On the Translation of the Antitheses in Outlaws
On the Translation of the Antitheses in Outlaws Abstract: Outlaws of the Marsh is one of four major masterpieces of Chinese classical literature. When creating the artistic images and describing their typical personality, the author uses the antithesis sentence in a large amount. This makes it rather difficult to translate Outlaws of the Marsh into English. When translating antithesis, the author adopts the literal translation and free translation in accordance with different culture and expression between Chinese and English. He expresses the Chinese original meaning of antithesis faithfully and accurately.
Keywords: antithesis sentences；literal translation；free translation
Outlaws of the Marsh written by Shi Nai’an and Luo Guanzhong,.is best known as one of the four major masterpieces of Chinese classical literature which has come down through the ages and its English translation by Sidney Shapiro. Thus it is absolutely not an easy task to translate such an outstanding novel into English. After all, there exist tremendous differences between the syntax of English and that of Chinese. Since many antithetic expressions are found in the source text, this paper mainly comments on its translation of antitheses. When translating these antitheses, the author of English translation Sidney Shapiro adopts mainly two methods of translating: literal translation and free translation.
Literal translation is to translate according to both the sense and the way the language is phrased. By the effects of translation, three categories can be found in the literal translation of antithetic sentences in Outlaws of the Marsh.
The first category is the translation with both the sentence structure and word meaning in accord with those of source text. In this category, the translated antithetic sentences not only keep the original form but also accurately convey the idea of the Chinese sentences. In Chapter twenty, ―水来土掩，兵到将迎‖（施耐庵263）is translated as ―Earth can stop the flow of water, general can cope with enemy troops‖(Shpiro,399), in which the English verbs ―stop‖ and ―cope with‖ are in accord with the Chinese verbs 掩and 迎，and also, the two clauses are parallel just as the Chinese form. A similar example is ―Distant friends grow ever distant, friends at hand grow closer stil l ‖ (Shapiro,22) for ―日远日疏，日亲日近‖（施耐庵19）。To keep the original taste, the word ―distant‖ is repeatedly used just as ―日‖is in Chinese sentence. Still another two examples are:―When enemies meet, their eyes blaze‖ (Shapiro,59) for―仇人相见，分外眼明‖（施耐庵41）；and ―In a shiny new hat, tonight you’ll be a bridegroom. In a well –fitting clothes, tonight you’ll be a son-in -law‖.( Shapiro,112) for―帽儿光光，今夜做个新郞。衣衫窄窄，今夜做个娇客‖。（施耐庵79）Actually, it is rather difficult to keep the exact alike structure when literally