Zhang Bu Tian of the three generations of translators of "Chinese Translation World Academic Books"

"Translation work cannot be lazy at all"

Zhang Buitian (Department of Philosophy of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences):

I was physically physically. I inexplicably bought a lot of business versions of the "Chinese translation masterpiece" in school. In my Chinese University of Science and Technology, the liberal arts strength is relatively weak. There is no atmosphere, and no one can ask. When I saw such a book in the bookstore, the cover was quite chic. I didn't know much about the content. There were no related classes, and no one was instructing. But when I read it, I felt that this should be the direction I was most interested in and worked hard. At that time, it was basically the philosophy of the orange -red spine, and gradually had my own understanding of what philosophy was, which seemed to indicate that I would transfer to the field of science and philosophy in the future.

Honestly, I didn't read a lot at the beginning. I just took it out and turned it over, enjoyed the fun of opening the volume, and then put it back because I didn't know what these contents were talking about. For example, to read the works of the 17th and 18th centuries, the combination of the physical knowledge learned is not found, but it feels like learning physics has something to do with this. I am more concerned about the ultimate issue, and the physics I learned is also theoretical physics. How to think about big issues, what kind of big problems, and what kind of paths of human knowledge framework for these ultimate problems? These things have not been known before. Later, when I turned to philosophy, the masterpiece collected by the family gradually became kind. I know what types they belong to and what status in history.

After being engaged in translation, it is more sensitive to the quality of the translation. I couldn't understand a book before, I only complained that I did n’t have enough knowledge. I never thought that it was a problem. I know now, this is actually a very important thing. The experience of the translator? Many fun can't be talked about. Translation cannot be lazy at all. If you spend one more minute, you can translate a few more words. So you have to run with time, you have to sacrifice your hobbies. No matter how old you are, you may not be able to do translation. Fun is that translating a book can learn a lot, and a good book can resonate with readers. They will give you feedback, and see those comments on the Internet, and work hard will be rewarded.

Theoretically, ordinary students can also make translation 70 points, provided that English and Chinese are not bad. If you want to surpass others, the text is smooth, like sitting on a slide, you can't stop when you read it, it is rare. The most important thing for translation is to be serious, meticulous, and responsible. If you do n’t understand, you ca n’t just let it go. Of course, not every book is needed, but to be treated flexibly. If it is negligent, there should be only a few low -level errors in the entire book. If there are many wrong contents, it means that translators are not suitable for translation. It is not necessarily the poor level. After a long time abroad, the "returnees" have been stayed abroad. Over time, Chinese will not work. He is suitable for academic research, but it may not be suitable for translation. I think the professional knowledge and English level account for at least two -thirds, and the same important Chinese expression ability.

Now let's talk about the "Sky Operation Theory" (Copernicus) translated to the Commercial Press, which is generally translated as "Celestial Operation theory" in the Chinese academic community. Why should I change this conventional book title? My mentor Wu Guosheng explained in the business version: "This translation is inaccurate, the problem lies in the understanding of the word" orbium ". Said, this word does not mean the 'celestial body that we can easily accept today, but the transparent' celestial "celestial" that the ancient astronomer's imagination drives the operation of the celestial body. Today we do not admit that there is a "celestial garage, the existence of the existence, so of course This word is translated into 'celestial body'. "

▲ The average data picture has been studied by later generations, and there will be better annotations and translations of different languages ​​to revise and improve.

Regarding this book, I have to say that if there is no old version to make the foundation, I dare not translate, because some content is still inaccurate. In addition, if there was no predecessor paved the way and made a lot of professional astronomical knowledge, I couldn't do it. Compared with the old version, my changes in the translation are still very large, not only the title changed, but also included nearly 200 pages of comments in the back. Note is the most precious and most important contribution of English translations. Such a detailed annotation explains that people, things, and things related to historical clues in the book clearly clearly clearly clearly explained. But the old translation was translated by an old gentleman on the observatory. He did not know much about Western philosophy and ancient science. It can almost be said that as long as some ancient characters and events are involved, there are many mistakes. Philosophy and scientific terms. I did n’t know this problem before the translation. Because I did n’t know the process of the translation, readers should be the same, although some errors were obvious. I have made great improvements in this regard, because there are too many words, there is no way to make a foot note on each page, and I can only be attached to the back. Generally, readers do not look at comments. In this way, this can not have much impact, but in the future, if someone will do Copernicus' professional research, then this annotation is very important.

In addition to the "Sky Operation Theory", the translations published in the business printing library include: "narrow and general theory of relativity" (Einstein), "Mechanized of the World Map Land" (Edward ′ Yang ′, Dixthus), "What is life", "Nature and Greeks", "Science and Humanism" (Xue Dingzheng, the latter is a collection). From 2005 to 2006, I went to Tongji University's Study Preparatory Department for a year. Therefore, in the translation of "narrow and general theory of relativity", it was mainly based on German text. At the same time, I also referred to the English translation. changed. There are seven or eight books that have not been released after handling the draft, and this year should be launched one after another. I pay attention to the early history of science, so I have a very tight connection with philosophy and even theology. I plan two translations for business, one is "scientific history translation", and the other may be called "scientific classic translation". I will try to choose the book with comments. Many originals only read the text and do not understand. There must be an introduction, guide and annotation. It also contains some philosophical classics, such as Cartesial's "Principles of Philosophy", which is particularly important in the history of science. For example, some books of Aristotle are difficult to say whether it is scientific classics or philosophical classics. In fact, it is one thing. Ancient science is called natural philosophy, which is different from the meaning of understanding now. My interest was the history of science, or the history of natural philosophy before the 18th century.

In the field of western scientific history, the gap between us and foreign countries is too large, almost starting from scratch, there is no accumulation. When a discipline was just emerging, translated classic works were the most important job. The paper was fur. Translation of a book is not only disciplinary construction, but also to promote the integration of disciplines and open up people's vision, especially for thinking about the characteristics and thinking of Western civilization. Publishing is far more valuable than writing papers. I put the translation in the first place by myself, which is heavier than academic research. It is not that I do n’t pay attention to academic research. It ’s just weighing. How to do it to exert greater value. At present, the history of translation science is more important than the paper.

Translation needs to be dedicated, especially in the past ten years, house prices have risen a lot, and the manuscript fee has not changed. I have nothing else. In the future, I will translate it mainly for business. I hope that some of them can enter the "Chinese Academic Refident Book", and some "second -hand books" (internationally new research works, not the original) It belongs to the category of "Chinese translation". If a copy of the translation of "Han translation of the world's academic name" is of course different, it has a brand, and the effect will be great. The same book, placed in different publishers and different series, has different impacts.

The business version of the "Chinese translation masterpiece", even if some people don't look at it, they will buy collection, and its status still cannot shake. Although there are many other Chinese translations, the business version has a long time and accumulation. On the other hand, most of the bibliography launched by other publishers is the topic of the business printing library, which is to change the Chinese translation. In the middle reform, this is a chaos in the publishing industry, because it is a public book, it doesn't matter. Few publishers like the Commercial Press, seriously, translated a book that had not been released from beginning to end. The business version of the "Chinese translation masterpiece" is still emerging. Many people think that this style is a bit old, and it is a bit fashionable and updated. But as far as I know, the business person is still willing to maintain this, and to some extent conservativeness, I still appreciate it. For academic classics, external and formal changes are not so important.

As for this set of books, my opinion is that some translations should be re -translated, especially the semi -text and half -white in the past. The translation is just one aspect. After the research of future generations, there will be better annotations and translations in different languages. These can be revised and improved. It is normal for a name to have several translations. Many of Japan's names are as many as seven or eight translations. If there is a chance in the future, the business printing hall should take a good translation to replace the old translation. The academic circles in China are too impetuous and downturn. There are fewer and fewer people who read books, let alone such a difficult academic work. But the more this, the more the "Chinese translated masterpiece" can show the value of the "final position". In any case, business people and their books are admirable.

Author: Zhang Buotian

Source: Wen report

Reporter: Huang Chunyu

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