书里藏着两双手
毕淑敏
本书英文译者朱虹老师的手,温热而柔软。真是难以相信,这样一双看似普通的手,写过大量极有创见的英美文学评论。尤其是用准确简练又不乏幽默的笔触,将大量中国文学翻译成英文,并得到英语世界主流文学界的赞赏与认同,她的翻译还不止一次成为博士论文的课题。
朱红老师由衷热爱翻译事业,一直兢兢业业,她以英语的思维,追求神似而非形似的翻译风格,不是亦步亦趋地简单直译,而是在力求准确的同时,不失灵性和变通,严谨中饱含风趣,让读者领会更加原汁原味的英文,体会纯正的英语之美。这样一位声震海内外的翻译大家,怎么会在84 周岁的耄耋之年,翻译我的这本小书呢?
她的初心,是为了留给自己的孙女们一件精致隽远的礼物,便倾注了满腔心血来做这件事。译文反复推敲修改,精益求精,达到感人至深的地步。
她老人家原想只把此书作为自家的珍宝,亲人相传。不想此译稿被天地出版社得到,将它出版,于是更多的读者也有了珍藏它的机缘。
文字之中,也藏着我的一双手。我这双手,没什么特殊,只是指掌比较大。当年我做外科医生的时候,如果第二天有我出台做手术,护士长会特别叮嘱准备手术器械的新护士说,一般女医生的手套6 号半到7 号即可,毕医生要用7 号半的大手套。
现在上了点年纪,因长年写作,多个手指发炎变粗,估计再要去做手术,没准要用8 号
的手套了。
说完了手,说说我的心意吧。我向你保证,书中文字,都是我秉着当年执手术时的责任感,以治病救人为无尚光荣的医生之德郑重写下,力求它们传达暖意和富有力量。
感谢天地出版社编辑们的辛勤劳动。
亲爱的读者,这样流畅美好伏贴而生动幽默的英文译本,真是难得的宝贝。赶紧把它收
藏起来吧。
我和朱虹老师的手,藏在书中,等着和你打招呼呢!
Two Pairs of Hands Hidden in a Book
Bi Shumin
The hands of Zhu Hong, the translator of this volume of stories, are
soft and warm.
It is hard to imagine that this pair of hands had written articles
on English and American literature with sharp critical acumen.
More amazing is the fact that Zhu Hong had translated outstanding
works of Chinese literature into English. Her translations, precise, succinct,
sometimes with a dash of humor thrown in, have been approved of and accepted in
the Englishspeaking world of academia, while at home they have more than once
served as topics for Ph.D theses.
Zhu Hong works hard and is deeply devoted to her chosen field. True
to her ideal of translation not as a mere formation of words but as a means of
imparting the spirit of the original, Zhu Hongs works of translation have
managed to offer her readers a taste of the English language in all its beauty
and flexibility.
Now why did this famed master of translation, at the venerable age
of eighty-four, bother to translate these short stories of mine? It turned out
that Zhu Hong had planned to translate this collection of my stories as a gift
to all her granddaughters, a gift to be handed down as an heirloom within the
family. Thus she threw herself into the job of translation, sweating over every
word in pursuit of perfection. However, the project was discovered by Tiandi Press,
and thus destined to be released for a larger readership.
My own two hands are also hidden in the text of this book. There is
nothing special about my hands, except that it is larger than the usual for
women of my age. Back in those days when I was a surgeon and whenever there was
a surgery planned for the next day, the nurse in charge of surgical instruments
would always order gloves of size 7.5, explaining to her staff that size 67
was the usual for women doctors, but that Doctor Bi Shumin needed
7.5!
By now, I have added some years to my age, not to mention having
spent those years writing nonstop, and most of my fingers are swollen with
inflammation. If I am to perform surgery now, I guess I will need size 8
gloves.
Now that we have dealt with hands, let us move on to the heart.
Let me assure you, readers: every word here in the book is sprung
from my sense of responsibility as a practicing surgeon. All of them were
written down conscientiously, word by word, out of a sense of pride in being a
doctor dedicated to saving lives, and were all written in the hope that those
words, imbued with strength, would send out warmth!
Many thanks to the editorial staff of Tiandi Press for their hard
work!
Dear readers, with such smooth flowing English, faithful to the
original, bubbling with humor, such a book is a rare acquisition. Snatch it!
My hands and Zhu Hongs handsare hidden inside the book, waiting to
greet you!
自助看医生
A do-it-yourself Visit to the Doctor
谁是你的闺蜜
Best Buddies
藏獒与虎皮鹦鹉
Between the Mastiff and the Parakeet
红与黑的少女
The Girl in Red and Black
你究竟说了些什么
The Magic Word
出卖冥位的女生
The Girl who Sold Burial Plots
我忏悔,因为我的身材
Penance for my Perfect Figure
最重的咨询者
A Very Weighty Problem
失眠失恋,你究竟失去了什么
Comparisons are Odious
任何成瘾都是灾难
Addiction means Disaster
温暖的荆棘
Tender Thistles
剩女出嫁
Marrying off the left-over Women
心理测验的批发商
A Wholesale Business in Psychological Testing
适度撒谎
Discreet Lying
分泌幸福的内啡肽
Secretions of Happiness
倾听,是你的魅力
Lend me your Ear
等待你的第二颗糖
Gratification Deferred
卑微也是我们的朋友
We are Small Fry, and so What!
你为什么而活着
There is no Meaning to Life...
轰毁你心中的魔床
The Demon Bed