'Now'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.
'Now'
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.
瞧 qiáo: One translator uses 瞧 qiáo, a colloquial term meaning 'look'. This is a light way of drawing attention.
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.