From the last century， Chinese people have translated a large number of excellent foreign works. Almost all important and excellent works and literatures created in Europe and America in modern times have been translated into Chinese and published and distributed in China. Not a few foreign classical works and their authors are read and well-known among generations of Chinese. However， speaking of the current situation of translating Chinese literary works into foreign languages， the writer Liu Zhenyun’s words may be applicable to describe the situation， “Chinese literature has not yet to the world， but world literature has been to China.”
　　Chinese literary works： Who is going to be the translator？
　　Though Chinese is the language that possesses the most speakers in the world， it is not the language with the highest popularity. Moreover， due to the difficulty recognized by learners and researchers in learning this language， the task of translating and introducing Chinese literary works to foreign countries is mainly undertaken by sinologists such as Anna Gustafsson Chen and Howard Goldblatt who are well-known in the world， and a very few Chinese scholars who are qualified for non-native-language literary translation such as Xu Yuanchong.
　　However， the rising of translation forces in the folk makes Chinese literati gratified. Charles Laughlin， the professor of Chinese literature in University of Virginia rightly noticed the rising of newly-born translation forces in foreign countries in recent years. These forces are generally enthusiasts of Chinese literature and the graduates of universities or research institutes of English-speaking countries in recent years. Many of them are talented in English writing. Due to the rapid development of the teaching of Chinese as a foreign language， they are relatively high in Chinese level. Among them， several key persons have several years of living in China. By taking advantage of the Internet， they organized several translation circles among which one of the famous team is Paper Republic. They usually contact with agents and publishers in the field of press， communicate with each other through websites and even discuss to establish a company or other forms of platform to settle down the translation cause. Compared with people in those days， they have fewer obstacles in languages， cultural knowledge and occupation. Therefore， it’s promising for us to expect them to develop a new chapter for the translation of Chinese literature. It’s known that a Chinese translation website “transtao” jointly run by Foreign Languages Press of China International Publishing Group （CIPG）， The Chinese University of Hong Kong and National Taiwan University is under constructing. This website will specially provide various kinds of information including the introduction of authors， translators and translation date of Chinese literature from the ancient time to modern time. Users are able to search in both Chinese and English. After its construction， it will provide much convenience for translating Chinese literary works into foreign languages. 　　As for the translation work， there are two forms in doing this， independent work or team work. Among foreign translators of Chinese literature， some of them work based on the first form. Generally， they are full of confidence in their language pair. For example， Olivia Miburn is the translator of Decoded written by Mai Jia. According to Mai Jia， he didn’t have any communication with the author of the work during his translation work， but the translated version is highly praised by readers who think the language could provide them a kind of classical beauty. For the second form， it’s relatively more common for the cooperation of Chinese and foreign translators. For instance， the English version of Four Great Classical Novels published by Foreign Language Press of CIPG is just done in this form. Besides， English version of Dream of the Red Chamber， translated by the couple of Yang Xianyi and Dai Naidie， is well-known among readers； on the website of Amazon， Journey to the West translated by Jenner， Water Margin translated by Sidney Shapiro and Romance of the Three Kingdoms translated by Moss Roberts all win high praise from readers. The latter three translators above mentioned all expressed their gratitude to Chinese scholars’ help in the preface of the first translated edition. P fister， a famous sinologist， also said frankly， “Translation is not only the work to translate， but also a process of learning and cooperating.”
　　Chinese translator from America suggests establishing a “Resident Translator” Fund
　　Bruce Humes， a Chinese translator from America， published an open letter on his personal website recently to put forward several pieces of detailed suggestions on promoting Chinese literature to be translated into foreign languages， aiming to give suggestions about carrying through the strategy of “Go Out” on Chinese literature：
　　Establish “Resident Translator” Fund and actively attract foreign translators to China to have a short-term residence to experience Chinese culture， contact and communicate with Chinese authors， translators and publishers （the diversity of countries and languages of benefit targets should be pay attention to， so as to avoid the excessive concentration on European languages such as English， French and German）；
　　Relax conditions on visa， so as to allow translators to have legal residence during their work；
　　Create high-quality websites and convene activities frequently to provide chances for Chinese and foreign translators to communicate and exchange. 　　His suggestion not only strikes a chord among people in the Chinese literature translation circle abroad， but also brings the attention of the domestic translation circle to the “foreign translators”， whom are the key link during the process of exporting Chinese literature.
　　Present funded projects and awards of translation of Chinese literature works
　　In order to meet the demand in translating Chinese Literature into foreign languages， China increases and enhances its attention and investment in Chinese literature translation， and has established and carried forward relative projects. So far， Chinese Writers’ Association has developed four items of work related to translating Chinese Literature into foreign languages. First， it’s Chinese Writers’ One Hundred Excellent Works Project. Excellent Chinese literary works would be recommended by Chinese Writers’ Association； if any domestic and foreign translators are interested in some work， they can get subsidy for the cost of publication. Second， it’s National Books Promotion Plan. Chinese Writers’ Association will accept the application of sinologists and translators. Third， it’s Chinese Culture Works Translation and Publication Project， which can also be deemed as the “updated version” of “China Book International Plan”. This project is mainly to subsidize series of works in both cost of translation and expense of publication and promotion. Fourth， it’s Inter-translation and Publication. Chinese Writers’ Association will cooperate with literature organizations in some country or some local place to publish the opposite party’s literary works. For targeted works， both parties could negotiate to decide and carry out the work in their own form. Meanwhile， organizations such as Translators Association of China and Foreign Language Press are also making effort to contribute to Chinese literature translation.
　　Moreover， there are also some international awards for Chinese literature translation in China， among which the most representative one is the National Outstanding Literary Translation Award （formerly the Rainbow Translation Award） that awarded every four years by Chinese Writers’ Association. In 2013， China International Translation Contest was jointly organized by The State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China， Chinese Writers’ Association and CIPG. The contest covers multiple combinations of Chinese and other foreign languages and has different awards and reward mechanisms. Excellent translators would win the opportunity to be invited to participate in the international publication project of Chinese literature. 　　On the practice of literary translation
　　Foreign translators contribute much to the winning of Nobel Prize in literature for Mo Yan’s work， as well as the popularity of Mai Jia’s novels in overseas. They translate with their mother tongue in a good way and appropriate reading habit that is adapted to people in western countries， which not only take Chinese books to the abroad， but also show the mysterious charm of Chinese literature to the world. However， in my opinion， due to Chinese writers’ “absolute” trust in foreign translators， the lack of high-level translation review or defect in translation review， the finished translations still have some flaws. Howard Goldblatt， an American sinologist， once also said， “Only Chinese people can thoroughly understand Chinese literature… No matter how skilful the foreign translator is， he cannot totally comprehend Chinese literary works.”
　　Here， three flaws are selected from The Wolf Totem translated by Howard Goldblatt：
　　1.每头狼浑身的皮毛被白毛风嵌满了雪，全身雪白。 （Line 27 on page 43 of the Chinese edition）
　　The fur of the pack leader was inlaid with snow driven there by the wind， turning it a spectral white. （Line 1 on page 71 of the English edition）
　　2.黄河百害，惟富一套。（Line 8 on page 57 of the Chinese edition）
　　The Yellow River causes a hundred calamities， but enriches all it touches. （Line 31 on page 90 of the English edition）
　　3. 陈阵常想，额仑草原的狼个头大得出奇，脑子转得比人还快，可能也与它们经常吃额仑大尾羊有关。（Line 30 on page 72 of the Chinese edition）
　　Chen Zhen wondered if the reason the Olonbulag wolves had such large heads and so easily outsmarted humans was that they often dined on Olonbulag mutton. （Line 2 on page 115 of the English edition）
　　As for the first example， “每头狼” （each wolf） is translated into “pack leader”. As for the second example， the character “套” refers to the Hetao Plain in Yellow River basin， but the translator translated it into “all it touches”， which is obviously against the logic. As for the third example， the character “个” in “个头大得出奇” is omitted in the translation， which causes a totally different meaning. These errors have nothing to do with the translator’s personal style or translation strategy， and also cannot be interpreted as the creativity， diversity and relativity explained in hermeneutics， but seem to be the result caused by the translator’s misunderstanding in the original work.
　　Eric Abrahamsen， who once translated Chinese writer Zhang Wei’s works and the founder of the well-known Chinese Literature Translation website， puts forward a significant view on Chinese literature translation. 　　He said， “As a translator there’s not a whole lot we can do in response to changing Western views of China. It definitely affects what Western publishers choose to translate and publish， but the translators themselves are basically restricted to translating what’s on the page.”
　　Where there has been visible change， says Abrahamsen， is in the other direction， as over the last thirty years Chinese writing has been heavily influenced by Western literature：
　　“Literary forms and narrative structures are therefore much more familiar to us， and we’re not as often required to translate Chinese fiction that relies heavily on China’s own literary traditions， which can pose difficulties.”
　　Strikingly， the Western influence is visible even at the level of “sentence structure and voice，” says Abrahamsen. “So often it’s quite easy to find an appropriate English rendering for a writer’s style. Not only that， but as Chinese society modernizes and becomes more cosmopolitan， its themes have become more familiar to western readers. But again， for a translator， we mostly engage with the work at a textual level. Themes and topics may influence a reader’s reception， but not so much a translator’s work.”
　　By no means， however， has Chinese writing become “colonized” by Western literature：
　　“The Chinese language is still a very different animal from English or other Indo-European languages， which often share linguistic cognates， grammatical similarities， and a common set of imagery. Chinese has completely different roots， so in the process of translation you often have to go “farther” away from the original， and then come back again. It’s impossible to translate word-by-word， and sometimes even sentences have to be reworked and reordered. It takes a certain confidence with the original， and also a surer hand with literary writing in your own target language.”
　　Dialect， he says is a classic and insoluble problem， as rendering the speech of “a Chinese character from Shaanxi” with （for example） an Appalachian drawl produces absurd results. Chinese writing also draws more deeply upon “chengyu，” set idioms drawn from classical literature or poetry than English where “Shakespeare and the Bible are our main sources in this direction…often what reads as an apt use of idiom in Chinese comes across as plain cliche in English. Chinese， particularly classically-influenced Chinese， values the ability to make us of just the right idiom. English tends to value the ‘new’ image， ‘new’ metaphor. So conveying the ‘goodness’ of a particular bit of writing sometimes requires adding a bit of your own creativity to existing Chinese idiom.” 　　Aside from the challenges of rendering the actual work into English， of course， the translator also has to deal with the world of editors and business and contracts. Abrahamsen has been “pretty lucky” with his editors he says， who have either all spoken Chinese or else have been “willing to take my word for meanings.”
　　On the creation of source text
　　Chen Sihe， professor of Fudan University：
　　“Don’t restrain yourself as an eastern writer or traditional writer”
　　“After Mo Yan wins the Nobel Prize in Literature， some people say the foreigners can’t comprehend Mo Yan’s work and so they don’t want to read his work. However， after I heard the award words of Jury President of the Nobel Prize in Literature written by him， I find his evaluation of Mo Yan’s work is accurate， more accurate than those of domestic critics. He has one judgment that he takes Mo Yan as a writer of Labret Tradition. It makes me touched. Labret Tradition is not the main tradition in Europe， while they see the endeavor of the Chinese writer. Don’t restrain yourself as the eastern writer and traditional writer， but take yourself as the writer for all the human beings. The cultures of the world can be comprehended by each other. And we should work hard on it.” In Chen Sihe’s opinion， writing styles of different writers should be exchanged and discussed， since every writer is unique. Chinese contemporary literature hadn’t developed well for a long time. Finally， in recent thirty years， the stable social environment allows Chinese writers to have more time to exert influence in the literary circles. Chen Sihe said， “I have discussed about midlife crisis before， and now， the Chinese literature comes to its midlife crisis. Let’s see these writers now. They haven’t given up their own styles and will not form any faction. Each of them has a distinctive style， and what they expressed is different. So， it is far from enough to comprehend them by Chinese Character and Chinese grammar.
　　Chen Sihe thinks that some of the writers are good at some certain elements of the novel. For example， Yan Geling is good at telling story and her works are generally made into films； Mo Yan is good at narrating， but not telling stories， and he usually narrates one thing in different ways； Yan Lianke is good at narrating his own specific stories. Yan Lianke’s and Mo Yan’s works were translated into foreign languages. Mo Yan’s Red Sorghum was translated into Japanese， but it is hard to understand his narration in the translation. Works of Wang Anyi are also difficult to be translated for she separated the stories in all kinds of details. She likes describing every detail repeatedly and tirelessly with enthusiasm， which makes her works difficult to read without patient. If her works are translated into simple stories， they will lose their original style. Chen Sihe said， “If A Dream in Red Mansions is translated in foreign languages， what will it be like？ We don’t know. The works of Jia Pingao are more difficult to be translated， for the wording of his works is traditional， while what they expressed are modern. If the plots are separated in sentences， even Chinese readers are impatient to read them. But you can deeply feel his humorous in each sentence. 　　In Chen Sihe’s opinion， if you just have read the Chinese literature history and known Chinese characters， it’s a challenge to do well in translation. Yet， Howard Goldblatt can not only translate but also recompose Chinese literary works， which is really amazing. Chen Sihe said， “When I read Ulysses， what I want to challenge and comprehend are the writing style of Ulysses and the original style and pursuit of its writer. If the pure literatures are translated into light literatures， will the essence of Chinese literature be fully understood？ This is what we can discuss today in this meeting， and we can raise confusions and problems to share and discuss. I once thought that a real translator who wants to translate Chinese literature into foreign languages must be proficient in both Chinese and the target language. But we only have a few of such translators. I suggest that the intellectuals， scholars and translators cooperate together. Fudan University established the International Center for Studies of Chinese Civilization and some outstanding translators propose to set up a translation studio there. The translation center set up by Department of Chinese can invite some writers such as Yan Lianke and some experts who study the works of these writers to hold some seminars to communicate with each other. Thus， it will promote the development of Chinese literature translation.”
　　Xie Tianzhen， director of Research Institute of Translation of Graduate Institute of Interpretation and Translation： “The Chinese literature is not really successful in “going out” to the extent that we think the translation is good”
　　Xie Tianzhen considers the translation as the key problem for Chinese literature going out. He said， “We all know what translation is. Even those who don’t understand translation also state that they understand it. Previously， I worked at comparative literature study. After 1980s， I put much energy in translation and I find translation is not like what the most people think. First， for promoting Chinese literature to go out， our country has made some efforts. There are three majors activates. The first is the French and English editions of Chinese Literary Magazine. The magazine started its publication in 1951 and published at fixed period from 1958. Totally， it published 590 issues of month magazine and introduced more than 2，000 Chinese writers and artists. But it was not successful and stopped its publishing in the year of 2000. The second is Panda Books which was founded by Yang Xianyi after “culture revolution”. It contains 195 works including novels， poets， folk literature and fable. But it was also unpopular and stopped its publication in the year of 2000. The third is A Dream in Red Mansions mentioned by Chen Sihe. The translations of this work by Yang Xianyi and Hawkes， a western translator， have different fates in western countries. Yang Xianyi is the best translator in our country and his translations are the most faithful to the original. Undoubtedly， He comprehends A Dream in Red Mansions better than Americans. But in the result of my students’ survey， the translation of Hawkes wins more popularity than Yang’s translation in English and American academia. These three cases remind us that the Chinese literature is not really successful in “going out” to the extent that we think the translation is good. There are many factors hidden in this”. 　　In addition， speaking of the enlightenment of Mo Yan’s awarding for Chinese literature translation， Xie Zhentian thought the wining of Mo Yan is not a happenchance. He said， “When the sinologists and translators whom I know talk about Chinese contemporary writers， they will mention Jia Pingao and Alai， but they will first refer to Mo Yan. So the trend is obvious， but not an accident. There are some problems about translation which we should pay attention to. The first is who will do the translation？ The foreign sinologist， translator or our domestic translators？ Howard Goldblatt contributed a lot to Mo Yan’s Nobel-prize-wining and attracting of foreign readers for Mo Yan’s works. The foreign literary works we read are translated by Chinese translators. But， we are anxious to achieve success so that we ignore this key problem. This meeting is to advocate writers to communicate with translators， which is quite essential. The writers always have misunderstanding in the translators for they don’t know what is interpreting translation. Once， a writer required that if you want to translate his work， you should translate the first chapter and give him to check. The writer didn’t know English， so he asked his friend to read it. If his friend thought the translation is good， then you could continue translating. I am skeptical to this. I have no doubt in his friend’s English level， but in his understanding of translation. Mo Yan is generous to the translator. He permits the translator to bowdlerize and modify his works. Speaking of the problem of modifying the original， the writer may ask whether the work is still its original after being modified. Actually， there is no translation which is absolutely faithful to the original. They translation is always different from its original. The second is who will publish them. Publish by our foreign languages press or foreign presses？ It is also an important thing. The third is the translatability of the works. It not only means that whether the works can be translated， and also means that virtues and attractive characteristics in works like those of Jia Pingao and Wang Anyi are difficult to retain after being translated. The translatability I emphasized is just a temporary problem， but not a permanent obscure. At present， the foreign readers may not like reading such kinds of works， but like to choose works with clear stories. But as the time goes by and with the understanding of Chinese literature deepening， works of Jia Pingao will also attract the foreign readers. It’s just the same as that we are interested in Ulysses now. 　　Jia Pingao， famous contemporary writer and chairman of Shaanxi Writers’ Association： “What the writer can do is writing novels which can withstand translation”
　　I’ve been thinking about the translation of Chinese literature， the development trend of Chinese literature in the past and at present， the condition and mental state of the good novels， the peculiar characteristics of Chinese literature and the strong points and features of Chinese literature. For a long time， China has its own value and requirement. Since the beginning of the new period， Chinese literature has improved a lot and it will continue. To establish what kind of literature view is a topic needed long-term research. I talked about some views such as the Chinese contemporary literature has finished its imitation of foreign literature. So， at present， Chinese writers should focus on writing in Chinese style， writing the life of present Chinese， Chinese form， Chinese spirit and flavor. In the aspect of values， write out the ideas and pursuits of Chinese. The works are written by Chinese， not by foreigners. For Chinese writers， it is the time to create Chinese culture features. Chinese culture is more exquisite than others in the world literature. It expresses the Chinese traditions， relationships between Chinese， and other subtle and sensitive things. China is in social transformation period. Writers should pay more attention to the reality of China， the life and mental state of Chinese， improve the literariness and artistry of works and emphasize the originality. Yan Lianke said， “It is a frustrated situation. In the world， no other writers are more frustrated than Chinese writers when facing with the translation. It doesn’t mean you can’t write novels if you don’t know English. But when it comes to the translation， the Chinese writers become helpless. What can they do？ The only thing they can do is writing novels which can withstand translation， express their inner mind and understanding of China’s reality. If you could meet a good translator， you’re lucky. And the novel also has its own fate. As time goes by， a writer may be experienced in choosing a translator. First， have faith in the translator. Second， write out the novels which are amenable to be translated.” Yan Lianke said that the translators whom he had contacted with all respected him. He said， “It is not about national quality， but about that the translators are more respective to the writers. Thus the writers should also respect the translators. Most of us grow up with reading the translated literature in the 19th and 20th century. If not so， the Chinese literature wouldn’t have today’s achievement， and there would be no outstanding achievements of Mo Yan or Alai.” 　　Chinese Eminent translators
　　Xu Yuanchong： An unrestrained man keeps forging ahead （Chinese， English， French）
　　93-year-old Xu Yuanchong is absent from the meeting for health reasons. In his written statement， he says， “I feel greatly honored for I am the first Chinese translator who wins this honor. In my opinion， this honor not only is the recognition for me， but also indicates that Chinese literature grabs the whole world’s attention. For me， it is an enjoyment to do translations with Chinese， English and French languages.”
　　Xu Yuanchong is confident enough. Confidence enables him to speak his mind freely， always being straight and sincere， and also offend lots of people. Xu Yuanchong is noted for his preference for debate in translation circle. He has argued about the translation of The Red and The Black with translator Zhao Ruihong， equivalent translation and recreation translation with Xu Jun， the issue of cliche with Feng Yidai， as well as had debate with Professor Jiang Feng of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， Professor Lu Gusun of Fudan University and Professor Wang Zuoliang of Beijing Foreign Studies University respectively. Each time when he has fierce debate with others， this old man still thinks quickly. Sometimes he becomes indignant and sometimes bursts into laughter. He always gesticulates with his rough hands， and thumbs up occasionally.
　　His confidence also reflects on his confidence in Chinese culture. “Chinese culture is extensive， profound and unique. We Chinese people must know the value of our national culture. Chinese culture now begins revival. As Chinese people， we shouldn’t improperly belittle ourselves. In my opinion， we should have our own cultural backbone.” He says.
　　Zhao Jun， the wife of Xu Yuanchong， evaluates him like this， “He has no interest in power. He is frank and plain， and real... He always says what he thinks. Sometimes when his emotion flows out， his words are sharper than his thoughts.” However， from his points of view， he is unrestrained but not arrogant. “Pride leads people to progress while abasement leads to lag”， this is his life creed.
　　British Athene Publishing House published the Romance of the Western Chamber translated by Xu Yuanchong， and exclaimed that “In terms of artistry and attraction， this masterpiece can be on a par with Romeo and Juliet of Shakespeare”. British Penguin Publishing House publishes Three Hundreds Immortal Chinese Poems translated by Xu Yuanchong， and releases it in British， America， Canada and Australia at the same time. This is the first time for this house to publish translation of Chinese people due to “The translation is ingenious”. 　　Collection of Xu Yuanchong
　　（Simplified Chinese， English and French Edition）
　　Dolphin Publishing House | ?1800.00 | Sep 2013
　　This set of book has 27 rolls， which is the most complete and authoritative work that collects translations of Xu Yuanchong. Its contents include Chinese-English China classical literature works and Chinese-French poems， rhyming and natural， and have abundant artistry and readability， which provide excellent translation to those who love Chinese literature around the world.
　　Huang Liaoyu： “Literature translation needs multi-discipline knowledge.” （Chinese， German）
　　Though Professor Huang Liaoyu， now as the head of German Department of Peking University， has not that many translations， he has translated works of high quality：
　　His works not only include Mr. Lehman（2002）， “Best Foreign Language Novel of the year in 21th century”， but also include The Death of the Critic（2004）， the controversial work of Martin Walser who is one of the most important writers in contemporary Germany. The former translation won the literature translation prize of Lu Xun Literary Prize. The reason of little production of his works may have relationship with his persistent and earnest translation attitude. To ensure the accuracy and specialization of translation， he once visited bars， police stations and even bedlams to make every detail be to the point. Recently， the latest translation of Huang Liaoyu， Man in Love written by Martin Walser is finished， and would be issued by People’s Literature Publishing House in November 2009. In the interview of China and Germany Culture Website， Huang Liaoyu talked about his understanding in translation.
　　Q： In your opinion， except for mastering two languages， what kind of attainment the translator should have？
　　H： I need to emphasize two points： First， general “good at Chinese” is not enough. A good translator should love character， and like weighing， chewing in his usual writing. It is the best if he is a novelist， and can write decent articles in Chinese. Now there are many translators， who have translated many works but have never written any in Chinese. So we can infer that they have no real interest in literature. Namely， so-called “good at Chinese” should have literacy cells； second， the study of literature also is necessary. Literature is an art， and the essence of art is creativity， originality. Every writer has his own features. The translator should be sensitive to art and have profound study on the writer if he wants to convey the features of the writer. Many meanings cannot be read if he doesn’t conduct the study， especially for these great writers. 　　Q： In the process of translating， your background differs from that of the author. As a translator， how can you feel the history， culture and social background at author’s time？
　　H： This is unavoidable in the process of translating. Seriously speaking， it is not related to the feeling of translator towards translation but how to enter into author’s context. When I translate one book， I will find some relevant documents. For example， when I translated The Death of the Critic of Walser， I was familiar with the language inside the book cause I also studied Reich La Nitsch Ki. But the book I presently translated tells a story that Goethe fell in love with a 19-year-old girl in Maryia Hot Spring City in his 74. To enter into the context of the book， I looked up much history data in Weimar Age and relevant books.
　　Q： How do you cope with the vacancy of cultural background when presenting the foreign to Chinese readers？
　　H： Such an occasion can be found everywhere， and we need to use translation skills.
　　The translator should be aware of this divergence first， and then realize that there is dead zone of thought when Chinese readers read here. There are two solutions， the best way is to embody it inside the text， and attract readers to here； the other solution is to annotate. For example， there is a wonderful scene in Magic Mountain of Thomas Mann： The soldier Joachim died， and everybody was sad. A pesky woman St?hr cried out and said， “Er ist ein Held， er ist ein Held， spielen Sie bitte…” Actually she wanted to say Eroica， but she spoke Erotika. This is a spiffy word game， also a big challenge for the translator. In principle， word game cannot be translated. This sentence contains abundant connotation， which indicate that Frau St?hr always talks nonsense. More importantly， it also reveals her filthy subconsciousness. Thomas Mann did it on purpose. He used the Freud’s theory， namely the error in speaking is not occasional but reveal the subconsciousness you can know her thought through this error. For this spiffy word game， we cannot overlook or just annotate， “Hero symphony actually should be Eroica， but she spoke Erotika， which indicate that she is illiteracy”. We should point out the deep meaning of this error in tag. At same time， we should judge that whether it can be translated. This word game， actually can be interpreted because there is a coincidence， “hero” covers the meaning of “male”， by changing one word， then it can be changed into “male and female symphony”. Q： You have translated Schopenhauer as an Educator of Nietzsche. Is there any difference between the translation of academic work and literature work？ 　　H： There are similar characteristics， and the difference also exists. Literature translation needs multi-disciplinary knowledge， which contains a lot of knowledge. Ordinary people think literature language is just delicate and lyric. However， many authors of modern literature are actually scholars of one field. Literature is a trans-boundary utterance， which indicates that it can use terms of any fields. In a word， literature naturally includes lots of contents of science subjects. For example， the author of Reader is a jurist， and the book refers to some law terms. If you translate this book， you have to consult those who work on law. The author of Mr. Lehman is a rock bandsman， and I consulted China National Symphony Orchestra about relevant words. In addition to terms and conceptions， there is another thing that also is important. The spoken words should take after jargon. A scene in Magic Mountain， exerting necromancy experiment， a girl exclaims that she has exceptional function and can make the dead people appear before people. One experiment was carried out by Kelokefusiji of sanatorium. Before the experiment， he searches the girl with his female assistant. And he announced “Vorkontrolle negative” after the experiment. Here is an imitation of hospital examination， which indicates everything is fine. The reason why use the term is to reflect the “scientific nature”， called “preview result is positive”， hence it will be professional enough. The novel uses scientific term to satirize and reveal the pseudoscience of Kelofusiji. Everyone has been to hospital and had a blood test， so they all know the terms of “positive” and “negative”. However， if you don’t know the purpose of author， you can never have an idea to use medical terms.
　　Q： What’s the relationship between translator of literature works and editor of publishing house？
　　H： It should be bidirectional. Sometimes they go to me while sometimes I go to them. The translation of Mr. Lehman was on basis of that People’s Literature Publishing House launched a new project “the Best Foreign Novel of the Year” in 2001. This project aimed to select the best novel of every language per year. The first of German was Mr. Lehman. They wanted to publicize modern German literature by this chance because of Chinese only knew Goethe， Schiller， Heine and Thomas Mann previously. Their committee discussed who is suitable for this translation and opted for me in accordance with my disposition， and came to ask me. I read the first chapter and felt great， hence I accepted this. And this time， I recommended the Man in Love of Martin Walser to them because I finished it recently. I read it and felt great， and they accepted it. Then they bought the copyright. 　　To the lowest degree， these all are what translators should consider. So， the first thing is that translator must be a researcher.
　　Li Yumin： Thoroughly understand the real intentions and original ideas of author. （Chinese， French）
　　It is not easy to translate a masterwork into a masterwork-to-be. Though translation and writing both are literature work， there still are fundamental distinctions. Writing is free without constraint. All written contents are reasonable， which make something out of nothing in essence. However， translation has no such freedom and has to be based on the original work， which makes something out of something. Hence， the translator should correct the attitude， set his mind on and have a thorough grasp of the original work. Be loyal to the original work， and cannot be casual and choosy. They cannot do as readers who can ignore some part if they don’t like. It is forbidden.
　　All literature works always have many indirect and obscure things. There are many problems， such as meanings existed on surface and in deep layer， inside and outside words， limits of tone and emotional coloring. When translators meet obscure sentences and paragraphs， they always feel confused. Though they make utmost efforts to ponder over them， they still cannot understand or confirm the author’s intention. Hence they need to ponder repeatedly， estimate and analyze from every possible angles in respect to grammar relation， context， characters and style of work. In my experience， in such occasions， if translator is not patient and tries to deal with problems casually， the translation will not be good.
　　Where translation is not coherent is the error of translation. For example， there is a sentence in Notre Dame de Paris：
　　“The judge always tries to make himself unhappy at the day of opening a court session...” There are at least two ways of translations translated as above-mentioned. Judging from the sentence， it seems that the judge must make himself unhappy though he has a good mood. It is OK that he let his unhappiness off， but he must do that without the anger， and almost judges are so. How weird it is！ Having read it in contrast with the original work， I found that this sentence is that Hugo satirizes the judge， an irony： “We have already noticed that the judge always tries to make himself unhappy at the day of opening a court session， hence he can find a sucker to ventilate the anger in the name of emperor， law and justice.” 　　Ventilation of anger and making the unjust case are the darkness in justice.
　　All in all， when translators meet something they cannot understand， they should judge by means of common sense， reason， emotion， mental activity and feeling. But they should not restrict their activities to a designated area， and also should not constrain their thoughts. The clever adopt flexible methods to cope with changeable situations， so they can enable the sentences and words to express well， namely to have a clear understanding of author’s original idea. This is the duty of translators.
　　Zheng Kelu： I enjoy in translating first-class works， but I select it according to my own research and personal hobbies. （Chinese，French）
　　Generally， in translating contemporary works， I give priority to short novels and seldom translate the long one， for I don’t know whether I can finish it or not. I also re-translate classic works， but many of them are first-class， such as Les Miserables and La Dame Aux Camellias. Once， I was invited to translate Jean-Christophe， but I declined. The main reason is that Fu Lei’s translation version is good and it’s the second-rate work in France due to Romain Rolland’s ideological trend. The other reason relies on that it is a realistic novel which lacks of creativity. Later， I refused another publisher who asked me to translate an early novel of Duras. For me， among Duras’s works， only Lover is the best. As for the rest， I don’t want to take any time to translate. Afterwards， this publisher came to me again and invited me to translate The Second Sex， which I have already recognized its difficulty and long length. However， I accepted his invitation this time for I think this one is worthy of my efforts.
　　Classic works can be translated again. I re-translate those classic works that I wanted but have no time to deal with in accordance with my own research and personal hobbies when I am free. Taking Maupassant for example， he was introduced as a pure realistic writer in many textbooks， which is a great misunderstanding. In France， Maupassant has already been treated as a writer with romanticism and realism， who had written more than thirty bizarre stories during his whole life. He was a psychopath and he recorded all visions which occurred during the attack of disease. Generally， two novels of his were recognized as his master works， of which one is all-known Boule de Suif and another is Le Horla， a bizarre story. I selected almost one hundred novels to re-translate from his three hundred short novels， which can be classified as the Franco-Prussian war， bizarre stories， farmers， family and marriage， which were known by certain publisher and published afterwards. Whereas I re-translated them were absolutely out of my own willing. I like translating and enjoy it. Any good translation could delight me. Whenever I finish a book， it is same like I have fulfilled one of my wishes and an important mission， thus I never be bored with it.