Dịch điển tích truyện kiều trong ba bản dịch của vladislav zhukov michael counsell và huỳnh sanh thông

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION GRADUATION PAPER TRANSLATION OF ALLUSIONS IN THREE ENGLISH VERSIONS OF TRUYỆN KIỀU BY VLADISLAV ZHUKOV, MICHAEL COUNSELL AND HUỲNH SANH THÔNG Supervisor : Vương Thị Thanh Nhàn Student : Vương Minh Thu Course : QH2011.F1.E20 Hanoi, 2015 ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA HÀ NỘI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP DỊCH ĐIỂN TÍCH TRUYỆN KIỀU TRONG BA BẢN DỊCH CỦA VLADISLAV ZHUKOV, MICHAEL COUNSELL VÀ HUỲNH SANH THÔNG Giáo viên hướng dẫn : Vương Thị Thanh Nhàn Họ tên sinh viên : Vương Minh Thu Khóa : QH2011.F1.E20 HÀ NỘI, 2015 I hereby state that I: Vương Minh Thu, QH2011.F1.E20, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (TEFL) accept the requirements of the College relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper Signature ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I owe the success of this research to the following people without whom this research could not have been finished Firstly, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Vương Thị Thanh Nhàn for her invaluable help, insightful guidance and supportive encouragement throughout the study and beyond I also take this chance to express my special thanks to Ms Nguyễn Thị Cẩm Linh for her great help with important materials My completion of this study would not have been satisfactory without her support Lastly, my most heartfelt thanks would go to my parents who are always my source of strength and motivation throughout the time ABSTRACT Translating allusions is a great challenge in poem translation, especially in a classic work as Truyện Kiều So far, there have been a large number of studies on Truyện Kiều’s translations but those on the translation of allusions in this work are quite limited With three English versions of Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông, this research was conducted to shed light on the strategies to translate allusions, as well as to compare the level of faithfulness, clarity and naturalness of the translation in these versions Document analysis and interviews were adopted as instruments to collect data The final outcomes indicate the prominent use of adaptive replication and replacement as the major strategies to translate, respectively, proper-name allusions and key-phrase allusions The result from both fixedresponse interviews and open-ended interviews reveals noticeable differences among the translations in three chosen versions These differences are reasoned out as the diverse in translators’ aims and approaches Sacrificing a certain degree of faithfulness, Counsell’s translation is the clearest and the most natural translation with rhymes and the omission of many allusions Zhukov’s translation is considered beautiful and artistic but not clear and difficult to understand The translation which equally satisfies all criteria is Huỳnh’s Recommendations for further studies are provided CONTENT Page Acknowledgement i Abstract ii List of figures, tables, and abbreviations v Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Statement of the problem and the rationale for the study 1.2 Aims of the study and research questions 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Organization of the study Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Translation overview 2.1.1 Poetry translation 2.1.2 The criteria for Translation Quality Assessment 2.2 Allusion 2.2.1 Definitions 2.2.2 Classifications of allusion 2.3 11 Translation of allusions 2.3.1 Retentive strategies 11 2.3.2 Modifying strategies 12 2.4 13 Allusions in Truyện Kiều Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1 Sampling 14 3.1.1 Selection of three translated versions 14 3.1.2 Selection of the allusions 15 3.2 16 Data collection methods and procedures 3.2.1 Document analysis 16 3.2.2 Interviews 16 3.3 18 Data analysis method and procedures Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion 4.1 The strategies were used to translate allusions into English in 19 Zhukov’s, Counsell’s and Huỳnh’s translation of Truyện Kiều 4.2 The faithfulness to the original, the clarity and the naturalness 29 of the translation of ten key-phrase allusions selected Chapter 5: Conclusion 5.1 Summary of findings 5.1.1 The strategies used in translating allusions 35 35 5.1.2 The level of faithfulness, clarity and naturalness in versions by 36 Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông 5.2 Limitations of the study 36 5.3 Recommendations for further studies 37 References Appendices LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS KP Key-phrase PN Proper-name ST Source text TT Target text LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2.1 The category of allusions (Leppihalme, 1997) 10 Table 4.1 The strategies used to translate proper-name allusions 19 Table 4.2 The strategies used to translate key-phrase allusions 23 Figure 4.1 The strategies used to translate proper-name allusions 20 in Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông Figure 4.2 The strategies used to translate key-phrase allusions in 23 Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông Figure 4.3 The proportion in the usage of metaphor and non- 24 allusive phrase as a replacement in translating keyphrase allusions by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông The faithfulness, clarity and naturalness of ten translated 29 allusions in Zhukov’s, Counsell’s and Huỳnh’s translation Figure 4.4 Figure 4.5 The faithfulness, clarity and naturalness of ten translated 33 allusions in Zhukov’s, Counsell’s and Huỳnh’s translation CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This initial chapter states the problem and the rationale of the study, together with the aims, objectives and the scope of the whole paper Above all, it is in this chapter that the research questions are indentified to work as clear guidelines for the whole research 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study Since its birth in the end of 18th century, Truyện Kiều has been likened to a gem of Vietnamese literature, become its best representative and “the most widely revered and constantly quoted work in the whole of Vietnam’s classic literature” (Henry, 2008, p 240) So far, Truyện Kiều has been translated into more than 20 languages with a series of versions in each one (International workshop on Nguyen Du, 2014) For instance, there have been at least fifteen French versions of Truyện Kiều with the first translation dated back to 1884 In English, since 1963, there have been about ten versions of Truyện Kiều by a number of translators, namely Lê Xuân Thủy, Huỳnh Sanh Thông, Michael Counsell, Vladislav Zhukov, Charles Beroit and so on (Hoàng, 2008) These translations are large in quantity and diverse in quality, creating an abundant source of materials for translators and linguistic researchers Accordingly, the number of studies on Truyện Kiều’s translations are also enormous and their findings are remarkable Nguyễn and Phan (2014) affirm that “unit – shifts is the most used procedure and intra- system –shifts is the least used procedure in both English versions by Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông”; meanwhile, in the study on expressions of the villains in Truyện Kiều and their equivalence in three translations by Lê Xuân Thủy, Lê Cao Phan and Huỳnh Sanh Thông, Võ (2012) pointed out that literal translation is most employed to address cultural factors such as Sino-Vietnamese, dialectal words, idioms and proverbs It can be seen that these studies consider not only the lexicon but also the syntax involved in the translations International workshop on Nguyen Du - Truyen Kieu opens in RoK (2014, Oct 28) The People Retrieved November 25, 2014 from http://en.nhandan.org.vn/culture/item/2898202-international-workshop-onnguyen-du-truyen-kieu-opens-in-rok.html Roukonen, M (2010) Cultural and textual properties in the translation and interpretation of allusion (Doctoral dissertation, University of Turku, Finland, 2010) Retrieved from https://www.doria.fi/bitstream/handle/ /AnnalesB330Ruokonen.pdf? Võ, T B L (2012) A study of some linguistic features of expressions describing the villains in Kiều story and their English translation equivalents (Master thesis, University of Danang, Vietnam, 2012) Retrieved from www.udn.vn/ /Luan%20van%20Thac%20sy%20201 APPENDICES Appendix List of allusions and their translations Appendix Questions for the interview of faithfulness Appendix Questions for the interview of clarity Appendix Questions for the interview of naturalness Appendix 2: Questions for the interview of faithfulness This interview is conducted to collect the data for the study Translation of allusions in three English versions of Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông Your help by answering the below question is confidential and used for the study only Thank you very much! The context of the line extracted: – The introduction about Kiều’s beauty , – Kiều with her younger brother and sister come across a neglected grave which her brother says it is Đạm Tiên’s Then, he talks briefly about her life – This is what Kiều said after she knows Đạm Tiên’s unlucky fate – After visiting the grave, Kiều meets Kim Trọng This is what she thinks when seeing him from distance – What Kim Trọng says when he finally meets Kiều – Kiều comes back home and Đạm Tiên shows herself in Kiều’s dream to tell her about her fate – What Kiều says to Kim Trọng when they have a date – Kiều’s father unfortunately is victim of a injustice She has to sell herself to get a sum of money, bribe the officer and save her father 10 – Kiều’s father cried with grief when learned about Kiều’s decision Please read translations and put a tick to the translation that, in your opinion, has the most accurate denotative meaning compared to the source text (ST) 1- ST: Một hai nghiêng nước nghiêng thành Sắc đành đòi tài đành họa hai “nghiêng nước nghiêng thành”: Lấy điển từ câu hát Lý Diên Niên đời Hán Vũ Đế (năm 140 – 87 TCN) chàng tả vẻ đẹp em gái cho vua nghe: “Bắc phương hữu giai nhân, tuyệt nhi độc lập Nhất cố khuynh nhân thành, tái cố khuynh nhân quốc” nghĩa là: Phương Bắc có người đẹp, tuyệt trần đứng riêng Nhìn làm nghiêng thành, nhìn hai làm nghiêng nước người Translations: A Her limber pass a throne or citadel undo! Beyond those charms she matchless talents teeming-drew from wits possessed B One glance of Kieu’s could stir cities or empires to revolt! Her beauty had no fault, nor in her mind was any flaw C A glance or two from her, and kingdoms rocked! Supreme in looks, she had few peers in gifts 2- ST: Thuyền tình vừa ghé tới nơi Thì đà trâm gãy bình rơi “trâm gãy bình rơi”: người đẹp chết sớm việc thành mà nửa chừng bị tan vỡ Translation: A But as the suitor from his bark her strand first sights E’en then the pin hath snapped, the vase in sharded mites bestars the floor B A stranger came to town by boat, soon after she had died to seek her for his bride, for he had heard the singer’s fame in far lands whence he came, and not until he came to look was he informed the hook had broken and the vase crashed down C But when the lover's boat sailed into port, he found the pin had snapped, the vase had crashed.* (*) “the hairpin [had] broken, the [flower] vase [had] fallen” This double metaphors of Chinese origin describes the death of a beautiful woman or of one’s wife or ladylove 3- ST: Trải bao thỏ lặn ác tà Ấy mồ vô chủ mà viếng thăm “thỏ lặn ác tà”: Thỏ: thỏ, mặt trăng Tục truyền cung trăng có thỏ giã thuốc, nên văn cổ dùng chữ thỏ ngọc để mặt trăng Ác: quạ, mặt trời Tục truyền mặt trời có quạ ba chân nên gọi mặt trời kim ô, tức quạ vàng Translation: A The lunar hare hath sought its cove since that gale’s gust, The sun’s crow plunged – how oft? None notes the grave nor musters due lament B None heeds it now, since many moons ago C For many moons,* who's come to tend a grave that no one claims? (*) “Going through so many [time when] the hare dives [and] the crow dips” According to Chinese mythology, there is a jade hare on the moon and a golden crow on the sun 4- ST: Gọi gặp gỡ đường Họa người suối vàng biết cho “suối vàng”: âm phủ Điển tích từ sách Tả truyện: Vua Trịnh Trang Cơng giận việc mẹ muốn giết để lập em lên thay nên bắt mẹ riêng nơi mà thề với mẹ rằng: “Bất cập hồng tuyền, vơ tương kiến dã”, nghĩa chưa đến suối vàng khơng gặp Translation: A It may be that those’ neath the Yellow Springs anointed lie can know B Since no one else will pay respect and pity, I will light some incense sticks tonight; and from another world, maybe poor Dam-Tien, you will see.” C I'll mark our chance encounter on the road— perhaps, down by the Yellow Springs*, she'll know." (*) the nether world, also known as Nine Springs 5- ST: Hài văn lần bước dặm xanh Một vùng thể quỳnh cành dao “cây quỳnh cành dao”: dùng để miêu tả hình ảnh người đàn ơng đẹp, tuấn tú, xuất phát từ điển Vương Diễn Vương Diễn quỳnh lâm ngọc thụ (Vương Diễn đẹp ngọc dao rừng ngọc quỳnh) Translation: A And as his splendent slippers tread the mediate lawn, The scene is silk-roll parklands when a ruby dawn adorns each shoot B he seemed, wearing a pair of rich embroidered shoes, to pass across the springy grass towards them like a man of jade C He spied them from afar, at once alit and walked toward them to pay them his respects His figured slippers trod the green—the field now sparkled like some jade-and-ruby grove 6- ST: May thay giải cấu tương phùng Gặp tuần đố thỏa lịng tìm hoa “đố lá”: trị chơi lấy loại cây, thi kiếm lạ Ai có nhiều lạ mà người khác khơng có thắng Đó trị chơi phổ biến nước ta thời trước Ở Trung Quốc trước có trị chơi tương tự Có thuyết cho chữ “thái hoa đấu thảo” việc người ta chơi đồng đua tim tìm hoa Lại có thuyết cho trị “Diệp lý” đời Đường, ngày xuân trai gái hái lộc bẻ cành đố xem số chẵn hay lẻ để đoán vận rủi may Translation: A And now to meet like this, in settings unforethought, In times of daylong gay leaf-hunts and posies wrought and lover-caps weaved! B So now his heart rejoiced to meet amid his wandering the dreamt of flower of spring C How lucky, in this season of new leaves,* to roam about and find his yearned-for flowers! (*) The period [when people] challenge [one another] to guess leaves This refers to the game of breaking off a branch at random and guessing whether the number of leaves on it was even or odd as an omen of good or bad luck 7- ST: Sương in mặt, tuyết pha thân Sen vàng lãng đãng gần xa “sen vàng”: gót chân, bước chân người đẹp Theo Nam sử, Đơng Đơn Hầu có người vợ yêu Phân Phi Hầu cho người đúc thành hoa sen mà lát xuống nhà bảo Phan Phi lên Hầu bảo: Bộ sinh liên hoa giã, tức bước nở hoa sen Translation: A With dew-washed face, snow-maiden’s form and, part-displayed, Such feet as kindle myth, each step a lotus laid! B As pure as dew her face; her body seemed to Kieu as though fresh kneaded from the snow Her feet like lotus flowers of gold were hazy to behold as though at once both far and near C face washed with dewdrops, body clad in snow, and hovering feet, two golden lotus blooms.* (*) a beautiful woman’s bound feet, according to the feminine aesthetics of old China 8- ST: Đã cho vào bậc bố kinh Đạo tòng phu lấy chữ trinh làm đầu “bố kinh”: nói tắt chữ “bố quần kinh thoa”, nghĩa quần vải thường, thoa gài tóc cành gai kinh Điển tích từ chuyện nàng Mạnh Quang gái vị tướng quốc, lấy ẩn sĩ Lương Hồng Lúc nhà chồng, nàng bỏ lại hết quần áo gấm vóc đồ trang sức vàng ngọc, mặc quần vải, gài thoa gai, theo chồng ẩn vui cảnh nghèo Người sau dùng chữ bố kinh để nói người vợ hiền Translation: A But now, before I don the badge of hemp and thorn A Wife’s tao-seal – florescent chastity’s adornment should be mine B Yet that, when they’ve interred my husband’s parents, I may dare the mourning clothes to wear, I must stay pure till I am wed C But you've named me your bride—to serve her man,* she must place chastity above all else (*) to perform her duty of submission to her husband, prescribed for her by Confucian ethics 9- ST: Hạt mưa sá nghĩ phận hèn Liều đem tấc cỏ đền ba xuân “Liều đem tấc cỏ đền ba xuân”: tấc cỏ ví người con, ba xuân ví cha mẹ Thơ Mạnh Giao đời Đường có câu: Thùy ngơn thốn thảo tâm bán đắc tam xuân huy, nghĩa là: “Ai bảo tấc lịng cỏ báo khí sáng ba tháng xn?” (Có khí sáng đẹp ba tháng xn cỏ lên được, ví có cơng sinh dưỡng cha mẹ nên người được) Translation: A Should raindrops transience grieve? Their doom the grass begets Or then grass mourn its three-month’s growth, that barely lets bow thanks to spring? B I owe my being to my father, as the grass to spring C A raindrop does not brood on its poor fate;1 a leaf of grass repays three months of spring.2 this idea echoes from a folk poem, which vividly depicts the uncertain, precarious fate of women in a world dominated by men This comes from two lines in “A Wanderer’s Song” by Meng Chiao (751 – 814) 10- ST: Nuôi ước sau Trao tơ phải lứa, gieo cầu đáng nơi “gieo cầu”: lấy điển tích từ sách Tam Hợp Bảo Kiếm: vua Hán Vũ Đế muốn kén phò mã, cho công chúa ngồi lầu, ném cầu gấm thêu xuống lũ trai vua kén, lại dưới, trúng người làm phò mã Translation: A ‘I raised a daughter, garland to my seasons’march,’ He moaned, ‘A gentle girl, who would from her high arch and a bauble throw Upon a swain someday … and now this horrid blow,… B For like an arrow aimed at the best target I would pray that you would wed one day a fine upstanding good young man C Looking at her, he bled and died within: "You raise a daughter wishing she might find a fitting match, might wed a worthy mate Follow-up questions: – What you think about the denotative meaning conveyed in the translations of group A, B and C? – What you think about the connotative meaning of the translations in group A, B and C? – What is your opinion on the role of the explanations to the faithfulness of the translations in group C? Thank you very much for your kind cooperation! Appendix 3: Questions for the interview of clarity General introduction and the aim of the interview Truyện Kiều is one of the most famous classics in Vietnamese literature The story is about the ups and downs in Kiều’s life – a beautiful and talented but ill-fated girl Written at the end of the 18th century, it includes 1627 couplets of lục bát (six-eight) and hundreds of allusions (an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text) There have been seven Truyện Kiều’s translations into English This research aims to study the way allusions are translated in the three translations by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông This interview is conducted to obtain the opinions of native speakers on the clarity of the translated allusions, from which the researcher could draw some conclusions about the quality of the translated allusions The context of the line extracted: – The introduction about Kiều’s beauty , – Kiều with her younger brother and sister come across a neglected grave which her brother says is Đạm Tiên’s Then, he talks briefly about her life – This is what Kiều said after she knows Đạm Tiên’s unlucky fate – After visiting the grave, Kiều meets Kim Trọng This is what she thinks when seeing him from distance – What Kim Trọng says when he finally meets Kiều – Kiều comes back home and Đạm Tiên shows herself in Kiều’s dream to tell her about her fate – What Kiều says to Kim Trọng when they have a date – Kiều’s father unfortunately fall victim to a injustice She has to sell herself to get a sum of money, bribe the officer and save her father 10 – Kiều’s father cried with grief when he learned about Kiều’s decision Please read translations and put C to the translation that is the clearest and easiest to understand to you 1- ST: Một hai nghiêng nước nghiêng thành Sắc đành đòi tài đành họa hai Meaning: She is an absolute exquisite woman whose the first glance makes the citadel collapse and the second one destroys the country Regarding the beauty, she is beyond compare Regarding talent, there is hardly anyone who is as talented as her Translations: A Her limber pass a throne or citadel undo! Beyond those charms she matchless talents teeming-drew from wits possessed B One glance of Kieu’s could stir cities or empires to revolt! Her beauty had no fault, nor in her mind was any flaw C A glance or two from her, and kingdoms rocked! Supreme in looks, she had few peers in gifts 2- ST: Thuyền tình vừa ghé tới nơi Thì đà trâm gãy bình rơi Meaning: When the man of great love comes, she [Đạm Tiên] had died (The hairpin was snapped, the emerald vase was broken.) Translation: A But as the suitor from his bark her strand first sights E’en then the pin hath snapped, the vase in sharded mites bestars the floor B A stranger came to town by boat, soon after she had died to seek her for his bride, for he had heard the singer’s fame in far lands whence he came, and not until he came to look was he informed the hook had broken and the vase crashed down C But when the lover's boat sailed into port, he found the pin had snapped, the vase had crashed.* (*) “the hairpin [had] broken, the [flower] vase [had] fallen” This double metaphors of Chinese origin describes the death of a beautiful woman or of one’s wife or ladylove 3- ST: Trải bao thỏ lặn ác tà Ấy mồ vô chủ mà viếng thăm Meaning: Since then [the day she died], days and nights have gone by, the grave suffered from heat on hot days and cold at nights, no one visited it Translation: A The lunar hare hath sought its cove since that gale’s gust, The sun’s crow plunged – how oft? None notes the grave nor musters due lament B None heeds it now, since many moons ago C For many moons,* who's come to tend a grave that no one claims? (*) “Going through so many [time when] the hare dives [and] the crow dips” According to Chinese mythology, there is a jade hare on the moon and a golden crow on the sun 4- ST: Gọi gặp gỡ đường Họa người suối vàng biết cho Meaning: I just want to express my appreciation for this accidental meet There (the world of the dead), she [Đạm Tiên] may know Translation: A It may be that those’ neath the Yellow Springs anointed lie can know B Since no one else will pay respect and pity, I will light some incense sticks tonight; and from another world, maybe poor Dam-Tien, you will see.” C I'll mark our chance encounter on the road— perhaps, down by the Yellow Springs*, she'll know." (*) the nether world, also known as Nine Springs 5- ST: Hài văn lần bước dặm xanh Một vùng thể quỳnh cành dao Meaning: The man walked slowly on the grass with his embroidered shoes He made the place he walked through as beautiful as the forest of ruby and jade Translation: A And as his splendent slippers tread the mediate lawn, The scene is silk-roll parklands when a ruby dawn adorns each shoot B he seemed, wearing a pair of rich embroidered shoes, to pass across the springy grass towards them like a man of jade C He spied them from afar, at once alit and walked toward them to pay them his respects His figured slippers trod the green—the field now sparkled like some jade-and-ruby grove 6- ST: May thay giải cấu tương phùng Gặp tuần đố thỏa lịng tìm hoa Meaning: Luckily, I met you accidentally, in this leaf-hunt game, which satisfied my desire to meet you Translation: A And now to meet like this, in settings unforethought, In times of daylong gay leaf-hunts and posies wrought and lover-caps weaved! B So now his heart rejoiced to meet amid his wandering the dreamt of flower of spring C How lucky, in this season of new leaves,* to roam about and find his yearned-for flowers! (*) The period [when people] challenge [one another] to guess leaves This refers to the game of breaking off a branch at random and guessing whether the number of leaves on it was even or odd as an omen of good or bad luck 7- ST: Sương in mặt, tuyết pha thân Sen vàng lãng đãng gần xa Meaning: Her face [Đạm Tiên’s] has the shade of frog, her skin has the color of snow Her ethereal footprints are like lotus, looming in the distance Translation: A With dew-washed face, snow-maiden’s form and, part-displayed, Such feet as kindle myth, each step a lotus laid! B As pure as dew her face; her body seemed to Kieu as though fresh kneaded from the snow Her feet like lotus flowers of gold were hazy to behold as though at once both far and near C face washed with dewdrops, body clad in snow, and hovering feet, two golden lotus blooms.* (*) a beautiful woman’s bound feet, according to the feminine aesthetics of old China 8- ST: Đã cho vào bậc bố kinh Đạo tòng phu lấy chữ trinh làm đầu Meaning: If you [Kim Trọng] want me [Kiều] to be your good wife, my very first duty is keep my virginity until the day we wed Translation: A But now, before I don the badge of hemp and thorn A Wife’s tao-seal – florescent chastity’s adornment should be mine B Yet that, when they’ve interred my husband’s parents, I may dare the mourning clothes to wear, I must stay pure till I am wed C But you've named me your bride—to serve her man,* she must place chastity above all else (*) to perform her duty of submission to her husband, prescribed for her by Confucian ethics 9- ST: Hạt mưa sá nghĩ phận hèn Liều đem tấc cỏ đền ba xuân Meaning: I [Kiều] understand that the fate of a girl is just as humble as a drop of rain, then I no longer care much to myself I recklessly sell myself to save father, which is like the grass takes its heart to make lamp-wick to save the vernal sunlight that rears it Translation: A Should raindrops transience grieve? Their doom the grass begets Or then grass mourn its three-month’s growth, that barely lets bow thanks to spring? B I owe my being to my father, as the grass to spring C A raindrop does not brood on its poor fate;*1 a leaf of grass repays three months of spring.*2 (*) this idea echoes from a folk poem, which vividly depicts the uncertain, precarious fate of women in a world dominated by men (*)2 This comes from two lines in “A Wanderer’s Song” by Meng Chiao (751 – 814) 10- ST: Nuôi ước sau Trao tơ phải lứa, gieo cầu đáng nơi Meaning: He [Kiều’s father] cried: “I have bring you up with the great hope that I could find a good husband for you, let you be a daughter-in-law in a good family.” Translation: A ‘I raised a daughter, garland to my seasons’march,’ He moaned, ‘A gentle girl, who would from her high arch and a bauble throw Upon a swain someday … and now this horrid blow,… B For like an arrow aimed at the best target I would pray that you would wed one day a fine upstanding good young man C Looking at her, he bled and died within: "You raise a daughter wishing she might find a fitting match, might wed a worthy mate.” Follow-up questions: - How you feel when you read the translations aloud? What you think about the clarity of the translations in each group A, B and C? Which group of translations you find easiest to understand? Thank you very much for your kind participation! Appendix 4: Questions for the interview of naturalness General introduction and the aim of the interview Truyện Kiều is one of the most famous classics in Vietnamese literature The story is about the ups and downs in Kiều’s life – a beautiful and talented but ill-fated girl Written at the end of the 18th century, it includes 1627 couplets of lục bát (six-eight) and hundreds of allusions (an implied or indirect reference to a person, event, or thing or to a part of another text) There have been seven Truyện Kiều’s translations into English This research aims to study the way allusions are translated in the three translations by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông This interview is conducted to obtain the opinions of native speakers on the clarity of the translated allusions, from which the researcher could draw some conclusions about the quality of the translated allusions The context of the line extracted: – The introduction about Kiều’s beauty , – Kiều with her younger brother and sister come across a neglected grave which her brother says is Đạm Tiên’s Then, he talks briefly about her life – This is what Kiều said after she knows Đạm Tiên’s unlucky fate – After visiting the grave, Kiều meets Kim Trọng This is what she thinks when seeing him from distance – What Kim Trọng says when he finally meets Kiều – Kiều comes back home and Đạm Tiên shows herself in Kiều’s dream to tell her about her fate – What Kiều says to Kim Trọng when they have a date – Kiều’s father unfortunately fall victim to a injustice She has to sell herself to get a sum of money, bribe the officer and save her father 10 – Kiều’s father cried with grief when he learned about Kiều’s decision Please read translations and put N to the translation that sounds the most natural to you 1- ST: Một hai nghiêng nước nghiêng thành Sắc đành đòi tài đành họa hai Meaning: She is an absolute exquisite woman whose the first glance makes the citadel collapse and the second one destroys the country Regarding the beauty, she is beyond compare Regarding talent, there is hardly anyone who is as talented as her Translations: A Her limber pass a throne or citadel undo! Beyond those charms she matchless talents teeming-drew from wits possessed B One glance of Kieu’s could stir cities or empires to revolt! Her beauty had no fault, nor in her mind was any flaw C A glance or two from her, and kingdoms rocked! Supreme in looks, she had few peers in gifts 2- ST: Thuyền tình vừa ghé tới nơi Thì đà trâm gãy bình rơi Meaning: When the man of great love comes, she [Đạm Tiên] had died (The hairpin was snapped, the emerald vase was broken.) Translation: A But as the suitor from his bark her strand first sights E’en then the pin hath snapped, the vase in sharded mites bestars the floor B A stranger came to town by boat, soon after she had died to seek her for his bride, for he had heard the singer’s fame in far lands whence he came, and not until he came to look was he informed the hook had broken and the vase crashed down C But when the lover's boat sailed into port, he found the pin had snapped, the vase had crashed.* (*) “the hairpin [had] broken, the [flower] vase [had] fallen” This double metaphors of Chinese origin describes the death of a beautiful woman or of one’s wife or ladylove - ST: Trải bao thỏ lặn ác tà Ấy mồ vô chủ mà viếng thăm Meaning: Since then [the day she died], days and nights have gone by, the grave suffered from heat on hot days and cold at nights, no one visited it Translation: A The lunar hare hath sought its cove since that gale’s gust, The sun’s crow plunged – how oft? None notes the grave nor musters due lament B None heeds it now, since many moons ago C For many moons,* who's come to tend a grave that no one claims? (*) “Going through so many [time when] the hare dives [and] the crow dips” According to Chinese mythology, there is a jade hare on the moon and a golden crow on the sun - ST: Gọi gặp gỡ đường Họa người suối vàng biết cho Meaning: I just want to express my appreciation for this accidental meet There (the world of the dead), she [Đạm Tiên] may know Translation: A It may be that those’ neath the Yellow Springs anointed lie can know B Since no one else will pay respect and pity, I will light some incense sticks tonight; and from another world, maybe poor Dam-Tien, you will see.” C I'll mark our chance encounter on the road— perhaps, down by the Yellow Springs*, she'll know." (*) the nether world, also known as Nine Springs - ST: Hài văn lần bước dặm xanh Một vùng thể quỳnh cành dao Meaning: The man walked slowly on the grass with his embroidered shoes He made the place he walked through as beautiful as the forest of ruby and jade Translation: A And as his splendent slippers tread the mediate lawn, The scene is silk-roll parklands when a ruby dawn adorns each shoot B he seemed, wearing a pair of rich embroidered shoes, to pass across the springy grass towards them like a man of jade C He spied them from afar, at once alit and walked toward them to pay them his respects His figured slippers trod the green—the field now sparkled like some jade-and-ruby grove - ST: May thay giải cấu tương phùng Gặp tuần đố thỏa lịng tìm hoa Meaning: Luckily, I met you accidentally, in this leaf-hunt game, which satisfied my desire to meet you Translation: A And now to meet like this, in settings unforethought, In times of daylong gay leaf-hunts and posies wrought and lover-caps weaved! B So now his heart rejoiced to meet amid his wandering the dreamt of flower of spring C How lucky, in this season of new leaves,* to roam about and find his yearned-for flowers! (*) The period [when people] challenge [one another] to guess leaves This refers to the game of breaking off a branch at random and guessing whether the number of leaves on it was even or odd as an omen of good or bad luck 7- ST: Sương in mặt, tuyết pha thân Sen vàng lãng đãng gần xa Meaning: Her face [Đạm Tiên’s] has the shade of frog, her skin has the color of snow Her ethereal footprints are like lotus, looming in the distance Translation: A With dew-washed face, snow-maiden’s form and, part-displayed, Such feet as kindle myth, each step a lotus laid! B As pure as dew her face; her body seemed to Kieu as though fresh kneaded from the snow Her feet like lotus flowers of gold were hazy to behold as though at once both far and near C face washed with dewdrops, body clad in snow, and hovering feet, two golden lotus blooms.* (*) a beautiful woman’s bound feet, according to the feminine aesthetics of old China - ST: Đã cho vào bậc bố kinh Đạo tòng phu lấy chữ trinh làm đầu Meaning: If you [Kim Trọng] want me [Kiều] to be your good wife, my very first duty is keep my virginity until the day we wed Translation: A But now, before I don the badge of hemp and thorn A Wife’s tao-seal – florescent chastity’s adornment should be mine B Yet that, when they’ve interred my husband’s parents, I may dare the mourning clothes to wear, I must stay pure till I am wed C But you've named me your bride—to serve her man,* she must place chastity above all else (*) to perform her duty of submission to her husband, prescribed for her by Confucian ethics - ST: Hạt mưa sá nghĩ phận hèn Liều đem tấc cỏ đền ba xuân Meaning: I [Kiều] understand that the fate of a girl is just as humble as a drop of rain, then I no longer care much to myself I recklessly sell myself to save father, which is like the grass takes its heart to make lamp-wick to save the vernal sunlight that rears it Translation: A Should raindrops transience grieve? Their doom the grass begets Or then grass mourn its three-month’s growth, that barely lets bow thanks to spring? B I owe my being to my father, as the grass to spring C A raindrop does not brood on its poor fate;*1 a leaf of grass repays three months of spring.*2 (*) this idea echoes from a folk poem, which vividly depicts the uncertain, precarious fate of women in a world dominated by men (*)2 This comes from two lines in “A Wanderer’s Song” by Meng Chiao (751 – 814) 10- ST: Nuôi ước sau Trao tơ phải lứa, gieo cầu đáng nơi Meaning: He [Kiều’s father] cried: “I have bring you up with the great hope that I could find a good husband for you, let you be a daughter-in-law in a good family.” Translation: A ‘I raised a daughter, garland to my seasons’march,’ He moaned, ‘A gentle girl, who would from her high arch and a bauble throw Upon a swain someday … and now this horrid blow,… B For like an arrow aimed at the best target I would pray that you would wed one day a fine upstanding good young man C Looking at her, he bled and died within: "You raise a daughter wishing she might find a fitting match, might wed a worthy mate.” Follow-up questions: - How you feel when you read the translations aloud? What you think about the naturalness of the translations in each group A, B and C? Which group of translations sound most natural to you? Thank you very much for your kind participation! ... NGỮ KHOA SƯ PHẠM TIẾNG ANH KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP DỊCH ĐIỂN TÍCH TRUYỆN KIỀU TRONG BA BẢN DỊCH CỦA VLADISLAV ZHUKOV, MICHAEL COUNSELL VÀ HUỲNH SANH THÔNG Giáo viên hướng dẫn : Vương Thị Thanh Nhàn... 20 in Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông Figure 4.2 The strategies used to translate key-phrase allusions in 23 Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell. .. versions of Truyện Kiều by Vladislav Zhukov, Michael Counsell and Huỳnh Sanh Thông? ?? 1.2 Aims of the study and research questions This research aims to (1) identify strategies that Vladis Zhukov, Michael