摘 要

“三美原则”这一翻译理论是由我国著名翻译家许渊冲先生在其大量的诗歌翻译实践中提出来的，被视为诗歌翻译的理论原则。本文旨在采用许渊冲先生的“三美原则”来分析我国著名散文《荷塘月色》朱纯深教授的英译本，试图说明用来指导诗歌翻译的“三美原则”也可以适用于散文翻译，进而对散文翻译的理论和实践提供一些有益启示。

关键词：三美原则；《荷塘月色》；许渊冲

Contents

1. Introduction ………………………………………………………………… 1

2. Demonstration ……………………………………………………………… 2

2.1 An overview of Three-beauty Principle …………………………………… 2

2.1.1 Origin and development …………………………………………………. 2

2.1.2 Main contents and the relation of Three-beauty Principle ……………… 3

2.2 An overview of “He Tang Yue Se” ………………………………………... 5

2.2.1 The author of “He Tang Yue Se”: —Zhu Ziqing ………………………... 5

2.2.2 Background and features of “He Tang Yue Se” …………………………. 5

2.3 Three-beauty Principle in the translation of “He Tang Yue Se” …………... 6

2.3.1 The beauty in sound …………………………………………………...... 6

2.3.2 The beauty in form ……………………………………………………… 8

2.3.3 The beauty in sense ……………………………………………………... 10

3. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………. 12

Works cited …………………………………………………………………… 14

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………. 15

On the Translation of “He Tang Yue Se” from the Perspective of Three-beauty Principle

1. Introduction

“He Tang Yue Se”, written by Zhu Ziqing in the 1920s, is regarded as one of the most classic essays written in plain words in modern Chinese literature. Because of its aesthetic beauty, this essay has attracted a large number of readers and translators. However, no matter how wonderful and outstanding one literary work is, it cannot be appreciated by foreigners without the support of translation. Fortunately, in the past decades, due to the ceaseless efforts of a host of translators, the English translation of Chinese classic literature has achieved significant accomplishments. However, there also exist some obstacles in the English translation of Chinese prose, of which the most significant one is that it is rather difficult to maintain the original beauty and flavor in the target language, because “The prose itself covers almost everything written that is not verse, and prose style is therefore an abstract conception of almost limitless variety” (Sutherland, 1957). Catford (1965) argues that linguistic untranslatability is due to the difference in the source language (SL) and the target language (TL). Besides, we also lack relevant translation theories to guide the translation practice.

Three-beauty Principle was proposed by Chinese translator Xu Yuanchong during his long-term translation practice, which is regarded as the translation criteria for Chinese classical poetry. It mainly consists of three aspects, namely beauty in sound, beauty in form and beauty in sense. With this guiding principle, he produced the English version of Songs of the Immortals published by Penguin Group in 1994, one of the most renowned publishing companies in the world, which in turn proves the feasibility of guiding the English translation of Chinese classical poetry by using the Three-beauty Principle.

Prose is a genre most close to poetry; they are not incompatible like fire and water. As a matter of fact, they are closely connected with each other. They share some common characteristics. Chinese classic prose, just like Chinese classic poetry, is featured by concise expression, elegant language and tremendous literary grace. Besides, both of them can make people intoxicated in their profound artistic conception. Therefore, Three-beauty Principle may provide us with a new window on the explanation of translation.