《历代微型小说选》词语札记

The Reading Notes of the Words from The Anthology of Mininovels of Past Dynasties

导致古代文学作品译注“望文生训”的原因之一,是在选择与确定词的语义时脱离了交际的语言环境,所以,《列异传》中的“生人气”、“略无”和《列女传》中的“便利”不应是“陌生人的气息”、“略微没有”和“方便”之义,而应该是“活人的气息”、“全无”和“有利可图”之义。

One of the causes leading to the translation and annotation of ancient literature works at their face value lies with the selection and determination of the meanings of words without due consideration of the language environment. Therefore, the words shenrenqi(生人气), luewu(略无) and bianli(便利) from the Lie Yi Zhuan and Lie Nu Zhuan should not be interpreted as “the breath of a stranger”, “appreciably nothing” and “convenience”, instead they actually mean “the breath of a living person”, “none” and “profitable” respectively.