Page 111 - Translation Journal July 2015
P. 111
聊之实 The seeds of the pepper-plant
蕃衍盈掬 Overflowed my hands as well.
彼其之子 That man of mine，
硕大且笃 Big, tall and strong!
椒聊且 Oh, the pepper-plant,
远条且 How wide its branches spread!
Waley does well in preserving the images of “the seeds of the pepper-plant” and “the pepper-plant” itself and depicting the
luxuriance and vitality of the plant. However, Waley misunderstands the poem as a love poem, translating “That man” (“彼其之子”) as
“That man of mine”，and putting emphasis on the masculinity and hotness of the man being celebrated. Waley gives the following
explanation of the metaphoric meaning of the plant: “Pepper-plant: The fine stature of the lover is compared to the luxuriance of the
pepper-plant, which at the same time symbolizes the heat of his passion” (Waley, 1937). We can see that Waley mistakes this poem for
a love poem. The duke is described as “That man of mine”, as if he is the “lover” of the speaker.
In fact, the poet compares the multi seeds of the pepper-plant to the duke’s having many capable sons and grandsons, hinting
that he will replace King of Jin (晋昭公), who was weak and incapable in governing his kingdom. It is a political poem instead of a love
poem. Because Waley gives a wrong interpretation of metaphoric meaning of the pepper-plant, emphasizing its “fine stature” and “the
heat of his passion”, the theme of the poem is changed.
(3) Adding metaphors that do not exist in the original poem. In his translation of “the Deserted Wife”(《氓》), L. Cranmer-Byng, (克
莱默-宾，1872-1945 , a British poet and translator), who published his translation of Book of Odes in 1896，adds a few metaphors
that are absent in the original poem. Below is his translation of one stanza of the poem.
自我徂尔 Three sombre years ago
三岁食贫 I fled with you, and lo,
淇水汤汤 The floods of K’e
渐车帷裳 Now silently Creep to the curtains of my little car.
女也不爽 Through cloud and gloom I was your constant star;
士贰其行 Now you have gone from sight,
士也罔极 And love’s white star roams aimless
二三其德 through the night.
Cranmer-Byng translated “女也不爽”(literally “I didn’t do anything wrong”) as “Through cloud and gloom I was your constant star”,
adding an English metaphor and three new images – cloud, gloom, and constant star. He translates “士也罔极，二三其德”（literally
“the man is shameless and break his promise”）as “And love’s white star roams aimless through the night”，adding another English
metaphor and three alien images — “love’s white star”、“roam”和“night”.
The addition of English metaphors and new images in the translated poem changes the narrative style of the original poem to
some extent. The narrator of the poem — the deserted wife — adopts a plain and controlled way of narration, as if telling her story to a
neighbor or a friend. The translator’s adding of English metaphors violates the plain narrative style of the poem. Moreover, the images of
the original poem include the Qi River, the ruined wall, dove, mulberry, and so on, but the added metaphors and images such as “lucky
star”, “white star”, “constant star” are not in agreement with the image group in the original poem.
This practice is not uncommon in the translations of classic Chinese poetry. As is well known, Giles also adds an English metaphor
in his translation of “Blue, Blue Grass”(《青青河畔草》), a poem from Nineteen Old Poems（《古诗十九首》）. This is Giles’
translation of the last two lines of the poem:
浪子行不归，Ah, if he does not mind his own,
空床独难守。He’ll find some day the bird has flown.
Giles translated “空床独难守” (literally “an empty bed is hard to keep”) as “the bird has flown”. “Empty bed” or “keeping the empty
bed” is a frequently used image in classical Chinese poems, indicating a widow’s or a left-behind wife’s loneliness and sorrow. Giles
leaves out this important Chinese poetic image and uses an English metaphor. Unfortunately, this English metaphor is alien to Chinese
culture and the added images are not in concert with the ones in the original poem focusing on the garden, the woman’s chamber and
her appearance. The image of a bird having flown does not fit in the image group of the poem.
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 111
蕃衍盈掬 Overflowed my hands as well.
彼其之子 That man of mine，
硕大且笃 Big, tall and strong!
椒聊且 Oh, the pepper-plant,
远条且 How wide its branches spread!
Waley does well in preserving the images of “the seeds of the pepper-plant” and “the pepper-plant” itself and depicting the
luxuriance and vitality of the plant. However, Waley misunderstands the poem as a love poem, translating “That man” (“彼其之子”) as
“That man of mine”，and putting emphasis on the masculinity and hotness of the man being celebrated. Waley gives the following
explanation of the metaphoric meaning of the plant: “Pepper-plant: The fine stature of the lover is compared to the luxuriance of the
pepper-plant, which at the same time symbolizes the heat of his passion” (Waley, 1937). We can see that Waley mistakes this poem for
a love poem. The duke is described as “That man of mine”, as if he is the “lover” of the speaker.
In fact, the poet compares the multi seeds of the pepper-plant to the duke’s having many capable sons and grandsons, hinting
that he will replace King of Jin (晋昭公), who was weak and incapable in governing his kingdom. It is a political poem instead of a love
poem. Because Waley gives a wrong interpretation of metaphoric meaning of the pepper-plant, emphasizing its “fine stature” and “the
heat of his passion”, the theme of the poem is changed.
(3) Adding metaphors that do not exist in the original poem. In his translation of “the Deserted Wife”(《氓》), L. Cranmer-Byng, (克
莱默-宾，1872-1945 , a British poet and translator), who published his translation of Book of Odes in 1896，adds a few metaphors
that are absent in the original poem. Below is his translation of one stanza of the poem.
自我徂尔 Three sombre years ago
三岁食贫 I fled with you, and lo,
淇水汤汤 The floods of K’e
渐车帷裳 Now silently Creep to the curtains of my little car.
女也不爽 Through cloud and gloom I was your constant star;
士贰其行 Now you have gone from sight,
士也罔极 And love’s white star roams aimless
二三其德 through the night.
Cranmer-Byng translated “女也不爽”(literally “I didn’t do anything wrong”) as “Through cloud and gloom I was your constant star”,
adding an English metaphor and three new images – cloud, gloom, and constant star. He translates “士也罔极，二三其德”（literally
“the man is shameless and break his promise”）as “And love’s white star roams aimless through the night”，adding another English
metaphor and three alien images — “love’s white star”、“roam”和“night”.
The addition of English metaphors and new images in the translated poem changes the narrative style of the original poem to
some extent. The narrator of the poem — the deserted wife — adopts a plain and controlled way of narration, as if telling her story to a
neighbor or a friend. The translator’s adding of English metaphors violates the plain narrative style of the poem. Moreover, the images of
the original poem include the Qi River, the ruined wall, dove, mulberry, and so on, but the added metaphors and images such as “lucky
star”, “white star”, “constant star” are not in agreement with the image group in the original poem.
This practice is not uncommon in the translations of classic Chinese poetry. As is well known, Giles also adds an English metaphor
in his translation of “Blue, Blue Grass”(《青青河畔草》), a poem from Nineteen Old Poems（《古诗十九首》）. This is Giles’
translation of the last two lines of the poem:
浪子行不归，Ah, if he does not mind his own,
空床独难守。He’ll find some day the bird has flown.
Giles translated “空床独难守” (literally “an empty bed is hard to keep”) as “the bird has flown”. “Empty bed” or “keeping the empty
bed” is a frequently used image in classical Chinese poems, indicating a widow’s or a left-behind wife’s loneliness and sorrow. Giles
leaves out this important Chinese poetic image and uses an English metaphor. Unfortunately, this English metaphor is alien to Chinese
culture and the added images are not in concert with the ones in the original poem focusing on the garden, the woman’s chamber and
her appearance. The image of a bird having flown does not fit in the image group of the poem.
Translation Journal - July 2015 | 111
