Voici mon secret. Il est très simple, Chinese versions: The "Bones" |
Voici mon secret. Il est très simple -- 'And now here is my secret, a very simple secret'. This is how the fox starts telling his secret. Despite the utter simplicity of the French, there's amazing variety in the Chinese translations.
As we saw at the analysis of the French original, the two sentences convey two messages:
| 1. The fox announces that he is about to reveal his promised secret. (Voici mon secret.) |
| 2. The fox comments on the simple nature of the secret. (Il est très simple.) |
In 38 Chinese translations, the message is divided into two distinct parts, just as in the French. In the remaining seven, the two are fused together.
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5. For the 'flesh' (the translation of individual words and expressions), see here  . |
1. FIRST SENTENCE: ANNOUNCING THE SECRET
Chinese doesn't have an exact equivalent of voici or 'here is'. Translators come up with a total of five different ways of conveying the meaning.
1) 'This is my secret'
About half of all translators (22) use straightforward expressions meaning 'This is my secret'. In most cases this is 这就是我的秘密 / Zhè jiù shì wǒ de mìmì. The word 就 jiù adds emphasis and certainty. It means 'precisely, none other than!', as if the fox were declaring: 'This is my secret'. At least that's what it's supposed to do. In fact, 就是 jiù shì is used so commonly that it's lost much of its original bite.
'THIS IS MY SECRET' |
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voici 'here is' |
mon secret 'my secret' |
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这 zhè 'this' |
就是 jiù shì 'is' |
我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
There is a certain amount of (mostly minor) variation on this sentence, which can be seen at "Flesh"
2) 'My secret is like this'
Three translators use the very similar: 'My secret is like this' (我的秘密是这样 Wǒ de mìmì shì zhèyàng), a common speech pattern in Chinese.
'MY SECRET IS LIKE THIS' |
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mon secret 'my secret' |
voici 'here is' |
|
我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
是 shì 'is' |
这样 zhèyàng 'like this' |
3) 'I'll tell you my secret'
Eleven have the fox announce: 'I'll tell you my secret' (我告诉你我的秘密 Wǒ gàosu nǐ wǒ de mìmì). Although there are quite a few variations on this pattern, all share the common thread of announcing the intention to 'tell the secret'.
'I'LL TELL YOU MY SECRET' |
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voici 'here is' |
mon secret 'my secret' |
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我 wǒ 'I' |
告诉 gàosu 'tell' |
你 nǐ 'you' |
我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
The many variations on this format can be found at "Flesh"
4) 'Come and see my secret'
One translator uses a sentence meaning 'Come and see my secret'.
'COME AND SEE MY SECRET' |
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voici 'here is' |
mon secret 'my secret' |
-- |
|
来 lái 'come' |
看 kàn 'see' |
我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
吧 ba (exhortation) |
5) 'My secret--'
One translator uses a sentence fragment: 'My secret--'. Voici is not explicitly expressed. By suddenly raising the topic of the secret, the fox is harking back to his earlier promise.
'MY SECRET --' |
|
voici 'here is' |
mon secret 'my secret' |
| x | 我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
This sentence pattern is actually almost identical to the amalgamated sentence that we see below.
2. SECOND SENTENCE: NOTING THE SIMPLICITY OF THE SECRET
Only three sentence patterns are used in calling attention to the simplicity of the secret.
1) '(It's) very simple'
27 translators use a straightforward statement that the secret 'is simple', either 它很简单 tā hěn jiǎndān or 很简单 hěn jiǎndān. Chinese doesn't use a verb like être 'to be' with a predicative adjective. The adjective can stand as a predicate by itself.
'(IT'S) VERY SIMPLE' |
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(il est) ('it is') |
très 'very' |
simple 'simple' |
(它) (tā) ('it') |
很 hěn 'very' |
简单 jiǎndān 'simple' |
For the main variations, particularly the use of 它 tā, see "Flesh"
2) 'A very simple secret' (in apposition)
Nine translators use a noun phrase in apposition (我的秘密，一个很简单的秘密 wǒ de mìmì, yīge hěn jiǎndān de mìmì). This follows the translation of Katherine Woods. All translators who do so appear to be translating from the English.
The attributive adjective is mostly (but not always -- this is one of the finer points of Chinese grammar) followed by the particle 的 de in Chinese. Thus 简单的 jiǎndān de 'simple'.
'A VERY SIMPLE SECRET' |
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un 'a' |
très 'very' |
simple 'simple' |
secret 'secret' |
一个 yīge 'a' |
很 hěn 'very' |
简单的 jiǎndān de 'simple (attributive)' |
秘密 mìmì 'secret' |
'A' in English becomes 一个 yīge in Chinese. 个 ge is a general classifier or measure word.
3) 'This is a very simple secret'
Two translators modify this pattern to: 'This is a very simple secret' (这是一个很简单的秘密 Zhè shì yīge hěn jiǎndān de mìmì).
'THIS IS A VERY SIMPLE SECRET' |
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ce 'this' |
est 'is' |
un 'a' |
très 'very' |
simple 'simple' |
secret 'secret' |
这 zhè 'this' |
是 shì 'is' |
一个 yīge 'a' |
很 hěn 'very' |
简单的 jiǎndān de 'simple (attributive)' |
秘密 mìmì 'secret' |
3. THIRD OPTION: AMALGAMATE THE TWO SENTENCES INTO ONE
Seven translations amalgamate the two sentences into one simple pattern. This pattern dispenses with preliminaries or introductions to merely state: "The secret is very simple". Given that the fox has already announced that he will divulge a secret upon parting, this approach certainly doesn't lose any important content and has the advantage of being very succinct.
'MY SECRET IS VERY SIMPLE' |
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Voici mon secret 'Here is my secret' |
Il est très simple 'It is very simple' |
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这是 zhè shì 'this is' |
我的秘密 wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
它 tā 'it (is)' |
很 hěn 'very' |
简单 jiǎndān 'simple' |
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v |
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Mon secret est très simple 'My secret is very simple' |
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我的秘密 Wǒ de mìmì 'my secret' |
很 hěn 'very' |
简单 jiǎndān 'simple' |
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One translator, in addition to this sentence, goes on to add 那就是 nà jiù shì 'that is'.
我的祕密很簡單，那就是：
Wǒ de mìmì hěn jiǎndān, nà jiù shì:
My secret is very simple, it is:'
4. HOW THE PATTERNS ARE COMBINED
The above sets of sentence patterns are combined together in different ways. The first two combinations (below) account for the lion's share of the French-based translations and account for about half the total. Translations based on Katherine Woods' English show much more variation.
HOW TRANSLATIONS COMBINE THE TWO SENTENCES |
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Sentence 1 |
Sentence 2 |
F |
E |
? | Total |
这就是我的秘密。 Zhè jiù shì wǒ de mìmì. 'This is my secret'. |
(它)很简单。 (Tā) hěn jiǎndān. '(It) is very simple' |
12 |
4 |
0 |
16 |
我的秘密很简单。 Wǒ de mìmì hěn jiǎndān. 'My secret is very simple'. |
5 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
|
我告诉你我的秘密。 Wǒ gàosu nǐ wǒ de mìmì. 'I'll tell you my secret'. |
(它)很简单。 (Tā) hěn jiǎndān. '(It) is very simple' |
2 |
4 |
0 |
6 |
这就是我的秘密， Zhè jiù shì wǒ de mìmì, 'This is my secret', |
一个很简单的秘密。 yīge hěn jiǎndān de mìmì. 'a very simple secret'. |
0 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
我告诉你我的秘密， Wǒ gàosu nǐ wǒ de mìmì, 'I'll tell you my secret', |
一个很简单的秘密。 yīge hěn jiǎndān de mìmì. 'a very simple secret'. |
0 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
我的秘密是这样。 Wǒ de mìmì shì zhèyàng. 'My secret is like this'. |
(它)很简单。 (Tā) hěn jiǎndān. '(It) is very simple' |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
我的秘密- Wǒ de mìmì- 'My secret - ' |
它很简单。 Tā hěn jiǎndān. 'It is very simple' |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
我告诉你我的秘密。 Wǒ gàosu nǐ wǒ de mìmì. 'I'll tell you my secret'. |
这是一个很简单的秘密。 Zhè shì yīge hěn jiǎndān de mìmì. 'This is a very simple secret'. |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
来看我的秘密吧。 Lái kàn wǒ de mìmì ba. 'Come and see my secret'. |
这是一个很简单的秘密。 Zhè shì yīge hěn jiǎndān de mìmì. 'This is a very simple secret'. |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Total | 21 |
23 |
1 |
45 |
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