On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur, Chinese versions: The "Bones" |
On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. I've got 45 Chinese translations of this simple but profound sentence. (That excludes adaptations and the shameless plagiarism of Liú 2004, not to mention older translations I haven't got hold of yet.)
Only 21 of the Chinese versions appear to be translated from the original French. 23 take a 'shortcut' by translating from the English version of Katherine Woods ('It is only with the heart that one can see rightly'), and one is a bit uncertain.
Despite the great variation in Chinese translations, all but one (see below) can be boiled down to a simple basic sentence.
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5. For the 'flesh' (the translation of individual words and expressions), see here  . |
1. BASIC SENTENCE
The basic sentence pattern is the Chinese equivalent of 'One sees things with the heart'. Chinese is very similar to French and English in its basic outline:
BASIC SENTENCE |
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on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
voit 'sees' |
[les choses] ['things'] |
人 rén 'person' |
用心 yòng xìn 'with heart' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
[事情] [shìqing] ['things'] |
The most striking difference is the placement of the instrumental 'with the heart'. Unlike English or French, this comes comes before the verb in Chinese, not after. This is related to the fact that 用 yòng isn't really a preposition in the same sense as avec and 'with'. In fact, 用 yòng was originally a verb, and in many ways still acts like one. Literally speaking, the meaning of the sentence is 'A person uses the heart to see [things]'.
This difference explains one important variation on this pattern, which adds the verb 去 qù 'to go' after the instrumental:
BASIC PATTERN WITH 去 qù |
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on 'one' |
utiliser le coeur 'use the heart' |
aller 'go' |
voir 'see' |
[les choses] ['things'] |
人 rén 'person' |
用心 yòng xìn 'with heart' |
去 qù 'go' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
[事情] [shìqing] ['things'] |
去 qù adds a dimension of purpose to the action of using the heart. This sentence can be interpreted as meaning: "A person uses the heart in order to go and see [things]." It's a very common usage in Chinese. How many translations use 去?
2. VOIT BIEN
Adding bien ('rightly')
Most translators then add words meaning bien (or 'rightly'), or expressions with a similar meaning. The exact expression used shows a lot of variation among translators.
All but three use what are called 'complements of result' (結果補語 / 结果补语 jiéguǒ bǔyǔ in Chinese).
At its simplest, a resultative has the following structure:
(adjective or verb)
'to look, to see'
'clear'
Together the two parts represent an action (looking) and its result (clarity) -- 'to see clearly'.
(For more on resultatives, see these sites: Resultative Complements and The Complement of Result.)
Our basic sentences become:
ADDING A RESULTATIVE FOR BIEN ('RIGHTLY') |
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on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
voit 'sees' |
bien 'clearly' |
l'essentiel 'what is essential' |
||
人 rén 'person' |
用心 yòng xìn 'with heart' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
事物的本质 shìwù de běnzhì 'the essence of things' |
||
on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
va 'goes' |
voir 'see' |
bien 'clearly' |
l'essentiel 'what is essential' |
|
(with 去) |
人 rén 'person' |
用心 yòng xìn 'with heart' |
去 qù 'go' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
事物的本质 shìwù de běnzhì 'the essence of things' |
This sentence, spelling out as it does the concept of seeing clearly, forms the basis for a 'proper' (or at least, a literal) translation into Chinese. See "Flesh" for a survey of the amazing variety of resultatives used, and why .
Besides resultatives, of course, ordinary adverbs can also be used to translate bien / 'rightly'. Unlike resultatives, adverbs are placed before the verb and often end in 地 de or 的 de (equivalent to '-ly' in English). An example is 真正地 zhēnzhèng-de 'really'.
ADDING AN ADVERB FOR BIEN ('RIGHTLY') |
||
Adverb |
Verb |
Resultative |
真正的 zhēnzhèng de 'truly' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
见 jiàn 'see' |
In reality, adverbs are surprisingly unpopular. There are only four translators who use them, and three of these use resultatives as well. See "Flesh" for adverbs used .
Twelve translators use objects of the verb, mostly 事物的本质 shìwù de běnzhì 'the essence of things'. A few of these objects are placed at other positions in the sentence, e.g., as a topic. See "Flesh" for use of objects by translators .
However, most delete it:
DELETING THE OBJECT |
||||||
on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
voit 'sees' |
bien 'clearly' |
X |
||
人 rén 'person' |
用心 yòng xìn 'with heart' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
X |
||
on 'one' |
avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
va 'goes' |
voir 'see' |
bien 'clearly' |
X |
|
(with 去) |
人 rén 'person' |
用心 yòng xìn 'with heart' |
去 qù 'go' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
X |
This table sums up the main patterns used to express 'see clearly' (keeping in mind that these are patterns and there is variation in the actual words used).
PATTERNS EXPRESSING VOIT BIEN |
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Adverb |
Verb |
Resultative |
Object |
|
With resultative |
||||
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
26 |
||
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
事物的本质 shìwù de běnzhì 'the essence of things' |
7 |
|
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
凡事 fànshì 'all things' * |
3 |
|
真正的 zhēnzhèng de 'truly' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
见 jiàn 'see' |
3 |
|
No resultative |
||||
正确地 zhèngquè de 'accurately' |
看待 kàndài 'look upon' |
世界 shìjiè 'the world' |
1 |
|
洞察 dòngchá 'perceive' |
一切 yīqiè 'all' |
1 |
||
体会 tǐhuì 'understand, experience' |
1 |
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Total
|
42 |
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* In these cases, the object is expressed but doesn't actually come in this position.
Potential form of the resultative: All the Chinese translations use the potential form, i.e., expressions meaning 'can'. For ordinary purposes, this involves adding the auxiliary verb 能 néng 'can'. The resultative is, however, a special case.
The potential form of the resultative in Chinese can be formed in three ways:
(1) Use the auxiliary verb 能 néng 'can',
(2) Implant the infix 得 de,
(3) Both of the above.
| Auxiliary | Verb | Infix | Result | |
| (1) Auxiliary verb only | 能 néng | 看 kàn | -- | 清楚 qīngchu |
| (2) Infix only | -- | 看 kàn | 得 de | 清楚 qīngchu |
| (3) Auxiliary verb + infix | 能 néng | 看 kàn | 得 de | 清楚 qīngchu |
As an aside, the negative potential, 'can't see clearly', is formed by inserting an unstressed 不 bù 'not' between the verb and its complement of result: 看不清楚 kàn-bu-qīngchu.
All three variations on the potential resultative are found in the translations, although some are more common than others. For more see "Flesh" (potential resultative)
This now brings us to the most conspicuous feature of this sentence: the translation of ne ... que 'only'.
3. ONLY WITH THE HEART
Translating ne ... que ('only')
In the French original, the grammatical focus of ne ... que is avec le coeur:
ne ... qu'avec le coeur
Similarly for the English:
'only with the heart',
'it is only with the heart that...'
Chinese is slightly different. To express the concept of having only one choice in order to attain an objective, Chinese recasts the sentence like this:
RENDERING 'ONLY' |
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A |
B |
||
utiliser le coeur (va voir) 'use the heart (to go and look)' |
peut voir bien 'can see clearly' |
||
只有 zhǐ yǒu 'only (if)' |
用心 (去看) yòng xìn qù kàn '(go look) with heart' |
才 cái 'only then' |
能看得清楚 néng kàn-de-qīngchu 'can see clearly' |
This pattern is followed by fully 39 of the 45 translators. This literally means: 'Unless you look with the heart you can't see clearly'. What that grabs us by the nose is how ne ... que ('only') comes out as a double-barrelled construction in Chinese 
只有 ... 才
zhǐ yǒu ... cái
('only (if) ... only then')
This has the singular effect of splitting the sentence into two parts:
Clause A (the focus) presents the necessary precondition: "只有用心 zhǐ yǒu yòng xīn 'only (if) with the heart'".
Clause B then says what is possible if this precondition is filled: "才能看得清楚 cái néng kàn-de-qīngchu 'only then can see clearly'".
The word 才 cái 'only then' is essential here. Even if 只有 zhǐ yǒu ('only (if)') is left out, the 才 cái in Clause B is enough to show that it's conditional on Clause A. 才 cái cannot be left out.
Of course, this pattern is also used in sentences without resultatives. For example:
RENDERING 'ONLY' IN A SENTENCE WITHOUT A RESULTATIVE |
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A |
B |
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avec le coeur 'with the heart' |
on 'one' |
peut voir bien 'can see clearly' |
||
只有 zhǐ yǒu 'only (if)' |
依靠心灵 yīkào xīnlíng 'rely on the heart' |
一个人 yīge rén 'a person' |
才 cái 'only then' |
能正确地看待世界 néng zhèngquè de kàndài shìjiè 'can accurately look upon the world' |
Placing of the subject
Because the sentence is split into two clauses, translators have a choice between putting the subject (on or 'one') before the A clause or before the B clause -- although, in fact, a majority of translators choose not to use a subject at all. How is on ('one') translated?
The placing of the subject is like this:
Subject Subject Occurrences
(zhǐ yǒu)
'(only if)'
yòng xīn
'use the heart'
cái
'only then'
néng kàn-de-qīngchu
'can see clearly'
rén
'person'
(zhǐ yǒu)
'(only if)'
yòng xīn
'use the heart'
cái
'only then'
néng kàn-de-qīngchu
'can see clearly'
(zhǐ yǒu)
'(only if)'
yòng xīn
'use the heart'
rén
'person'
cái
'only then'
néng kàn-de-qīngchu
'can see clearly'Total
It's quite possible in Chinese, as it is in English, to start the sentence without a clear subject and specify it at the second clause.
'Only the heart can see': Le coeur as subject
There are three translators who vary the basic sentence by making 'the heart', originally an instrument, into the subject. That is,
A person sees [things] with the heart
becomes
The heart sees [things].
This gives us this rather exceptional basic pattern:
BASIC PATTERN ('HEART' AS SUBJECT) |
||
le coeur 'the heart' |
voit 'sees' |
[les choses] ['things'] |
心 xīn 'the heart' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
[事情] [shìqing] ['things'] |
As we put this sentence through its paces, it becomes:
MINUS OBJECT, PLUS BIEN |
||
le coeur 'the heart' |
voit 'sees' |
bien 'rightly' |
心 xīn 'the heart' |
看 kàn 'look, see' |
清楚 qīngchu 'clearly' |
When we come to add 'only', we find that the 只有 ... 才 zhǐ yǒu ... cái ('only (if) ... only then') structure is very flexible. It takes the noun in its stride:
ADDING 'ONLY' |
||
seulement 'only' |
le coeur 'the heart' |
peut voir bien 'can see clearly' |
只有 zhǐ yǒu 'only (if)' |
心 xīn 'heart' |
才能看清楚 cái néng kàn-qīngchu 'can see clearly' |
(Notice that 只有 zhǐ yǒu in this case must be rendered in French as seulement 'solely, only'.)
The three translations fitting this pattern are:
唯有心才能看得清楚。
Wéi yǒu xīn cái néng kàn de qīngchu.
'Only the heart can see clearly.'
只有心灵才看得清事物的本质。
Zhǐ yǒu xīnlíng cái kàn-de-qīng shìwù de běnzhì.
'Only the heart can see clearly the essence of matters'.
只有心灵才能洞察一切。
Zhǐ yǒu xīnlíng cái néng dòngchá yīqiè.
'Only the spirit can perceive everything.'
4. OTHER PATTERNS
'Can but see with the heart': Jumping the gun in translating ('only')
There are two translators who rather jump the gun by applying ne ... que ('only') directly to the basic sentence. These two translators don't translate the word bien 'well' at all and as a result translate 'only' in a different way.
'Only' is rendered simply as 只 zhǐ 'only'. Both translations use the auxiliary verb 能 néng, meaning 'can' (which I'll call the 'potential form'). The translations are thus:
ADDING 只能 zhǐ néng TO THE BASIC SENTENCE |
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on 'one' |
ne peut ... que 'can only' |
utiliser le coeur va voir 'use the heart to go and look' |
人 rén 'person' |
只能 zhǐ néng 'can only' |
用心去看 yòng xìn qù kàn 'with heart go see' |
Here the focus of 'only' is the whole predicate, 用心去看 yòng xīn qù kàn (shown in red letters). In other words, 'only' covers the whole sentence, and doesn't focus on 'with the heart'. This is equivalent to saying 'One can but look with the heart'.
The two translations using this pattern are:
我們只能用心來看。
Wǒmen zhǐ néng yòng xīn lái kàn.
'We can only (come and) look with the heart'.
人只能用心灵去观察，去感受。
Rén zhǐ néng yòng xīnlíng qù guānchá, qù gǎnshòu.
'A person can only use the spirit to (go and) observe and (go and) experience.'
Notice how the second translator actually feels the need for an expanded interpretation using two verbs.
Finally, one translator departs completely from the above patterns by transforming the verb ('to observe') into a noun ('observation'):
'TO SEE' RENDERED AS A NOUN |
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Modifier |
Noun |
Only |
Adjective (是...的 construction) |
|
凭借 píngjiè 'rely on' |
心灵的 xīnlíng de 'the heart' + connector |
观察 guānchá 'observation' |
才 cái 'only' |
是可靠的 shì kěkào de 'is reliable' |
The sentence literally means: 'Only observation relying on the heart is reliable'. Not only is the verb transformed into a noun, but the adverb equivalent to bien or 'rightly' is transformed into an adjective (可靠 kěkào 'reliable').
Notice how the predicative adjective takes the 是...的 construction. This is something like saying 'it is a reliable one'. This is normal practice for predicative adjectives in Chinese, and is often used where English would just say 'it is reliable'.
5. OTHER
Connecting the two sentences of the fox's secret
In the original French the two sentences On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur and L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux stand in magnificent isolation from each other. This isn't, of course, how language works. Each of the two sentences can only be understood in relation to the other:
- The first sentence lacks an object; the second has l'essentiel as its subject. It's clear that l'essentiel is the understood object of the first sentence.
- The first sentence asserts that only the heart can see clearly. The second sentence affirms this statement in a negative sense, by stating that it is not possible to see with the eyes.
How do translators reflect this connection? Do they simply follow the French, or do they try to link the two sentences together?
1) Several translators explicitly bring the subject of the second sentence (l'essentiel) forward to act as the object of the first, thus acknowledging that the two sentences are a unity. Details here
2) Similarly, two translators tie the two sentences together by giving them a common topic, the word 凡事 fánshì 'all things', which is placed at the very start of this sentence.
3) More interestingly, one translator gives the two sentence a common topic while at the same time reversing the order of the two sentences:
一切事物的本质，用肉眼是看不到的，只有用心去看，才能体会到。
Yīqiè shìwù de běnzhì, yòng ròuyǎn shì kàn-bu-dào de, zhǐ yǒu yòng xīn qù kàn, cái néng tǐhuì dào.
'The essence of all things can't see with the naked eyes, only looking with the heart can know.'
The translation now effectively says:
"What is essential is invisible to the eye; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly."
This rearrangement alters neither the meaning nor the impact. Indeed, it could be argued that this version is more impactful:
- It first negates the eyes as a means of seeing properly, and then positively identifies the heart as the correct means of perception, moving from negative to positive. In the original, the positive aspect is mentioned first, followed by a negative statement dismissing the eyes.
- The object of 'seeing' is given as the topic (l'essentiel: 一切事物的本质 yīqiè shìwù de běnzhì 'the essence of all matters') at the start. This means that the topic is quite clear and there's no need to try to find ways of making the object of the verb clearer.
This translation raises an interesting question: to what extent is it important to retain the original order in a translation? If it's more natural to change the order, why not do so? Despite talk among translation specialists of 'dynamic equivalence' or 'functional equivalence', i.e., creating an equivalent effect in the mind of the reader and not simply transposing the words one by one, there seems to be an ingrained habit among translators of basically following the order and forms of the original.
That wraps up the "Bones" of translating On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. For more on the "Flesh" (translation of specific expressions), see here .
There are also pages on the French original, the English translations, the Japanese translations, and the Vietnamese translations.
