A Comparative Study of Two English Versions of Elegy on Flowers

摘 要：《紅樓夢》被認為是中國文學史上的最重要的鴻篇巨制之一。《葬花吟》是《紅樓夢》中林黛玉的詩歌代表，浸透著黛玉式的特有的凄婉哀傷，為其他詩定下了基調(diào)。該詩體現(xiàn)了曹雪芹高超的語言技巧，其精湛的藝術價值值得挖掘和探討。本文對楊憲益與戴乃迭夫婦、許淵沖的兩個英譯文進行對比賞析。

Abstract： The Story of the Stone is regarded as one of the most significant novel in the Chinese literature， and Lin Daiyu’s Elegy on Flower is believed to have best mirrored the outstanding language skills and the deep emotions of Cao Xueqin， the author of the Story of the Stone. This paper is a comparative research of two famous English versions of this poem， Yang Xianyi’s version and Xu Yuanchong’s version.

關鍵詞：《紅樓夢》；《葬花吟》；對比賞析

Keywords： The Story of the Stone ； Elegy on Flowers；comparative research

[中圖分類號]：H059 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139（2012）-21--01

1、Introduction

Lin Daiyu’s Elegy on Flowers appears in the Chapter 27. In the late Spring， Daiyu collected the fallen petals in a silk pocket and buried it. This poem is full of her sorrow and melancholy. The comparison of the two versions is focused on rhyme and rhythm， person.

2、Analyse

花謝花飛花滿天，紅消香斷有誰憐？

游絲軟系飄春榭，落絮輕沾撲繡簾。

Yang

As blossoms fade and fly the sky，

Who pities the fade red， the scent that has been？

Softly the gossamer floats over Spring pavilions，

Gently the willow fluff wafts to the embroidered screen.

Xu

As flowers fall and fly across the skies， Who rues the red that fades， the scent that dies？Softly the gossamer floats over bowers green， Gently the willow fluff wafts to broidered screen.

Yang’s rhyme is different from Xu’s. Yang， the same as the source poem， used rhyme in every even line， while Xu used aabb rhyme. Yang’s “Who pities the fade red， the scent that has been？” is less balanced than Xu’s “Who rues the red that fades， the scent that dies？”， and thus the former one is less rhythmical than the latter one.

花開易見落難尋，階前悶殺葬花人。

Yang

Fallen， brightest blooms are hard to find

With aching heart their grave-digger comes now

Xu

Their gravedigger， I find no flowers in bloom；

My aching heart is further filled with gloom.

Both of them translated “葬花人” into “grave-digger”. But “葬花人” still refers to Daiyu herself. According to English grammar， when “grave-digger” appears for the first time， it means a new character in the story. So it is inaccurate to use this “grave-digger”. “葬花人” should be put into the first person to make the whole poem fluent.

杜鵑無語正黃昏，荷鋤歸去掩重門。

Yang

Dark falls and the cuckoo is silent

Her hoe brought back the lodge is locked and still

Xu

As twilight falls， the cuckoos sing no more；

I come back with my hoe and close the double door.

“杜鵑” is a very popular metaphor in Chinese classic literature. It is said that the Emperor Shu passed away and his spirit turned into a cuckoo. His blood dropped down on branches and turned into flowers. So “杜鵑” is supposed to be put into a singular form because there is only one Emperor Shu， and it’s also because that singular cuckoo better insinuates Daiyu’s loneliness and deep sorrow. But Xu did it into plural form， which is unreasonable.

爾今死去儂收葬，未卜儂身何日喪？

儂今葬花人笑癡，他年葬儂知是誰？

Yang

Now you are dead I come to bury you；

None has divined the day when I shall die；

Men laugh at my folly in burying fallen flowers

But who will bury me when I lie？

Xu

Now they are dead， I come to bury them today.

Who can divine the date when I shall pass away？

Men laugh at my folly in burying fallen flowers.

But who will bury me when come my last hours？

Daiyu eventually established direct and clear connection between the fallen petals and herself by asking two questions. She didn’t expect any answers. But these two questions show her helplessness and hopelessness. The questions should be translated into the target language. However， Yang only used one question sentence， which， to some extent， greatly declined Daiyu’s emotion.

3.Conclusion

The translation strategy of Chinese literature should keep up with the increasing growth of China’s economy and international reputation. Instead of simply receiving and considering for the western culture， translators should put forward Chinese culture and ideology as well.

Bibliography：

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