Translator Lu Xun

Author: Wang Yougui / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Spartan Spirit excerpts a historical segment of ancient Greece's resistance against the Persians and weaves it into a story about Spartans, in 480 BC, joining their allies to fight the Persians with fewer numbers but great courage, solemnly defending their homeland and bravely resisting the Persian invasion. The novel praises the patriotic spirit of sacrifice of both Spartan men and women. This relatively short compiled work became an initial attempt after 1919 to adopt Lu Xun's translation model, where the translator, unfamiliar with the original language of the work, selected highly ideologically charged literary works through translation.
The Dust of Tears includes a "Preface" written by the translator at the beginning of the translation, which was later rewritten as "Translator's Afterword" ①. This translation is very short, describing how Huqier de Quo two days ago was elected as a member of the French Academy. That evening, he went to Madame Chilarten's house for dinner and sat with General Gauthier. The two had differing opinions on France's foreign relations. After leaving Madame Chilarten, he walked out onto the street, only to find it was a severe winter with heavy snowfall. He saw a young boy throwing snowballs at a poor woman, who screamed and ran to attack the boy, leading to a fight. When the police arrived, they only arrested the woman and ignored the boy. The wronged woman resisted, pleading that the gentleman had started the fight and that she was innocent. Yet, the police forcibly took her to the police station, where she cried and protested her innocence. Initially, Quo hesitated whether to intervene, but he eventually stepped forward to testify on her behalf. However, his initial testimony had no effect. Only after he revealed his identity and promised to sign the testimony in person did the woman seem to have a chance of being saved. At the end of the novel, the woman, filled with astonishment, repeatedly said, "How kind this gentleman is!" ②
Hugo's work aims to expose social injustice caused by wealth and poverty. P3