Analysis on the Idiom Translation of Two Versions of Hong Lou Meng

【Abstract】This paper aims to give a detailed description of idioms used by Granny Liu based on the two English versions of Hong Lou Meng and analyze their contrasts from three aspects： the distinctive guiding strategies and methods， the use of words and the stylistic features； meanwhile the different effects will be analyzed as well. Hopefully， readers can get a broader view of the major features of the two translators and their works.

【Key words】Hong Lou Meng； descriptive analysis； idiom translation

【作者簡介】夏胜男（1993-），女，汉族，江苏泗阳人，西安外国语大学硕士在读，研究方向：翻译学。

1. Introduction

Hong Lou Meng， a representative work of Chinese literature， is endowed with typical Chinese elements and profound Chinese culture. The two English versions of this marvelous work are highly appreciated by both English and Chinese readers. And the different translation strategies， methods and features are of great value in the actual practice for later translators. Therefore， the analysis on the two versions are worthy of notice， which will provide readers， especially translators， with theoretical framework to guide them in their own translation practice.

This paper attempts to analyze the translation of idiom used by Granny Liu mainly in two of her entries into Rong mansion based on the two versions， namely the version by Yang Xianyi couple and the version by David Hawkes and John Minford. The two versions are remarkably good， while they differ in many aspects； the paper will focus on the expressions of the highly culture-loaded idioms.

2. Theoretical framework

The analysis on Hong Lou Meng is great in numbers. In 2003， a paper by Chen Hongwei and Jiang Fan was published on Chinese Translation Journal， which introduced a descriptive approach on the analysis of Hong Lou Meng and provided a comprehensive account of the translation of Hong Lou Meng into English， covering a history of 160 years. This paper has refreshed us in its distinction from former dominant prescriptive study and renewed us a different one.

2.1 Descriptive translation studies

As Maria Tymoczko （1999） has mentioned： descriptive translation studies—when they attend to process， product， and function—set translation practices in time and， thus by extension， in politics， ideology， economics and culture （p.25）.

Prescriptive translation theories have been dominant in both inside and outside China. While， the emphasis on the rules and norms is no longer applicable to all circumstances. As a language art， translation has often been considered from the viewpoint of timeless linguistic rules （which has led to a normative tendency in the theory）. As a matter of fact， translation is also affected by many other aspects， for instance， ideology. Therefore， descriptive approach appeared.

2.2 Domestication and Foreignization

Friedrich Schleiermacher mentioned in a speech that “The translator leaves the author in peace as much as possible， and moves the reader toward him； or the translator leaves the reader in peace as much as possible， and moves the author toward him.” （1813）. And then Lawrence Venuti （1995） termed these strategies as domestication and foreignization in his book The Translators Invisibility and developed them into theories. Domestication is defined as： A transparent， fluent style is adopted in order to minimize the strangeness of the foreign text for target language readers （TL-oriented）， while foreignization refers to： “A target text is produced which deliberately breaks target conventions by retaining something of the foreignness of the original （SL -oriented）.”

It is generally accepted that the version of Hawkes is the representative of domestication， while the version by Yang is a typical foreignization one. Distinctive strategies arise from the diverse purposes. As a sinologist， Hawkes valued this remarkable work greatly so that he intended to introduce English readers his pleasure. While， Yang translated Hong Lou Meng on the purpose of introducing Chinese culture to the western countries. With the different purposes， they adopted different strategies and presented different versions.

3. Analysis on the idioms

In chapter six， Granny Liu paid her first visit to the Rong Mansion where she used plenty of slang and folk adages， which vividly depicted the unadorned but funny image. In chapter forty-one， Granny Liu also used several idioms to amuse the Old Lady， mistresses and misses. This chapter will firstly enumerate the folk adages appeared mainly in these two chapters with the two English versions followed， and then analyze the different effects of the two versions and the strategies and methods shown. The paper will not judge which version is better or worse， but aim to describe the actual translation effects.

E1：守多大碗兒吃多大碗的饭。

Y： we villagers are simple honest folk who eat according to the size of our bowl.

H： but we country folk have to be grateful for what is in the pot and cut down our appetites to the same measure.

The idiom can be understood as： people should do what ones strength allows. Apparently， Yang translated it literally without adding explanation as Hawkes did. Yang took full consideration of Granny Lius social status and personal characteristics and the image created is adequate. While， Hawkes paid more emphasis on the readers acceptability and the version is more acceptable to target language readers. Meanwhile， the different choices of ‘bowl and ‘pot for ‘碗 vividly showed the different dietary traditions between eastern and western cultures， which can also be manifested by the different handling of ‘cook a meal without rice and ‘make bread without flour.

E2：有了钱就顾头不顾尾，没了钱就瞎生气。

Y： When you have money you never look ahead； when youve none you fly into a temper.

H： so now youre grown-up you spend all your money as soon as youve got any， without stopping to count the cost； then， when its all gone， you start making a fuss.

Granny Liu said this to criticize her son-in-law for being improvident and thinking little about the future. Hawkes altered the original expression into a more explanatory and understandable one. And Yangs version seems to be more readable and acceptable as a verbal saying. However， I think， “fly into a temper” is a kind of exaggeration as it means “to suddenly become very angry” and “make a fuss” is more appropriate since it means “to complain”.

E3：謀事在人，成事在天。（…靠菩萨的保佑…）

Y： Man proposes， Heaven disposes. （Buddha）

H： Man proposes， God disposes. （the good Lord）

Both versions quoted the English proverb “Man proposes， God disposes.” Yang reserved the original image of ‘Heaven and ‘Buddha， while Hawkes applied a more widely accepted concept in western countries--‘God and ‘the good Lord as ‘Heaven and ‘God， even though endowed with different denotations， have similar connotations in their respective cultures. The role ‘Heaven and ‘God play may have distinctions but the equivalence effects can be reached.

E4：拔根寒毛还比咱们的腰还粗。

Y： one hair from her body would be thicker than our waist.

H： a hair off her arm would be thicker than a mans waist to poor folks like us.

Here， “寒毛” is more specific in Hawkes translation. According to the dictionary， “寒毛” refers to the fine hair on human body. As far as I am concerned， hair off ones arm is much thinner than hair off ones leg so that Hawkes used the former one to form a sharper contrast. Also， Hawkes further explained “咱们” by adding modifiers to reach a better understanding.

E5：没的去打嘴现世。

Y： Why ask for a slap on the face？

H： Whos going to all that trouble just to make a fool of themselves？

“打嘴现世” has two meanings， firstly a person make some exaggeration remarks， and then he makes a fool of himself.

Again， Yang retained the original expression and his translation is not sufficient enough in expressing the original meaning. Hawkes translated it with an alteration. The original images were dropped， but the meanings were conveyed.

E6：侯门深似海。

Y： The threshold of a noble house is deeper than the sea.

H： A princes door is like the deep sea.

The folk adage literally means that a noble house is inaccessible to ordinary people. On the handling of “侯门”， Yang used the expression of “a noble house”， and Hawkes used “a princes door ”， whose version is also much more concise to convey the meaning.

E7：你老是贵人多忘事。

Y： The higher the rank， the worse the memory.

H： Important people have short memories.

There is an English saying goes， “Great wits have short memories.” Apparently， Hawkes made some alteration on the original one. This method is quite applicable but requires the good command of English.

E8：瘦死的骆驼比马大，凭他怎么，你老拔根寒毛比我们的腰还粗呢。

Y： A starved camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how， ‘A hair from your body is thicker than our waist.

H： A starved camel is bigger than a fat horse. Say what you like， a hair plucked from your arm is thicker than a mans waist to folks like us！

This example is similar to the previous one. Since the literal meaning is obvious enough for readers to understand the deeper meaning， the literal translation method is again employed. In Hawkess version， he added a ‘fat before horse， which made the contrast more sharp.

Hawkes once said that “My one abiding principle has been to translate everything---even puns.”， which can be manifested by the fact that he loved to translate the implications literally. While there are some inappropriateness in Hawkess translation as well. In terms of Yang， as he is not a native speaker of English， some expressions are not as local as Hawkes. And most of the time， he translated the idioms literally without further explanation as Hawkes did.

4. Conclusion

Idioms have profound implications and cultural connotations， which make it a challenging work to translate it properly and exactly. However， the difficulty is， the translation work will not cease as we have plenty devoted translators occupying this sacred work. From the above instances， we can make a summing up that， three methods are commonly used in the idiom translation， namely literal translation， free translation， and corresponding translation. They are employed to distinctive situations and have different requirements on the language skills and the comprehension of translators. There is no absolute and strict rule in the actual translation practice. All we can do is to adjust measures to local conditions.

References：

[1]陳宏薇，江帆.难忘的历程——《红楼梦》英译事业的描写性研究[J].中国翻译，2003（5）：46-52.