Posts
By Jack Hargreaves, January 29, '21
We're back! And we're starting 2021 with two sentences from two wonderful children's books.
The first is from 《好困好困新年》by Meng Yanan 孟亚楠, translated by winner of the 6th Bai Meigui Translation Competition, Izzy Hasson, as Sleepy, Sleepy New Year and published by Balestier Press.
The second is from 《我要作好孩子》 by Huang Beijia 黄蓓佳, translated by Nicky Harman as I Want to Be Good, to be published by New Classic Press this February.
The sentences and their context are below, but first some brief instructions for those joining us for the first time or in case 2020 has made you forget how this works.
- You have two weeks to complete your own translations of the sentences below.
- Once you're happy with them, post them in the comments at the bottom of the page. If you like, tell us what you liked about doing the translation or about the text or what you found difficult.
- Read others' translations, ask them questions in the comments, admire their work and generally just geek out as much as you like!
[Pictures reproduced by kind permission of the publisher.]
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By Jack Hargreaves, January 20, '21
Here it is, what you've all been waiting for, the definitive round-up of all things Chinese / literature / translation / everything in-between.
It was brilliant after the first instalment to receive requests for newsletter subscription, which is definitely our aim -- to have this drop in your inbox every two weeks -- but for now it remains in its nascent form.
If there's anything you'd like to see more of, less of, just the right amount of, please comment below. If you've stumbled upon news we've missed, or on any stories or extracts (I've found zero (EDIT: two)), pop them in the comments too.
See you again in two weeks!
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By Jack Hargreaves, January 6, '21
This is the first of a regular news post we're going to be running. For now it will take the form of a round-up of recent news links and upcoming events relevant to Chinese literature and its translation.
If there are specific kinds of links/news you would like to see in the future, mention it in the comments below. Also, if there's anything we've missed, post below too. Thanks!
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By Jack Hargreaves, December 3, '20
The final sentence of series one went up in mid-July. By the end of the week, the total number of translations contributed since the game's beginning by lots of lovely translators, one of whom doesn't read Chinese and two of which were computer programmes, had reached 139 -- if I've counted right that is, which I don't think I did, so let's just go with 'enough to consider a second series'. So here it is!
Well actually, first, we'd like your help. That's right, not only are we asking you to translate this time around, we're inviting you to suggest the sentences too!
Please send any sentence (or two) from Chinese-language fiction that excites, dazzles, bamboozles or floors you to jack@paper-republic.org (sentences from short stories particularly welcome —— you'll find out why later!).
With every submission, please include: the sentence, book/story it is taken from, page number (if you know it), author, and a little context.
We'll start the new series in 2021.
If you missed series one and you're wondering what this is all about, have a look at the series intro here, with links to the sentences we translated over the eight weeks.
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!
By Jack Hargreaves, July 19, '20
For the final week of Sunday Sentence round one, we have the opening sentence of the as-yet untranslated 《六人晚餐》 (Dinner for Six) by Lu Min 鲁敏 (2012). Thanks to Emily Jones for the suggestion!
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentence to translate is:
所有的一切，不如就从厂区的空气说起。这空气，是酿造情感起源的酵母，也是腌制往事的色素与防腐剂。
Remember, you can post your translation anytime between now and next Sunday, so you have plenty of time to ponder and refine it.
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By Jack Hargreaves, July 12, '20
This week's Sunday Sentence is something entirely different: Yeng Pway Ngon 英培安 inserts himself into the narrative on page 25 of 《骚动》(2002), translated by Jeremy Tiang as Unrest. Thank you to Jeremy for setting this week's challenge.
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentence to translate is:
我启动电脑的时候，小说的女主人翁和男主人翁正在床上。我的手指在键盘上犹疑了好一阵子，不能决定应该由我还是由他们其中一人来叙述这场性爱。无论如何，窥视小说主人翁的私生活是读者的权利，所以作为读者的你是可以看到的，床上的性活动正在进行中，男主人翁的状态似乎并不理想。
Remember, you can post your translation anytime between now and next Sunday, so you have plenty of time to ponder and refine it.
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By Jack Hargreaves, July 4, '20
This week's Sunday Sentence can be found on the first page of 《北妹》 by Sheng Keyi 盛可以 (2004), translated by Shelly Bryant as Northern Girls (2012).
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentence to translate is:
一米五五的样子，短发、带卷、蛋脸偏圆，基本上是良家民女的模样，嫁个男人安分守己生儿育女的胚子。遗憾的是，钱小红的胸部太大，即便不是钱小红的本意，也被毫无余地地划出良民圈子，与寡妇的门前一样多了事。
Remember, you can post your translation anytime between now and next Sunday, so you have plenty of time to ponder and refine it.
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By Jack Hargreaves, June 26, '20
Sunday Sentence #5 comes from an unreleased book, 《鹰头猫与音乐箱女孩》 by Dorothy Tse 謝曉虹, due out with Aquarius in July 2020 (next month!) and currently being translated by Natascha Bruce with the working title, Owlish & the Music-Box Ballerina.
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentence to translate is:
因此，在那空气黏稠、沉甸甸令人脑袋发胀的冬日下午，当教授Q习惯性地从家里那扇狭小的镶了不锈钢窗花的窗口看出去时，竟然没有看到海，没有看到从天而降，锋利如刀片的阳光把它任意割切成许多玻璃似的碎片，没有看到一直停泊在海湾里几条颜色明艳，充满了战意的船，以及它们那些不断深入海床里的机械吊臂。
And for anyone who fancies it, here is the sentence that finishes the paragraph:
教授Q看到的是一个居住了多年的城市，从内部渐渐膨胀起来，形成一个饱满的头颅，并慢慢回转过来，向他展示了另一张脸。
Remember, you can post your translation anytime between now and next Sunday, so you have plenty of time to ponder and refine it.
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By Jack Hargreaves, June 20, '20
Week 4 of Sunday Sentence! Halfway through!
A lesser-known writer this week, but one of my favourites, Yang Dian 杨典 and the two opening sentences of his short story, 《朱厌》, which I've tentatively translated for the purposes of this exercise as 'Ape of War'. The story is taken from his as-yet untranslated 2019 collection, Stories from the Goose Cage 《鹅笼记》.
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentences to translate are:
前朝灭亡的最后一个夏日，我那位集病夫、书生、杀手与某秘密社团激进分子于一身的兄弟，我窝藏多年的故知，我不可同日而语的镜子，终于在十字路口法场走到了魂断他乡的绝境。他的死是在我意料中的。
Remember, you can post your translation today or any day next week, so you have plenty of time to think about it and there's no need to rush.
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By Jack Hargreaves, June 14, '20
For week 3 of Sunday Sentence, we're turning to one of the best-known Chinese writers of the 20th Century, Zhang Ailing, and the opening line of her book, 《色戒》(1979), translated by Julia Lovell and released in 2007 as, of course, Lust, Caution. Thanks to Dylan Levi King for suggesting this "deceptively simple" peach of a sentence.
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentences to translate are:
麻将桌上白天也开着强光灯，洗牌的时候一只只钻戒光芒四射。白桌布四角缚在桌腿上，绷紧了越发一片雪白，白得耀眼。
Remember, you can post your translation today or any day next week, so you have plenty of time to think about it and there's no need to rush.
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By Jack Hargreaves, June 6, '20
For this week of Sunday Sentence, we have something entirely different:
a big announcement taken from page 118 of Yan Ge's 颜歌《我们家》(2013), released in 2018 as The Chilli Bean Paste Clan,
translated by Nicky Harman.
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentences to translate are:
他遂自己端起杯子来把里头的酒喝了，要把勇气豪气和阳气都鸡巴喝出来。“给你们说，”他宣布，“老子又把婆娘的肚皮搞大了。”
Remember, you can post your translation today or any day next week, so you have plenty of time to think about it and there's no need to rush.
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By Jack Hargreaves, May 30, '20
And we're off!
This is the first week of Sunday Sentence, so if you missed the post explaining the activity, click here for more details.
Otherwise...
To start we have three sentences for you to translate, taken from page 13 of Jin Yong's 金庸 《射雕英雄传》(first released in 1959), entitled A Hero Born (Legends of the Condor Heroes 1) in Anna Holmwood's translation.
Please input your translation in the comments box at the bottom of the page.
The sentences to translate are:
他脚步甚快，顷刻间奔出数丈。曲叁右手往怀中一掏，跟着扬手，月光下只见一块圆盘似的黑物飞将出去，托的一下轻响，嵌入了那武官后脑。那武官惨声长叫，单刀脱手飞出，双手乱舞，仰天缓缓倒下，扭转了几下，就此不动，眼见是不活了。
Remember, you can post your translation today or any day next week, so you have plenty of time to think about it and there's no need to rush.
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By Jack Hargreaves, May 28, '20
Eyes peeled and pens sharpened everyone!
This Sunday 31st May begins a two-month activity of online translation workshopping which anyone and everyone who knows Chinese and writes English can get involved with. A famously lonely endeavor, translation, when done with others, becomes a rambunctious language game in which all the best nitpicking and head scratching go on. So since face-to-face workshops are called off for the foreseeable future, Paper Republic is launching Sunday Sentence, or in Chinese, 一周一句!
Every Sunday a sentence will be posted here on the website as well as on Twitter and Facebook, and you are invited to have a go translating it! The sentences have been picked by PR team members and other CH-EN translators for being particularly challenging to render in English for some reason or another, challenging enough we hope to produce endless different possible translations and start some discussion around the strategies people employ when translating literary Chinese and the reasons behind their decisions. All translations and discussion should be posted in the comment sections of the Sunday Sentence page when it goes online.
First up is a sentence picked by Anna Holmwood, translator of Jin Yong! So to whet your wuxia appetite, from this Saturday onward, you can listen to Angus Stewart’s conversation with another translator of Jin Yong, Gigi Chang, on the Translated Chinese Fiction podcast
See you this Sunday!
