2022翻译硕士(MTI)考研复习:英译中国现代散文选(四十九)
Fond Memories of Peiping
Lao She
I have no misgivings about writing a novel with Peiping as its background because I can choose to write about what I am most familiar with while shying away from what is less known to me. But I shall be at a complete loss if I should be called upon to write exclusively about Peiping. Peiping is so big and multifaceted that very little of it, I believe, is known to me though I was born and brought up there and never went away until I was 27. Just fancy that I have neglected to visit even Tao Tan Ting, a local scenic attraction! It follows that, in contrast with Peiping in its entirety, what little I know about it is probably a mere drop in the ocean.
I do cherish, however, a genuine love for Peiping–a love that is almost as inexpressible as my love for mother. I smile by myself when I think of something I can do to please mother I feel like crying when I worry about mother’s health. Words fail me where silent smiles and tears well express my innermost feelings. The same is true of my love for Peiping. I shall fail to do justice to this vast ancient city if I should do no more than extol just one certain aspect of it. The Peiping I love is not something in bits and pieces, but a phase of history and a vast tract of land completely bound up with my heart. Numerous scenic spots and historical sites from Shi Sha Hai Lake with its dragonflies after a rain to the Yu Quan Shan Mountain with the dream pagoda on top–all merge into a single whole. I associate myself with everything in Peiping no matter how trivial it is Peiping is always in my mind. I can’t tell why.
If only I were a poet so that, with all the sweet and beautiful words at my command, I would sing of the grandeur of Peiping in as longing a note as that of a cuckoo! Alas, I am no poet! I shall never be able to express my love–the kind of love as inspired by music or painting. That is quite a letdown to both Peiping and myself, for it is to this ancient city that I owe what I have within me, including my early knowledge and impressions as well as much of my character and temperament. With Peiping possessing my heart, I can never become attached to either Shanghai or Tianjin. I can’t tell why.
London, Paris, Rome and Constantinople are known as the four major “historic capitals” of Europe. I know something about London I have been to Paris and Rome only briefly I have never visited Constantinople at all. Of all these cities, Paris has the closest affinity with Peiping (The word “affinity” may perhaps sound a bit farfetched). Nevertheless, if should make my home in Paris, I would feel very lonely as if I had no home at all. As far as I know, Paris is too much of a bustling town. It does have quiet open spaces, but they smack of mere expanses of vacancy. Peiping is complicated and yet tangible. I can feel it by touch. I can feel the red wild jujubes growing on its ancient city wall! I can spend a whole day enjoying myself sitting on a rock to observe tiny tadpoles in the water or tender dragonflies on reeds while facing me lies Ji Shui Tan Pond and right behind me rises the high city wall. I can thus enjoy a perfect inner clam, free from any desire or fear, like a child sleeping peacefully in the cradle. There are also bustling places in Peiping, to be sure, but like the traditional Chinese shadow boxing Tai Ji Quan, the city retains its stillness in the midst of motion. While Parisians have to turn to coffee or wine for the relief of boredom caused by so many wearisome places in their city, the mild beverage of jasmine tea will be more than adequate for dwellers of Peiping.
欢迎关注(中公教育考研频道)
及时掌握考研信息
回复“2021”领取备考大礼包
声明:本站点发布的来源标注为“中公教育”的文章,版权均属中公教育所有,未经允许不得转载。
如果对你有帮助的话,就点个赞吧!





