《英语翻译》课程教学资源（名作佳译）鹿鼎记 The Deer and the Cauldron.pdf_P6-P10

Nice Little Crumbs-On Public Business-Jade Flower- Behind the IronDoor-Black-clad Intruders-Choosing a Master-More than a Dog's Fart-TheHelmsman is NighChapter 7-In which Trinket meets the Helmsman and becomes Master of theGreen Wood LodgeTrinket meets the Helmsman-The Initiation of Trinket-Master of the GreenWood Lodge-The High Council- Last Words for Master Trinket-Laurel backat CourtChapter 8-In which Trinket becomes better acquainted with the Factions oftheResistanceTreatmentforthePoison-TrinketvisitsaSorelyWoundedBrother-Pretenders and Supporters-Willow Lane-The Story of Maple andPine-Three Corpses and a Kidnapping-A Strange Delivery of PorkChapter 9-In which Trinket leaves his Victim and attends an EventfulGatheringTheLittleCountess-TrinkettheTormentor-AParty atPrinceKang's-Kungfu, Hats, and Plays-A Conversation, a Crossbow, and a SutraTRANSLATOR'SINTRODUCTIONLouisChais oneof theworld'smostwidelyread novelists.Heisahouseholdname in every Chinese community-in Hong Kong,Peking, Taipei, Singapore,and in Chinatowns the world over. And yet his novels are little known in theWest.Readersofatranslationsuchasthiswillbecurioustoknowwhatsortofbooktheyhave let themselves in for.Martial Arts?Kungfu?Chinese historyand culture? How do these things add up to a Chinese best-seller?Perhaps the most helpful Chinese starting-point for such readers would be thekungfumoviesofBruceLeeandJackieChan,productsthathavetravelledtothe West in a way that the Chinese written word, by and large, has not. ButBruce and Jackie are just the tip of the iceberg. Their films are only a tinyfraction of the vast kungfu film industry, and that industry itself is only one ofthe most recent growths of a much older tradition of Chinese storytelling thatgoes back well over a thousand years. Since at least the tenth century crowdshavegatheredinChineseteahouses,marketplaces,andparks,tohearstoriestold of the great heroes of their past, often to the accompaniment of a drumand a musical instrument. 'And if you wish to find out what happens in thenext instalment, comeback at the sametime tomorrow

Nice Little Crumbs—On Public Business—Jade Flower— Behind the Iron Door—Black-clad Intruders—Choosing a Master—More than a Dog's Fart—The Helmsman is Nigh Chapter 7—In which Trinket meets the Helmsman and becomes Master of the Green Wood Lodge Trinket meets the Helmsman—The Initiation of Trinket— Master of the Green Wood Lodge—The High Council— Last Words for Master Trinket—Laurel back at Court Chapter 8—In which Trinket becomes better acquainted with the Factions of the Resistance Treatment for the Poison—Trinket visits a Sorely Wounded Brother—Pretenders and Supporters—Willow Lane—The Story of Maple and Pine—Three Corpses and a Kidnapping—A Strange Delivery of Pork Chapter 9—In which Trinket leaves his Victim and attends an Eventful Gathering The Little Countess—Trinket the Tormentor—A Party at Prince Kang's—Kungfu, Hats, and Plays—A Conversation, a Crossbow, and a Sutra TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION Louis Cha is one of the world's most widely read novelists. He is a household name in every Chinese community—in Hong Kong, Peking, Taipei, Singapore, and in Chinatowns the world over. And yet his novels are little known in the West. Readers of a translation such as this will be curious to know what sort of book they have let themselves in for. Martial Arts? Kungfu? Chinese history and culture? How do these things add up to a Chinese best-seller? Perhaps the most helpful Chinese starting-point for such readers would be the kungfu movies of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, products that have travelled to the West in a way that the Chinese written word, by and large, has not. But Bruce and Jackie are just the tip of the iceberg. Their films are only a tiny fraction of the vast kungfu film industry, and that industry itself is only one of the most recent growths of a much older tradition of Chinese storytelling that goes back well over a thousand years. Since at least the tenth century crowds have gathered in Chinese teahouses, marketplaces, and parks, to hear stories told of the great heroes of their past, often to the accompaniment of a drum and a musical instrument. 'And if you wish to find out what happens in the next instalment, come back at the same time tomorrow . .

Louis Cha writes in this same storytelling tradition. 'Since my childhood I haveenjoyed reading Martial Arts fiction. I write it myself first and foremost for myown pleasure, and then for the pleasure ofmy readers (there is also, of course,the financial reward . . .). I am just a storyteller, like the professionalstorytellers of the Song dynasty. I believe Martial Arts fiction is like PekingOpera, or ballad-singing, or dancing, or music-its main function is to givepleasure.The marketplace for Cha's performances, over a period of seventeenyears, was his own newspaper, for which he wrote his novels in dailyinstalments of a thousand words, building up a huge and devoted readershipHeisthe Masterkungfu storyteller of his generation.Kungfu (it is really pronounced goong-foo) is one of the most Chinese of allChinese words.Before it acquired its recent meaning of prowess in the MartialArts, long before David Carradine and the TV series Kung Fu, the word wasusedtoreferto a widerangeof skills or attainments, and to the underlying idea of application, of work andtime devoted to a number of activities, from calligraphy to carpentry, fromwriting poetry to cross-country running, from meditation to statesmanship.Louis Cha's novels are about kungfu and kungfu Masters. They are alsothemselves a virtuoso kungfu performance, the work of a Master.Cha is the descendant of an old and distinguished family of Chinesescholar-officials and poets, and writing has always been very much in his blood.So has a deep involvement in the destiny of his people. From his arrival inHong Kong in 1948 up to the present day he has played an increasinglyprominent role in public life, as newspaper proprietor and writer of influentialeditorials, as member of various public bodies, as a charismatic figure withstrongly held views on the future of Hong Kong and of China.Many of hisnovels are set in periods of history when China was confrontingbarbarianaggression (Jurched, Mongol, Manchu), and patriotism is a recurring andpowerfully evoked theme. He is intensely proud of his Chinese heritage, andthis cultural pride runs through every one of his fourteen novels (the completeworks run to thirty-six volumes of over four hundred pages each).Cha has spent almost fifty years of his life in Hong Kong, and has been able totravel extensively, and read widely in Western literature, especially thehistoricalromancesof Scottand Dumas.(Therearedefinite echoesof TheThree Musketeers in The Deer and the Cauldron) And, from his early years as afilm critic and writer for the screen, he is familiar with modern cinematictechnique.Thishas helped him to breathe new life into the ancient tradition.The Deer and the Cauldron was written between 1969 and 1972. Louis Cha

Louis Cha writes in this same storytelling tradition. 'Since my childhood I have enjoyed reading Martial Arts fiction. I write it myself first and foremost for my own pleasure, and then for the pleasure of my readers (there is also, of course, the financial reward . . .). I am just a storyteller, like the professional storytellers of the Song dynasty. I believe Martial Arts fiction is like Peking Opera, or ballad-singing, or dancing, or music—its main function is to give pleasure.' The marketplace for Cha's performances, over a period of seventeen years, was his own newspaper, for which he wrote his novels in daily instalments of a thousand words, building up a huge and devoted readership. He is the Master kungfu storyteller of his generation. Kungfu (it is really pronounced goong-foo) is one of the most Chinese of all Chinese words. Before it acquired its recent meaning of prowess in the Martial Arts, long before David Carradine and the TV series Kung Fu, the word was used to refer to a wide range of skills or attainments, and to the underlying idea of application, of work and time devoted to a number of activities, from calligraphy to carpentry, from writing poetry to cross-country running, from meditation to statesmanship. Louis Cha's novels are about kungfu and kungfu Masters. They are also themselves a virtuoso kungfu performance, the work of a Master. Cha is the descendant of an old and distinguished family of Chinese scholar-officials and poets, and writing has always been very much in his blood. So has a deep involvement in the destiny of his people. From his arrival in Hong Kong in 1948 up to the present day he has played an increasingly prominent role in public life, as newspaper proprietor and writer of influential editorials, as member of various public bodies, as a charismatic figure with strongly held views on the future of Hong Kong and of China. Many of his novels are set in periods of history when China was confronting barbarian aggression (Jurched, Mongol, Manchu), and patriotism is a recurring and powerfully evoked theme. He is intensely proud of his Chinese heritage, and this cultural pride runs through every one of his fourteen novels (the complete works run to thirty-six volumes of over four hundred pages each). Cha has spent almost fifty years of his life in Hong Kong, and has been able to travel extensively, and read widely in Western literature, especially the historical romances of Scott and Dumas. (There are definite echoes of The Three Musketeers in The Deer and the Cauldron} And, from his early years as a film critic and writer for the screen, he is familiar with modern cinematic technique. This has helped him to breathe new life into the ancient tradition. The Deer and the Cauldron was written between 1969 and 1972. Louis Cha

insists that it will remain his last Martial Arts novel. It is also his mostmischievous, and in many ways his least typical work. But it is stillunmistakably and authentically Cha. Perhaps that is the most importantquality of all of Cha's work. It is an authentic Chinese banquet not a take-away.Through the act of storytelling, Cha reaffirms an essential Chinese culturalidentity. Beneath the excitement and humour of his stories lies a whole world.AsaMainland criticputit,'Louis Cha'switand humourarebased ontheinnerrealm of Buddhist and Taoist philosophy. Behind the clownish, fool-likeexterior lies agreat subtletyand refinement.'The Deer and the Cauldron is set in the mid-seventeenth century.The Manchushave been ruling China for a little over twenty years,and aregradually (thoughruthlessly) managing to put out the last residual sparks of the ChineseResistance, in the South and the South-West. The Prologue, which was writtenduring the height of the early excesses of the Cultural Revolution, describes ingruesome detail the persecution of Loyalist intellectuals during the 166os. (It isworth mentioning here that the Prologue, while setting the historical scenevery effectively, is written in a very different style from the rest of the book.Readers impatient for a taste of kungfu low life will have to wait until the firstchapter.) On the Dragon Throne at the opening of the novel is the youngManchu Emperor Kang Xi. Principal among the underground organizationsfighting Manchu rule is the newly formed Triad Secret Society. The novelweaves its way through a host of historical events, culminating (at the end ofthe third volume) in the Treaty of Nerchinsk, signed between China and Russiaintheyear168g.Holdingalltheseepisodestogetherisawonderfulcharacterof Louis Cha's invention,Trinket, an incorrigible scamp,the opportunistic, lazy,but ultimately likeable and unforgettable, son of a singsong-girl from theSouthern city of Yangzhou. As Louis Cha himself has written, 'Frankly, when IstartedwritingDeer,duringthefirstfewmonths,Ihadnoclearnotionofwhatsort of character Trinket was going to be: he just grew on me slowly, bit by bit..He has many of the common Chinese qualities and failings, but he is certainlynot meant to be a "type" of the Chinese people.'Trinket somehow manages tohave a finger in every available pie, and builds out of his multiple identities anabsorbing and extraordinary card-castle of a life. It is his personality above allthat turns the book into what the distinguished Hong Kong critic StephenSoong has called 'a roller-coaster of a novel, packed with thrills, with fun, rage,humour, and abuse, written in a style that flows and flashes like quicksilver.This English version of The Deer and the Cauldron will be in three volumes. Itwill eventually be joined in the series by others, including Book and Sword(Louis Cha's first novel, written in 1955, translated by Graham Earnshaw) andthe diree-volume Eagles and Heroes (1957-1959, translated by Sharon Lai andmyself).Through these versions, we hope to give English readers a glimpse ofthe rich Chinese cultural tapestry that is Cha's kungfu world

insists that it will remain his last Martial Arts novel. It is also his most mischievous, and in many ways his least typical work. But it is still unmistakably and authentically Cha. Perhaps that is the most important quality of all of Cha's work. It is an authentic Chinese banquet not a take-away. Through the act of storytelling, Cha reaffirms an essential Chinese cultural identity. Beneath the excitement and humour of his stories lies a whole world. As a Mainland critic put it, 'Louis Cha's wit and humour are based on the inner realm of Buddhist and Taoist philosophy. Behind the clownish, fool-like exterior lies a great subtlety and refinement.' The Deer and the Cauldron is set in the mid-seventeenth century. The Manchus have been ruling China for a little over twenty years,and are gradually (though ruthlessly) managing to put out the last residual sparks of the Chinese Resistance, in the South and the South-West. The Prologue, which was written during the height of the early excesses of the Cultural Revolution, describes in gruesome detail the persecution of Loyalist intellectuals during the 1660s. (It is worth mentioning here that the Prologue, while setting the historical scene very effectively, is written in a very different style from the rest of the book. Readers impatient for a taste of kungfu low life will have to wait until the first chapter.) On the Dragon Throne at the opening of the novel is the young Manchu Emperor Kang Xi. Principal among the underground organizations fighting Manchu rule is the newly formed Triad Secret Society. The novel weaves its way through a host of historical events, culminating (at the end of the third volume) in the Treaty of Nerchinsk, signed between China and Russia in the year 1689. Holding all these episodes together is a wonderful character of Louis Cha's invention, Trinket, an incorrigible scamp, the opportunistic, lazy, but ultimately likeable and unforgettable, son of a singsong-girl from the Southern city of Yangzhou. As Louis Cha himself has written, 'Frankly, when I started writing Deer, during the first few months, I had no clear notion of what sort of character Trinket was going to be: he just grew on me slowly, bit by bit. He has many of the common Chinese qualities and failings, but he is certainly not meant to be a "type" of the Chinese people.' Trinket somehow manages to have a finger in every available pie, and builds out of his multiple identities an absorbing and extraordinary card-castle of a life. It is his personality above all that turns the book into what the distinguished Hong Kong critic Stephen Soong has called 'a roller-coaster of a novel, packed with thrills, with fun, rage, humour, and abuse, written in a style that flows and flashes like quicksilver.' This English version of The Deer and the Cauldron will be in three volumes. It will eventually be joined in the series by others, including Book and Sword (Louis Cha's first novel, written in 1955, translated by Graham Earnshaw) and the diree-volume Eagles and Heroes (1957-1959, translated by Sharon Lai and myself). Through these versions, we hope to give English readers a glimpse of the rich Chinese cultural tapestry that is Cha's kungfu world