Voici mon secret. Il est très simple, Chinese versions: The "Flesh" |
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. Here we look at the main means of expression in translation. The sentence structures can be found at the "Bones".
HERE IS MY SECRET
Here are the main variations in introducing the secret.
Voici
就 jiù: Twenty of 24 translators using this pattern use the word 就 jiù, which adds emphasis and certainty. Here 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.
Two translators omit 就 jiù, and one uses 便 biàn instead.
这就是 zhè jiù shì 这是 zhè shì 就 jiù omitted 这便是 zhè biàn shì 便 biàn substituted for 就 jiù
(formal expression, same meaning)下面就是 xiàmiàn jiù shì 下面 xiàmiàn 'next, this' substituted for 这 zhè
(more formal effect)Total
The pattern 'My secret is like this' shows the following variation:
我的秘密是这样的
wǒ de mìmì shì zhèyàng de'My secret is like this' 我的祕密是這樣
wǒ de mìmì shì zhèyàng'My secret is like this' 我的祕訣如下
wǒ de mìjué rù xià'My secret is like this' Total The third example (如下 rù xià) is a written rather than spoken form.
A total of eleven Chinese translators use expressions like 我告诉你[秘密] wǒ gàosu nǐ [mìmì] ('I'll tell you [the secret]'). (Note: [秘密] [mìmì] represents the word 'the secret', 'my secret', and variations).
(我)(就)告诉你 [秘密]
(wǒ) (jiù) gàosu nǐ [mìmì]'I'll tell you [the secret]' 我要把 [秘密] 告诉你
wǒ bǎ [mìmì] gàosu nǐ'I'll tell you [the secret]'
(把 bǎ makes the meaning 'definite')我說出 [祕密]
wǒ shuōchū [mìmì]'I'll speak [the secret]' 我把 [秘密] 說出來
wǒ bǎ [mìmì] shuōchū lái'I'll speak out [the secret]'
(把 bǎ makes the meaning 'definite')送给你 [秘密]
sòng-gěi nǐ [mìmì]'I'll give you [the secret]' Total A couple of translations use the particle 把 bǎ, which identifies the object of the verb as definite and brings it forward in the sentence, placing it before the verb. (Notice how this somewhat goes against the grain of Chinese as an SVO language.)
In addition to these sentences, there are actually four sentences that hide expressions of 'telling the secret' in structures like 我要告诉你的[秘密] wǒ yào gàosu nǐ de [mìmì] '[the secret] I want to tell you'. The four sentences are:
这就是我要告诉你的秘密。其实它很简单：
Zhè jiù shì wǒ yào gàosu nǐ de mìmì. Qíshí hěn jiǎndān:
'This is the secret I want to tell you. Actually it's very simple:'这就是我送给你的秘密，一个非常简单的秘密：
Zhè jiù shì wǒ sòng gěi nǐ de mìmì, yīge fēicháng jiǎndān de mìmì:
'This is the secret I give to you, a very simple secret:'我要告诉你的秘密很简单：
Wǒ yào gàosu nǐ de mìmì hěn jiǎndān:
'The secret I want to tell you is very simple:'我要告诉你的秘密，其实很简单，
Wǒ yào gàosu nǐ de mìmì, qíshí hěn jiǎndān
'The secret I want to tell you, actually [it's] very simple,'See below for further information on the ways that the words mon secret 'my secret' can be elaborated.
The English translation begins with the word 'now', as a means of indicating that the fox is about to say something of significance. Several translations use words with a similar function, although not all are translations from the English.
喏 Nuò: Three translators who use 这就是 zhè jiù shì seem to feel the fox should start a bit more dramatically. They have him say 喏 nuò, a rather peculiar folksy term that draws attention to something the speaker is trying to point out. I've translated it as 'Look!'
The use of this term by three different translators is rather unusual. 喏 nuò is actually a dialect term that is not particularly common in ordinary Chinese. One could not be blamed for suspecting that some of these translators may have been, shall we say, influenced by earlier translations. Two of the three are translating from the French, but one (Wú 2004) appears to be translating from Katherine Woods' English.
对了 duì le: One Chinese translator uses 对了 duì le, an expression used when suddenly remembering something. This translation indicates that the fox suddenly remembers that he has to tell the Little Prince his secret when he says goodbye.
听着 tīng-zhe: One Chinese translator uses 听着 tīng-zhe, meaning 'Listen'. This indicates that the fox is about to say something important.
现在 xiànzài: Fully ten of the Chinese translators use the word 现在 xiànzài ('now') to start this sentence. They are solely found in translations from Woods' English version. As we have noted, 'now' doesn't necessarily indicate present time, it suggests a progression to a new stage or a new idea.
Unlike English 'now', however, 现在 xiànzài in Chinese is not used to introduce the next step or indicate a progression of ideas. It means purely 'at the present time'. Moreover, 现在 xiànzài sounds awkward in combination with 这就是 zhè jiù shì ('this is'). The meaning would be akin to: 'At the present time this is my secret'.
Probably because of this, 现在 xiànzài is used exclusively in combination with the 'I'll tell you my secret' pattern or with the 'Come and look at my secret' pattern. In other words, the translation of 'here is' as 'I'll tell you' may be a direct result of the word 现在 xiànzài. (The two translators from the French who use the 'I'll tell you' pattern do not use 现在 xiànzài and are thus not subject to this generalisation.) This is a clear demonstration of the impact that quite small changes in the original can have on resulting translations. It is one reason that translations from the English show much more variety that those from the French.
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.
MY SECRET |
|
| 1. My secret | 36 |
| 我的 [秘密] wǒ de [mìmì] |
35 |
| 一个我的 [秘密] yīge wǒ de [mìmì] |
1 |
| 2. The secret I want to tell you | 4 |
| 我要告诉你的 [秘密] wǒ yào gàosu nǐ de [mìmì] |
3 |
| 我送给你的 [秘密] wǒ sòng gěi nǐ de [mìmì] |
1 |
| 3. This / that secret | 7 |
| 那个 [秘密] nàge [mìmì] |
2 |
| 那 [秘密] nà [mìmì] |
2 |
| 这个 [秘密] zhège [mìmì] |
3 |
| Total | 47 |
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'.
Secret:
The word secret ('secret') itself is translated by the same word in almost every Chinese translation. The word is 秘密 mìmì. A 秘密 is confidential knowledge or information -- information that only one person knows and another person is dying to find out (or the secret-keeper is dying to tell, depending on your view of secrets). This is pretty much the standard, kneejerk translation of the word 'secret'. It corresponds exactly to the first sense of secret in French and 'secret' in English.
But as luck would have it, one Taiwanese translator manages to come up with a different interpretation. This translator uses the word 祕訣 mìjué (simplified form: 秘诀), which is secret knowledge of how to do something. This is very close to the second French definition (moyen de réussir - means of succeeding), or the English meaning 'something taken to be a key to a desired end'. Given that the fox's secret is a secret for understanding the meaning of relationships, commitments, and life (not to mention how to figure out his rose), this interpretation is absolutely fine. But it certainly puts a rather concrete spin on the fox's secret.
IT IS VERY SIMPLE
The translation of il est:
Il est très simple in French uses the personal pronoun il. In this sentence, il refers to mon secret.
In Chinese, the normal way of saying 'It is very simple' is 很简单 hěn jiǎndān ('very simple'). There's no pronoun -- it's understood from the context that 'secret' is the subject -- and there's no verb 'to be' since Chinese doesn't need one with adjectives.
Translations omitting the pronoun
Of the 27 translations using the 很简单 hěn jiǎndān ('(is) very simple') pattern, fifteen use no pronoun. That amounts to only half of the translations using this pattern.
Translation as 它 tā
Almost as many translators choose to literally translate the pronoun.
For a third-person pronoun, Modern Chinese originally had the word 他 tā, which could be equally used for 'he', 'she', or 'it'. But in the 20th century, the Chinese decided that the written form of this pronoun needed to be distinguished for gender, just like the Western languages. Thus were born three separate characters to write the same word:
他 tā 'he' or 'it' (living things, usually human, mostly male)
她 tā 'she' (female living things, usually human)
它 tā 'it' (animals of either gender, non-living things)There's a fourth character, still used on Taiwan: 牠 tā 'it' (used for animals, whether male or female). A fifth, rather rare, character is 祂 tā 'He', used for God.
Since the standard equivalent for 'it' is 它 tā, it's perhaps natural that some translators are tempted into using 它 tā for il in this sentence. And indeed, altogether thirteen of the 27 translators who use this pattern use 它 tā. This results in translations like 它很简单 tā hěn jiǎndān ('it is very simple').
Since the French uses il, it's not surprising that nine of these twelve translators are translating from the French. But curiously enough, there are there are also 11 translators working from Katherine Woods' English who use the 很简单 hěn jiǎndān sentence pattern -- three of whom use 它 tā. Since Woods' version doesn't use the 'it is very simple' structure at all, let alone a pronoun for 'it', we can only surmise that these translators have supplied a pronoun themselves, have been peeking at the original French, or have copied other translations.
There is a problem with using 它 tā, and that is that it makes for rather stilted prose. In Chinese, the use of 它 tā to refer to abstract concepts (as opposed to concrete 'things') only started around 1918. It simply wasn't a part of proper Chinese prose before that. It's now become established in the written language, but is still not so common in speech. The use of 它 tā here verges on translationese, a kind of language perpetrated by students who have got used to using literal translation as a crutch and can't shake the habit, and poor translators who have lost their sensitivity to their own language.
Translation using 'this' 这 zhè
One translator uses the expression 这也很简单 zhè yě hěn jiǎndān 'This is also very simple'. This looks like a translation of il, but in fact probably isn't.
这也 zhè yě is a common enough collocation in Chinese. 这 zhè refers to a phenomenon or situation in general. 也 yě normally means 'also', but here it doesn't actually mean 'also' at all. It's a very natural way in spoken Chinese of softening what is being said. By saying 这也很简单 zhè yě hěn jiǎndān, the fox is playing down the difficulty of the secret, taking an attitude of gentle explanation. 这个很简单 zhè-ge hěn jiǎndān 'this is very simple' would sound mildly boasting, arrogant, or assertive.
Très
Très ('very' in English) is meant to emphasise how simple the secret is. When you consider it, très is a pretty simple, everyday word. So is 'very'. So you'd think that translators would translate it with a very simple, everyday word.
Mostly you'd be right. For instance, all 23 translators working directly from the French use the very ordinary, straightforward word 很 hěn ('very'), as do thirteen translators working from the English of Katherine Woods. But 很 hěn has become rather weak in modern Chinese, so a few translators from the English decide to beef it up a bit:
Six translators use 非常 fēicháng 'very, extremely', which makes the secret just that much simpler.
One translator uses 十分 shífēn 'quite', which is also more emphatic.
The real blockbuster is the translator who decides to go the whole hog with 再简单不过的 zài jiǎndān búguò de 'exceedingly simple, couldn't be simpler'!
On the other hand, two translators leave out 'very'. Both translators use the noun in apposition construction, 一个简单的秘密 yīge jiǎndān de mìmì 'a simple secret', again translating from Katherine Woods' English.
So the translations run the gamut from 'exceedingly, could not be more', to leaving 'very' out altogether!
Simple
Dictionaries give a lot of meanings for the French and English word simple / 'simple'. The central meaning in this context is: 'not complex or complicated or involved', with the additional implication of 'not difficult, easy to understand'.
Given the disagreement over other points of translation, it's nothing short of miraculous that all but one of the 47 Chinese translators unerringly translate simple as 簡單 / 简单 jiǎndān ('simple, uncomplicated')! Presumably 簡單 / 简单 jiǎndān is such a perfect match with simple in French and 'simple' in English that no one bothered to try and find any others.
The exception, a rather interesting exception, is the translator who renders 'simple' as 平凡 píngfán 'ordinary, common'. This is something of a departure from the sense of 'not complicated', 'easy to comprehend', or 'clear-cut'. The meaning veers in the direction of 'unremarkable' or 'not special'. Needless to say, however, the implication is not that the secret is unworthy of mention or of little merit. The point is that there is nothing complicated or high-falutin' about the secret. The translator is implying that people tend to overlook the secret because of its simplicity.
Nine of the translators slip in the word 其实 qíshí meaning 'actually'. This adds a softer, more reassuring tone: the secret is not as difficult as might have been expected. It also serves to play the secret down somewhat by adopting a modest, less forbidding tone. It's interesting that so many translators felt obliged to add 其实 qíshí here.
Level of formality
In the Chinese versions, many translators follow the French original almost literally, word for word, as 这(就)是我的秘密，(它)很简单。Zhè (jiù) shì wǒ de mìmì, (tā) hěn jiǎndān. These are the translators who believe in keeping the tone of the original exactly as it is.
But there are plenty of translators who felt impelled to add something in the interest of naturalness:
- As we saw above, three translators add the rather quaint interjection 喏 nuò at the start. Since this is northern dialect, it gives a certain folksy character to the fox's speech.
- Eight translators add 其实 qíshí 'actually' to the fox's explanation. This makes the tone more conversational and friendly.
- One translator feels obliged to jazz up Woods' words 'a very simple secret' into the much more impressive 再简单不过的秘密 zài jiǎndān búguò de mìmì.
In all these cases, the very spare language of the original -- especially the original French -- is modified in ways that bring the translation closer to the rhythms of natural speech, or give the fox's speech more 'character'.
Altogether now...
So now we've been right through the translation, phrase by phrase. What have we learnt?
First, no matter how simple the original may be, different translators will find different ways of translating it. What is more, this can give rise to significantly different nuances, as in the variant translation of the word 'secret' or the variant translation of the word 'simple'.
Secondly, an awful lot of translators are suckers for literal translation. Examples of this are the literal translation of English 'now' as 现在 xiànzài and the direct translation of il as 它 tā.
Third, translating second hand (from a translation that is subtly different from the original) can give rise to changes in expression (as examples again, the mistranslation of English 'now' and the reproduction of Woods' noun phrase in apposition structure).
Finally, translation of speech in particular needs to make concessions to the speech patterns and rhythms of the target language. Insertion of 其实 qíshí 'actually' is a case in point. The implications and usage of this adverb are worthy of further study as they interact very closely with the meaning of the word 'simple'. The French simple carries a number of nuances -- lack of complication, ease of comprehension, clear-cutness, clarity. Inserting 其实 qíshí 'actually' adds a deprecating nuance to the fox's statement, that the secret is not so forbidding after all. Whether this nuance is justified or not, it is extremely natural in Chinese speech to use this adverb in explaining matters to people, and it is understandable why some translators have felt impelled to add it. However, they push the meaning of 简单 jiǎndān in the direction of 'it's really nothing difficult or special; it's really nothing at all'.
