This is a popup for the Chinese version of Voici mon secret. Il est très simple 'Here is my secret, a very simple secret', from The Little Prince.

Mon / 'my':

As we noted in analysing the meaning of mon secret in French, the meaning can be paraphrased as 'that particular secret -- the one that I mentioned earlier -- that belongs to me'. In translating this, three-quarters of Chinese translators use the direct version 我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret'.

However, one-quarter use other expressions. Four use 那 (个) 秘密 nà(ge) mìmì 'that secret', a direct reference back to the fox's promise. Three use 这个秘密 zhège mìmì, referring to the secret about to be told. (Incidentally, these all occur together with expressions meaning 'I'll tell you...').

Four use expressions meaning 'the secret I want to tell you', again referring back to the promise made earlier.

Note that the translator who uses 一个我的秘密 yīge wǒ de mìmì 'a secret of mine' is misrepresenting the meaning somewhat by making it sound as though the fox has only just indicated the intention to tell the little prince 'a secret'.

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