shadows a dull splash followed [and the shadow alone was in the secret of the convulsions of that obscure form which had disappeared beneath the water] (Hapgood LM V 154) 408 Javert remained motionless and fixed on the water that surged endlessly He took off his hat and placed it on a stone At that moment could be seen a very long shadow standing erect then springing up suddenly and falling into the dark pool with only some tiny ripples splashing up Alas Javert joined the eternal darkness just like this without any certainty of ever seeing the light again 409 Dear reader this work is bulky with numerous books and chapters The affairs in the story are extremely intriguing and disastrous encompassing all the jungle-law bullying and victimizing all the goodness and evil in human society Alas rogues and rascals get to have their way to success and power as blackguards and scoundrels continue to corrupt the virtuous society Are there really such hopelessly vile and calamitous situations in the material world Lets listen to what the French literary giant Hugo has to say There used to be a bishop named Myriel
218
rendered as 囂俄 in Chinese Apart from this the information of the translator is
nowhere to be found throughout the book There was a suspicion that Lin Shu 林紓
was the anonymous translator of the bulky work and that the selection of the Chinese
characters 囂俄 as a phonetic representation for the name of the French author
reflected the Fuzhou 福州 dialect which Lin was using However in his Lin Shu
Fanyi Zuopin Kaosuo 林紓翻譯作品考索410 Yu Jiuhong 俞九洪 lists only the
item of Shuangxiong Yisi Lu 雙雄義死錄411 (a rendition of Hugos Quatrevingt-treize)
while introducing Lin Shus translation of Hugo (363) Also in Lin Shu Pingzhuan 林
紓評傳412 by Zhang Juncai 張俊才 Guxing Lei is not included in the enclosed list of
Lin Shus creative writings and translations a list based on Ma Tailais 馬泰來 Lin
Shu Fanyi Zuopin Chuanmu 林紓翻譯作品全目413 In view of the prominence of
Les Miseacuterables Yu and Zhang as well as Ma cannot have missed the item of Guxing
Lei if they had believed Lin Shu to be the translator of the work Moreover Zeng
Jinzhang 曾錦漳 points out unambiguously that it remains uncertain whether Guxing
Lei was translated by Lin Shu (286) And the Japanese scholar Tarumoto Teruo 樽本
照雄 in discussing the origin of the Chinese 囂俄 as a phonetic transliteration of
Hugo states that Lin Shu has nothing to do with 囂俄 (Hugo no Kanyakuna
Xiaoe ni tsuite (Ge) 8) a view which not only directly negates the Chinese
pronunciation of 囂俄 as inspired by the Fuzhou dialect spoken by Lin Shu but also
indirectly suggests that Lin Shu did not translate Les Miseacuterables All in all the critical
consensus tends to doubt the authorship of Lin Shu as the translator of Guxing Lei
With no information whatsoever about the translator the tracing of the source of
Guxing Lei would be a tough and onerous job and one would have to wonder whether
it was rendered from a version of the French the English the Japanese or other
language sources Indeed aside from possible Western sources the publication of
Guxing Lei just one year after Kuroiwa Ruikous Aamujou was printed separately in
1906 from its previous serialization in Yorozu Chouhou 萬朝報 easily makes one
suspect a link between the two particularly when both versions share the same feature
unique and unprecendented in their respective time and country of covering the entire 410 Literally Research on Lin Shus Works of Translation 411 Literally Righteous Death of Two Heroes 412 Literally Critical Biography of Lin Shu 413 Literally A Complete List of Lin Shus Works of Translation
219
network of the story lines of Les Miseacuterables However the Roman letters present in the
text of Guxing Lei offer one of the proofs which argue against the possibility of the
lineage between them As illustration the town of Digne is shown as ダイン in the
Japanese version and as D 城 in the Chinese text respectively (Kuroiwa I 1 Guxing
Lei I 1) Fantines hometown Montreuil-sur-Mer is represented as モントリウル by
Kuroiwa and as M 城 by the Chinese translator (Kuroiwa I 55 Guxing Lei I 33)
Judging from the pronunciations of the towns the D and M in the Chinese text do
not sound like phonetic transcriptions of their Japanese counterparts In fact the
Chinese representation of the towns with a Roman letter corresponds to the Western
versions Where the Western texts do not abbreviate the name of a town the Chinese
rendition also skips the letter representation and shifts to a more common way of
phonetic transliteration such as 亞拉斯 for Arras and 忙勿迷 for Montfermeil
(Guxing Lei I 38 14) While 亞拉斯 could be phonetically related to either the
FrenchEnglish Arras or the Japanese アラス (Kuroiwa I 95) 忙勿迷 is more
likely derived from the Western Montfermeil for its phonetic similarity than from the
Japanese モントフアメール (Kuroiwa I 180)
Another more decided instance concerns the Latin passage of a funeral
incantation which is presented in the Chinese text in the following manner
旋聞冷汰幽悽之音為二人相對讀經作拉丁音甚緩略可辨識一
老人音嘽緩一小兒音清銳嘽緩者音作Qui dormiunt in terrae
pulvere evigilabunt alii in vitam aeternam et alii in approbrium ut
videant semper 清銳者音作De profundis 嘽緩者又作Requiem
aeternam donaei [sic] Domine 清銳者又作Et lux perpetua luceat
ei414 (Guxing Lei I 114)
This Latin incantation is present in several English versions as well as in the French
original but is absent in Kuroiwas Aamujou so the Chinese passage cannot have been
rendered from the Japanese Evidence of this kind which serves for the present
research to exclude Kuroiwas text from further consideration is too abundant to be
414 Instantly could be heard some cold and elegiac sound coming draggingly from a duet incantation in Latin Discernibly the slow and steady voice was uttered by an old man the crisp and clear voice was articulated by a child First the slow-voiced went Qui dormiunt in terrae pulvere evigilabunt alii in vitam aeternam et alii in approbrium ut videant semper Then the crisp-voiced responded De profundis The one continued Requiem aeternam donaei [sic] Domine The other followed Et lux perpetua luceat ei
220
recounted here and since no other Japanese versions covered as much content as the
Chinese text at the time we may rest assured that Japanese is not the source of Guxing
Lei
After excluding the Japanese versions we may attend to the Western texts The
Roman letters in the Chinese text may suggest an English or a French source In order
to determine which one is more likely an intertextual comparison among the possible
texts is needed Now again a preliminary screening is to be made before the
intertextual juxtaposition is conducted Hugos French original is without doubt a
probable source to be subjected to further comparative scrutinization Now we shall
turn to the English versions Because Guxing Lei embraces the major network of the
original plot lines in its narration any English version that covers the major story lines
of the French novel be it a complete or partial rendition deserves our close
examination With this judgment criterion in mind the texts by Wilbour Hapgood and
Walton et al respectively are unquestionable candidates for further comparison for
their complete coverage of the French work The almost complete translation by
Wraxall is another likely source to be compared later The slightly abridged versions of
the Richmond translation and Wiltses 1897 text would have qualified as probable
sources for the Chinese text had it not been for the existence of some textual evidence
pointing to the contrary Specifically the Richmond version eliminates the secret note
of insurrection picked up by a carpenter in the original story
Q C D E Apprenez cette liste par coeur Apregraves vous la
deacutechirerez Les hommes admis en feront autant lorsque
vous leur aurez transmis des ordres
Salut et fraterniteacute415
L
u og a fe
Les personnes qui furent alors dans le secret de cette trouvaille nont
connu que plus tard le sous-entendu de ces quatre majuscules
quinturions centurions deacutecurions eacuteclaireurs et le sens de ces lettres u
og a fe qui eacutetait une date et qui voulait dire ce 15 avril 1832 Sous
chaque majuscule eacutetaient inscrits des noms suivis dindications tregraves 415 Learn this list by heart After so doing you will tear it up The men admitted will do the same when you have transmitted their orders to them Health and Fraternity (Hapgood LM IV 26)
221
caracteacuteristiques AinsimdashQ Bannerel 8 fusils 83 cartouches Homme
sucircrmdashC Boubiegravere 1 pistolet 40 cartouchesmdashD Rollet 1 fleuret 1
pistolet 1 livre de poudremdashE Teissier 1 sabre 1 giberne
ExactmdashTerreur 8 fusils Brave etc416 (Hugo LM IV 44)
This note is transcribed in Guxing Lei as follows
Q C D E 此紙牢記後即毀之凡人受允許亦可依此作為然必先
將彼之命令遞去
同胞康健417
U og a fe
凡拾此紙者皆茫然莫知彼四字母之作為後知為第一字者即伍什
長第二字百長第三字什長第四字偵探簽名下數字即一千八
百三十二年四月十五號又每一字下寓有人名並器械之數目及其
人之考語下有略待字樣418 (Guxing Lei II 42)
Since the absence of the note in the Richmond text cannot explain its presence in the
Chinese version the Richmond translation can be safely ruled out from further
intertextual comparison As for Wiltses 1897 text attention is drawn to a passage
where Cosette unsuccessfully lied to a pedler guest about the watering of his horse
All at once one of the pedlers who lodged in the hostelry entered and
said in a harsh voicemdash
My horse has not been watered
Yes it has said Madame Thenardier
I tell you that it has not retorted the pedler
Cosette had emerged from under the table
Oh yes sir said she the horse has had a drink he drank out of a
bucket a whole bucketful and it was I who took the water to him and I
416 It was only later on that the persons who were in the secret of this find at the time learned the significance of those four capital letters quinturions centurions decurions eclaireurs [scouts] and the sense of the letters u og a fe which was a date and meant April 15th 1832 Under each capital letter were inscribed names followed by very characteristic notes Thus Q Bannerel 8 guns 83 cartridges A safe manmdashC Boubiere 1 pistol 40 cartridgesmdashD Rollet 1 foil 1 pistol 1 pound of powdermdashE Tessier 1 sword 1 cartridge-box ExactmdashTerreur 8 guns Brave etc (Hapgood LM IV 26) 417 Tear up this note after learning it by heart Those who are admitted can also follow suit on condition that they be given the orders first Health to Our People 418 Those who picked up this note did not know what the four letters meant Only later did they realize they represented quinturions centurions decurions and scouts respectively Those under the ending formula stood for the date of April 15 1832 with each letter connoting a name an epithet of the person and the number of weapons followed by the mark of and others
222
spoke to him
It was not true Cosette lied
[Theres a brat as big as my fist who tells lies as big as the house
exclaimed the pedler] I tell you that he has not been watered you little
jade He has a way of blowing when he has had no water which I know
well (Hapgood LM II 75-76 Wiltse 306-307 brackets added)
As has been pointed out previously Wiltses version is a truncated text from Hapgoods
translation The bracketed words in the quotes are existent in Hapgoods original copy
but erased in Wiltses revision A counterpart passage can be found in the Chinese
version which runs like this
忽一客至庭中厲聲問曰飲馬否主婦答曰業飲之客曰吾知
其未飲卡失出語客曰實已飲矣且一巨桶是小奴所手飲者客
曰爾身小如拳不意敢大言起空中樓閣欲誑我我告爾確知此
馬未飲因喘氣可證419 (Guxing Lei I 72)
What deserves attention here is the simile used by the guest to scold Cosette for her
lies in the Chinese version 爾身小如拳不意敢大言起空中樓閣 which harks back
to Hapgoods expression Theres a brat as big as my fist who tells lies as big as the
house Because this sentence is deleted in Wiltses version it cannot have been the
source of the Chinese translation Therefore Wiltses 1897 text can be excluded from
further consideration
The initial screening conducted above leaves us with five candidate texts for
further comparison Hugos French original and Wilbours Wraxalls Hapgoods and
Walton et als English versions Juxtaposing them with the Chinese text I find
contradictory results To begin with there are instances where more than one version
appears possible For ease of reference each example that ensues will be numbered
Example 1 Regarding how Cosette was treated in the house of the Theacutenardiers
we have the following narrations
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
On la nourrit des restes de tout le monde un They fed her on the orts and ends a
419 Suddenly a guest came to the hall and asked harshly Has my horse had water The hostess replied Yes it has The guest retorted I know it has not Cosette chimed in Yes it really has It drank out of a huge bucket It was I who took the water to it The guest protested Youre as small as a fist and yet you dare tell big lies like building castles in the air I tell you my horse has not been watered Im pretty sure of this because I know it from its manner of breathing
223
peu mieux que le chien et un peu plus mal
que le chat Le chat et le chien eacutetaient du
reste ses commensaux habituels Cosette
mangeait avec eux sous la table dans une
eacutecuelle de bois pareille agrave la leur (LM I 240)
little better than the dog and a little
worse than the cat The dog and cat
were her messmates Cosette ate with
them under the table in a wooden dish
like theirs (130)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
She was fed on the leavings of
everybody a little better than the dog
and a little worse than the cat Dog and
cat were her usual company at dinner
for Cosette ate with them under the
table off a wooden trencher like theirs
(LM [1880] I 128)
They fed her on what all the rest had
leftmdasha little better than the dog a little
worse than the cat Moreover the cat and
the dog were her habitual
table-companions Cosette ate with them
under the table from a wooden bowl
similar to theirs (I 148)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
She was fed on the leavings of everybody a little better
than the dog a little worse than the cat Dog and cat were
moreover her usual company at dinner for Cosette ate
with them under the table off a wooden trencher like
theirs (XII 26)
食以殘羹甚至投穢置
濁狗彘所不食者強
以果腹與木碗一與
畜類雜處420 (I 16)
Here attention is drawn to the utensil with which Cosette had her food The Chinese
木碗 bears more resemblance to the French eacutecuelle de bois421 and Hapgoods
wooden bowl than to Wilbours wooden dish and Wraxalls and Walton et als
wooden trencher because the French and Hapgoods versions as well as the Chinese
speak about a bowl whereas Wilbours Wraxalls and Walton et als texts present the
concept of a plate So here we have two likely texts between which the present study
cannot decide for now Moreover although the other three versions are less likely to
inspire the Chinese rendition their possibility cannot be denied altogether After all
plate and bowl are so closely associated as likely to be interchanged in translation
420 They fed her on leftover food and soups and to quench her hunger she even took dirty things which even dogs and pigs did not eat With a wooden bowl in hand she was in the company of animals 421 wooden bowl
224
Example 2 Another instance has to do with the cause of the fight between
Fantine and Bamatabois The texts concerned are as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
loisif se baissa prit sur le paveacute une
poigneacutee de neige et la lui plongea
brusquement dans le dos entre ses deux
eacutepaules nues (LM I 293)
[The loafer] stooped down seized a
handful of snow from the side walk and
threw it hastily into her back between her
naked shoulders (159)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
he stooped to pick up a handful of
snow and suddenly plunged it
between her bare shoulders (LM
[1880] I 153)
he bent down picked up a handful of
snow from the pavement and thrust it
abruptly into her back between her bare
shoulders (I 180)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
he stooped to pick up a handful of snow and suddenly
plunged it between her bare shoulders (XII 93)
少年乃俯身摶雪片
納女頸中422 (I 28)
With respect to the spot where the snow was planted the Chinese 頸中 with the 中
embracing the sense of both in and between can possibly be rendered from the
French dans le dos entre ses deux eacutepaules nues Wilbours into her back between her
naked shoulders or Hapgoods into her back between her bare shoulders Wraxalls
and Walton et als between her bare shoulders is less likely compared with the others
for its simplified rendition However this reason is not sufficient to exclude the
possibility of the two versions
Example 3 The next example is about a description of an underground society in
Paris which is expressed in the following manners
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
il y avait agrave Paris entre autres
affiliations de ce genre la socieacuteteacute
des Amis de lA B C
Queacutetait-ce que les Amis de lA B
there was in Paris among other
affiliations of this kind the Society of the
Friends of the A B C
Who were the Friends of the A B C A
422 The young man bent down picked up a handful of snow which he rolled in a ball and plunged it in the neck of the girl
225
C une socieacuteteacute ayant pour but en
apparence leacuteducation des enfants
en reacutealiteacute le redressement des
hommes
On se deacuteclarait les amis de lA B
CmdashLAbaisseacute ceacutetait le peuple On
voulait le relever (LM III 115)
society having as its aim in appearance the
education of children in reality the elevation
of men
They declared themselves the Friends of the
A B C The abaisseacute [the abased] were the
people They wished to raise them up [A B C
in French is pronounced ah-bay-say exactly
like the French word abaisseacute]423 (546-47)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
and there was at Paris among
other affiliations of this nature the
society of the friends of the A B C
Who were the friends of the A B
C A society whose ostensible
object was the education of
children but the real one the
elevation of men They called
themselves friends of the A B C
and the people were the Abaisseacutes
whom they wished to raise (LM
[1880] I 480)
there existed at Paris among other
affiliations of that nature the society of the
Friends of the A B C
What were these Friends of the A B C A
society which had for its object apparently the
education of children in reality the elevation
of man
They declared themselves the Friends of
the A B Cmdashthe Abaisseacutemdashthe debasedmdashthat
is to say the people They wished to elevate
the people (III 66)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
and there was at Paris among other affiliations of this
nature the society of the Friends of the A B C
Who were the friends of the A B C a society having for
its aim in appearance the education of children in reality
the elevation of men
巴黎秘密會黨不一
皆草創未成立一名
ABC(法名挨排雖
意 為 極 卑 下 ) 友 會
423 The bracketd text is an explanatory note provided by the English translator In Wilbours original text the remark is placed at the bottom of the page as footnote Here we put it right after the quote to make for easy comparison
226
They called themselves Friends of the A B C The
Abaisseacute were the people They wished to elevate them
(XV 158-59)
者此會宗旨專養
成少年高尚人格424
(I 129)
Here the treatment of the name of the society deserves our attention The French pun in
the title of the society which results from the identical pronunciation between A B C
and Abaisseacute is lost if pronounced in any of the other languages here The Chinese
translator makes up for this loss by adding a parenthetical note explaining the names
pronunciation and significance in French This addition may be due to the translators
attempt at clarification in rendering from the French It may also stem from Wilbours
text as Wilbour provides a footnote explicating the French pronunciation and meaning
of A B C and Abaisseacute a practice which is in concert with the Chinese translators
Hapgoods text which elucidates to the reader the meaning of Abaisseacute as the debased
without pointing out the play in French pronunciation may also be another possible
source for the Chinese renditioin Wraxalls version is the least likely of all the texts
discussed here to be the source for the Chinese version in that it does not offer any
clarification for the word play except through context and also in that it is the only
version which attaches a dot to each of the three letters A B C as opposed to the other
versions including the Chinese which place no dots after the letters The version by
Walton et al like Wraxalls translation does not provide any explanatory remark for
the original pun and so is less likely than the French original Wilbours text and
Hapgoods version to be the model on which the Chinese rendition was based
The three instances above perplex us with multiple possibilities without definitely
dismissing any specific text as absolutely impossible By comparison the following
two cases display more robust evidence against Wraxalls version
Example 4 Regarding the place where Cosette sat in the house of the
Theacutenardiers the following passages are worth comparing
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Cosette eacutetait agrave sa place ordinaire assise
sur la traverse de la table de cuisine pregraves
de la chemineacutee Elle eacutetait en haillons
elle avait ses pieds nus dans des sabots
Cosette was at her usual place seated on
the cross-piece of the kitchen table near
the fire-place she was clad in rags her
bare feet were in wooden shoes and by
424 There were different kinds of secret societies in Paris most of which were in their embryonic stage of development A soeciety called The Friends of the A B C (Ai-pai-sui in French which means extremely lowly) had for its aim the cultivation of moral integrity in young people
227
et elle tricotait agrave la lueur du feu des bas
de laine destineacutes aux petites Theacutenardier
Un tout jeune chat jouait sous les
chaises (LM II 120)
the light of the fire she was knitting
woolen stockings for the little
Thenardiers A young kitten was playing
under the chairs (319)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
Cosette was seated at her usual place the
crossbar of the table near the chimney
she was in rags her bare feet were thrust
into wooden shoes and she was knitting
by the firelight stockings intended for the
young Thenardiers Two merry children
could be heard laughing and prattling in
an adjoining room ( LM [1880] I
292)
Cosette was in her usual place seated
on the cross-bar of the kitchen table
near the chimney She was in rags her
bare feet were thrust into wooden shoes
and by the firelight she was engaged in
knitting woollen stockings destined for
the young Thenardiers A very young
kitten was playing about among the
chairs (II 69)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
Cosette was at her usual place the cross bar of the
kitchen table near the chimney she was in rags her bare
feet were thrust into wooden shoes and she was knitting
by the fire-light woolen stockings for the little
Theacutenardiers A young kitten was playing under the
chairs (XIII 160)
卡失伏爨下一小几旁
敝 衣 跣 足 借 火 鑪 餘
光為主人子結絨襪
一雛貓戲足下425 (I
69)
Notice here what the table where Cosette sat was near to The Chinese text describes a
fire stove (爨) beneath which lay the table where Cosette crouched The fire stove
may have been translated from the French chemineacutee or Wilbours fire-place
Comparatively the word chimney used by Wraxall Hapgood and Walton et al is
less likely to inspire the Chinese translator with fire stove for the reason that it is
usually understood in Chinese as 煙囪 which is somewhat distinct from fire stove
Although this judgment cannot completely negate the possibility of Wraxalls
Hapgoods and Walton et als translations being the textual model on which the 425 Cosette crouched at a small table beneath the fire stove ragged and barefooted knitting woolen stockings for the children of her masters by the light of the fire A kitten was playing about her feet
228
Chinese text was based another piece of evidence here serves to argue against
Wraxalls version The Chinese text narrates a kitten playing about Cosettes feet All
the Western versions contain a similar narration with the exception of Wraxalls
version The absence of a cat playing around here in Wraxalls text cannot account for
the Chinese texts inclusion of its description Thus it is rather unlikely that the
Chinese Les Miseacuterables was rendered from Wraxalls version Wraxalls unlikelikhood
is further strengthened by another example that follows
Example 5 Earlier when my inquiry proposed to exclude the Richmond
translation from consideration the secret note of insurrection was cited as evidence
Here a return to this note is needed and I shall focus my discussion on the boxed text
Q C D E Apprenez cette liste par coeur Apregraves vous la
deacutechirerez Les hommes admis en feront autant lorsque
vous leur aurez transmis des ordres
Salut et fraterniteacute426
L
u og a fe
(Hugo LM IV 44)
Attention here is drawn to the letters at the bottom of the box The versions by Wilbour
and Hapgood as well as the Chinese text conform to the French original in presenting
u og a fe at the end of the boxed message (Wilbour 714 Hapgood LM IV 26
Guxing Lei II 42) By contrast in Wraxalls version the note in the box ends with u
og al fe Noticeably the division of the letters into four units with four added dots
and the misrepresented al in place of the original a in the third unit are what
separates Wraxalls text from the other versions The version by Walton et al u og a
fe (XVII 59) which corrects Wraxalls misprinted al but still retains the dots in
each of the four units is also less likely to be the model for the Chinese text than
Wilbours and Hapgoods translations as well as the French work Like the previous
instance this example also provides ample evidece against Wraxalls translation The
possibility of the rendition by Walton et al is also decreased considerably
After showing the unlikehood of Wraxalls text and Walton et als version I have
some evidence in favor of Wilbours version The following three examples are 426 Learn this list by heart After so doing you will tear it up The men admitted will do the same when you have transmitted their orders to them Health and Fraternity (Hapgood LM IV 26)
229
sufficient to make my point
Example 6 The sobriquets endowed on Jean Valjean and Cosette by Courfeyrac
serve to shed some light on the relationship of the Chinese text with the other versions
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Frappeacute uniquement de la robe de la
petite et des cheveux du vieux il avait
appeleacute la fille mademoiselle Lanoire et
le pegravere monsieur Leblanc si bien que
personne ne les connaissant dailleurs
en labsence du nom le surnom avait
fait loi (LM III 197)
Struck especially by the dress of the little
girl and the hair of the old man he had
named the daughter Mademoiselle
Lanoire [Black] and the father Monsieur
Leblanc [White] and so as nobody knew
them otherwise in the absence of a name
this surname had become fixed (592)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
Being solely struck by the dress of the girl
and the old mans hair he christened the
former Mlle Lanoire and the father
Monsieur Leblanc so that as no one
knew them otherwise this name adhered
to them in the absence of a better one
(LM [1880] I 522-23)
Impressed solely with the childs gown
and the old mans hair he had dubbed
the daughter Mademoiselle Lanoire and
the father Monsieur Leblanc so that as
no one knew them under any other title
this nickname became a law in the
default of any other name (III 117)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
Being solely struck by the dress of the girl and the
old mans hair he christened the former
Mademoiselle Lanoire and the father Monsieur
Leblanc so that as no one knew them otherwise and
in the absence of a better one this name stuck to
them (XVI 11-12)
[買哩]以女子黑服即隱
名之曰黎拿(黑意)令孃
老人華顛則曰黎不來(白
意)以不知姓名故作此
記憶語427 (I 136-37)
The Chinese translators mistaking Marius for the sobriquet-giver aside what is
noteworthy here is that the parenthetical notes 黑意 and 白意 added immediately
after the sobriquets in the Chinese text are in accord with Wilbours bracketed remarks
427 [Marius] called her Miss Lanoire (meaning black) secretly in his mind after the black dress she wore The white-haired old man was given the nickname of Leblanc (meaning white) As he did not know their names the sobriquets made for easy remembrance
230
Black and White Although this likeness between Wilbours text and the Chinese
rendition does not preclude the possibility of the other texts being the source for the
Chinese the ensuing two instances will strengthen the plausibility of Wilbours text as
the most probable source which inspired the Chinese rendition
Example 7 Now we turn to the court scene in Arras where Jean Valjean testified
before the judges and audience against himself in an effort to rescue Jean Mathieu
from suffering legal injustice for his sake Among the addresses made by Jean Valjean
to the three convicts to prove his true identity the speech directed to Chenildieu is
worthy of scrutiny
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
mdashChenildieu qui te surnommais
toi-mecircme Je-nie-Dieu tu as toute leacutepaule
droite brucircleacutee profondeacutement parce que tu
tes coucheacute un jour leacutepaule sur un reacutechaud
plein de braise pour effacer les trois lettres
T F P quon y voit toujours cependant
Reacuteponds est-ce vrai (LM I 427)
Chenildieu surnamed by yourself
Je-nie-Dieu the whole of your left
shoulder has been burned deeply from
laying it one day on a chafing dish full
of embers to efface the three letters T
F P which yet are still to be seen
there Answer me is this true (235)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
Chenildieu you have a deep burn
in your right shoulder because you
placed it one day in a pan of
charcoal in order to efface the three
letters T F P which however are
still visible Answer memdashis it so
(LM [1880] I 220-21)
Chenildieu you who conferred on
yourself the name of Jenie-Dieu your whole
right shoulder bears a deep burn because you
one day laid your shoulder against the
chafing-dish full of coals in order to efface
the three letters T F P which are still visible
nevertheless answer is this true (I 266-67)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
Chenildieu nicknamed by yourself Je-nie-Dieu
you have the whole of your right shoulder burned
deeply because you placed it one day in a brazier of
live coals in order to efface the three letters T F P
which however are still visible Answer memdashis it
爾名己所定否爾曾記左
臂有 TEP 三字耶旋圖滅
迹將暖鍋餘燼着肉燙
烙至今結癥猶在有此事
231
so 否428 (Guxing Lei I 54)
Despite the typo of TEP which should have been TFP in the Chinese text what is
remarkable here is the spot where the mark T F P was situated The Chinese version
locates it on the left arm which is apparently inherited from Wilbours left shoulder
The other versions are unlikely to inspire the Chinese text because all of them
delineate the spot to be on the right shoulder Also the Chinese 餘燼 is clearly a
rendition of the word embers which can be found only in Wilbours version Hence
the derivation of the Chinese version from Wilbour is more certain here than in the
previous example and the French and Hapgoods texts as well as the versions by
Wraxall and Walton et al are out of the question here
Example 8 Still another instance in favor of Wilbour depicts the incident in
which Jean Valjean dropped a handkerchief which was picked up by Marius We have
the following versions for comparison
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Un soir agrave la brune il avait trouveacute sur le
banc que laquoM Leblanc et sa filleraquo
venaient de quitter un mouchoir Un
mouchoir tout simple et sans broderie
mais blanc fin et qui lui parut exhaler
des senteurs ineffables Il sen empara
avec transport Ce mouchoir eacutetait
marqueacute des lettres U F Marius ne
savait rien de cette belle enfant ni sa
famille ni son nom ni sa demeure ces
deux lettres eacutetaient la premiegravere chose
delle quil saisissait adorables initiales
sur lesquelles il commenccedila tout de suite
agrave construire son eacutechafaudage U eacutetait
eacutevidemment le preacutenom Ursule
pensa-t-il quel deacutelicieux nom (LM III
215-16)
One night at dusk he found on the seat
which M Leblanc and his daughter had
just left a handkerchief a plain
handkerchief without embroidery but
white fine and which appeared to him to
exhale ineffable odours He seized it in
transport This handkerchief was marked
with the letters U F Marius knew
nothing of this beautiful girl neither her
family nor her name nor her dwelling
these two letters were the first thing he
had caught of her adorable initials upon
which he began straightway to build his
castle It was evidently her first name
Ursula thought he what a sweet name
(601)
428 Your name was given by yourself right You once bore the mark of TEP on your left arm and then in order to efface it you suffered your flesh to be burned on a chafing dish full of embers Now the mark is still there Is this true
232
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
One evening at twilight he found on the
bench which M Leblanc and his
daughter had just quitted a simple
unembroidered handkerchief which
however was white and pure and
seemed to him to exhale ineffable
odors He seized it with transport and
noticed that it was marked with the
letters U F Marius knew nothing about
the lovely girl neither her family her
name nor her abode these two letters
were the first thing of hers which he
seized adorable initials upon which he
at once begun to erect his scaffolding
U was evidently the Christian name
Ursule he thought what a delicious
name (LM [1880] I 531)
One evening at dusk he had found on
the bench which M Leblanc and his
daughter had just quitted a handkerchief
a very simple handkerchief without
embroidery but white and fine and
which seemed to him to exhale ineffable
perfume He seized it with rapture This
handkerchief was marked with the letters
U F Marius knew nothing about this
beautiful childmdashneither her family name
her Christian name nor her abode these
two letters were the first thing of her that
he had gained possession of adorable
initials upon which he immediately began
to construct his scaffolding U was
evidently the Christian name Ursule he
thought what a delicious name (III
128)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
One evening at twilight he found on the bench
which Monsieur Leblanc and his daughter had
just quitted a handkerchief a simple
unembroidered handkerchief but white and fine
and which seemed to him to exhale ineffable
odors He seized it with transport This
handkerchief was marked with the letters U F
Marius knew nothing about this lovely girl neither
一日停429晚黎不來已去似
剛離坐者坐處有一物忽觸眼
簾拾視則一細布白色之
帕殊樸素不類少女所攜
急注視之喜極欲躍帕角有
字作 UE430自思此女雖覿面
已久未免有情然姓氏里居
429 The character 停 here is obviously a typo for 傍 which when combined with the next character 晚 forms the phrase meaning evening or dusk 430 The letters UE here are a typo for UF When they reappear in page 34 in the second volume of Guxing Lei they are the correct UF
233
her family nor her name nor her abode these two
letters were the first thing of hers which he had
become possessed of adorable initials upon which
he at once begun to erect his scaffolding U was
evidently the Christian name Ursule thought he
what a delicious name (XVI 35)
毫未知悉今既得此帕上二
字其為此女之名縮書無疑
乃 以 意 足 成 之 謂 此 定 為
Ursula 婀秀蘭自詫曰是名
至美頗稱其人431 (I 140)
What is noteworthy here is the supposed name represented by the letter U The
Chinese translation contains the English spelling Ursula which turns out to be a vital
clue for its heritage Among the Western texts only Wilbours version spells the name
in the same way as the Chinese text In all the other versions including the French
original it is Ursule instead Thus here in this case the Chinese text is rendered
undoubtedly from Wilbours text and the other versions can be dismissed as unlikely
So far the instances provided above seem to point unequivocally to Wilbours
version as the indisputable source for the Chinese rendition However the question of
source-tracing for Guxing Lei is not so simple The lineage between Wilbours version
and the Chinese rendition would have been established based on the preceding
instances had it not been for the existence of some other clues which powerfully argue
to the contrary The following two examples serve to illustrate the contradictory
phenomenon the present research is facing here
Example 9 The scene outside the court room in Arras where Jean Valjean alias
Madeleine arrived after a long journey involves a clue worth noticing and comparing
The versions concerned are cited as follows
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Un huissier se tenait debout pregraves de la
porte qui communiquait avec la salle des
assises Il demanda agrave cet huissier
mdashMonsieur la porte va-t-elle bientocirct
souvrir (LM I 398)
An officer stood near the door which
opened into the courtroom He asked this
officer
Monsieur will the door be opened
soon (219)
431 One evening Leblanc seemed to have left just now and something on the bench where Leblanc had sat caught his eye Picking it up he [Marius] saw a white delaine handkerchief its pattern so simple and plain that it did not look like girls stuff As he examined it he almost jumped up in rapture for there on a corner of the handkerchief were marked the letters UF He thought to himself that although he had encountered the girl numerous times and a fond feeling had grown in him for her he had never been able to know her name and address Now that he had the handkerchief in hand the letters had to be the abbreviation of her names without doubt By his judgment he believed that the letter U stood for Ursula a name so surprisingly beautiful that to him it fitted her person perfectly
234
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
An usher was standing near the
door communicating with the court and
he asked himmdash
Will this door be opened soon (LM
[1880] I 205)
An usher stood at the door
communicating with the hall of the
Assizes He inquired of this ushermdash
Will the door be opened soon sir
(I 248)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
A court officer was standing near the door
communicating with the court room and he asked him
Will this door be opened soon (XII 227)
末特里徐至門側問閽
者曰門以何時啟432
(I 48)
The one at the door whom Jean Valjean addressed is according to the Chinese version
a 閽者 (usher) This reflects either the French huissier or Hapgoods usher
Wilbours officer or Walton et als court officer is the least likely to induce the
Chinese translator to come up with 閽者 Wilbours unlikelihood is even more
plausible if we look at the next example
Example 10 In providing the historical background for the 1832 insurrections
narrated in Les Miseacuterables Hugo elaborates on the importance of the endorsement of
fact by right and mentions as illustration a historical figure which offers a vital clue to
the present source-tracing The relevant texts involve the following citations
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Si lon veut constater dun coup agrave quel
degreacute de laideur le fait peut arriver vu agrave
la distance des siegravecles quon regarde
Machiavel Machiavel ce nest point un
mauvais geacutenie ni un deacutemon ni un
eacutecrivain lacircche et miseacuterable ce nest rien
que le fait Et ce nest pas seulement le
fait italien cest le fait europeacuteen le fait
du seiziegraveme siegravecle (LM IV 12)
If you would ascertain at once what
degree of ugliness the fact may reach
seen in the distance of the centuries look
at Machiavel Machiavel is not an evil
genius nor a demon nor a cowardly and
miserable writer he is nothing but the
fact And he is not merely the Italian fact
he is the European fact the fact of the
sixteenth century (697)
432 Madeleine approached the door slowly and asked the usher When will this door be opened
235
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Isabel F Hapgood)
If we wish to discover at one glance what
a degree of ugliness fact can attain when
looked at through the distance of
centuries let us regard Machiavelli He is
not an evil genius a demon or a
cowardly and servile writer he is nothing
but the fact and not merely the Italian
fact but the European fact the fact of the
sixteenth century (LM [1880] II 615)
If one desires to learn at one blow to
what degree of hideousness the fact can
attain viewed at the distance of
centuries let him look at Machiavelli
Machiavelli is not an evil genius nor a
demon nor a miserable and cowardly
writer he is nothing but the fact And he
is not only the Italian fact he is the
European fact the fact of the sixteenth
century (IV 5-6)
English (William Walton et al) Chinese (Guxing Lei)
If we wish to discover at a glance to what a degree of
ugliness fact can attain when looked at through the
distance of centuries let us regard Machiavelli
Machiavelli is not an evil genius nor a demon nor a
cowardly and servile writer he is nothing but the fact
And he is not only the Italian fact but the European
fact the fact of the sixteenth century (XVII 18)
試觀歷史上墨基亞佛利
MACHIAVELLI 為人非
無學無膽識者也其事
實足代表義大利全國
且足代表歐洲全土更及
十六世紀之全世界 433
(II 40)
Conspicuously the Chinese text offers the original spelling of the transliterated name
墨基亞佛利 as MACHIAVELLI Intriguingly this name is spelled Machiavel
which is an alternative spelling of Machiavelli in the French and Wilbours versions
The other three English renditions spell the name in the same way as the Chinese text
does Coupled with the precedent Example 9 this fact recognizes Hapgoods version as
the most probable source for the Chinese translation while dismissing as impossible
Wilbours text as well as the French original Bewilderingly this conclusion is in
contradiction with what is obtained from Examples 6 7 and 8
To sum up in tracing the source of the Chinese Les Miseacuterables my study has
433 Lets see for example the historical Machiavelli a learned and undaunted figure whose fact represented the whole Italy the whole European Continent even the whole world in the sixteenth century
236
found the contradictory phenomenon where the textual clues point to two equally
plausible sources Wilbour and Hapgood As for the French original it is rather
unlikely to be the master copy of the Chinese renditionmdashfor reasons stated as follows
First none of the ten instances illustrated above underscores the French text as the sole
possibility Where the French original appears probable there is concurrently at least
one other version which shows the same probability as in Examples 1 to 5 Besides
when Wilbour or Hapgood stands out as the only possible source as in Examples 7 to
10 the French text is crossed out at the same time Still another reason has to do with
the translation of the Society of the Friends of the A B C In Example 3 after rendering
the name of the affiliation the Chinese translator attaches a parenthetical remark right
after it to explain how ABC is pronounced in French The Chinese 挨排雖
(pronounced ai pai sui in the Pinyin system) apparently a phonetic transliteration of
the three letters seems to betray the translators ignorance of the French pronunciation
for 挨排雖 is phonetically far removed from the French ABC A closer phonetic
representation would have been a bei sui (transcribable as the Chinese characters 阿
悲雖 among other possibilities) or a bei xie (transcribable as 阿悲些 among
other possibilities) and what not The phonetic transcription of 挨排雖 may have
resulted from Wilbours explicative remarks of ah-bay-say and abaisseacute
mispronounced by the Chinese translator Therefore the present thesis deems it less
than likely for Hugos French text to be the model for the Chinese translation
The question remains as to what source the Chinese translator drew on for
rendition of Guxing Lei The intertextual juxtapositions in the ten examples above
seem to indicate more than one source as is evidenced by the equal probability of
Wilbour and Hapgood Another fact worth mentioning here is that the Chinese text is
loaded with numerous inconsistencies For example Bishop Myriel is rendered mostly
as 麥理爾 (I 1) but sometimes as 末利而 (I 19) which easily causes the reader to
suspect that they may not be the same person The protagonist Jean Valjean is
translated for the most part as 服爾基 (I 3) but at one time as 伏爾基 (I 50) the
latter involving a typo Fantines hometown Montreuil-sur-mer is transcribed first as
N 城 (I 17) and then as M 城 (I 33) the former being obviously a misprint The
Latin quarter in Paris is first described as 拉丁 (I 129) and then as 臘丁區 (II 43
85) and so it is definitely hard for the reader to take them as signifying one and the
same district
237
Apart from the above incongruities one last instance concerns the epithet of
Alouette (Lark) bestowed on Cosette by people in Montfermeil In the original
story the epithet first appears in the Fourth Book of Volume One when Cosette got
this nickname for her suffering in the house of the Theacutenardiers to whose care Fantine
had entrusted her Then this appellation surfaces again in the following situations in
the Fifth Book of the First Volume when Cosette was used by the Theacutenardiers as a
means to swindle as much money as possible out of Fantine in Book Six of the same
volume when the Theacutenardiers received a letter from Jean Valjean asking them to
return Cosette to her mother in the Third Book of the Second Volume when Cosette
encountered a woman on her way to the forest spring for a bucketful of water also in
the Third Book of the Second Volume when the Theacutenardiers were acting in front of
their patron Jean Valjean about the economical burden which Cosette inflicted on them
in Book Five of Volume Two when Javert made a trip to Montfermeil to pick up clues
about Jean Valjean who had previously taken away Cosette from the hands of the
Theacutenardiers Later in Book Eight of Volume Three this epithet is once more alluded to
by the male Theacutenardier as he tried to extort money from his prisoner Jean Valjean who
was then tied to a bed in Theacutenardiers hovel The Chinese text omits translation of the
epithet in its inceptive emergence and does not mention anything about the nickname
during its serveral occurrences enumerated above in the original in the meantime until
at the scene where Jean Valjean fell in the hands of the Theacutenardiers when Cosette was
referred to as 百靈鳥434 (II 33) Without any prior introduction to Cosette as so
nicknamed the abrupt appearance of this sobriquet here in the Chinese text is
somewhat puzzling to the reader This problem could have been avoided if the epithet
had been translated in its first occurrence The inconsistent treatment of the nickname
seems to hint at the possibility that at the time of handling 百靈鳥 the Chinese
translator was unconscious of the previous presences of the epithet
What is implied in all the inconsistencies illustrated above Are they simply due
to the translators inattention a momentary laspe of concentration Or do they suggest
that more than one translator was involved in the undertaking that the translation was
a team work poorly coordinated These questions are also complicated by the
consideration of the contradictory results in my source-tracing Without further clues
and evidence the present dissertation is unable to answer any of the posed questions
434 Literally Lark
238
for sure Here I can only conclude tentatively that the Chinese version of Guxing Lei is
probably translated from an English source with Wilbours and Hapgoods texts as the
most likely among other possible sources
63 The Difficulty of Source-tracing in Guai Ke Insufficient Textual Evidence
Xiao Zongs Guai Ke435 was published in 1916 in the number 28 issue of
Xiaoshuo Shibao436 小說時報 Written in the vernacular language the translation
deals with the part of Les Miseacuterables where Jean Valjean went to Montfermeil to bring
Cosette back from the hands of the Theacutenardiers Of the eleven chapters in the Third
Book of Volume Two which cover the part the translator leaves completely untreated
Chapter Ten which narrates Theacutenardiers act of running after Jean Valjean and Cosette
in an attempt to extort more money from the old man whom he had allowed to take
away the girl on a payment of 1500 francs Like the other Chinese translations
addressed in the present dissertation the rendition of Guai Ke is oriented to plot and
focused on the major story line Minor details minute descriptions and wandering
digressions in the original are omitted by the translator resulting in a version that is
condensed and coherent Examples of the deleted passages include the inconvenience
of water supply in Montfermeil in the original Chapter One the physical and
personality traits of the Theacutenardier couple in the Second Chapter Jean Valjeans prior
journey from Paris to Montfermeil in Chapter Six and what not
The employment of the vernacular as linguistic media enables the Chinese
translator to draw on the rich repertoire of colloquialisms to enrich the narrative flavor
For instance the original story has Cosette stopping to gaze in admiration at the
magnificent doll in the toy shop on her way to the spring in the forest and the
narration goes elle ne put sempecirccher de lever les yeux sur cette prodigieuse
poupeacutee437 (Hugo LM II 133) The counterpart description in the Chinese text is 一
雙睛兒好似生了釘子一般只不住的瞧這偶像438 (Xiao Zong 2) The figurative
expression 好似生了釘子一般 (literally as if nails were shooting out of her eyes)
is characteristically Chinese and contains more graphic images than does the original
phrase ne put sempecirccher de lever les yeux (could not refrain from lifting her eyes)
435 Literally strange guest 436 Literally Fiction Times 437 she could not refrain from lifting her eyes to that wonderful doll (Hapgood LM II 77) 438 Her eyes were riveted on the doll like nails
239
Then to describe the rapt concentration in which Cosette was contemplating the doll
the original text has the sentence Dans cette adoration elle oubliait tout mecircme la
commission dont elle eacutetait chargeacutee439 (Hugo LM II 133) which finds its Chinese
rendition in 他瞧出了神便把主母的命令丟向爪哇國去了440 (Xiao Zong 3) The
matter-of-fact diction oubliait tout (forgot everything) is transformed by the
translator into an interesting figure of speech 丟向爪哇國去了 (literally throwing
them all to Java)
The colloquial expressions used in the Chinese rendition not only add extra relish
to the narration but also characterize the translation with local color In narrating
Cosettes fear in walking all alone in the pitch-black wilderness the Chinese translator
does not follow the original lengthy account but simplifies the description to just a
few sentences including this one 到了這荒涼的地境別說是十來歲的小把戲便
是狠強壯的大把戲也會嚇得個一佛出世二佛升天441 (Xiao Zong 3) The
expression 一佛出世二佛升天 (literally one Budda coming alive another Budda
going dead) a common idiom in Chinese conveying the sense of half alive and half
dead or to a great extent is marked with Buddhist allusions which are absent in the
French text Likewise in describing how the scary image of Madame Theacutenardier still
haunted Cosette as she burdened by the heavy bucket alternated between walking a
few steps and resting for a while on the return journey from the woods the Chinese
text offers a creative sentence 可憐葛色悵生生的女兒家也不知前世和麥丹結下
了什麼冤仇應該今生還淚的442 (Xiao Zong 4) Here the concept of 前世冤仇
which is ascription of present suffering to a vendetta from a previous life stems from
Buddhist belief and has become rooted in Chinese thinking It is however not known
in the Christian context of the original story The localized translation results in a text
that is similar in plot to but distinct in belief system from the French story
In tracing the source of Guai Ke we cannot resort to the translator for clues
because no biographical material is available to offer us even a glimpse of who Xiao
439 In this adoration she forgot everything even the errand with which she was charged (Hapgood LM II 78) 440 In delirious admiration she left the orders of Madame [Theacutenardier] behind throwing them all to Java 441 In this forlorn and deserted land even a robust adult would be frightened half alive and half dead not to mention a teenage girl 442 Poor Cosette born a poor girl who did not know what she had done in her previous life to incur Madame Theacutenardiers personal vendetta against her so that she had to suffer for it in tears in this life
240
Zong is Unlike the case of Tian Liu Er where the text suggests an English source
through its presentation of some English proper names the text of Guai Ke does not
reveal any linguistic clues This means we cannot narrow down our scope of textual
search to one linguistic realm only but have to include as many likely languages as
possible for consideration In this regard I deem it reasonable to place my bet on the
French English and Japanese languages ie the original language in which Les
Miseacuterables is written plus the two most frequently used languages as intermediary for
Chinese translators of the early Republican era to render Western works
After the three languages are decided the next step is to go on to review the
possible versions within each language to single out the most possible one or ones
which I shall then subject to my final intertextual comparison in the hope of finding
out the source of the Chinese translation To begin with the French versions we have
known from earlier chapters of the present dissertation that apart from Hugos original
work there were some abridged versions in French existing before the appearance of
Guai Ke in 1916 Husss 1892 excerpted version can be ignored because it presents
the Second Book of Volume One only without touching any of the Third Book of
Volume Two which is the content of the present Chinese translation Sumichrasts 1896
condensed version can also be ruled out for the original Book Three of Volume Two is
reduced here to a single-sentence summary [Jean Valjean] se rend agrave Montfermeil ougrave
se trouve Cosette la fille de Fantine que les Theacutenardier traitent avec la derniegravere
brutaliteacute Il la deacutelivre et lemmegravene avec lui agrave Paris443 (Sumichrast 118) This
drastically shortened synopsis cannot have inspired the Chinese translator with the
detailed and colorful narration in Guai Ke Buffums 1908 version bowdlerizes the
original eleven chapters of the Third Book of the Second Volume into three resulting
in a content which is too simplified to be the source of the Chinese version A salient
example can be provided as follows
mdashOh si monsieur dit-elle le cheval a bu il a bu dans le seau plein
le seau et mecircme que cest moi qui lui ai porteacute agrave boire et je lui ai parleacute
Cela neacutetait pas vrai Cosette mentait
[mdashEn voilagrave une qui est grosse comme le poing et qui ment gros
comme la maison seacutecria le marchand Je te dis quil na pas bu petite
drocirclesse Il a une maniegravere de souffler quand il na pas bu que je connais
443 [Jean Valjean] goes to Montfermeil where Cosette the daughter of Fantine is treated by the Theacutenardiers with utmost cruelty He saves her and takes her with him to Paris
241
bien
Cosette persista et ajouta dune voix enroueacutee par langoisse et quon
entendait agrave peine
mdashEt mecircme quil a bien bu]
mdashAllons reprit le marchand avec colegravere ce nest pas tout ccedila quon
donne agrave boire agrave mon cheval et que cela finisse
Cosette rentra sous la table444 (Hugo LM II 129-30 Buffum 95)
The above passage is cited from Hugos original and the bracketed text in the quote is
present in the original work but is deleted in Buffums version What is noteworthy
here is that the erased passage contains the sentence En voilagrave une qui est grosse
comme le poing et qui ment gros comme la maison which finds its counterpart in the
Chinese text that reads 你這小丫頭人還沒有拳頭大說出誑話來比一棟屋子
還大呢445 (Xiao Zong 2) This means that the Chinese version cannot have been
translated from Buffums truncated text The above screening among the French texts
leaves us with only one possibility Hugos original work
Now it is time to examine the English versions Wilbours and Hapgoods texts
and the joint version by Walton et al the three complete translations are undoubtedly
possible sources for the Chinese rendition because of their full coverage of Book Three
of Volume Two on which the story in Chinese is based The Richmond translation is
also possible because the Third Book of Volume Two of the original is completely
rendered in this slightly abridged version Wraxalls version shortens the eleven
chapters of the book into nine by combining Chapters Four and Five and merging
Chapters Ten and Eleven with a few paragraphs deleted Despite the deletions
Wraxalls text qualifies as another possibility because the undeleted part covers the
whole of the Chinese translation Wiltses 1897 text inherited from Hapgoods version
444 Oh yes sir said she the horse has had a drink he drank out of a bucket a whole bucketful and it was I who took the water to him and I spoke to him It was not true Cosette lied [Theres a brat as big as my fist who tells lies as big as the house exclaimed the pedler I tell you that he has not been watered you little jade He has a way of blowing when he has had no water which I know well Cosette persisted and added in a voice rendered hoarse with anguish and which was hardly audiblemdash And he drank heartily] Come said the pedler in a rage this wont do at all let my horse be watered and let that be the end of it Cosette crept under the table again (Hapgood LM II 75-76) 445 Little girl you are no greater than a fist but you tell lies bigger than a house
242
preserves the eleven chapters of the book but removes some passages Some of the
deleted passages find their way into the Chinese text The following is an example
Oh yes sir said she the horse has had a drink he drank out of a
bucket a whole bucketful and it was I who took the water to him and I
spoke to him
It was not true Cosette lied
[Theres a brat as big as my fist who tells lies as big as the house
exclaimed the pedler] I tell you that he has not been watered you little
jade He has a way of blowing when he has had no water which I know
well (Hapgood LM II 75-76 Wiltse 307)
In the above quote which is originally Hapgoods translation the text in brackets is
omitted in Wiltses abridgment Significantly the omitted part is treated in the Chinese
translation 你這小丫頭人還沒有拳頭大說出誑話來比一棟屋子還大呢446
(Xiao Zong 2) This serves to argue against the possibility of Wiltses version as the
source of the Chinese rendition Hence in the above screening among the English
versions of Les Miseacuterables we have five possible versions for the Chinese text
Wilbours Wraxalls Hapgoods Walton et als and the Richmond translations
After filtering the French and English versions it is now time to examine the
Japanese versions Prior to the publication of Guai Ke in 1916 Kuroiwa Ruikous
Aamujou is a possible version because it covers the original plot of the Third Book of
Volume Two The eleven chapters of the original book are rearranged into Chapters 47
to 57 in the Japanese version of 152 chapters Although also divided into eleven
chapters the Japanese text does not correspond to the original on a chapter-to-chapter
basis Nevertheless the detailed narration in this part of the plot entitles Kuroiwas text
to inclusion in the subsequent intertextual comparison Another Japanese version
Yama Gano Mizu 山家水447 authored by Tayama Katai 田山花袋 (1872minus1930)
and released in 1892 on the magazine Senshi Genkou 千紫万紅 also overlaps with
the episode of Cosettes story narrated in Guai Ke However Tamayas text a
translation done in a typically Japanese honan 翻案448 fashion localizes the plot to
such an extent that the settings characters and actions diverge radically from those in
the original story The names of the characters in the episode including Cosette and
446 Ibid 447 Literally Water for the House in the Mountains 448 Literally adaptation
243
the Theacutenardiers which are phonetically transliterated in Guai Ke are nowhere to be
found in Tamayas adapted version This fact alone suffices to exclude Yama Gano
Mizu from further consideration Therefore Kuroiwas text is the only Japanese
version to be put on the list of potential sources for Guai Ke
My intertextual comparison and contrast points to certain possibilities but since
the text of Guai Ke is short and the clues it offers are few the results are
inconclusive The only thing that can be known for certain is that the Chinese
translation is not derived from the Japanese version The following five examples serve
to illustrate my point For ease of later reference each instance will be numbered
Example 1 The first instance is about the place where Cosette cowered to knit
woollen stockings for the two daughters of the Theacutenardiers The Chinese text is 靠著
火爐449 (Xiao Zong 1) We shall see how the different versions describe the place
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
sur la traverse de la table de cuisine pregraves
de la chemineacutee450 (LM II 120)
on the cross-piece of the kitchen table
near the fire-place (319)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
[at] the crossbar of the table near the
chimney (LM [1880] I 292)
on the cross-piece of the kitchen table
near the fire-place (II 59)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
on the cross-bar of the kitchen table near
the chimney (II 69)
[at] the cross bar of the table near the
chimney (XIII 160)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Xiao Zong)
臺所だいどころ
に在あ
る卓子て ー ぶ る
の下し た
451 (I 184) 靠著火爐452 (1)
From the above citations we see that the Chinese description of Cosette sitting by the
火爐 (fireside) may be inspired by Hugos pregraves de la chemineacutee or Wilbours and
the Richmonds near the fire-place Comparatively the chimney in Wraxalls and
449 by the fireside 450 on the crossbar of the kitchen table near the fireplace 451 under the kitchen table 452 by the fireside
244
Hapgoods and Walton et als texts which is usually understood as 煙囪 in Chinese
is less likely to inspire the Chinese translator with the sense of 火爐 The Japanese
version which places Cosette under the kitchen table without mentioning anything
about the fireplace is the farthest removed from the Chinese and the least likely to be
the source of the Chinese translation
Example 2 A second example has to do with Cosettes lying about supplying a
guests horse with water What the guest said when he exposed Cosettes lie deserves
our close scrutiny
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
En voilagrave une qui est grosse comme le poing
et qui ment gros comme la maison453 (LM
II 129)
Here is a girl as big as my fist who
can tell a lie as big as a house
(324)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Theres a girl no bigger than ones fist who
tells a lie as big as a house (LM [1880] I
297)
Here is a girl as big as my fist who
can tell a lie as big as a house (II
64)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Theres a brat as big as my fist who
tells lies as big as the house (II 75)
Here is a girl no bigger than my fist who
can tell a lie as big as a house (XIII 172)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Xiao Zong)
何な ん
だ此こ
の小女こ を ん な
は鼠ねずみ
の樣や う
な小ちひさ
い身躰か ら だ
で
象ざ う
の樣や う
な巨で か
い噓う そ
を吐つ
いてさ454 (I 186)
你這小丫頭人還沒有拳頭大說
出誑話來比一棟屋子還大呢455
(2)
Here in the above quotes attention is drawn to the use of simile in each version All
except the Japanese text employ the contrast of fist versus house to underscore the
girls tiny body versus her huge lie The Japanese version also contains a simile but it
is changed into a distinction of mouse versus elephant Since the rhetorical strategy in
453 Here is a girl who is as big as my fist but who tells a lie as big as a house 454 How can a little girl as tiny as a mouse tell a lie as huge as an elephant 455 Little girl you are no greater than a fist but you tell lies bigger than a house
245
the Chinese text is in line with the Western versions the Japanese text is the least
possible source for the Chinese translator
Example 3 A third instance concerns the portrayal of Cosettes frightened look as
she was astonished to find the fifteen-sou piece which Madame Theacutenardier had given
her was gone We have the following depictions
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Cosette plongea sa main dans la poche de
son tablier et devint verte La piegravece de
quinze sous ny eacutetait plus456 (LM II 157)
Cosette plunged her hand into her apron
pocket and turned white The
fifteen-sous piece was not there (339)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
Cosette plunged her hand into the pocket
of her apron and turned green the coin
was no longer in it (LM [1880] I 310)
Cosette plunged her hand into her apron
pocket and turned white The
fifteen-sous piece was not there (II 75)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
Cosette plunged her hand into the pocket
of her apron and turned green The
fifteen-sou piece was not there (II 92)
Cosette plunged her hand into the pocket
of her apron and turned green the
fifteen-sous piece was no longer there
(XIII 206)
Japanese (Kuroiwa Ruikou) Chinese (Xiao Zong)
小雪「ハイ」と云いつ
て衣嚢か く し
の中なか
を探さぐ
ッたが探さぐ
ると同時ど う じ
に青あを
い其そ
の 顏 色がんしょく
が灰色はひいろ
と為な
ッた
457 (I 199)
順手在口袋中一掬那銀子早已
不翼而飛葛色嚇得說不出話
來面上呈了啞白之色458 (5-6)
The use of color to delineate the girls look of horror is worthy of notice here All the
above versions do not render Cosettes face the same color Specifically Cosettes face
turned green in Hugos original as well as in Wraxalls and Hapgoods and Walton et 456 Cosette plunged her hand into her apron pocket and turned green The fifteen-sous piece was not there 457 Yes Madame said Cosette as she reached her hand into the pocket but then her pale-white face turned gray 458 Cosette reached her hand into the pocket but the coin was long gone She was scared speechless and her face turned a lacklustre white
246
als versions it turned gray in the Japanese text (灰色はひいろ
) and it turned white in the
Chinese (啞白459) and Wilbours and the Richmond translations In Chinese both the
colors green (青) and white (白) can be used to depict a terrified look but not the
gray color depicted in the Japanese 灰色はひいろ
The Chinese translators word choice of the
white color here seems to betray a source that has a similar color description In this
light the texts offered by Wilbour and the Richmond translation seem to be the most
probable model for the Chinese rendition
Example 4 Another case is found in the description of how happy Cosette was
when she received the gorgeous doll as a gift from Jean Valjean We have the
following versions of this description
French (Victor Hugo) English (Charles E Wilbour)
Ce quelle eacuteprouvait en ce moment-lagrave
eacutetait un peu pareil agrave ce quelle eucirct
ressenti si on lui eucirct dit brusquement
Petite vous ecirctes la reine de France460
(LM II 169)
What she experienced at that moment
was almost like what she would have felt
if some one had said to her suddenly
Little girl you are queen of France (347)
English (Lascelles Wraxall) English (Alexander Dimitry and A F)
What she felt at this moment was
something like what she would have felt
had someone suddenly said to her Little
girl you are Queen of France (LM
[1880] I 317)
What she experienced at that moment
was almost like what she would have
felt if some one had said to her
suddenly Little girl you are queen of
France (II 81)
English (Isabel F Hapgood) English (William Walton et al)
What she felt at that moment was a little
like what she would have felt if she had
been abruptly told Little one you are
the Queen of France (II 100)
What she felt at this moment was
something like what she would have felt
had some one suddenly said to her
Little girl you are Queen of France
459 Literally of a whiteness that lacks luster 460 What she experienced at the moment was a little like what she would have felt if someone had said to her abruptly Little girl you are Queen of France