Shi Huapeng. The American scholar Walter Fischer famously made the view that everything in the world is a narrative. Fischer points out that everything in the world, whether facts or experiences, is presented to us in a narrative form, rather than in a unique and sporadic form.
This idea is perhaps famous for two reasons: first, because it suddenly reminds us that we live in a narrative, not in a self-conceived independent and fragmented world; The second is because it connects the fragmented worlds all at once, like sewing clothes, sewing into a beautiful colorful fashion, making us feel that this world seems to be separated and independent, but in fact it is like flesh and blood.
Two small things in my daily life that I have experienced recently have given me a first-hand feel for this idea, and even more so I applaud Fischer's wise discovery.
Some time ago, I went on a business trip to Wenzhou, Fuzhou to Wenzhou, and it only took two hours to take the train, and the short two hours will not make passengers feel tormented by the journey, so as to dispel the idea of meeting others to pass the long journey. When I took the green train, it was different, I got on the train and put my luggage and chatted with my neighbors, at home and abroad, my parents were short, more than ten hours flew over, and I was already an old acquaintance when I got off the train. Can it be said that the opening of the bullet train ended how many emotional stories on the green train? Get in the car, put your luggage, sit down at the window, look at your phone or look out the window, and the two-hour drive will pass quickly in silence. I was touched on the left shoulder, I turned my head, and a thin woman smiled and said to me, "Big brother, please help me put the box up, thank you!" "The box was a bit heavy, and it took me a bit of effort to put it on the luggage rack. I casually asked, what is so heavy? The woman said, belongings. She sat down next to me, and our conversation began. Coincidentally, she is a student of the Chinese Department of my university, several years below me, and this time she was transferred from Fuzhou to Hangzhou to work, with all her belongings in the box, which is also a farewell trip to Fuzhou. We seemed to have met on the train after a long absence, and we sat next to each other, and the conversation was cordial and warm, reminiscing about the common teachers and common campus ...... of the schoolTime passed in the blink of an eye, and I got off in Wenzhou. added WeChat and promised to contact more in the future, but there has been no contact since.
It's kind of interesting to think about. My chance encounter with that schoolgirl and our trusting conversation actually constituted a kind of magical narrative. Narrative is the relationship between different times and spaces. Fuzhou, bullet trains, schools, present, past, we have formed a variety of relationships, strangers, friends, trusted talkers, which contain the accident and inevitability of events, with the elements of the first narrative. This kind of narrative Buddhism is called fate, the distant is the fate, and the near is the cause, which is an invisible connection between people, and it is an accident in some kind of inevitable existence. Confucianism called this narrative "fate", and Confucius said, "If you don't know your fate, you can't be a gentleman." Taoists call this narrative "Providence", and Lao Tzu said that the Tao is natural, and obeying Heaven's will is nature.
Fischer's narrative continues.
I got off the bus in Wenzhou and came here to attend the Tanghe Cultural Forum in Ouhai District. A writer wrote that when you step on the land of Ouhai, water will seep out of your feet. That's true. The so-called Ouhai, "Ouju in the sea" also. Three or four thousand years ago, this place was a vast ocean, as the sea level dropped, the coastline receded, the shallow sea area gradually became land, the sea became mulberry fields, and the small plain of Ouhai was formed, and then it became what it is today. No matter how far the sea recedes, the water system is endless, and the two major water systems of Tang River and Pujiang River are accompanied by many tributaries like blood vessels crawling all over the Ouhai Plain. Water becomes the soul of the land. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Youxin, the history of Wenzhou, wrote a poem: "The rising sea tastes flowing from here, and thousands of sails fly over the top of the Bishan." After looking at the deep valley as a mausoleum, he turned over the world and refused to rest. "That's a good point. From the sea to the land to the village to the city, when has the "overturning" of the Ouhai Sea been "willing to rest"?
After climbing the beautiful legend of Futai Mountain, and walking through the Wenruitang River, which will meet you inadvertently, Ouhai friends took me to see the home of Zhang Er, a sage in Ouhai Township. The so-called home has been changed from a brick mansion called Yehui Village to a Yehui community in the city, with many buildings and disappearing cottages. Zhang Er's village and tiled house are gone, but this wonderful name, Yehui, remains. The two banks of the Tang River are planted with black trees, the fallen leaves cover the water surface in autumn, converge to the turning place of the Sangang Palace, the fallen leaves on the river surface are piled up and red, it is very spectacular, it is called the name of the village leaf sink. I believe that the memory and history of the village remain in the word "Yehui".
Who is Zhang Er? When they told me the name, I was in a state of confusion and had no impression. They say that you must have read a book - Turgenev's "Hunter's Notes", and I say not only did you read it, but you liked it deeply. Zhang Er is the translator of "Hunter's Notes". As soon as I said this, the "narrative" of memory was hooked up, and the translator of the "Hunter's Notes" at home seemed to be really called Zhang Er - the first thing Wenzhou did when he returned to Fuzhou was to find the "Hunter's Notes" to confirm, it was. I used to read "Hunter's Notes", only the great Turgenev in my eyes, ignoring the translator Mr. Zhang Er, but now when I came to Zhang Er's hometown Ouhai, I re-recognized and looked at the translator, regained this memory, and suddenly realized that I was ignorant and shallow, without the wonderful translation of Mr. Zhang Er, a famous expert in Russian literature, how could I enjoy the literary feast cooked by Turgenev. Behind a perfect translation by a great writer must be a good translator. Mr. Zhang Er can bear this assertion.
Here, Fischer's narrative reappears: a work that I read more than 20 years ago, and only after more than 20 years did I realize the excellence of the translator, and I came to the place where the translator was born and raised, and paid tribute to him who had passed away. This wonderful narrative connection constitutes unexpected surprises and infinite emotions.
It is no exaggeration to say that Turgenev and his Hunter's Notes have opened another door to the creation of modern Chinese writers. Heavyweight writers such as Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Yu Dafu, and Ba Jin unabashedly expressed Turgenev's influence on him and their respect for Turgenev.
Mr. Zhang Er wrote a long and beautiful "translation preface" for "Hunter's Notes", and he praised "Hunter's Notes" as "seeing the poetry of life from the prose of life". Mr. Zhang Er believes that although "Hunter's Notes" is an anti-serfdom work, Turgenev's penmanship is "sincere and fair", and there is no malicious scandalization of the landlords or peasants, and there is no arbitrary beautification of the peasants, which grasps the essential characteristics of the characters and shows the author's full respect for people. Perhaps this is also the reason why this work has a world status.
There are nearly ten translations of "Hunter's Notes", Feng Zikai, Li Gang, Feng Chun and other famous translators have translated them, and in terms of personal taste, I still like Mr. Zhang Er's translation the most. Mr. Zhang said: "Turgenev is a master of language, and the language in his creations always seems so concise, bright, fresh and beautiful, and it is indeed a beautiful pleasure to read. Reading Mr. Zhang's translation, one can feel the essence of Turgenev's language. Mr. Feng Zikai's translation is too elegant, while Mr. Ligang's is too mundane, and only Mr. Zhang Er's translation has a fresh and bright dynamic, which is in line with Turgenev's vivid depiction of the details of the Russian countryside from scenery to characters. Everyone has their own loveliness, Lukelia's optimism about what happened to her, the sternness and kindness of the lone wolf, and Yakov's wonderful singing voice ......The vastness, pathos, and calm face of fate in Russian literature emerge in Mr. Zhang Er's translation.
Mr. Zhang Er's Zhang family is a big family in Yehui Village, Ouhai, and the tradition of respecting teachers and teaching and reading heirlooms has continued. Mr. Zhang Er is very low-key, except for his translation information, there is no other information and materials about him on the Internet, and he has been unknown all his life, but he has made an amazing translation career. Searching for "translator Zhang Er" on the Internet, there is only one personal information about him that bounces out:
Mr. Zhang Er, an expert in Russian literature and translator, died in Beijing on December 19, 2022 at the age of 88. After graduating from Peking University in 1956, Mr. Zhang stayed on to teach, and later worked as a compiler at the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. His translations include Turgenev's "Hunter's Notes", Tolstoy's "The Forces of Darkness", and Shchedrin's "Old Men Golovlev". Mr. Zhang's decades of experience in translation research and teaching of Russian literature have enabled his translated works to convey the essence of the original works and have been well received by readers.
Perhaps, such Mr. Zhang Er represents the noble personality and outstanding knowledge of a generation of scholars.
Editor: Zhang Jing].
For more exciting information, please use the application market**"Great Wuhan" client, do not be authorized**, welcome to provide news clues, and pay once adopted. 24-hour report**: 027-592222222. The copyright of this article belongs to the original author, if there is a mistake or infringement of your legitimate rights and interests, you can contact us by email, and we will deal with it in a timely manner. E-mail address: kin0207@126com