Uncle Li's full name is Li Ruocheng, and he has been engaged in translation work for more than thirty years.
Even when I lived in a cowshed many years ago, there was never a day when I was not translating books.
The old man never likes to copy the literal meaning, but always insists on using beautiful and appropriate words to interpret the original meaning of the original work.
Therefore, every time he completes the translation work of a book, Mr. Li Ruocheng must be both physically and mentally exhausted.
I have the book "The Little Mermaid" in my hand. Although the translation is almost finished, I still have a lingering regret about the translation of the title.
Now that I heard Jiang Shan call him out so casually, I felt it was so wonderful.
Jiang Shan felt that the old man's question was very strange: "Isn't it just a sentence in English? Why is there so much detail? What kind of translation..."
Suddenly, he realized something: "Are you translating this book?"
Li Ruocheng immediately put on his black-rimmed glasses again: "That's right, not only it, I read a lot of books!"
The neighbor couple have a strong bookish temperament, which can be seen by everyone next to them.
But Jiang Shan knew for the first time that the old man had this hobby.
Jiang Shan immediately asked: "So you are always a translator? Then you must have a lot of original books?"
At this point in time, what makes him most intolerable is the lack of entertainment to pass the time.
There are very few readable books and periodicals on the market.
"I don't dare to claim that I am not a good translator, but the most important thing at home is books. I like to buy them, and the publisher often sends them to me."
Li Ruocheng's words interrupted Jiang Shan's divergent thinking, and he continued: "There are many original foreign books, but do you really understand them?"
Jiang Shan's eyes brightened when he heard the old man mention the publishing house.
I was still thinking about how to get in touch with the publishing house, but I didn't expect that the noble man was beside me.
In the late 1970s, no matter how happy everyone in the later generations said, it seemed that anyone could become Wang Shi.
As everyone knows, this is the stage where one cannot act rashly.
But Jiangshan knows that there is a way to make money, although it is not fierce but it is stable.
In 1978, various places began to resume the publication of comic strips.
Jiang Shan was thinking in his mind that in a while the highlight moment of the little book would come, and by then he would have something to do.
In his previous life, Jiang Shan had many hobbies, the most expensive of which was the expense of searching for novels and comic books.
The most painful thing was undoubtedly a set of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" published in 1979. The complete set of 60 volumes cost him a total of 350,000.
It is said that the original drawings of this book have been sold for more than 10 million yuan.
According to the original artist's recollection, they didn't pay much attention to the recycling of drawings in those days, and most of them were regularly sold as scrap by the editorial department.
The era mentioned by the original artist is now, isn't it?
What's more, Jiangshan's love for little books in his previous life was not limited to collecting little books.
When he was studying in college, he copied almost all the fictitious books from the 1970s and 1980s that were available on the market.
Libraries, museums, garage sales...
In those years, students from Jiangshan and Jiangshan could be seen in these places every day, carrying drawing boards.
It was also during that time that Jiangshan learned that as early as the late 1970s, the remuneration for an illustration or cover was as high as 10 to 20 yuan.
The remuneration for a page of comic strips is 5 to 8 yuan. Think about how much remuneration you get for a comic book!
Some well-connected art students in Qingmei have become millionaires early on by drawing illustrations and comic books for publishing houses.
What was the concept of a 10,000-yuan household in the late 1970s?
Therefore, painting small figures has become Jiangshan’s short-term employment direction.
"You have indeed read this book, right?" Li Ruocheng patted the book on his lap: "But where did you read it? It can't be at the Educated Youth Point."
"Of course not," Jiang Shan smiled: "You may not know that I am currently working in a printing factory. Some time ago, I dug out a box of books in an old warehouse of my unit, including several original English books."
"Is this book inside?"
"Yes, but the edition is different. However, the box of books disappeared after I read them for about half a year. I don't know where they went."
The reason why Jiang Shan said this was to let others know that he had not only read some books, but also imported them.
Speaking of which, I have seen some different scenery.
Even if I accidentally let something slip in the future, I can still make up for it.
After hearing these words, Li Ruocheng felt that they were reasonable and reasonable.
"It must have been taken away by others," he said firmly: "Now that the country has resumed the college entrance examination, many people are cramming in English."
The old man suddenly thought of something important: "The version of the story you just told is different. Does it have a different English title from this one?"
"the same,"
Jiang Shan paused for a moment and thought about how to explain to the old man:
"The titles of the books are indeed The Little Mermaid, but an older brother once taught me when I was in the country. If an English sentence sounds particularly awkward to read, you can read it according to the context and use your own understanding."
"You're right,"
Li Ruocheng fully agrees with this:
"It's just that you can say it casually, but when it comes to translation, you have to scrutinize it word for word... Your boy has some talent in this area."
Li Ruocheng looked at the third child of the Jiang family again, and the more he looked at her, the more he liked her: "Hai's daughter~yes, what you said is really good!"
When he mentioned his major, the old man obviously became more talkative.
Jiangshan also enjoys it.
What he didn't expect was that "Andersen's Fairy Tales" had already come to our country as early as 1909.
At that time, "The Little Mermaid" was first translated as "The Sea Princess".
The translation is quite good, but the compiler at that time added his own ideas when translating this fairy tale, that is, he adapted it.
The original Andersen fairy tale was full of the charm of Aunt Qiong Yao.
Although the editorial department of this era has not yet appreciated the bloody drama of Qiong Yao's drama, they feel that it is time to re-translate this fairy tale again.
Therefore, Mr. Li Ruocheng, as the resident translation editor of "Pujiang Foreign Languages Publishing House", naturally took over this task.
The publishing house was very confident about the old man's translation skills and only made two requirements: speed and respect for the original work.
"Now I have almost translated the story,"
Li Ruocheng smiled and said: "But when I think of this title, I can't cheer up. Fortunately, I met you Jiang Laosan today, hahaha..."
While the two were talking, Li Ruocheng's wife Li Huaiying walked out of the house with a cup of hot tea.
She was surprised to find that her old man had a rare smile on his face.
So he quietly moved a small chair and sat aside.
Jiang Shan was really surprised: "This book existed in 1909? Someone started translating the original book so early?"
"There are many earlier than this," Li Ruocheng took the tea from his wife: "But it wasn't until around 2009 that the vernacular translation began to appear."
"oh!"
Li Ruocheng continued: "From then on until more than ten years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the demand for the introduction of original books remained at a high level."
Li Huaiying is also a translator. He was happily chatting with his wife and added: "At that time, the country was very encouraging and supportive of translators."
After saying that, she and Li Ruocheng looked back at their big tile-roofed house at the same time.