桃花源记与翻译

《桃花源记》

晋太元中，武陵人捕鱼为业，缘溪行，忘路之远近。忽逢桃花林，夹岸数百步，中无杂树，芳草鲜美，落英缤纷；渔人甚异之。复前行，欲穷其林。林尽水源，便得一山。山有小口，仿佛若有光，便舍船，从口入。

初极狭，才通人；复行数十步，豁然开朗。土地平旷，屋舍俨然。有良田、美池、桑、竹之属，阡陌交通，鸡犬相闻。其中往来种作，男女衣着，悉如外人；黄发垂髫，并佁然自乐。见渔人，乃大惊，问所从来；具答之。便要还家，设酒、杀鸡、作食。村中闻有此人，咸来问讯。自云：先世避秦时乱，率妻子邑人来此绝境，不复出焉；遂与外人间隔。问今是何世？乃不知有汉，无论魏、晋！此人一一为具言所闻，皆叹惋。余人各复延至其家，皆出酒食，停数日，辞去。此中人语云：“不足为外人道。”

既出，得其船，便扶向路，处处志之。及郡下，诣太守，说如此。太守即遣人随其往，寻向所志，遂迷不复得路。南阳刘子骥，高尚士也，闻之，欣然规往，未果，寻病终。后遂无问津者。

Acknowledgments

First of all, my greatest debt goes to my supervise Professor Wei Hong for her useful suggestions which contribute to this essay. She spends a lot of time in reading our essays carefully, finding out our mistakes and correcting them. What I really learn from her is not only the grammar or words.

Secondly, I want to show my respect to my school Anhui Normal University Wanjiang College. From four years study at there, I have learned a lot of knowledge as an English learner. I would like to express my great gratitude to all of those who help me directly or indirectly. Thank you for them to give me this chance to learn more about translation and the story of the Peach Yuan.

Last but not the least, without the help of my roommates and teammates, I cannot finish my essay. When I am searching the materials about my thesis, they offer me some resources that are very important in my writing. They give me much encourages and support. I also want to express my gratitude to my family. They also give me a lot of support which makes me more and more confidence.

Thank you for all of your help. You are my treasure.

Abstract

The story of the Peach Yuan was about a fisherman who lived in Jin Dynasty and came upon a very beautiful peach grove when he was fishing. He got lost in the charming scenery, and then he found a land of idyllic beauty. The people who lived in this land never got out of this place since their ancestors had come here as refugees to escape from the tyranny of Qin Dynasty some six hundred years ago. The writer showed us a life which we all want to live from the describing the people that lived in the land and their ideal living environment,. There was no exploitation, no wars in their daily life. Their world was simple, liberal, stable, harmony, equal, and happy.

The author expressed his wish and hopes to live a kind of life which people lived in the peach colony lived. We who live in the 21th century are still looking forward to the world which Tao Yuanming brought to us with his pen.

Key words：The Peach Colony ; Jin Dynasty; a land of idyllic beauty; looking forward to；21th century

翻译桃花源记与翻译

《桃花源记》讲述的是晋朝时的一个渔人在捕鱼时遇到一片美丽的桃花林而迷路，却因此发现了一个世外桃源的故事。那里的人为了躲避秦朝时期的战乱而隐居到此处，便再也没有出去过。陶渊明通过对桃源人和他们生活环境的描写，向我们展示了一个及其理想的社会。在他们的生活中没有剥削、没有战争，他们过着十分简单、自由、安定、和谐、平等、幸福的生活。作者表达了他对那种生活的无比向往和憧憬，对美好未来的追求。即使是在21世纪的今天，我们仍旧对陶渊明笔下的世界充满向往与追求。

The translation of the story of the Peach Yuan

Chapter 1 Introduction

Tao Yuanming was a popular poet in Chinese history. He wrote many very famous poems and articles. The story of the Peach Yuan to express his thirst for the freedom and life for field. He was a very famous poet and writer in Chinese history. He wrote many popular poems that are still appreciated by people today.

The story of Peach Colony is about a fisherman who lived in Jin Dynasty. One day, he found a very special and beautiful peach grove. At the end of the grove, there is a mountain with a hole on it. He went into it. He found a new world which was different from the world where he lived. The people who live in it were so happy. They did not have the war and exploitation. They told the fisherman they lived in this place and never went out since the Qin Dynasty. They did not care what has happened outside. They lived peaceful and free. They invited the fisherman to their houses for treating him. He lived with them for several days. Although the people told him he should not tell others about their existence, he made some signs which can help him find this world again when he left this place. Then the fisherman told prefect his story. The prefect sent some people to seek out the place followed the signs. But they got lost. Since then nobody met that world.

The writer wished to live in the world that people in Peach Colony lived. But the real life is so darkness and the government was so decadent. He was so disappointed with the vicious, corrupt system of exploitation. He quitted his official position and became a famer.

1.1 The brief introduction of Tao Yuanming

Tao Yuanming(about365-427) plays a very important role in Chinese poem`s history. He was the most talented poet during 800 years in Han, Wei, South and North Dynasty. By now he has nearly 125 poems and 12 articles still reminded today. Most of his poems are about his life as a farmer and the beautiful scenery he can see in his daily life. The majority of Tao Yuanming`s works express his wish to live a happy life, because he did not have it in real life. From his poems and articles we also can know he was really appreciated of the beautiful scenery of the farm.

He was born in a run-down official family, whose great-grandfather as a significant military merit was one of founding fathers of Eastern Jin Dynasty. His grandfather and his father were also once an official. When he was nine-year-old, his father died. Then his family began to decline. He lived with his mother and sister. The father of Tao Yuanming`s mother, Meng Jia, was a famous person contemporary. He had a great effect on Tao`s thinking. Meng Jia had a lot of books in his house where Tao read most of them. Those books made him have a better understanding of the history and culture of ancient conditions. When Tao grew up, his personality, self-cultivation was very similar to Meng. Tao had two different ideas due to the books he read and Meng`s effect.

When Tao was young, he had a big dream to let people all over the world live a rich life. He once was an official. He tried his best to make the people who were under his control more free, but he found the fact with dreadful disappointment that the official circles was so darkness that he can did nothing to save it. He tried and tried.

He failed and failed. At last he left the office, and became a farmer. He enjoyed the scenery he can see every day. From that day, he did not care about what happened in the government. Every day when the sun rises up, he began his farm work. When the sun sets down, he came back his house to have rest. He expressed his mood though his poems and articles

Tao loved drinking liquor. There were five willows in front his house. So people called him “Mr. Five Willows”. He had a famous article named the biography of Mr. Five Willows.

1.2 The background information of the story of the Peach Yuan

The young Tao Yuanming lived a very hard life. During that time, there were so many wars in and out of the country. The king of Jin Dynasty was so weak that he only escaped for all of problems. The officialdom was darkness, and people lived so painful due to the taxes. Tao was at an unimportant position. What made him did not continues be an officer was his fair-minded character. Tao Yuanming left his job as a county magistrate of Peng Zhe for only 82 days in 405. This was a symbolism that he separated from the governments. After that he worked as a farmer, but he still cared about the politics and the dominant class. At that time, he still hoped the government could be equal and honest. In June of 420, Empire Jin Gong abolished his position who was forced by Liu Yu, and he became a king called Empire Ling. Next year, Liu Yu used poisoned wine murdered Empire Jin Gong, which made Tao angry. Confucianism had a great effect on Tao. He thought people should be loyalty to his king. Tao hated Liu`s action and his power code because he regarded Liu`s action as a kind of betray. The writer was totally disappointed with that vicious, corrupt system of exploitation. He knew that he could not and did not want to change this world, so he wrote this fairyland to express his desire for it. Tao Yuanming wrote the story of the Peach Yuan in this situation.

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Chapter 2 the Translated Version

The story of the Peach Yuan

During the Taiyuan period1 of Jin dynasty2, a man lived in Wulin prefecture3 that made his living as a fisherman. One day he rowed along a steam, and forgot how far he had gone. Suddenly, he came across a piece of peach grove which lined the bank for several hundred paces. There were no any other trees among the grove. The grass land is fresh and beautiful with the falling peach blossoms dancing above it. The fisherman was so curious about what he saw. He was keeping going and wanting to get its ending. The peach grove ended at the source of steam, where was a mountain. It seems that a glimmer of light streamed out through the opening of the mountain. The man abandoned his boat and entered the opening.

At first it was very narrow, only allowing one man to pass through. After he continued about dozen steps, he suddenly saw a bright and open field. The lands were level and wide with houses in good order. There were fine fields and beautiful pools, clumps of mulberries and bamboos. The paths crisscross the fields in all directions, and the crowing of cocks and barking of dogs could be heard everywhere. The people who worked in fields and walked on the road seemed as same as the people outside. No matter the elderly and children were very happy.

The people who lived in that place felt greatly surprised when they saw the fisherman. They asked where he came from, and the fisherman answered all their questions minutely. Some of them invited the fisherman to their houses, set up the wine and cooked chickens for treating him. People in this place heard about the stranger and came to ask him questions. They told him, “Our ancestors brought their wives, children and villagers to this place and never go out again in order to avoid the wars during Qin Dynasty4. So we had no contact with the outside world.” They asked him which dynasty they were in. they even did not know the Han5, not to mention Wei6, Jin Dynasty. The fisherman told them everything he knew. They all sighed with grief. The others also invited the fisherman to their homes for food and drink. After a few days, the fisherman said goodbye to them and left that place. The villagers enjoined him:”it was not worth telling people outside this place. ”

When the fisherman exited this Peach Yuan, he found his boat. On his way retraced home, he made signs everywhere. Upon getting the prefecture, he told his story. Prefect sent men to go with him and tried to found that place according to the sighs the fisherman made. They lost and unable to found that place again.

A scholar of high repute of Nanyang prefecture7 named Liu Ziji was excited when he heard this story. He joyful planned to go. He could not accomplish it. Soon he died of illness. Afterwards no one ever looked for the Peach Yuan.

Chapter 3 Conclusion

Finally, I finished my translation of the story of the Peach Yuan. I have leant a lot of knowledge, which I don`t know or pay an attention to them at all . During my translation, I made dozens of mistakes and searched many resources about the writer and the article. There are seven very famous translators have translated the story of the Peach Yuan. I read all of them and think carefully about their differences.

Before my translation, I took some time to think the translation theory which I have leant in my translation class. The first person I think of is Yan Fu and his great translation theory. Yan Fu hold the view that there are 3 principles in translation: we called them “信”, “达”, “雅”. These principles are what I used during my translation.

At the beginning of this article, the writer described the beautiful peach grove to lead to that peaceful, leisurely and carefree world. Everything in that world was so pure and simple. There were no wars, taxes, cheating. People who lived in that place were so honest, loved each other and helped each other. The writer did not mention why this world was so different from the real world directly, but we can know the answer from the sentence”乃不知有汉，无论魏晋”. This sentence told us that because The Peach Yuan had no so-called dominant class, they could become so free and special. This ideal world did not exist in the real society and have on possibility existed in the world, which made all of us want to live in that society. The writer could see no light in his darkness life. The Peach Yuan was writer`s dream and only a dream.

The construction of this article is so funny. It is a short story so that readers want to continue read all of it. If the be beginning of the story of the Peach Yuan was the phenomenon of the Peach Yuan, we may feel it is not real. The writer used a fisherman with the real dynasty, place to make the article more natural. Liu Ziji of Nan Yang who appeared at the end of the story built up the mystery of that fairyland.

This article is very famous so that I can find much information about it on internet. The message about the background made it more accessible for me, and I can catch the theme behind the story easily. I accessed Tao Yuanming`s two different ideas form understanding of his family, experiences and life.

The story of the Peach Yuan is an article which wrote in classical Chinese, so there were some difficulties to understand them in modern Chinese. During my working, I found some words may have different meanings in ancient and nowadays. For example, ”妻子”is the same meaning of “wife” today, but it means “wife, son and daughter” in the old time; ”不足” which means “not enough” recently means “not worthy ” in ancient; the meaning of “俨然” is “seem”, while it uses as “in good order”. Those situations are very usual in the article. They really made me confused. When I came cross these words, I looked up them in dictionary until I can tell them clearly.

I also found two or more different words may have same meaning. I think it is a very funny thing, because it told us we already have the near-synonym even in thousand years ago. Such as: “缘溪行”, “便扶向路” mean “along”; both “便要还家”and “延至其家” can recognize as “invite”; “悉如外人”, “咸来问讯”, “皆叹惋”, and “并怡然自乐” have the same meaning “all”. There are many other words like them,

even they are totally different but they have same meaning.

There are also some words: the same word has different meanings in this article. This may be the most difficult part for me to understand on words. “出”, when it is in “不复出焉”, it means “get out”. But in “皆出酒食”, it means “take out”. The most confusing word in this story is “之”. (1) When it is in “忘路之远近”, it means ”of”.

(2) The meaning of this word in “闻之，欣然规往” is “this story”.(3) It has no sense in “处处志之”. (4) This word also can be regarded as “a pronoun” in the sentence “渔人甚异之”. (5) It also has function can be used as “kind”, when it appears in “有良田美池桑竹之属”. All of them made me in chaos during my work. What really makes me happy is that I can distinguish them easily now.

Interchangeable character is a typical sign in ancient Chinese works. My Chinese teacher once told me the so-called interchangeable character is because they did not have those words at that time. In this work, there are two interchangeable characters. The first one is “要”. It seems the same as “invite”. The last one is “具”. It is used as “completely”.

When I write this conclusion, suddenly I am aware of a fact I have learnt a lot in this translation. Those once made me crazy. I can master them completely now. I have a farther understanding of Tao Yuanming and that turbulent dynasty. The story of the Peach Yuan is a beautiful and excellent work no matter in words or the theme. After I finish my translation, I find I have some methods to deal with the problem may come cross during the translation of ancient Chinese work to English. This trying is one of my big treasures.

Notes

1Taiyuan period: It is from 376 to 396. Taiyuan was the title of the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

2Jin dynasty: It can be divided into two sequential dynasties, the “West” and the “East”. It started at 265, and ended in 420.

3Wulin prefecture: It is in Changde, Hunan Province now.

4Qin Dynasty: Qin Dynasty was the first union in China. It`s time is 221-206 B.C.

5Han: 206 B.C. to A.D. 220. The dynasty appeared after the Qin. During this time, the economic and politic had the huge development.

6 Wei: A.D. 220-265.

7 Nanyang prefecture: Nanyang is in today`s Nanyang City, Henan Province.